J!-ENT
Asian Entertainment News and Pop Culture

“THE ART TRUCKS OF JAPAN” gives us a rare glimpse of Japanese auto fashion, in this case, capturing the heart and soul of artistic Japanese delivery trucks.  If you thought your toy Transformers vehicles can look awesome or menacing, take a look at the awesome photos featured in this book and be awestruck that these are being driven on the road in Japan today.

BOOK: THE ART TRUCKS OF JAPAN

WRITTEN BY: Kato Tomoyuki

COMPANY: Cocoro Books (DH Publishing, Inc.)

PAGE COUNT: 84 pages

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

The art trucks of Japan made their debut in the 1975 smash hit Truck Yaro!, roaring onto the big screen to wow Japanese moviegoears.

Decorated with banks of flashing lights, lengths of aluminum piping, and sheets of shining steel, these vehicles were brash, colorful and unapologetic. A new word was quickly coined - “dekotora” (decorated trucks) - and soon colorfully decorated trucks could be seen on roads throughout Japan. The art truck had entered popular culture.

Some 30 years later, Japan’s art trucks have become highly stylized creations that attract a loyal following of hobbyists and professional drivers. This stunning collection of decotora photos reveals both the beauty of Japan’s art trucks and the creative talents of their owners. Described as masterpieces of the highway, the art trucks of Japan are a must-see for all lovers of vehicle art and extravagant design.

One of my first collaboration writing works during the early years of J!-ENT was assisting a writer from Japan for Auto Fashion and Bye-Bee Magazine.

I was always curious about the Japanese auto fashion. From those who race (thanks to my interest in “Initial D”) to the hobbiest that just want to make their vehicle look cool.

I was always blown away by the money dedicated to a vehicle’s look via its exterior or interior.

But when I started to read Kato Tomoyuki’s book “THE ART TRUCKS OF JAPAN”, I was floored by the look and financial dedication that a few truck drivers have done for their delivery trucks.

From the amount of aluminum/metal and the paintings on delivery truck, the only thing that these trucks can’t do is transform to some mecha robot because looking at it, the sheer coolness is so unlike what I’ve seen here in the United States, these are owners who are passionate for making their delivery trucks stand out.

Some look like futuristic vehicles with weaponry but in actuality, it’s just the look.

Also, possibly inspired by the neon lights of a Tokyo metropolitan city, some of these trucks at night tend to exhibit a similar appearance as lights of various colors fill the delivery trucks from all sides.

The book does a great job and showcasing various trucks from day and night, various shapes and sizes and some that look like a truck meets Las Vegas/Shibuya to a truck that seems to have collided and meshed with Decepticons of Transformers fame. That’s how cool these trucks really look.

The book of course is mostly a photo book but you do get a two-page forward by Clive France discussing the Japanese trend of art trucks and very informative information and brief history can be found on these two pages.

Definitely an interesting book showcasing the various artistic styles of Japanese trucking. There are many people who enjoy publications on auto fashion and in Japan, although a lot of publications go towards more of those who spruce up the minivan, station wagon or small car.

But “THE ART TRUCKS OF JAPAN” gives the reader/viewer a part of Japanese pop culture that they are probably not familiar with.

It would have been nice to get interviews with the owners to discuss why they do it, how much they spend on their truck and more. But nevertheless, the heart and soul of this book is its pictures. This book is a photo book filled with beautiful photos of these trucks and capturing the neon lights during the night, to the stoic and war machine look for some vehicles during the day.

The book has its goal of introducing and showcasing these trucks of Japan. It may be a rare glimpse of that side of the artistic pop culture permeating to the expression of their art for their vehicles. Definitely something that make this book definitely worth your while to check out.

BOOK: We Love Cosplay Girls - More Live Anime Heroines From Japan

COMPANY: Cocoro Books (DH Publishing, Inc.)

PAGE COUNT: 82 pages

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Back when I was working on the J!-ENT cosplay project “COSPLAY UNDERGROUND“, I would peruse a lot of Japanese and Korean cosplay sites to see the awesome cosplay and the quality of the outfits for various anime, video games and manga.

As we and various other sites were at the forefront of showcasing photography of cosplayers in America at that time, still I would wish there would be publications that would feature the cosplay in Japan.

