#i want to make some mini comics sometime to better illustrate how all that went down or something

[dragoncarrion]

kimmie who's shrikeshed :) ?

AHAAAokay i really like her she's just a micro revival of my edgy teenager phase. this one will get a bit long so under the cut. also uhm. cw for mentions of cannibalism LOL she's my "I'm eating you because I hate you" gal

a little context here. ive been working on this wof fanflight (ashwings. basically like a little dragon subspecies or something) for a few years now, and shrikeshred is one of those, a moor runner specifically. ashwings all live in quivers which are way smaller than the canon kingdoms, each with their own rules and (most common) type of dragon yadda yadda. shrikeshred is the corvus of her quiver, a practical and almost religious leadership role in the moors. what a corvus does is oversee wyvern rearing in the community (here they use wyverns (smaller 2 wing 2 leg feral dragons) for falconry and as companions), officiate burials and influence which leader is next in line, so as such they're vital and very respected in their quiver.

shrikeshred had an almost uncanny TALENT with wyverns, and pioneered training methods and even discovered many novel things about wyverns (ecology, anatomy, etc), all of these things written in her journal-esque book, later on titled "way of the shrike". This is what she WOULD'VE been most known for had she not turned to cannibalizing other denizens. She became a sort of legend boogey man, both for her actions, and because no one really knows exactly what happened, why she turned on her kin and started just eating them. Some believe that lean times put pressure on her, and with Grasshopper, the accipiter (title for the leader) of that time being very incompetent, was what made her snap. While this isn't too far form reality, other things factored in. At first she only ate from already dead dragons, she was so hungry after all :p (this is the reason why corvus werent allowed at funerals for a while lol). but soon, that wasn't enough, something told her she needed more (the something here being a prion rabies disease that she got from eating people and slowly incubated over time lmao). half eaten bodies were starting to be found around the territory, but no one had a clue of what was going on. Shrikeshred was highly respected, so no one suspected her for a while. Hiding her scent with strong oils and perfumes also helped cover her tracks. After killing and eating Grasshopper, her sister, Whistlethorn, got the leadership, something Shrikeshred herself had orchestrated from loooong before. Whistlethorn was NOTTTT leader material: shy, nervous and weak willed, which allowed Shrikeshred to have even more control over the quiver than before. But whistlethorn trusted her, so this seemed alright with her kinda.

soon enough, hunger and illness turned to desperation, and her intellect couldn't keep her crimes hidden anymore. at this point, the disease had almost completely taken over shrikeshred's brain, turning her actions erratic and impulsive. after being found out, she vanished into the Misty Spires, a presumably haunted place sunken in a permanent fog (moor runners believe this fog to be evil or some shit idk). There was a short period of peace, but everyone was still on edge, which turned to outright panic when bodies started turning up again, all impaled in a signature stake (like shrikes do irl!). Whistlethorn was torn (hah), how could the sister she had trusted so much have turned like this? as much as she hated it, she missed shrikeshred, but something had to be done about her. One day, she packed some things up, and left for the spires. No one knows if she succeeded or if she was just another of Shrikeshred's meals, but what's sure is that both of them vanished and were never seen again.

To this day, many still believe Shrikeshred's ireful spirit lurks the spires, and prowls around in search for new victims when the fog descends into the moors.

alsooo i have drawn them ! here's the sisters (whistlethorn's tail tip is broken from playfighting with shrike when they were kids lol. i forgot to mention both of them but especially shrike are WAY bigger and stronger than the average skinny ass moor runner)

and her three wyverns, all of them species considered untameable, so no one has managed to train one besides her ever

[serendipitous-magic]

Any HCs for older (30s/40s) / married byler? :)

Yes! And most of them are blatantly self-indulgent (don’t look too closely at Mike’s career path, I swear it’s not just me projecting), and I’m not even sorry. :) Let’s gooooo!

(Also, note: I took this in a very fluffy domestic direction, so sorry if anybody was really hoping for some NSFW HCs or wedding HCs or something like that - although I might be convinced to expand on that another time. ;) )

-As a young couple in their 20s they lived in a typical shitty apartment near where they went to college, but now as they’re getting more established and their careers are picking up, they’ve moved into something more similar to a townhouse / condominium in the city where they work. They don’t need an entire house, really, and besides, they’re usually not a huge fan of suburbia. If they did have a house, it would probably be one of those small-ish houses near the outskirts of the city - you know the type I mean. Lots of renovation expenses because it’s so old, but unique and cozy enough that it makes up for the hassle. I do tend to picture them in more of a townhouse/condo situation, though.

-Speaking of careers, they both got into something creative. Neither of them at all wanted to work in any type of office environment. Will fought tooth and nail to make a living with his art, which has made for some rough spots financially, but now that they’re getting through their 30s and into their 40s, it seems like it’s finally starting to even out and become more reliable as a source of income. He may do concept art for movie / TV / video game studios, he may do comic illustrations, he may do commissions, maybe a combination. 

-Mike, meanwhile, leaned into his passion for storytelling and his leadership skills - but I feel like Mike would wander in a couple different directions with that. Trying out this path, then this one - less of a cohesive, driven career path than Will’s, just trying things until he landed on something he really liked. Maybe he dabbled in computer engineering in college for a while (see: Mike’s nerdy mini-conversation with Bob about programming languages), decided that wasn’t quite for him, tried some creative writing classes, some film studies. Maybe he was a high school history or language arts teacher for a few years after college, what with his caring and nurturing instincts, his nerdiness, his leadership skills, his passion for stories (LotR, Star Wars, and D&D, anyone?), etc. But that probably wasn’t quite for him. Eventually, after having storytelling hobbies for most of his life, he starts integrating that into his career kind of on accident - and that’s when he hits on what he actually likes doing for a living. He consistently writes short stories on the side and submits them to magazines for publication. Maybe he uses something like commercial writing/directing as a stepping-stone, making heartfelt hit-you-in-the-feels and funny-memorable commercials for shitty instant coffee and cotton tee shirts, and that block on his resume is what gets him into The Business for real. From there it’s small-time TV  studios, sitting in a writers’ room hunched over cold coffee cups, chattering with a table full of other creatives about plot twists that will air on local stations. Or maybe he’s on set, wearing black jeans and a black tee that won’t reflect the light and mess up the shot, flipping through a clipboard of rumpled papers and hustling towards a fast-incoming deadline. Maybe he’s third-in-command on set, right-hand-man to the right-hand-man of the director. Continuity supervisor or art director. Or maybe he’s a practical effects guy, mixing up buckets of sludge or fake blood or figuring out a way to make a plastic-and-foam lobster puppet look alive. In any case, he’s doing something he really enjoys, and he’s steadily moving up in the ranks. Will swears he’s going to be directing blockbusters in Hollywood before they’re fifty; Mike always scoffs at that, laughing it off, but Will isn’t entirely joking.

-They have a medium-sized dog - something with a long snout and a long tail. Will counts himself as a dog person, but for a while there after the fall of ‘84, it was hard for either of them to be around big dogs without remembering the Demodogs. But it’s been decades, and somewhere in their late 30s (when they finally live somewhere with some form of backyard), they finally feel ready to get a puppy.

-Semi-regularly, they group-call the old Party and play D&D over the phone (much like The Adventure Zone). Sometimes one or both of them (Mike or Will) will be trying to do something else in the background at the same time - cooking dinner, working on a piece of art, etc. (Hey, they’re adults, they’re chronically short on time. Gotta multitask where they can.) This leads to occasional bouts of hilarity - like the time Mike almost knocked his entire laptop into a pot of spaghetti sauce because he was trying to DM and cook simultaneously. These over-the-phone D&D sessions are invariable merry and hilarious, cheering everyone up even after the worst of days. The Party is often spread out over the whole country - Mike and Will probably in one of the hubs of the storytelling industry (San Francisco or NYC), Dustin somewhere in the midwest doing scientific field work, Lucas still somewhere in or near Indiana, El and Max living in a new city every other year - but these phone calls bring them all together, and remind them of “simpler” times when they were kids in the Wheelers’ basement.

-Nancy is a highly successful journalist who travels a lot for her work, and whenever she and Mike / Will are in the same city, they make sure to meet up for coffee if not a day or two of old-times sibling shenanigans. Nancy has considered Will like a brother ever since they were teenagers, and that only strengthens as they grow older. But Mike, especially, reverts right back to a fifteen year old whenever his big sister is in town, throwing potato chips at her across the table and teasing her until she chases him with her soup spoon, and the whole time Will is just laughing with his face in his hands, pretending to be embarrassed but really just happy to see the two of them both happy.

-Similar situation with Jonathan. ^^^ He kept up his photography through the years, but like Mike, he’s wandered from career path to career path, just trying things out. (Whether he and Nancy are together depends on your own HCs, but be assured, whenever he’s in town he and Will are just as insufferable as Mike and Nancy.)

-It’s a long time before either (let alone both) of them feel ready to seriously consider kids. They both have a lot to work through after what they went through as kids themselves, and being a parent means being 100% there for someone else’s needs, often at the sacrifice of your own. Not to mention that with both of their creative-based careers, with not nearly as much financial stability as some of their peers, they’ve had some years where supporting just the two of them is a challenge. But eventually, they do get to the point where they start thinking about kids. I think they’d have at least one. Maybe they adopt, maybe they team up with El and Max (depending on how you HC the girls at that point) to do an in vitro deal, it depends.

-They visit Joyce and Hop (who are married) for Christmas. El and Max come home for the holidays, too. Joyce and Hop moved out of Hawkins together after all the kids moved away for college. Not too awfully far from Indiana, but far enough from Hawkins that they could leave the memories behind. Somewhere fairly rural, but not quite small-town. A large town or small-to-mid-size city, maybe, where they have a house with a big backyard and a big front yard and enough combined beds and couches to house all the “kids” over the holidays. 

