「Book Review」Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero: Visual Artbook

「Book Review」Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero: Visual Artbook

Wednesday, February 15, 2017 / No Comments

Follow me through the adventures of the Visual Artbook for Yuyuyu, one of the shows which will be having a second season soon. The front cover of the book features two of the main team of Mahou Shoujo (or rather, Heroes): Yuuki Yuuna and Tougou Mimori.

There are a total of three books for this series. This visual art book, and 2 production notes. I have not gotten my hands on the production notes as they have increased in price grossly. On the other hand this is still affordable -- mainly because of the content. The production notes are 200 pages each and consist of frame by frame animation drawing, genga-style.

But well, enough of moping over that. Let's review what we have first!

I will not be providing clean views of every page in the book but I'll single out a few pages in each section to give a brief overview of what it contains. The first section is a collection of illustrations. It starts out with illustrations that are officially in the promotional videos and posters of the series when season 1 aired.

If it isn't obvious, this is a color-coded character show with five girls as the main team of protagonist with the story centering around Yuuna and Tougou. Pretty much the layman terms for a Mahou Shoujo (magical girl) anime.

After that, we move on to several more lewd illustrations, centering mainly on Tougou's large bosom and swimsuit shots. This isn't something I liked to see with the cast so I mainly skipped through it. Though a point to note is that Karin still hasn't appeared in the book thus far... does it mean she wouldn't have her share of lewd shots~?

Tougou-san with a flower crown is just so precious. Her backstory and storyline is just so disheartening that this beautiful and calming scene just justifies her. And if it isn't obvious yet, the other half is Itsuki in a similar outfit. Putting the pure and cute Itsuki as a companion here really brings out the feminine pose and outfit. 

 That sweet smile... Itsuki majitenshi.

Finally Karin-chan makes her appearance in the book and she's in a maid cosplay! The embarrassed expression suits her very well and brings out that side of her which she tends to hide in the TV series as she tries to show her reliable tough exterior. She feels more human with these embarrassed and shy sides.

After that series of lewd photos and cut-ins, we finally get back to more normal slice-of-life images. Here's to the Hero Club gathered in their club room. The 5 of them have so much chemistry together that it just feels so good to have them all together in an illustration like this!

Next up is more of a goods section but I'm okay with their choices as the goods they feature are more illustration based, such as posters and dakimakura, rather than rubber straps or food items. The one above of them cleaning a pool is a Bath Poster and it comes with the Limited Edition of the PSVita game. I have a copy of the game, and of course the poster -- which is now on my wall, but it's always good to see the exact same illustration in a illustration book.

Then we have the Dakimakura corner...

Yuuna looks so cute in her school uniform. I actually really like her human appearance too, and feel saddened that the fandom is just so infatuated with her Hero form that there is so little goods for her Human form. Nevertheless I am pretty disturbed by how she looks so frightened and nervous in her swimsuit side.

Still... I do hope that Yuuna gets a Dakimakura of her Hero form too. (Yuuna Best girl).

Tougou-san is probably the most popular character in Yuyuyu. She has 2 official Dakimakura -- the one above to match with Yuuna, and the one below added as an extra to a Dengeki G magazine. And thus, fans of Tougou will be able to have both her school uniform, swimsuit and Hero forms to enjoy.

And last but not least, the next and final Dakimakura illustration in this book is that of Miyoshi Karin. Unlike both Yuuna and Tougou, she comes with her school uniform and Hero together and features no swimsuit attire. I'll have very much preferred this for Yuuna, seeing how the illustration for her swimsuit side bugged me to no end, so Karin's fans are very lucky in this aspect too.

The last section of the book is a collection of BUNBUN's illustrations. As some of you may know, BUNBUN illustrated the art in the novels and can be considered a very important person in the franchise. Though honestly, I do find the girls (especially Yuuna) cuter in the anime depiction.

Main team illustrations in their school uniforms (above) and in their Hero outfits (below). The illustration below is also the same one featured on the box of the Limited Edition PSVita game!

And of course, BUNBUN sees it proper to introduce the characters with appropriate drawings to show their different sides and expressions. Eyepatch Fuu appears after Mankai and this is like a shout-out to the dark side of Yuyuyu.

Nogi Sonoko is one of the protagonist in Season 2 so it is only appropriate to mention her here now. In Season 1 however, she was bedridden and never did leave the bed -- the bandaged girl in the illustration. As Season 2 is actually set before Season 1, we get to see Sonoko in her full glory before she became bedridden!

Then we have a brief summary of the TV series, depicting brief explanations of what happened in each episode with some screencaps. Some of the screencaps aren't well-chosen (not what I would consider the main frame of the episode) but most of them makes one recall the climax of the episode itself.

Yuyuyu is set in an alternate world that doesn't really fit into the past or present of our universe. Thus, the furniture and technology varies slightly from what we have currently. Yuyuyu builds on this point by having furniture that fits with modern times, yet also some which don't. They have the settings and arrangement clearly detailed and drawn out in the following section. This can not only inspire aspiring background artists, but also artists which are attempting to draw fanart of the series.

