Sourcebook / Artbook

[Kakizaki]

No one ever posted impressions on the old thread. Once I have some extra cash, I will be picking this up.


Well, I actually had the extra cash, but I found a protector figure and couldn't resist.....

[RayFoxSith]

They need to release a figure for the Alchemist. :<

[Evila]

Sweet. I still plan on buying it too, but yeah... totally broke. Until then, here are some pictures.

http://i34.tinypic.com/m7csb8.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/sq0e2h.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/nx42de.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/2yv6liu.jpg
http://i36.tinypic.com/90pmqe.jpg

[massaker]

<3

Wish I could score one of those figures. ; ; Picking up EO1 today though on a side note. :)

Secretly hope they do a un hand-held EO oneday.

[Kakizaki]

They need to release a figure for the Alchemist. :<

I would like to see some male ones possibly, and the female survivalist with the eye patch.

[Haruna]

I bought it a while ago and meant to post!

The good:
-Paper and print quality is very crisp and clean.
-Lots of prototype sketches for all the characters. See some previous versions of them, rough drafts for the portraits used in game, etc.
-They have a lot of illustrations for EO1 and 2 used in promotions, JP magazines that most probably haven't seen.

The bad:
-Larger pages would have been nice, this book is smaller than most.
-Stuff feels a little cramped, mainly due to the previous point.
-Price. Compared to some other books, I guess the volume of the book and size of the print felt like a bit of a rip at 2250 yen vs some of the other books I've bought but this is a purely personal thing.

If you really like EO and the artwork, this book will be a treat regardless. BK1 still has it in stock. If you can read JP and pay w/a credit card, they'll ship overseas.

http://www.bk1.jp/product/03009762

[Kakizaki]

^appreciate it, but I have seen it at a few other places. It seems that it had another print run.

[Haruna]

Seems like it did indeed. It's back on Amazon.co.jp and at the time I bought the book from BK1, it wasn't. :X (http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/475774305X/ref=s9k2a_c2_img4-rfc_p-3215_g1-3102_g3?pf_rd_m=AN1VRQENFRJN5&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=09J11RD0VCZ1XTVD8A1B&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=76435106&pf_rd_i=489986)

I guess you can get it anywhere you please now!

[TheMagicHat]

I bought it a while ago and meant to post!

The good:
-Paper and print quality is very crisp and clean.
-Lots of prototype sketches for all the characters. See some previous versions of them, rough drafts for the portraits used in game, etc.
-They have a lot of illustrations for EO1 and 2 used in promotions, JP magazines that most probably haven't seen.

The bad:
-Larger pages would have been nice, this book is smaller than most.
-Stuff feels a little cramped, mainly due to the previous point.
-Price. Compared to some other books, I guess the volume of the book and size of the print felt like a bit of a rip at 2250 yen vs some of the other books I've bought but this is a purely personal thing.

If you really like EO and the artwork, this book will be a treat regardless. BK1 still has it in stock. If you can read JP and pay w/a credit card, they'll ship overseas.

http://www.bk1.jp/product/03009762
Sounds and looks yummy. I'll pick that up one of these days.

[dragonlife29]

Haruna, is it possible for you to upload some example pics? In particular, of the rough character sketches...stuff like that is interesting.

EDIT: It seems I missed Evila's post. Still, I'd like to see more pics like the last in his/her collection.

[Haruna]

Haruna, is it possible for you to upload some example pics? In particular, of the rough character sketches...stuff like that is interesting.

Alas, I've moved to Japan and left the book back in the US.

For each job, you get 1 page showing the portraits from 1 & 2(if applicable, obviously the W, B, and G didn't exist back then) and then 1 page crammed full of roughs like so:
http://i36.tinypic.com/90pmqe.jpg ( courtesy Evila)

The sketches are definitely packed in.

