"Infinite Emission" by CHOCOLATE SHOP

 I have reviewed a bunch of CHOCOLATE SHOP's dōjin work in the past, and was always impressed by the overall production quality. No surprise there: CHOCO; or, rather, Koichi Mugitani is one of those figures who integrate their dōjin work with actual commercial output. One example: イグナクロス零号駅設定資料集 総集編プラス, meant to be a companion to the commercial manga series of the same name. Even more, a lot of Mugitani / CHOCO's dōjinshi serve as addenda to commercial work in well-know series such as Fate / Grand Order...

... or, as in this case, Infinite Stratos. I admit I have never read a thing from the novel series, and had no idea Mugitani had done any illustration for it at all. Turns out, he was the second illustrator for the series, making art for both new volumes and reissues after a contractual fallout between Overlap Bunko and original artist Okiura. They also did design work for the second anime series' mecha. They also make cycling apparel. Neat.

Still, it's the dōjinshi we care about here, right? dating 2015, A4, mostly B&W, nice glossy paper and embossed title - the same absurdly high, near-professional production values one can find in pretty much all of CHOCO's output. The contents are, for the most part, concept and production sketches for the various heroines and mecha seen in Infinite Stratos, each one accompanied by a short background blurb. We are also treated to a few very well crafted full-page color illustrations of the series' heroines, a nice touch though one wishes there was a little more of this.

While I'm probably not the target for this sort of content -- in the sense that I am neither a mecha, nor a fighting girls otaku -- I'm sure fans of the series would consider this a treasure trove of information. CHOCO's tract is, as always, ultra-clean and legible, lending an airy, sylph-like appearance to their heroines; reminds me a bit of RAITA, to be honest. 

Mostly, as far as I'm concerned, it's nice to see a dōjinka make their 'amateur' output part of their professional body of work, rather than hide it away like many do once they go pro. Amateur high-quality products are possible, and CHOCO's output shows it, regardless whether one's into the actual content.