-Ever since college, they go to Pride every year - most likely along with El and Max, if the four of them can arrange to meet up.

-Mike and Will still tease each other a lot and play-fight and they still tussle for the remote or the last fry, and they still have nerdy posters up in their living room, and they still trust each other more than anything else and they still geek out over their interests together and they still bicker and protect each other and love each other. So, really, not too much has changed since they were teenagers - they’re just in a better (read: much less homophobic) environment, working on their mental health, growing, healing from years-old traumas, doing what they love for a living (after decades of fighting tooth and nail to make it work), spending time with loved ones. Just living life. Taking new risks. Riding the ups and downs together. 

[agl03]

Hi. I was wondering if you know when the Wondercon tickets are going to go on sale, and if you have any advice for flights/hotels/anything else related? Thank you!

Hi Anon!

Ohhh this is so up my alley.

@jewishfitz and I were trying to remember last week and we both agreed it was possibly sometime in December last year.  Maybe.   I just kept my eye on the Wondercon Page and grabbed a 3 day Pass when they went on sale.  It’s a couple weeks later this year so that could push when they put the passes on sale back too.   You can go in now and get your account all set up though and save a little time.

The huge disclaimer to go in here is there is NO GUARANTEE that AOS is going to be there.  My family decided to take the gamble as we feel like last season its going to be a great point for them to kick off the promo again.  We know full went they might not go and that chances are super slim on getting the whole cast.   That being said we’re going to have great time no matter what and are okay with whatever surprises await.  

Flights:

The Anaheim area has many airports that service it so my personal and professional recommendation is to avoid flying into LAX if at all possible.  Its crowded, busy, takes 60-90 minutes to get to the convention center, and transportation is double if not triple from the other area airports.  However for sometimes LAX is the cheapest option.  

My preferred Disney/Wondercon Airport is SNA Orange County. Its only a 20 minute or so cab ride and you can grab a flat rate cab, you just have to ask for it.  As a mom traveling with kids this airport is much more manageable and for us worth the extra money in many cases to fly in and out of.

Another alternative, especially if you are flying Southwest, is Long Beach.  Just know this is a small airport, like parts of it are outside small.  But sometimes you can score an awesome rate and the flat rate is around $55 each way and its a 20-30 minute ride.  

The Con starts on Friday but I do suggest coming in on Thursday so you are all ready to go.  If you need to pick up your badges or need to get your kids passes you can do so at this point.   If you want to visit Disney like us we are coming in on Wednesday.  Though the con does often sell “twilight” Disney passes for evenings if that is your jam.  Just know we are toying with Easter Weekend and the crowds that come with it. 

The con wraps up pretty early on Sunday so many people fly out that night.  But its up to you and how far you have to go.  We have kids to get back to school on Monday.

Pricing out airfare can be maddening at it’s best.  google.com/flights kayak.com and southwest are all my go too.  I personally will track air for a little bit to get an idea of the prices and points.  I will also price out one way to one way vs round trip because sometimes you can save flying a different airline home.  The absolute best advice I can give on airfare is when you find a fare you are happy with....book it and never look again.    When booking fares watch what kind of fare you are booking and any restrictions it might have.  IE can you have a carry on and how much are bag fees.   

Hotels

The Con is in the Disneyland area and as such will share many hotels.  Meaning booking early is always a good idea. Easter is an incredibly busy time for Disney and the hotels will fill up.  You can book a refundable rate now (make sure its refundable before booking it) to secure your choice hotel.  Then when the con drops their hotel rates a few weeks out you can see if its worth making the move.   

What you need to be careful of is distance.  I like to keep within .3 miles and still check the map to make sure you aren’t crossing a streets, it can add like 10-15 minutes to your walk.  Other factors I personally take into account is does it have a free breakfast, that is a huge thing for our budget.   I know other people don’t care and just bring a box of power bars.  

Here are my favorite Con area hotels.  I own I am a hotel snob, I like a nice hotel for me and the family.  I also like to be close, so like airfare I’m personally willing to pay more to do so.  

Hyatt Place

Cortona

Residence Inn Anaheim Convention Center...especially if you need multiple bedrooms.

Courtyard Anaheim Convention Center

Springhill Suites Convention Center

Hilton *official con hotel

Marriott *official con hotel

Clarion:  This is the closest of the budget friendly options, but know its older and in desperate need of a refurbishment.  

If you drive do know most of the hotels will charge at least $15 a night to park.

Note a lot of these hotels have multiple locations in the same two block area.  those with Maingate in the name will usually be closer to Disney.  So once again check the map.

Other

One of the big items is the signings put on for the various casts and panels.  The last two years they’ve used a ‘lovely’ lottery system where you get so many tickets to enter each day.   I have yet to get into a signing via the lottery and I’m curious to see if they change it.  I know it hasn’t been too popular but its also a lot easier to do.  Once you purchase your badge keep your eye on the page for when this lottery opens up and you can enter.  They don’t email you or anything its you going in and its there.

The schedule starts getting announced usually in January and AOS is notorious for being a last minute add so be ready to wait.  Start tracking the panels you want to see.

Familiarize yourself with the rules of the con.  Wondercon typically doesn’t clear rooms after panels so that is something I plan for when working out our day.  IE I live in the AOS room and am prepared to suffer through some crazy weird panels before.  I still have no idea what happened in that Batman Ninja one.   

Know that many on here are happy to offer their own help and advice.  I’m also okay if you want to come up and say hi to me if you see me there.  I’m hard to miss with the herd of mini cos players.  I’m very nice in person I promise.  

In that same vein  I know we are talking about doing a bigger more formal AOS fandom meet up.   Once I can get an idea of how many people are going I can coordinate with local fans on a spot.   

If you are Cosplaying do a test drive of your costumes before.  There are lots of amazing cos players in the fandom who are always ready to share their knowledge.  

Its always best to arrive to line up for a panel or other event too early rather than risk missing out.  

If you are there alone make friends with who you are by so you can help each other out saving spots for food and potty breaks.

The Expo/Shopping area has lots of awesome goodies and can easily take most of the day to get through.  I do suggest shopping at some point on Friday for the best selection.

Keep an eye on some of the Expo booths for Special Signings, this was how we got Gabrielle Luna’s autograph our first Wondercon, he was at Golden Apple comics with the illustrator.  We had to pay for it separately but it was a great little meet n greet.

The food trucks outside offer a wide variety of offerings if you don’t want what they have inside.  I also like to Uber Eat Dinner to the hotel if I’m not going down to Downtown Disney or the Garden Walk.

Most importantly have fun.  You have a lot of control over your experience just with the attitude you go in with and how you react to the situations.  IE not all fans are nice and will gladly run down your child to get into a line before them. So be ready to roll with the punches and make the most of the situations you find yourself in.  

Every Con we’ve gotten a bit of Magic one way or another but I don’t expect it.  Every Con we’ve met other fans that are just amazing in person and only make the experience better.   Also being polite goes a long ways.  Polite to other fans and polite to the con staff.    

Well that turned into a small novel but I hope that helped!   

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: DokiDoki May 19

I was kind of disappointed in how my review for the TokyoTreat went yesterday, I mean, even though it annoyed me through various means I wouldn’t not recommend the box still.

Meanwhile, I was very excited for this one. I’ve realized that after doing two really big box reviews, I come to really appreciate the much smaller ones, DokiDoki and YumeTwins. In turn I feel like that makes me do a little better... maybe.

This months theme: Sweet Dreams

“Drift off into dreamland with May’s crate. This month’s theme, Sweet Dreams is all about getting you ready to settle down and get cozy for a good night’s rest. Oyasuminisai is the common saying in Japan to wish someone a good night, so this month Doki Doki Crate is wishing you sweet dreams and a good night!“

This month, the booklet features a fun illustration featuring Tomomi with the girl mascots of Japan Crate and KiraKira Crate having a slumber party. I love how they have cute crossovers between their brands like this x3 it’s a fun touch- did you know Tomomi’s boyfriend is the mascot from Umai Crate?

I also like how even though they quit making the comics, they’re still making original art now and then.

Suteki Crate

This month the Suteki Crate (special crate all subscribers have a chance to win, in case you’re new here) focused on the theme and stuck to the characters featured in this box. It makes me want to nap just looking at everything~

(and I just woke up like an hour ago...)

But I will point out that they have offered a Kirby Otamatone before. Probably a year back or so, I remember seeing it. Also, the adorable Sleepy My Melody plush goes great with the photo contest prize, a sleepy Kuromi plush~

My Melody Mesh Case

Our first item would come in handy when staying out of the house for the day, it’s a mesh pack/bag/case, which can hold many toiletries; hair brushes and accessories, toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. It features an adorable pale pink zipper to match the adorable patterned band around the bottom, which is covered in My Melody with some small forest friends doing various activities (and lots of adorable English phrases).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

You know, I wasn’t ever into mesh containers like this, I always thought they looked kind of gaudy and they just didn’t appeal to me; but now that I’m older and I’m actually looking at one, it isn’t that bad. This would have come in handy when I was younger, I used to visit my grandma and spend the night/weekend a lot and my suitcase was always a pain dealing with. This could have lightened the load a little, or at least organized it better.

Also, it’s pretty big, I was able to fit in a lot of items and it didn’t feel too heavy or bad carrying. I did notice something though, the inside of the bottom section is sort of... thin cloth-ish, that kind of has me concerned that it might not be a good idea to get it wet, compared to the outside, which feels like it could handle that. Oh, I also noticed two holes in the mesh from the tag being cut, but I feel like it doesn’t really hinder anything.

San-X Towel

Also for bathroom/washing preparedness prior to bed or in the morning, we have a cute mini-towel featuring Sumikko Gurashi or Rilakkuma. As you can see, the Sumikko Gurashi group are out enjoying what looks like an autumn excursion :3 perfect timing considering it’s going on that season now. 