[Xfraze]

Not sure if you guys have seen this yet, it's the website of the character designer for etrian odyssey. I can't read most of what he has because on the blog because I'm not that far ahead in my japanese studies, but the blog does have some pretty neat pictures.

http://ugf.nengu.jp/

[Matman]

Not sure if you guys have seen this yet, it's the website of the character designer for etrian odyssey. I can't read most of what he has because on the blog because I'm not that far ahead in my japanese studies, but the blog does have some pretty neat pictures.

http://ugf.nengu.jp/

Yep, that's Yuji Himukai / 日向悠二. He was also the original character designer for the series Yoshinaga-san'chi no Gargoyle.

I've been looking at a few doujins of his, but they're not really close to the style he uses now. I'm saving up to get the Sekaiju I + II artbook soon.

[Xfraze]

Yep, that's Yuji Himukai / 日向悠二. He was also the original character designer for the series Yoshinaga-san'chi no Gargoyle.

I've been looking at a few doujins of his, but they're not really close to the style he uses now. I'm saving up to get the Sekaiju I + II artbook soon.

Gar-kun is quite possibly, the most amazing anime of all time.

[Tari]

I've been staring at this for a while and trying to resist buying it (since it costs ~$50 from amazon.co.jp when shipping gets added in).

I sorta think I'm losing the battle, though. I can't stop staring at the order page. Any chance you guys might know of some other sites have it for cheaper (shipping-wise)?

[Matman]

I've been staring at this for a while and trying to resist buying it (since it costs ~$50 from amazon.co.jp when shipping gets added in).

I sorta think I'm losing the battle, though. I can't stop staring at the order page. Any chance you guys might know of some other sites have it for cheaper (shipping-wise)?

Tari, I just caved in and bought it myself. Just got my copy today and for just under 40 bucks, too. Got it from Akadot.

http://www.akadot.com/product_info.php?products_id=27203

They're located in SoCal, and as far as I know they're the only retail site that has this artbook for sale that ships from the U.S. and not overseas. It actually comes to a similar sale price if you were to ship from Play-Asia (Hong Kong), but it would have taken longer and a higher chance of being lost in the mail, although I've been using both retail sites for years and these two are the most reliable services I can recommend.
I was going to try beNippon, but I wanted to use Paypal and wasn't sure if they would send the invoice if I selected "online banking", so I went with the next best option. I hear they offer great service as well.

As for the artbook itself ....well, I will just say this: It's freakin' *awesome*.
I've been collecting different EO items like those phonecards, CDs, a poster, figures and a few doujins, but this is a great collection of artwork from the game and stuff you've probably never seen yet. If you love the look and style of the game you'll definitely dig this.
I'm a collector of artbooks of all kinds, so this was a real treat.
It's laid out like this:
Contents
Public Illustrations (promotional artwork, ie covers, random promo, etc)...2
Class & NCP (original designs and prototypes)...20
Monsters ...58
Art Setting (background scenery used in the games) ..80
Special Illustrations (sketches)...100

If you're not familiar with artbooks, this is just a collection of artwork and illustrations. If you've seen the artbooks from Persona 3 or AT - this is more along those lines than say Picasso or Norman Rockwell artbooks.
That's another thing: my only gripe with this book is that I wished they would have given full pages of the background scenes. Some of those are really beautiful and it would have been nice to see them as bigger images, but they are included here in a fair size.
So, yeah, good stuff. Got to check out the proto witch doctor/mangus sketches. Funny stuff!

[Tari]

Thanks for the link.

I've been collecting EO stuff randomly, too, but I sorta splurged away most of my money on the buying the other random stuff (the two figures, for example).

I'm probably going to end up whittling away grocery money to buy this, anyway, as I'm quite the fan of Yuji Himukai's artwork, haha.

[Pigzig]

That art is awesome I agree

[PantingFish]

I'm jealous I wasn't ever able to buy this. I always wondered if they had made an art booklet for either EOI or EOII. Maybe I can pick one up off ebay.

[Kakizaki]

^Why bother with Ebay:

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-lz-77-3-49-en-15-etrian+odyssey-70-2srg.html

[PantingFish]

^Why bother with Ebay:

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-lz-77-3-49-en-15-etrian+odyssey-70-2srg.html

Too late now I already ordered it, but I got it for $30 which is cheaper since it has free shipping. Thanks though.