Daigakusei Zukan 2012 Illustrations of Real Campus Girls5 min read
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Daigakusei Zukan 2012 Illustrations of Real Campus Girls brings together the annual who’s who of universities in Japan with the illustrator variety book that has become so popular recently. There are works from famous artists, but there are just as many from relative unknowns. Overall, the illustration quality varies greatly.
Daigakusei Zukan 2012 is A4-size and 132 pages. Each illustration corresponds to a university and a stereotype of the type of students that study there. There are maps at the beginning that plot out the locations of each university, with most located in and around Tokyo. The illustration above by Ein is for Keio University.
There are 50 full-page illustrations. Ayakura Jyuu starts off the collection with an illustration for Waseda University. One of the stats included with each university is its male to female ratio, which sometimes factors into a decision to choose a university. Akitsu Taira illustrated the girls for the International Christian University, which has a male to female ratio of 37:63.
I was surprised to see an illustration from Takemoto Izumi for Nihon University. But Nihon University was his alma mater so there may have been some sentimentality involved! The majority of participating artists are quite new to the scene.
toi8 did the illustration for The University of Tokyo, which is both prestigious and predominantly male (81:19).
There are some nice illustrations in Daigakusei Zukan 2012 Illustrations of Real Campus Girls, but there are more that are instantly forgettable. While it’s nice to discover new artists, the subject matter wasn’t the best platform to showcase their skills. The price is reasonable at ￥1800, but I think there are more interesting collections to purchase.
Title: Daigakusei Zukan 2012 Illustrations of Real Campus Girls タイトル: 大学生図鑑 2012 ～人気イラストレーター Author: 東京 : 晋遊舎 Publication Date: 03/28/2011 Size: 132p NDL: https://id.ndl.go.jp/bib/023096093
