I acquired this pamphlet while on my trip in Hyogo from a used book shop/rummage store of sorts. This wasn't a typical flea market as it wasn't outdoors, though the store owner was open to letting me rummage about. A few of the texts I acquired and even some smaller items came from this shop and were relatively cheap. I was aware of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's involvement, while brief, in the concept and character design for Assault Suits Valken II, of which he created the original character concept art.
Many of these concepts, however, were ultimately not used and lots of visual changes were ultimately made in the end. More of these changes came to light upon digging further, with many seemingly overlooking the contributions of Kazutaka Miyatake's original mecha designs and illustrations for Valken as well.
(Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's original concept art for Assault Suits Valken II, featuring the then original concepts for two of the main characters. This painting, originally penned for the box art for Valken's Famicom release, was cancelled and ultimately shelved. This piece was exhibited at and published in The Complete Works of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko in 2000 and was painted in 1997.)
While I am personally not exceptionally versed in the production history of Valken II, I couldn't help but note a dearth in acknowledgement and even direct acceptance of both Yasuhiko and Miyatake's contributions. Many researchers and archivists seem to simply overlook them both as Valken II's production is shrouded in lots of hiccups. In the byline of the pamphlet I purchased, there is a direct mention of perks given to those who purchased Valken II for the Playstation would be given a "full color setting art book" with every concept by Yasuhiko and Miyatake. These were, however, limited benefits and I have yet to acquire or see evidence of this text at the moment - believe me, I'm always looking for these sorts of things!
The designs shown radiate the rarely seen design ethos of Yasuhiko's late 1990s and early 2000s career post F91 and his then presumed retirement from the medium of animation. Seeking what his life long true calling was in being a mangaka, Yasuhiko's forays into illustration also proved to be ever constant, unique and not mutually exclusive to his past animation work. Some of the best, and only advertisement work he produced, came from this very unique era right at the cusp of the online age. With that said, Mitatake's iconographic hand as Macross' mechanical designer and his legacy with Studio Nue tied in wonderfully with a SHMUP that boasted so much potential.
(Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's original concept art, some unused, for Assault Suits Valken II, one of the few video games he did concept art and character designs for in the late 90s to early 2000s. These hail from 1997 proper and boast character names.)
However, as noted, these concepts were, at times, simply treated as such, and many of these documents still have not properly seen the light of day. I was ecstatic to find this for the sole fact that these illustrations have not properly been documented in a resolution that didn't hail from the Web 2 era. Reading further, I was introduced also to settei I'd never seen for Langrisser I & II's ports for the Playstation as well by the legendary Satoshi Urushihara. Satoshi's illustrations for Valken II, however, differ from Yasuhiko's hand by leaps and bounds, though these are typically well documented in the world as is.
Satoshi's designs for Langrisser don't make many deviations, though nor do Yasuhiko's or Miyatake's considering the era. Yasuhiko still played his hand close to his work with The Venus Wars as well as F91, as one can see in the mannered eye shapes and even body proportions, though they work incredibly well with his then cyberpunk meets sci-fi ethos - a genre he was, to all extents and purposes, versed in over and over as a key player in aesthetics. Many of these aesthetics remained copied and transformed by individuals such as Miyatake, who in turn inspired Satoshi; truly, this was a unique yet near circular meeting of minds at Masaya.
(Satoshi Urushihara's early concept art and illustrations for Langrisser I & II as seen with the additional mention of perks and mail-in information. This would be one of the only dual books for Masaya's publications featuring both games in the same text. This booklet is only 4 pages long, 2 front to back printing in standard CMYK.)