October 25th 2005

• Artist
• ISBN
• Published

• Price
• Dimension

• Miwa Ueda
• Not Available
• 1994

• ¥ 1600
• A4

Out of the two Miwa Ueda's art books I own, this is probably more aesthetically pleasing. Miwa Ueda's older works are much better than her new ones. The style is far more elegant with soft pastel tones.

Miwa Ueda used many stock photos in her illustrations. (Cover Art) The book mainly consisted of illustrations from Oh! My Darling and a few miscellaneous series. Oh! My Darling is a cute shoujo series about a young bride. Thus, most of the illustrations here are of the heroine dolled up in her bridal and evening gowns. There are also quite a few pictures of the groom in his tuxedos. All of which are lovely indeed.

This book also comes with 3 double-sided pull out poster. One of them is among my most favorite illustrations in this book. (Sample #1)

Overall, this very nice book is worth my money. I don't regret having to pay expensive oversea shipping to get it. Fully recommended for those who are fond of shoujo manga in general.

Since Ivy was nice enough to outline everything, I'll go about explaining my perspective of her artwork. I really like this artbook. It's nice, clean, neat and fresh all at once. Granted that pink isn't my favorite color, it is used delicately and intricately in all the images to bring out the best of Miwa Ueda's work. Mind you, I am not a fan of Miwa Ueda at all; I am completely indifferent in this review.

The book is presented in a very organized manner. It is divided in these five categories, Special Illustrations, Illustrations Part 1~3, Variety of Illustrations, Other Illustrations, and Interview with Miwa Ueda. There are many colorful pages, many of that I would show given that Ivy didn't already post her favorites. But, nevertheless, I like some of the illustrations.

The dislikes about the book. Miwa Ueda tends to take an easier approach on the artwork. She does not attempt to make any bold mixture of colors. Rather, all the cooler colors are used in one image, and all the warmer colors in another. There does not seem to be a halfway in which they are intertwined. That bothered me. Also, as the book progressed, I saw that the quality of artwork slowly declined. I did not know if that was intentional, but during the beginning, I was blown away, and after I finished flipping through the book, my vision of her artwork declined rapidly. I felt the need to chuck the book out. So much for a lasting impression.

Nevertheless, artbook was nice in general. I'd stick to the beginning pages, otherwise, I'd rip out the end pages. The artwork towards the end really gives me this feeling of "dammit, why did I buy it?" but the beginning gives me a much more happier feeling. Artbook or not, it is full of beautiful illustrations and colors. I purchased this book for $8.00 so it was worth it for me. However, purchasing this for full price, well, I personally wouldn't recommend it at all. Oh well.