And yes, it’s on one of my cats. He wouldn’t leave me alone while I was trying to get pictures, so I tried making him comfortable enough to go back to sleep.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Well, besides being cute, I’m always impressed when we get towels like this because I don’t usually seen any around here. We have slightly bigger hand towels/rags, but nothing like this. It feels soft and nice, so I feel like this would be ideal for washing your face, drying off the hair, wrapping around the shoulders, using as a hand towel; it’s also the perfect size for wrapping up adorable pets~

(also, I noticed that when held up to the light you can see noticeable tag holes again. Not a huge deal though.)

Pajya Shark Plushie

Of course when you go to bed, you need a cuddly companion by your side to ensure sweet dreams or to help chase away the bad nightmares~

This month, we have an adorably colorful, pastel shark. The name Pajya is inspired by the fact that this was made with common Japanese Sleepwear in mind, which is usually in various soft tones and made from fluffy, soft material. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I love fluffy-soft things~ and I also happen to have a fondness for sharks; it’s a weird combination when you think about it, but I love it! He is very soft and sweet looking, and he isn’t threatening or have any teeth, so he’s a good buddy for all types and ages x3 I admit, the sewing could be a little better, but it’s not bad.

(This box has made me super-sleepy~  As of now I’ve only been up an hour and a half >3< But it’s probably because I stayed up until 4am, and I’ve been hungry and didn’t eat yet...)

Kirby Eye Mask

As we prepare for bed, our next item is an adorable eye mask :D featuring Kirby or Waddle Dee. I have a few eye masks and I enjoy using them sometimes (they especially come in handy if you have a headache or just need to relax, unless they squeeze your head too much...) but I don’t use them too frequently.

The mask has a sleek feel and is thin and made from shiny material. It has a really stretchy light pink strap, and the inner-side is cloth, featuring a dark blue star pattern. It also has a small black nose flap...? I’m not entirely sure how that works or what its for, none of my others have one, but I assume it’s just for a little additional comfort or to help support the mask.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s very cute, and I love the concept of bringing in Kirby for this sort of theme. In preparation for the review I was very excited to use this, and it feels very comfortable. Sometimes when I use eye masks I end up pulling them off after a while because they’re kind of uncomfortable or start squeezing, and I admit that this one felt like that after a while- but at the same time it wasn’t nearly to the same extent and didn’t bother me as much. The thin material makes it feel sort of breathable as well, which is nice when my poor nose is stuffed up and I can hardly breath as it is.

I can’t help but relax when I wear an eye mask, so I can’t imagine a more suitable item for this theme~

Kirby Night Light

Our last item is an adorable partner to the Kirby eye mask; a light! Again, this is another great and perfect bed item, especially if you’re someone you might feel a anxious in the dark or need a back-up light. It would also just be cute for a little desk light or something.

This requires 3 AA batteries (not included) and it is available in 2 styles; this parasol blue one I got, and a pink one covered in black and white old style manga or pop art Kirby. We all know how much I love pink, but I also really like the rain, and have a lot of fun playing with the parasol ability/item in Kirby games, so I think I’m actually really happy I got this one.

And of course I wouldn’t leave you guys hanging. I did get it working:

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

The light is warm yellow (you know, the lights that seem kind of dim when you compare them to white lights? and yes I know it looks white in the pic, I had to brighten the image to make it see-able clearly) but still very bright; it ended up surprising me. I found it to be really soothing~

I also like the practicality behind this, if you didn’t want to use it as a night light you could use it as a backup flashlight (cause if you’re like us you have a bunch and they either die and you don’t replace batteries, or you lose them), or just to help create a mood- like telling spooky stories during a slumber party. 

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 5 out of 5. I have no complaints, I love these items :3 They’re very sweet and cute, and seeing them (and doing this review) makes me want to lay down to snuggle up with some of them~

Theme: 5 out of 5. I’m really happy to finally have a theme like this, I wish we’d get more bedtime items or themes. I feel like this is also suitable for all times of the year, and everything definitely went together to create a near-seamless box. I say near because some could argue well the bathroom items don’t count: but many people have a routine prior to bed, and some enjoy taking bathes before bed, so in a way yeah, they do count. Suteki Crate and the prize were also spot-on.  

Total Rank: 10 out of 10 Cuties. I know to some people they might argue that a bedtime theme isn’t very exciting but everyone could use a little unwinding, especially at bed. I wasn’t feeling tired when I began writing this but I’m probably going to go back to bed when I finish. I didn’t have anything going on today and I fully plan to take advantage of that. As much as I liked our prior box, I love this one even more! Keep it up Doki Doki~

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Kirby Nightlight - I love how it resembles an actual lamp x3 and I adore the pattern/print on both of the options. The glow made me feel relaxed- the only way it could be better would be if it had an actual rain effect or color change feature like my oil mister~

2. Pajya Shark - It’s colorful and sweet, it’s perfect for bed or just in a sugary sweet pastel setting. Very soft and cuddly. 

3. Kirby Eye Mask - I kind of find face-themed eye masks to be kind of corny, but when it comes to Kirby it’s very cute! It felt really nice against the skin and I can’t wait to use it again (probably after this review).

4. Towel - It’s very cute, I can’t say the color scheme does all that much for me but I love how it’s fall/autumn themed and goes with the upcoming season. The cats really like it too.

5. My Melody Mesh Case - I think it’s sweet and soft on the eyes, but I know I won’t get much use out of it. I could use it now to do some organization of my items in the bathroom (or some others, which I’ll probably do) though, so it’s really practical.

[marshmallowgoop]

Studio Trigger Live Drawing with Mago (03/13/19): Transcript (Non-Verbatim)

Studio Trigger streamed their fourth Twitch live drawing at 19:00 JST on March 13, 2019. The stream features Space Patrol Luluco character designer Mago drawing Trigger-chan from Trigger Girls and Luluco from Space Patrol Luluco, as well as a Q and A with producer Hiromi Wakabayashi and translator Tatsuru Tatemoto. A full video of the stream is available on Twitch here.

I’ve put together a transcript of the stream for anyone curious about the Q and A. While the transcript is not verbatim, all the meaning should still be captured.

Transcript

Tatsuru Tatemono (Tattun): Okay. Thank you for joining us on our fourth live-drawing session. We have Mago as our guest tonight. I’m aware that it’s very late for a lot of our followers. Thank you for stopping by. It’s 3:00 am in Seattle. Thank you very much for stopping by.

Again, Mago is our guest animator or guest illustrator today. As usual, Hiromi Wakabayashi is here as our MC. I, Tattun, will be doing the translation and moderation for the stream tonight. Tonight, we are having Mago draw Studio Trigger’s mascot character, Trigger-chan. I believe we had a special request from Mago that she wanted to draw Luluco as well. So, I think, uh, we would like…

Mago says that it’s a pleasure to meet you. She says that her name is Mago the Illustrator, and she’ll do her best today. Hiromi Wakabayashi says konnichiwa, as usual.

I’m sorry if it looks dark. It’s our camera. We’re going to be focusing on the illustration part a little bit more, so hopefully, the darkness won’t be too bothersome. I guess Hiromi brought a pre-release item from Promare that he was quality checking.

I’m very sorry. We’ll have our audio pumped up a little bit more.

So, we noticed that there’s a little glare on Mago’s tablet. We’re going to try to get rid of the glare so that you have a better view of how she is working with her illustration. Today, Mago is working with SAI 1, the first version of SAI. I believe she’s using the Cintiq 16, the newest tablet by Wacom. Otherwise, she’s using a wireless keyboard and mouse. When we upload the video on YouTube, I’ll make sure to cover all the specifics in the comments section.

Okay. So, I think we will get started with the Q and A session like usual. However, before we do so, note that this stream is brought to you by all the lovely support we receive from Patreon. Thank you. If you’re interested in becoming a supporter as well, the link is provided on our Twitter page. Please check it out if you’re curious. We try to provide digital rewards as frequently as possible, so if you’re interested in those things, do definitely give our Patreon a glance when you have some time!

So, for the people who are unfamiliar, Mago usually works on a lot of Studio Trigger’s SD character designs. She’s been a part of every single project except for DARLING in the FRANXX, which doesn’t really count because DARLING in the FRANXX is a collaboration work and not a 100% genuine Trigger show. Mago wasn’t part of Inferno Cop, either. Inferno Cop is a prestigious Trigger title, Hiromi says, so she needs more experience with Studio Trigger. We’re receiving some comments that Mago’s not a part of Turning Girls as well.

Well, that was the introduction. Let’s get started with the Q and A session. Again, if you’re a part of our Patreon, you will have the opportunity to cast a vote on what kinds of questions will be asked and what kinds of illustrations will be drawn during these streams.

Hiromi and Mago are explaining that Mago’s drawing is an interesting line-up of characters. You don’t usually see these two characters together because they’re obviously the same character.

I have a question from Paul Schmidt: “Mago-san, I noticed you're only credited as the character designer and with ending illustrations on Space Patrol Luluco in Anime News Network's (ANN) encyclopedia, yet on your Twitter profile introduction, you list Kill la Kill, so I was wondering how you were involved with Kill la Kill? The reason I ask is because I personally submitted the staff and company credits to the ANN encyclopedia page for Kill la Kill, and your name (まご) is not credited in any episode, at least according to the corresponding page on the アニメスタッフデータベース [staff database].”

So, Mago says that she wrote Kill la Kill on her profile because she was responsible for one of the back illustrations for the Blu-ray/DVD jacket and was also in charge of the small SD characters for merchandise. That’s why she wrote about her involvement in Kill la Kill on her Twitter profile.

What is an SD character? I think SD stands for “Small Deformed” or “Super Deformed.” I’m not too sure. If that’s not the term used in English, I’m very sorry. Please tell me the term used in English. It’s Super Deformed?

