#murai shinobu

[auranovabloggers]

Share (Murai Shinobu)

Alright... since you have to have a Tumblr account to even view things on Tumblr and I am relatively small in the grand scheme of things, I will take this time to share with ya'll a piece of media that means a lot to me. I do feel a bit iffy about this since it is a doujin, which are already a legal gray area. But... I just really wanna talk about it a bit.

So first of all, the cover:

What is 'Share'? Share is a doujin created by one Murai Shinobu as both author and illustrator. The story starts at the time the sisters are in their reincarnated lives. However, it then jumps back to the time period of Vampire Hunter, in their first lives. From there, the story follows Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling as they are going about their travels, hunting down Darkstalkers. The story takes place seemingly not too long after they used the Igyo Tenshin No Jutsu to change themselves. It is beautiful story of how Mei-Ling is trying to cope with the major changes that have befallen her younger sister as a result of their shared desire to save their mother. Wonderful art, great composition of scenes, and some heartwarming and touching moments, I feel it is a story that any fan of the sisters should give a read. Allow me to share just a few samples from the story:

You might have noticed the English dialogue. That is because I got the story translated by a wonderful translator, Zeus. Using the translations, I then went in to localize the translation and edit in dialogue that flowed in English better and matched with the personalities of the sisters.

So why go out of my way? Because when I got this doujin, my first ever, I was taken away by the wonderful art and what I was getting from context clues. Plus, it is a story centered around my favorite characters in all of media! I cannot read Japanese at all, so I was left to wonder what Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling were saying. There is actually a very specific page that really made me want to know what was being said! However, I'll share the original version:

How could you not want to know what in the world is going on here!? I certainly did and after finally learning what all was being said throughout the story, I was further enchanted. The fact is the art of the sisters done by Murai and especially this story are a major influence in the way of how I shaped Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling's personalities in Cryas Darkstalkers. Murai portrays Hsien-Ko as this very positive, cheerful individual who is willing to go forward and do what must be done. Not only that, but she also dearly loves her big sister and will absolutely do what she can to protect her from harm. However, she also does recognize that she has changed and is not human anymore in body. She isn't blissfully ignorant of that and is totally fine with the fact she is a jiangshi, even recognizing some of the perks to being one. Despite that, Hsien-Ko still believes she is still that same person she was before she changed. Mei-Ling is portrayed as a calm and thoughtful woman, if a bit too concerned. She plans out their travels, engages in affairs with humans, and is there to watch over and aid Hsien-Ko in any way she can. She still views Hsien-Ko as her sister, but is overtime concerned about the changes that have come over Hsien-Ko. In essence, concerned about the loss of Hsien-Ko's humanity and if this would overall change her from the sister she grew up with. It is some gripping stuff that tugs at my heartstrings and I love it! 😭💙💛

Now you may be saying, "Aura, this story sounds awesome! Can I purchase this awesome doujin and see things for myself!?'' Sadly, no. Since I last checked on Murai's BOOTH store, the doujin is out of stock. In fact, I am willing to bet a bit of money that I managed to purchase the last physical copy of Share. Maybe it was fate for this to happen? Who knows, but it happened.

I can possibly hear you shouting, "Aura, if this is out of stock, how can I read this awesome story!? HOW!?" Well, the answer lies in a Google Drive I have. So, while I tend to only do this for big fans of the sisters I find and friends, I'll give ya'll a chance to read this for yourself. I would ask that you do not go about uploading this stuff to any sites on the internet. Just please, share the drive with others if you wish to show others.

If you do read the story, please let me know what you think of it as I'd love to hear!

