Quite some time since the last review… (un?)fortunately, every new World of Warcraft xpac manages, one way or the other, to drag me back into the game, and the first couple of weeks always turn into sort of a black hole of regaining one’s bearing, and grinding. Time to ease up now, and get back to the stuff that actually matters. Like dōjinshi.
Hasya (incredibly, one of the few japanese artists that has actually learnt how to use Linktree) has quite the following on a number of digital platforms — not surprising, considering their very personal, idiosyncratic visual style, be it the packaging or the illustrations themselves. Free Paper Hasyagu book 6, as the lenghty title itself might suggest, is the sixth ‘volume’ in a series of entries, though at a mere 14 pages it should perhaps be referred to as a booklet. Still, what we’re missing in beefiness is more than made up in style: the A4 publication, full color, is thread bound on the short side, calendar style; and printed in high quality on a striking, glossy sort of rough paper that feels almost oily to the touch. It certaily gives each pages a kind of texture that a simpler matte paper could not achieve. The bold, thick ink also sort of bleeds through, a very pleasant ‘rough draft’-like visual effect that probably doesn’t come across too well in my amateurish pics. And no, I will not unbind anything. Ever.
As for the contents themselves, a first oddity is that the chapter numbering starts at 40: I’m guessing that it carries over from previous volumes. As for the contents themselves, each sheet (as in, a front and a back) are dedicated to… really whatever strikes Hasya’s fancy. One page is a report on a glass jewelry making workshop (funny enough, just yesterday I was watching a Tub Orion video on this very subject); another is dedicated to factoids about pumpkins and squashes; another one is a free-form microlecture on minerals; and so on. Each ‘topic’ uses its own distinctive art style and colors, and sometimes even a different kind of paper! Very cool visual effect.
Very nice little surprise, and you can see more on Hasya’s Twitter and Booth.
