Recently nabbed myself one of these. 'Tis the English version (though I wouldn't mind a Japanese one, seeing as my Pandora Hearts artbook is in Japanese), but content wise, nothing should differ. The covers are a bit different, with the Japanese book having an extra cover page, resulting in the cover looking like this. 

Those who also follow my photoblog would have seen this a wee bit earlier. I put a slightly brighter photo of the same thing up there yesterday.

Something to note about the cover is that the features are actually fuzzy, which is why they have very little detail on them (though it's a feather, what more can you expect?). It's a real nice touch, but it more of a magnet for dust than my PSP is to finger prints. The title is also foil, and makes it hard to get in shot properly. I'll try my breast best to keep this free of dust.

Inside, the front page once again features the cover illustration with a translucent page more or less remaking the cover, sans the feathers. If those design lines were any darker, you could totally assume that it's a nude filter ^^;. 

Tony Taka's artwork is gorgeous. The book is comprised of works from Shining Tears and Shining Wind, none of which I've played, mainly due to the fact that neither of them have made it across the Pacific. Either way, the book is roughly 200 pages of beautiful illustrations.

This was actually one of the first of his works that I saw. Was a couple years back when I was looking for wallpapers for the iPod Touch that I came across this picture. Didn't think much of the artist, but later on went to find more works by him and was blown away by how good they looked. 

Promotion art for Shining Tears.

Book also has several pages (around 8-10) of interview and other Tony Taka goodness. Pictured is a rundown on how he creates a work. Being the English version, everything is translated for non-Japanese speakers and readers to enjoy. The interview is rather entertaining, too.

The character pages towards the end. Of the ones pictured here, which one tickles your fancy? Had to keep these ones very tame; there are some slightly more risqué illustrations, but all of them are more or less perfectly work safe (there's no nudity).


The other side of the cover illustration. Delicious Xecty and Elwing. This also appears on the back cover, butt but this one doesn't have any text.