The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy Slipcased Edition Hardcover – Illustrated, 28 Jun. 2013

This is a review taken from my blog and edited (in case you see it elsewhere over the internet). This is a reflection on the book and not on Amazon/Dark Horse. It should be noted I did purchase this copy from Ebay for £100 just before the UK launch. These were released a week early in the US, hence why UK Ebay sellers had them before Amazon UK. My Amazon order did pull through however so I sold my £100 copy on to a friend and kept my cheaper Amazon order. Before I get flamed - my friend was one of the ones who missed out on an Amazon copy too and no, I didn't make any profit.Now to the review.I've finally managed to get my hands on a copy of the English version of The Sky by Amano! It has just been released in the West although this was first released in Japan back in 2001. There is little difference between the two versions except for two things: the language - one is Japanese and the other English, and the Western version includes a hand signed card by the legend himself - Yoshitaka Amano!The contents:Book 1: Final Fantasy I, II, IIIBook 2: Final Fantasy IV, V, VIBook 3: Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, XBook 4: All About Yoshitaka AmanoBook 5: The Sky Premium FlipbookTwo Postcards (Bartz & Terra)One clear sheet with an illustration etched in silver (this is really hard to explain)One hand signed card (1 in 1000)This is probably the best piece of Final Fantasy merch I have ever brought. Amano is my favourite artist so to have a whole boxset of his work is too much for words! Not only is it pure awesome, it was also limited to 1000 copies so if you see one for sale don't hesitate to snap it up!I will make a little note about the amount of content each game has received because they are very disproportional. I, II and III are fairly even in my opinion. Amano was heavily involved in the design of I in particular and you can see a lot of the enemies and environments. IV has little art compared with V and VI, and VI in particular has a hefty amount. Amano's favourite characters are Tina (Terra in the Western games) and Mog so expect several images of these two. All the other characters have many illustrations too. VII is extremely heavy on Cloud and Aerith. Red and Sephiroth make some appearances too and there is one of Tifa but most of the remaining cast barely get a look in. VIII is even more limited, focusing completely on Squall, Rinoa and Seifer. There is a group shot of the party and one of Ultimecia but little else. IX however is -extremely- heavy. Not only do we have double pages of each character but several sketches of each are included as well as many scenes. This is a joy for me as VI and IX are two of my favourite of the series! Amano has taken a completely different approach to X and seems to be experimenting with a new art style. There is a lot of sketching and scenes (you'll have to look up photos to get a proper idea of the difference) but I really loved these sketches so much! There isn't a great deal for X either and again there is a heavy focus on Yuna and Tidus but the images are fantastic. It should also be noted that VII onwards is very character based (which some environment scenes) whereas pre-VI has a lot more monsters included (but still has many characters images too).Book 4 offers an insight into the artists personal life. It is completely translated in English though so I will at some point read through it. It has a variety of things included such as an interview, how he became involved with Final Fantasy and a list of all of his books and artworks.Book 5 can't really be considered a book as such but it is lovely nevertheless. It is a very small flip book which has two stories depending on which way you flip it. One is of a moogle as it stumbles around and the other is of a dancing spirit.There is not much to comment on regarding the postcards. They both must be favourite pieces of Amano though as the same drawing of Bartz is also used on the front cover of the box and Tina is also used on the inside cover. They are made from card and have a very plain back. It always makes me wonder why postcards are included in sets like this as they clearly will never be used but either way they make lovely prints.Next is the clear, plastic sheet. This is a very unusual item and I have tried my best to photograph it at the right angle so the silver shows up. It has been suggested to me this artwork could be of Cosmos and now I look back at the image it does resemble her.Lastly included in this set is the hand signed card. When I first heard about this boxset I assumed Amano's signature would be printed and just thrown in but no, these sets are limited to 1000 and each card is signed personally. I've spoken to others who also have this set and some have had the item signed in black ink, another in red ink but mine is signed in black paint. Amano must have got bored signing so many cards! The sets aren't actually individually numbered which is a shame but it does say `limited to 1000′ on the card.Sadly XI-XIV aren't included in the box. I know Amano has been less and less involved with the series post X but I would have loved a minibook including some of the later work. Although in saying this there is no shortage of content in here so don't let the lack of post XI put you off!To give some of you hope who weren't able to get the limited version, Dark Horse are planning a rerun of this set with just the 3 main artbooks in a slipcase (as far as I am aware). I don't know specifics but they tweeted about it in Novemeber. It might be a cheaper alternative for those who don't mind missing out on the exclusive extras.To leave you with one last thought about this collection... These are the last powerful words in book 3...Look up at the sky...There must be a fantasy.

I am a massive fan of Final Fantasy, so say anything related to it and I will be there. And to find there is a re-release of this set of books nearly made my heart stop; I pressed pre-order before I even looked at the price..I bought this set for one picture, and that was the concept art of Sephiroth, (massive FF7 fan..) but I have played FF1, 2, 6 and some of 10 so to see the characters from other series was captivating to say the least. And I love Amano's style of drawing (can be seen especially in 1&2 in the PSP booklets) which although is concept art, you can really distinguish the characters to how they are in-game and in-concept. (Recognised Cloud straight away, same with Aerith.)They are in full colour ink on beautiful, thick glossy paper and the books are pretty massive, so you're not straining to see the amount of detail in every picture. Amano's life's work is in these pages, so to even look at them - let alone have your own copy - is a blessing.Gah! I could write so much more on how beautiful and precious this is, but if you're a FF fan of even one series, this set will convert you to play all of them just to see how the characters have developed from these pages.Long live Sephiroth!

Must admit i was a bit dubious about this book at first but oh how i was wrong! The 3 books are packaged in a sturdy box which has an almost velvety, fabric like finish. All artwork is amazingly detailed, mostly watercolours - you can see the vast array of colours the artist used in fine detail. The paper quality is also good, relatively thick stock so not much to worry about here (i didn't feel so bad flicking through).The only thing i will mention about this product is its delivery; not Amazons fault at all i might add. The product was delivered by a company called 'Hermes', the package was left at the bottom of the drive in a plastic bag besides our refuse bins - found out a day or two later by a phone call that it had been delivered and did we get it! Needless to say i'm not happy about this, so be warned, if it's Hermes delivering be careful!

Stunning collection of Art from a legendary artist! Was worth every penny. Each page is crystal clear and of excellent quality. The packaging is GORGEOUS.Only downside was I think Final Fantasy X, it only had concerns art as opposed to fully colourful pictures like the series before it, sadly. However still 10/10!

Beautiful and excellent quality. My Final Fantasy geek son was in heaven. The characters/pictures are not named or titled and are original artwork rather than game images. Despite this, he was excited to identify the origins of various characters and found tonnes of familiar stuff. I don't play the game but still love browsing through these stunning illustrations.