DAWN by みけねこりんご / 幻想探行記 by ゆずりんご

Two reviews for one this time around, mostly because these two artbooks are both very, very flimsy... 16 and 20 pages respectively. As an added bonus, both circles have りんご in their names, though unrelated - at least as far as I could tell...

DAWN by みけねこりんご(the circle name of うろこ) published 2009 is, as mentioned, a fairly thin artbook, but one that visually packs a punch. While the artist has been recently dedicating their craft almost exclusively to Danganronpa fan art, DAWN is simply a full color collection of unrelated illustrations, where thematically the lion's share is taken by armed and dangerous bishōjo of all varieties.

While there might not be much variety as far as subject matter goes, the artist definitely displays a strong sense of both color and composition, developing complex color palettes that enhances the curvy, wavy qualities of their pinups. An unusual amount of attention is also paid to backgrounds. Such a shame that, as far as I could gather, the circle hasn't published a thing since 2013 outside of occasional Pixiv updates and Danganronpa fanart.

The other collection of illustrations I picked up in my last shipment is 幻想探行記 by ゆずりんご, published in 2009. While there seems to be a single artist behind the Yuzuringo name, the dōjinshi actually goes through three or so quite different visual and thematic styles, ranging from slick digital illustrations and pinups in a clear manga inspired vein, to items that display a closer affinity for traditional art.

While, as usual, I am left wishing that both dōjinshi simply had a higher word count, DAWN and 幻想探行記 were overall two very different, yet worthy additions to my collection of illustration works from little known artists. Next time, yet another Heikinritsu from the past, and a whole new, very interesting artist...

SAVOYA by サボテリアン

Through one of NHK's typically incomprehensible mazes of reruns and chronological chopping, it seems as if my favorite show, At Home with Venetia in Kyoto, is still running - there were at least two seasonal specials filmed in 2017. Even the reruns are amazing; that woman lives exactly the kind of life I would like to lead, if I had the financial security I currently don't possess.

I started with this little side comment because the dōjinshi I'm reviewing this time is probably the farthest one can get from... well, anything sunny and countryside-ish slice of life-y. Among my most recent purchases was yet another dōjinshi I bought on its cover alone - an illustration collection by a certain SAVOYA, whom I never heard of before.

B5, B&W, 36 page, and I'm pretty sure it's not Reimu on the cover. Inexplicably, SAVOYA is actually another name - seemingly used only for this publication - of illustrator サボテリアン (Saboterian), who actually has a web site and a Pixiv page to their name, and whose work was featured in a Pokémon themed anothology a while ago. The illustrations featured here are all original work which is partly germane to this dōjinshi, and partly appears in color on the Pixiv page linked above.

Stylistically speaking, the visual coordinates of SAVOYA's art are fairly clear: there is a bit of that 'scary kawaii' aesthetics a la Murakami, but mostly we are in Ueda Hajime and Dowman Sayman territory, from which SAVOYA borrows the extremely dynamic compositions, the willowy and often abstract body anatomy, and the sketch-like quality of the tract. While, as mentioned, some of the originals (linked here) are in color, often the compositions work just as well - sometimes even better - in B&W.

Thematically, we are in rather extreme, sometimes borderline guro territory. We range from exploding shoujo to monster avatars, through a facial of raining testicles (yes, that too). As often happens in these cases, the vile subject matter is redeemed by SAVOYA's skillful use of composition and line, which sublimates the body horror into a compelling visual which works as design as much as illustration. Though the stylistic coordinates are very different, SAVOYA's work reminded me somewhat of Nedlog's.

Overall, a little quirky surprise whose subject matter might not be to everyone's taste but that, at least visually, is sure to make an impression.