Tokimeki Mono Illustrations

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I was surprised to see so many illustrations in Kousaki Rui’s Comiket 78 release, Tokimeki Mono, when he had just released a large collection for C77 with his GLASS HEART 5 publication. I guess it helped that several of the illustrations in GLASS HEART 5 were reprints. Some of the ones in Tokimeki Mono are as well, but since they were done outside of Kousaki’s doujinshi circle, they’re new to me!

The content of Tokimeki Mono is entirely fan arts, unlike previous GLASS HEART releases, which generally included original works as well. Tokimeki Mono is an A4-sized staple-bound book that’s 28 pages in length. And unlike in most doujinshi, every page is used including the inside covers, so it feels like a lot more illustrations. The first few illustrations in the book feature Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Destiny characters. Which reminds me, there’s a Tales Of Series 15th Anniversary Book coming out on the 15th. Though I don’t think it’s going to be all illustrations, it’s still going to be an awesome collection of character profiles, settings, interviews and art works.

Loved the Toradora! illustrations. Kousaki Rui’s style really emulates the original artist’s designs, especially with the hair, but still mixes it with an anime flair.

There is a single illustration from both Vocaloid and Touhou, but it’s neat to see in Kousaki’s style, as these are the first I’ve seen in a collection from the artist. Other fan works included a couple of illustrations from The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Sengoku Basara, Fate/Stay Night and Durarara!! I was really amused by the “place-holder” Nagato Yuki illustration, guess it’s so you can imagine yourself riding the bike with her?

Tokimeki Mono closes with an illustration of Joey Jones from Heroman. The index includes Kousaki Rui’s comments, though not on every illustration.