#official art scan

[carbon8tion]

Scanned some art from my collection I hadn't seen posted in full anywhere.

[uhcasual]

All illustrations for The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Russian Edition Exclusives, Volume 5

Finally got my hands on the russian истари/Istari publication volume 5 for Mo Dao Zu Shi, so here are high resolution scans of the art exclusive to this particular edition. The art here portrays events that occur in the post-storyline extras.

Full resolution available for download here (tumblr compresses images a little)

Illustration Artist: Marina Privalova (Baoshan Karo)

[Vol. 1] - [Vol. 2] - [Vol. 3] - [Vol. 4] - [Vol. 5] (part 1)

[ikana-graveyard]

game manual art of the little prince

[tetrix-anime]

Megami Magazine March 2025 Issue (#298) - Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete (Gushing over Magical Girls)

[winxwiki]

Stella's original transformation key art before her final design, scanned from The art of Winx

[hak]

i'm not sure if i've seen this posted anywhere but here's the berserk tribute art drawn by kusanagi included in the 20th anniversary official artbook.

[kuro93]

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch ~ Sea Paradise Collaboration Chibi Transparents ~ Official Arts ♥

Scanned cleaned and edited by KuRo93

[mirai-e-jump]

[newmusictodayfan]

Megami Magazine September 2024 - Mayonaka Punch

[karleksmumskladdkaka]

Some scans from the More, Blood Official Visual Fanbook (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)

[ranchstoryblog]

64 Dreams: A Look at Harvest Moon 64's Japanese Pre-Release Coverage

Fresh off the releases of the original Bokujou Monogatari in '96 and the GameBoy demake in '97, the series was starting to make a bit of a name for itself by 1998. The popularity of the GameBoy port in particular, partially credited by Yasuhiro Wada to the revived interest of the GameBoy as a platform thanks to Pokémon, led to some amount of anticipation for the follow-up.

At that time, a Japanese gaming magazine called The 64Dream, which was later renamed Nintendo Dream, was aimed exclusively at Nintendo 64 owners to give them the latest in information on upcoming and currently available games. Several issues over the course of a year would feature updates and information on Bokujou Monogatari 2. It would be a lot of work to translate everything, though we still might go over the really interesting bits some day, but, for now, we'll go over a brief summary of each issue's coverage up until release.

October, 1998

To start off the coverage of Bokumono 2, Yasuhiro Wada, Setsuko Miyakoshi, and Tomomi Yamatate are participating in a Q&A with the magazine's staff and introducing elements that are new from the SNES game like the camera, backpack, automatically leveling up tools, sheep, etc. Things to do during Winter are also referenced, like mining and the event to help out with Green Ranch, as well as it being a highly requested feature to continue playing after the ending. It also references the Goddess Fountain being the one from the previous game, which I hadn't really considered but if you think about the general layout of both maps it makes sense. The heart level system is also revealed to have a name the development staff used, the "Bakubaku system," which was implemented because sneaking a peek at their diaries wasn't the best thing to do. Since it's referencing a heartbeat, I guess if they localized that name it'd be something like "ba-dump system"?

There's a few tidbits that are completely different from the final game, like being able to carry bugs in your backpack, as well as an affection system for wild animals. Neither are in the release version, with wild animals being able to just be picked up freely without befriending them, and neither bugs or animals being willing to be stuffed into your bag. The calendar of festivals and other notable events is also a bit different, with no races or swimming events present at all, along with the Spirit Festival being on the 29th instead of the 27th.

There's also few interesting details among the artwork, like Harris being blonde and the baby's outfit being brown instead of blue. The artwork of the girls is also distinct here, with most of them not being featured in any other promotional material or guidebooks. Ran and Marie's artwork appeared in the 15th anniversary art book, but Karen, Popuri, and Elly were oddly absent. Rare stuff.

November, 1998

This month, the magazine's editors are getting to play for the first time. Most of the article is just them experiencing stuff that's new after the SNES game firsthand. Things like rotating the camera, having a bag, carrying multiple tools, tools leveling up with use, things like that. Oddly, Karen doesn't seem to appear in the demo, though the vineyard and other characters do. The article ends with some fan art of Karen and Pete at the vineyard. There's also some fan art of all the girls in the fan art section.

There isn't a lot here that's different from the final game this month, but there is a screenshot of the library with a completely different layout from the final game.

December, 1998

Wow, right off the bat there's lots of little art differences here. Mayor Thomas is blonde, Marie has blue hair like her grandma, and so does Kent! Though with that light of a shade, maybe Kent's is supposed to look shaved. The artwork for the town's map is also a little off, featuring a layout that's not present in the final game, and a few details that would go missing as well, like a tree outside the bakery. Of course, several new elements would be in the final game that are also missing from this artwork, like shop signs. I also appreciate all the little figures of characters wandering around the map.

