While it might not be apparent from the stutt I review, I am a big fan of pixel art. I am, after all, also a Doom and Strife modder, and making custom graphics for those games pretty much means creating pixel art. It seems to me as if there are two main "school" of pixel art nowadays: one one hand, those who adopt the nostalgia angle, and lean more on the simple, blocky nature of the style; on the other, a lot of pixel artist who choose instead to focus on 'realism', so to speak, creating images that, while still generated pixel by pixel, could easily pass for non-pixel illustrations.
"NKR80 vol.2" (2019) is an illustration collection by pixel artist Narume, whose work for the most part falls into the latter category: their illustrations, usually bishoujo with a modern edge, reveal their pixely nature only upon close inspection, a fact that is well exemplified in this 16 pages, full color, square format collection: almost all images are presented along with a detail close up, which clearly show how Narume created them pixel by pixel. Neon tinges are predominant, leaning into that waporwave-ish aesthetics which seems to be very popular among modern pixel artists. Subjects, as mentioned, don't vary much, being all essentially pinups.
Upon comparison of the full image and the closeup, one can't help but marvel at Narume's artistry. The restrained color palette, and its greatly simplified monochrome backgrounds, really lends a vector-like clarity to each image, which greatly helps preserving definition and cleanliness. It's overall a very summery collection, basking in aqua tones to complement the abundant helpings of purple and pink neon lights.
A short but pleasant treat, not much to say except enjoying Narume's skill with the pixels. They also have a pixel manga series, if you're interested, and a store full of cute stuff.
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