#beastars inspired the style a little bit

[transformers-fan-continuities]

Spotlight: Ties That Bind

This one’s a doozy folks! If you missed the last spotlight you can go read it here, but strap in for The Ties That Bind, an absolutely brilliant take on humanformers. It’s hosted here at @tiesthatbind-tf​ created by @artsy-hobbitses​!

Q) Give us a run down of your cont! What's it about, what's it called, what's it like?

Ties That Bind is a humanformers-based original continuity which is part Science Fiction and part Alternate History where the invasion of Quintessons and introduction of their technology to Earth in 1920 sets the world and humankind on a completely different trajectory. The active narrative spans a period from 1920 to 2070, covering the First and Second Quintesson Wars, the interplanetary Antillan War (leading to the creation of Unicron on Mars) and the Great War which involves the Autobots, Decepticons and Functionist stalwarts, and how it affects the characters.

The cast is pretty sprawling and the narrative is mostly centred around human drama with bits of humor interspaced and a dash of horror (mostly centred around how the previous government often chose to utilize the technology left behind from the Quintesson Wars to create new systems of oppression, which affected many of the characters, in the name of worldwide rebuilding efforts).

Q) What characters take the lead here? Any personal favorites?

I will admit to this continuity being very much heavy on the relationship between Old Bastards  Optimus Prime and Megatron, which is given considerable weight as they were best friends who had known each other since childhood and were deeply intrinsic to each other’s growths as individuals, which makes it all the worse when guilt and betrayal enter the party. Despite being captains in two corners of this battle, there’s a part of them that just cannot let go of their pasts together and they need to reconcile with how this will affect their agenda (Megatron) and how they lead their team (Optimus) who don’t necessarily share their history.

Other characters with significant development include:

Starscream, a Cold Construct in a toxic working relationship with Megatron with whom he is hiding a dark secret, who struggles to balance the underhanded viciousness he believes he needs to gain power and his innate desire from his Senate days to make the world a better place. 

Windblade, a Camien native who fights her government’s apathy concerning the situation on Earth which they see as unsalvageable compared to their more Utopian society. 

Prowl, a Cold Construct raised from childhood to be a cop in a police state, who finds out that he was brainwashed several times  to ensure his obedience and efficacy as a government asset and is now working to reclaim some semblance of the humanity he was never allowed to feel and figure out how much of him is who he really is and how much is programming.

Hound, a sheltered Beastman who joined the fight to ensure that Beastmen the world over would have the same rights he did in his homeland of Shetland Isle, but is forcefully stripped of his humanity and faced with his animal side during the war and has to relearn what personhood means amid his trauma.

Q) Is there a bigger point to this, like a theme or some catharsis? Or is it just fluffy fun?

God with the amount of time I spent sleepless trying to figure out how the logistics of this or the semantics of that were supposed to work in universe, I cannot for the life of me say it’s fluffy fun, but I can’t exactly say it hasn’t been pretty engaging either!

There’s elements of war being messy for everyone involved where there doesn’t seem to be a clear line between friend and foe at times, but I think for most part it prescribes to  Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s belief that people are inherently good, but are corrupted by the evils of society. Despite its dark themes (Including but not limited to child abuse, torture, illegal experimenation  and brainwashing), love and friendships do prevail, kindness does beget kindness, found families are made, even the smallest actions matter, and things do get better because there are people on both sides who genuinely want to, and strive to make it better.

With Cold Constructs and Beastmen, it also delves heavily into what it means to be human; to have agency and personhood.

There’s also a strong undercurrent of taking responsibility for one’s actions, even if they were made with the best of intentions (Avoidance of this is what eats up Starscream and Megatron from the inside, and what Starscream eventually embraces).

Q) How long have you been working on it?

There’s two answers to this!

I’ve had a Humanformers-related universe going all the way back to 2007 around the time the first Bayformers came out---basically I had a choice between learning to draw cars or draw people (I was an anthro artist back then) and I immediately chose people.

The 2007 draft however had no worldbuilding or connective storylines and was mostly a fun little venture into character design and practice which were actually instrumental to me experimenting and learning how to draw humans properly.

I left the fandom for about a decade and when I came back to it in late 2020 around September via the War for Cybertron series on Netflix, I immediately got hooked on the 2005 IDW comics I missed out on and wanted to get around to updating my old designs as well find a way to translate several of the concepts I wanted to explore in a human sense, so the 2020 update became its own full-fledged original continuity with detailed worldbuilding and history.

You can see the artistic evolution of several characters from their original incarnation below!

Q) It’s incredible to see your artistic improvement too! Give us a behind-the-scenes look! Show us a secret ;))

Say hello to my workspace! I’ve been working exclusively on the Ipad Pro since late 2016, which is fantastic because I can basically whip up concepts and sketches on the go anywhere. Nowhere is too out of bounds to work on TTB!

Also, do enjoy this sneak peek at true!form Rung, whose synthezoid human body took years to perfect.

