Everyday Scenes from a Parallel World (PIE Background Illustration Series)

This is a great book with a huge wealth of illustration crammed in. Beautifully printed and a great reference for an artist or would-be animator who wants inspiration for backgrounds and settings.

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Being a big anime and manga fan, getting hold of “Everyday Scenes from a Parallel World” was like being handed a treasure. It is 10 in. square; and though it is in paperback format, this tome is definitely a coffee table book.It was while reviewing this book that I left it on the coffee table, not to test my theory but for convenience. “Everyday Scenes from a Parallel World” is not for reading per se. It should be perused the way we look at paintings in a museum. Every page holds a unique artwork that is worthy of framing. I would have framed some myself, but I just cannot bring myself to tear pages from this book which I have treasured since I received it.There is very little prose. Except for the introduction which was written in both Japanese and English, the pages just have the titles of the illustration. If you are like me who does not read Japanese, don’t worry. There is an English translation right beside the Japanese.To say that I was mesmerized by “Everyday Scenes from a Parallel World” would be an understatement. I have had the book for months now and I still have not finished looking at it. Every time I open a page, though I have seen the artwork before, I would notice something that I did not see before. It feels like an Easter Egg Hunt when it happens.So, yes, the book is still on my coffee table, right in our TV room. When I sit down to watch the six o’clock news, I always open it and look at one drawing. It might only be 60 seconds per day that I give this book attention, but that is enough for me to continue admiring the artists who drew them. It will be a long time that “Everyday Scenes from a Parallel World” will sit at the place of honor where my family meets every night to share and watch what is going on in the world. It is an everyday scene in the parallel world we live in.

I just received this book for Christmas and can not put it down. Every piece of artwork in this book is breathtaking. So much detail on every page. Highly recommended.

This is a fantastic art book with a great variety of artists. At the end of the book there is even a step by step process of how the cover art was drawn with commentary. However, although this is listed as a book In English, and all the other writing was in English (next to the original Japanese) this writing at the end from the artist, which is the most writing in the book, is not translated into English. I think this is a real shame considering it could be incredibly helpful for artists to be able to read the artists commentary, and this is the only reason I haven’t given the book five stars

This book is now one of my 'get ideas' library. It's one of those books that flips the creative switch to full on. The illustrations are beautiful, colours clear and beautiful. Very good for sunreal artists.

Wonderful book. Great illustrations. If you are a fan of Anime you will love this.

Amazing book! Beautiful art! Was very surprised to see some familiar works.

An absolute delight to add to my library as a reference for my art. Beautifully rendered scenes and a nice touch of advice at the back for artists. Illustrations range from urban cities to neverending fields of pure nature. This book doesn't come in a hardcover version so that does sadden me, but I fully understand why they may not have it. If your looking for book for amazing inspiration and references to look for, or hell maybe a good visual arts book to look at, buy this and you'll never regret it!