So, Hiromi says that it’s called Super Deformed or SD in Japan because it started out originally from Gundam or Macross, which had a mini-mech series called “Super Deformed.” Hiromi suggests that you should stop calling the designs “chibi” and use the term “SD” because that’s the term that the proper anime industry uses! [Laughing.]

I guess Mago is going to take her time on the color and make a very Canvas illustration.

We have a question from Chen Luohan (I’m sorry if I mispronounce your name): “Hi Trigger! The production of anime fascinates me. What is the pipeline in the production of an anime series? What do you consider first when starting out with the ideas? Story? Character? Settings? Thank you very much!”

Wakabayashi says that they come up with a concept and foundation for what kind of series they want to make first. The concept might be something very, very broad, like family love or family bonding. Imaishi might be simpler; he might just want an anime with drills and that’s it. Once Trigger has that keyword—for example, Gurren Lagann would be “drill”—Trigger gets together to brainstorm how to make an interesting story from the one keyword, like “drill” in the case of Gurren Lagann.

Mago says she’s never put too much thought into her style formation. She generally likes drawing illustrations with very few shadows and lines. Before she knew it, she came up with her current style.

Hiromi noticed that Mago likes to clean up or refine her lines. She says that she cleans up where she feels like it! Mago says that she thought it might be more interesting for the viewers if she’s working on various parts of the illustration rather than concentrating on one part.

Mago and a few of our studio staffs went to Comic Fiesta, a decently large event in Malaysia. The event was a few months ago, I believe, during the Christmas season, but we were talking about how it’s actually summer during winter in Malaysia, so the event was very warm.

All three of us are saying that if we’re invited to a local event, we’ll most likely come out if it’s not conflicting with our schedule. This year, we want to try various places and go outside of the States more, to anywhere in Europe, Asia, etc.

We have an interesting question from EiGi696969: “Mago, do you have any interest in directing? Would you like to direct an anime one day?”

Mago says that she has no interest. She is a manga artist as well. She explains that when she draws a manga, she has to do everything; she has to come up with the story and concepts, which is like directing. It’s a lot of work. She doesn’t think she enjoys it too much.

For example, Mago says that it’s hard to motivate herself when she’s coming up with a story because she wants to... If she’s told to draw a manga, she tries to draw a character she’s currently interested in drawing. It’s hard for her to draw a pre-existing character that she’s told to draw.

A while ago, Mago was drawing a series of manga that featured Studio Trigger. The manga was about the daily nonsense of Studio Trigger. I think it was published through Utek Magazine [sp?]. Mago likes doing that kind of diary-type manga, she thinks.

We have a question from reportas1: “What are your favorite characters that you have drawn?”

Mago enjoys drawing Luluco the most. She also enjoys drawing Mako from Kill la Kill.

Wakabayashi says that they receive a lot of questions about DARLING in the FRANXX, asking if they are satisfied with the story and ending. 

Studio Trigger’s general stance, as a studio, is that they basically try to give an idea to the director. The director, Nishigori Atsushi, usually comes up with a concept or idea that he wants to do. The studio gives him feedback and sees if he likes the feedback. The director obviously makes the final call. It’s very hard to say if Studio Trigger “liked” the ending sequence of DARLING in the FRANXX or not, Wakabayashi says.

Sorry, there was a misunderstanding! We’re not talking about the ending sequence. Wakabayashi did the production for the ending sequence of DARLING in the FRANXX, so he’s super satisfied with that! If the question is about the how the story was wrapped up, Wakabayashi says that the ending is the director’s choice, and he doesn’t think that it’s right of Studio Trigger to comment on how the story wrapped up.

There’s a question from Patreon’s Bill Erak: “How involved is Trigger in the dubbing process of their shows? I've heard of directors that sometimes get involved in dubs, but that's more of an exception. I ask because KLK had an amazing dub, Luluco's was pretty dope too, while LWA's sucks. Are those things left to whoever distributes it on the west? Can't you, Tattun, maybe check the dubs, and if they suck, tell them so that they change them?”

So, I thought this was a pretty interesting question. To this day, I don’t think many Japanese studios or production committees give much thought into this matter. Studio Trigger obviously doesn’t check or even receive a notice for a revision of the dubbing process. Wakabayashi says that he thinks that, if they made a request to the dubbers and distributors overseas to check on the dubbing process and auditions, they might be able to comment. However, distributors don’t even ask if the studio is satisfied with their work, so Wakabayashi guesses that it’s just very unnatural—or there’s no previous incidence—for a studio or production committee to comment on the dubbing process.

If given the opportunity, Studio Trigger would like to direct their dubbing as well, though, Wakabayashi says. Wakabayashi says that he would like Inferno Cop to be dubbed by Leonardo DiCaprio! [Laughing.]

tigermac from Twitch asks: “Mago, how many sketchbooks have you filled up since the start of your art career?”

Mago says that she doesn’t have a sketchbook! I guess she doesn’t really practice. She likes to doodle on her PC, and if it turns out well, she’ll share it on her Twitter. If not, she’ll usually toss out the files.

Whatever illustration or doodle Mago feels satisfied with is updated on her Twitter, so please check out her Twitter. I’ll post her Twitter on the YouTube upload as well, so please check that out if you’re interested, but I’m sure it’s not too difficult to find Mago’s Twitter if you just Google “Mago.” We have a couple of viewers posting Mago’s Twitter now!

I guess Mago is having a little trouble drawing Trigger-chan. Mago doesn’t draw Trigger-chan too often. She’s going to redo the drawing from the rough draft portion, she says.

There’s a question from Patreon, from Harry Bonyari (very sorry if I mispronounce your name): “I know you’re a big fan of sneakers. How do you let your interest in fashion inform your work?”

Mago says that she’s not too keen on fashion, but she does like sneakers. When she feels like drawing particular sneakers, she’ll usually draw the character in some kind of cool clothes to go with the sneakers. However, she doesn’t know if she lets her choice of fashion affect her work too much.

There’s a question from Cesar A. Morillo: “Is Inferno Cop Season 2 coming either this year or next?”

There’s no ETA for Inferno Cop, says Wakabayashi. It’s ready when it’s ready. If Studio Trigger focused on Inferno Cop, they would have to delay Promare, and Wakabayashi is sure that you don’t want that! He’s sure that you’d prefer to watch Imaishi’s and Amemiya’s new actual series instead!

Wakabayashi says that the studio has a lot of ideas for Inferno Cop 2, though. In every creative meeting for other projects, they usually get derailed and talk about Inferno Cop. They are waiting for the opportunity to utilize their ideas. Maybe Mago’s SD designs will be featured in the new Inferno Cop season, Wakabayashi says! [Laughing.]

There’s a question from Ben Veltri: “For Mago: In terms of drawing ability, how do animators and illustrators differ? Do you think illustrators are better?”

Okay, so we got some pretty interesting answers! This was a question from Patreon, again.

So, I guess, the question was, in terms of drawing abilities, how do animators and illustrators differ, and which is better? Hiromi and Mago said that the two jobs are different and can’t be compared; different skills are involved. An animator has to draw a character or object from every angle and in motion. An illustrator is meant to express with one single illustration, which might be hard for an animator to do—to convey a message with a single illustration. It’s very hard to compare. Mago says that she feels like it’s harder for an animator to acquire their set of skills, though.

EiGi696969, your question is interesting. It doesn’t hurt to answer your question twice. The question is, “What is your stance on piracy? Does it cost the studio any money when people pirate their anime? Do you think it’s a necessary evil? Do you think it’s something that will go away or get worse in the future?”

I guess Hiromi is saying that nowadays, there are so many different streaming services that everyone can watch what people in Japan can watch. In the past, that wasn’t the case, though. A lot of anime weren’t made available for much of the anime community. Those people had to illegally download, view, or stream anime elsewhere. Also, those people supported the community. Hiromi does agree that piracy is a necessary evil (or used to be).

Hiromi is speaking about an ideal situation, but even if you did watch Studio Trigger’s works illegally, he says to please watch it on a legit streaming service as well because it leads to success for the general industry.

We got a question from faux_wizard from Reddit, I believe. By the way, thank you for your help a while back. The question is: “How did Mago end up working alongside Trigger?”

Okay, so this goes pretty back in the days. Wakabayashi was working on... There’s this idol unit called Emitsu Private Middle School [sp?]. Uh, I’m sorry. There’s this talent, named Ai Ai [sp?]. There was an offer to do an illustration on her; Wakabayashi had an offer to draw her, and Wakabayashi talked to Nishigori Atsushi, the director for DARLING in the FRANXX and character designer for Gurren Lagann, about how this person named Mago draws really cute girls.

So, Wakabayashi and Nishigori thought that Mago’s illustration style was cute, so they asked Mago to do a comic spin-off about Ai Ai. Mago agreed. Two months later, the studio started working on Kill la Kill and asked Mago if she was interested in creating the official SD designs for Kill la Kill. Ever since then, Mago has been working on various Studio Trigger titles.

It’s been maybe roughly seven years, Hiromi says, that they’ve been working with Mago. They’ve been working with Mago since before they were making anime series. It’s been a long time! Mago is the studio’s go-to person when they need a cute design, Wakabayashi says.

Wakabayashi says that when they were coming up with Space Patrol Luluco, which was their fifth-year anniversary anime title, they approached Mago. It was kind of a joke series at the same time as well.

There’s a question from cataphractz: “Do any of you have a particular anime character you like outside of Trigger?”

Mago’s favorite character outside of Trigger works is this pirate character from Nintama Rantarou. Have you ever heard of Nintama Rantarou? The series is about these little ninjas in training. The anime is very, very… it airs every day on NHK. It’s a longtime-running series in Japan. Mago’s favorite character’s name is Atoi, the pirate. He only appears about once a year in the series. Mago made a lot of doujin.