Q) YESSSSS alright I must admit this is one of my favorite Rungs, and certainly my fave within TTB. Amazing. Phew, anyway. Where did you draw inspiration from? What canons, what other fiction, what parts of real life?

TTB was initially conceived as a faithful retelling of the IDW 2005 narrative before it was transformed into its own continuity and as such, it borrows heavily from concepts and mirrored plot lines introduced in that run! I chose to have the series inspired off it specifically for the amount of history and worldbuilding it introduced to the franchise.

Anime like Gunslinger Girl and Beastars inspired the depictions of Cold Constructs, especially the more harrowing aspects of their upbringing as government assets instead of children, and Beastmen (Beastformers) in TTB.

I haven’t depicted the world itself in my art all too much, but the architecture from Tiger and Bunny, which has sort of a futuristic Art Deco feel to it, is what you’d usually see in major cities. There is an in-universe reason for that---with a Point Of Divergence set in 1920 followed by 25 years (an entire generation) of progress basically being kicked to the curb due to the Quintesson wars, mankind was basically in a time-locked bubble until the end of the wars, and by then their heroes were 1920s-style rebellion leaders, which lead to 1920s fashion (especially among the Manual Working Class---Megatron, Jazz and Optimus all rock 1920s fashion at some point of their lives) and architecture being celebrated and retained as sort of a reminder of how things were before The Invasion. This anime’s background design is also where I adopted the tiered system TTB’s major metropolises are often built on (with each tier being designated to a different working class) from.

The main artistic style itself is a love letter to 90s cartoons, in particular Gargoyles’ deep and drama-driven character narratives and designs as well as The Centurions’ take on body armor logistics.

I also take inspiration, especially armor-wise, from the characters’ given heritage and background. As an example, Hotrod who is depicted as Irish has the flames on his armor done up with Celtic knots. Welsh aristocrat Mirage’s armor bears olden knight-style filigree and has his Autobot logo designed as a coat of arms. Indonesian Soundwave’s armor and Decepticon logo takes cues from Batik and Wayang Kulit while their mask is based off the Barong.

Q) They are absolutely gorgeous! Show off something you're really proud of, a particular favorite part of your cont.

The worldbuilding in general! Most Humanformers I’ve seen tend to treat it like a fun exercise which it is and is definitely valid, but I found myself wanting a full-fledged world to lose myself in and I sought to try and make that world myself by drafting a detailed history and timeline of events which would affect ongoing narratives, having indepth worldbuilding to include almost all societal aspects of the universe and  expanding on the concept of Beastmen and Cold Constructs existing in a human setting.

I’m not so secretly proud of the research and diversity included to make the cast look like the multicultural, globally-based team that they were meant to be instead of being locked to a single region! My original draft from 2007 was, to put it simply, quite culturally monolithic and I wanted to improve on that aspect with TTB.

I’m also proud that I’ve kept to it this far! I’m a notoriously flaky person jumping from one idea/fandom to another and to have kept at this continuity for the better part of ten months is honestly a personal feat.

Art-wise, this scene depicting a young Megatron working alongside Terminus and Impactor (cameo by @weapon-up-wallflower​‘s OC Missit!)  is definitely one of my favorites since it helps build up the world they live in and plays to familial bonds and comfort found in one another despite their less than ideal circumstances.

Q) Everything has come together so beautifully, you absolutely should be proud. What other fan canons do you love and why? Would you like to see them interviewed?

I am dying to hear more from @iscaredspider​’s Sparkpulse continuity! Her designs are MIND-BLOWINGLY GORGEOUS and I want to hear more about what inspired her to work on it!

Also YOU. Yes YOU BLURRITO. LET ME HEAR MORE ABOUT SNAP.

Q) [wails and squirms away in the mortifying ordeal of being known but in a very flattered way] I WILL SOMEDAY I PROMISE aflghsdjg thank you QwQ

Well that was fantastic, Oni, thank you muchly! A magnificent continuity with so much to look forward to! Coming up next is another personal fave of mine, the first inspiration for SNAP, so stick around...

[houndsharkk]

!! PERSONAL / FANDOM RELATED RAMBLING BELOW THE CUT, FEEL FREE TO NOT READ IT !!

So. Beastars, huh? I have a.. complicated relationship with this anime/manga.

Now, don't get me wrong, Beastars is amazingly well written, the manga is well drawn, and the anime is in a fitting style. I read the manga partially for the first time a few years ago, 2 maybe, back when it was still unfinished - I believe I read up until the mid-beginning of the Melon arc. This was back when my best friend was, well, my best friend (who I'll call M), and while I began liking Beastars before I had met my (at the time) boyfriend (who will be L), we got together some time while I was still in the fandom. They kinned Haru and Legosi respectively - this is important.

