#yes this is a redraw from one of the scenes but i changed his pose a bit

[drmememedic]

Played through a ton of dial town and I love it so much, decided to draw my favorite goober from it!

[alstroemeriadissonance]

Chiaroscuro (Part 1 of 3)

Marius x Vyn

In which both men are ever so slightly unhinged

Warning: Angst, a bit of violence, suggestive scenes. Not yet NSFW, that comes in the next chapters.

Chiaroscuro - The arrangement of light and shadow.

"Can you summarize to me what I just explained to you, Marius?" Vyn sighed, adjusting his glasses as he put down his tablet on his student's oil-and-acrylic-paint streaked table.

He had acquiesced to his student's request for today's tutoring session to take place in the latter's atelier. Apparently Marius wanted Vyn--the silver-haired, golden-eyed half European--to be his model, but with Vyn's schedule thoroughly packed, this was the compromise that he was able to come up with: have Vyn model for him during their private tutoring session.

Marius had promised to present him the finished painting--he only wanted to practice portraiture using the impasto technique, or so he claimed.

And so Vyn found himself seated on a stool placed onto a slightly raised platform, with a table pulled in front of him to use as a makeshift lecturer's table. It was only a change of setting and did not pose any inconvenience, at least on his part, and so the tutor had no choice but to accede.

The audible strokes of charcoal against canvas briefly paused, as if Marius ceased his sketching so he could put more thought behind his answer.

Then the scratching sounds picked up once again as the younger resumed working on his undersketch. "Social Psychology. You were talking about the concept of obedience.

"You were talking about order, higher status, and power as key factors to obedience," Marius murmured, his tone empty as his focus was most likely channeled towards committing Vyn's likeness onto canvas.

"Yes. You pay attention, at least," Vyn commented as he rested his chin onto his palm, an elbow planted on the table. "Can you at least tell me one of the two experiments I just discussed with you?"

"Before that...hold that pose, will you, Vyn?" Marius reached out for his gum eraser to amend part of his sketch and started redrawing a portion of it to portray him with his chin on hand.

"Very well then." Vyn decided to humor his student, just this once.

===

It certainly took much effort for Marius to gather his pluck and set things up in such a way that he could corner Vyn Richter in a place where the latter would not have the option to ignore nor dismiss his advances.

What Marius meant by advances was a complicated thing, entirely. Especially when he wasn't being honest with himself. What exactly does he want from Vyn Richter? Why Vyn Richter?

Ever since he was but a young child Vyn Richter has always been his brother's--Giann's--best friend, the mysterious, exotic friend from overseas. During those carefree, bygone days they would hang out together as they waited Giann to be released from his ever-increasing responsibilities.

Sometimes teenager Vyn babysat little Marius; he did not have much to offer to a small boy apart from stories of a land far away, and so his idea of babysitting was to regale Marius with stories and numerous trivia, minutiae that would seem interesting for a boy ten years of age.

But this does not exactly explain why Marius--already fully grown up and having assumed all of Giann's responsibilities--was seeking out a certain answer from Vyn.

If Marius were honest with himself, the answer was simply that he had imprinted on Vyn as time passed, he of the strange silver hair and golden cat-like, observant eyes. Vyn, who even as a teenager spoke with velvet-smooth politeness yet words laden with sharp barbs that gripped the target with brutal bouts of insecurity. Vyn, who Marius had found extremely fascinating, a veritable fount of underhanded mischief and trivia, and of stories.

Marius...inevitably, secretly latched onto Vyn, looking up to him as a reference on how to act accordingly, most especially when they started to foist responsibilities on him. Marius used to ask himself inwardly "What would Giann do?" whenever he faced a conundrum, but now that he had gotten a good grasp of how politics of kowtowing worked, that question was eventually edged out with "What would Vyn do?"

For Marius, a young man saddled with responsibilities at such a young age and forced into early adulthood so much that he did not have enough time to figure out what it meant to be self-sufficient: did being "self-sufficient" mean for him not to depend on other people for his various needs? Including emotional needs?

Marius von Hagen's net worth alone could buy a sizable portion of Stellis; he could set the question aside for financial and material needs for now.

Emotional needs, however, are a different story. Ever since Marius could remember, he has been taught to rein in his sentiments, to stop wearing his heart on his sleeve, so to speak, and if he wanted anything he should keep his cards close to his chest so the object of his desire will not be poisoned into something that can be used to manipulate him.

Right now, at this very moment, Marius von Hagen wanted a certain something from Vyn Richter.

What exactly it is, he does not know for sure--and so, Marius does not exactly know what cards to hold close to his chest. All he knew is that he had to speak with the nexus of his thunderous, overwhelming desire for something that his own sense of self-preservation was still trying to hide from himself.

Why Vyn? What is it about Vyn?

And back to the question, what did Marius mean by advances, now that he has the man alone in his atelier?

He himself does not know. All he knew was that, for some strange reason, his underdrawing for Vyn's portrait has the man's soft lips excessively detailed.

===

"The Zimbardo Prison Experiment, Vyn," Marius said in a bored tone, his charcoal stick still scratching against canvas. "It got out of hand and had to be aborted because the participants got too far into their roles and people got tortured and psychologically abused."

"Correct. And why did that happen...?" Vyn crossed his legs, shifting his weight on the seat as his left leg already started to sleep.

"The theory that most people let themselves go ham when they're ordered to hurt people?"

"More or less. Can be better worded, but that is the spirit of it."

Marius finally set down his charcoal stick with a clack on the easel's tray. "Undersketch is done, thanks Vyn."

"You do not need me to sit here anymore?"

The student stretched his arms. "Would be nice if you still do when I lay on the paint but...I think I'll go take a break for now." Marius stepped off his stool and removed the canvas from the easel. "Here, have a looksee of what I have done so far."

Vyn knew how talented Marius was, and he already guessed early on that his student was the alter ego of the famous painter Z, but he still let out a gasp when his eyes beheld the sketch: it was of him, of course, and exceptionally detailed as expected, but it certainly raised the question of Is this the way he sees me?

The Vyn on Marius's canvas was exceedingly beautiful.

"Well?" Marius grinned. "Great, yeah?"

"Hmm," Vyn rubbed his chin with his thumb, making a show of thinking out loud. "Do I not look a bit too feminine in this sketch?"

"Really now?" Marius examined his handiwork. "I really wouldn't call it 'feminine', but it'll look different and a bit more abstract once I paint over it. Impasto is all about texture and shadows, y'know."

"Alright. If you...say so." Vyn's gaze does not yet leave Marius's sketch, or impression, of him.

Then, after a pause, "Rembrandt is Z's main inspiration is he not? And is not Rembrandt at the forefront when it comes to impasto?" Vyn peered into Marius's gaze, gradually becoming restive.

"Why practice impasto, Marius? Or should I say, Z?"

"Ah, well."

"Out with it, Marius," Vyn crossed his arms. "Tell me the real reason why you called me out here. Judging by how you are acting, this is not related to our joint work in NXX."

===

And the cat is out of the bag.

Marius had to admit that the cover story he came up with--practicing portraiture using impasto--was pretty lazy. And Vyn was right; Rembrandt was one of the pioneers of the technique, and Z is the modern day Rembrandt: master of light manipulation in paintings. It didn't require two doctorate degrees to put two-and-two together, or rather, figure out that his excuse simply did not make sense.

Perhaps he secretly wanted Vyn to figure it out on his own. That would make things easier.

He looked down to meet the shorter man's piercing golden gaze.

"I'm trying to figure that out myself, Vyn," Marius murmured, finding that his palms suddenly went cold, hoping against hope that his tutor did not detect his nervousness.

Of course he did. Vyn was perceptive that way, and didn't he know Marius for more than a decade already?

Should I tell him now? Should I gun for it now? Marius would have had no difficulty making snap decisions in front of his board members--but the secret behind that was that he simply did not care much about the repercussions when it came to the fate of his family conglomerate.

But the man in front of him, he was another story entirely.

Here I am, look at my heart, I am wearing it now on my sleeve.