The text doesn't look like anything new or distinct, but it does mention that there's now a racetrack. Horse races weren't mentioned at all in previous months, so maybe this was a late addition they finally felt safe confirming. It also mentions Duke being Jeff's uncle, which is something I tend to forget is mentioned in-game, as well as Doga's appearance being compared to Yoda, and... I can see it.

There's also a featured fan art this month at the end of the article featuring Ran and Pete sitting together. In the magazine's fan-art dedicated page, there's artwork of Popuri and Elly, too! Not to mention plenty of non-Bokumono fan art featuring characters from Wonder Project J2, Pokémon, and Ocarina of Time.

January, 1999

The article this month opens with lamenting that the game didn't release in December and will be delayed until February. Since we're pretty close to release now, it doesn't look like there's too many differences from the final game at this point. Of note, however, is that the animals all seem 500-1000 G cheaper. I guess they were still adjusting game balance. The crops listing doesn't include strawberries either, and a note that the seed prices might be different in the released game, but those are all correct.

The fan art this month is Pete with a bunch of farm animals, including a pig! I guess they'll have to wait until GBC3 and Magical Melody for that though. There's also a small figure on the left side, maybe holding a paintbrush? An artist's self-portrait, maybe?

February, 1999

Finally, it's release month! The game has been consistently voted one of the most anticipated titles by readers, and Yasuhiro Wada is here to answer their questions.

The first interesting question is about the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak, which Wada says wasn't possible to implement transferring cows and such due to technical reasons and the N64 game's development coming later. However, if the game was popular enough to release a Bokujou Monogatari 3 on the N64, he'd like to implement GameBoy gimmicks. Next, he's asked about the baby, and mentions that it will have different reactions based on where you take it, and that it will gradually change with level of affection. When asked about improving crop varieties, Wada replies that it's a secret. Maybe referencing the unlocking of Strawberries after getting a greenhouse? The page ends with a variety of fan art.

On the next page, a fan asks if there are multiple endings. Wada responds that there's really only one, but there's a ranking system in place. He also mentions that you can transfer your save to a Controller Pak and take it to a friend's house and compare your rankings with them, which is something North American fans missed out on when the rankings page feature was removed, along with several other things. Next is a question about catching and keeping bugs, which contrary to the mention in the October '98 issue, he says that leaving them in nature is for the best. The last question on the page asks about the girls from the original game appearing, which Wada says a few do in some way, and you should try to find out. Also that the same Harvest Sprites return. There's also artwork of all the 64 girls in cute winter outfits!

The last page is just basic gameplay questions, like how much money you start with and how to sheer sheep, with Wada going on to mention that taking care of animals is important and that there's a funeral scene for them now. The page closes again with more fan art.

More interestingly, the little boxed area on pages 22 and 23 features "requests" and general comments from fans. For page 22, the first of which is for co-op, which Wada says was an idea he also had, but to please bear with it as it wasn't possible, and there is a lot of content for one player in the game. Next, he's asked for the animals to make noises and have footstep sounds, which he says they do make animal sounds (mooing, clucking, etc) now, but don't have footstep sounds. Then he's asked about implementing a motorcycle or truck! Wada emphatically responds that nature is best.

Page 23's requests start with being able to freely design the house, which Wada also wants to do, but there are at least more extensions this time. Next, a player wants the hot springs to return, which Wada says might appear in this game as the player progresses. Another player comments that they hate natural disasters like typhoons, but Wada says they will be returning in this game, albeit less frequently. Someone asks to be able to make cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, which Wada says sounds great. Someone asks about the Hoe transforming into a tractor after it reaches level 4, which Wada brushes off as "too much," someone asking to put an N64 in the house, which Wada says sounds nice, but there's too many things in there already, and lastly someone comparing Wada's appearance to Yabe-san from the comedy duo "Ninety-Nine," which Wada disagrees and laughs at.

And that's it! Shortly after this magazine hit shelves, the game would finally release. There were several months of coverage afterward, which we'll probably go over, but that'll be for another time. A big thank you to ozidual of Gaming Alexandria for allowing us to use their scans. You can check out their full magazine scans on Archive.org.

[uhcasual]

All illustrations for The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Volume 3

Made some hq scans of MDZS illustrations.

Full resolution available for download here (tumblr compresses images a little)

Illustration Artist: Marina Privalova (Baoshan Karo)

[Vol. 1] - [Vol. 2] - [Vol. 4] - [Vol. 5] [Vol. 5 - Russian edition exclusive illustrations]

[perfectmakerpirate]

Team 7!

[tetrix-anime]

Oshi no Ko scans

[winxwiki]

Scrapped artwork from the Art of Winx vs W.i.t.c.h.'s issue 15 cover

see more about W.i.t.c.h.'s influence on Winx on this post!

[hak]

Yona and Hak in Akatsuki No Yona: Illustrations - 20th Anniversary Edition (2023) by Kusanagi Mizuho