Utata Kiyoshi Art Dot Works - Sprite art collection book

[Devil REI]

I'm sure this will be of interest to people on here, since we all seem to have a strong affinity towards sprite art. The doujin circle Game Area 51 has published a very sizable collection of concept and sprite artwork from Utata Kiyoshi, who has worked on titles such as Cannon Dancer, Little Samson, Metal Storm, Shinsenden, Cocoron, Nostalgia 1907, and much more. It's totally freakin' awesome, and very large, clocking in at over 250 pages.

Images and samples here: http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~zekzek/utata.html

But it gets better: You can actually order this from outside of Japan without a proxy! Mandarake has copies in stock and will ship internationally. Have a gander here: http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/en/item_s-654246.html

If sprite art is your thing (or simply seeing the process of how concept art translates to said sprite art), this is an absolute must-get. 2,000 yen plus S&H is a little expensive, but it's so, so worth it. Grab it while you can - doujinshi is a very limited-run affair!

[GaijinPunch]

Thanks for the heads up. The last book they did was the end-all-be-all compendium of the Kiki Kaikai series. Has more interviews w/ original developers than you can shake a stick at (including OGR), with all kinds of goodies. Covers every game in the series. These guys definitely put out quality shit. Will definitely pick this one up.

[undamned]

Awesome! I think I know where my "fun" money is going next month
-ud