"I am not in the mental capacity to switch to psychotherapy mode, Marius." Vyn's voice came flat. "It is already past eight in the evening and I am quite mentally spent. If you are not comfortable with talking about it, which you clearly are not, then I shall be taking my leave."

Vyn was about to move away when Marius, without thinking, grabbed the other by the shoulders and captured his lips with his own.

Marius, who at that moment only had oh shit I really truly royally fucked up as his sole thought, pulled Vyn close to him, so close to him that the shorter man's feet was lifted off the floor.

Vyn's lips had slightly parted, out of shock perhaps, but Marius did not care at that point; he took it as his chance for his tongue to slip inside to seek out and slide against Vyn's.

Breathe in. Breathe out. His breathing somehow alternated with Vyn's, both shallow and fast. A guttural moan rose from his throat as he relished Vyn in his mouth: was that candy he just tasted? Or one of the fancy desserts he liked to make in the NXX lounge kitchen?

Marius's arms snaked around Vyn's upper body even tighter, perhaps out of desperation to prolong the moment when he still has his object of confused obsession in his arms, before both of them sober up and deal with the consequences of his split-second impulse.

"Mmph," Vyn started to strain against his grasp, pulling his face away. "Hahh--I hope you do know what this means?"

"...sorry," was all Marius could say as he let Vyn go, the latter's shoes landing on the atelier's wooden parquet floor with a clack. "I'm sorry Vyn."

The tutor covered his lips with the back of his slender hand, gaze utterly cold and furious.

So furious, that he did not have any words to say at that moment.

All Marius could do, under the absolute zero stare of his teacher--one of the only few remaining direct ties he had with his missing brother--was to open and close his fists as he averted his eyes out of guilt.

He bit his lip, and swallowed, before he mumbled almost inaudibly "I need you."

"What did you just say?"

"I need you, dammit!" Marius finally managed to wring the words out of his chest. "I don't even understand why, fuckit Vyn, maybe your psychiatrist head can make sense of what I can't?" His voice was trembling, almost manic.

"...since when?" came Vyn's oddly calm question.

"Since forever, Vyn, I can't give you a definite answer since it's from way back and I can't exactly say it out loud, can I?!"

Don't wear your heart on your sleeve. Never show emotion should you desire something. Doing so will only guarantee that they will poison your object of desire into something that can be used against you--

"Tsk."

The dismissive sound from Vyn's lips preceded something that Marius would never have expected from the older man: In only a matter of two seconds Vyn bent his legs ever so slightly, pivoting his hip so his right knee sharply hit the back of Marius's left knee with such strong force that it sent the younger, taller man stumbling to the floor.

Before Marius could even recover Vyn threw his entire weight onto the student's back, grabbing both of his arms and pinning it to his lower back.

Immobilizing him.

"What the fuck, Vyn?" Marius exclaimed.

Vyn dug his knees into the younger's back where the kidneys were located, prompting Marius to yelp in sharp pain.

The doctor then let up the pressure on the kidneys, and bent over to whisper directly to Marius's ear "One of the things I absolutely abhor, little von Hagen, is someone taking away my control. My. Control. Do you understand?"

Marius truly did not know how to react, much less respond; this was the only time that he had seen Vyn lose his composure, the only time he had seen Vyn employ anything close to physical violence.

Or is this his real face? Is this what he keeps hidden behind his polite smile all these time?

"Do not think that since we are acquaintances through your brother you are free to have your way with me, Marius," Vyn hissed, this time applying pressure onto Marius's bound arms. "You may be heir of your family's little business, but in my eyes you will always be beneath me. Beneath me, Marius! Do not forget this."

Somehow Marius found it in himself to laugh. Despite the painful hold the doctor was employing on him at the moment, the entire affair seemed so ludicrous, so farcical that he let out a laugh despite each shake of laughter sending spasms of pain on his back where his tutor had quiet cruelly perched his feet and knees on.

"Ah, if only I listened to those old farts," Marius exclaimed in between self-derisive laughter. "I wouldn't be kissing the floor right now. Pfft. Haha. Goddamnit."

Vyn remained silent.

"Well, I'm at your mercy right now Vyn, if you want to kill me go right ahead," Marius murmured, letting his body go completely lax, his face resting onto the recently-waxed wooden floor. "Can't guarantee you'd be able to get out scot free 'course, but I'm sure you can talk your way out of it."

With a loud sigh Vyn rolled off Marius's back, freeing his student from his vice grip, and stood up to straighten his white lab coat.

"Ouch. Goddamn," Marius moaned as he pushed himself off the floor to a sitting position. "Damn it, Vyn, you really should quit your teaching and just join the NSB--"

"They will just say that I stand out too much," Vyn, now standing over Marius, bent over him. With gentle fingertips he tilted his student's face to his. And slowly licked Marius's lips.

"Wait, what--"

"Shh." Vyn brought his lips to Marius's, helping himself to a slow, indulgent kiss, him towering over his student still prone on the floor. "This is what you wanted, right?"

Marius's breathing hitched, and with both hands cupped Vyn's face as they locked lips, their tongues entwining with each other.

"Mmm," Vyn hummed as he surfaced for air. "You should have talked with me about this first, Marius. You know very well I am well-equipped to help you process this."

"Yeah, well."

Don't wear your heart on your sleeve. Never show emotion should you desire something. Doing so will only guarantee that they will poison your object of desire into something that can be used against you.

Vyn pulled away and straightened his coat's lapels and sleeves. "Should I still expect the finished painting, Marius, or do you now abhor my very presence?"

"Give me two weeks."

"Very well."

"Vyn?"

"Yes, is there anything else?"

"Look at me, please."

Vyn, standing over Marius who was still sitting on the floor, coolly stared down at his student, his gold eyes still holding that slight spark of cruelty.

From Marius's vantage point, all he was seeing was Vyn, who at that moment looked quite fey--Vyn's head blocked the overhead LED light affixed to the atelier's ceiling, and from Marius point of view this gave the doctor an appearance of having an ethereal halo around his silver-haired head.

The surrounding light cast a full shadow over Vyn's face, a direct contrast to the heavenly halo.

And this detail Marius committed to memory, to apply to the finished painting.

"Marius?"

"Nevermind, Vyn. Just a study for the painting."

"I shall take my leave then."

"Yeah. Sure."

After Vyn closed the door behind him Marius buried his hands in his face, groaning all the while.

What the fuck is happening? Does he want me to court him with fucking flowers? Does he want me to fall off the face of the earth?

What the fuck should I do?

===

Exactly two weeks later Vyn received a package directly from Marius.

It was the finished painting.

He brought it to his room, still wrapped, and carefully snipped the packaging ties, tape, and unraveled the numerous layers of cardboard and paper that protected Marius's latest work.

Vyn's eyes widened ever so slightly as soon as he beheld Marius's portraiture of him. He was not a complete stranger to impasto, however his only prior experience with it was limited to looking at the paintings from a safe distance.

With Marius's work in his grasp he could finally touch--gently--the ridges and swells of undiluted paint applied onto the canvas, the hallmark of impasto work. The texture cast different shadows depending on the light source.

The entirety of the paint slathered onto canvas formed an approximation of Vyn's likeness, his expression quite bored, yet with a small smile playing on his lips as his chin rested on his hand.

Vyn quite liked the finished product.

Well then, to place this where it belongs.

Vyn did not let Marius know but he eagerly anticipated the arrival of the painting, and so he prepared a spot on the wall in his bedroom specifically for it.

He was about to hang the canvas onto the hooks when he noticed a small strip of paper sticking at the bottom of the canvas.

It was a note, saying "Light source from the right - M"

"Hmm. I guess that can be arranged." Vyn went ahead and hung the painting on the wall, then fumbled in his pocket for his smartphone and with it dimmed most of the lights in his room, leaving only the lampshade--placed on the nightstand located to the right of the painting--still turned on.

And Vyn gasped, then chuckled in amusement.

The once-bored Vyn on the painting was essentially replaced with one with a more cruel glint in his eyes, and the shadows had stretched out the once-small smile to a cold, ruthless grin.

