#anyways i love this pose an unreasonable amount… always thinking about my characters like that shsjsh

[infinite---hyperdeath]

this is the little page doll thingy im currently using as a placeholder in my blog theme (temporary until i decide to maybe draw something better)

pose based off that one reaction image,, my favourite one i love so much,,,,,,

[hagofbolding]

hi! i hope this question makes sense. i was just wondering, do you have a specific process for blocking out the character poses? they way they "act" is really natural and lively, and the poses feel so specific to each character and their actions. do you use a lot of photo referencing and acting the pose out yourself to decide on the gestures?

thank you! i love the comic and i get really excited every time it updates. <3

OH I love this question, thanks so much! I definitely put an unreasonable of thought into every little expression and pose so I really appreciate that it's being noticed, haha.

I do many of my poses straight off the dome, but I definitely will use mirrors and photos for reference when I need to (which is often.) I have no issue with people who wanna use models to pose their characters (especially where extreme foreshortening/perspective may be involved!) but boyyy do I gotta say that continuing to practice gesture & figure drawing will do you wonders in saving time and getting more expressive poses - or at least, moving your character's design away from the generic CSP dummy. (I know it when I see it)

I start hammering out acting details pretty early in the thumbnails, and try to exaggerate things, because it's easier to reel it back in if I think it's getting too hammy and I also want to make sure I am set up to remember my exact intent/idea later one when I'm penciling/inking.

(Also, usually these are usually my favorite drawings. I wish this was what the whole dang comic looked like)

Something I like to keep in mind aside from obvious stuff like "watch movies/consume media/life draw to pick up cool acting & body language ideas" is also how to incorporate the characters' design with their little mannerisms. Buckthorn's glasses give him a really fun prop to play with.

Or like - if someone has long hair, would they play with it or mess with it when they're bored or frustrated? If they're shy, would they "hide" themselves with baggy clothes / accessories when they're uncomfortable? My another solution of mine for making what has been a very acting / dialogue driven comic more interesting has been "ALWAYS GIVE PEOPLE SOMETHING TO DO" because talking heads are boring.

Anyway: obviously things get tied down with pencils, goofy cartoony stuff gets grounded in some approximation of reality (unfortunately.)

And then, like, at least a month after I finish penciling I finally make it to inking & coloring this particular page. After having an indeterminate amount of time to obsessively think about the story and characters up to this point, I make several significant acting / drawing changes because I am a ding dong. I just wanted to point out the tweaks I made here - on the left page, I changed Sanctuary to appear more interested in tuning his instrument than looking like he's intently listening to Buckthorn. Because ultimately, the purpose of the scene was to make him look a bit dismissive of Buckthorn's complaint, it felt like a better pose.

I also felt that the forehead kiss felt a little more natural in this sequence & rolling into the panels on the page that follows these.

Anywayyy - I rambled longer than I intended here, but I love this stuff and I got excited. I hope y'all find it interesting and / or useful!

[lazuliblur]

Hello. When I found your blog, I pegged you as someone who had a rather deep understanding of what Team Minato's members were like, based on your posts. I wanna ask you opinion, if you don't mind. Madara's expert brainwashing aside, do you think Obito is weak for giving up what he believed in because of the event of Rin's death? And do you think he is weak for abandoning the Moon's Eye Plan after everything with Naruto?

Hey there! First off, omg! Let me just say that you are a super talented artist and I’m in awe of your expressive style, but I still haven’t quite forgiven you for crushing my heart to bits with those beautiful team Minato drawings of yours from a few days back! ❤

Secondly, ahhhh, I don’t know that my understanding is all that deep. I just love these kids and identify with Obito in a way that I’m not sure is entirely medically advisable, so I also have a very personal opinion about them. You’re welcome to agree or disagree with it. I’d love to hear your own take on the subject!

I don’t really know about weakness/strength. You can define those traits in so many different ways. Strength is most often associated with resillience and steadfastness, but sometimes it takes more strength to change than to remain as you are, so that doesn’t work as a definition. Strength can mean folding and weakness can be standing your ground when change is the preferable action, but who’s to say what’s right or wrong (especially in the Naruto world where every one of these guys, even the so-called cinnamon rolls like Minato, have extremely skewed moral views)? I prefer to think of characters in terms of how good they are at following through with what they believe is right and in terms of how justified/coherent/sensible their reasoning for considering something “right” is. That’s what I’ll consider strength in my answer. That said, let the magic of the read more cut begin because this got long.

