Gothic Lolita Punk: Draw Like the Hottest Japanese Artists [ペーパーバック]

I'm not a lolita myself, but I'm an artist who takes part in the goth scene (I consider myself a Romantigoth), so I was quite intrigued when I heard about this book. I've waited a while to read reviews, but wherever I looked, I could not find any. So, risked buying this without reading any feedback from anyone else.
Well, it came in the mail yesterday. The cover art is beautiful, but now that I've taken a closer look at it, I have to say, I've seen better pen-and-ink works. The book features ten artists, claimed to be "gothic lolita" artists, as well as an interview with DJ SiSeN, a Japanese DJ known in the goth/punk/cyber club scene. The interview was interesting to read as an introduction to the alternative scene in Japan. Then, the ten artists' works are showcased. Each artist (except for one of them, a dollmaker) also includes a step-by-step process of how one of their pieces were created. I will give you my review on each individual artist, and what score they receive out of 5 points, with 1 point being the lowest. This is my objective review, so you may not agree with me.

1)Eri Kamijo (2.5/5)
Her works are nothing too special. Just the conventional, manga/anime-girl with long limbs, long hair, skinny frame, and wide eyes. Her lineart is quite thick, and her digital coloring is very flat.

2)Aguru Mukai (1/5)
Okay, why the hell is this guy in here? I'm sorry, but he looks as though he has had much art training or practice. His "art" is very vulgar, with ugly characters with long, pointed noses, awkward anatomy, and tasteless coloring. I'm very appalled that some would consider this "art." Perhaps the only "gothic lolita" trait of his work is the clothing. But then, the clothing is cheaply drawn. I don't know how he can make it as an artist in the industry.

3)Yoh (5/5)
She did the art for the cover of this book. Now, her work is very beautiful. Her use of pen and ink is very reminiscent of Edward Gorey. She has very detailed, meticulous work that contains a nostalgic quality of quirky children's stories such as Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz. An artist that is very similar to hers is Dame Darcy, an American artist, who I recommend you should take a look at if you like Yoh's works.

4)Makoligato (5/5)
Her work are not of drawings, but of dolls. They are hauntingly beautiful, with wide, glassy eyes, and dressed up in absolutely endearing, elegant costumes of silk, velvet, and lace with accessories such as chains, jewels, roses, ribbons, and little trinkets. I only wish she could've shown us how she created one of the dolls' clothings, step by step.

5)Kira Imai (4/5)
At first, I didn't like her. Though her style is very sweet, I feel that the coloring is too flat, like the first artist, Eri Kamijo. But my mom loved her works. She felt that it was simple, yet elegant, and was her favorite artist out of all the other ones in this book. The more I look at Kira's works, the more it's actually quite nice. I still don't like the coloring. I think her lineart is better.

6)Gin Jaba Tank (5/5)
Her works are a universe of intense details. Her coloring (done on photoshop) is very beautiful, with a lot of depth and light. Definitely worth looking at.

7)HIME+YOU (3/5)
I'm very disappointed. Most of the works shown by her were flat-colored works with thick lineart, and then the four final pieces were actually GOOD. But then the piece shown step-by-step was a boring work.

8)TAMA (4.5/5)
Lovely watercolors. I'm glad to see traditional coloring here. She has a little-girl-meets-creepy-adult style and sensability here. However, she loses half a point because some of her watercolors get rather murky.

9)Nori Tomizaki (1.5/5)
Pixar's films would die of shame to see these works. Okay, I'm probably exaggerating, but Nori's 3-D digital works look like an animated feature film work in progress. If you know what an unfinished computer-animated film looks like (especially Pixar's), you know that the final product blows the work-in-progress out of water.

10)Tokyo Alice (2/5)
Sorry, but her work and coloring look very amateur. If a middle schooler, or even an elementary schooler had drawn it, it'd be impressive. But no, Tokyo Alice is older than that.

One artist I'm disappointed to not see featured in this book is Takaya Miou. Her art is very dark and beautiful, so why isn't she here? She's quite an unknown artist, and as far as I know, the only exposure she's had in the west is in the book "Manga: Masters of the Art." She could've been here instead of that horrid Aguru Mukai. For those of you who truly love dark, macabre, beautiful pen-and-ink work, I recommend you search for her on google.
I was only happy to look at half of these artists' art. I want half of my money back.

"Draw Like the Hottest Artists in Japan" had me thinking it was an updated "How to Draw Manga." I expected anime/ manga artists/ styles but I was disappointed in the lack of "how to."

This is first and foremost, an "Artbook." Most of the artists have been showcased in Gothic & Lolita Bibles, etc. While the Art itself is impressive, the book is more of an "inside look" at each artists' unique technique, rather than an instructional guide.

This is primarily a showcase book, and doesn't actually show you how to draw like the artists featured. How to color and use photoshop like them, yes. But actual drawing/lineart? No. Not a big deal to me, but perhaps an important distinction for some people.

Three of the artists in this book are absolutely terrible - Aguru Mukai is the worst (very juvenile style; no sense of proportion and all-around ugly) followed by Nori Tomizaki (poorly done and discombobulated work) and Tokyo Alice, who draws in a very unrefined, basic, and disproportionate fashion.

That said, the rest of the artists range from "very good" to "OMG spectacular", and don't disappoint in the least. Two artists, Eri Kamijo and Kira Imai have flat colored work (no use of gradation for shading), but I happen to like that style, and thus found no problem with it. Hime + You has slightly less flat shading, very much in the style of Junko Mizuno.

The remaining four artists showcase different, yet all beautiful styles, and I can't imagine anyone would dislike their work. Gin Jaba Tank's characters' eyes are a bit big, as are the eyes of Makoligato's dolls - but that's a small detail and may not bother you depending on your personal preferences. My personal favorite is Tama's haunting blend of macabre and child-like innocence in watercolors - I would buy the book again just for this artist.

You probably won't like all of the artists in this book, but if you can overlook that fact, the majority of the art is really very beautiful and quite worthwhile.