LEAF Illustrations Tatsuki Amaduyu Edition

Reading Time: 4 minutes

It’s hard for me to consider LEAF Illustrations Tatsuki Amaduyu Edition 1998-2006 a “doujinshi” aside from the very technical reasons that you can’t buy it commercially and it has no ISBN. This oversized 111-page book is well-made, with a quality construction that you seldom see in commercial books. Some of Tatsuki Amaduyu’s best pieces are in here, spanning eight years and everything from To Heart to Utawarerumono.

The books has a removable clear plastic cover that reveals the cover and back cover art work without any obstructions. It’s also a very durable plastic, so it’s very unlikely you’ll experience any rips or tears.

The print is also high resolution on very sturdy, texture-less pages. The first and largest section of the book is all Utawarerumono. There are several drawings exclusively for this collection.

The Utawarerumono portion of the book is 37-pages with 41 illustrations. This books has no table of contents, but there is an index that includes commentary and publishing details. For the most part, the art works in this section are full page, or spreads.

The following section consists of To Heart illustrations, which he worked on with Mitsumi Misato to a point where their separate styles almost blend. Some of the illustrations in this book are even collaboration works, and also appear in the LEAF Illustrations Mitsumi Misato Edition. I think that’s only the case for two illustrations though.

I’ve never been a fan of To Heart. I watched the old series in the late 90’s and that was it for me. The main thing that turned me off it was the uniform design. I don’t like red and pink. It’s silly, but since I follow most series/games for the art work, some styles can be a road block. The To Heart section has 27 illustrations on 23-pages.

I didn’t know that Misato Mitsumi and Tatsuki Amaduyu illustrated Comic Party, but I can see it now. Several of the illustrations have an uncharacteristically anime style. This section is 17-pages and contains 25 illustrations.

The final part of the book has three short sections; Others (3 illustrations), Leaf Fan Club (26 comic style illustrations on 9 pages) and Original (6 illustrations). The Others section has some copyright works, but the only one I recognize is from Tears to Tiara. The Leaf Fan Club isn’t too impressive with mostly monochrome works. And the Original section has some rather generic girls-in-swimsuits illustrations.

The index in this book is 15-pages, with thumbnails and artist comments provided with each illustration. The highlight of this collection is easily the Utawarerumono portion, and if you’re a fan you need this art book. Even if you’re not into any of it, you’d still appreciate the art work. There still isn’t a commercial art book by Tatsuki Amaduyu, so this is your only option!