Diego briefly escapes from the drudgery of the white-collar salt mines to bring you another review. Today, the spotlight falls on Cielo – the last in a three-volume series of hardbound books featuring the manga art of ARIA author and illustrator Amano Kozue.

As with my previous artbook posts, only low-quality shots of selected pages are provided here. If these samples succeed in piquing your interest, please support Amano-sensei and the publishers by purchasing the artbook. (Don’t ask us to provide high-quality images or scans; we just won’t do it.)

CONTENTS

Strictly speaking, Cielo isn’t an ARIA artbook – it’s more of a general portfolio covering several manga titles and an assortment of shorter works. On the other hand, there’s no hiding the fact that Amano-sensei’s most popular series gets star billing in this volume (as it did in the last two), and with the related series AQUA rounding out the collection it’s easy to see why this artbook will be of interest primarily to fans of the ARIA franchise.

Cielo contains 36 pages of colour art from ARIA, 8 from Roman Club, 8 from Crescent Noise, 8 from an assortment of shorter works, and 20 from ARIA‘s sister series AQUA. 9 pages of monochrome art are also included.

Samples from the ARIA and AQUA sections are presented below.

MY THOUGHTS

There are few – if any – discernible stylistic differences between the art featured in Cielo and the works collected in its sister volumes, so I’ll start this section off with a lightly edited extract from my review of the first artbook:

Like the manga series and its anime adaptation, the art of ARIA and AQUA seems to have been designed specifically to induce a feeling of calm refreshment on the part of the viewer. Amano-sensei’s style favours a soft palette – including shades of blue and green, the colours of the sea – and employs a masterful use of shading to create vistas that are both strikingly beautiful and remarkably easy on the eyes. Human figures are usually drawn in poses that suggest not action, but relaxation: sitting serenely on the edge of a canal with the sea lapping at their feet; perched on a high spot gazing up at the azure sky, with the ocean’s gently rippled surface spreading out underneath; walking in an open arcade at sunset within sight of the sea-green harbour.

I can’t really pick a favourite out of the three volumes, even if pressed to do so. Amano-sensei’s art is consistently good from first to last, with each successor offering not so much a development in style but more of a broadening of scope, with the same artistic touch expressed in a wider variety of scenes. In other words, Cielo offers us more of the same – which in this case is an admirable thing.

Like its two predecessors, this hardbound volume comes in a transparent plastic slipcase – an inconspicuous protective feature that I’d like to see become standard-issue for artbooks. In the case of Cielo, the title of the artbook and the usual back cover details (price, barcode, etc.) are printed on the slipcase, leaving the actual covers of the book mostly unmarred by text.

At 3,130 yen (about US$34-35) a copy, Cielo isn’t exactly cheap, but for a dedicated admirer of Amano-sensei’s work in general – or of the ARIA series in particular – it’s an investment well worth making.

AVAILABILITY, COST, ETC.

Cielo was first released in 2006, but a reprint was issued in 2008 so availability shouldn’t be a major concern.

Here are the acquisition details for my copy (mostly from the original sales receipt):

Place acquired: Animate, Akihabara (Tokyo) branch
Date and time acquired: 26 March 2009, 8:46 PM
Acquisition cost: 3,130 yen (including tax)

In addition to Animate, I remember seeing all three Amano Kozue artbooks in the Akihabara branch of Comic Toranoana (artbook section, ground floor of the doujin wing). AsoBitCity, Mandarake and other stores – including major bookshops – should also have copies on stock, but I can’t attest to that personally.

If you’re based outside Japan, consider ordering the book from an online retailer. Amazon Japan, for one, is selling Cielo at the prevailing Akiba street price and will ship internationally, although the shipping costs can be ruinous: from 2,200 yen (including the per-item handling charge) for Asia to 4,700 yen – which exceeds the price of the book itself! – for South America. As always, poke around for the best deal (list price and postage) before buying.

THE LAST WORD

Must buy. A real treat for ARIA enthusiasts.

Reviews of the first two volumes in this artbook series are available here and here.

Hopefully, I’m not the only one still keeping up to date with the (admittedly haphazard) Gunslinger Girl scanlation release schedule. It’s certainly a very undermentioned series despite being one of the most poignant series I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Sure, the target demographic may be creepy perverts lolicons, but one can’t deny that the kind of writing that goes into these chapters are certainly no cheap parlour tack-ons. Though, I will have to admit that the shoddy workmanship of Il Treatrino did put me off from actually watching the second season. Not that I missed a whole lot, of course… I don’t think so, anyway.