That brat.

Still chuckling, Vyn walked over to his nightstand and opened the topmost drawer, fishing out a photo frame.

It was a picture of him and Giann.

Vyn gently touched Giann's face on the picture frame.

"Whatever shall I do with your little brother?"

[madelion]

hey, i'm an artist (or so i'm pretending to be) and i absolutely ADORE your art style and the way you draw so beautifully. What are some tips or what is some advice you could give me on anatomy, use of color or digital drawing generally? I've posted my art like once but I was so nervous of what people might think of it I made something super different to my actual style, so if you scroll on my page don't find it because i hate it lmao

Anyway, I would really like to hear what's some advice you have to give!

Hi!!! First of all, thank you so much for your sweet comment it means so much to hear that 🥺

So my bIGGEST TIPS I can possibly give (this is gonna be long I apologize in advance):

1. always always always use references.

I cannot stress this tip enough.

Whether it‘s for a certain pose you want to draw: you can go on Pinterest/google to find poses, clothing ideas, hairstyles, lighting, scenery. use references for EVERYTHING. no matter what people say it is not cheating. Sometimes we luck out and we magically draw the poses straight from our brain, but honestly that’s rare.

And it doesnt all have to be from real life. You can take inspiration from other artist whose styles you look up to/admire. For me that’s viria94(Instagram), aleikats, alexiakhodanian(twitter), spidertams(instagram) and many others! Obviously you don’t want to copy your inspirations, but you can learn so much from just observing their artwork :) Your inspirations will most likely change dramatically overtime because your art style will grow as you continue to improve. These inspirations are going to be a mashup of things you like about each individual style. And eventually, you’ll learn how to incorporate some of those elements into your own art which in turn: helps you find your own voice/style with your artwork.

but also, don’t forget to not copy them exactly lol. It’s one thing to “copy” an art style as a way to personally practice in your own time (which is totally okay to do!) But there is definitely a fine line between practicing/outright copying and claiming it as your own work. I hope that made sense???

2. Redraws

this is something I only just started doing, but it has helped my artwork improve immensely. I redraw scenes from shows and movies that I love (which I will get to this tip in a second). And then because the scene is already set for you, it helps you not only practice anatomy (especially if you’re referencing real people), but also lighting, setting up compositions, and in general practicing this over time will help you refine your art style!

3. Draw from life

Not everyone has a realistic art style, nor do they need to have one. However, it is important to understand the ”rules” before you can break them. And what I mean by that is that by practicing realistic anatomy, you get to understand proportions/how the body works in relation to itself. Because even though everyone is shaped differently from each other, there is still an overall similarity we all have with one another. And honestly all you have to do will go into my next point:

4. watch tutorials

Cannot even tell you how many tutorials I have watched over the years. I will forever be on YouTube trying to learn how to do something. this honestly goes with the references section because it just helps so so so much. Having someone show you exactly what to do is so beneficial because they’ll move you through the exact motions you need to do to get to the end result. I remember when I first started really getting into art, I loved drawing realistic eyes and lips. so I watched tutorials of that all the time and now it’s pretty much second nature to me.

since you asked about the use of color, anatomy, and digital drawing… this is gonna be golden for helping you okay. I might have taken a color theory class a couple quarters ago at school… but trust me I’m still winging the whole color thing. howEVER, tutorials will be your best friend when it comes to these things I pROMISE.

5. TAKE BREAKS

please for the love of all things do not push yourself to be creative when your mind refuses to do so. some of our best work/ideas appear when we’re bored or doing something else entirely.

taking a break means go do something else you enjoy. For me that’s: playing my favorite video game, watching my favorite show/movie, reading a book, talking to my friends or family, baking, writing. just do something else!

the moment you try to force yourself to finish a drawing when you’re really not in the mindset to do so (unless this thing you’re drawing is for school… that’s an entirely different thing trust me lol), you’re just going to lead yourself into an art block. So many artists pressure themselves to draw everyday because yeah it can lead to improvement, but back in my anne with an e days when I felt pressured to put out fan art consistently for the show, it led me to what was probably my longest art block EVER. and it sucks because I ender up losing the inspiration to draw for a show that I loved a lot. So always remember to pace yourself and take care of yourself before anything else <3

6. Draw what you love

so often we feel pressured to draw what others want us to draw. But that shouldn’t matter. yes, it’s good to be aware of the people that may look at your art/follow your art account, but that should never dictate the work that you create.

for some people they love drawing original characters and creating stories, others might only love drawing animals, some people have certain themes in their artwork, and others, like me, purely like drawing fan art.

when you draw something you love, your artwork will always turn out better because that means you’re having fun making it.

and for me personally, I cannot whip out original characters for the life of me unless it’s for a grade LOL. So when it comes to drawing, that’s why I stick to fan art.

NOW I KNOW THIS WAS SUPER SUPER LONG but I really hoped this helped in some sense!!!

But thank you so much for asking, I’m always more than happy to give out some advice/tips :) I’m looking forward to seeing more art from you!

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Quick outline of the changes in Golden Kamuy Vol 21

Here is a general outline of the more relevant changes that take place in Vol 21 compared to the magazine. Note that as usual I won’t dig into minor changes or redraws unless they seem to be relevant for the plot or characterization (or I really like them).

Also, to better let you understand some scenes or from where they come out, in some scenes I replaced the Japanese test with either the scanlation test or an appropriate translation (most of them courtesy of Lusetoj). Remember that this is merely an informative post and you’re actually supposed to support Golden Kamuy and buy the volume, either in Japanese or in your country’s language and that no, I don’t know if I’ll do a similar post for vol 22.

This is just because they changed so many relevant things here I wanted people to be able to follow them as they might affect future chapters and our understanding of them.

So now let’s start.

We spend a moment on the cover, which sees the return of Tanigaki on it.

Tanigaki is kind of a surprise as in the past after a cover with Sugimoto we always had a cover with Asirpa.

Of course the first time we had a group of 8 volumes before we had a cover with Sugi again but the second time we had 9 so it’s possible the cover for Vol 19 with Kiro was a last minute change.

Maybe the Sugimoto cover was meant for vol 19, with Asirpa on 20 and, yes, Tani on 21. We’ll see if Tsurumi will be on 22. Otherwise it’s possible to specualte the cover order is purely coincidental.

It’s also worth to mention that the backcover this time have Cikapasi (in the past it has Nihei).

On a personal note I would have preferred if it was Cikapasi who was on the front cover as in this volume he’s more relevant than Tanigaki but whatever, overall Tanigaki in the whole story has more importance and more fans than Cikapasi so okay, I get why Noda preferred to have him on the back.

We then move to the colour page.

It’s the colour cover of chap 193. In Vol 20 I wondered if Noda would use it later. Well, now it’s later, I guess.

A colour cover that was in the chapters included in this volume and that instead go lost is the one of chap 203.

The one of chap 205 was included in vol 20 so it’s not lost.

It seems in this volume there’s no short summary.

Now something really noteworthy while in the past volumes included 10 chapters, this one includes 11, the last presenting heavvy changes... but we’ll get there later.

Other chapters too saw the addition of extra pages and panels to expand scenes that already were in  the magazine version so we can better understand what’s going on and of scenes that are redrawn, either to improve their quality, correct mistakes or add to the plot.

Note I’m not going to add them all but only those which are plot relevant (or that I particularly like).

Let’s start with chap 201.

Chap 201 is one of the most tame in terms of changes.

We can see that in the cover Ogata and Tanigaki now have their rifles and Koito his sword.

I was wondering if, now that vol 20 changed things so that Tsukishima was present when Ogata called Koito ‘barchonok’, hearing Koito asking about the word would ring a warning bell in his head but that’s not the case. The scene is as it was in the magazine.

The image of Vasily gets redraw so that some particulars are improved and his colours now matches with the ones he has in the other chapters.

The one relevant change in this chapter for me is in the final page. In the magazine Sugimoto had light in his eyes, now the light is no more.