When the pandemic started, M and L both became distant. I still kept up with them of course, but we were struggling to keep it up. A few months later, M cut me off, started spreading rumors about me, and convinced L to break up with me. I was heartbroken - these two meant to much to me and suddenly they were just.. gone.

L and I became friends again after a little bit, and we dated again for a bit before he broke up with me for (what I thought was) no reason. I was ok with it as I believe people should be allowed to break up with their partners if they want to for whatever reason (as long as it isn't with malicious intent), but he blocked me a few days later and I was.. confused, to say the least. I tried DMing him on another account before I got a message from M.

"Leave us alone, L is literally scared of you."

At that point, I was shaking. She had done it again. She wanted to destroy me and it was working. My mental health plummeted, I thought I was the one in the wrong, I thought I was evil.

How does this relate to Beastars? Well.

After that, every form of media that related to Beastars and its universe became an intense discomfort. I looked at Haru and I saw her, I looked at Legosi and I saw him - it didn't help that M and L had matching icons of the characters for a while. It reminded me of everything that happened throughout that time, and it reminded me that as much as I tried to be a good person, everyone leaves eventually.

Fast forward a while, it's June 2021, and I had mostly gotten over that whole event. I now acknowledge that I wasn't the one in the wrong, and that I was just friends with some shitty people. One of my friends brings up Beastars and I don't shake anymore - I don't even think of it as a discomfort anymore.

I re-read the entirety of the Beastars manga a few days ago, and well- I don't know what to say. I relate to all 3 of the main characters so much in different ways, Legosi the most. The story made me sob, in a good way. It reminded me that while I may be an objectively "bad person", and while I may have done bad things in the past, i'm capable of change. It reminded me that I can help people, that I can be more than my past.

Beastars is a story not just about cartoon animals, but about real life issues like racism, trauma, morality, and mental health. Beastars is a story about change, about hope. Beastars is a story about life.

And for that, I wholly recommend it to anyone who wants to read it. It's inspiring. It's a reminder that we're all human, that we all make mistakes, and that we should be striving to be good despite our flaws and despite what society says.

Anyways, I'm not sure where I was really going with this. I just wanted to get it off my chest. See you guys in my next post.

[fleetingfigures]

What is your biggest source of inspiration for Saerno and Luo?

Heyo Skaar, thanks for the random ask! But to answer your question, it's hard to pinpoint exactly one BIGGEST source of inspiration for the both of them, so forgive me if I just ramble and link random photos...

Ah Sae, my first FF OC, and the resident asshole of my lineup. Well, asshole is a strong word, so let's just attach 'well-intentioned' to it to soften the jab. Snarky, stubborn, and a bit too smart for his own good, he's definitely hard to get along with at first. However, beneath all the fronts and silvered words, lays the same child from years past, his arms wrapped tightly around his being, giving no inclination of letting go any time soon. It's then that you see what this is all from - fear.

At his core, Saerno's character is based around the concept of past traumas and overarching fears, and the struggles one goes through in accepting such things so as to move on with their lives. But even then, no one is perfect. There is no steady incline for Sae, he trips, he falls, he regresses into past behaviors and blocks people out because, well, that's what he's used to. It's hard to fully heal from one's wounds, and that's what I want to illustrate in his character. He has a reasoning for the way he is, but that is by no means an excuse. In learning to move on, he'll have to recognize and rectify the faults of his actions, both of the present and past.

Yet, at the same time, your wounds make you who you are. You can accept the past for what it is and move forward, but you're forever changed by it. He may have entered this world with an altruistic heart, and it may still yet linger, but his experiences have warped his perspective beyond repair.

Though, with character rambling out of the way, to touch upon less emotional inspiration for Sae, I do actually have a small compilation of characters that I find to be good wells to draw upon.

[From Left to Right, Top to Bottom:]

Lavi (D. Gray Man) Louis (Beastars) Ritsuka Uenoyama (Given) Rantaro Amami (Danganronpa V3) Ginko (Mushishi) Shuuhei Hisagi (Bleach)

Describing WHY each one fits would take an entire essay tbh, so if you know these characters, feel free to draw your own conclusions ;)

As for visual inspiration, searching Sae's inspo tag (#Dyeing Melodies) will give a good image of what it is that I assign to his aesthetical presence. Though, if I were to assign a few keywords, I'd say: Dark Academia, Raw and Sophistication.

Now onto the boyest boy that ever boyed, Luo Qiang! Much like Saerno, Luo Qiang is inspired first and foremost by a collection of driving themes as opposed to just one character in particular. While most of what you all have seen of him has been sunshine and rainbows, that is not exactly the full extent of what inspires his characterization. The main theme that I wanted to explore with Luo Qiang was one of lost innocence, a starry-eyed boy who aspires to so much, but is faced with the cruel realities of the world. He wishes for nothing more than to make his deceased family proud, to become a man worthy of the Luo name, but without their guidance or approval, he finds himself stumbling, his optimism and determination constantly being tested not only by the situations and people he finds himself involved in/with, but by the mounting of his own self-doubts as a consequence of said experiences.

