Hiro – “Akebi-chan Made no Ashioto” (Shueisha, 2022), Artbook – My Comment

Hiro is an artist you can’t pass by indifferently. His drawings have something mesmerizing about them and catch your eye. Even when you look at them knowing them perfectly well. When I first saw some manga panels from Akebi-chan no Sailor Fuku a few years ago, I immediately purchased all four volumes that were available at the time. Earlier this year we got a sensational anime adaptation of this manga, which was made by the Cloverworks studio.

To my surprise it really nicely captured the style and emotions pouring out of Hiro’s illustrations. But let’s get back to the Akebi-chan Made no Ashioto itself. It was published in B5 format and has 160 pages. The cover price is ¥1500, so quite low. The first print run actually sold out momentarily even before the release. Fortunately supplies in many stores were quickly replenished. And what do we get inside? A dozen color pages and a huge number of monochrome drawings starring the characters of Akebi-chan no Sailor Fuku. Plus – as usual – an interview with the creator himself and his step-by-step drawing technique.

I can’t complain about the quality of the printing. The content makes it sure that it should be a must-have item for any fan of Hiro’s style. Just take a look at the few photos added to the gallery below. I’m sure they will charm many collectors who have never even heard of the author.

Hiro – “Akebi-chan Made no Ashioto” (Shueisha, 2022), Artbook – Show off

Before I show a dozen photos of the artbook’s contents, a quick glance at the outside page rolled up in a high-quality wrapper.

This is how it looks in the wrapper:

And without:

Hiro – “Akebi-chan Made no Ashioto” (Shueisha, 2022), Artbook – Gallery