Was Obito weak for losing faith in the world after Rin died? Well, let’s face it: Obito is not the most refined thinker. He has a tendency to exaggerate and think of the world in extreme terms. (Uchiha’s “curse of hatred” at work right there. These guys have zero chill, they just feel things too damn much, too damn deep!) Rin’s his best friend, so she’s “his one light in the darkness”. Kakashi and he don’t always get along, so they’re “like water and oil”. The shinobi system is broken, so clearly the only thing to do must be to raze it down to subbasement levels and start anew with something completely different!

When you think about all the things that Obito did after becoming Madara, putting aside for a moment the fact that his deeds were incredibly reprehensible from a moral standpoint, you have to admit that Obito accomplished so much. He was tireless. That was pure strength and unwavering determination. Because Obito is the kind of guy who, once he gets something in his head, follows through with it.

Obito, like Kakashi and every other kid in Konoha in their generation (and those before), was a child soldier. Naruto’s generation, the offspring of these child soldiers, the first to not have to worry about going to war in the history of Konoha, were spoiled by comparison. We have no way of knowing what kind of methods Konoha used to prepare these kids before dumping them in the middle of a battlefield, but it could not have been pretty. (Minato admires A for acting like a “true assassin” ffs!) Indoctrination is a pretty staple procedure, so we can assume that happened. Propaganda is also standard during war time. It helps people feel better about themselves if they paint the enemies that they’re going to have to kill as little more than animals and devils.

My point is that, by the time Obito went out to Kannabi Bridge, Konoha had already sufficiently motivated him to want to change the world and make it a better place. He wanted to do it from within Konoha (by becoming Hokage) because he believed with his whole heart that his village was a good place (see: indoctrination). He also wanted to do this with his friends beside him (when he wakes next to Madara, one of the first things he says is that he’s glad that his teamwork with Kakashi is going to improve now that they share sharingan).

Madara chipped away at Obito’s beliefs and forced him to let go of the rose-tinted lenses with which he perceived Konoha, so that he wouldn’t want to return home or keep the village as it was. Madara made a nihilist out of Obito using nothing but logic. He posed the question: if not for Konoha, would your friends have been in that dangerous situation? And the only answer to that was no. Then Madara used the fact that Obito was accustomed to Konoha asking him to sacrifice himself for the good of others to ask him to do the exact same thing for himself.

In a way, Madara did Obito a favour by breaking him out of that close-minded way of thinking that Konoha could do no wrong. Freedom of thought and child soldiers are not two things that typically go well together, you know? On the other hand, Madara took advantage of the mindset that Konoha had instilled in Obito to get him to do what he wanted without Obito realising it.

I believe that Obito showed strength here. He became convinced that the world needed to be made better and he sacrificed himself – his identity, his nature, his connection to his remaining friends – to make sure that it happened.

Obito was not weak for opening his eyes and seeing the world for what it truly was. He was a little weak in accepting Madara’s Moon’s Eye Plan as the only way to fix it. That was naïve of him. However: he was a child soldier who was just learning to think for himself. It would be unreasonable to expect him to be able to start thinking about everything at once. He had to take baby steps. (Besides, he eventually started to add his own changes to the pre-established plan, diverging from Madara’s orders and showing that he didn’t necessarily agree with everything that Madara said.)

What does that amount to? I don’t know. As far as I’m concerned, he was both strong and weak here, but he went on to build himself into a strong character over this weakness.

Regarding Obito’s abandonment of the Moon’s Eye Plan after Naruto’s Talk no Jutsu… I’ll be honest. I hate that so much that I rage quit the manga when it happened. I only picked it back up because a friend told me that Obito was doing awesome things with Kakashi and that Rin had made some sort of comeback. And, yes, seeing Obito and Kakashi fight side by side one more time was cool, but… it just wasn’t the same. That wasn’t the Obito I’d come to know any more. His character was done a huge disservice at the end there. The overall story’s need to make Naruto the saviour robbed Obito of the ending he deserved. I would have liked Obito to reach a compromise with Naruto et al. that was like “ok, Madara’s methods are messed up, I see that now, but I have valid questions that will be addressed after we’re done taking him out.”

(Because Obito didn’t really like Madara, you can tell. My guess is that Obito would have rathered bring the old man back to life just before casting the genjutsu, so that Madara could have his happy ending, but no chance to interfere with Obito’s plans. At least, he didn’t seem thrilled that Madara was brought back as an Edo Tensei.)