Sure, there has been a single video release and we would see glimpses on US anime magazines but I felt it would be rad to have a book where cosplayers can look to see the kind of cosplay coming from Japan, look at the quality of the outfits and also possibly use as a resource.

Well, Cocoro Books has been doing it for some time now and have released “We Love Cosplay Girls”, the third volume of their cosplay photobook series (following “Cosplay Girls” and “Cosplay Girls 2″) featuring hundreds of full-color photos of female cosplayers from Japan.

The book starts out with an interesting three page writeup by a cosplayer which seems like a page from her diary as she dishes out the dirt on her cosplay rivals, stressing about getting a costume ready for this event and so much more.

But the remaining 77-pages are then dedicated to photos of cosplayers in Japan broken down in chapters such as: Heroes, She’s So Cool, Asian Style, Animal Land, Spacey, Dark Side, Cute Style and School Life.

Photos are shown, with the names of the cosplayer, the character and the anime, video game or manga that they are cosplaying from.

Looking through the “Heroes” section and seeing this beautiful outfit created by Ayamori Yika of Iteza Seiya from the series “Saint Seiya” is just awesome. If there is one thing that I would love to see in a future adaption of a cosplay book is how the costume was created, how long and how much.

But to see the craftmanship put into her overall outfit is just amazing.

Then seeing a page of a cosplay group and individuals showcasing their outfits based on the CAPCOM Playstation 2 game “Sengoku Basara” (”Devil Kings” in the USA) which was awesome to see. And was surprised how many cosplayers adored the characters as there are many cosplaying “Sengoku Basara” characters.

As I turn the page and viewed each cosplayer, I can imagine that many fans outside of Asia would appreciate this book because there is cosplay from the noticeable “BLEACH”, “ONE PIECE”, “DRAGON BALL Z” and “NARUTO” cosplay, to video games such as “Tales of Symphonia”, “Dragon Quest”, “Suikoden” and “Sengoku Musou” (aka Dynasty Warriors), “Final Fantasy” and more.

I just found it also interesting to see pages dedicated to certain characters like the cosplayers dressed up as the sultry Rangiku of “BLEACH” because as a bloke, I have been interested to see how much umm…cleavage that a cosplayer would show for Rangiku and sure enough, some cosplayers did.

Of course, I had to check out the “Dark Side” section and see the cosplayers of darkness dressing up as “Suikoden”, “D.Gray-man”, “Black Lagoon” and “Sengoku Basara” (Devil Kings) characters. Especially to see the group cosplaying as the evil “Akatsuki Warriors!” from “Naruto” was pretty cool.

I have to applaud Cocoro Books (DHP) for bringing these Japanese cosplay books to the US. The third volume “We Love Cosplay Girls” is definitely a book that many cosplayers will enjoy.

Many cosplayers always look for resources and to come up with cosplay that everyone else is not doing and what best but to have a book like this and get ideas and inspiration from.

What the book does well is showcase people from Japan dressing up as a certain character, may the girl be tall or short, thin or overweight, no matter.

Granted, if there was a negative to be found, some guys may be asking “where are the male cosplayers - we want to see that to” but this is all about the cosplay girls. Also, from seeing some costumes that are just awesome and inspiring, one would wonder how it was created? How much? What material was used? and more questions that could be asked but perhaps maybe that is something that could be considered for another cosplay book.

So, whether you have a “moe” fascination for a character, Japanese cosplay girl fetish or a cosplayer that needs an excellent pictorial resource for their costume research, “We Love Cosplay Girls” is a book that is not just cool but also worth owning.

Highly recommended!

BOOK TITLE: Fragment - Fei Fei Photographs

Published in 2001, Blue Moon Studio Inc.

PAGE COUNT: 100 Pages

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

As Kutsugi Ken-ichi’s Terai Yuki was becoming popular among the 3D virtual beauties, e-frontier (who now owns SHADE and POSER) had another visual 3D girl being promoted, as being created by the 3D SHADE software.

Her name was Fei Fei and she was created by Blue Moon Studio, Inc.

The model caught some attention because she was the virtual model promoting SAMSUNG products back in 2002.

