A book of odds and ends: cheesecake pin-ups, short stories about maids, promotional art for Mori's Emma and A Bride's Story series, appreciations of corsets, fireplaces and Agatha Christie. It's all a little random, but Mori's beautiful artwork makes the quick flip through it quite worthwhile.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:

• Foreword: So What is Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something?
• Welcome to the Mansion, Master! (Fellows! Vol. 16D)
• To Come to See (Megane Fellows!)
• Burrow Gentleman's Club (Bunny Fellows!)
• Baggy-chan (Costume Fellows! 2011)
• The Swimsuit Bought Long Ago (Swimsuit Fellows! 2009)
• Miss Claire's Ordinary Daily Life, Part 1 (Fellows! Combined Edition: Brides Story & Ran and the Gray World)
• Miss Claire's Ordinary Daily Life, Part 2 (Fellows! Combined Edition: Brides Story & Ran and the Gray World)
• Illustration for floating pen
• Cover Story (Fellows! Vol. 4)
• Maudlin Baker (Maid Fellows!)
• Fellows! and Me (Fellows! Vol. 17) [Collaborative story with Satoshi Fukushima, Aki Irie, and Kaoru Maruyama)
• Sumire's Flowers (Monthly Comic Beam September 2004 issue) [Script and layouts by Satoshi Fukushima]
• Middleword [Author commentary on the preceding stories]
• Book Cover for Fellows! Vol. 2
• (Untitled)
• A Brides Story & Ran and the Gray World [Illustration in collaboration with Aki Irie]
• Comic Natalie, Power Push
• Fellows! Retrospective
• POP [Point of Purchase] Slips of Amir, Emma, & Shirley for Kinokuniya Bookstore commemorating the publication of A Brides Story, Vol. 2
• Shirley & Emma Relief Plates
• Commemorating the publication of Emma, Vol. 10, for Toranoana store
• Commemorating the publication of Emma, Vol. 10, for Bunkyodo
• Commemorating the publication of Emma, Vol. 10, for Melonbooks
• Shirley Cospa T-shirt
• Emma Cospa T-shirt
• Fellows! Vol. 9, Shirley preview
• Manga packaged with the Shirley figure
• British romance comics fair paper
• "Emma: A Victorian Romance" DVD booklet
• (Untitled)
• Illustrated signing sheet commemorating the publication of Emma, Vol. 2, and Shirley (3/8/2003)
• Illustrated signing sheet commemorating the publication of Emma, Vol. 5 (4/10/2005)
• Illustrated signing sheet commemorating the publication of Emma, Vol. 7 (5/10/2006)
• Illustrated signing sheet commemorating the publication of Emma, Vol. 10 (4/29/2008)
• Fellows! Fiesta 2010 paper
• Comic Zin POP illustrations
• Illustration for Monthly Comic Beam's 10th anniversary celebration
• PR illustration for the launch of Monthly Comic Beam and Fellows!
• Signing paper for Machi☆Asobi, Vol. 7
• Karasawa-san's Manga and Me (Naoki Karasawa, Kasumi-den collected edition)
• Corsets of the Victorian Era (Emma Animation Guide, Vol. 3)
• Fireplace (Emma Animation Guide, Vol. 2)
• A Guide to the British Servants Found in Christie (A guide to Agatha Christie's Passenger to Frankfurt)
• Princess Festival (Fellows! Vol. 15)
• Afterword: A Milestone on the Maid's Journey ( )

Prelim Review: I'm really glad that Yen Press decided to translate this little treasure trove of work from Kaoru Mori. Very few publishers deem collections like these to be worth translating since it doesn't fit in with established series. In fact though this collection of short comics, editorial notes, illustrations, sketches and whacky doodles is quite an insight into Mori.

Her trademark love of maids is ever-present in several tales, however there's also a comic about a woman explaining why she never got rid of a bathing suit she'll never wear again, a young girl's growing pains, a hostess assurance that things will never change, how to capture an elusive 'master' and much more.

Full review to be published at Poisoned Rationality ( )

An eclectic mix of stories and research all steeped in the lush detail of Kaoru Mori and her appreciation of ladies. Loved a couple of the stories, enjoyed most of the rest. ( )

A collection of unpublished works by one of my favorite Mangaka, with short stories from her series as well as illustrations for book signing pamphlets, advertisements, etc.

島本和彦が燃えるマンガ家なら、森薫はメイドに萌えるマンガ家と言えるかと思います。

そんな著者が「エマ」「乙嫁語り」の連載以外で描いた作品集です。

前半は短～中編の作品、後半はサイン会などで描かれたイラストや出張ちゃんちゃらマンガなどで構成されています。

驚いたのは133ページのアミルのイラスト。このイラストの下書きからペン入れ、トーン貼りまでの全製作工程が動画として公開されているのを見て「線一本一本に全然迷いがなく一発で決めるなんて凄い！！」と驚きましたが、その作品をこの本で再度見られるなんて！まだ見たことのない人はコミックナタリーの「コミック」→「特集記事」の「森薫「乙嫁語り」」（かなり下の方）に掲載されていますので、合わせて見られることをお勧めします。

あと著者ラフスケッチ集の復刻版の案内もありますので、こちらも押さえておきたいところです（帯の応募券をFellows! 2012-FEBRUARY volume 21 (ビームコミックス)にある応募台紙に貼って応募する必要があります）。

著者のファンなら是非とも手に入れておきたい一冊だと思います。 ( )