Ar Tonelico Visual Book [Tapa blanda]

This is a beautiful art book that has most of the visual illustrations of the Ar Tonelico games.

It has 3 chapters in the book, but it has a lot of pages to fit all illustrations in each of the chapter.

Chapter 1: "Gallery" page 6- 55 (It shows lots of visual pictures in finish art works. But does not have drafts/sketches art works.)
Chapter 2: "Character" page 58-78 (It has most of the characters profile info. Plus, it includes facial expressions of the characters and event scenes.)
Chapter 3: "Special" page 160-191 (It has creator notes and extra-long interview with producer and director. The very last few pages will show costume gallery)

This book is worth buying and to have in the bookshelf, especially if you're an Ar Tonelico fan.

The Ar Tonelico Visual Book is the English edition of the Japanese one released in 2010. So Udon has been quite fast in bringing this Englished translated edition out.

It collects artwork from the three game series including Ar tonelico, Ar tonelico II and Ar tonelico Qoga. This is the first time I've heard of the game and seen its artwork. The content inside are arranged into three chapters for the splash art, character designs and the interview.

The art is beautiful. The character designs come with the character profiles. The designs are the finished versions so there aren't any concept sketches. There are plenty of characters and they are drawn in very typical Japanese style, in this case I think it's more towards the Shoujo manga style except with more elaborate fantasy costumes. There are also costume designs for the female characters at different levels.

The background artworks are great but many pieces are packed into a 2-page spread that appears before the chapters. So each piece is rather small.

The lengthy interview at the back is with producer Astunori Kawachi and director Akira Tsuchiya. They talk about the concept of the story, the game and the music.

The binding of the book looks alright, the glue not very flexible so I would recommend caution as with other paperback artbooks published by Udon.

Because of the style of the art, this book should appeal more to fans of the game.

(There are more pictures of the book review on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

Great book. I didn't know what a "visual" book was but I love the games. The art is arranged by game in order of release. Exclusive illustrations and descriptions are on all the pieces. I loved that. I have not read the comments and interviews at the end of the book. No time unfortunately. I do look forward to reading it. The weight and construction of the book are super. I would recommend exercising caution opening the book too far as it is a glued binding. You wouldn't want to crack or crease the spine.