World Tank Museum is series of 1/144 scale miniature tank toys sold by Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy. The company commissioned illustrator Morinaga Yo to create these beautiful art work from the toys, and this book Panzertales – World Tank Museum Complete Works is a collection of some 50+ tanks from the toy series. I have no particular interest in tanks or warfare but I do love Morinaga Yo’s art work, the style and presentation somewhat similar to Miyazaki Hayao’s Daydream Notes. Morinaga also has another related art book titled The Tank Primer.

This particular edition, appended with “Complete Works” is released in 2022 and is the 11th reprint of the first edition published back in 2005 ( read my review here ), and attests to the popularity of the art book. I believe the contents are by and large identical; this new edition includes some new art work as well as the splendid 3 page fold-out art as seen above.

Books as such are particularly popular in Japan because of a thriving fanbase for miniature model toolkits, and are often commissioned by model makers like Tamiya or Modelkasten.

This is definitely the edition to pick up if you don’t already own the earlier release.

If tanks aren’t your particular cup of tea, but you like the artist’s art work, I highly recommended Morinaga Yo’s other illustrations art books that I’ve reviewed – Tokyo Skytree, Tsukiji Fish Market as well as the Shinkansen, all of which are delightful and also educational.

“Panzer Tales – World Tank Museum Complete Works ワールドタンクミュージアム全集 モリナガ・ヨウ” art book details :

Dimensions – 21 x 0.9 x 28 cm
Soft cover, 136 pages
Full color, In Japanese

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