Tony's Artworks from Shining World Paperback – May 24, 2011

If you're a fan of Tony Taka, this book is without a doubt worth adding to your collection. But what about the folks out there who have absolutely no idea who Tony Taka is? The games on display here are limited to Shining Tears (primarily for the full page images) and Shining Wind. Shining Wind was never released here, so the only real attachment someone could have to the characters would be through Shining Tears, which had a largely negative reception on the PS2 because of loading times and repetition.Ultimately, regardless of your familiarity with the artist or the games, Tony Taka is an artist known for having a rather unique style among his contemporaries in Japan. A quick Google search for Tony Taka will quickly reveal whether this style may appeal to you or not and should be the deciding factor as to whether this would be something you would be interested in purchasing. I did not find the brief interviews to be all that informative, but the drawings (the point of the book) were quite pleasing. As an added bonus, the cover is indicative of how risque the works get - this is something that would not have to be hidden in case a person unfamiliar with the content swings by. As mentioned in other reviews, the book quality is pretty good for being softcover. I would have preferred hardcover just for the additional longevity because I can see revisiting this rather frequently, but this is about as sturdy as I can imagine an over-sized softcover book being.I would say Tony's Artworks from Shining World is well worth buying under any circumstance, but then Tony Taka has my second favorite art style. Udon has done a serviceable job in bringing this book out here.

I just got the book today. And flipping through the book is a very exciting experience. Firstly there is a surprise on the cover. Look at the picture you will see some feathers around the two girls. Those feathers on the cover are textured specifically to feel like feathers. I don't know how they do it. But quite surprising. Most of the pages are full-page arts in high quality print. There are a couple of step-by-step drawing explanations too.Similarly I really wish this is a hardcover book so it can last longer. But anyway this is a very beautiful art book. A lot of fan arts for the video game. Tony Taka is a really talented artist, who is especially good at drawing elegant/beautiful young girls.Highly recommended. I can't help to buy another copy myself.

Absolutely love this book! We purchased this book because we loved the figures so much! The two girls on the cover are Xecty and Elwing, and Kotobukiya made PVC figures of them based off the artwork on this cover. This is fairly large book, and every page is filled with artwork based off The Shining World series. Tony's Artworks really paints a beautiful world and gorgeous characters in this book. Every page is filled with colorful and beautiful characters. The animated look of the drawings really gives it a sense of life as if they could just start moving on the page as if they would on a television screen. One thing to note is that the feathers on the cover actually have a velvety feel to them.

Good book if you're a fan of the serious. Although tony taka fans might be dissatisfied. Although the book doesn't contain any hentai, these drawings are intended for an older audience.

This is easily one of the most gorgeous anime-style artbooks I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them. His character designs and art style are some of the best out there and the Shining series has always been a favorite of mine. This book showcases just about every piece of art that has been related to Shining Tears and Shining Wind in their original versions and sometimes altered or prototype versions as well. It also has a few interesting interviews with Tony himself talking about how he got into the job of drawing for the Shining series and how it impacted his career.Anyone who loves Tony's work or loves the Shining Tears/Wind artwork shouldn't go without this book.

I'm no fan of shining world, but I love their collection figures and the illustrations made by Tony. the book is simply amazing, the quality of the illustrations is excellent and also includes very visual material, I really liked the interview with Tony Taka, I enjoyed the book, for a low cost offers more than 200 great illustrations. the only thing I did not like is that the cover is a little thin, I have to handle it carefully to avoid abuse him, but overall the book is amazing, if you're a fan of Tony and want to enjoy a great collection of images of the most beautiful women of Shining World, this is a book you should not miss

Well, what can you say. It's a nice artbook. The art is by Tony Taka so you know it's quality work. The paper is of a really good quality. Thick and smooth to the touch. It's a pretty hefty artbook at 200+ pages. There are a few pages of interviews with Tony. The feathers on the front cover are fuzzy!The publishing company "Udon Entertainment" is relatively new and they've released several video game artbooks in english including valkyria chronicles and atelier. I for one like the idea of these english artbooks(cheaper than importing) and hope they continue making more.

this is a very nice art book for those who love the art of Tony Taka, with many full colored pages of art each picture a full sheet for best view. it has many Shining pictures and some other and a few pages with text all in all if you want a Tony Taka art book this is a good one, though non of the pictures are "H" there are many ecchi picture of fun in this book, all in all for a anime art book I give this 5 stars

les +: une édition anglosaxone A4 très belle avec des papiers choisis et à épaisseurs variables selon thèmes et contenus. Belles impressions. Quelques explications et photos du dessinateurles -: l'auteur célébre pour son art du dessin Ecchi stylé reste dans la thématique des personnages sur commande de la série Shining world, très proche de la série Grand order. donc ne vous attendez pas au moindre débordement. c'est classique et convenu, peut être consulté par grand public (un peu averti tout de même, ados otaku sans soucis)

