Comic Update: Red Roses For The Killer
I think from this point on, I’ll simply continue to portray Shinbo as some crazy sex pervert. I enjoy this portrayal of him. However, it would make things awkward if I were to ever run into him at some otaku bar in Kabuki-cho, especially after I scream “SHINBO-SENSEI, SHINBO-SENSEI.”
As far as artwork goes, the background in panel one is completely traced from this photo I took lovingly with my phone in the Boston Common, and the last panel is traced directly from Google Street View through Kabuki-cho. I’ve walked through that area in the past, so I know the score. I just never took my camera out there. Nor did I want to. It’s Kabuki-cho, man. As far as character art goes, I think it’s not awful, but not great. Hopefully it doesn’t make your eyes bleed. Eventually I want to get around to practicing more interesting angles and poses, but I have no idea how to start practicing with that stuff. The colouring style in the first two panels is a parody on this and this. Don’t worry, I’ll eventually record this and other references in the long-neglected reference guide. I haven’t forgotten about it, folks! Updating that will probably be a good thing to do over winter break, I imagine.
Lately I have been watching Hokuto no Ken, thanks to the power of Hulu. The main thing that had put me off of watching this series was simply downloading it, but now that I can stream it with no effort, the show has become a lot easier to watch. I’m 24 episodes in, and what I really like about it is just how honest it is with how corny and cheesy it is. It’s the kind of shounen fighting show I really dig, and it’s a shame that recent shounen fighting shows in the same vein are crap like Bleach, and not cool, head exploding, manly stuff like this. That said, the animation in Hokuto no Ken is probably worse than that of Bleach, but that’s all part of its charm. I really recommend this series to anyone who enjoys Jump shows made before Yu Yu Hakusho. Not like Yu Yu Hakusho isn’t cool–our man Shinbo worked on that one–but it did help to kick off what Surat labels at the “Neo Shounen” phenomenon. Which I hate.
I’ll probably write more on this later, but I just thought I’d mention I’m still chugging along with that Umineko cartoon. Yeah, it looks funky. Yeah, I haven’t read the book (“book”). It’s still a pretty entertaining cartoon, probably even more so now that it’s moved from a typical murder mystery to a show about crazy witches who drown people in jelly then drop giant cakes on them. That said, I don’t really expect a satisfying resolution to all of this–especially not in this anime–but the ride is pretty fun, even if the colouring work is some of the most bland digital colouring I’ve ever seen.
That’ll be it for today. I have a backlog of Japanese animated programs that has grown to epic proportions due to this new season. Eventually I’ll get around to writing up the new season, but I have no idea when that’ll be. Hopefully this weekend.
I mainly like the the FOTNS movie since it had both the crazy level of violence and high budget animation.
P.S. Have you seen Seitokai no Ichizon yet?
I saw it and it was very mediocre.
Also, what’s with the lack of response for this comic? Do jokes about Enjo Kousai really rub people that wrongly?
There seems to be two kinds of artists on the internet.
1: Teeming masses of retards who flood deviantart with eye-bleeding vomit and believe that they are great artists.
2: People like you who make great art but seem to think their work sucks.
Maybe it’s a necessary part of improving yourself, but I think you need to have more confidence in your work.
Look 50 comics back, dude. Look 100 back. Look at the first ones. Shit sucks, my friend.
….this is both really creepy and awesome XD
That you mention it, looking back, I like the art in the early comics. Although the overall quality of your work has improved (especially your coloring), I’ve always been a fan of the “sketchy” look.
I like the way you drew Brad and Rets in comic 8. Look at Brad’s eyes! And Rets used to have such wild hair!
Lol at what Rets says in the second panel. It’s a slippery slope, my friend.
I really like the art in this one. Keep it up.
BTW, I for one don’t mind Enjo Kousai jokes.
Haha! I actually have the full pic that your avatar is from :P
And thank you for reminding me that I need to get the rest of Bakemonogatari.
*Not sure if trolling us…
You’re already dead.