#rui komatsuzaki

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

Analysis of Yuma's Design ①

I don't know if this has already been discussed, but I think Yuma's hairstyle is similar to the earliest design ideas for Hajime (the protagonist of SDR2) and Shuichi (the protagonist of NDRV3).

Hajime had a bob cut in the earliest design. According to Rui Komatsuzaki's comment in the official art book (ダンガンロンパ1・2 Reload 超高校級の設定資料集 -再装填-), he suggested this because he wanted to create a bobbed protagonist. He also commented in the book, "I hope to realise a character design that is cool even with a bob cut (おかっぱでもかっこいい、というキャラクターデザインは、いつか実現したいと思っています)", so I think that Yuma's bob hairstyle is based on Komatsuzaki's hope.

Shuichi's ahoge was thick and curly in the earliest design. This is very similar to Yuma's ahoge design. It seems that it was decided from the beginning that Shuichi would wear a hat when he first appeared, and several hat design ideas were included, one of which is very similar to Yuma's hat. (That's what I drew in my illustration.)

In fact, Komatsuzaki often diverts design ideas he had for different characters. For example, the hood design of Chiaki's cardigan (the character from SDR2) was diverted from the hood originally designed as Nagito's coat (personally, I don't think they're that similar, but Komatsuzaki himself said so in the art book). So I think these are not coincidences, but the result of him hoping to realise the ideas he could not realise in the past.

What I'm trying to say is that even though Danganronpa and RAIN CODE are completely different worlds, what the developers had in mind when making the Danganronpa series seems to be reflected in RAIN CODE, and the characters seem to be somewhat related in that way :)

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Alright Komatsuzaki fans come get your food.

These illustrations are exclusive pre-order bonuses for different Japanese vendors. Higher quality originals may never be made available to the public, but who knows.

Yomi and Martina's illustration is by far the highest quality out of the three.

(Some higher quality versions might be available, since Famitsu shared at least one of those, with their watermark.)

[jackolanternfigures]

Chiaki Nanami PUP - Monomi Hoodie Version

Character/Franchise: Chiaki Nanami and Monomi (Danganronpa)

Artist/Sculptor: Rui Komatsuzaki (character design), Sakura (color producer), and Yamaguchi Yukuo (sculptor)

Manufacturer: Good Smile Company, produced by Phat Company

[hopeymchope]

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code coming Spring 2023 to Dangan your friggin’ Ronpas

So today’s (9/13/22) edition of “Nintendo Direct: Now with 400% More Farming Games” included a new trailer for Enigma Archives: Rain Code — now titled “Master Detective Archives: Rain Code.”

Full trailer is here! (This is just a link to where it is in the overall Nintendo Direct. They haven’t posted a broken-out version yet. I’ll update this to embed that when it hits.)

Here’s some of the information we saw and learned today:

— This takes place in a corporate-controlled metropolis where long-unsolved cases are investigated by so-called “master detectives” from around the world.

— You play as Yuma Kokohead, an amnesiac detective. (Naturally. We love those.) He’s just a trainee at his agency, though.

— Shinigami is a spirit who haunts Yuma because of a pact between them. She’ll be your partner, evidently.

— So you investigate crime scenes and talk to people in 3D. That’s cool.

— “When you’re ready,” Shinigami conjures you a mystery labyrinth. This is where you’ll work through the evidence and logic of the case via physical manifestations of the mystery, such as...

...this crazy mine cart ride that seems to clearly be a “Logic Dive/Psyche Taxi” type-event. “MIND MINE”? :) 

— Oh, but apparently “mystery phantoms” will attempt to hinder your progress. So you’ll have to “cut through their contradictions.” This segment shows you dodging attacks in an arena that’s very “Tokyo Mirage Sessions”-esque, then literally slashing through words blasted at you.

It’s “coming first to Switch in Spring 2023.” So there’ll obviously be other platforms later on. (The new trailer also makes it clear that there’s gonna be a full English voiceover, in case you were curious.)

Previous info we have: 

— According to DR writer/creator Kodaka, he’s spent five years on this game, which he considers his “masterpiece” (DAMN, ok dude).

— Danganronpa character designers/illustrators Rui Komatsuzaki and Shimadoriru plus Danganronpa music gurus Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda are all in on this. You can definitely see/hear that in the trailer.

[manekinekocake]

[yomigaere]

New key visual to go with the new teaser trailer for the Tribe Nine mobage.

Here we've got new looks for Enoki, Santaro and Saori as well as Kazuki, which makes me wonder if all the characters who appeared in the anime will be getting new looks...

[canonqueercharacters]

The canon queer character of the day is:

Nekomaru Nidai from the Danganronpa franchise, who is bisexual.

[austajunk]

Ok, no because same.