This section features the Vertexes, which are the evil things in the world that the Heroes must defeat. Here, you get to see them in three different views: original concept, lined and finalized, and painted.

A little more about the girls. This features all the different outfits the girls wore in the TV series. Once again, I have Yuuna as an example of what to expect.

 Likewise, the faeries.

We end the main illustration book with an interview with the Seiyuus. This is a short part with lots of photos as you can see in the image below. No worries, there is more than a single page!

The last and final section of the book is an illustration novel, which is a novel in Japanese words with some monochrome and some colored full page illustrations in between some pages. The illustrations come every few pages and while they do not value-add much to the story building, helps to accentuate what is going on and gives the readers a clearer picture of the setting.

Would I buy this book?
As a Yuyuyu fan, it is difficult to resist getting this book because it is filled with many sides of the girls and illustrations that are not featured in the anime or in any other books. Even in the production note books, these will not be in as those strictly follow the anime.

Thus it is useful to get this book, so as to get these extras that one would not find otherwise. And for the official illustrations of goods that are very art-based such as posters and Dakimakura, I finally have a proper source material for the illustration they use.

The novel is a very good addition to the series as well. Although it is fully translated online and can be found via Google easily, there's something magical about possessing a copy where you can flip through anytime you want. The better part is that it is in the original language, therefore adding to the authenticity.

~ Reina-rin

The Magic Behind Manga

The Magic Behind Manga

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An acoustic ditty (possibly sung by Urasawa?) plays in the background of the intro animation

Manben, an NHK documentary hosted by Naoki Urasawa, gives us a look into the laborious and sweaty, yet wholly enchanting world of mangakas. Urasawa himself is one of the veteran manga masters, having brought into our world several inimitable thrillers such as Yawara, Monster and 20th Century Boys.

The world of an aspiring mangaka is fraught with financial instability, consequent disapproval from family and possibly worst of all, dealing with the temperamental masses over the years. If you've ever thought about making it as a mangaka, or as a storyteller, this is the series for you. I watched it right after finishing Bakuman, so my brain was totally ramped up. Fun stuff.
 
So this is how the episode goes:  Cameras are set up in the workspaces of the artists, over hours or days, in order to capture a slice of their usual workflow. After filming, the featured artist and Urasawa engage in a dialogue that takes a deeper look at their thought processes, work philosophies and technical decisions. How did they get started? Where do they get their ideas? What do they draw with? How fast do you have to draw? All these questions and more are thoroughly explored and answered.
 

Observe Hanazawa-san's suffering as the deadline creeps up on him

The series originally debuted as a one-off special in 2014 featuring Kaiji Kawaguchi (Zipang, Eagle) and Kazumi Yamashita (The Life of Genius Professor Yanagizawa). Fortunately for us all, it was extended to feature twelve more names so far.

Episode list:

1 x 1    Akiko Higashimura (Princess Jellyfish, Kakukaku Shikajika)         
1 x 2    Kazuhiro Fujita (Karakuri Circus)
1 x 3    Inio Asano (Solanin, Goodnight Punpun)    
1 x 4    Takao Saito (Golgo 13)    
2 x 1    Moto Hagio (Poe no Ichizoku)       
2 x 2    Kengo Hanazawa (I am a Hero)        
2 x 3    Daisuke Igarashi (Kaijuu no Kodomo)         
2 x 4    Usamaru Furuya (At Na Chan's)
3 x 1    Ikegami Ryoichi (Heat, Lord)
3 x 2    Miyake Ranjou (Imuri)
3 x 3    Takahashi Tsutomu (Jiraishin)
3 x 4    Urasawa Naoki

What is especially interesting to observe is that regardless of the commercial popularity of their creations, the artists all display an incredible devotion and consistent fascination with the process and the responsibilities that come with being a mangaka. Perhaps you think the art by a particular mangaka isn't great, that you wouldn't mind if that work was wiped off the face of the planet. But it seems that the point isn't to make a perfect, universally-appealing manga. The greatest blessing that we, as readers, can hope for, is for the artist to always have an attitude of improvement and experimentation. That way, they can keep bringing us on new adventures. In exchange, we have the power to make all sorts of fickle, scorching comments like 'this art reeks of laziness' and 'wow totally unoriginal'.

I had encountered most of the works featured before, but carelessly brushed them off in search of something else after judging their covers for like two seconds. That still doesn't even mean I have to look through everything, because it's not a practical possibility. Isn't it tough being a mangaka in this world?

For mangakas working on weekly serials, they have to accept that showing their best work given the sheer crunch is really just good enough, because the most important thing is that manga is being created. That's what keeps the culture going. A constant pushing and pulling between readers, publishers and artists.

The artists push themselves unrelentingly on the problems of plot and characterization

Due to the nature of publishing, mangas sometimes have 'breather' or the more horrible-sounding 'filler' chapters. I'd like to think from now on that these chapters are what reminds me of the living souls behind manga. Manga really isn't created the same way books are written. It is a living, breathing medium that depends on the mind-numbingly long-term intensive efforts and vision of up to dozens of people. Sometimes you have to take a break if you want to be able to run the rest of the marathon. I'll read and enjoy the journey with that in mind.
 
