近藤勝也ArtWorks or Katsuya Kondo Art Works is the concept art book for the Playstation game Jade Cocoon and its sequel. I've not played those games before.

The bulk of the book is on character design, all created with pencil and colour pencil. Because of the pencil treatment and the light colours, this book feels a bit like Studio Ghibli art books. We can see a great deal of tribal influence on the costume designs, which uses symbols and patterns. They actually look really comfortable to wear. And I also notice the characters have very cool hats and head gear.

There are also lots of great creature designs. The ones that look like insects are most interesting since I don't see a lot of insect designs from other art books. I like how there's a slight hint of comedic feature on them, especially those from Jade Cocoon 2.

Other than the character designs, there are also some environment sketches, artists interviews, storyboards and even a few pages of manga comic based on the game.

I find the characters really likable. Character designers should find this book interesting.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon Japan | YesAsia USA

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Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon Japan | YesAsia USA

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Here's the Amazon Japan buying guide for your reference.