Who has heard me or @chibivesicle​ ramble about the relevance of characters’ having light in their eyes know that we think when they have none is clearly a bad sign. Sugimoto is in full murder mode and Noda wanted us to see it (and he’s also holding the miso better but okay, this is not plot relevant).

The move to chap 202.

Not much is changed in this chap.

They only added some shading to Asirpa’s face in this scene in which Tani told her they couldn’t move because, if the sniper was Ogata, then the target was Asirpa, to imply how this affect her.

Poor Asirpa, a friend of her is under attack and she’s made aware it’s due to her this is happening. Noda did great to underline how this affected her.

We move to chap 203, which, as mentioned before lost its colour cover.

We’ve then a change, instead than a man in the sledge, the ones passing through the street are a man with his whole family all of them on a single horse, a dosanko, a particularly strong Hokkaido horse.

Sugimoto’s sentence as he spoke to Vasily was changed as well.

In the magazine he said something along the line of how ‘when I think to myself that the world Asirpa is seeing has me in it... I feel like I became clean somehow and can be saved.’

Now instead he says this:

The change fits more with what Asirpa will later say in chap 206 which in the magazine originally seemed merely Asirpa’s interpretation of Sugimoto’s words when now is a direct reference to them.

Noda added the Russian version of the sentences Tsukishima said to Vasily and to Sofia and Svetlana’s dialogue. Gansoku though still talk in Japanese and Sofia talk in Japanese to him as well.

Noda also added three small panels of Gansoku, fighting and showing his delight at being hit.

We continue with chap 204.

Chap 204 expands the Tanigaki/Cikapasi scene. Originally, when Cikapasi wondered if Inkarmat was well Tani said only he was sure she was and that they should go visit her when they were to get back. Now he talks about a telegram saying she’s well to which Cikapasi is delighted, with Tani now implying visiting her should be the first thing they’ll do once back.

When Tsukishima talks with Vasily they added the Russian version of his words.

Girel also looks slightly different.

There’s also some minor redrawing but, as you can see though, the changes aren’t really big.

So let’s move on chap 205.

There are some changes in what Sugimoto says to Tsukishima.

In the magazine Tsukishima urged Sugimoto to act because Tsurumi was about to come and Sugimoto replied although he’s sure hadn’t met Tsurumi yet he didn’t believe Asirpa would open up to a man like him. In the volume Tsukishima’s comment is cut and Sugimoto mentions Asirpa’s name when he says he’s sure she hadn’t met Tsurumi yet instead that when he says she wouldn’t open up to him.

Among the minor redrawing I found fun how ‘director Asirpa’ now also has a fitting hat.

Node decided to remove Asirpa calling the guys 3rd rate actors. She’s also not salivating anymore.

He also removed the ‘hey Inaba’ from this scene. I think the idea is to paint Asirpa as less of a rude director.

In place of Asirpa saying ‘We’ll do a story about the Kamuy’, Noda added a minor infobox about the tales of Pananpe and Penanpe.

For some weird reason Noda also redraw the scene in which Tanigaki hit the ground. It’s not relevant, I’m just sharing it because he changed Tani’s pose a lot... not really sure why as it doesn’t seem Tanigaki is making an effort to shield himself, unless it’s some sort of reference to another series.

And so to chap 206 we go.

It’s worth to note in this chap Girel is drawn same as in the magazine, in short he doesn’t wear anymore the glasses Noda geve him for the volume version.

Among the redraws I find worth to mention how not only Noda cut Shiraishi laughing at Tsukishima but changed the bit regarding Tanigaki, Cikapasi and Enonoka. It’s not just that the Tanigaki-bird flies more. In the following panel Tanigaki’s face is now visible but darkened. This remarks how Tanigaki is present in the panel, yet leaves the focus on Cikapasi and Enonoka. Tanigaki’s face is the focus of our attention in the following panel where, like in the magazine, he’s alone but his eyes are shining much more. Likely he too got emotionally involved watching that scene but those three panels are here to anticipate what will happen in chap 209, Cikapasi will choose to stay with Enonoka and leave Tanigaki.

We continue with new changes in the dialogues, specifically in what Sugimoto says to Asirpa.

While in the magazine Sugimoto gave his own interpretation of what Wilk told him ‘he said he raised you so you could fight in a war’, now he correctly reports Wilk’s words about wanting Asirpa to know how to hide and fight and that she would be the leader of the Ainu people.

He also corrected his words about Kiro. While in the magazine he just mentioned he took her to Karafuto and then died to as to push Asirpa into believing she had to think she had to fight, now he clarifies Kiro brought Asirpa to Karafuto to remind her how to break the code and died as a consequence of this (well, actually he died as a consequence of three men ganging up on him and they would have been four if Sugimoto could have a say in it). However this too, combined with what Wilk did, pushed Asirpa into thinking she had no other way but fight.

Another change is here. While before Sugimoto referred to “Stand at the head of the Ainu and die” and “Fight and kill people” as what they were telling her, now he calls all this as a curse casted upon her.

Next chap 207 & 208.

i couldn’t notice any relevant change in these chapters which is a pity as people might remember I pointed out how the skin count was wrong in them.

The same goes for chap 209.

Things start to change with chap 210.

We start tame with Koito now calling Hanazawa ‘former commander of the 7th division’ when in the magazine he called him just ‘commander of the 7th division’.

I mention this because now I wonder, who’s the commander of the division, the guy above Lieutenant colonel Yodagawa? Has such a commander be appointed? Is he in Tsurumi’s paycheck? Will he be relevant in the future?

Who knows?

Sugimoto and Asirpa’s talk is also different. Not only Shiraishi is present in the beginning and leaves after but Sugimoto replies to Asirpa’s question about what will happen to the Ainu.

Sadly Sugimoto’s idea they’ve an overwhelming advantage is a naive delusion... and maybe he too knows it and that’s why his eyes are completely black, without light. In his wish to save Asirpa he probably knows he’s sacrificing the Ainu.

This bit was also changed as in the original Tsuki didn’t mention Ogata.

This text is changed as well. In the magazine Koito said just ‘was because he wanted me to realize that we were being bade into pawns for first lieutenant Tsurumi, just like he and his father were!’

Now it mentions both Hanazawa and Ogata’s name and the sentence is visually split into two parts.

Then, although dialogues remained the same, Noda changed Tsuki’s expression in this scene. Tsuki now smiles when he says he was tricked too.

Tsuki also gets some new lines here as a flashback also expand the scene.

Noda changed a bit Tsuki here. Actually I wonder if he’s crying considering Noda added whiteness below his eyes.

Noda inverted Tsuki’s lines here as in the magazine he said:

“The first lieutenant is very skilled at saving people with “sweet lies.””

“So I don’t know what his true goal is.”

At the end of the scene Noda added Shiraishi spying them.

And so we reach chap 211... which is like a new chapter.

For start there are changes in the discussion between Sugimoto and Shiraishi here. In the magazine Shiraishi says Asirpa isn’t the Asirpa he knew anymore. In the volume he says she isn’t the Asirpa he first met.

... and here.

Koito’s expression is changed so as to show he’s not happy at all to see Tsurumi.

Now, when Tanigaki comments about how Tsurumi would let Asirpa see Huci she doesn’t say she’ll understand what kind of man Tsurumi is by looking at him. To make up for it Sugimoto says everything will go well and we get an exchange between Usami and Tsurumi showing what Tsurumi planned to do to Asirpa... clearly not even considering to listen to her demands.

As said before, the overwhelming advantage over Tsurumi, existed only in Sugimoto’s dreams.

Again Koito doesn’t look particualrly happy of being praised by Tsurumi contrary to the magazine version.

At this point the plot drastically diverges from the magazine to the point it’s no more an addition or a slight change but a real retcon and I’m not sure how Noda will deal with it in the future.

In the manga Asirpa and Tsurumi exchanged a glance, he was reminded of Wilk’s eyes and commented she had the same eyes as him. This words affect Asirpa (who previously has said she would get which sort of man Tsurumi is by looking at him, a scene removed from the volume) and, as Shiraishi throw up she prepare to toss her arrows.

In the volume instead things will go very differently... but let’s see them first.

