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If you love Amano's work this is the set for you. My husband and I are in love with his final fantasy sketches and paintings. I bought this book as a gift for my husband and he was so impressed as was I. Must buy!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
If you're reading this review, you're probably already aware that Yoshitaka Amano, fine artist and the creator of Vampire Hunter D, was the lead visual artist for the first several games in the Final Fantasy series, fleshing out the looks of the game protagonists (and sometimes their vehicles), and basically the illustrator of the images of every enemy that would be made into sprites and used as your enemies in-game. If I were to take a guess, 80% or more of the numerous enemy images from the 8/16-bit games are in these books in high detail. These books are a giant 3-volume art book compendium of all of his concept ink, watercolor, etc. artwork for the above. It's surprisingly large, and it is wonderful. Even the packaging is a bit of a marvel. The volumes are broken up into era, the first volume covering the 8-bit games (including the then-Japan exclusive Final Fantasy II and III), the second covering the 16-bit IV, V, and VI (including the games released for the Super Nintendo in North America renamed as Final Fantasy II and III), and the final volume covering VII, VIII, and IX for the PlayStation 1. The first volume is really pretty interesting, with the FFI section in particular being a standout, as you get to see the original source artwork for the often visually-complex enemies without the deep graphical limitations of the NES's video processing. There is tons and tons of art here. Now that the volumes are also being sold separately, if you absolutely feel that you must only buy one versus the whole set (and you shouldn't), the second volume is probably going to be the meat and potatoes of the set for most buyers. Lots of character art of beloved characters from where the series truly hit its stride, scenery from the games, all kinds of great stuff. Amano seemed particularly taken with FFVI and its character Terra, and there is loads of artwork for the game and its protagonist. The third volume, while still containing a lot of charming hand-drawn promotional art for the otherwise CG-based PlayStation games, feels a bit more spartan versus the other two volumes, as Amano wasn't the lead artist for FFVII or VIII. It seems that he was a lot more involved in character design for FFIX, however, so the set still closes out with a bit of a treat, and the FFIX section is closer in size to that of the games in the other volumes. I struggle between whether the set ultimately more deserves something like a 4/5 or a 4.5/5. The presentation of the art itself is big, bright, and attractive, with a lot of love put into it. On some level, these could be the ultimate coffee table books for fans of the series and video game RPGs in general. However, sections are clearly labeled for art of each the games' protagonists, but otherwise, there is minimal context to the images, so if you haven't played the games, most of the images of game enemies and scenery will not communicate anything about their roles or function in the games. There are no descriptions beyond playable character names of any of the art, and most enemies are unlabeled, so reading through it for the first time will have you thinking "hey, wait, is that [enemy] from [dungeon]?" a lot. Still, from what I can tell, this is the best, most comprehensive release of this art in book form ever made (I believe that there have been a small handful of previous art book releases, arguably including the Super Nintendo Final Fantasy III Nintendo Player's Guide).Read full review
The quality of the books is amazing. Reproductions look like living drawings. Not blurry. If it's watercolor, then the technique is visible in detail. Also a very creative cover is made of fabric or paper imitating a fabric. Very beautiful and pleasant to the touch.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Hello! You are reading a review for The Sky : The Art of Final Fantasy Vols. 1-3, Set by Yoshitaka Amano (2013, Hardcover). This Final Fantasy book jam-packs TONS of art from Yoshitaka Amano. He is a very famous artist, and his works are magnificent. You should thouroughly enjoy your purchase, as this is well worth the money. And I am sure will only go up in price as days to come. Yoshitaka Amano designed all the character designs, as well as even more, such as, the vehicles, monsters, backgrounds, etc. The animators take his drawings and make them a reality. Sometimes too well! Do not miss out on this behind the scenes look.
The books came ahead of expected delivery date. I was wanting to give this to my son as a Christmas gift and was able to achieve this.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New