What better way to start the year than with another lush artbook from PIE International? UKUMO uiti (pronounced Wukumo Wu Ichi) is a well known designer and illustrator, probably best known in the West for some stunning work on Digimon. This book, which combines 3 of the artist's Doujinshi collections (Dreaming Girls, The Summer Gate and CEH[A/W]) all of which sold out instantly.
All in, the book contains over 170 illustrations, separated into seasonal chapters, granting the reader a grand tour of Japan's seasonal themes such as New Year's Day and White Day.
The first thing you'll undoubtedly notice is the creative use of the cover, which has an abstract background illustration with a hole cut in the middle to reveal an underlying illustration. The hole has a gold foil outline containing fish, suns and stars, certainly living up to the dream-like promise of the title.
I love the study of light and reflection on the surfaces, which provides incredible depth
There's no doubt that every illustration in this book could stand alone as an impressive piece - whether it's a study of a character with no background, showcasing uiti's instinctive taste in fashion, or spellbinding and moody landscape pieces (such as a gorgeous waterfall at night, resplendent with green, blues and purples against a pitch-black sky), it's all just beautiful.
The range of ideas in this book is staggering - from boats sailing across a field of sunflowers to schoolgirls taking a selfie against a stormy sky with a floating octopus kaiju raining havoc, there's just no way of knowing what's waiting for you from page to page, but whatever comes next is an utter delight. I love the way in which each illustration looks like a snapshot of an intriguing story, any of which could be easily developed into a more fulsome experience.. It's genuinely breath-taking, and stands with Vofan's superb "Colorful Dreams" book as a testament to the breadth of artistic imagination.
The mood created by the backgrounds is suitably surreal and dreamlike
The book's presentation is also deserving of praise. I've already commented on the cover, but each chapter is separated by a transparent overlay, with the paper stock also seeming to change throughout, which lends the book a tactile dimension that compliments the imaginative artwork perfectly.
If I have any complaint, it's that the book is untranslated, though that's a problem which can be satisfactorily solved with a phone running Google translate. It may not be perfect, but it worked well enough to translate the preface and after-word pieces in the book.
I've had a wonderful time with this book over Christmas, flitting from page to page while drinking coffee (probably my favourite pastime) and I can't recommend it enough. Just prior to Christmas, my friend Tom was most impressed with the book so I bought another copy and gifted it to him. I could of course given him this volume, but the thought of not having this in my collection is now unthinkable!
Daydreams: The Art of UKUMO uiti is available from PIE International and all good bookshops
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