All this is an important change as it shows Asirpa didn’t act merely due to her intuition or out of prejudice but because Tsurumi clearly acted in a manner that ended up creeping out even his own men, a manner that clearly implied he planned to part her from Sugi and keep her trapped (as he was doing with Inkarmat only in a much less friendlier environment) and that he had no friendly feelings for the Ainu and wouldn’t keep into consideration their wishes.

There’s actually much more to say about the changes but I’ll let it for a meta, if I’ll manage to write one.

Back to the changes, despite all he has heard from Tsurumi, Sugimoto now looks a lot less assertive and comfortable with Asirpa’s decision.

Tsurumi’s men are now better drawn and characterized, you can see Kikuta and Sugi now also informs them the arrows will kill them with just a scratch.

The last two pages are partially redrawn. but in them Asirpa also gets the chance to better clear up her position. Tsurumi also immeditely sends his men after her.

Anyway the volume ends here.

Enonoka do the thanks but her image is so tiny as Noda has used up all the pages he had hence the poor quality.

Anyway that’s all. As usual I recommend everyone to get the volume as it’s much better than the magazine version.

[onepunchmiss]

OPM s2e7 Live blog

“The S Class Heroes”

IM SCREAMING ALREADY I ONLY READ THE EPISODE TITLE ALRIGHT OK SO IT BEGINS TODAY, MY DEATH guys I am so pumped for the S Class focus thats about to begin with this episode like from here on out they become main players in the series and asfdbfhirksvfjkevfsnjkvfnjek how is it legal for ONE SERIES to contain SO MANY FAVES. Anywayyy Before I get started I’m actually wondering- this is the 7th episode of the second season… do we know how many episodes the season is supposed to run for? S1 only had 12 i think. I’m… I’m not even close to ready for it ending. Now that they’ve introduced Orochi, I’m not even sure where a good break in the plot would be?? Random concerns aside, lets get to the episode. As always, I’m watching this as someone who has read the manga and web comic to date

OROCHI IS PINK HE IS HOT PINK THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY BEFORE THE TITLE SEQUENCE HITS ME LIKE A GUT PUNCH EVERY SINGLE TIME AND I STILL PAUSE IT AT ZOMBIEMAN OK off to a great start woo

Oh thank god we’re starting with the tournament I can stop quite literally holding my breath. Alright its Choze time. I’m actually excited for him to do things, his face has been nothing but terrifying thus far and hes one of those characters that are just fun to hate unapologetically. I love over-the-top Nazi stand-ins for that reason tbh

OH FUCK OH GOD I LOVE HIM also GAROU hiya welcome back I know it’s only been 2 weeks but i missed you so much thank you for gracing my screen for 5 seconds OH HECK the dramatic music and beginning of the internal monologue just being blatantly REJECTED caught me off guard I cackled AH WAIT WAIT

EYESIGHT DOGMAN ASDFGHK MY BABY IS COMING IM DEAD IM FUKKIN DEAD ALREADY I MISSED HIS CUTE VOICE hey no wait that was very quick?? I must withhold my bias, we’re at the point now where I have SCRUTINIZED every single panel of the manga over and over because of all of my faves, so even the smallest differences will be glaring to me. As much as I want all the action to be drawn out as it is in the manga, I know that’s never been how the anime has rolled. I must bite my tongue.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THE ONLY TIME WE’LL EVER SEE HIM AND YET!!! oof i had to pause for 2 minutes to chill out and actually type. I. I just. juST. BOI ARE YOU OK WHERE ARE YOU ARE YOU WELL AND WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE G4 tell me your secrets

WAIT COME BACK i dont give 2 SHITS about sweet mast HECKK

speaking of whom get off my screen u creep I have a personal bone to pick with u disrespecting the bae as you will

[SCREAMING]

Oh god this whole scene is so EXCITING and TERRIFYING child emperor’s face as Pig God just eats her, speaking of which -QUIT CUTTING BACK TO THAT TERRIFYING IMAGERY ASDFGHJ  

YES THEY KEPT IT YES YES YES YESYEYSYEYS YOU DONT UNDERSTAND how much Ive been looking FORWARD to that little scene??? im crying how is it possible to work myself up so much of this please help

ok ok back to the tournament give my heart a break phew Hey Choze if you’re genes are so superior then where are your eyebrows????? You dont pull it off HALF as well as Z does. Jeez everything about this guy is so absurd I can’t help but laugh irl the damn DNA helix rolling across the screen dude just stop you’re embarrassing yourself

although you DO know how to strike a pose. change ur name to Poze. Wait no. Your name is now GMO Corn I lied.

AGAIN GETTIN ME WITH THE WEIRD COLORS Hundred Eyes Octopuss is red and blue OK SURE

DEATH GATLING DEATH GATLING ASDFGHJKL guys I cant look at Narcisstoic oh no “no you’ll do no good”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I WASNT EXPECTING THIS THIS EPISODE BUT I SHOULD HAVE I WASNT PREPARED I paused it I’m afraid to push play he’s not on the screen yet i can still turn back and make it out alive -

                    Behold.                                     the moment   I          died        

I actually have this thing with eye gore and seeing it in motion fucked me up I had to skip 10 seconds but anyway FUCK he’s so SPARKLY and PRETTY

Noting also the music there totally gave me flashbacks to the Darkmatter Thieves invasion for a split second and that sequence in general was really well done I like how they emphasized the suckers sticking to the concrete and everything- it have the monster a lot of weight imo. Of course the studio would be fools to not give Tatsumaki the the utmost respect like that sooo

SPARKLY and PRETTY and TEMPTING FATE YOU FOOL yo I was so excited to this scene but I feel like they didn’t make his response angry enough it’s funnier when it so uncharacteristically mad I might do a redraw with the face he makes in the manga………….. FUKKIN was smiley face man just yelling noises to cover flashy’s voice???? FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OH MY FUCK WE’RE GETTING MONSTER CELLS THIS EPISODE. OH MY HECK WE’RE COVERING MUCH MORE GROUND THAN I THOUGHT WE’RE ONLY HALF WAY THROUGH THE EP

plot progression plot progression plo t p r ogr e ss i on hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Kamikaze being the badass that he is i lov

SPEAKING OF LOVES LOOKY LOOK God i love those three Okamaitachi is a WIFE and IAI is a BAE HEY WAIT let them speak come back they said words i want voices!!!!!!!  this is going so fast??? Oh my god I was absolutely not expecting to get the Suiryu fight this episode holy crap holy crap?? Ok but I’m getting pumped the music is hype “trying to hide his nervousness by looking like a doofus” “this is how I always look” Oh saitama why do they do this to you. Jeez as much as I love everyone else I forget how much I miss him. 

Oh and he’s getting his hopes up again sweetheart no

This is so good I’m hardly pausing to type my thoughts I’m too invested AND NOW ALSO IM DIGGING THIS MUSIC this is good v good yes and there goes Saitama being a genuinely good person offended by this jackass Saitama is too good for this world

His voice… I love him sm. aaaaaaaaaaaaaand its over. hmmmmmmmmmmmm so I have a guess as to what the post credits scene will be but let’s just see

YUP I KNEW IT cause we skipped it last week and now that we’ve introduced the monster cells it was only logical Genos no bby stop getting completely obliterated mannnnnnnnn

In all, no real complaints??? My children?? Have began to appear finally??? I just wish they literally went word for word shot for d\shot with Drive Knight if only because I’m STARVED for DK content in general. But based on the pacing of this week’s episode, will definitely cover a lot of ground and be pretty intense. I should be less, uh, screaming? Next week too. I’m exhausted from spazzing every 10 seconds hah. Well, I just skimmed the manga again and there might be some but yeah I think I can calm down for maybe 2 weeks. maybe. take a wild guess who should show up right around that time. ANYWAY Thanks for reading see yall next weeeeekkkkk

[dotzines]

Artist spotlight: Mion Jazri!