I guess Hiromi is going to Google some fan illustrations that Mago posted.

So, we were discussing that it’s hard to come up with a character that we like. We have so many characters that we like! We thought it might be easier to think of a character we that we like from a series we recently watched. Hiromi didn’t know! He couldn’t think of any off the top of his head, so he told me to go first!

The studio boss, Masahiko Ohtsuka, bought Porco Rosso on Blu-ray recently, and I watched it. That film has always been one of my more favorite Ghibli films. It’s like waifu wars! You guys get new waifus every month. I don’t get new waifus that frequently; it’s hard to choose from all the numerous waifus. I recently watched Porco Rosso. I liked Fio. Porco is awesome as well, but Fio is smashing cute. At the moment, I like Fio. That’s what I was trying to say to Hiromi.

Mago says that she likes SpongeBob because it’s such a cute and funny show. She likes Gary, the cat-like snail!

Hiromi says that he likes Gwen more for Spider-Verse.

All right, this question is from Kuribo4: “Did you know Luluco would turn into Trigger when you designed her? Love your characters!”

So, Wakabayashi says that this goes a little bit back. They kind of neck-wrote their mascot characters 5-6 years ago. They wanted to do an April Fools’ joke. At the time, the mascot characters didn’t have names, but they just went with “Trigger Girls” for the joke. The joke was about making a new anime series about the Trigger Girls. The illustration for the joke was drawn by Mago.

Then, a few years later, they had the opportunity to do Space Patrol Luluco. Hiromi personally wanted to link that series with Trigger Girls. That’s also the reason why he wanted Mago to be the character designer for Luluco. Wakabayashi says that he wanted Luluco to transform into Trigger Girl in the end. He made a special request to director Imaishi and pushed for Mago to be the designer.

Luluco has a weird pigtail, Wakabayashi says. Hiromi says he made the request specifically to Mago because he wanted the pigtail to turn into… I don’t know how “ahoge” translates. It’s like a bad hair day? I don’t know what it is! We call it ahoge! I hope that answers your question, Kuribo! I see the term “cowlick” for “ahoge.”

Mago is currently doing a stage performance in Osaka. The script is done by Nakashima Kazuki. I’m assuming it’s doing well. It’s a pretty popular title.

This question is from Patreon. The user name is Grandpa: “Waka-Sama, when are we getting another Promare trailer?”

Wakabayashi is explaining that you can expect a new trailer in the near future, very soon.

[In response to unvoiced questions on the chat log about pizza.] So, Wakabayashi likes pizza and coke. Mago doesn’t really have a favorite type of pizza. I wondered if she supported pineapple on pizza. She’s indifferent, so I’m guessing she’s okay with pineapple on pizza.

So, everybody says that Galo from Promare looks really close to Kamina from Gurren Lagann. Wakabayashi is curious if people really think that way. Why don’t people think that Galo looks like Mikisugi if we’re thinking about half-naked guys with blue hair, Wakabayashi asks?

Wakabayashi says that Galo’s hairstyle is very natural if you think about his profession, which is firefighting. When running into a fire, there is a lot of hot air coming up, and that’s why Galo’s hair is always spiked up. There’s almost a buzz on the side because the hair on the side burns off!

So, no_04, I’ve seen your name on Twitter a few times. I think you follow me on Twitter. You strike a good point. Galo is basically Panty’s hair with Kamina.

So, again, no_04 made a good point, Wakabayashi says. Panty is the main character of Panty and Stocking. Galo is obviously the main character of Promare. If you notice, when Ryuko gets her Kisaragi outfit in the final episode, her hair is kind of spiked upwards, too. In all of Imaishi’s work, his main characters have this spiky hair. Even before Imaishi was a professional, he had a fan manga with a character whose hair spiked up as well. The hairstyle is an icon for a main character in Imaishi’s work. The hairstyle represents Imaishi’s stance to rebel against whatever is oppressing him. That’s why a lot of the characters—especially main characters—have spiky hair in Imaishi’s works.

I have a question from maxie721 who asks, “What about Mago? Any special features in her characters?”

Mago answers that she doesn’t really have any special features in her characters. When she tries to think too deeply, things don’t work out; she feels like she restricts herself too much, and it kind of kills the illustration on a whole.

There’s a question from Tony on Patreon that asks, “Would Studio Trigger ever do a “Basics of a Trigger Animation” tutorial on a live stream?”

Wakabayashi says the content in a Trigger animation tutorial would be pretty lecture-like and might not be too entertaining. There is a producer at Trigger who likes doing tutorials, though, and goes to colleges to do so. They would need a different line of staff to do a tutorial, however.

For those who want to know how to draw in general, Wakabayashi says, these kinds of streams are basically a cheat guide for you guys, which is why we do it. We make the streams available for later. If you don’t have time to watch a 2-3-hour stream, we make an edited version available for later. We should upload the stream within a few days. However, we haven’t uploaded the March stream yet because the tech staff has been too busy. We’ll hopefully get to it soon. If you’re a Patreon supporter, we provide .psd files for these illustrations, which is even more of a reference to work with for those who are interested. Please do check it out!

There was a question earlier on our Twitch chat log. The question was something along the lines of, “I saw one of the rougher illustrations or rough takes on Lalaco Godspeed. Why did you decide on short, bob-like hair for Lalaco?”

Wakabayashi says the answer is that Lalaco had a big fur coat and didn’t want the hair to overlap with that coat. Also, in terms of the design process for animation, Wakabayashi says that shorter-haired girls tend to be perceived as more energetic or active. Girls with longer hair tend to be perceived more as… I have to choose my words properly. They’re not docile. That’s a bad word! [Laughing] “Calm” or “reserved” would be what I’m thinking of. Short hair was used, Wakabayashi says, because Lalaco’s obviously a very aggressive person, and they thought the short hair would better portray her personality.

There’s a question from no_04: “Was it difficult for Mago-san to adapt Gridman or the kaiju to the SD style for the line stickers?”

Mago says that the kaiju was not very hard for her. She had more trouble redesigning Gridman and his other mechs. So, Mago can draw monsters and kaiju because they’re basically animals, she says. However, she has trouble drawing mechs and robots.

So, Hiromi was asking if Mago was having trouble redesigning this black object that the studio asked her to draw (and of which he can’t give too many details about).

So, this was a question from berikpo: “What are Mago’s favorite accessories to wear and to draw?”

Mago’s answer was sneakers. She likes Nike Air Force 1 in particular. However, the one she owns most are Air Jordans.

We have a question from Kikoman589: “Has Mago’s childhood or upbringing influenced her art in any way?”

When Mago was very young, her first manga she ever bought was Urusei Yatsura. She feels like she was pretty heavily influenced from that series. She used to copy from that book a lot and drew her own illustrations.

I asked Mago about why she doesn’t draw any male characters. I was curious if she doesn’t like drawing males. She doesn’t! She likes drawing girls! Hiromi asked about Nova, who is a guy. Mago says that that’s the reason for there not being much passion.

I guess I got it a little wrong, but Mago doesn’t like drawing male characters. Old dudes are out of the question. Luluco’s father was actually designed by another of the main animators.

This question was from k3shanberk. They ask when Mago committed to a career of drawing.

Mago says she hasn’t really committed herself to drawing yet. If she gets offers for her illustrations or her designs, she thinks she can get herself into another line of work immediately.

Last year, Mago felt she needed to take a little break from drawing to gain a bit of sanity. She worked part-time at a shoe store for a while.

Mago’s nickname was “Mago” when she was younger. She just picked that up as her penname or handle for illustration. I don’t think she feels comfortable sharing her full name.

Ex_trident asks, “Any kind of media you guys are into lately? Like a specific movie, a song, novels, or even games?”

I guess Hiromi is into Legos right now. Hiromi bought some kind of kit for Lego Movie 2. The film isn’t available in Japan right now. He’s too busy to build it because he has to work on Promare. If Hiromi has time, he wants to make vehicles or mechs from Promare with his Lego kits.

I guess Mago was playing Fortnite on iPad. I didn’t even know you could play that on iPad! I’m surprised! Again, I’m surprised that Fortnite is playable on iPad.

Hiromi says that maybe they’ll do some streaming on the Kill la Kill game when the game is released. Maybe Mago can stop by and play as well, he says!

There’s another question from no_04: “Is Wakabayashi planning to continue Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt: CEMETERY HILLS story where Nova means Panty and Brief in the end?”

By the way, Hiromi would like to inform everyone that CEMETERY HILLS is not a Panty and Stocking series. There is no relation with Panty and Stocking, but he would like to continue.

Sorry, there is a relationship between the two. In Panty and Stocking, the main character is Panty, but in CEMETERY HILLS, the main character is Geekboy; that’s the distinction. Hiromi would like to make a sequel. In the next sequel, Hiromi would like to introduce gun morphing like in Space Patrol Luluco in Panty and Stocking as well. He would like to see Panty transform into a gun!

There’s a question from evsanata: “Does Mago have any favorite artists? Who are the artists that have inspired her and influenced shaping her art?

I think we answered the later part of this question already. We’ll answer the first half now. Mago’s favorite illustrator and animator is Akiman. Mago’s first encounter with Akiman was over the Internet. There was a special forum where Akiman regularly converses with his fans, and that’s where Mago first met him. At that time, Akiman was looking for an assistant to help him with his series. Mago took that job and was helping Akiman for quite a bit.

Mago doesn’t remember how long she had that job. However, ever since she helped Akiman out, they have been in contact with each other. As such, Akiman has been a good moral support for Mago ever since the job.

totallynotnameddan says, “It was unclear from your phrasing. Is this supposed to detail the origin of gun morphing ‘cause that would be cool?”

I’m sorry if it was unclear. Hiromi wanted to make Panty able to transform into a gun with gun morphing as well.

How many of you have visited Comic Market? Have you visited Mago’s booth for Comic Market?