But back in 2001, Fei Fei received her first photo book. Similar to Terai Yuki’s “TOKYO LABYRINTH” which put her in realistic settings, Fei Fei did the same.

Although the character model was great for that time, when looking at it now, some parts look good but the body part texturing looked more 3D than realistic skin textures that you see on many models now.

So, as technology has come along way for 3D programs in the past seven years, I do have to give this book some kudos for trying something different.

In the opening pages, you see a photo of a group of school children taking a group photo and Fei Fei embracing one of the children. The photo at the time when I first bought the book was very cool and at the time, looked very realistic.

Now, you see Fei Fei’s hand and it has that 3D…plastic type of look. But at the time, you felt how awesome the book was.

Of course, this book makes a great resource for coming up with ideas for one’s 3D rendering working.

The book is still very costly because its an import but through e-frontier’s content paradise store, the book was offered at one time for $9.99, which was a steal since the book is still selling at other stores for $35.99.

An image of Fei Fei from e-frontier

Unlike Terai Yuki which had models that people can mess around with on Poser, Fei Fei was only available via SHADE 8 and 8.5 when you bought it.

I wished Fei Fei would have been a poser model that people could mess around and would have been an interesting character model that could have been tweaked by content producers because Terai Yuki was the short hair model, Fei Fei was the long hair model.

And I think that she could have gotten a lot of mileage via 3D content creators like Miki model.

But nevertheless, this book was one of the best 3D visual model from Japan photo books back then and if you can get it cheap, definitely would make a good resource book.

BOOK TITLE: Yuki Terai - TOKYO LABYRINTH

Published in 2002

AUTHOR: Kutsugi Ken-Ichi

PAGE COUNT: 88 Pages

Official Website

I’ve always been interested in the 3D Model renders that would come from Japan.

My first introduction would be Kyoko Date. A 3D model that had a CD single release and the label tried to make her the first 3D pop star back in 1996.

Several years later, I ran into a “Tokyo Pop Magazine” special feature on Terai Yuki by artist Kutsugi Ken-ichi.

Back in 2002, artist Kutsugi Ken-ichi released his latest 3D book based on his model “Terai Yuki” which he used the software “Shade”.

Kutsugi became an inspiration to many manga-style artists who took their 2D creations and made them to 3D. During that time, to read about an artist who started utilizing Photoshop and then 3D software was really amazing.

Kutsugi’s Terai was one of more popular 3D generated models that you would see in various publications, calendars, CD and DVD releases before becoming a model that people could use for the 3D modeling software “Poser”.

The first photobook released was “Shangri*La” and the second photobook “Yuki Terai - TOKYO LABYRINTH” featuring really cool 3D renders of Terai Yuki in realistic settings.

Although this is an older 3D book, if you are a person who likes to take your 3D renders in Poser and put them in realistic settings can definitely use this book as inspiration and ideas.

For me, personally, I have used this book to come up with ideas for my Poser renders.

The book can be found cheaper (way cheaper via akadot.com right now) as a resource but technology for those who like to dabble in model renders has improved so much since this book has been released. But this book does show how a 3D model can be placed in a realistic setting and how lighting can be used effectively.

I often wondered how Kutsugi learned “SHADE” so quickly. I’ve purchased SHADE and messed around with it and could never be successful with it as I would like.

One of my first renders utilizing the Yuki Terai model using Poser 6

I really do appreciate Kutsugi allowing people to use his Yuki model for Poser and also sharing his creative works which include “TOKYO LABYRINTH” and inspiring many people to do similar work.

Again, this book is a good resource but a bit outdated as many models tend to go for more realistic skin textures, but nevertheless, I still enjoyed this book for its purpose then and using it as a resource now.

