Master visual novel illustrator Ino‘s classic eroge Izayoi no Hanayome has recently had some of its fine art surface, and these spectacular images of Iyori Kiryuu are particularly captivating…

You can see more of her on the Channel, both in her original CG form and in even higher resolution glory.

You may recall the earlier post on the making of this image of vocaloid Meiko, by master oppai illustrator Ino, but sadly at that time no high quality version of the image itself was to be found.

Now that one has surfaced, visible above, I’m sure you’ll be delighted to revisit the post, or rather, rewatch it below:

Player 1

Nico.

More such videos.

It certainly didn’t take long for DS enthusiasts to uncover the presumably unintended erotic potential of the new DSi and its image manipulation powers.

Player 1

Nico.

I’m sure there will be more to come, if only because it has a camera now…

The image, of Vocaloid Meiko, is by eroge CG master Ino, and you can view the video it appears in here.

Supreme CG artist Ino, whose works we are hopefully all familiar with by now, has once again provided a fascinating video of himself creating an illustration from scratch, in this case of Vocaloid Meiko, one of the prototype virtual idols eventually culminating in Hatsune Miku.

That is to say, a well endowed lady in some revealing clothing.

Player 1

Nico.

Be sure to check out his other video in the Ino introduction. Or see a rather extensive look at his CG art on the Channel…

One of the more interesting genres of video on Nico are the various videos of CG artists at work, and there are indeed quite a few of these. Here you can see some of the best, surely of great interest to CG art fans and artists alike.

The subjects for these illustrations are Hatsune Miku, Nagato Yuki and a headphone musume, so likely nobody will be disappointed (although unfortunately no ero-CG videos are possible on Nico).

The artists in question also seem to exhibit excellent taste in music… You can find links to the relevant songs on the Nico pages (although plenty look to have been deleted – isn’t Nico wonderful?). The amazing Miku Lodoss song is here.

The software used is predominantly SAI, and some Photoshop. If you happen to find the originals, please share them and I’ll add them to the article, as unfortunately these artists aren’t very good with uploading the final images to permanent hosting at times.

Player 1

Nico. Hatsune Miku.

Player 2

Nico. Hatsune Miku Plus Alpha (naked).

Player 3

Nico. Nagato.

Player 4

Nico. This is by famous eroge CG artist Ino – read more about him and see his art in the previous article.

It seems the CG artists directing the art of eroge often fail to receive the credit they might be due in more visible artistic roles; one such case is that of Ino (also known as 猪野誠 / Ino Makoto), an artist of colossal skill, who still seems not to have accrued the celebrity aura attaching to the likes of Tony, despite equalling or even surpassing him.

Here I present a comprehensive introduction to his works, and also a fascinating making of video showing him in the act of creating one.

Player 1

Here he shows us the process by which one of his fine works, in this case a headphone musume, is created. Via Nico.

Player 2

And another, where he illustrates Vocaloid Meiko.

His artbook, INO アートワークス Velvet Skin / Ino Artworks Velvet Skin, where this illustration features, is said to be of a very high standard, and so may well be of interest; however, the bulk of his works are CG, featuring in what is now an impressive portfolio of eroge. Perhaps this is a factor in his comparative obscurity.

If Juuzoh Minazuki can be said to be the undisputed master of drawing feet, and Satoshi Urushihara the master of nipples (I hesitate to say what Tony is master of), then Ino is undoubtedly the foremost illustrator of breasts. More authentically and erotically illustrated mammaries you will not find, I’d wager.

His upcoming game, 乙女ファンクション / Otome Function, to be published by Mu-soft, looks to be magnificent. Unfortunately, the publisher has announced a delay due to quality issues, so it is unlikely we will see it this year; mortifying, but better than it turning into a Summer Days…

十六夜の花嫁 / Izayoi no Hanayome, a 2003 eroge by Mink. Easily one of his best works, with a high standard of quality despite being an earlier title.

Alea / アレア, a 2007 eroge by Caligula.

きみはぐ / Kimihagu, another 2007 title, this time by FrontWing.

ニセ教祖 / Nisekyouso, a 2004 eroge by Nomad, the art of which he was partially responsible for.

永劫回帰 / Eigoukaiki (Eternal Recurrence), published in 2004 by D.O.

KISS×400 懐かしき日々の連続 / Kiss x 400 Natsukashiki Hibi no Renzoku, a 2005 title by Winters.

This is a small selection of the works he has been involved in. You can find more on the Channel, especially collected into pools.

I should point out that though we are here focussed on his art, many of the eroge he has illustrated are superb all round, so you may be well rewarded should you check them out.

The comparison which springs to mind is between Ino and Tony (Taichi Kiriyama probably isn’t  really prolific enough to qualify, despite his amazing style); whilst they operate in slightly different fields, with Tony having a broader portfolio extending to doujinshi and straightforward character design, I think one of the criticisms I am prepared to level at Tony, that his subject matter and art is at times overly unadventurous (although he seems to be improving in this regard), does not hold true of Ino despite his CG focus. Ino instead seems to manage to keep his works quite varied.

Subjectively, about the only real point of difference in mastery between the two is that Ino is most probably the better illustrator of breasts, but I would be hesitant to call him superior because of this, especially considering his narrower CG focus.

Whatever interesting comparisons we might care to draw, it seems undeniable that Ino is one of the foremost artists operating in his field, and nobody could reasonably fail to recommend his superb works.