As a fan of the Japanese artist Masamune Shirow, I have been following his work for almost 12 years. When Seishinsha announced the release of a new artbook by Shirow, I was of course excited. I already knew that most of the art in the book contained re-prints of work, this didn’t bother me so much as I was glad to see something coming out of the Shirow arena, after almost 4 years of nothing. Around A5 in size, it comes as a hardcover with thick glossy pages amd a sturdy dust jacket; the start and end pages are a thick textured red card. 87 pages of art in total, some with full page spread, and...

I am either getting old and senile, or I have way too many artbooks to remember exactly what I have. The scary part is that I actually prefer the old/senile option, simply because I’d hate to dwell on just how much I’ve spent on my artbook collection, and just how much more I will spend in the future XD So, with a heaving sigh, and a not so pained expression (because even after years of collecting, I still love artbooks) I’ve gone and sat down with my collection to re-remember what I have. So many, so many. I must review more artbooks for the site, and of course, add the newly...

One of the things I always look for at the Armageddon events, is original anime/manga style artwork to buy. When I say “original” I usually mean the actual art itself, and not a print or photo copy. One of my secret addictions is collecting original artwork, I also love supporting local artists. Problem is, I am so picky about what I like and don’t like… something that isn’t helped by the fact that I have well over 350 anime/manga related artbooks and have a very good idea of the range of skills artists can have. My favourite artists include Masamune Shirow, CLAMP (in...

Title: 0.5 Like A Balance Life Second Mix Edition 0.5?Like a balance life 2nd mix edition (????) Artist: Range Murata Published: 15/07/2000 Publisher: WANI Magazine Content: Comes packaged in a hot pink thick cardboard box; two books, one called Databook and the other a loosely bound collection of prints housed in a hot pink cover. Databook contains: 63 pages in total; 13 pages of colour illustrations; 3 pages of colour manga; 8 pages of monochrome manga & sketches; 32 pages of black & white sketches; 5 pages of thumbnail images with notes; 1 page interview; Softcover Loosely bound...

Title: Fantastic! ?????????? fantastic!~?????????!~ (???) Artist: Tooko Miyagi Published: 03/07/2006 Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten Content: 87 pages in total; 66 pages of colour illustrations; 11 pages monochrome illustrations; 7 pages intro/title/ending/interview; 3 pages b&w notes & thumbnails; Softcover Extras: Single Sided Pull out Poster Cover Price: ¥1800 ISBN: 4-04-853918-3 Rate: Average Purchase: 12/07/2006 | Graphic Novel Cafe | NZ$49.99 Comments: This book is one I am sure many fans of Tooko Miyagi have been looking forward to, but I would strongly...