Commissions ✿ Commissions Instagram ✿ Tumblr ✿ DeviantArt

Header & images source: [X]  

Introduce yourself Hi! HI! My name is Mion Jazri-- MJ for short! I'm 16 years old and l'm Filipina, nice to meet y'all! Aside from drawing, I enjoy reading stories, baking,anime and games! I'm in a bunch of fandoms but mainly in the riordanverse, promised neverland, and pokemon fandoms. When did you start drawing? Are you a digital or traditional artist? I started taking art seriously around 3-4 years ago, and I consider myself as both as I play around with both medias a lot! Which mediums are your favorites? Did you try going digital? Watercolors! Which was a surprise for me as I used to hate using it. That said I tend to move from one supply to another depending on what seems fun at the time.And uhh, yes. I've tried digital. ((((I THink I should've chose one from digital or traditional artist ashfjdhfk)))) Do you use any traditional mediums? If so, which are your favorites? (((YEAS I should've chosen one-))) Ah and as I've mentioned I prefer watercolors currently.

Why do you prefer traditional over digital? (or viceversa) I don't prefer one over the other. I have different stuff I like about them~ What do you think is the most challenging part about being a traditional/digital artist? Traditional: Unlike in digital drawings, it is quite hard to fix mistakes. For me there's more worries when it comes to messing up because messing up means using more of your art supply so I find it hard to experiment with new stuff.Digital: Although it is easier to make different effects in digital compared to traditional art, I find it hard to replicate natural textures that different traditional mediums create. But my main problem has always been 'It doesn't FEEL as natural as traditional art' and I find it easier to create when the natural feeling is there if that makes sense. What inspires your pieces? A lot of random stuff actually! Sometimes I'd finish reading a book or playing a game or watching a show and I'd get inspired to draw my favorite characters or scenes. Sometimes I look back at my old stuff and get the urge to redraw them! Sometimes they're stories for my characters that I just want to see illustrated.

Explain your "everyday" drawing process As I mostly do character drawings, if I'm drawing an original character I'd think about the design of them first but if it's fanart I would start by thinking of a setting of sorts that would suit them. Then I'd usually sketch poses that I imagine would suit them or I just want to see them in and then I would just line and color them in! Sometimes playing around with new techniques and sometimes just going with what I usually do. Most of the time though, before I make completed pieces of a character, I'd sketch them a lot first just to get myself used to drawing what they look like, making it feel more natural when it's time to draw an actual piece! Do you have an artist you admire (or more than one)?

!!! A lot! BUUT it'll probably be too long if I listed them all so I'll mention a few!Anemona ( https://www.instagram.com/anemonaderio/?hl=en ) Tessa ( https://www.instagram.com/tamori.n/?hl=en ) Emperpep ( https://www.deviantart.com/emperpep ) Raemion ( https://www.instagram.com/raemion/?hl=en ) Aznponie ( https://www.deviantart.com/aznponie12 ) Meghan ( https://www.tumblr.com/search/toastchild ) Alyssa ( https://www.deviantart.com/walkingmelonsaaa ) Jazza (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHu2KNu6TtJ0p4hpSW7Yv7Q)There's still a whole lot but I don't want to make this too long for everyone aha Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why? Yes! Although it's surprisingly an old piece I'm still really proud of this one! ( https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg7zILRFY9D/ ) I can say it's not my best work anymore but it was one of the drawings during a phase I had where I tried to draw characters in a different way than I usually do (standing still) and experiment in poses and this was my favorite out of all of them! It's was also my first time playing with clothing textures and I was/am really proud of how soft their sweaters looked!

Do you listen to music (or tv shows/films/anything else) when drawing? Yes!! Sometimes I just listen to my favorite youtubers, like a podcast of sorts but not really? (said youtubers are Jazza, Drawingwiffwaffles, Moriah Elizabeth, nerdEcrafter, AmandaRachLee, Dan and Phil, SuperRaeDizzle, and a bunch of others) Most of the time I listen to a playlist I have of my favorite anime songs! And also MUSICALS!! The Lightning Thief, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, annnd a lot more!!

What makes art interesting for you? It's how fun it is to draw! I really enjoy whenever I draw and experiment with new mediums or techniques!! What do you do when art block strikes? I step away from drawing for a bit and do something else I enjoy. Whether it's baking or reading a book! Sometimes taking a break is all I need.Other times I'll try to do something different with art. Experimenting if I've stuck with a medium for a long time or drawing something else if I've drawn too much of one thing! Sometimes changing the way I do things is the way to go! What’s the most valuable art advice you’ve ever received?

Before anything else draw for yourself. Draw what you love. Draw what you want! Dunno where I got that from exactly? Probably I bunch of other people plus my own thoughts? For a short period of time I used to draw what I think others would like because I wanted to be more known, because if more people knew me it would be easier to make profit out of art because I want more art supplies pfft- But I stopped and now I just do what I want and what is fun because I think that's whats most important.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 027

Episode: Futari wa Precure 27 - “A new darkness is coming! Save the lost child Porun!” Date watched: 7 May 2018 Original air date: 8 August 2004 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/bgK8PMY

The new Venom movie looks weird.

Welcome to the second half of the show! This is a bit more plodding and ponderous than the first half, and since I’m running with the idea that the first half of the show was meant to be the entire show, it’s probably because they weren’t sure what to do with the next 23 episodes. We aren’t told how much time has passed since they girls defeated the Dark King, but it’s implied to have been a little while. The episode cold opens on a flowery field that slowly withers and dies as a dark plant sprouts into that vine grows into a person. 

As one does.

Cut to the theme song and then a flashback to an exposition scene in the Garden of Light with the Queen explaining that the Dark King released some seeds before his destruction that will grow in the Garden of Rainbows and gather energy for his revival. You can see where this is going. Mepple, Mipple, and Porun explain that this is why they’re back.

Let me take a moment to talk some more about Porun. I mentioned in the last two reviews that I’m not fond of him, not in his early appearances. He is extremely annoying, and it’s really not until Hikari shows up that he mellows out. This is because he is a child, while Mepple and Mipple are adults, or close to it. He is young and full of energy, almost literally bouncing off the ceiling. I don’t dislike him for being a child, I dislike him for how he’s written. His actions are frequently the catalyst for the plot of the week, and it gets repetitive. In this episode, he runs away from Honoka’s place and romps around the city, at one point making his way into a claw machine and being picked up by some older girls. He runs away, gets scared of the big bad world outside, and eventually is found by the villains. Fortunately Nagisa and Honoka find him in time or that could have been the end of the show. He’s back on the garden of Rainbows because the Queen mentioned that he’s very powerful, moreso than he knows. This will take a few episodes to manifest, so bear with it.

Also yes, the queen is back to being a statue. The camera pans all over her, but she doesn’t move. Sure, that’s one of the benefits of CG models is that you don’t have to redraw them every single frame, but it’s funny how she just sits there, with her eyes closed, talking but not moving a muscle while the camera is extremely dynamic, the opposite of how this show usually is.

Meanwhile in some random office building, a Totally Not Evil guy walks around.

Talk about a punchclock villain.

It seems he’s in a dormant state, but the news of a typhoon coming up the east coast activates him. He yells and jumps out the window, transforming into his villain form and absorbing power.

This is Juna. He’s not named in the episode but his name isn’t important so I’m going ahead and revealing it now.

Also back in the office, after a moment, everything resets and people repeat what they were just doing, with all traces of his existence gone.

As Juna continues to absorb power and bulk up, he causes the weather to change aggressively. Stormy, then calm, then stormy, then calm. He eventually finds Porun and that’s when the girls show up. They take him on and it’s an exciting fight, not one-sided like some of their latest encounters. He gets some good hits in, they get some good hits in, and they trade blows until he lets off some energy attacks, so the girls fire their Marble Screw, which he counters with an energy ball (what is this, Pokemon?). They engage in a reverse tug of war, both sides pushing their attack towards the enemy, but the threat to Porun, who is only a child, is enough to get Black and White to power up their attack and blow Juna away.

When the smoke clears, he’s disappeared, and the girls return home. Nagisa laments the fact that she has to put up with both Mepple AND Porun for now, and I can’t blame her.

