Note: Some images in this review are NSFW. The images in the book are much greater quality than my camera and photography skills can show off but I did the best I could.
I was pretty bummed when I found out that we wouldn’t be getting an artbook with either edition of Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal. All of XSEED’s previous Limited Editions included artbooks, so I decided to shop around since I didn’t want to miss out on one with this release. I soon discovered that Play-Asia had the Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal Official Illustration Collection for a reasonable $29.99. This is the full sized artbook for this game, so I figured this would be a good chance for me to check out one of the full sized Senran Kagura artbooks. This way I could see if they were worth the asking price, and solve my dilemma of the North American release not including a book at the same time.
This is a pretty thick book, clocking in at around 160 pages. It’s about 12 inches tall and 9 inches wide. The print quality is great here. The colors really stand out on the high quality glossy paper. I thought it was neat the book cover has the girls fully clothed when underneath the cover the girls have their classic light beam nipples!
The book contains tons of promo artwork, character profiles, design sketches and more. There is even content from Shinobi Refle, or Shinobi Reflections as it will be called here in the West. This includes concept artwork for the girls’ clothing, backgrounds and CG from from the game. There is a 12 page interview with the Senran Kagura development team that is in Japanese, but the other 148 pages are filled with art from top to bottom.
Since the Crimson Squad is my favorite group of Shinbois, I have to say I really enjoyed this artbook. I mean there’s tons of Mirai in it, so how could I not? That’s not to say there isn’t a ton of content for the Hanzo and the other girls, but Gessen and Hebijo do get the light end of this stick in this book. I’m not saying there is not art of those girls, but since they were not in Senran Kagura Burst it’s pretty much a given they wouldn’t be featured in this book as much.
All in all, I have to say I was very pleased with this artbook. There is a ton of content here showing off some old promo art and some new, lots of great character art, and lots of pics of my favorite girls. If you are a fan of the series that got bummed out by not getting the artbook this time around, this book will run you about $36 with the standard shipping. While this is more costly than if XSEED had just included an artbook like before, you are getting a much better quality and bigger book.
This artbook was provided by Play-Asia, if you would like your own please use our affiliate link below.
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