last artbook and photobook haul for December

Has anybody been keeping track of these acquisitions entries? Is it just me, or am I on my fourth acquisitions post about Japanese artbook/magazine/photobook-related stuff? I don't know anymore! I love these things so much I can probably spend more money inside Kinokuniya than in any other place in the world, haha. This time though, Aian bought all of them, including the ones that are mine. They're joint property, anyway, since we're growing an artbook library of sorts. You can check out his post about all 12 of them + a couple more on his blog here. Enjoy!



First one, Kyary Bon Photobook 『きゃりーぼーん』 !! So happy that we got this! Kyary is one of my many obsessions, so this was a definite must-have. I actually had to choose between this and her Oh! My God! Harajuku Girl one, which is also nice!! In the end though, I chose this one because it gives you a bit of a sneak-peek into Kyary's life, eheh. So yeah, lots of typical Kyary craziness!




Tons of photos of different aspects of her life, not just as a singer / model but also as a daughter, friend, student, etc. It has lots of stuff you won't see anywhere else too, more personal stuff! Like baby pics!



And of course, it shows the different fashions that Kyary likes. I know a lot of people tend to label her as gyaru for some reason, but she isn't gyaru at all. She's a lot of different things, and doesn't like sticking to just one thing. Which is why, I think, she's the very epitome of Harajuku fashion. There's also a tiny section in the book explaining how to do Kyary's eyemake. Please excuse me while I buy all of the things she uses now.





Next is this photobook, Sweet Joshi. I first found out about this series while browsing Tumblr. There was a time that I kept seeing photos of Japanese schoolgirls, taken in the same style of photography. So after a bit of Google magic, I found out that these were actually by Japanese photographer Yuji Susaki. A lot of his work is a bit too sexy and provocative for me, but this series of his is my favorite.








Bus Hashiru / The Bus Takes You And Runs 『バス走る。』 is a collection of five short stories centered around bus stops. This is one of my absolute favorite shoujo manga from one of my absolute favorite mangaka. Sahara Mizu (or more commonly known as her BL-mangaka-self, Yumeka Sumomo) is the best at delivering heart-wrenching stories. The best!! When I saw that Yuuki-san had this, I almost screamed. It also has two oneshots from Nanairo Sekai / The World in Seven Colors 『ナナイロセカイ』, The Glasses Thief and Adult-Uniform. If you're into sweet shoujo manga, with a nice slow pace, then definitely check this manga out. Also, while you're at it, read everything by Sahara Mizu!


Random photo of a cat who was trying to get my attention while I was taking photos.






Technically, this one isn't mine but it is part of my joint-owned collection with Aian anyway so I'm still putting this here.
This is 魅(CHARM), an artbook containing work by one of my favorite artists, VOFAN ♥ A lot of you might know VOFAN from his work on Bakemonogatari. He was the one who provided the original character designs. I love his work! I think anyone who can create stories with just art is amazing. He's really good at photography as well!


Was looking at the pages when this fell out. It came with a signed postcard omg!! So happy ; A ;


Nget-nget still trying to get my attention, because he had no one else to play with ;;







This one isn't mine, but I thought I'd share anyway. Makoto Shinkai's Sora no Kioku / Memory of the Sky 『空の記憶』. If you were wondering, yes, this book does contain work from 5 Centimeters per Second 『秒速5センチメートル』. Lots of it, actually! What I like about Shinkai's work, other than the attention to detail, is his ability to invoke nostalgia with them.


Makoto Shinkai + his cat. Aian and I used to joke around that the secret to becoming a great artist was to own a cat, because all of our favorite artists have one. Now we're starting to think that it's actually true, haha!

Aaand that's the last of our artbook/photobook/magazine-related purchase for this year, I guess. I know a lot of people are going to ask me where we got all these, but I can't really say because we just get it from someone in Japan, Yuuki-san, who owns a tiny second-hand artbook/photobook/manga shop. We communicate via email but that's about it. I don't even know his face. I've only seen photos of his dog Jun-chan, haha!

Thanks for reading, everyone! Enjoy your holidays! ♥