Bro really is out here being a 100 percent cunt—I mean, snack. :3

Between total snacks Halara and Shinigami and Fubuki and daddies like Yakou and Seth, I’m getting overwhelmed by another bisexual smorgasbord from Rui Komatsuzaki. 🥵

[owlstar97]

9 DAYS TO GO FOR RAIN CODE ! ! !

✨Character of the Day✨

- Seth Burroughs -

Voiced by Yuma Uchida (Japanese) and Landon McDonald (English)

[roseseatea]

Splash art for my rain code oc, Luna Luckytune~

[wist-eri]

hey where did this come from 🤨

I FINALLY FINISHED IT. phew. here’s an mock-up info page for haru allegro, my rain code OC!

might get into talking about her dynamics with the rest of the NDA and such later, but for now have this

official description under cut in case it’s hard to read:

Haru Allegro

Japanese VA: Sora Amamiya English VA: Allanah Fitzgerald

One of the Master Detectives dispatched to Kanai Ward. Her Forte is Soundproofing.

Despite being certified as a Master Detective by the World Detective Organization, she is more often recognized for her work as a contract advisor or an arbitrator. She is a versatile thinker and uses any information she gathers to her advantage, but at times she may be a bit dense and hold certain preconceptions that cloud her judgement.

Forensic Forte: Soundproofing The ability to block sound in a wide variety of spaces, as long as it is within a short distance from her.

————

also here’s a transparent version of her splash ⬇️

i also wrote my voice claims for her! for her japanese voice i was mostly imagining sora amamiya’s role as akame in akame ga kiru (though a bit stronger with her diction). for english, literally i just listened to fitzyVA / allanah fitzgerald’s voice demo and i knew her medium/lower voice was perfect

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

Analysis of Yuma's Design ②

The design of Yuma's head has several features that are related to "question" or "mystery".

Everyone has probably noticed that his ahoge design is based on a question mark. Also, anyone who has watched him closely has noticed that his pupil design (or perhaps I should say the area around the pupil) resembles a keyhole. Some might argue that it is an abstract shape and perhaps something else, but "key" is a symbol used frequently in RAIN CODE, so I think it is reasonable to interpret it as a keyhole.

The main consideration I want to talk about in this post is that the outline of his eyes is a closed ellipse. My guess is that this is because it is based on the letter Q of the alphabet. There are several characters designed by Rui Komatsuzaki in Danganronpa and RAIN CODE with closed eyelines, such as Gundham, Kazuichi, Gonta, Ryoma, K1-B0, Aphex, Zilch, Desuhiko, and Vivia. While there are exceptions like Ryoma, most of them have sharp or semicircular eyes. Characters like Yuma with rounded eyes and closed eyelines are rare, so I think there is an intention behind it. He has a single long eyelash at the corner of his eye, which to me looks like a diagonal line coming out of the circle of the letter Q in the alphabet.

Yuma's eye line is not a simple single line, but rather a line that branches out a bit, so this analysis may be a bit of a stretch. I just think it could mean something, and I think it's one of Yuma's most distinctive parts, so I personally always want to draw him with his eyeliner closed when I draw him. Please don't get me wrong, this is just my preference! I have no intention of criticizing any fanart that doesn't. In fact, in the art for the Danganronpa and RAIN CODE Collaboration Cafe, Yuma's eyeline is broken at the inner corner of his eyes. If Tookyo Games supervises this art properly, it may not be so important whether Yuma's eyeline is closed or broken.

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Outerbox exclusive artwork by Rui Komatsuzaki for Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE's limited edition

Then, me being normal with a normal perception of things.

The limited edition, including bonus merch, currently announced for North America only (Europe pre-orders coming up, according to Spike Chunsoft), is being priced by Amazon at $110. The game itself would cost $60.

[give-ginoza-some-bread-and-sleep]

guys... i finally got around to learning how to make digital art to make my ocs... but it came at the cost of getting sucked back into my danganronpa phase from four years ago...

(but, as a bonus, my akudama drive obsession is as strong as ever!!)

[hopeymchope]

How do we feel about this uhhh character design in Master Detective Archives: Rain Code?

While playing through Rain Code (I'm midway into Chapter 4 now), I've so far been a little disappointed to find that everybody in Kanai Ward seems to be similarly pasty. I mean... I get that the city has been under a constant cover of clouds and rain for three years now, but I still thought there could be some indications of more diversity among the citizens. Not that I'm surprised by this, but it's still occurred to me.

Then I finally met SERVAN. And right away, he's contributing to Kanai Ward's diversity by being one of the "This guy's design style isn't the same as most everyone else" characters we've come to expect from games where Rui Komatsuzaki is handling the designs.

HOWEVER...! There is more to it than that.

Despite looking almost as pale as the rest of the citizens in this godforsaken city of eternal night, I'm confident that Servan is supposed to be a person of some color. At least part-African by descent, certainly. I say that because of his hair, sure, but also... his lips.

Yeeeeeeaaah. YEAH. He's got the dreaded donut lips we still see too often in manga/anime — the ones inspired by old racist caricatures from the Jim Crow era. It's a choice that made me uncomfortable from the moment Servan appeared.

So, like... how do we feel about this character design, gang?

Are you like, "That is some racist-ass shit that should be patched out ASAP"?

Are you like, "I'm not at all happy about this but I don't think they meant any harm through their ignorance so I'm not sure what to do/think"?

Are you like, "It's so common to see this in Japanese media that it just rolls off my back without me noticing at this point so meh"?

Are you like, "None of those previous things describe me bc I'm feeling something in-between all of them"?

Let me know. Very curious.

[manekinekocake]