Clamp North Side

Rating:
Summary: I already know about it
Review: CLAMP NORTHSIDE FEATURES RAYEARTH OVA,MKR,MKR2,SSD/LEGEND OF CHYUNYANG,CLAMP IN WONDERLAND,CLOVER,SOHRYUDEN however,this artbook has an interview of CLAMP and has descriptions of every image featured

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely GORGEOUS artwork!!
Review: I am in love. I'd give it 6 out of 5 stars if I could.

My friend had preordered this artbook and showed it to me when it arrived yesterday. I gushed over every single page of it. The artwork was exquisite - pages after pages of beautiful lineart with superior coloring (I can now understand why this had to be printed in Japan). I am ordering it right now!

The first major category was Clover, and the illustrations were even more beautiful than in the manga - the coloring definitely boosted the beauty. As I recall, the next section was Magic Knight Rayearth, including a few pieces of artwork drawn for the OVA (Princess Emeraude looked stunning). A minor complaint I have for this section is that the little strips of MKR mini-manga dialogues were already in print in the Magic Knight Rayearth I Box Set Memorial Book. Then again, the box set was limited edition so it could be considered a plus.

As you might've already read from the artbook descriptions, this artbook also includes Legend of Chun Hyang and CLAMP in Wonderland as well as many little extras (I love the index of the artwork in the back with small explanations of each), so I won't make myself redundant.

Just one thing that might slightly turn some people away from this artwork is that in the CLAMP in Wonderland section, one (and only one that I've noticed) page portrayed explicit nudity (specificially: realistic coloring & shading of the female topless body). I doubt any long-time anime/manga fan would mind this very much, but I'm mentioning this here just the same in case it matters to some people for any reason.

With that said, if you are a CLAMP fan, this is a MUST have for your collection. Even if you are not familiar with CLAMP, I feel that this artbook is in many ways superior to others due to the high quality of print and artwork. What can I say? This is worth the $30 - and as I am typing this, Amazon has it on sale for $20. It'll be worth every penny! I strongly recommend "CLAMP North Side"!!