イシュタル

by Chie Shinohara, 篠原千絵

新作描きおろしも含めた豪華装丁の原画集！

少女コミックで大人気連載中で、ＦＣも８００万部を突破した「天は赤い河のほとり」。連載用のイラストに、描きおろし新作イラストを加え収録点数は３０点以上。１枚１枚きれいに取り外せる特殊な装丁の豪華本です！

Genres: Manga

66 pages, Hardcover

First published February 24, 1999

About the author

Chie Shinohara (篠原千絵) is an award winning Japanese manga artist best-known for Red River, known in Japan as Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori: Anatolia Story. She has twice received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo, in 1987 for Yami no Purple Eye and in 2001 for Red River.

Aside from her comics work, she has also written several prose novels. She has published the six volume Big Draw Daughter Hatsu light novel series, as well as five gaiden (or side-story) novels related to her Red River series. All of these were illustrated by Shinohara herself.

Works

Akatsuki no Lion - 2003
Ao no Fūin (Blue Seal) - 1992–94
Houmonsha wa Mayonaka ni (Midnight Visitor) - 1984
Kioku no Ashiato (Footprint of Memories) - 2005
Kiri no Mori Hotel - 2007
Kootta Natsu no Hi (Frozen Summer Day) - 1995
Mizu ni Sumu Hana (Romance of Darkness) - 2004
Mokugekisha ni Sayounara (Farewell to the Eyewitness) - 1985
Nanika ga yami de mite iru (Something Watching in the Dark) - 1986
Ryouko no Shinreijikenbo (A Record of Ryoko's Psychic Events) - 1988–91
Sanninme ga Kieta (A Third Person Disappeared) - 1992
Soshite Gokai no Suzu ga naru (Then Five Bells Rang) - 1994
Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori: Anatolia Story (Red River) - 1995–2002
Tokidamari no Hime - 2008-09
Touboukyuukou (Runaway Express)
Umi no Yami, Tsuki no Kage (Moon Shadow on a Dark Sea) - 1986–91
Yami no Purple Eye (Purple Eye of Darkness) - 1984–87
Yume no Shizuku, Kin no Torikago - 2010-present

Reviews

[⋆☆☽ Kriss ☾☆⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's somewhat amusing that this is on GoodReads because there is nothing in this to read; it's basically a bound set of art prints of a roughly 10 inch by 14 inch size on thick, glossy paper with an index of the images printed on the inside of the covers; the index includes some information, like the date it was drawn, the size of the original piece, and there's some Japanese text that I assume probably explains some additional information, perhaps the title or where the image was originally used/published, but I'm not 100% on it. Nothing too expansive.

Many of the drawings are the full versions of the artwork used for the manga volumes covers (at least 17 of the images are used as volume covers), while the remainder are different images either included in the serialization, the published volumes, used in posters (I actually own two large posters of 2 of the book's images that came in magazines in Japan), or were printed for other things like ads or the drama CDs and the like.

The book itself comes in a slipcover that has the title written largely in cuneiform with the Japanese title and then, in English, "Shinohara Chie presents [Anatolia Story] Illustration" and has a cutout window that only shows a square around Yuri's head. The book itself features a cover with much the same, except it shows a full art piece of Yuri kneeling with Kail leaning up against her lap. I do really appreciate that it has the slipcover! It helps keep the book clean and the images safe, since you slide the book into the cover in such a way that the pages are covered, which helps prevent dust from settling on the pages and sunlight from directly hitting the paper, both of which can cause bad discoloration.

I think the artwork is all very lovely! I believe that Ms. Shinohara did her art with ink and a nibbed pen, a standard tool with which to ink the final lines of sketches, and then colored her work with Copics (which were created in 1987 and are Japanese, so they were available to manga artists when this series was created) or markers similar to Copics. I suspected watercolor also, but feel that alcohol based marker was more likely due to the vibrancy of the color and the way the shades blend.

The info about this having 66 pages is incorrect. There are 32 pages of glossy paper and only 1 side has a printed image on it. I don't thinking it's exactly fair to count the blank white backs of the images myself, but I did want to mention that since it's not stated anywhere.

I do in fact own a copy of this (a gift from one of my good friends) and it's a a treat because Red River is my favorite manga. I am just a little miffed that 17/32 images are the same drawings used for the covers of the manga, which I own many of (this is why I dropped off 1 star; I would have preferred that this include more images that weren't used on the covers of the volumes).

My personal copy is in a somewhat poor state where the cover around the drawings has come off of the binding holding the prints together, so I think the binding is susceptible to deterioration from time and use, but overall it's a well made book that paid attention to what was being put in the book. The paper is of a lovely high quality, the printing quality was great and very crisp, the publisher included a protective slipcover, and the size is good. It's still manageable for a book, but big enough that the art can be appreciated and the details seen. I'd even say that one could remove the prints they liked and have them framed.

In 2019, this book is a rare find as an out of print import from Japan and is usually found via third party marketplaces like eBay something to the tune of $50 or more US dollars. It originally sold for 2,300 yen, which is equal in today's dollar to be about $20, so it has jumped up a lot in price due to rarity and age and the fact that it's a bound collection of art prints on nice thick paper.

For a fan, especially one who doesn't speak Japanese, this is a worthwhile investment as additional merchandise compared to most other Red River fan books, which usually feature a lot of written Japanese material and not as many images (and they're often not in color).

[Grace]

Revisiting old-school, personally influential gems.