Juna is.... well I guess I can’t call him an “interesting” villain, because he’s very literally the strong and silent type. He’s somewhere in between Gekidrago’s raw strength and Ilkubo’s resilience and learning capacity. His design is a dark blue bodysuit that covers his feet, clings absurdly tight to the skin, and reaches all the way up his neck to his chin and hairline. His hands are bare, though. He has pale white skin and white hair. It’s vaguely similar to the outfits Pisard, Poisony, and Ilkubo wore without any other accessories to break it up, and much more muscular. Skintight suits must be standard issue for the Dark Zone. There’s sort of a mystery where he came from, how he integrated into human life so much if he was born only a short time ago. Does he have a brainwashing effect on people so he can absorb knowledge from them? I don’t know. He awakens in the office but as soon as he jumps out of the window, everybody has forgotten about him and all traces of him are gone. The show never addresses this, either.

As a kickoff to the second half of the show, it’s good. The villain poses a threat, we’ve established enough of an explanation for the Dark Zone’s continued existence and motivation, and it leaves you wanting to see what comes next, how the girls will ultimately triumph in the fight against evil. Next time, a villainess awakens!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1! 1 “Arienai”

[logh-icebergs]

Episode 7: Iserlohn Taken!

May 14th, 796/487. Infiltrating Iserlohn fortress in the guise of a damaged Imperial ship, the Rosen Ritter swiftly overpower the control room. The quick thinking of one Imperial soldier temporarily locks them out of the fortress computer, forcing Yang to stall for time while Schenkopp and co. rush around Iserlohn kicking ass and taking names—names and computer passwords, I guess, since they unlock the system and allow Yang’s ship to dock. The Thor Hammer makes quick work of a large chunk of the Imperial fleet, although Oberstein flits away like the cockroach he is.

Technical Aside: Character Redraws

As I mentioned, when LoGH was released on DVD the episodes were remastered. By and large this involved evening out the colors, fixing the lighting when it was too washed out, sharpening lines, etc., and it’s beautifully done and deserves a lot of credit for making this show such an aesthetic joy to watch.

However. For reasons lost to the sands of time (at least, unknown to us) some scenes were entirely reanimated, primarily in the first and early second seasons. These redraws go beyond the touchups of other episodes—sometimes in ways that have little consequence (changing backgrounds, slightly different positioning of the characters in the scene), but sometimes in ways that significantly alter the emotions conveyed on the characters’ faces. This poses a problem for us, since the whole thesis of this project is that the animators of LoGH intentionally conveyed a ton of important information about emotions, thoughts, and relationships of the characters specifically via the details of the expressions and body language.

As an example of an inconsequential but unfortunate change, they made this random dude’s hair way more boring. Poor guy.

The original here conveys much more character though the body language.

Our policy will be to base our analysis off of the original animation when we believe there’s a real difference. In these cases we’ll give a heads up and include plenty of screenshots for those who don’t have access to the laserdiscs on which it was first released. Episode 7 is one of the handful of episodes that was actually about 90% redrawn, including a few key character moments, so in some of the discussion below I include both versions to illustrate the differences. In the future we may not even show the comparison, but just analyze the original animation. It’s annoying that the version on hidive is the redrawn version, yes, but these are the hurdles one must contend with in pursuit of true LoGH scholarship…

Believe it or not, changing poor Julian’s outfit and pose here is not the most egregious example of straightwashing in the redraws—we’ll come to that later in the season.

Ideals, Pragmatism, and Tea

Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get into the substance of the episode. One main theme that’s woven throughout the entire Iserlohn mission (dipping back into episode 6 as well) is Yang’s distaste for the abstract ideals that are commonly invoked as justification for the continuing war and destruction. We saw this a bit in his reactions to Trunicht’s speech in episode 3, and we see it again when he addresses the newly-formed 13th fleet:

(From episode 6.)

I love the tea speech. While at one level it’s humorous—silly Yang, so awkward and out of his depth giving a speech to thousands of people—it’s also a really pithy expression of Yang’s priorities. In two sentences Yang undermines the fundamental concept of this war: that they’re fighting for an ideal, for honor or love of their country or hatred of the empire. Circumstances have led the people in this fleet to find themselves facing a battle, and given that reality, the motivation he offers them for fighting is that living is preferable to death. And not just living, but living pleasurably. For Yang it’s drinking good tea that pops into his head, but it’s not a leap to substitute a more general idea of tangible, visceral experience of the world: being alive to do the things that make life enjoyable.

Yang believes that life is the sum of choices and experiences, and he hates the war not just because of the unnecessary death, but also because of the way it cuts off people’s choices and individual agency—his own, for example, and as he sees it, Julian’s.

Never mind that Julian claims to *want* to fight; in Yang’s view Julian’s agency is an illusion since it’s so shaped by societal forces. Hmm, projecting much, Yang? We’ll come back to this, of course. (From episode 6.)

Toward the end of this episode we see again how frustrated Yang gets with rigid adherence to ideals of honor at the expense of actual lives. We saw this in episode 1 when his commanding officer refused to abandon the already-defeated fourth fleet; here Admiral Seeckt of the Imperial Iserlohn fleet refuses Yang’s offer to let them withdraw, instead responding with haughty phrases about the honor and glory of soldiers. Yang’s reaction here is the single biggest difference between the original animation and the redraws, so I’ll show both here:

The redraw exaggerates Yang’s reaction in a way that feels inconsistent with his character. He is angry here, yes, but the composed, sad anger of the original fits him more than the seething, almost explosive rage of the redraw.

Also he is just so much more beautiful in the original, damn.

Yang’s hatred of the rhetoric of war is palpable here, and his reaction—to concentrate fire on the flagship—accomplishes the dual goals of allowing the rest of the fleet to go ahead and withdraw, and eliminating the Admiral whose attitude he found so harmful.

But despite hating the war and wanting it to end, Yang accepted this mission; and when Schenkopp grills him about it in episode 6 we get insight into his specific goals.

Yang’s pacifism is of a highly pragmatic flavor: As a historian he views cycles of war as inevitable and lacks the hubris/ambition to think that anything he does will change that in a lasting way. But the value he places on individual freedom and self-determination means that he sees full surrender to the autocratic government of the Empire as worth avoiding, and his hope in taking Iserlohn is that it might be the bargaining chip they need to conclude a peace treaty that would allow the Alliance government to remain independent.

His desire for peace is intimately tied in with his desire to leave the military and go back to the life he finds more enjoyable: drinking tea and studying history. And indeed when the mission succeeds, he initially attempts to do exactly that, going so far as to hand over a letter of resignation to Admiral Sitolet.

This is obviously a huge turning point for Yang. Nothing is actually stopping him from resigning here; it was his plan from the beginning of the mission and he has the power to do it. But Sitolet, who was his instructor back at the military academy so has known him for a long time, knows exactly how to play him. 

While Yang scorns the typical lofty ideals that his government puts forward to justify the continued death toll of the war, he believes deeply enough in the value of individual human lives that Sitolet’s guilt trip works on him. He can’t quite bring himself to put his own aspirations above the futures of the people in his fleet when faced with what amounts to a threat on their lives. Yang has served under other commanders and seen them, for example, advocate suicide attacks in order to play a game of attrition; Sitolet’s words are not abstract to him. While he urged his soldiers to fight so they don’t die, he himself feels the burden of fighting so that other people don’t die, so that other people have the choices he’s turning down himself.

I introduced Yang as a man of paradoxes, and we see that here: his belief in the ideals of freedom and self-determination pushing him to stay on this path he doesn’t feel suited for.

Oberstein

We already met Paul von Oberstein when he accosted Kircheis in episode 4. (In fact he’s been around lurking in the background since “My Conquest.”) Here I would just like to point out that Oberstein is set up as a clear parallel/foil to Yang. Remember in episode 1 when Yang is the only one to see through Reinhard’s plan but his commanding officers won’t listen until it’s too late? Oberstein plays exactly that role here, seeing right through Yang’s delay tactic of pretending to control the weapons of Iserlohn before they actually did, but Seeckt refuses to listen to his logic.

