I don’t know about you guys, but LBP looks like a must-buy for me. The characters are all really cute. One of the things I really like about this game is that all of the motion looks really fluid. That, and the dragon they made.

Hilarious vid from GS

I made a post last week highlighting that Mediaworks had just released a sequel artbook to Guren called Kaen. Well, I received said artbook a couple of days ago and now have my impressions of it.

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Unfortunately, just like previous years, I had no opportunity to go to Japan doing the most recent Wonder Festival. I always like looking around several forums and foreign blogs to see all of the different figures, though. That’s almost like going to the real thing, right? Right?

Yea, not really, but I get to see a lot of cool photos anyway. These are some of my favorites. I doubt I’ll pick any of them up anytime, though. I doubt I have the skills to build and paint a resin kit.

Pictures mostly shamelessly stolen from オタロードBlog

P.S. One of those figures is not like the others. One of them just does not belong. Which one is it? :3 (It’s still freakin’ cool, though)

I actually got this a few months ago, but my computer was having problems and some things happened and I never got to use my scanner on this book. Eventually, I gave up and decided to go with a few pictures (please forgive the uber poor quality of the first pic, I suck with cameras.) Anyway, this artbook features the work of Kozue Amano, the artist behind ARIA (which I’m sure you can tell from the over.) The full title of the artbook is Cielo: Kozue Amano Illustration Works III. Yes, this is his third book. Unfortunately, his other books are uber rare now, so good luck at finding them for anything below twice their original price.

One of my favorite things about the book is its build. As you can see from the first thumbnail, the book comes with a hard plastic cover, which leaves only the book’s binding exposed to the cruel outside world. The book itself is hardcover, which is nice. If it’s one thing I hate, it’s bent binds in softcover books. Annoys me to no end. It’s a surprise that this book only costs about 300 yen more than the average softcover artbook. I’m sure they could’ve gotten away with a bit more. This artist seems popular. At least, popular enough for all of his previous books to have sold out.

The artbook is split into six sections: Aria, Roman Club, Crescent Noise, Short Stories/Extra Works, Aqua, and Monochrome works. I must admit, I’m very unfamiliar with his work. I have yet to read a single chapter of ARIA or AQUA. I’m not sure if the work in this book is new or not. Usually, in these kinds of books, they’re just reprints of earlier released art (telephone cards and such) but usually the sources for the artwork are noted on the page. In this, they are not. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. The art in the book is excellent regardless.

Apparently, Ito Noizi released a new artbook a few days ago. It’s called KA-E-N this time around. Judging by the cover and her past artbook, we can expect there to be a fair amount of Shakugan no Shana art. If I were to make a guess, it should also contain some Haruhi stuff as well. I’m sure. I’m sure MediaWorks will also through in some of her past miscellaneous illustrations that she’s made since her last artbook release (2004.) I’ll be sure to show you guys some pictures when I have it in my hands, which could be as soon as next Monday.

Amazon link