The stars in his eyes may fade with time, his will shall never follow the same path. With lessons learned, and realities faced, Luo Qiang will instead channel his optimism and dogged determination into the goals before him; however this time, he is not going to be so pure about it. Now, any who have read his carrd will probably know that these goals are entirely based upon lies and hidden truths, which I knowingly set up! Having the basis of his constant inspiration be revealed as an utter falsehood will break him down, serving as his ultimate lesson. And how will he be built up after that? Well, it's entirely dependent upon the support he receives. Needless to say, I'm excited to see this play out in RP.

Once again, with the main story beat that drives my inspiration described, I'll move onto more tangible inspirations. Though, as opposed to Sae, and with him being a newer OC, I find it a tad harder to assign multiple characters as being sources of inspiration. The closest I've found, however, has got to be Tanjiro from Kimetsu no Yaiba. Actually, that anime as a whole I regard as a major visual inspiration for Luo Qiang and his fighting style.

Obviously he's no master of the blade now, but in the future I could definitely see some anime bullshit happening in regards to his swordsmanship. Though in that same vein, Yuzuriha from Under Night in Birth is also a source of inspiration for Luo Qiang, but this time more focused upon her visual presentations and combat style.

Like Saerno, you can find more visual aesthetic representations of Luo Qiang through his inspo tag (#Ephemeral Blooms). Keywords I'd associate with him would be: Blossom, Ancestry and Wanderer.

And as a capstone, it may be readily obvious, but much of Luo Qiang's character and aesthetics are definitely inspired by my own desire to better explore my own heritage. I know that the few examples I listed above are Japanese in origin (I'm allowed to do a bit of cultural fusion if Squeenix can), but much of what I strive to do for him is to try and bring Chinese culture into some form of spotlight. It makes sense that a majority of players wish to represent japanese aesthetics through their characters and companies seeing as FFXIV is produced there (and given how japanese media in general is exceedingly popular), but I feel Chinese culture deserves some love too, and I'll shove it out there through Luo Qiang and all my little Yanxian headcanons!

[furresquexlerenard]

Lunzo_deBlanca, one of the MCs in my furresque comic 'Tanawin'! You can read the first two chapter though here (because I'm still working for the third and so on, hahahaa) inspired from reading Beastars and JojoBA!

Sci-fi, the 80s synthwave style, coming-of-age, mystery, action, little bit of magical. 1. The Lost Star

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eyzq23DTYkOADBQbrsOhJ_zE-gh0PG6r/view?fbclid=IwAR1x-Zp4saWDk5rYrbjkjcY_1q3Cfy2QXqKWMeE2V3j58b-rTJPLZJGaH_Y

2. Lunzo deBlanca

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1skRsu9KCaoPdLBtAn8TkO7W_pEfATwMI/view?fbclid=IwAR01rOI3Xz_ysHATAKNrR92u98rM40fCFgMbGNK_izQlyhbT2cshEdqcuK8

[twilightvolt]

Well....that was one way to start a new decade, i guess. >  >’

Ok, from the death and destruction to the quarantine caused by viral disease to large parts of the world literally going up in flames, this year was like an ominous beginning that revealed the true ugly colors of everyone around us.

But there’s something telling me that that was just the universe releasing all of it’s built up rage from the last decade, so to think on the bright side, the only way to go is up now, right?

Regardless, pushing all the crap that happened this year aside, this feels like one of my best years yet in terms of art. i don’t think there’s any wedge of this clock that i wasn’t completely satisfied with and i had a TON of tough decisions on what to put in said wedges cuz i just luved almost everything i’ve created this year.

If you’re up to it, i’ll have my usual month to month reflection under the cutoff, but if you’re not, i hope to keep giving y’all even better art next year! ^  ^

So without further ado, let’s review!

January: ~ Days ~

Runner up: Team Solar Rises Again! (drawing in celebration of PMD finally returning with a remake of the first game)

Kicking off right where 2019 left off, i was hot on the heels of my Beastars phase, still cranking out countless drawings and doodles, mostly featuring Legoshi, and even hanging around the Beastars Amino and making some new friends there. this piece in particular i think encapsulates what i was mostly doing at the time, making up stories and stuff within canon to give myself more wolf boi content. which is something that i rarely do normally since i’ve mostly just done OC related writing before this.

February: - Sk8ter Wolf -

Runner up: Re:Hukaro (That thing i drew for Moon)

Ahh yes, the day i peaked with punk rock energy and created something in a highschool notebook sketch style. ngl, with the release of Beastars’ english dub on the way and the fandom quickly growing, i felt like i was on fire with the amount of stuff i was drawing. i felt so inspired and things can’t possibly go bad.

Or can it?