(Yang shots from episode 1.)

Like Yang, Oberstein is deeply pragmatic and keenly intelligent. His vibe here comes across like “what if Yang but no soul?” We’ll keep an eye on the parallels and contrasts between them as we get to know them better. (Well, get to know Yang better anyway; can anyone ever really be said to “know” the enigma that is Oberstein…?) 

The Rosen Ritter

In case you thought the Rosen Ritter were all sexy swagger and no action, here we get to see them actually doing their thing—hacking people to death with battle-axes. This fight sequence is beautifully choreographed, incredibly badass, and starkly brutal to watch. 

Yang may be sitting out in his flagship doing his best to craft a strategy that minimizes loss of life, but that doesn’t mean much to these soldiers who are sacrificed to his plan. Again, war at all levels of zoom.

Stray Tidbits

I can’t resist ranting a bit more about how much they change Yang when they redraw him. Fortunately it’s pretty rare—we won’t see redrawn!Yang much more until episode 39. But just...why...did they change the shape of his face and make his skin so red? Why? Original!Yang is so beautiful and sad and sleepy. 

This scene makes me crack up every time. Between this and the waitress scene in the last episode we’re amassing quite a “Blumhart waves awkwardly at random women” collection.

[altermidgard]

Star Wars Custom Playmat 100+ Characters

Just make it look cool.

Right. Anything specific you wanted?

Not really...Just get as many characters on thee as you can.

Challenge Accepted.

Yes today on the blog, one slightly vague choice of words leads to the most characters ever on one of my mats. Not by a small margin either, especially if you include vehicles (Which I do, objects are objects in programming) I'll be going over the phases of the mats design from concept to colouring telling stories as I go. We've got a lot to get through, so lets jump right in to my latest Star Wars mat.

0 To 30

Thirty is a nice number, I've done mats with around that before, there should be enough space for everyone and more importantly it should be enough slots to cover all the main hero's and villains.

Step 1: Lets make a list.  

If your playing along at home it's at this point you realise there might be a few more than thirty people in the Star Wars universe. It's Ok we can deal with this, we just have to organise everyone into some sort of hierarchy, most popular to least well known. OK, wow,  yeah still quite a few people in category one.

This is where I was at. Making lists. I've been making mats a while now, you get an instinct for how many and how large the components of the design need to be. Thirty wasn’t an arbitrary number, it's what I considered the upper limit for readable characters to be.  In first panel bellow that's how many names I finally settled on. There were many brave souls that fell by the wayside though and to be honest I wasn’t happy about it.

31 To 60

Writing the names on a scrap piece of A4 set the trend for the majority of the sketching phase. Usually I would draw thumbnails, four to eight images on one piece of paper but in this instance I needed to go bigger sooner. The second panel shows the most readable of my early sketches. All the previously names characters are there plus I'm starting to think that if I can get them all in at this size with extra space to spare there might be room to add a few more. Circles for heads is all they get right now but it might work. It just goes to show though. Until you actually start on something properly you cant know how its going to turn out.

The next panel is a more comprehensive redraw, more thought gets given to the layout and how the eye will flow around the image. While the rest of the design process is one of refinement and addition it.s here where the design mostly comes together. That's actuality one of the nice things about doing these blog posts. Looking back and trying to explain your thoughts and processed to others gives you insights on your own work you might never have noticed, I recommend people try it  

Next up. Working on a light-box in pen gives me the opportunity to add even more detail. For some people this might not be the case but having that extra contrast and a finer point than most pencils really helps me out. The other nice thing about changing medium is that it alters the art style slightly. I'm making quicker more precise marks and it leads to a more dynamic atmosphere. The real trick will be trying to preserve that feel though the rest of the production

60 To 80

A different style again as I go digital. I'm using the airbrush tool and am less interested in line than I am the shape and weight of each object. It's also an early chance to test where the light should be coming fom. Where I've placed the vanishing point is causing a few hiccups. Triangular spaceships are especially hard to get right and a lot of their final placement has to do with that.

The silly thing is I could add more elements to the design. There's still plenty of room, think of the final total!. But no, at some point you have to take a step back and say 'this is a silly amount of work already and adding to it is going to do more harm to the design than good.

80 To,.. Who the heck knows.

I stopped counting at this point, didn't really want to know. We are almost there though. Most lines are either vertical, horizontal, or pointing at the vanishing point, I've got piles of spirals, and grievous's arms finally look right. Although Obi-Wan needs some work if they are going to duel. There are still questions to answer though. Things like what colour Lightsaber should Starkiller have and why is Luke's head not attached to his body. Enough sketching though, lets get started on the colouring,

Balancing the Force

I say colouring. What I mean is 'lets use a light grey to work out the lighting'. The grey will be easily overwritten so we have a bit of room to experiment and it keep me from doing the outlines first. Another option would be to use yellow, it just comes down to what tone you want your image to take on. There's a lot of ships and metallic in this piece so I went with the grey.

Notice how the left half of the image is always darker? Tha'ts intentional. By loading up on characters there's just going to be more dark there. Why have I done this? Because it offsets the big blob of dark on the right that is the Emperor and Darth. Basically I'm looking to balance the force. Its also why Luke and Leia are in white. That and so they are the main focus of the image I want the ye to start or end thee.

It's a Trap

I don’t want to be using that many colours on this piece. With all the different people and objects here the composition could easily start to break up if everything got its own pallet. This stage then is about making sure that doesn’t happen, all the blues are the same blue, all the browns likewise. I think I even managed to stick with this rule all the way though which is good because it can be so tempting to just think, hmm what if I just add a smidge of this colour here?

I should really have added the ships at this stage though. You can already see how areas of the image I'm less sure about are falling behind the others in terms of how far along they are. (keep an eye on Darth for example)

This is the Droid I was Looking for

I was tempted to stop here.

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.

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I don’t normally do pastel shades but this was working, all I had to do was come up with a background and...

… Yeah, no, space is dark, I've designed myself into a comer so we will have to keep going.    

If you have been wondering about why characters are where they are, beyond the timeline aspect, there were three other considerations.

1. Are you a bad-guy? If yes your probably a big floaty head the rest of the cast can anchor around.

2. Are you a hero? If yes, you probably have most or all of a body, good job you.

3. Are you someone I like? I'm colouring I don’t know how many people and have free reign, naturally your going to find that my preferences bleed into the design.

Yes that is why chopper is font and center.

Space is Big, Like Really Big.

I found these glitter gel pens. No idea if they would wok on this material but if they did it would make colouring stars way easier. Not particularly economical, I used them up just on the background but the nice thing about them is that the glitter breaks up the colours and gives a sense of depth to areas that would otherwise be large and flat. Time will tell if the stars stay on the mat, But you have to experiment right, how else do you learn new things?  

I gave it an extra few layers of sealant just for go measure.

Back on topic. I might have gone a little hard on the quantity of red in Maul's face, it's started to spread. Luckily Thawn has darker hair so it's an easy fix but it's still a reminder not to get carried away.

Mostly Harmless

Hey Darth finally has arms, The pose took some time to get right to be honest. It had to fit the existing upper chest and head and align with the vanishing point since its so close. In the end I fond a one that had the Lightsaber out horizontal and after that it was just a case of getting the other arm right. I went back and forth on the city scene, easing the buildings then adding them back in. something needed to be there to contrast with the stuff in front but I just wasn’t feeling it. turns out they just hadn’t been dark enough and making them practically black with little window lights was the way forward.

Almost everything is in now, but as usual I still have the eyes on most of these people to add. I also need to do something with the Emperor. He's the biggest thing on the mat, he needs a little more respect/detail than I have given him so far.

The Final Frontier.

Add clouds to the planets atmosphere, make the stars and Lightsabers glow in the dark (glow under UV light actually) and just generally go around tiding up. I'm just about done here. OK applying the sealant and taking pictures comes last but close enough.

I guess I should actually count the number of things on the mat then. Just a sec...

110ish! Give or take. That's quite a big number, and not something I think I'm going to be beating anytime soon. Probably...

Next time, lets simplify things a bit huh.