DAY DREAMING by 虚空旋律記

DAY DREAMING by 虚空旋律記 (Koku Senritsuki) is a work that puts on display a different side of the dōjinshi world, usually so dominated by manga, character design and moe: it's a short collection of 3d CG fantasy landscapes by 3d artist and photographer Senritsuki. While not without its flaws, it's a fairly interesting work that strikes a note with the progressive rock covers / Bryce aficionado in me.

The book is a bit larger than A4, fairly short (only 16 pages) but in full color. From the design point of view, the dōjinshi espouses a clean, minimalist aesthetics that well matches Senritsuki's renders: every illustration is a full two page spread, which allows one to really dig into the textures and details of each piece. The style is, in many ways, a retro throwback: the artist's renders eschew the mimetic, rich in realistic detail style that has come to dominate the genre; instead, these illustrations have as strong points their monumentality and the charm of their textures, the transparent and semi-transparent ones in particular. Even when the subject is not openly abstract - there are a couple of nature renders - the accent is put on composition and color over realism.

As far as subjects, for the most part we are in Myst / seapunk land: airy, abstract landscapes and architectures that are really geared toward displaying Senritsuki's mastery of refractions, reflections and spatial arrangement. Every image would easily make for a very good poster, or at least a screen background.

The only flaw I really found with DAY DREAMING is that it's really, really short: it features only seven renders for a total of 16 pages, images plus a few notes on the creation process and philosophy. As time consuming as making these had to be, I would have liked to see more: to justify the price tag, I personally would have wanted at least two more renders to be included.

DAY DREAMING is part of a series, which in later volumes also includes actual architecture and natural landscapes. Senritsuki also has a nice Pixiv for all who would like to see more from this offbeat dōjinka.

August (small) haul

New shipment, and it turns out it's my 15th purchase with Otaku Republic! Those good folks not only sent me a coupon for my next purchase, but also a nice thank you letter along with my August purchases. While their prices might not be the most affordable, I have always been more than satisfied by the service they provided: items are always top notch, everything is shipped in a timely manner, and contacts / enquiries have always been handled in the best possible way. Not to mention they have free priority shipping for orders over $50. AND they speak English - if you're familiar with proxy services I don't need to emphasize how important this last aspect is. Highly reccomended.

This month was a chance to catch up with a few random items off my doujinshi.org wishlist, considering that none of my favorite circles released new stuff for C90. One is an issue of design magazine Plotter, which I purchased because I am a sucker for design magazines and because it contains a contribution by all time favorite Heikinritsu. キスをしても触れあえない by 不明人種 is a full blown manga which looks very promising, as well as featuring a fantastic color cover. Day Dreaming by Koku Senritsuki circle is a short but visually astounding 3d CG landscape illustration book, another thing I am a sucker for.

Reviews incoming.

藤倉和音 / Fujikura Kazune

One of the negative aspects of collecting dōjinshi (which adds to the costs and availability, if you happen to collect from abroad) is the essentially fickle nature of the dōjin world at all levels: it's way too common to discover an old dōjinshi by a circle you didn't know, just to find out that they disbanded / stopped producing / fell off the face of the planet after that single publication. There are surely many justifiable reasons for this kind of behavior - loss of interest, the still not insignificant costs of self publishing, the old and tried 'baleet all my indie work once I become famous' practice. Still, I can't help but feel slightly let down when this or that artist quits the dōjin world for good; especially when, instead of at least doing it for the greater good of going mainstream, they simply disappear without a trace, leaving behind a trail of borked websites.

One of these is Fujikura Kazune, who produced under the circle name SELFISH GENE a handful of dōjinshi in the late 90s / early 2000, followed by a couple of volumes of a basically forgotten and impossible to find manga, and then absolutely nothing. The site is a feast of 404s, he has no Twitter and no Pixiv that I could find. Those few dōjinshi however, at least the ones I could get my hands on, are visually interesting and charming works that deserve some attention.

The first one I purchased a while ago is 2001's self-referentially titled Liberation from Fujikura, a full color 28 pages book that is roughly divided between a first half of illustrations, and a second half of short manga stories. The theme seems to be photography and screens (there is more than one hint that Fujikura is also an amateur photographer), which is integrated into the illustrations not only thematically, but also visually: Fujikura's slightly childish, almost chibi characters are superimposed to computer generated backgrounds, manipulated photographies, and all kinds of digital filters. Neither of the two aspects really overtakes the other: Fujikura has an eye in particular for color and contrast, which ties the different visual styles together.