That being said, the current scanlations are, I believe, just four or so chapters behind the latest releases. The last chapter I read on Mangafox some scanlations website was chapter 63, I believe. It ended on a cliffhanger as the Fratelli by the name of Beatrice takes to the frontstage but for a fleeting moment.

Yet, what a moment it was.

Today, we’re throwing the spotlight on Stella – a hardbound artbook featuring the work of ARIA manga author and illustrator Amano Kozue.

CONTENTS

Note to readers: Click on the images to enlarge. Requests for larger, high-quality reproductions/scans will not be entertained. If these low-quality samples succeed in piquing your interest, please support Amano-sensei and the publishers by purchasing the artbook.

Stella‘s first course consists of scenes set in the world of Amano-sensei’s popular manga series ARIA. There are sixteen pages of art in this section, several of which are shown below.

The rest of the book features artwork prepared for Amano-sensei’s other manga series. We are served sixteen pages from Roman Club . . .

. . . followed by a whopping 34 pages of art from Crescent Noise . . .

. . . and eight pages from various other works.

Amano-sensei’s visual feast concludes with a rich dessert: fourteen pages from ARIA‘s prequel, AQUA.

MY THOUGHTS

Neo-Venezia is clearly meant to be the star of the show. The book opens with art from ARIA, ends with art from AQUA, features art from AQUA on its covers and bears a title that fits comfortably into the quasi-Italian world of these series. In terms of quantity, however, Neo-Venezia plays second fiddle to the less well-known series Crescent Noise, which claims 34 pages for itself in this book (versus just thirty for ARIA and AQUA combined). A little disappointing, but then again the book’s sub-title reads “KOZUE AMANO Illustration Works II” – not “KOZUE AMANO Aria Illustrations (plus a few extras)” – so I can’t really complain.

There are few – if any – discernible stylistic differences between the art featured in Alpha and the works collected in Stella, so I’ll simply quote what I said in my review of the first volume:

Like the manga series and its anime adaptation, the art of ARIA and AQUA seems to have been designed specifically to induce a sense of calm refreshment on the part of the viewer. Amano-sensei’s style favours a soft palette – mainly in shades of blue and green, the colours of the sea – and a masterful use of shading to create vistas that are both strikingly beautiful and remarkably easy on the eyes. Human figures are usually drawn in poses that suggest not action, but relaxation: sitting serenely on the edge of a canal with the sea lapping at their feet; perched on a high spot gazing up at the azure sky, with the ocean’s gently rippled surface spreading out underneath; walking in an open arcade at sunset within sight of the sea-green harbour. It’s enough to make one want to lie in bed and sleep peacefully through the afternoon, or even fly straight to Venice itself and experience the joy of leaning back in a gondola borne upon the calm waters of the Venetian lagoon. (I wouldn’t recommend dangling one’s feet in the waters of the real Venice, though. The crystal-clear seas of Amano-sensei’s Neo-Venezia are a pleasant fantasy that its real-life counterpart on Manhome can only wish for.)

The other manga series represented in Alpha call for similar character designs, but a markedly different style of art execution: less depth, a simpler scheme, a palette with fewer pastels and more primary hues. I was not as impressed with these earlier works as I was with the art prepared for ARIA and AQUA, though I imagine fans of Amano-sensei’s other series will find something to their liking in these sections.

Like its predecessor, Alpha, this hardbound artbook comes in a transparent plastic slipcase – a feature I’d like to see on more artbooks, mainly for the added protection it gives. In this case, the title of the artbook and the standard back cover details (price, barcode, etc.) are printed on the slipcase, which leaves the covers of the book itself mostly unmarred by text.

AVAILABILITY, COST, ETC.

Stella was first released in 2005, but a reprint was issued in 2008 so availability shouldn’t be a major concern.

Here are the acquisition details for my copy (mostly from the original sales receipt):

Place acquired: Animate, Akihabara (Tokyo) branch
Date and time acquired: 26 March 2009, 8:46 PM
Acquisition cost: 3,130 yen (including tax)

In addition to Animate, I remember seeing all three Amano Kozue artbooks in the Akihabara branch of Comic Toranoana (artbook section, ground floor of the doujin wing). AsoBitCity, Mandarake and other stores – including major bookshops – should also have copies on stock, but I can’t attest to that personally.

If you’re based outside Japan, consider ordering the book from an online retailer. Amazon Japan, for one, is selling Stella at the prevailing Akiba street price and will ship internationally, although the shipping costs can be ruinous: from 2,200 yen (including the per-item handling charge) for Asia to 4,700 yen – which exceeds the price of the book itself! – for South America. As always, poke around for the best deal (list price and postage) before buying.

THE LAST WORD

Must buy. Even though there are less of them here than in the first volume, the beautiful illustrations in the ARIA and AQUA sections alone are worth the price of the book.

Today, we’re throwing the spotlight on Alpha – a hardbound artbook featuring the work of ARIA manga author and illustrator Amano Kozue.

CONTENTS

Note to readers: Click on the images to enlarge. Requests for larger, high-quality reproductions/scans will not be entertained. If these low-quality samples succeed in piquing your interest, please support Amano-sensei and the publishers by purchasing the artbook.

The first section of Alpha is a 34-page collection of artwork set in the world of Amano-sensei’s popular manga series ARIA. The illustrations show one or more of the series’ main characters – most frequently Akari – against a wide variety of backgrounds.

Some settings are clearly specific to Neo-Venezia, either because of the presence of spacecraft . . .

. . . or identifying signs.

Others are simply Manhome Venetian . . .

. . . or have a general Mediterranean feel (more Greek than Italian, in the case of the following).

In some illustrations – including the following – the backgrounds are clearly inspired by scenes from Amano-sensei’s native Japan.

The rest of the book features artwork prepared for Amano-sensei’s other manga series. We have eight pages from Roman Club . . .

. . . twelve pages from Crescent Noise . . .

. . . and six pages from various other works.

In the last part of the colour section, we are transported back to Neo-Venezia through twelve pages of art from Amano-sensei’s two-volume manga series AQUA, the prequel to ARIA (although strictly speaking they’re both part of the same series).

After the colour sections, we have eleven pages of monochrome art prepared for various series. One of these illustrations is an interesting prototype drawing for AQUA showing a terraformed Mars that looks quite different from the one actually used: more tropical than Venetian, with an almost unrecognisable Ukijima floating high in the background and a young woman (prototype Akari?) sitting on a wide beach in the foreground.

MY THOUGHTS

The ARIA and AQUA sections of Alpha are a true feast for the eyes of this longtime fan of Amano-sensei’s most popular manga series. Needless to say, the low-quality images above don’t do the artwork justice: there’s simply no substitute for purchasing the artbook and looking at these gorgeous illustrations in person.

Like the manga series and its anime adaptation, the art of ARIA and AQUA seems to have been designed specifically to induce a sense of calm refreshment on the part of the viewer. Amano-sensei’s style favours a soft palette – mainly in shades of blue and green, the colours of the sea – and a masterful use of shading to create vistas that are both strikingly beautiful and remarkably easy on the eyes. Human figures are usually drawn in poses that suggest not action, but relaxation: sitting serenely on the edge of a canal with the sea lapping at their feet; perched on a high spot gazing up at the azure sky, with the ocean’s gently rippled surface spreading out underneath; walking in an open arcade at sunset within sight of the sea-green harbour. It’s enough to make one want to lie in bed and sleep peacefully through the afternoon, or even fly straight to Venice itself and experience the joy of leaning back in a gondola borne upon the calm waters of the Venetian lagoon. (I wouldn’t recommend dangling one’s feet in the waters of the real Venice, though. The crystal-clear seas of Amano-sensei’s Neo-Venezia are a pleasant fantasy that its real-life counterpart on Manhome can only wish for.)

The other manga series represented in Alpha call for similar character designs, but a markedly different style of art execution: less depth, a simpler scheme, a palette with fewer pastels and more primary hues. I was not as impressed with these earlier works as I was with the art prepared for ARIA and AQUA, though I imagine fans of Amano-sensei’s other series will find something to their liking in these sections.

A brief word on the packaging. The hardbound artbook comes in a transparent plastic slipcase – a feature I’d like to see on more artbooks, mainly for the added protection it gives. In this case, the title of the artbook and the standard back cover details (price, barcode, etc.) are printed on the slipcase, which leaves the covers of the book itself mostly unmarred by text.

AVAILABILITY

The first edition of Alpha was released in 2004. Several reprints have been issued since then (most recently in September 2008), so availability isn’t a major concern even though five years have passed after the collection first hit store shelves.

If you’re in Japan – or if you have friends in Japan who can do the shopping for you – locating this artbook should be a piece of cake. I purchased my copy of Alpha from the Akihabara branch of Animate, where as of 26 March 2009 (the day when I visited the store), there were several copies on display and possibly more in storage. If I remember correctly, the Akihabara branch of Comic Toranoana also had at least one copy on sale; a nearby branch of AsoBitCity was selling either Alpha or one of its two successors (Stella and Cielo) – can’t remember which – at a slightly lower price. I expect any major bookshop or anime merchandise store will have it on their shelves.

If you’re outside Japan and can’t get the book through local bookshops, you can try one of the major online retailers. Amazon Japan, for example, has Alpha on offer at the prevailing Akiba street price and will ship internationally.

It’s official.

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has picked self-professed manga fan Asou Tarou to succeed outgoing premier Fukuda Yasuo as party president, which puts him squarely on the path to become the country’s first Roman Catholic prime minister.

For the record, he’s not Prime Minister yet – the Diet still needs to confirm him in that role on 24 September. But with the LDP holding a majority of the seats in the lower house, I think the chances of Asou not taking over Fukuda’s job are virtually nil. UPDATE (24 September 2008): As expected, the LDP-dominated lower house wasted no time in confirming Asou as Prime Minister. As expected, the DPJ-controlled upper house snubbed Asou and chose DPJ party leader Ozawa Ichirou to take over Fukuda’s job. As expected, the lower house overrode the upper house and planted their own man firmly in the Kantei.

I first wrote about the new LDP president just over a year ago, when then-Prime Minister Abe Shinzou sprung a surprise resignation on his party and Asou was expected to succeed him. As it turned out, Fukuda Yasuo got the top job, but now he’s out and the 68-year-old political conservative – known in some circles as “Rozen Asou” ever since he was said to have been spotted reading Rozen Maiden – is in.

To mark this event, I’m reposting the blog entry I first published on 13 September 2007 on the occasion of Abe Shinzou’s resignation. Unless otherwise indicated, everything between the two lines of asterisks is from that 2007 entry.

**********

I think the Wall Street Journal said it best: “Score one for the nerds!”

News of Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzou‘s surprise resignation was quickly followed by speculation as to who would succeed him. [EDIT: Now, less than a year later, Abe's immediate successor Fukuda is on his way out. Talk about turnover!] According to the BBC, former Foreign Minister Asou Tarou – currently the secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and a close ally of Prime Minister Abe – is widely tipped to become the new man in the Kantei.

Now why is this relevant to us in the otakusphere?

Well, there’s the fact that Asou is a well-known manga fan.

In this interview, for example, Asou freely admitted to reading “10 to 20″ manga anthologies a week. My Japanese sucks, but I was able to recognise some pretty big names in the list he rattled off (including the seinen anthologies Young Jump and Business Jump).

And his credentials don’t end there. Earlier this year [EDIT: "this year" = 2007], as Japan’s Foreign Minister, Asou oversaw the establishment of the International Manga Award to honour the achievements of non-Japanese mangaka. During his term in office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs used manga in an official capacity to bolster its image among Japanese children and to convey its message to delegates at an international meeting on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Not surprisingly, shares in manga publishers and bookshops rose on the Tokyo Stock Exchange even as the rest of the market lost ground on the news of Prime Minister Abe’s resignation.

Of course, his selection is far from a sure thing; so far the only person to throw his hat into the ring is Finance Minister Nukaga Fukushiro. [EDIT: In the 2008 party election, Asou's rivals included State Minister in charge of Economic and Fiscal Policy Yosano Kaoru, former Defence Minister Koike Yuriko, former LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Ishihara Nobuteru, and former Defence Minister Ishiba Shigeru.] But if Asou is indeed picked for the top job, I shall look forward to seeing how his love for manga will influence the way he manages his country’s affairs.

For starters, how does a manga mascot for the Kantei sound?

**********

A parting note: the BBC’s writers can’t seem to make up their minds about how to describe manga. First the BBC calls them “Japanese manga cartoons“, then “manga animation“, and now “adult manga cartoons“. Unforgivable.

Mark Thompson, I demand your immediate and irrevocable resignation.

LINKS
Anime News Network – “Manga Fan Asō Chosen to Be Japan’s Next Prime Minister” (news article)
BBC News – “Aso picked to become new Japan PM” (news article) / “Taro Aso confirmed as Japan’s PM” (news article) / biographical profile
Wikipedia – encyclopedia entry (English) / encyclopedia entry (Japanese)