InfectedAdri asks, “Mago-san, how’s your dog doing?”

Mago says her dog is doing well. I guess she took her Chihuahua grooming, and now the dog is looking like a baby. There are two types of Chihuahuas, she explained. The one that I’m familiar with has short hair, so I wondered if Chihuahuas really need grooming. She says there are two types: one with long hair and one with short hair. Her Chihuahua has long hair, so if she doesn’t take her dog to grooming every once in a while, he has dingleberries, where the poop gets stuck in the hair. He needs regular maintenance.

ThexIncinerator asks, “What are the next conventions lined up for you guys? Will Mago be appearing at any of them?”

Wakabayashi says that he doesn’t think they’ve announced any of their 2019 events yet. They haven’t visited many conventions because they’ve been working on Promare. As soon as they finish Promare, they’ll probably make their presence at various cons. Mago is planning to appear at Comitia, which is a lot smaller than Comic Market and only allows original titles.

Personally, I like Comitia better than Comic Market.

It is Mago’s birthday in April, so she plans to do a birthday event! She will probably announce that. She wants to be pampered once in a while.

PraQnickstream asks, “Where can we find the dates of those comic events?”

Just Google Comitia. It takes place four times a year, so it’s a pretty frequent event.

Mago’s birthday is on April 11th. It might be on a different date! Mago doesn’t have too much of a pleasant memory… in Japan, you change your grade level every April. In April, you have a new class with new classmates. It’s hard to have a welcoming environment even if it’s your birthday. Mago didn’t have a very cheerful experience.

Ulric10 asks, “Idk if you’re gonna answer this, but could I have some tips for drawing like you?”

Mago says to draw what interests you and what you want to draw. So, if you just simply want to draw for your own entertainment, Mago says, draw just what pleases you. However, Mago says that if you want to get good at drawing, you should draw your own manga. You’ll be forced to draw various angles and backgrounds that you probably wouldn’t enjoy drawing otherwise, so you’ll gain experience.

There’s a question from NeoCoill from Patreon: What is Trigger's stance when it comes to creators making profit through fanworks of Trigger’s characters and shows (e.g. Doujinshi sold at Comiket or digitally)?

So, Hiromi thinks that it’s similar to cosplay...

Mago finished drawing! This is the final illustration! The illustration will be available on our Patreon page. If you’re interested, please do support us. All of the money goes to our creators, illustrators, and character designers who make guest appearances to our streams. None of the money goes to the studio. The support is appreciated.

Let’s finish up the question. Hiromi was saying that it’s similar to cosplay. If they shut out every aspect of fan community activities, it kind of halts the growth of their content as well. Even though they came up with the designs and concepts of these characters, for people who sell doujin and fanart, they are ultimately the ones drawing the individual art pieces. He doesn’t think that it’s right to say that it’s not their work to sell. Hirmoi personally doesn’t have anything against doujin or fanarts. He’s genuinely happy about people drawing their characters. If that’s what people do, they should continue to do it, he says.

Mago is happy to see her characters on other people’s doujins. She thinks that if you draw, it would be awesome to draw more of her characters in your doujins and illustrations.

We would like to ask Mago what her selling point for her illustration today is.

So, when Mago usually receives a commission or request for illustration, there’s always an offer from the client talking about the proportions of the characters, and these proportions are made pretty specific. It’s hard to organize these proportions. Today, Mago drew two characters who are basically the same character and have the same proportions. Mago is proud that the two characters are in the same proportion and will pat her own back!

This will be our last stream until maybe June. We need to concentrate on the production for Promare. We will take maybe two months off from our stream activity, but we will continue our smaller activities on Patreon. We upload the monthly shikishi for our supporters to see and will continue to do that. The livestreaming will have to wait until June when we finish Promare, though.

Thank you for coming to our stream. I bet it’s like 5:00 am on the west or east coast. 

Would you guys watch if we streamed like random people from Studio Trigger playing games? We were curious. For example, would you like to see me and Hiromi play Apex? We might be able to do those kind of stupid—not stupid; I mean non-creative—streams in the near future. We’ll have to stop on the illustration streams until June, but there’s a big response for these gaming streams, so we might have to do that!

All right. That will be it for tonight’s stream. Thank you for your participation. Have a good night, everyone.

[doodleodramablog-blog]

Inspiration & Motivation - the tale of two ex-lovers.

So after the huge success of my first blog (6 people read it including my own family), here we are with blog number- Two *insert drum roll*.

I did an Instagram story poll thing for this one, asking which blog to write first; inspiration & motivation or pricing (you know by now which of the two emerged as a winner). I will however, write one on pricing soon (too). So thank you to everyone who participated in the poll.

Now that we are done with the awkward intro-session and are all warm & toasty, let’s dive straight into the subject. Let me start with “my” definition or differentiation between the two. According to me, inspiration is ideas and motivation is the energy/zest/zeal/enthusiasm to implement these ideas.

Often, I find it challenging to bring these two people together, under the same roof (hence the title). They are like ex-lovers who went through a bad breakup and therefore cannot see eye to eye. And whenever they are in the same room together, the air is tensed but it helps get work done!

Before I start rambling about them, I think it’s very important to understand and acknowledge what is it that you need help with. Are you lacking motivation or inspiration?

Let’s talk about motivation first. Now these are some pointers that help me personally to get motivated. (Try them at your own risk).

Consume more so you can create more : I religiously follow and sometimes stalk truck loads of artists (illustrators, cartoonists, comedians, vloggers, poets, photographers, etc). Just seeing people put out amazing work, puts me in a good mood. I try to feed off on their energy and it helps me give myself that little push to work harder on my craft/skill.

Note : this might have the opposite effect too. I know creators who look at other people’s work and go “Oh! Everyone’s creating such amazing content and I’m a potato. Woe is me. I’m hopeless”. That brings me to the next pointer…

2. Know what works for you : take a walk, get a cup of coffee, stretch/sketch(or both), music, pet a floof (a real or imaginary pet), etc. Any of these or all of these could work for you. Motivation is all about working your mood to work for you. Even a nap could help! Try a few things and see what works best for you.

3. Take time off : taking a break helps. For me taking a break from my immediate surroundings does even better. So my breaks are as simple as sitting on the couch in my living area instead of sitting on the chair in my studio, just change of scenery can help sometimes. Do something outside of work. I turn to music or books or movies or tending to my dying plants and this can sometimes even spark inspiration (more on that later). I like going shopping for plants (that i will eventually kill), books, and stationery in general.

4. Let lazy takeover : There are only so many battles you can fight in a day and only so many that you can win so it’s totally ok to let lazy take over somedays. Don’t try to fight it everyday, every second (I’ll make a horrible parent!). Somedays you just want to smell bad, look bad, and pretend dead. And that is A-ok.

(Again, these pointers work for me. I’ve been told that I should be banned from giving advice…so…)

I’d also like to add another pointer here. I don’t usually struggle with motivation when it comes to client work. I somehow like being accountable and I hate to admit this, but I do work well under pressure and with deadlines. (As a student, I loved writing exams and that’s one of the things I miss about my student life- exams. Yeah. So now you know). Also, with client work there’s usually a set (agreed upon) brief available so inspiration is already served, you just need to bring your motivation to dinner table.

Moving onto Inspiration, this is harder to achieve than motivation (IMHO). Now inspiration doesn’t come knocking on my forehead every single day as soon as I wake up. So whenever it does come, I try and grab it with both my hands and soak in as much as I can.

Note : Here I’d like to throw in a recommendation- Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. PLEASE read that book if you’d like to explore creativity, inspiration, motivation and all that jazz. READ IT.

Here are a few things that help me get inspired. Again, these work for me but might not work for you so don’t come looking for me with a butcher knife. Don’t.

People : Indians are THE funniest race on planet earth. We just don’t know how to laugh at ourselves. All my comics come from observing people, their action-reactions, us as a society and our approach to life. I love observing people. So I am that creep who sits in coffee shops and pretends like I’m working or eating but I’m actually listening to your conversations, watching your body language, and making layouts for my next comic, featuring YOU. (Learn the art of subtlety before you practice this stunt. We have laws now so be civilised).

Anything but work : Surprisingly, I don’t get ideas when I look at other fellow illustrators/comic artists’ work. I get motivated, sure but not inspired. For that, I need to look outside of my work. I often get my ideas/concepts from books I’m currently reading, maybe a film I recently watched, an incident, circumstances, relatives at family gatherings, Facebook activity of my “Facebook friends”, etc. Yeah, I feel like I have a self awarded degree in human psychology (although I studied journalism, advertising, & film).

Shame your creative block in public : Let EVERYONE know that you are not inspired at the moment by drawing/writing about the creative block. And if this creative block visits often which it will (pesky little rascal), find creative ways to introduce your uninvited guest, the creative block to the world. Sooner or later you will get on its nerves and drive it away (for a while at least).

Go back to where you came from! : (immigrants can sit down. HAHA. OK sorry). What I mean by that is, when you’re stuck in a rut, reach for comfort food (first) and then for something familiar. For me, I love warming up with some rough sketches of faces with varied expressions. I find that relaxing because it’s something I know and enjoy doing. It’s like giving my ego a mini massage session. Don’t tell your brain to create a master piece just let your muscle memory do its job and draw some gibberish. Anything. Once you’re over that block, you can go ahead and poop all over that smooth road now!

So these are some of my cue cards/go-to pointers whenever I am stuck/not in the mood/not feeling it. But then again, they are not foolproof and that explains why I only did client work today. But hey! At least we got this blog done. I hope this was some help to the 3 people who will read it. PLEASE do drop me a note/message here. There’s also the ask me anything section.

There’s also the Doodleodrama Facebook & Instagram & email. If you have questions/opinions/suggestions- let me know!