And Murai: if you somehow come across this and are not comfortable with the images shared and Google Drive link, I will absolutely be willing to take down the images and delete the link if you request so. While I would love others, especially English fans of Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling, to read this wonderful story, it is still your doujin and I will respect your wishes. 🙇

[auranova26]

Mei-Ling Design Notes and Inspiration 2/2

If you stumbled on this randomly, please go read part 1 first before engaging any further. Please and thank you.😊🙏

With that disclaimer said, now we gotta talk about the Dark Embrace Burst for Mei-Ling. To be frank, most of the origins of how I came to give it to her and Hsien-Ko is basically already stated in Hsien-Ko's design notes, so you can go there to get an idea.

However, I would like to talk about some aspects of Mei-Ling's design in this form. The first time I drew her, it was super simple.

The first big note of change was with @capyguava rendition of Mei-Ling.

The additional markings on Mei-Ling's face were honestly beautiful, so I reworked her face to incorporate some of those ideas. Later on, made a render that fully showed of some other details.

The markings at her legs and feet and the mirror on her back. Having the mirror on her back was not only a call back to how the mirror was on her in her main timeline design, but also just really love the idea of how all that Qi and Corriyami in her body just sprouts out from there. This shot from her ref sheet shows off how there are some changes to the mirror as the story progresses.

The latest full render of her Dark Embrace steps up to show how her shadow can really look.

However, I want to give special notes to these two commissions made by O_C_o_r_v_o and aamiraglia.

I love the ideas they gave with the way her shadow can look. Like a flame or like water. It is sublime and I want to keep these in mind for future illustrations. Last note about the shadow: the shadow dragon. While the form her shadow can take is only limited by Mei-Ling's imagination, I really want to note the dragon. In a way, it is a form of catharsis for Mei-Ling. Utilizing the form of a dragon to bring down those who oppose her and Hsien-Ko. But also, it makes her feel connected to her mother as the shape of the dragon is similar to their mother's dragon form. The memory of that night is still quite strong. Makes it feel like her mother is aiding her in battle. It is ferocious in appearance, like Mei-Ling in this burst. But it is still eerily beautiful in a way with its majesty, like Mei-Ling.

Now to talk about Mei-Ling when she was human.

Off the bat, she doesn't really look that different compared to the major changes Hsien-Ko underwent when she became a jiangshi. However, I still wanted there to be some kind of difference. The biggest thing would be her hair. This is where Murai Shinobu comes back into the picture. I cannot say enough my love for her designs of Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling and how much her 'Share' doujin means to me and helped to influence some aspects of the sisters for me. In a way of tribute, I wanted Mei-Ling's hair as a human to have the same general style that Murai draws for Mei-Ling: a straight bob cut.

Overall, rather normal and nice for this young mystic warrior. Her hair color was also different. While Hsien-Ko as a human had cool shades of black hair, I wanted Mei-Ling to have more warm shades of black for her hair. Not too drastic a change in hair color when she becomes a jiangshi. Her eyes were also changed. Again, kind like what Murai did, I went for some shade of brown for Mei-Ling's eyes. As for her clothes, once again a bianfu. As a twist, the colors of this bianfu are the reverse of her later beizi's color scheme. Also gave her red trousers as to keep her whole color scheme being very warm and vibrant.

In Darkstalkers, some crossover games they have appeared in, and even a number of anthology stories, Mei-Ling has been shown to be able to move and talk. To represent herself, she has a simple cartoon face of a pair of eyes and a mouth.

That is all well and good, but I wanted to go further. I got inspiration from this very funny random sprite of a card of the sisters doing a costume swap.

With that swap, Hsien-Ko became the ofuda. However, her ofuda form has her hair and a hat. I wanted to do the same for Mei-Ling. My first time drawing that is shown in the 'Jiangshi Tongue' piece I made.

Expressive and cute. However, when going about making the ref sheet, I stumbled upon this picture made by the wonderful artist skm_nnm.

I adore the idea of Mei-Ling being able to fly like a little paper spirit! Which… to be fair she is. So that detail is now part of her ofuda form for Cryas Darkstalkers. Some tweaks here and there, namely making her still feel like she is paper being and thus flat but giving enough details to her hair and hat in this form.