早前就听说过tony的大名，但一直觉得他只是个三流的成人画师罢了。但买了这本画集后，看到他诸多不同风格的作品，觉得他的水平真的不错。很可爱的画风，我个人很喜欢。希望我的意见能给你好的影响。I heard tony's name before, but I don't know anything more about him except he is a Hantai Illustrator. But after I got this book, saw those different styles works, I think he is a really good illustrator. I like his cute style. hope my review can give you some advice, thank you.

Hatte es vorher bei Amazon zu einem sehr günstigen Preis gekriegt und hatte nicht viel erwartet, doch als ich es in den Händen hielt, merkte ich doch noch wie liebevoll es gestaltet wurde: Die Federn auf dem Cover sind so weich wie Federdaunen! Es war ein sehr tolles Gefühl zu sehen dass Artbooks auch anders sein können :)Die Zeichnungen sind sehr schön, ich hätte mir aber auch ein wenig Text bei den einzelnen Charakteren gewünscht, aber da es ein Artbook ist steht diese Kritik nicht in Frage.Wer Tony Taka's Zeichnungen oder das Spiel mag wird auch dieses Artbook mögen!Gruß

A dire la verità, conoscendo l'opera di Tony Taka, talentuoso illustratore e character designer essenzialmente di videogames made in Japan (e all'insaputa di molti, mangaka specializzato in doujinshi di tipo ecchi/hentai), sapevo già cosa aspettarmi da una raccolta di suoi disegni e in effetti il volume, molto ben confezionato in ogni suo aspetto, rispetta assolutamente le aspettative, con illustrazioni di grande formato, tutte regolarmente a colori più le consuete pagine di Omake (il "making of" sulle tecniche usate nella realizzazione delle immagini e/o del libro) e la classica intervista all'autore.Nulla di nuovo sotto il sole... per fortuna, perché di... "libri sperimentali" specie quando si parla di grafica e/o illustrazione, sinceramente ne ho piene le tasche e non so che farmene.Unica pecca, da qui le quattro stelle invece di cinque, è nei contenuti del libro.Trattandosi di una raccolta di illustrazioni tratte da Shining World, franchise legata all'omonima serie videoludica fantasy, che ha anche dato origine ad almeno un paio di serie animate di buon successo, mi aspettavo che nei lavori presentati fossero inclusi anche quelli realizzati per Shining Hearts, l'ultima nata della serie, della quale amo molto i personaggi, specialmente gli "aniumani", come la donna-gatto Xiao-Mei e la "cagnolina" tuttofare Rouna, che trovo assolutamente irresistibile!Invece manca ogni riferimento a quest'ultima serie, le cui illustrazioni sono state invece raccolte in un altro volume, praticamente il fratello di questo, che è dedicato soltanto a Shining Hearts e (immagino) al suo succedaneo animato (e che, visto il risultato di questo volume, ho prontamente ordinato!).Un peccato, almeno per quanto mi riguarda, perché altrimenti avremmo potuto parlare davvero di un'opera completa e di un piccolo capolavoro.Per chiunque sia comunque appassionato di illustrazione fantasy/manga-style ovvero ami i lavori di Tony, un volume assolutamente da non perdere.

Let me say this first: I have never played a Shining World game. Nevertheless, I was first introduced to this stunning character array by means of figures release for Shining Wind. I currently have Elwing, Kureha and Blair in my collection and the figures are stunning - and based off artworks in this book!Anyway, onto the artbook, the first thing you notice is the front cover - yes, the feathers scattered everywhere are fuzzy! Now isnt that a nice touch! I might have been thought a pervert the way i kept running my fingers over the cover!The art inside is amazing, simply put. The textures, the shading, the expressions, the character designs and backgrounds are all top notch! The colour is very rich and all of this printed in high quality indeed! There are hundreds of pages of nothing but beautiful art of the characters of the series - full colour! There is very little wording present except the name and series each character is from. There are one or two examples of how the art was done as well, which is very interesting!All in all, if you love anime art, look no further than this! You dont even need to have played the games (i havent) to enjoy the exceptional character designs. Definitely sits next to Flamboyant by Ugetsu Hakua as one of my top artbooks!