*takes a bow and doesn’t leave*

[clockworkkwritesstuff]

BŪAN Review

Okay... I know this went out a while ago and I am deeply sorry that it took me so long to finally review it. However, I'm here now, having read it many times to say It. Is. Magical.

I will point out that I will NOT be posting details about the story, at least from pages 6-13 as requested. This is a gift, exclusive to those who donated/bought the story, so it would be unfair for me to share all the spoilers.

If you want to follow the main story that Buan is from, please follow @/Annedrawsstuff and #/Boundthecontract over on instagram!

On with the review!

First of all, the story is split in two, a comic half illustrated by the very talented Anne, and a written half by the equally as skilled Mara-Tabea (@/beasarcevic).

To kick off the story, there's a brief character introduction of our two favourite boys, Embry and Kuo, which describes their origin, feeding into the written half later on. Already from there, even if you hadn't read their story up until now, you can determine that we're going to be dealing with some interesting characters. Considering their development and relationship in the main arc, their pasts are very well put and thought out, matching their characters greatly. Remembering their stated pasts before their meeting does add to their story and definitely added to my emotional investment in their experiences.

At which point, the comic begins! Once again, I will stress, Anne is an incredibly talented woman whose art style I truly do adore. What struck me immediately is the layout of the first page, already absolutely gorgeous. What comic artists sometimes struggle with is how much dialogue to put on each page. Too much can deter a reader, and boring placement of textboxes can be... boring. From the first page, it's clear how much effort went into every detail, even layout. Already got a lot of points from me. As a budding artist myself, I know the importance of things like lighting, shadows, expressions and gestures when conveying a scene. Anne deals with all of these things beautifully. The dark setting in the middle of the night, the dialogue used, and every aspect of Embry and Kuo's interactions create an atmosphere that I can only describe as sensually tense. Their intimacy within the first few pages is portrayed perfectly, followed by an awkward encounter that honestly made me both squee and cringe for the both of them. I was so immersed that even I felt nervous.

Also, Aik!

After an amusing little twist, the written work by Bea begins! The written section is very obviously from Embry's POV, giving us further insight that the character introductions page, adding to it and making me want to give him a massive bear hug. BOY DESERVES LOVE!

Now where Anne's comic demonstrates the extent and effect of Embry and Kuo's strong contract, Bea's writing conveys the struggle of not having a page to be bound to, giving us a far better understanding of exactly what the contract between them is. May I just say also, her writing is crystal clear and easy to understand. Everything is set out at a great pace- nothing jumps around. The way she has written built up anticipation for me, imagining this playing out as a scene in front of me, not only setting an in-depth scene, but giving us Embry's thoughts as it all occurs, all of which feed into the atmosphere Bea is building, the feel of the comic Anne put in and the whole main story at the same time. The extend of the contract's importance is actually fascinating and I wouldn't have such a deep understanding of it now if I hadn't gotten this story!

With beautiful imagery and insight, I went and looked back at the main comin on Anne's instagram, now with a better understanding of the contracts and much more love for the relationship between these lovely boys. Their interactions now, with knowledge of how deep their relationship really is and how much they must trust one another, seem more intimate, in a way, these actions vrey exclusive to one another instead of my original assumption that Embry was just a natural flirt. I now firmly believe that the flirt is Aik... thatnks to art on Anne's instagram.

Also, Aik!

Yes, I am far more interested in the other mages and pages involved in the story now, knowing how vital contracts are and seeing the relasionship between mages Embry and Aik. Even minor characters are interesting to me, which is an amazing perk of writing for an author or comic illustrator. If all characters besides your main focus are bland, then your story may end up falling flat as well. Bound The Contract most certainly is NOT a story that will fall flat.

Both sections of this mini story, comic and prose, are beautifully done and compliment on another, after reading one, reading the other will have deeper meaning. When I finished, I went back and read it again immediately as I could understand the bond better now, each time approaching it with the same level of interest as the first.

Truly, this story is an eye-opener to readers of the main arc and would make an amazing prologue to those who read it first before going to see the main story!

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Moooore Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow stuff, courtesy of another Tom King interview: 

King was on the Supergirl Radio podcast this week, and while a lot of it is just a repeat of what was said in the previous interview on ComicPop Elseworlds Exchange, there were still some interesting bits, IMO!

They opened with some general questions--how did he start writing, when did he get into superhero comics, etc. 

And then, the Supergirl portion!

The hosts asked where he first encountered Supergirl, and as before, he said that Supergirl is one of those characters that everyone just knows, like Batman and Superman. So he felt there was never a time where he wasn’t at least aware of her.

If forced to pinpoint something specific, though: the cartoons (Superman: The Animated Series and JLU) and for Kara Zor-El in particular, hardcover trades of the 70s stuff.

He had some AWESOME Carmine Infantino art, from the issue where Supergirl fights a bunch of mini-supergirls, in Daring New Adventures.

When asked if he used any of those stories for this new project, King again said that he went back to the ORIGINAL origin, in the Silver Age Otto Binder stuff.

Because he’s written Superman, the hosts asked if he thinks about the differences/similarities between the two when writing Supergirl.

He said that Kara’s more of a survivor than Clark, she’s been through more; he feels that Superman is always striving to be the icon that is Superman, whereas Kara can just be herself. 

He describes her as harder, more cynical, ‘she’ll drop an F-bomb here or there,’ she’s ‘old and crusty.’

The hosts asked him how he came to be on the book and while it’s basically the same story he told on the other podcast, there were a few additional details he mentioned here.

He specifically said that editors were frustrated, because there is this. Thought? Among creators, that Supergirl is perfect, and there are no fun Supergirl stories to tell. 

(Brief, opinionated interjection here: HOGWASH!)

He again brought up the idea that people can be precious with Supergirl; he said she is precious, but she’s also badass.

When asked if there was any particular piece of Supergirl mythology that he wanted/was excited to use, King said that this book isn’t really about that--he again used the expression of stripping off the barnacles that have built up on the characters over the years, really getting at the most basic, pure take on them.

He was like, ‘we keep the dog, maybe the horse if we can make time for him, because [Comet] is the weirdest thing in all of comics.’

Elaborating on the book/lack of Supergirl mythology: He put her in space, gave her a simple mission, and let the story be a thesis on why Supergirl is awesome.

Next question was about the comic writing process.

King said there’s no set way to write a comic script; he tends to write ‘full scripts’; they resemble movie scripts in that there’s panel descriptions for each page, as well as the dialogue for each panel.

His descriptions are light, though. For example, he’ll simply put: ‘Supergirl encounters a Space Dragon’, and leave the rest up to Bilquis.

Again had nothing but praise and excitement re: working with Evely and Lopes. 

Said Evely adds such depth and emotion and storytelling to the artwork.

Then there was a question from the live chat; the listener noted that a lot of King’s work contains romance/is focused on romantic love. They asked if this book would also be about romantic love, or another kind of love.

King: This is not a romance. The love in this comic is a friendship love, between Kara and Ruthye.

When asked if other pre-existing characters would make an appearance: There will be shout-outs, but this is first and foremost a book about Supergirl; she is at the center of the book.

The goal is to make her one of the pillars of DC Comics.

On the subject of the ‘western’ part of the space western: Again mentioned True Grit, as well as The Searchers, and Red River.

Compared Kara to John Wayne.

Likes the idea of a character who has a simple mission, needs to go somewhere, and travels through various lands to get there, like the Odyssey.

Initially, he was going to have Kara be a sort of ingenue who learns to be tough as she goes on this journey, but his editor said, ‘No, she should be the teacher, instructing this young girl on how to be tough’ b/c Kara has the life experience. And King was like, ‘yeah! Let’s do that!’

And of course, because it is Supergirl Radio, they asked if he’s watched the show.

He watched the 1st and 2nd seasons with his daughter, then they fell behind/stopped watching because she moved on to other things, but he loved it! Specifically loved that he could watch a superhero show with her; good bonding time.

They asked him about incorporating stuff from the show and he said that he opted not to do that, as it’s sometimes not done well/feels forced. The example he used is that it’s very hard to get something like Calista Flockhart’s performance from the TV show into the comics, both in terms of the actual writing, and also in terms of legal stuff like the likeness rights, etc. 

Then they talked about KRYPTO! And King’s own dog, Roxy. 

Because King is a dog owner, he said he found it very hard to write Krypto sometimes, because he never wanted to put him in danger.

He also said that you can feel like a dog is a family member, and that is how Kara views Krypto; he is not a pet, or a tool, but a member of her family.

Another live chat question: Does he think of Kara differently, now that he’s written her?

King said she’s a much tougher character, than he initially thought.

Compared her to Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark; you don’t see him become Indy, he just already IS Indy, and he’s done this stuff a hundred times over.

And then he shared a little bit of issue 2 to illustrate this point: Ruthye and Kara encounter a guy who has beef with Superman, so he decides to take it out on Kara, and Kara easily dispatches him; Ruthye (the narrator of the book) marvels at how this happens everywhere they go, and it’s just a daily occurrence for Kara, because everyone thinks she’s the weak link/a way to get back at Clark.

Final question was about what he hopes is his legacy/the takeaway of this book.

King said he wants it to do well, and convince DC/the editors that there ALWAYS needs to be a Supergirl book on the stands.

And now, SOME THOUGHTS!

As mentioned, a lot of this stuff was already covered in the prior podcast, BUT! There are some new details here that build on those points.

For instance: King is really committing to a harder, cynical Kara. Who knows if she’ll remain that way by journey’s end, but that’s the take he’s going with.

(And, as before: not my preferred/ideal Kara! But I am open to seeing this. Largely because it is rooted in like. Character backstory/history; he’s not being edgy for edge's sake.)

Also, NO ROMANCE. 

*insert happy muppet flailing here*

I will admit that I had the extremely cursed thought that he’d bring back Comet, or worse, 90s Comet as some sort of guest star--and maybe he will, who knows! But I don’t get that vibe, really. Like, maybe as a fun shout-out, but not a full-on character in the story.