That should wrap things up with this very long two-part blog. I hope you can understand my sheer love and adoration for both sisters, especially showing a lot of love for Mei-Ling as she really deserves it. 😊💛

Lot of searching and thinking with an end result I am super proud of. I hope you take care and have a good day!

[byneddiedingo]

Tatsuya Nakadai in The Sword of Doom (Kihachi Okamoto, 1966) Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yuzo Kayama, Yoko Naito, Toshiro Mifune, Ko Nishimura, Ichiro Nakaya, Kei Sato, Tadao Nakamura. Screenplay: Shinobu Hashimoto, based on a novel by Kaizan Nakazoto. Cinematography: Hiroshi Murai. Art direction: Takashi Matsuyama. Film editing: Yoshitami Kuroiwa. Music: Masaru Sato. Among the great actors who aren't exactly household names in the United States, one of the best is Tatsuya Nakadai, who threw himself into roles with such commitment that it's almost a surprise to realize that he's still alive: He's 90 years old. Even with the presence of the charismatic -- and, in the West, much better-known -- Toshiro Mifune in the cast, Nakadai carries The Sword of Doom on his considerable shoulders, playing Ryunosuke, a psychotic samurai, with frightening conviction. In his first appearance in the film, his face is partly hidden by the latticework of a hat, but his eyes burn brightly through the shadowing. He calmly murders an old man whose granddaughter has gone to fetch water. Granted, the old man is praying for death, but an easy one, not the blow of the titular sword. By the end of the film the madness that glitters in Ryunosuke's eyes has been responsible for countless deaths, and it flares up in a cataclysmic ending in which he slashes out at the ghosts he sees behind the bamboo shades of a brothel and eventually at the assassins who come for him. Nakadai does something extraordinary with his body in this final sequence: As Ryunosuke's mind comes unhinged, so does his body, killing in a kind of Totentanz that looks spasmodic but never loses its lethal precision. And there the film ends, on a freeze frame of Nakadai's face and its glittering eyes. The Sword of Doom was meant to have sequels, but they were never made. Yet although we never learn what happens to several other characters whose subplots have centered on Ryunosuke, or indeed whether he survived this orgy of blood, it doesn't really matter much. It's almost enough to have watched Nakadai in performance. 

[restinpicturespod]

ANOTHER PERFECT SHOT

THE SWORD OF DOOM | 1966 Director | Kihachi Okamoto Cinematographer | Hiroshi Murai

RIP 12: Remembering Shinobu Hashimoto

[koholint]

playlist for today:

Juri Ihata - Colorful Parade

Reiko Takagi - Heart wa Wow Wow

Yukari Tamura - Sugar Tune

Mami Nakayama - Kon'iro to Kuro no Fantasy

Shinobu Misaki - As Time Goes By

Kazusa Murai - Steppin’ to Love

Saeko Chiba - Koi no Dancing

Saori Goto - Vanity Colon

CooRie - Kaze ～Start Line～

Yui Horie - Fake Fur

Shiho Niiyama - Yume wa Pantomime

Yuri Shiratori - Angelic Child

Miyuki Sawashiro - In My Heart

Ayako Kawasumi - Sakura

[ethanharli]

Characters I Write For;

Tears of Themis

Luke Pearce, Artem Wing, Marius Von Hagen, Darius Morgan.

Blue Period [Hiatus]

________

Call of Duty MW2

Simon "Ghost" Riley, John "Soap" MacTavish, König, John Price, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick.

________

Yaguchi Yatora, Murai Yakumo, Takayashi Yotasuke, Ayukawa Ryuji, Hashida Haruka.

________

Genshin Impact

Kaeya, Razor, Bennett, Diluc, Tighnari, Cyno, Heizou, Ayato, Thoma, Gorou, Itto, Xiao, Childe, Albedo, Kazuha, Venti, Zhongli, Al-Haitham.

