Heeey, it's me Sakaki and to prove I didn't totally forget about this, here's the next set of covers from WSS manga released this month!
First up is Major 2nd's 10th volume. Simple enough, I suppose, though I've always had a soft spot for Mitsuda's character designs...perhaps it's the eyes? I'm often drawn to those when it comes to manga/anime art.
Next is the 49th volume of Zettai Karen Children which looks really....modern? For lack of a better word. Like, I remember what some of the old covers looked like, and this is definitely a step up in that department, from the typography in Japanese and English, to the positioning and color design of the character on the cover....it feels like a different series, or an updated re-release of a classic that authors often do.
Next is the final volume of DameTerasu-sama. It's nice getting color designs for all the ladies in the series, but it's looking a bit cluttered which is a shame because I do like the logo for the series, but it's not really well used here.
Meanwhile I feel like Silver Spoon's 14th volume really does capture the sense of humor and fun of the series perfectly in this cover just with the expressions of all the characters involved alone. This series is heading to English shores soon, so maybe we'll get an equivalent of this in bookstores?
Be Blues's 28th volume is --Like Major 2nd, very simple, but the intrigate details are what set it apart, such as the highlights and streaks in the hair of the secondary character, and the folds in their clothes wrapping over the contours of their bodies. I also like that Tanaka allows the scene to partially obscure the logo of the series, though with 28 volumes, people probably know it enough by now to not need to worry about brand recognition.
Consistency is KOTOYAMA's call to fame, and the tan covers of Dagashikashi make it easily recognizable from a glance. They're also a showcase for how much his art has evolved from the first released volume, as there's a lot of small details here that he wasn't including before, from Hotaru's clothes to her nails --which have always been something I've found facinating --it's not often in a shounen manga that the authors go through the trouble of manicural attention, and when they do it's sparingly. As far as I can recall, KOTOYAMA indeed has details on Hotaru's nails in every panel she appears in, which is an impressive extra effort.
Speaking of consistency, Nishimori's work on Hiiragi-sama is pretty soft, and subdued --kind of like his art in general. It's a very quiet cover for the series, depicting Hiiragi looking serene, and wispy as she is in the series --that I really should figure out how to cover more often...
Girls, girls, girls seem to be the theme in this batch of covers, though it's not hard to see why --most of the magazine does have a higher female-to-male character ratio after all! Asuha looks pretty cute here, as she crushes on Akuto, right down to her heart irises which is a nice touch on Hirakawa's part. I personally adore her color scheme, as we get very few "non-fiery" red heads, so way to break the trend! As for the cover itself, it's very cute and pop-art-ish, and the logo nicely placed around the characters.
Last but not least to break up all the girl action is Magi's 35th Volume, which takes a simple motif and jazzes it up with exquisite color direction in regard to the Rukth butterflies and black and white background. The rival staredown is a shounen staple, but I believe Ohtaka kept it interesting with these effects, and her overall strong artwork.
That's it for August! Next month we see a bunch of new series launching their first volumes, so watch this space for my critique if you dare! Until then!
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