Edel Farben by Shiina You

I reviewed quite a while ago Ao No Eden, a meaty, full color dōjinshi by Shiina You, an artist I was unfamiliar with, but who I then discovered to be far from a complete amateur, as they also could boast a manga serialization (albeit a fairly short one), a lot of light novel insert illustrations, and two pages on the awesome 100 Masters of Bishojo Painting (which, I should add, was one of the best otaku-related purchases I ever did). As I was pleasantly impressed by the high quality of Shiina's material, I was on the lookout for a few more of their dōjinshi.

Unlike Ao No Eden, which was part manga and part illustration book, Edel Farben is 100% illustrations. The quality of the physical object is fairly amazing, as the 48 pages book is full color, glossy, and could easily pass for an official, publishing house art collection. Very sturdy binding too, often a sore spot in dōjinshi.

While the contents fall squarely within the bishojo subgenre, and young women tend to be the focus of each illustration, there is enough variety as to display Shiina You's versatility as an artist. As the German title might suggest, a lot of the pin ups focus on a gothic lolita aesthetic (which is actually a running theme in the author's other works), but there is also some sci-fi-like thecnological weaponry, some fantasy pics that fully display the artist's involvement in the Japanese fantasy/isekai LN scene, and a couple of 'remastered' pieces from previous publications (including one from Ao No Eden). There is some text to go with a few of the illustrations, but it's sparse and largely inconsequential. The composition, trait, anatomy, and general draughsmanship are of course amazing, and the coloring is impeccable too: Shiina You is a professional, and has the artwork to show.

All in all, another excellent dōjinshi from an excellent artist, who foregoes the sketches / lineart padding that all too often plagues illustration artbooks and chooses to offer instead a finished, full rounded, professional quality product.