Beidou, Ningguang, Sucrose, Jean, Eula, Mona, Xinyan, Ganyu, Shenhe, Rosaria, Kuki Shinobu, Yelan, Candace, Kokomi, Kujou Sara, Yoimiya, Dehya, Collei.

Platonic only; Qiqi, Klee, Diona, Sayu.

________

Blue Lock

Yoichi Isagi, Meguru Bachira, Rensuke Kunigami, Jingo Raichi, Rin Itoshi, Ikki Niko, Ryusei Shindou, Seishiro Nagi, Oliver Aiku.

________

Jujutsu Kaisen

Nobara Kugisaki, Maki Zenin, Kasumi Miwa, Itadori Yuji, Fushiguro Megumi, Gojo Satoru, Nanami Kento, Toge Inumaki, Todo Aoi, Sukuna Ryomen, Junpei Yoshino, Yuta Okkotsu.

_________

Bnha/Mha [Hiatus]

Izuku Midoriya, Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shoto, Kirishima Eijiro, Shinsou Hitoshi, Mina Ashido, Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki, Momo Yayorozu, Nejire Hado, Aizawa Shota, Keigo Takami, Nemuri Kayama, Rumi Usagiyama.

_________

Haikyuu!! [Hiatus]

Bokuto Koutarou Akaashi Keiji, Kiyoomi Sakusa, Hinata Shoyo, Kageyama Tobio, Sugawara Koshi, Daichi Sawamura, Tsukishima Kei, Kiyoko Shimizu, Hitoka Yachi.

Kuroo Tetsurou, Yaku Morisuke, Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime, Kita Shinsuke, Osamu/Atsumu Miya, Suna Rintaro, Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tendou Satori, Semi Eita.

_________

(More will be added in the future).

[aristsagainstarttheft]

Editing stolen renders and screenshots is just as bad as stealing from artists.

https://www.deviantart.com/shakillasunset/art/Trixe-and-Luna-adopt-OPEN-884937423

official render 

https://www.fimfiction.net/user/32863/TheCrazyAsian

https://www.deviantart.com/shakillasunset/art/8d92921087c1279c84d9540a6822bec1-884317919

original : https://www.deviantart.com/xwhitedreamsx/art/Natural-Disaster-Reference-594918064

https://www.deviantart.com/shakillasunset/art/55470ed89f8409cc2bcc08577a5c891a-884317922

original found in this group 

http://mlp-ocs-world.deviantart.com/

https://www.deviantart.com/shakillasunset/art/55470ed89f8409cc2bcc08577a5c891a-884317922  same as above.

https://www.deviantart.com/shakillasunset/art/7d281b10b0aaa782838ce46a436b103b-884317913

https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/884317913/4928857250

https://www.deviantart.com/shakillasunset/art/D8674aa28a67ad1ae704c829bbd62675-884317830 Watermark original artist still in it.

Original 

https://www.deviantart.com/xxnovanepsxx/art/Midnight-Sketch-s-reference-sheet-522228836

https://www.deviantart.com/shakillasunset/art/World-Ocen-Day-881997252

from shutterstock

http://shutterstock.7eer.net/c/77643/108110/1305?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fpic-1987378913%2Fstock-photo-world-oceans-day-drawn-concept.html&subId1=1987378913

https://www.deviantart.com/shakillasunset/art/1037376-Safe-Artist-Murai-Shinobu-Sci-twi-Tw-877159904

original artist

https://www.deviantart.com/muraishinobu/

And so on. Core won’t protect her, a thief will always remain a thief.

[brokenaishi-blog]

child-of-the-west :

murai-shinobu :

ユリちゃんkawaii

@brokenaishi

@mutedviolet

[airbuilder7]

Shared on Derpibooru from http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=44156096

[airbuilder7]

Raze the Sun.  Shared on Derpibooru from http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=45339592