Agent Aika Art Book: Tobimono Girls (山内 則康)
If you've watched anime before 2000, you're sure to know Agent Aika, a classic panty shot crazy OVA series. And you've probably also seen Najica Blitz Tactics. But if these are all new to you, then all you're going to think of this art book is "old school."
Noriyasu Yamauchi is the character designer for this series and others like Stratos 4, and he's finally released Tobimono Girls (山内則康画集), an art book of his illustrations all these years later.
The Tobimono girls in the book are mostly at the end, and they're the girls featured in cute outfits with guns or planes. The illustrations were done for Hobby Japan magazine, which has worked with a variety of artists in these theme. Rei Hiroe has a set like this, and so does Hisashi Hirai.
Aika makes up a big part of the book, which is good because the older Aika art collections are expensive and hard to find.
More from Aika. A lot of the illustrations were LD covers, which is something not many people would have collected.
The Aika section has 40 illustrations total, over 18 pages. A lot of pages also have tiled images, but some are too small to appreciate in this section.
There's also plenty from Najica Blitz Tactics. There was an anime art book a few years ago for Najica, but since then it's been out of print and hard to get, so this is definitely your best option now.
I really liked Najica at the time it was aired. I remember thinking it was over the top on fan-service, but when I compare it to shows now, it seems tame. Fan-service has become such a basic thing, that it's expected and almost unique when you don't see it.
Stratos 4 is also featured in the book, which is a more recent series. The most recent series that's in the book is Aika Zero, though Aika R-16 is also there.
More of the Tobimono Girls. This is actually the biggest section in the book with a total of 41 pages.
Would you get a book that featured "old school" art or are you only into the new stuff?
nattoli ? are you Nat from ningen nattoli ? The Tobimono Girls looks yummy.
Yup, same one. I have a one-track mind ^^;
awesome. I used to be in Minitokyo with Korganos, Kenzotsuke, Shinta, and others a couple years back. It's nice to see you in here. I think I saw GundamZZ in here.
Hahah, wow, now that is old school :D Nice to see you too :3
Here in the US, the Najica Special Edition release for Volume 1 actually came with a pair of panties (^^;) I remember seeing them on the shelves at BestBuy for the longest time, don't think anyone had quite the courage to pick one up.
Most reviews I had read did not rate the series highly, same with Agent Aika.
Hmmm...I might purchase this, though I would be more tuned to hunting down the rarer older editions. I have quite the penchant for such rarities.
nice books~~ , i think i like stratos 4 the best in this book ^^
i always like the idea how human try to reach outer space. >.<