March: We Can Be Heroes

Runner up: One More Day, Emo Bird Boi Sketchies

Ahh yes, the month the worldwide quarantine started because they discovered the virus around this time. from this point onward, time pretty much meant absolutely nothing since i was stuck indoors for a majority of the year, only going out if i had to. on top of that, i tried a little attempt at a fandub and got picked on immediately by yahoos on Youtube. it...wasn’t fun.

I tried doing a little challenge i made up called Animarch where i drew a drawing representing anime i liked every day, but i only got about 5 days in i think? ehh, whatever. i did try, so that means something. lol

April: - ANOTHER SIDE -

Runner up: BEAST CROSSING ~Legoshi & Raymond

This was pretty much the final month i drew anything Beastars related as i slowly started shifting back to Pokemon due to the wait for season 2. but not before getting the new Animal Crossing and drawing a thing with Raymond and Legoshi that would blow up with hundreds of notes and interactions across every platform i posted it on. lmao

Regardless, i feel like Another Side was a perfect way to end that phase of my art journey. it’s like a nice finale to a long string of ideas that i will totally return to once season 2 drops next year.

May: - KOUJI -

Runner up: Fashion (that sketch of Alex and Jet in casual clothing)

What happened this month again? oh right, i went back to Digimon for a hot minute cuz i continued playing the copy of Cyber Sleuth Complete that i won from a giveaway on Twitter and created Alex and Jet, my latest Tamer and her Hawkmon partner. i should really do some more stuff with them.

ANYWAY,

June: - DOUBLE TROUBLE -

Runner up: “No Time to Waste! HENSHIN!” (AF attack against IonicIsaac on Twitter), Cafe Mix ~Ace, Yagami, Lance and Seliph

Art Fight. third year. and this time i kicked things up a notch and beat my old record from last year!...after uhh....cramming in 8 attacks at the very last night and totally going insane from the amount of sleep i lost. ^  ^’

But trust me when i say i will NOT do that again next year, i swear.

July: Squad Up

Runner up: Comin’ Out to Stun (Jet the Hawk sketches)

So after playing and beating PMDX, i started fleshing out Lance and Selpih’s characters and made more art and stories surrounding them and the rest of the team. one of those being a drawing for Mystery Dungeon Day, which happens the day after Odaiba Day. which is in August. why did i put this down for July then? some questions just don’t need to be answered.

August: - TOGETHER -

Runner up: In the Storm

You can tell by now just how uneventful life was this year cuz i have literally nothing else to talk about other than the art parts. no life issues, no big adventures like moving or something. just....indoor stuff.

It’s...kinda sad, now that i think about it. but hey, at least i was making the most of my time, trying new things and getting around a bit more.

September: Small World

Runner up: Rescue Together, PMD Forever!, Midnight Adventuring, Down Time

So this year, i turned 21, which a lotta people say is important. not really, if you can’t do much i guess. though, i did crank out a ton of art i’m super satisfied with as you can see by how hard it was to frickin’ pick one to use for this month’s wedge on the clock.

October: Feathers of the Shadows

Runner up: PAPERMOON - Final Mix - (not picked because it’s a touch up of an older drawing)

Hoo boi, this month was crazy. cuz i drew a whole lotta e d g e .....and a whole lotta Murkrow. lol

It was fun letting my inner edgelord out this month. even if nothing really significant happened in reality.

November: ~ One More Game ~

Runner up: UPokerap Project: Frogadier, - LEAF STORM -

This month....was actually kinda rough. it was basically me falling into a depressive episode after a scare at the dentist made me worry about my self image and insecurities again. but this time it really hit me just how much permanent damage i’ve done to myself in that aspect of my appearance. i know i shouldn’t worry so much, but it’s not great when people tell you to smile when the most i can do is grin since i’m just so....unhappy with my teeth.

But then around the end of the month, i stumbled upon a Pokemon themed Discord server with people that made me feel....not as alone as i suddenly felt i was. which i’m glad i could meet them even after only knowing them for a month now. if they’re reading this, i hope you know i’m thankful for raising my spirits when there’s still things i just can’t do due to financial issues.

December: Colors of the Heart  + Happy Holidays! ~Grovyle ver.

Runner up: ~ After the Battle ~ (the two part KHII anniversary drawing), - XIII -, Sketchmon: Buizel

And now this month. on top of my insecurities, i’ve now been struggling with my frustration with not being noticed as much as i should, watching as some people quickly climb up in following when i’m going much slower. honestly, i feel like the months when everything started lightening up for the world....was when things started falling apart for me. yeah, i know. pretty depressing way to end, huh? i hit 300 before the year ended thanks to the support from my new friends though, so i’m actually pretty happy.

But that doesn’t mean i’m not still scared of the future. i mean i have my teeth to worry about and also my wisdom teeth are coming in. so next few months...might be kinda rough.

Though, that’s not to say i didn’t soldier through it. this month i pushed myself, plowed through as many commissions as i could get to raise money for my new computer and made some of the best drawings that to me, feel like a great accomplishment. even if a couple of them weren’t as grandiose as some of my previous work. it was a big step forward for me as an artist. at least in my eyes.