Then, captivated by the graphics and a lower than usual price, I also snagged the prehistoric (1997!) and equally self-referentially titled Introduction to Fujikura. 36 pages with some b&w towards the end. This one focuses solely on drawn illustration, and also features a few works of Fujikura that actually saw mainstream publication on anthologies and magazines.

Pardon the picture quality, but apparently this thing is so obscure there is no entry for it even in doujinshi.org. The illustrations are the main selling point here, as commentary is scarce as well as info - we're not even told in which magazine or anthology the illustrations appeared. Graphically, some will probably find Fujikura's style too simple and plain, as he mostly employs pastel and earthy colors, and the linework is very clean and unadorned. I personally liked it, although this dōjinshi is objectively the least interesting of the three I own from this circle.

The one some might actually find interesting and worth the purchase (should they actually find a copy) is 2000's Minitar, as it is actually more a fanzine than a Fujikura Kazune dōjinshi alone. 28 pages, a mix of b&w and color in a peculiar horizontal format.

 

 

 

 

Only about half of the book is dedicated to Fujikura's illustrations and short story manga (with no radical style shifts than what one could already see in previous publications): more than half of Minitar actually consists of interviews and shortcases of other artists and dōjinka. The main course, obviously, is a fairly long and meaty interview with Metalzigzag, a (NSFW) name that will probably be familiar to those that stalk Japanese image boards and the like. Also featured is a showcase by traditional artist 'Danse sans Musique' and an interview with illustrator / DYI artist / SELFISH GENE collaborator Keiko Sekikawa.

All in all, an interesting trio of dōjinshi which shows a lot of room for improvement that, alas, will simply not get a chance to happen.

City Dwellers - Free

Just a further heads up - my friend Roy Madoy's City Dwellers is a free download for the week on Amazon.com. Download, read, and spread the word.

ルーチカ図鑑 天体観測 by ささきさルーチカ

Although probably a minor thing to most, one of the things I always enjoyed about Japanese books is how standardized the formats are: larger, almost Western sized first print, smaller pocket sized bunko reprints, and that's it. They look nice and orderly on a shelf; unlike the rest of my library, which is a mess of formats and a true headache now that I'm trying to cut a few new rows of shelves...

I particularly enjoy that homely, no frills book size and design that (perhaps wrongly) I associate with pre WWII, up to and including Showa era publishing: rows and rows of equally sized tomes with beautifully simple covers, free of illustrations, photographs or other design frills - not to mention the gorgeously clean typesets.

I have come across quite a few contemporary publications, both mainstream and dōjin, which attempt to recreate that look. One that comes to mind is Ningyou ga Ningyou by NisioIsin; and, of course, the dōjinshi I am reviewing today. This preamble would be largely useless otherwise, right?

 ルーチカ図鑑 天体観測 (Ruchika Picture Book of Astronomical Observations) by Sasakisa Ruchika (as it often happens, I'm cloudy whether the name is an actual name, a circle name, or a nickname for a one- wo/man show) is a strange little thing, one the many impulse purchases I am still undecided whether they've been a lucky strike or a sunk battleship. The booklet itself is TINY: probably an A6 format, if that even exists; page count is also not particularly high, 32 pages total. The paper is very high quality, thick matte paper, and the illustrations are all in B&W.

The contents, in spite of the 'astronomical observations' title, are mostly a data overview of the solar system's bodies and their features or movements, with the last few pages dedicated to actual observations. Frankly, for the most part, it's information anyone could gather through a quick perusal of Wikipedia. Clearly, in this case, contents are not the main point.

The main point is, of course, design; and, from this angle, this little overpriced booklet is a winner. On each page, the text is laid out under a stylish little border, and the illustrations are visually framed in a very compelling way. In spite of the sharp printing quality, the illustrations combined with the typeset really capture that Showa era feel - or, for the more Western minded, that Eighteenth / Nineteenth century natural history feel. Even the cover, while printed as a whole rather than overlaid with glued elements like the days of old, really captures that retro style.

The booklet is actually only one out of a series, which also explores geology and zoology; and the design booklets are just a part of the many items the circle produces, most of them falling under the same 'retro natural history' aesthetics. This one is a good sample, with my only real criticism being the very short page count. Which makes me wonder, what's a 'good' word could for a dōjinshi which makes it Worth your buck? does it depend from type and genre?

Roy Madoy - City Dwellers

Just a heads up that the debut novel of my very good friend Roy Madoy, City Dwellers, is now available as ebook on Amazon. A good read if you like mystery, female sleuths, and quirky settings.