I get why the plot required Naruto’s TnJ to work and I get why Naruto had to be the one who changed Obito’s mind (because he’s the freaking messiah who can never fail!!one), even though Naruto had no connection to Obito and they were nothing alike aside from the fact that they were lonely as children and wanted to be Hokage (FOR TOTALLY DIFFERENT REASONS!!one *ahem*) Kakashi’s the one who should have had that conversation with Obito (and I will forever be salty that Naruto 100% shut down Kakashi’s attempt to do just that when they first unmasked Obito).

I also understand that Obito was emotionally worn down by this point. He sought out Naruto during the 5 Kage meeting to reaffirm his purpose, so, yeah, Obito had doubts and he took that moment to assure himself that he was on the right path. Naruto was too stupid/concerned about Sasuke to realise that this was his chance to have a heart to heart with Obito and talk him out of his plan before anyone else died, and Kakashi was too much of a ninja, focused on his one job – to kill the enemy/protect Naruto – to consider it a possibility. Towards the end, Obito was also tired from fighting Kakashi and dealing with Kabuto. It’s at the moment right before a plan comes together that it is most frail and most susceptible to falling apart.

Anyway, Obito started out the war stronger and more committed than ever before: he had triple checked himself to make sure that his cause was right and no one had been able to deny that the ninja system was messed up. Even the good guys (barring Naruto), while talking amongst themselves, were all kinda “yeah, well, uhm, yeah, someone should do something about that”. Due to the plot’s need to make Naruto look strong, though, Obito had to be made weak, even though this volte face went entirely against his character. You do not spend years committing horrible acts that contradict your nature (Obito’s true nature was kind) because you feel that there is a problem that needs fixing, only to turn around at the last moment and let a 5 minute conversation with a stranger convince you that that issue you were so desperate to correct never needed addressing in the first place.

Bottom line, Obito was a strong character made weak at the very end by shounen plot requirements (though if Fullmetal Alchemist has taught us anything is that you don’t need to sacrifice character to have a satisfying ending and genre is no excuse for poorly executed plot).

[chromemuffin]

Shoukoku no Altair / Altair: A Record of Battles

Another series I will be liveblogging, this time a wonderfully detailed manga set in a fictional version of the Ottoman Empire/Turkey (and written by a historian! how rare!). I guess Captive Prince got me started on a historical fiction kick, and I’ve been eyeing this manga for over a month wondering if I should read it or wait for the anime that comes out anyway...I decided to pick it up.

There are 18 volumes of this thing, so I suppose I should liveblogging by volume unless the posts start to get way too long. Which they may, if I get my hands on raws. I am a huge language nerd, so.

Chapter 1

First off, after reading the blurb at the end of the fan translated first chapter, I found out that the ‘shoukoku’ part of the title is a word the manga-ka made up. Composed of the words for ‘general’ and ‘country’ (a country run by generals), the translator found the word stratocracy (a government ruled by the military) fit the description best. Which is why the fan translations use the ‘Turkiye Stratocracy’, which is great because there is no confusion if you know what a stratocracy is, or take a second to look it up.

Meanwhile, the official Kodansha version calls it the ‘Devleti of Turkiye’. ‘Devleti’ is apparently Turkish for ‘state’ (so the State of Turkiye). Very different, and both good. I love translation work for this very reason. I think I prefer using stratocracy. It’s true to the original, and clearly distinguishes this story as being an alternate version of Turkish history to those who know the Ottoman Empire was a monarchy. There are already quite a few unfamiliar words around.

But. I also find myself liking Devleti of Turkiye haha.

HM THIS WILL REQUIRE MORE THAN ONE POST. There is so much to talk about before getting to the chapter itself.

First: the cover

all of them are so beautiful. The amount of detail in every article of clothing from the hat to the jewels to the pattern embroidered around the hem. And the sword. I know nothing about Turkish history or culture (and forgot what little my american schooling taught about the ottoman empire), but a quick search for Turkish swords yields some examples of the more intricately decorated ones. The manga-ka is a historian/majored in Turkish history which. is great.

It’s a pity the Kodansha volumes are digital only?? I’d pay for a physical copy (but don’t hate myself enough to buy a Jpn copy...historical stuff has too many complicated kanji)

I wish I knew more about their style of dress because it’s drawn so well. I’ll look that up another time.

I really love the asymmetry with the glove he wears for his golden eagle to land on. It’s not in every illustration, but it even goes up to his elbow as it should for a larger species of bird, apparently. it’s just. so much great detail.

his shoes

He has this like teeny tiny waist that is totally out of proportion with his massive hats. Also: how do you even figure out where all those folds go in those clothes.