And i have a feeling....that it can only get better from here.

[marshmallowgoop]

Otomedia Winter 2020: BNA: Brand New Animal Interview with Writer Kazuki Nakashima

The Winter 2020 Otomedia includes an interview with writer Kazuki Nakashima concerning his work on BNA: Brand New Animal, Studio Trigger’s upcoming anime. Do take the following information with a grain of salt, but here are some highlights. Special thanks to SieteSeventh for the article.

🏀 There is quite a bit of talk about the logistics of the world. Nakashima spent a lot of time considering the nature of animal-humans in this universe. 

🏀 The interviewer notes that many were very surprised to see Shirou as a human in the second key visual:

🏀 Nakashima says that the animal-humans are humans, not beasts. If I'm understanding correctly, the main form of animal-humans is, in fact, human. Director Yoh Yoshinari had the idea of a sort of "animalization," where humans would have the ability to transform into beasts.

🏀 Nakashima cites Osamu Tezuka's manga Vampire (also translated as Vampires and The Vampires) as a visual inspiration, noting a desire to create fun human-to-beast transformation sequences that animation can capture so wonderfully and interestingly. You can read more about Vampire here. 

🏀 It's not stated explicitly in the interview, but I think it may be implied that the team was inspired by the story of Vampire as well (which, despite the name, is more about werewolf-like creatures—humans who can transform into animals).

🏀 Both Vampire and BNA emphasize troubled relations between animal-humans and humans. In BNA, animal-humans—who are not the result of a mutation but have indeed always existed and simply came to light in the 21st century—began to desire a town of their own. 

🏀 Animal-humans wanted to leave their conflicts with humans behind. As such, Anima City was born, a place where animal-humans could live freely.

🏀 Nakashima mentions an animal-human rights movement within Anima City. Animal-human discrimination seems to be a key aspect of BNA. Unlike other stories that feature anthropomorphized animals, the animal-humans in BNA are another type of human, and Nakashima wanted to properly express that worldview. The interviewer notes that the setting does feel real with the animal-human discrimination from humans.

🏀 But Nakashima also wants to focus on the fun lives of the animal-humans in the city. 

🏀 Nakashima wants to show many different kinds of animal-humans. When asked about what kinds of animal-humans to look forward to, Nakashima notes that some concepts do have to be scrapped. For example, Nakashima says they had to scrap sea turtles (possibly a reference to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?) and expresses disappointment at this decision.

🏀 Among the animal-humans is the protagonist of BNA, Michiru, a girl who was originally human but is now unable to return to her human appearance. She always has the form of an animal-human.

🏀 The animal-human world exists in darkness, and the protagonist is someone who connects the worlds of animal-humans and humans. Michiru comes into this new world and clashes with the society. 

🏀 Anima City is apparently a city surrounded by mountains and water. The interviewer questions the sensibility of a city surrounded by mountains and water. Nakashima says that Anima City was created as a special zone by the Japanese government in order to isolate the animal-humans. Having such a setting is also fun for animation, he says.

🏀 Nakashima notes how Yoh Yoshinari (director of Little Witch Academia) has a very different style from Hiroyuki Imaishi (director of Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, and Promare, all of which Nakashima also wrote for). Nakashima describes Imaishi as being skilled with caricature, whereas Yoshinari is more realistic. 

🏀 Nakashima is a writing person, while Yoshinari is a drawing person, so they of course have different mindsets. But they managed to find a common language while working on BNA.

🏀 Nakashima admits that he and Yoshinari are "old men who are prone to easily emphasize with Shirou." But Shirou can't be the protagonist instead of Michiru, and Yoshinari is constantly thinking about how to strengthen Michiru's character.

🏀 Michiru is described as a 17-year-old girl who will drive the story: she will get in and out of this situation of her own volition. 

🏀 In regards to Michiru's relationship with Shirou, Nakashima does confirm that it is the focal relationship of Brand New Animal.  

🏀 Nakashima says that Yoshimasa Hosoya's "rather somber and sexy voice" fits Shirou well. He's looking forward to the combination of Hosoya's voicework with Sumire Morohoshi's, who has a lively, cheerful portrayal of Michiru.

🏀 Nakashima admits that Michiru and Shirou's relationship is unsurprising and basic: a stubborn man finds himself face-to-face with a woman who opposes his stubbornness. How much of his stubbornness will be destroyed? However, portraying the basics well is important, he says.

🏀 While Michiru and Shirou are the focus, Nakashima says to pay attention to the other relationships, too. Pay attention to Michiru's relationship with her friend Nazuna, and pay attention to Shirou's relationship with the mayor.

🏀 Nakashima says to pay attention to Alan, too. He's introduced in episode 3 and plays a huge role in the story.