BOOK TITLE: JPG2 (JaPan Graphics 2)

Published by Actar and released on December 2006

PAGE COUNT: 420 Pages

Volume two of JPG, Japan Graphics, is a comprehensive survey of contemporary Japanese graphic design and illustration. The changes in Japanese graphic design after the first volume have proved to be far beyond our imagination. Instead of “more copies, higher resolution, to a wider audience,” there is a greater focus on individual and original works. JPG 2 brings together over 20 design teams, showcasing the evolution of teams from the first JPG as well as showcasing new projects, new teams, and the best contemporary design talents. Works by Amane Murakami, Buddha Productions, Dainippon Type Organization, Enlightenment, Hideki Inaba, Higraph, keitarrow, Loworks, Keigo Mohri, Namaiki, Shinji Shimada, Ryuh Tomoaki, Sunday-Vision, Power Graphixx, Takora, Taku Anekawa, TGB design, Tsuyoshi Kusano, Tsuyoshi Hirooka, wabisabi, iseneehihinee.The book is divided into 13 chapters: Photo + graphics, Imaginary landscapes, Printed matter, Customize on the product, Re-product design, Order made, Talking graphics, Portrait, Activism, Fake analog, Digital error, Super fine lines and Digital/manual interaction.

I absolute loved the first book and all of the awesome content that was featured. So, it was a no-brainer that I had to get “JPG2″.

Although the book loses it’s rubber covers, the foam front which sports the JPG logo is now wooden.

Four years have passed since the last book and this time around, Sakomoto Tomoko and staff decide to profile the designers and showcase their work in a variety of sections.

The book starts out with “Photo + graphics”. Combining photography but using software like Adobe Illustrator to add water, vines, flowers, skies, you name it. Then to “Imaginary Landscapes”, “Printed Matter”, “Customize on the product”, “Re-product Design”, “Order Made”, “Talking Graphics”, “Portrait”, “Activism”, “Fake Analog”, “Digital Error”, “Super Fine Lines”, “Digital/manual interaction”.

A few examples for each section are:

“Customize on the Product” features customizations of footwear, denim and t-shirts.

“Reproduct Design” features how curves and line designs to artwork can create another image such as a tree or a music instrument.

“Talking Graphics” shows how designers use kanji or using imagery in their graphic design.  For example, vwv//design utilized new alphabet like Korean Hangul but using a combination of Japanese katakana and the alphabet.

“Activism” is just that.  Showcasing logos and posters used for activities such as “AGRI 2006 Fashion Contest - Changing Agriculture through Fashion”

“Fake Analog” is a section utilizing digital painting.

A major difference from this year’s book compared to the last is how a lot of designers have gone towards vector graphics for designing their work. And others that utilize manual painting or digital painting to accomplish their work.

And at the each of section, a designer then does a “My Favorite Place” featuring photography and descriptions of places they enjoy.

If anything, the direction to focus on around two dozen designers/design firms does help cut the clutter and definitely profiles the artwork of those chosen for this book.

At the end of the book are the profiles, where the last book featured a little big about the designer’s work, college education and website and company info., for JPG2, big photos and more profile information for each artist featured. But what I like about these profile sections is that the designer takes a photo of their design work space. So, it’s cool to see that and them comment about it.

I think I’ve purchased many publications and design books just to know of an artists workspace, hardware and software used and it was really cool to see photos of each designer and firm’s workspace.

“JPG2″ is similar but different from its predecessor.

Things are much more organized and fewer designers are being featured. But what is accomplished is trying to get to know more about the designers featured in this book and the kind of work that they are known for now.

Again, the new profile section showcasing photos of their workspace and the designer commenting on it, was a very nice touch to the overall book.

I did enjoy the last book because it featured so many designers but I can understand people wanting things more hi-res, larger pictures and the book is much better in organizing things.

Amazon mentions this book is about 200+ pages but putting this book side by side to the first JPG, it’s about the same, so I’m guessing this book has around 400+ pages.

As mentioned before, this book does feature designers who are incorporating vector graphics into their artwork. As well as those who stick with painting or digital painting, so I think that designers who appreciate Japanese graphic design and also swear to using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Corel Painter will probably enjoy this book a lot.

All in all, “JPG2″ is a very good book. Again, similar to the first but very different which is fine by me. I look forward to the third book and again, both JPG books are highly recommended!

