Matsuryu “Queen’s Blade – Allean” artbook

With Allean (or Arein / アレイン) appearing in last week’s “Queen’s Blade” episode thought I’d mention the “Queen’s Blade – Allean” artbook, illustrated by artist Matsuryu (松竜).

Hadn’t noticed Allean that much before but instantly liked her when I saw her portrayal in the anime and adore the illustrations Matsuryu created of her.

While she looks stern and a force to be reckoned with, there’s still a definite cuteness and hint of frailty beneath her cool exterior.

Probably familiar mostly from illustrations that appeared in Dengeki Moeou, Matsuryu also created art for the “Yumina the Ethereal” game, a nice artist who did a great job on the Allean “Queen’s Blade” book.

Not only is Allean an appealing character with a terrific design, she’s presented well and has more realistic proportions than many other “Queen’s Blade” characters who while still cute are too exaggerated in some forms.

Had to include clothing malfunction images, since honestly this is what “Queen’s Blade” is about, to bring us gorgeous yet also lethal maidens doing battle, where a hit often results in an suspiciously convenient clothing malfunction.

As it is, this suggestive bare skin -which actually does not show any explicit nudity- not only caters to a large audience who like to see such daring imagery, but it also prevents from having to include real hideous bloodshed on its pages.

Most of those pages from the books refer to the portrayed character taking some type of hit or damage in the “Queen’s Blade” game and let’s be honest, while not realistic, this approach is far better than including explicit gore imagery of wounds incurred in battle.

Those with keen eyes may also notice that for several illustrations where more bare skin is shown or the emphasis lies on Allean’s more shapely forms, Matsuryu has depicted her with a visibly larger breast size than in other images.

This is something you will often encounter in manga and anime illustrations, when female characters are depicted in bikini, other revealing attire or simply naked, they suddenly seem to have gained a cup size or more compared to depictions where they are fully clothed.

Not a flaw or error by the artist, but rather purposely, perhaps even blatantly emphasizing that which they want to capture the audience with.

I realize not everyone is a fan of such art, but I love the cute character design, the vibrant colors and style used by Matsuryu for Allean.

They say beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. Most likely quite true and this type of work I adore seeing and love admiring.

In some images though I find Matsuryu’s style ever so slightly resembles Senomoto Hisashi’s in the line work and coloring style, but maybe that’s just my impression.

Will share some of Matsuryu’s other illustrations some day as there are several really amazing pieces among them.