🏀 When asked about Nazuna, Nakashima says that she first appears in a flashback of Michiru's in the beginning and becomes important in the latter half of the show.

🏀 Michiru and Shirou's relationship may be the focus, but Nakashima emphasizes that Michiru's relationship with Nazuna is also involved in the story in a big way.

🏀 Nakashima stresses the importance of depicting teen girls realistically. Two women screenwriters are on board: Kimiko Ueno and Nanami Higuchi. Both wrote for Little Witch Academia. Ueno also wrote for Space Patrol Luluco, and Higuchi was behind the production reports in Trigger Magazine (and, interestingly, wrote the script for the anime adaptation of BEASTARS).

🏀 In regards to Michiru and Nazuna's relationship, producer Naoko Tsutsumi (also an animation producer for Kiznaiver and Little Witch Academia) provides input as well. Nakashima says that they greatly value and take to heart the opinions of the women creators. 

🏀 In regards to Alan, he is the only person in the world of animal-humans who represents humans. He also plays a major role in the founding of Anima City and has a huge part within the story to carry out. Nakashima hopes audiences will notice how Alan contacts the heroes.

🏀 Nakashima references overseas dramas. Like those, the relationships in BNA also become more complicated very quickly, and you'll be asking, "What happens next?" I think Nakashima then comments about how many overseas dramas are canceled before their stories are completed.

🏀 To keep BNA from getting too big, Nakashima has limited the story to Anima City; writing about the human world as well would spread things out too far. However, what happens in Anima City does affect the whole world of Brand New Animal.

That’s about all I got. I’m sure a better translation will come around before too long, but this is what I was able to gather with my limited Japanese. I hope y’all are as excited for BNA as I am!

[twilightvolt]

And so, another year has come to pass.....almost. ^  ^

Remember when i said i was branching away from Digimon back when i drew up Venom fanart? y’know, “I wanted to be more than what i used to be.” that being “a Digimon artist.”

2019 was basically just that. lots and lots and LOTS of fandom hopping.

If last year was me recovering from the pain and crippling anxiety of 2017, then this year was me finally getting up again, learning to stand up and live for myself rather than in fear of those i shouldn’t care about anymore. life still hasn’t been too kind to me even though, compared to last year, we’re in a better space. but i’ll get into more detail about that while i go through everything month by month on the clock.

Before we begin, if you’d like to see the previous years, here’s the links!

2018:https://twilightvolt.tumblr.com/post/181732950569/i-kinda-was-saving-this-for-when-i-had-the-time-to

2017:https://twilightvolt.tumblr.com/post/171806337539/a-3-month-late-art-summary-featuring-art-that-i

Might wanna grab your popcorn, my dudes. this is a long one.

January: On the Web

Coming out of 2018, things were pretty ok if i remember. i don’t remember much from this month aside from a few doodles i did like this one from when Spiderverse was the hottest thing. this was one of the last things i drew in my old style. before i decided to officially change things up in the next month.

February: Gotta Kick it Up

Pokemon Sword & Shield were announced and things were hype! oh, how things soured as the months went by. lol

But yeah, this was me taking that experimental sketchy pencil style from that Smash Bros. drawing and rolling with it all the way! it’s become my new go-to style and even though it’s still hella sketchy at times, i feel like it looks better in comparison to my old ink outlined drawings.

March: The Overdrive Dweebanoids

Oh right. my old Ben 10 phase that lasted for a millisecond in 2016 returned with a vengeance. and it was glorious. lmao

It spawned an AU that i didn’t delve into much, but if i ever get that spark for my favorite alien watch bearer, i’ll get back to it.

April: True Blue Lizard Bois

My Ben 10 streak continues and i was crankin’ out art left and right for it. i luved all the “doodle dumps” i made, but this drawing was wholesome and i picked it because of that.

To some extent, this could be a comparison between my past and my present. that being Overdrive!Ben being what, at the time, was my current obsession while Digimon!Vivi was a representation of where i used to be, back when i was starting out and entering Digimon OCTs on Deviantart.

May: Return to the Realm of Sleep ~HD ReMIX

Now THIS i feel was one of the grandest drawings i’ve done this year. hell, i even made a wallpaper out of it.

like, it was just a redraw of an old drawing from 2017. but to me, it was a way to tell me just how far i’ve come since then. and i couldn’t be happier.

This was also the month i rebooted my DA after a long time of inactivity!

....Iiiit didn’t really work much, but i’m still working on it. though i highly doubt it’s worth it considering most of the ones i used to hang with there are either people i don’t wanna associate with or people who left while i was gone. seriously, it’s a ghost town there.

June: Art Fight 2019 ~Dreams Vs. Nightmares~

Ahh, my second year of Art Fight. for this year’s event, i wanted to be a tad more grandiose. like drawing up this banner. i like being extra and stuff even if it kills my drawing hand, so yeah. lmao

...

Florida thunderstorms are friggin’ terrifying. idk HOW anyone can get used to that.