BOOK TITLE: JPG (JaPan Graphics)

Published by Actar and released on April 1, 2003

PAGE COUNT: 420 Pages

JPG–a tidy twist of letters that refers to both Japanese graphic design and that ubiquitous form of digital image transmission, the jpeg. Here is the youngest generation of graphic designers in Japan, a motley, formidable group whose work reflects a remix of influences from the West and appropriations of local cultural expressions. JPg is about 3D and computer graphics, but also about other fields of visual culture, from printed matter to consumer goods to contemporary art. Organized around three poetically conceived categories–”Scanning the World,” “Multiplying Out,” and “Free to Browse”–JPg acknowledges that design is everywhere. It is our space, our environment, and our experiences of the world; it is the media, it is the packaged and prepared food we eat, it is the cell phone we hold to our ear. JPg asks where all this design comes from, where it goes, and how we experience it–but in a specifically Japanese context, with all its possibilities for a more global application.

I buy art and creative design books like crazy. Mainly to be used as references for ideas or my interest in the artwork of current modern designers.

In Japan, there is a lot of design that I love and some of these designers are featured in the first volume of “JPG (Japan Graphics)”.

First of all, the first thing you notice is the book. It’s big, it has that basketball feel with it’s rubber, bubble cover and right in the front is this foam JPG on the front of it.

Opening the book, you realize how trendy and cool this book is by the various shots of Japan, then a foreword from a few designers but then the part I have been wanting to see, the various design firms.

For example, you have LOCKER ROOM DESIGN featuring their pixel artwork made of dots. In this case, an artwork of urban landscapes in Japan. Another piece featured is artwork of hexagons, then an illustration of Louis Vuitton for Brutus Magazine which instead of lines or hexagons, uses line art.

Then yo go to Power Graphixx which showcases their artwork for Kohkoku Magazine which is just cool to look at for the vector artist that dig Japanese designs. And the list goes on with dozens upon dozens of popular graphic designers and firms. One of my favorites, groovisions are featured with their Chappie artwork and their Brockmann toy line.

So, it’s not limited to just artwork on print, logos, outdoor ads and websites but also other forms of new media and hundreds of pages of cool design work.

Now, it’s obvious that those agencies that took place, filled out a questionnaire. Some just basically talking about their work, while some who were very meticulous on their descriptions.

But for those wanting information on what software or how they created the artwork, you will not find it on this book.

To finalize the book, there are profiles that feature a bit of a bio on each creator, their website and e-mail or company information (Note: A lot of the websites and e-mails have become obsolete since the release of this book).

I appreciate design from Japan and upon purchase of this book, I was really hoping this book gives me something to be excited about and I was literally in visual shock because a lot of my favorite designers and works that I have seen but wasn’t sure of who created them, were featured in this book. WOW!
If anything, this book was meant to be looked at than read in my opinion. Actually, there isn’t much to read but what is there to read, it’s actually quite humorous and interesting (also informative) at the same time.

I really have to give Sakamoto Tomoko, Ramon Prat and staff some props for the designers they covered. Delaware, Level 1, groovevisions, oh… if you love Japanese design and how they incorporate it to their medium or have knowledge of it, you are just going to love this book.

Ok, plus and negatives:

+ Featuring the most influential designers from Japan and the designers chosen are among the top designers from Japan.
+ Book is beautifully done and definitely a visual book that may provide designers inspiration.

- For those looking for biographies and full written on the behind-the-scenes and what inspires the artists and a lot of copy, this is not the kind of book that you are looking for. (otherwise, if this doesn’t bother you..then this book is perfect).

You can find this book at book stores but it will be shrink wrapped. So, if you are wondering what kind of book this is, it’s a book featuring the works of popular designers. Again, I emphasize, if you are looking for in-depth interviews with the designers and behind-the-scenes on how they create the artwork, this book does not offer that.

Otherwise, what this book was meant to be and its presentation alone is just spectacular and of the plethora of design books that I own, this one is definitely a must have if you are fan of Japanese design. I love this book!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

BOOK TITLE: Yoshitaka Amano

Published in 2003  by Walther Konig

PAGE COUNT: 192 Pages

In my last Amano Yoshitaka book that I reviewed “AMANO: THE COMPLETE PRINTS OF YOSHITAKA AMANO”, I wrote about how brilliant that art book truly was.