Since catching the episodes, I've picked up Igarashi Daisuke's fabulously illustrated Children of the Sea.

Igarashi comes from a Fine Art background, and his artistic sensitivity towards composition and colouring is particularly evident. There are several underwater scenes rendered in a beautiful painterly style which are an absolute joy to behold. I've also started on Dead Dead Demon's DedededeDestruction by Asano Inio.

You may recognize his intense, graphic vision from his earlier works. Some spreads from Dedede were featured in his episode and the artwork was just mindblowing so I had to check it out. No regrets.

Dead Dead Demon's DedededeDestruction 
デッドデッドデ−モンズデデデデデストラクション
Volumes 1-5 are currently available at Kinokuniya for $16.10 each if you want to dash out and buy them as I often feel like doing when I find something beautiful. This series is in progress.

Children of the Sea 海獣の子供 
Single volumes or the full set of five volumes can be purchased from Amazon JP for ¥771 and ¥1440 respectively. ‎

DVDs and BluRays of Manben's Japanese-language individual episodes are slated for release throughout 2017, with bonus booklets and clips. They can be preordered right now for up to 20% off depending on which site, which works out to be roughly $42 SGD before shipping. I'm a huge fan of Higashimura Akiko and Inio Asano so I'm definitely reserving funds for those. I do wish they'd release a box set actually, preferably at a lower price... Officially translated episodes on Crunchyroll or something would be nice too, as I'd venture to say that this is a topic that people all around the globe are interested in.

At the official NHK Manben site, there are transcripts and extra clips available for viewing. (Japanese only, but easy enough to navigate)

Written by Mana

A Closing Prayer for Love Live Merchandise: SIF Official Illustration Book 4

A Closing Prayer for Love Live Merchandise: SIF Official Illustration Book 4

Monday, February 13, 2017 / No Comments

It might not be a secret that these books are for SIF art. There are 4 books up until now and with this we will end the 1st rotation for Muse. That means, the 4 books holds all the URs of the first round of pairings for the Muse girls. This ends with the Devil set featuring Umi and Nico as URs.

Round 2 will start with Pool Honoka and Kotori URs.

For this book, I'll be doing a simple show-through to the sets, but will not be showing every image or page. If you wish to purchase this book, I'm pretty sure it's still available on Amazon JP and ships directly to Singapore, which was how I got the book myself. It's going at 2000+ yen too.

The ordering of the sets might be a little messed up due to the mishap my camera had. Rest assured that the book itself definitely follows Klab release order.

Let's begin!

I find that this is a good choice for the cover of the book as the Arabian outfit is something less common in the idol world, hence set them apart from other illustration books. It is also something more unusual for Love Live! hence, more fitting to put them on the cover (instead of say, swimsuits).

Front and back covers of the book features all the girls in this set. This is something kept common since Volume one. As a side note, out of all the SRs in this set, I like Hanayo's best~

Animal set (URs: Maki Honoka)

Ball/Victorian set (URs: Nozomi Kotori)

Christmas set (URs: Eli Hanayo)

Circus set (URs: Umi Maki)

 Fairy set (URs: Nico Rin)

 Taisho Romance Set (URs: Honoka Hanayo)

 Baseball set (URs: Maki Eli)

 Dancer/Arabian Set (URs: Rin Kotori)

 Idol set (URs: Honoka Nozomi)

Devil Set (URs: Umi, Nico) 

  

After going through the scouting cards section of the book, we see how disorganised the later part of the scouting rotation is. Honoka had a total of 3 URs in this book (Animal, Taisho, Idol) and not to mention, she will be starting off the next rotation as well with her Pool card.

In any case, let's move on. The next part is the private section which features the event cards.

Each girl has 2 events hence 2 pages, each featuring the unidolised and idolised versions of the cards. Once again, I have Honoka as an example.

Special selection shows the 9 promo URs given from log-in, which we still haven't gotten on EN SIF. That and the cherry girl Hanayo.

It follows up quickly with themed outfits and I have the more unique ones as examples. These are the mermaid and marine outfits. The shrine maiden outfit isn't based on any card yet as far as I know but have appeared in the story (hint: Nozomi) thus far. Perhaps they are also as links to the Kanda even collaboration?

This part ends with cute chibis of some of the outfits -- china dress, cyber and thanksgiving/valentines. If it were to have Cheerleader instead, I'll say it's a hint for challenge festival but as of now they look more like the straps released more than anything. That being said, it feels more like an illustration page than a goods marketing one so I'll let it slide. 

And the last section of the book (the index) is the weirdest placement because it's basically a content page at the end of the book. But then again Bushimo is famous for being a little strange, especially when it comes to Love Live goods...

Would I get this book?
I have and honestly would again. This is the ending of the first rotation of the illustrations which gives me perfect closure. With the stunted release of Mu's cards on SIF by half from now on, the books will take twice as long to be released now... except that it's more plausible they will combine Mu's and Aqours releases from now on. I don't wish to get the combined book so this might very well be my last illustration book from them.

And so I'll definitely treat it well!

~ Reina-rin