ESCAPISM by Nanakawa

So, now that I finally found a suppy of dōjinshi at near-Japanese prices (one of the big surprises when I was over there, was how cheap dōjinshi actually are - rarely more than 4-5 euros) reviews should come out at a much steadier pace.

One very good find was this collection by ナナカワ of the circle Encount, titled ESCAPISM. It's from 2017, full color (and what color! one of he best printjobs I've seen in quite a while), 4A size. I was familiar through Twitter with this circle, which actually seems to be made up of a few different artists taking turns with releases - in this case, Nanakawa.

This dōjinshi has actually a lot of similarities with another one I reviewed a little while ago, RAMBLE by 田中寛崇: both feature solitary bishōjo within natural and urban environments, with a focus on vivid and, often, pleasantly clashing color palettes. Nanakawa is, perhaps, a bit on the less stylized end of things: volumes, lights, and shadows are always properly rendered, and great care is put into rendering environments and architecture. A level of abstraction is, however, is provided by the contrast between warm, summery colors, and sudden fields of cool blues and greens that is the centerpiece of almost every illustration. There is no text accompanying the illustrations: titles (already a rarity in the dōjin world, actually) and social contacts are all we have.

A very good collection of illustrations, nothing groundbreaking thematically but a very nice display of mastery over color. Nothing seems to have come out in 2018 by Nanakawa dōjin-wise yet (seems to be very active in live painting and apparel areas), though I'd definitely buy a follow up to ESCAPISM.