The World of Disgaea – Artbook Review

If you read Basugasubakuhatsu regularly, you’ll know that I’m kind of an otaku when it comes to Disgaea. I’ve posted quite a bit about Disgaea stuff, like the figures and prinny plushie, the manga, the sequel’s manga, the anime… When I saw The World of Disgaea at Amazon.com for like $14, I knew I had to have it!

The World of Disgaea is kind of weird in the sense that it’s part artbook, part guide. It’s not quite the Double Jump Books guide, though. I’d say it’s an artbook first, and there’s some elements of a guide towards the appendix of the book.

I should say that the print quality of this book is pretty amazing. It’s hardcover, and measures 10.1 x 7.4 inches. The book is bound with string instead of staples or glue. It’s really awesome how nice this book is! The pages are all printed in color, and the illustrations are all faithfully reproduced.

I guess my only complaint is that some of the sprite art is a bit low-res. I’d assume that they’d have access to all of the game’s raw art, but it looks like some of the screenshots were taken using a camera on a CRT TV. It’s kind of weird seeing really beautiful illustrations alongside some artifacted game screenshots. It’s okay, but it doesn’t look as good as it could have.

As far as the art goes, most of it is Takehito Harada’s. This means that it’s awesome! There are some sections where you can see the rough sketch progression to the final illustration.

In addition to the art, there’s also some extras like the text for the next episode previews, an interview with the three voice actresses (Laharl, Flonne and Etna) and item guides (which read a lot like a strategy guide).

The text that’s used to explain things in the book is written in the same wacky tone of the original Disgaea game. I’m not sure if these descriptions came from the game itself or if they were written for the artbook, but they’re pretty funny. Like the description for Doppleganger reads:

You split. You keep on splitting. And all of you shoot an arrow at once. It’s just plain strong, and you’ll overcome your enemy by numbers, by yourself. It’s also convenient when you want to vote for something.

Conclusion:
The World of Disgaea is hot. If you’re a fan of Disgaea, you simply need to buy this artbook. At around $14 it’s a freaking steal! I wonder if all manga could be printed this well for an extra $3-4…

This artbook also makes me really want to play Disgaea again. Hopefully I’ll get it on PSP pretty soon.