Tony’s ART Works from Shining World7 min read
Reading Time: 4 minutesTony’s ART Works from Shining World is easily one of the best art books I’ve ever purchased. With its impending release in the US, even more folks will have the chance to enjoy this fantastic art book. I’m reviewing the Japanese edition, which may have some physical differences, but it should have the same content.
The presentation is one of the many aspects where this book really shines. It comes in a slipcase that partially conceals the beautiful cover art work. The cover uses a glittering design to conceal the girls. When you open the book, the first illustration reveals the cover art in full. The index is at the beginning of the book with the publication information next to a photo of the illustrator.
Tony’s ART Works from Shining World is a B4-size, hardcover, and 208 pages. It starts off with a section titled “Beauty of Nobleness” which goes from pages 8 to 29. It includes DVD illustrations from the Shining Tears X Wind series. Art works from the Shining Wind drama CDs are also showcased in this section. At the time of publication, this first section of the book has the newest art works for the Shining World franchise.
There are a few breaks from the art work scattered throughout the book. These sections feature discussions with Tony Taka on different subjects. The first one is an illustration process with sketches and line art of the cover art.
The next section is “Tears Trickle Down” and features 52 pages of Shining Tears illustrations. All of the illustrations in Shining World receive a full-page, with only one spread at the beginning of the art book. Even the landscape images have full pages.
At the end of the Shining Tears section is another talk with Tony Taka, this time showing off his impressive workspace. One of the advantages of this art book having a US release is finally being able to read those interviews!
The art of Shining Wind is next, in a section titled Wind Blowing the Mind. The illustrations in this section run from pages 84 through 125 and offer a really comprehensive collection of Shining Wind art work. Clothing and hair detail is arguably better although there’s nothing in this book I would consider bad.
Since it’s a video game art book, it ends with 80 pages of character art that includes poses and costumes for all the characters from Shining Wind and Shining Tears. It would be great if there were more game art collections like this one. I have nothing but praise for Tony’s ART Works from Shining World and though I don’t know whether or not the US edition will live up to the masterpiece that is the Japanese edition, the content alone should be worth the cover price for most folks.
Title: Tony's ART Works from Shining World タイトル: トニーズアートワークス フロムシャイニングワールド Author: Tony Taka Publication Date: 04/02/2009 Size: 208p NDL: https://id.ndl.go.jp/bib/000010084102
