SAKURA REPORT by SAYU studio

Sayu Studio is one of those circles that really hit all the right buttons for me. As I never grow tired of mentioning over and over again (mostly because it's what really sets this place apart from the many excellent blogs reviewing H dōjinshi) I tend to be mostly interested in works that go beyond the typical 'illustration collection' format - rather, I am intrigued by non fiction dōjinshi, dōjin manga, and non-cosplay photo collections. All of this, plus the usual requirements of 'no H' and 'original only'. Yes, lots of requirements, but it makes it easier for me to settle on purchases...

Sayu Studio's dōjinshi have all of this and more. They have, first of all, amazing production value: glossy paper, high quality print, large format. They are exclusively nonfiction, usually focusing on cooking (pasta in particular) or travel reports (like the dōjinshi I will b reviewing today); they skillfully and seamlessly blend artist Nanahime's gorgeous illustrations with photographic food /scenery porn.

My last purchase from Sayu is the item pictured above: SAKURA REPORT, which is for the most part a report (duh!) of a trip to Notojima, a tourist spot mostly known for its aquarium (the famous one where you can walk inside the underwater gallery) and its glass art museum, apparently the only one of its kind in Japan. Both places, and many others, are wonderfully documented in SAKURA REPORT, with plenty of macros, hyper focused pictures and whatnot. Sadly, at least for me, they are also documented by huge walls of text in a Japanese that goes way beyond my level: Sayu's dōjinshi do usually feature lenghty explanations but, so far, I had mostly encountered shorter paragraphs and recipes which I could easily parse. Will be good for practice some day, I suppose... regardless, visuals are still the main thing, and the publication is worth its money on that alone.

The dōjinshi actually features a 'second part', which focuses on... food and household appliances reviews. I do not kid you: there are reviews of bread, ice cream, shoe dryers, jogging items and technology... I am still not sure whether there is a connection between the two parts of SAKURA REPORT, but here they are.

The question is, why should I care about reviews of products I cannot buy anyway (I do not live in Japan, in case you were wondering)? the answer is, design and visuals. Sayu Studio has a knack for designing wonderful page layouts with amazing interaction between images and text, and this one is no exception: the way the sample food is arranged and photographed is downright artistic, and Nanahime's bishōjo are the perfect icing on the cake.

Downsides? the only one I can think of is that I would definitely like to see more of Nanahime: in a full 32 pages dōjinshi there are only three illustrations, a shame as their art style is both distinctive and sleek. Also, as far as I know, they also don't seem to be publishing stuff on their own, so their Pivix and Sayu's books are really the only places where one will find Nanahime's stuff.

All in all, another great delivery by one of my favorite circles. Sayu's 2016 thingy features a different artist whose style I am not entirely bought on, so I postponed purchase for the moment... but it's also dessert themed, another one of my weaknesses. Decisions, decisions...

Zen. by 102

Yes, it's been a very quiet September... not that anyone cares. This was mostly because that month had no haul to speak of, scarce funds to blame. I do have quite a backlog of dōjinshi I would like to review but, for some reason, I am usually more excited about new purchases than older stuff.

Fortunately, October did have a haul (alos courtesy of the people at Otaku Republic serving me a nice coupon). There are now a pretty meaty (and wordy) SAYU Studio work, and an actual full fledged manga in the reviewing pipeline. This time, however, I will be reviewing yet another impulse purchase: the quirky Zen. by an artist who simply goes by the nickname '102'.

As the few who read this blog might have realized, while I do like a sleek, well drawn illustration, I also do think that a good, or at least a curious concept can trump both skill and form. I mean, I will be the first one to admit that Heikinritsu just can't draw that well; yet, the sheer force of the concept, the 'idea' that ties together the illustrations for each of his works makes him my favorite dōjinka by far.
So, when I came across a few images from 102's so far only publication, the relatively unpolished style didn't turn me off at all. In the end, while the craftsmanship in Zen. sometimes comes too close to the point where even I would draw a line, the dōjinshi was still a purchase I didn't regret.

The book is fairly thin, 20 A4 pages or so in total, stapled, full color. There is no text to speak of: aside the title on the cover, and a few contact info on the back of the dōjinshi, the illustrations have no title nor explanation accompanying them. The style, as one can see from the illustrations above, is fairly rough: backgrounds are mostly abstract, the human form is simplified into its basic details, the palette is made up of starkly contrasting full, blocky colors. As far as themes go, the images are fairly fantastic in nature, sometimes whimsical but often with a dark undertone: 102's girls sometimes come very close to reminding one of yōkai, a la kuchisake-onna.

As often happens with a lot of the dōjinshi I enjoy, this one is definitely an acquired taste, and a lot of people will be put off by 102's expressive, at times almost naive style. Still, if one gets into the mindset that surface polish can sometimes take a backseat to the sheer power of concept and imagination, Zen. could definitely be a worthwhile purchase.