With “Yoshitaka Amano”, this is one of the most expensive books to obtain and a book that one must do research before buying because its not a how-to-art book and not a print showcase of his work but what it is, is a book focusing on Amano’s sumi-e (ink and wash) and sketched artwork but most of all, focusing on how he creates emotion through the use of the subject’s eyes.

Actually, the paintings are automotive lacquer on aluminum and the drawings are sumi-e ink on handmade rice paper or handmade Nepalese paper.

What you get in each page are paintings and close up pictures of the eye/face area.  To see how Amano utilizes emotion by capturing the eyes.

In fact, nearly every page focuses on the facial area and the eyes and the artwork used as examples is from Amano’s “Gatchman” artwork (as well from other series).  Every page showcases a full page close up of the eyes, with some utilizing two pages to incorporate artwork that are lengthier by width.

You do get a foreword from Carlo McCormick, who has co-authored many art books and an afterword by author Rachel Kushner.  Kushner has written a really good piece on “Sumi” and Amano’s use of Sumi.

One of the most important things which I’m so happy Kushner covers how Amano’s personal mantra of “mistrust certain flowers” and skip over the four gentlemen - orchid, bamboo, plum and chrysanthemum and focus on make his own creation while using sumi.  There is no redo’s in sumi. You get one chance and thus this book showcases Amano’s usage of sumi.

As I mentioned earlier, this book is one that I hope people research before purchasing.  Especially because it’s one of the most sought after Amano books and expensive.

Moreso, because for those wanting artwork in the sense of seeing his finalized print work, there are other books on Amano that those enamored by his artwork would find best suited for them.

This book is primarily for those interested in his sumi artwork and the goal was to showcase how he was able to capture emotion and imagination through his paintings and sumi but focusing on the face, and primarily the eye area.  The majority of the pages feature that.

So, with that being said, for me, this book was worth the price because not only does it show you how Amano was able to accomplish something so difficult on rice paper, but to show how much of an accomplished illustrator and artist that he truly is.  How he was able to capture emotion, through those eyes and for those wanting to accomplish something similar through their own paintings or to use it as a source book for inspiration, “Yoshitaka Amano” does just that.

It may not be for everyone but for those who value Amano’s work, this book definitely fits in to your collection.

BOOK TITLE: AMANO: THE COMPLETE PRINTS OF YOSHITAKA AMANO

Published in 2003  by Harper Collins International

PAGE COUNT: 262 Pages

I have always been passionate about the artwork of Amano Yoshitaka.  My first time seeing his artwork was through the “Final Fantasy” video games and  “Vampire Hunter D” anime.

According to the book, “AMANO: THE COMPLETE PRINTS OF YOSHITAKA AMANO” showcases the hundres of whimsical, luxurious and sometimes terrifying prints he created during the last decade.  Amano began his career working on fan-favorite anime such as “Gatchaman” (G-Force) and popular graphic novels such as The Sandman: The Dreamhunters.  But his artistic genius really beagn to flower when he turned his attention ot the medium of printmaking.  Drawing from influences as diverse as Art Nouveau and Art Deco, American comics, Japanese ukiyo-e and traditional fantasy illustration, Amano’s prints capture a breathtaking world.

There are literally hundreds of his prints featured.  Many that are full page, half page or a quarter page long.  So, you get to see the detail of his work which I find so inspiring, dramatic, dark and just incredible. Also, the heavier, matted paper used for the book is very much appreciated.

The book features not only his printworks but a written afterword by Unno Hiroshi (author on many books on music, art and collaborated with Amano for the book “Alice Erotica”), biography and a list of print works by Amano.

I have always looked at Amano’s artwork as unique and each time I look at the pages of this book, I am always left in awe and always wonder what went through his mind in the creation of each piece.

His ability to take traditional Japanese art, blend it with modern art and just to come up with these fantastic images is incredible.

As for the book, the majority featured in the book are large prints but the other 25% of the book consists of a catalogue which features the data from the lithographs which include title, type, copies printed, image size, paper type, workshop name, date of product and completion/release.

Featured are his prints for “Arabian Nights”, “Ladder to Heaven”, “The Tale of Genji”, “Amour Series”, “The Fairytale”, “Alice Erotica”, “NY Salad”, “Elf Fantasy”, “Poem Series”, “Hero”, “Die Zauberflote”, “Rosso” and prints from various novels, animation and video games.  And much more!

