(Sorry for writing so much but I hope to give more insight into what to expect if you wonder whether to buy it.)
I love these books. Both Photobooks have pictures I really like and some not so much- but the ones I like, I do like them a lot. I wish I could put 30 pictures here :)
The photos were taken while shooting, with and whithout the camera rolling (no silly pictures though). Some are framed with beautiful ancient Chinese designs.
If I had to describe the difference, I would say that the photos of the Minibook feel more smoothened out (a bit more photoshopped), while for the big book I thought the contours of the first few pictures (maybe 2-3) were a bit too "sharp", but for the other ones the definition was great and you can even see the texture of the clothes very clearly! The Minibook is more of a booklet. The big book has been changed to A4 size. It has an open ridge (old bookbinding) so you can lay the pages flat, which is great for looking at the pictures. While the mini book has only WOH photos (+ 2 concert photos), the big book also has a few pictures of the actors (e.g. in other roles and their „happy camp“ show appearance etc.). I think some of them are also not bad, but if you only want the Word of Honor pictures, you can just ignore them since they’re in the latter half of the book ^^ If I had to choose one I would go for the big book because of the bigger format and the number of beautiful pictures. It would be ideal if the photos of the mini book were included in the big book though (instead of the modern pictures, because I find the contrast quite jarring- I would only recommend to look at them if you’re already familiar with the actors’ modern look ^^).
I also like the postcard, some banners, the little cards and the acrylic stand (beautiful drawing).
The USB Stick contains a few short behind the scenes/while shooting clips. I would say they are a bit more on the serious side instead of just joking around. Which I personally liked, because I love getting a peek of the working environment on a film set- apart from the famous laughing bits :D
Personally, I am happy to have these Photobooks capturing images of the show which I know will always have a special place in my heart :)
One note: The photos are only focused on Kexing and Zishu, sadly not other roles - but even the official blue Photobook was (pretty much) like that and I haven’t found a single book that doesn’t have this focus so I am just happy with what it offers :)
Last note: The Chinese title means something like „Old Stories at Dusk“ and the covers are designed reminiscent of old photographs, so any „blotches“ or „lint“ on the covers are intentional and not a print error. I’ve read the original text of the creator („Yuji“) and you can tell she put a lot of thought into it, so I hope it won’t get misunderstood.
Thank you so much to CQL Derivs for buying, packaging and shipping!