I drew a ton of cunningly cute creatures. [New Book Introduction]

My main profession is an illustrator.

Since it is the election period for the House of Councillors, I have been posting a series of rather heavy and long posts, such as 'Learn history!' or 'Go vote!', but

Once again, a self-introduction.
My main profession is an illustrator.

My job is to draw pictures, not to write articles. Thankfully, thanks to writing on note, I have been receiving more tips and people have been purchasing my paid articles, but my core focus remains on my illustration work. (Aiming for both!)

A book I recently worked on as an illustrator has been released.

Scary!? Cunning!? Somewhat Surprising Cute Creatures

Publisher: Natsumesha
Release Date: 2025/7/15
ISBN-10: 481637759X

Illustrated Guide to Invasive Creatures,Illustrated Guide to Highly Poisonous Creatures,Illustrated Guide to Highly Dangerous Creatures, and others. I have been in charge of several illustrated creature books so far, and I have had a lot of input on the selection of creatures, the direction of the manga and columns, and the cover design, but this time I am solely in charge of the illustrations. (Though I did have some input on the selection of creatures for the cover and the layout...)

The supervisor is Mr. Tadaaki Imaizumi of the 'Zannen na Ikimono Jiten' (Encyclopedia of Disappointing Creatures) series. It is a name I see so often that I start to suspect the children's creature book industry thinks that just putting this name on a book will make it sell, but a book featuring both Mr. Imaizumi and Uraken Borubox on the cover is now being released.

Survive the wildlife with cunning and craftiness!

Large, round eyes, fluffy bodies—that appearance, which looks cute to humans at first glance, is something they acquired to survive in the harsh natural world. Therefore, despite their looks, they are actually quite cunning and possess crafty skills. Conversely, creatures that look scary at first glance actually have a side that you cannot help but love.

In other words, it is a book packed with the gaps in these creatures' personalities.

I will extract some parts from the sample pages that have already been released.

Too mild!

The excerpt pages released by the official source are too mild! Why this creature! I drew much more intense ones!

Like the cuckoo catfish that mixes its own eggs into the mouth of a fish that protects its eggs in its mouth, making it raise them! (Those with a sharp intuition will have realized what the food for the children in the mouth is.)

Or the relationship between the Japanese sparrowhawk and the azure-winged magpie, which looks almost like a battle without honor and humanity!

Or the yellow-footed antechinus that mates without even sparing time to sleep!

As written on the obi strip, it is truly packed with all sorts of survival techniques.

I've packed in some little bits of trivia.

I am somewhat aware that the reason I get requests for animal illustrations isn't just because of the balance between realism and stylization, but also because of the appeal of the little bits of trivia in the speech bubbles I add next to the animals, and this time, too, I've thoroughly included trivia for the creatures that really called for it.

Also, the four-panel manga by Ichinichi Isshu is really funny.

Please consider purchasing it.

Recently, I've been posting topics related to politics and history, but I've been an illustrator for 15 years. I plan to write about how I've survived with just a pen nib in the future as well.

Thank you for reading.

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