The only caveat that I can find that I think people may find is that there are no “Final Fantasy” prints included in this book and some may prefer all pages to be full page art.

But really, for an Amano Yoshitaka book, this is probably the best book to own if you are fan of his artwork.   There is so much of his work featured and it’s just a worthy collection for fans of his artwork.

This book is simply a must own for fans of Amano Yoshitaka’s work.

When the book was first released, it may have been pricey at the time but you can find the book (used) for under $20.  Understandably, Amano’s work is not for everyone.  Some fan find his art, especially in this book, a bit too dark for their taste.  Others might be upset that there are no “Final Fantasy” artwork in this entire book.

But for fans who truly appreciate his work, this book featuring his prints is the best out there.  Incredible, beautiful and simply amazing!

* Page artwork linked from Amazon.com

BOOK TITLE: CREDIT 00 - I LOVE GAME GRAPHICS by Sagara Nobuhiko, Iida Kazutoshi, Kusano Tsuyoshi and Umekawa Yoshimitsu

Published in 2003 by AllRightsReserved

PAGE COUNT: 182 Pages

I tend to purchase a lot of Japanese art books which I use as reference material or just a source of ideas when my I’m not thinking straight.

When I purchased this book, I figured why not give it a try. Definitely would be cool to check out the art or ads of video games from Japan. I play and review a lot of import games, that I felt this would be a worthy addition to my art book collection.

“CREDIT 00: I LOVE GAME GRAPHICS” is best explained by Kusano Tsuyoshi as “Every single work is very fragmentary, and I did not go into a thorough explanation of each game. I have created these works with a feeling that replicates what I felt when playing the game, adding a graphical approach and setting up the layout”.

The book is mainly a graphic book focusing on consoles and video games with a several page written intro by the authors. Also, copy that goes into the history of video games from the technical end to the arcade phenomenons.

The book does not solely focus on Japanese consoles or games, you get American releases and close up photos on a white background of consoles from companies such as Atari, Intellivision, Epoch TV, Vectrex, Nintendo, Sony, etc.

You also get to see several advertisements for arcade machines, video games from the end of the 70’s and 80’s, as well as box art.

The graphical aspect can be seen in many pages, such as the Space Invaders aliens layered on top of photos of Tokyo, to photography with a video game artistic approach such as a dozen of Famicom’s scattered on top of each other.

Actually, there are quite a good number of photos with old school video game elements layered on top of the photos for artistic effect.

The authors decided to break things down into categories with companies such as Atari, Sega, etc. to discuss the companies histories and feature their artwork. As companies such as Atari have featured ads and artwork of box art, Japanese companies such as Sega, Taito, Namco, Konami, Nintendo seem to feature screen captures from title screens to actual gameplay but no advertisements.

At the 3/4 mark of the actual book, that’s when you get to see the artistic side with Illustrations and photography. Photography is pretty cool, featuring Tokyoites playing their portable consoles. But a lot of photos with old school video game elements layered on top of the photos.

Logos for companies and games are also featured as well.

All in all, the book will mostly resonate with those fond of old school video gaming. Those of us born or lived during that era who look at these images for nostalgia. As an artbook on its own, I guess it depends on the individual. On the illustration side, there are few. But mainly, I look at the book more of focusing on nostalgia, putting together screen captures and advertisements from various companies (or for advertisement - company, mainly being Atari) and thus it being more nostalgic than artsy.

I wish there were advertisement contributions from the Japanese companies because for those of us who have played the collections (especially like Capcom and Sega’s collections for the PSP and consoles), we got to see the various artwork released in Japan.

But visually, for what the book comes with, for me, it was satisfying to see a good number of the games I enjoyed on this book. Especially as the years pass and we move on to consoles with more power, this is the type of the book to hold onto and look at and just appreciate how things were back then, how difficult games were back then but most of all, how that era was enjoyable in those years of gaming.

Again, this book is more nostalgic than a full out art book but all in all, I’m still happy with the purchase because it was a peek into yesteryear and reminiscing of the many video games I played and the fact that you can find this book under $20 now from some online stores makes it much easier for the pocketbook.