Level Up! Seize the Experience!

Thanks to obsessions with anime in the past, I’ve been a fan of artbooks. I was perusing one site for Crisis Core fandomania, and I came across this book which looked to me to be an artbook. The item description was all in Japanese, so I couldn’t confirm anything, but with the title “Ultimania,” it screamed artbook to me. Or a fan book of some type. I bought it off of eBay (because they had it cheaper), and the pretty thing came in today. As I sat down to flip through it, I quickly discovered that it really isn’t an artbook, it’s a strategy guide.

If anyone has bought Ultimania books in the past, they’re probably laughing at me because they knew it would be a guide. Ultimania just doesn’t say guide to me.

I was a little disappointed, mainly because I already have a guide and because I can’t read Japanese to see if it has other hints. However, after I had some time to really flip through it, I found that it has some fandom aspects, such as bios of the development staff and voice actors (not that I know what any of it says) and some original concept art for the characters, NPCs, and bosses. Apparently, it also has in-depth character analyses as well. According to Wikipedia, Ultimania confirms that Lazard is President Shinra’s illegitimate son and it goes into more detail about Angeal and Hollander’s relationship. I really wish I could Japanese to read these things for myself, but maybe one day I’ll be able to.

So while it wasn’t what I expected, at least I’m not totally disappointed in the product. I just hope the other Crisis Core book I bought on the bay isn’t another guide.