Also, it uses the Turkish word for ‘chapter’, faşil. I’m assuming that’s the right one, of course. Manga likes to change up the words they use for chapters depending on the setting.

ANYWAY FINALLY THE STORY

Why is one of the months called ‘sugar’ in Turkish (sheker, or şeker more technically)??

Look at him, striking a cool pose. I find it funny that he strikes all these confident poses, but he’s actually quite tiny next to everyone else. He probably does it because 1) he is confident in his own abilities and 2) he’s still a teenager in a world of adults, and it’s held against him in this chapter. His inability to do anything later frustrates the hell out of him as it is.

AND HERE COMES HIS BIRDIE. my favorite already

the fuck this type of bird was supposedly used to kill wolves

and it weighs 8-11 lbs depending on male/female

This kid is stronger than he looks. Although, his is male (named Iskander, so I assume), and the males weigh less (avg of 8 lbs) but still. I guess that’s why he has a male one. The females are massive and would probably dwarf his tiny self.

How is this not a wonderful shot, though.

Also, thank goodness for katakana or else I’d have no idea how to even approach pronouncing his name.

As for the situation itself, we jump right into things with a national crisis.

He looks younger when caught off-guard.

Tell me you did not carry that 8 pound bird aloft on your arm all the way here.

The official translation forgot Halil’s nickname/title “大都市” (large city/metropolis).

And this is where things get interesting. Usually in the peace vs. war debate, one side will always seem unreasonable no matter how hard the characters try to convince you otherwise, but I like how this one is set up.

On one hand you have the side that wants war, sees the enemy nation as a threat, and even throws in that ‘do you want to make a scapegoat of one of your countryman just to avoid war’, though can’t really tell if that’s sincere sentiment or not.

But then the old guy, Halil just says ‘yes, if it means peace’. Kind of a classic argument? Reminds me of Akatsuki no Yona, and the state of their country before the story starts.

this. just. his face. I needed to show the two together. Zaganos is obviously not impressed.

and therein lies the problem with politics: its not really about what’s right. I mean, everyone in the room can probably guess that their own soldiers weren’t responsible. But for all present except Mahmut, the meeting was never about finding out the truth.

Also, I love how he rants to Iskander, and even asks him a question directly as if he can answer.

o.o don’t ask me i’m just a bird

Halil calls him “Mah-kun” in Japanese, but the English version gets rid of this. It’s a pity, since it shows how close they are.

“You only just became a pasha, and now this. You must be exhausted.”

Dude, if he’s exhausted then what are you. You’ve had this position for 20 years.

And! yay! He’s angry at himself and his inability to do anything, rather than be angry at Zaganos. Shows that he really is more mature than he looks (especially with his grumpy facial expressions and petite self lol)

He looks just like his mother. D: poor baby iskander and mahmut

the amount of detail in this manga. see the rabbits hanging in the corner? 

also about the next panel: holy shit he fucking heard that??? his mother getting killed right in front of him, and he managed to stay quiet. poor terrified child like holy shit. and he managed not to crush little Iskander

I’m not going to show it, but if you look closely you’ll see she was not only stabbed in the chest, but also had a hand cut off at the wrist. wtf

every panel is so pretty jslethasdk the amount of detail in every background

his expression here just kills me. he’s just coming to the horrible, heart-wrenching realization of what has happened and UGH

I just really like his range of expressions. He’s just so damn uncomfortable with his elder, a guy he obviously respects and has a history with, bowing to him like that.

How can your heart not break seeing this. All he has left is his bird, the bird whistle, and the container for holding the bird’s meat.

Oh you conniving bastard- I actually thought the Emperor was in on it until the second read through I’m doing now. It was hard to notice since the panel just cuts from one scene to the next.

TINY CHILD YOU. Mahmut is taller than Halil counting the headpiece but he is made to look so tiny in front of adults. I think he’s supposed to be around 17 at the moment?

Man, he had a plan. How the heck did he have time to prepare the animal blood anyway? What a classy way to deal with your enemies.

I’m also happy that the manga-ka can draw birds so well. Iskander looks lovely.

...And that is actually really fucking scary. Those golden eagles are huge and strong enough to take out wolves.

The subtle expressions are great. As is the exchange between Mahmut and Zaganos here. They will probably clash again in the near future, but it seems they’ve gained a little more respect/acknowledgment for each other.

And now THIS, this is very interesting.

It looks like a statue, and that is clearly Mahmut and Iskander. I won’t make any guess though, I’m usually dead wrong with speculations.

I love the lines in this though, so fluid with Mahmut and straight and angled with the knight guy.

onward →