July: - BREAK DOWN -

Oookay, it was hard picking my favorite attack this year cuz i pretty much was satisfied with all of them. but i had to go with this attack because the artist i drew it for was someone i really admired for years and i’m just happy i could finally have an opportunity to draw them something. like, i luv how it came out, so yeah.

This was also the month i forced myself to finally do the thing and let go of the constant fear i felt towards certain people i used to hang with. while remembering 2017 will never NOT hurt, i can’t let that fear rule over me forever. i have to take control and not let it stop me from doing what i want. and that’s exactly what i did.

August: Ricky ~Sapphire, Emerald and AlphaSapphire

Oh yeah! after Art Fight ended, i returned to Pokemon randomly cuz i wanted to go back to my roots for a moment. revamping Ricky, formerly Ragna, and Yagami was something i’ve been meaning to do for awhile and it reignited a waning love for a series i started growing distant towards since Gen VII.

I used to really like Ricky’s old design even though i barely ever used him. but i guess this just shows how much more original i’ve gotten in terms of character design. ^  ^

September: Heartbeat Inferno

Now, i haven’t really talked much about what’s been going on life wise for most of this post, but trust me when i say irl, things weren’t really.....happening. like, it’s hard when you live (or rather, lived now) in a place with little job opportunity and you have NO experience whatsoever. the lack of progression must’ve hit something in me, so the week i drew this was me just....shifting moods, feeling everything at once. one day i’d be agitated as hell, the next i’d be so depressed i took a some odd hour nap and didn’t wanna get out of bed. like, for most of this year, i haven’t felt this stressed out and frustrated with myself. so this sudden crash was kind of....unwelcome.

But this drawing was a fresh change though, if i’m being honest. i’m not usually this uncaring about how clean the coloring job is, but i like it! i’d choose that other drawing i did for my friends’ birthdays, Skirmish at the Cable Club, but this one had a more personal drive behind it.

October: - PAPERMOON -

beastarsbeastarsbeASTARSBEASTARS--*COUGH COUGH AHEM* I MEAN....hai. :D

Continuing with my Pokemon shenanigans, i drew this big piece which was something i had in my head for years now, but never actually acted upon it cuz i always felt it was too big of an idea to work on. i’m happy i’ve managed to capture what i envisioned originally.

As for interests, i’m sure most of my current followers can deduce that i quickly shifted gears to Beastars as soon as the anime was released and so far, i regret nothing. it’s spawned a metric butt ton of new art from me and the way i see it, this phase ain’t stopping as long as this series continues. brace yourselves fam, i believe i’ve finally found the successor to my Digimon phase. lmao

Like, damn, i had a tough time choosing art for this month. i was stuck between this, - SMILE/WILD SIDE - and Slip Into Madness. so many good drawings i was satisfied with, y’know?

November: The Future is Now

I was SO planning on putting something else here, but then suddenly i just kinda had this urge to redraw that uggo gouache painting of Miyagi from highschool. and it turned out so good that i had to. like, really. lmao

As with the redraw of Dream Drop Digital’s key art, it was a reminder of how far i’ve come since then art wise. and i feel like i’ve accomplished so much this year because of it. ;w;

December: Winter Lights

And now we’re back to the present time. after over a year or so of living in Florida, we’ve moved once again back up north a bit. yet another clean slate, but things seem to be looking up despite the rather large bumps in the road the past week or so. lately i’ve been feeling that seasonal depression starting to set in, but i think i’ll be fine as long as i stay positive. cuz y’know, it’s not being happy all the time. it’s just knowing that things will get better someday.

One of the other reasons i drew this drawing was cuz i REALLY wanted to have something Beastars related on this clock. this series (and Legoshi in particular) really inspired me, so i had to leave a wedge open for my boi.

Looking back at the beginning of this decade (as 2020 would mark the next one), i realized that the 2010′s were basically me becoming more artsy. finding enjoyment for a new hobby that quickly became something i’m now more passionate about than video games which i didn’t think would EVER be the case.

Funny enough, it all started in the RP section of a little forum for an MMO called Wizard101. i was only in middle school at the time and, to tell you the truth, i had no idea i’d be going at it for this long. thought i’d just do it on the side but not really delve into the art world more.

But despite all the trips and falls, fandom drama or otherwise, i wouldn’t change anything if it meant i wouldn’t have the friends who’ve stuck by me in the aftermath of those times.

I may not be really succeeding in much, but it’s the small steps in life that matter most in the end. these past few months in particular was me getting fed up with feeling sorry for myself for not doing the things i was interested in in the past, getting over my regret and making plans for starting something new even though i know i’ll suck at first and not worrying so much about how others might perceive me.

And just like how life was changing for our resident grey wolf this first season, mine seems to be doing the same. and i believe this decade ended on a better note than i thought it would during the past couple years leading up to this.

Here’s to a new decade! ^  ^

~ For a future I want to believe in. ~