I do like that he repeatedly emphasized that this is a very simple book, with Kara at the center, and that it’s basically about Supergirl, and why she’s awesome.

Especially given how Future State whiffed that one.

That said, was a little dismayed to learn that Ruthye will be the narrator of the whole thing. It brings back horrible visions of Future State, and it’s harder for the reader to get into a character’s head when you’ve got someone else narrating the whole thing, but. We’ll see.

(What might take the edge off of this narrative choice is Evely’s art, since you can better determine Kara’s emotions/thoughts/etc.)

Interestingly, King didn’t want to comment too much on this book’s potential connection to Future State: Superwoman which...has me a little concerned.

(Please, never let that book be canon. PLEASE.)

The further details on the BTS stuff is disappointing, but not surprising. ‘Supergirl is too perfect/boring’ is a take that 1.) mirrors the same nonsense you see about Superman, and why everyone would rather be writing Batman and 2.) has existed FOREVER, and was particularly prevalent after the introduction of Power Girl. 

(It’s also flat-out wrong, in the same way that ‘Superman is boring’ is wrong.)

Other little things: Love that King says Kara views Krypto as a family member (because he totally is), and the Camine Infantino art was SO COOL.

SO, OVERALL: Gonna have to get used to the idea of an old, crusty Kara.

(Honestly I can’t even be mad at that description because I kinda find it funny? I mean, what with the Superman Fortnite announcement recently, I’m feeling pretty old and crusty, ngl. XD)

But I like a lot of the stuff King’s said so far.

Some of it does give me a little pause--like the heavy emphasis on the Supergirl part of her identity, as opposed to Kara, and how she’s just this awesome badass, with no real mention of other aspects of her character--but.

As should be very clear by now, I’m not in it for the writing.

Rather. I am here primarily because of

*takes a deep breath*

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 9/2/20

Yay! Sean’s back!

Barakamon, Vol. 18 + 1 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – I had thought this was something like an epilogue to the series, but it ends up being more of a hodgepodge—there’s a number of 4-koma strips, there’s interviews and yes, there is a short “years later” mini-chapter that assiduously avoids showing us Naru looking older, though it teases it. Instead, the majority of the book is an artbook, showing off color illustrations. And that’s the reason to get it as well, as you’re reminded that the art was also a big strength with this series. The pieces are very character oriented, showing Handa and company in a variety of poses and places, and it adds to the overall peaceful feel that we got from this series. I’ll miss it. Also, show us teenage Naru, you cowards. – Sean Gaffney

Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 2 | By Dr. Pepperco | Seven Seas – I never actually reviewed the first volume of this series—it came out in the height of COVID isolation, and I was bogged down in other things. It’s quite good, though, being a fairly tortured yuri drama without quite tipping over the edge into melodrama, although the reason it reads so well is that it balances on that edge quite nicely. Here we learn the story of Alice and how she became everyone’s favorite suspicious person, as well as the tie that binds her past with Hanako’s. As for the two of them as a couple, we aren’t there yet, and may not ever get there—it’s unclear if there’s a happy ending coming here. Nevertheless, you hope for one—these two need some good things happening to them. – Sean Gaffney

Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 2 | By Dr. Pepperco | Seven Seas – I really wish I liked this more. I like the setting—England in 1900—and two heroines who love books (and talk about Oscar Wilde and Sherlock Holmes!) and want to thwart society’s expectations of women while still being constrained by them. But everything just moves so fast! I found myself wishing this was a romance novel instead so it could have a little time to just breathe. They love each other, they find out secrets, Alice’s mom and fiancé conspire to get Hanako sent away, Alice finds her, more secrets are revealed. Nothing really lands with any emotional impact because it’s cruising right along and, in fact, comes to an end in the next volume. I will probably see it through to its conclusion but am overall kinda disappointed. – Michelle Smith

Horimiya, Vol. 14 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – This is the manga that never ends. It goes on and on, my friends. Given that the writer and publisher seem dedicated to avoiding the original ending of the webcomic, there’s not really much that can be done here except ‘everyday high school life’ shenanigans,’ to the point where I was for once reasonably pleased when Hori’s sadist/masochist tendencies come to the fore again, as she spreads a childish nickname for Miyamura just so that he’ll get mad at her. That said, despite the two being a seemingly close couple, at the end of the day Hori is still a horribly flawed character who needs constant validation and can’t trust her own feelings. She’s the most annoying and most interesting part of this. – Sean Gaffney

I Don’t Know How to Give Birth! | By Ayami Kazama| Yen Press – This is an excellent combination of biography, information, and comedy, as the author and her husband take us through the steps they took in order for her to have a child—more steps than you’d expect, as they eventually need in-vitro fertilization—and how she felt as she went through the process, ranging from “why am I doing this? My husband is the one who really wanted kids” to “I am getting in touch with my inner animal!” Scattered throughout are facts about preparing for nursing your child, Japan apparently not teaching expectant mothers how to push, and the lack of meds in their non-Tokyo hospital. All this is done in a fun way, with the author’s self-portrait having an arrow in her head. – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 4 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Should you sacrifice your dream for love? Well, not if you’re in a romance manga, but it’s a question that’s thought about long and hard in this volume, as Nanase discovers that Dr. Tendo is getting an offer to study abroad so he can research a condition that killed someone he knew in his past. He is seemingly fine with abandoning it and staying with Nanase, but another patient with the same condition shows that he’s not as cool and collected as you’d expect. As with previous volumes, this strikes a good equal balance between the medicine and the romance, and there is also some lightness of tone, such as Nanase mistaking her lovesickness for a heart condition after the two spend the night together. – Sean Gaffney

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 2 | By Umi Sakurai | Square Enix – The more we see of Kanda’s late wife, the more we see how much her death has devastated him, and we are grateful for Fukumaru for being there. That said, Fukumaru is a big, awkward, untrained cat, so this inevitably leads to events like the cat breaking precious pictures and the like. The cat is also somewhat jealous of anything that gets in between him and his master. So it’s a nice mix of cute ‘the cat is destroying the house and acting like a cat’ antics and ‘the cat is basically the one thing keeping his owner away from despair.’ Kanda’s utter adoration of Fukumaru’s cuteness (made funnier by the fact that, to most everyone else, Fukumaru’s pretty goofy-looking) may be the best part of this. – Sean Gaffney

My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 1 | By Shinichi Fukuda | Square Enix – Wakana has an unusual hobby—he admires and creates traditional Japanese dolls. In part because of this, he’s become a loner, but that changes after his popular high school classmate Marin discovers his talent with a sewing machine and convinces him to help her make a (sexy) cosplay outfit. Marin is passionate but not a skilled seamstress, so she hopes Wakana’s experience making doll clothing will be of some use. My Dress-Up Darling is rated “mature.” The first volume does include some risqué images and topics of conversation; however, it’s not overly explicit. Later volumes might become more so, but right now the story itself is surprisingly wholesome and the characters endearing. I’m really looking forward to reading more of the series and seeing Wakana and Marin’s relationship develop. But perhaps even more, I’m hoping to see Wakana follow Marin’s example and become more confident in himself and his interests. – Ash Brown

My Hero Academia SMASH!!, Vol. 5 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – The last volume of this series really does not stray from its mandate of ‘gags.’ We see 1-A and 1-B team up for a rescue exercise, the highlight of which is seeing that even the SMASH!! author thinks that Itsuka is a better Momo than Momo is. There’s some of Deku being such a hero fanboy that it’s hilariously creepy, and everyone participating in comedy training. (I was not prepared for Uraraka’s fantastic Aizawa impression.) There’s tanabata festivals, held back by a personality change in Bakugou (this actually comes up TWICE). And we end with a “years in the future” that isn’t really, with only Deku left to be the straight man. I’m happy this is ending now, but it was also a good deal of fun while it lasted. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 8 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – As expected, ‘making the relationship public’ gets put on the back burner, mostly as reality is far too complicated for things like that to go smoothly. Instead we spend much of this volume transitioning into a new arc, featuring Shirayuki and Ryu going up north to snow country to study as herbalists there… with the added addition of Izana, who is traveling there incognito to annoy his brother and to study Shirayuki further. In between these things we get a story looking deeper into Obi, who I sometimes get the feeling the author would be more happy making the lead character. It adds up to a good solid volume of the series, though I suspect the next volume will set a better pace. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 9 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – The rule of thumb in this series is that Takagi is more readily able to admit her own feelings to herself than Nishitaka is to himself. His embarrassment and wariness of any action that he’s goaded to by Takagi leading to a “ha ha, so you like me!” moment drives whatever he does, and the moment he gets over this the series ends. (Mostly—the unlicensed next-gen series shows he never quite gets over it.) Takagi CAN occasionally be embarrassed—my favorite chapter in this volume, where they’re sending texts to each other, ends with her blushing—but for the most part is content to tease him every day and patiently lead him to a point where they can be a couple. It’s not happening anytime soon. – Sean Gaffney

To Be Next to You, Vol. 8 | By Atsuko Namba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – On paper, To Be Next to You looks like standard shoujo fare. Nina Uemura is in love with her next-door neighbor, Kyosuke Tachibana, and to try to forget him, she started going out with a classmate. But when Kyosuke collapses with a fever on Christmas Eve, she bails on her boyfriend (Miyake-kun) to take care of him. Miyake-kun realizes that whatever happiness they can achieve together will always be vulnerable to being swept aside in an instant, and breaks off their relationship. What I love is how skillfully Namba-sensei has shown Nina’s maturation process throughout this series—she’s definitely not the same oblivious girl we encountered in volume one—and that we get little moments like Miyake-kun telling his friends what happened and them crying on his behalf. Between this and That Blue Summer, I have become a true Namba fan. I hope we get more from her soon! – Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown