In 2010, you may remember that Kazami Akira-san was very kind to let me know of an art show in Akihabara, featuring the work of one of my favorite artists, Fujieda Miyabi (who sketches live sometimes on his Ustream channel.) We happened to be free that day, and were delighted to be able to see the art we love so much live and in person.
That day I picked up a copy of Fujieda-sensei’s first color artbook collection, 千紅万紫, which would probably translate to A Thousand Reds, Ten Thousand Purples, but it beats me how it might be transliterated, Senbeni Manmurasaki? I have no idea. The title is not the point, so I won’t belabor it.
The book is page after page of delight for the eyes and, to some extent, it’s my own history in Yuri, illustrated. From the covers of ES~Eternal Sisters, the second one of which featured Sarasa and Seriho, to his costume designs for Himitsu no Angelis, an Iono-sama picture, art for Twinkle Saber Nova and a ton of derivative work from series like Fate/Stay Night, Mai Otome and pages of Maria-sama ga Miteru among others. Not every picture is Yuri, of course, but there’s quite a few that are and others that are simply a delight to see.
Unfortunately, I do not see any legitimate ways of purchasing this artbook outside of Japan, and I’m not going to scan it in, but of all my Yuri artbooks, this one is the top contender for first place. It never fails to make me smile.
Overall – 10
Really pretty collection of shots even in those few clips, as to be expected from the artist. I now feel the burn of envy! =)
A search for the Japanese title of the book produces a hit on rakuten.com
Oh man, I didn’t know there was another one! I have the 2006-2009 version and I was lucky enough to find it on Melonbooks or Toranoana or Yahoo! Japan (I don’t recall, but I do remember squealing when I saw it) and used an importer to grab it up. Abso-friggin-lutely worth the extra costs and shipping and such. I am so in love with it. <3
The pretty text on the side of my book says the title is ‘Senkou Banshi’, in case curious minds want to know. :)
Oh man, I wonder if there’s another one out. >.>