Book Review: Hatsune Miku Graphics: Vocaloid Comic & Art Volume 2

This is volume 2 of Hatsune Miku Graphics series of artbooks and I've reviewed the first volume before.

This is a fan art compilation featuring illustrations from 39 creators. The quality is a mixed bag but in general quite good, and there are some beautiful pieces. There's a nice variety of styles to check out, and it's also interesting to see how different artists interpret the vocaloids and the settings they create for them. Each creator has 4-7 pieces of work featured. One would be full page and the others are smaller mixed into one page.

Other artworks included would be the graphics from Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA which is the video game. It only looks at two games here, DIVA 2nd and the Arcade version. The graphics are actually the 3D character designs from the game featuring different costumes. DIVA 2nd has more characters such as Miku, Rin, Len, Luka and more while the arcade version only has Miku. DIVA 2nd is a PSP game and the style of the characters are actually simple coloured art textured onto 3D models, the one for the arcade versions are better but there's only one page there.

4-panel comics are still included here, but there are only three. Other visuals are miscellaneous such as art for pillow cases, DVD covers and promotional art. The book ends with three short comics.

Just like the first book, I prefer the art gallery to the comics. I like the art more than the stories.

Overall, for Hatsune Miku fans, I still think it's a worthwhile purchase, but it will be better if you can flip through the book to get a feel of the art.

The book's a review copy from Udon Entertainment.

Hatsune Miku Graphics: Vocaloid Comic & Art Volume 2 is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

Hatsune Miku Graphics: Vocaloid Comic & Art Volume 2 - 02