This past month has been a good one. I have been doing some good progress overall with my artist project. I actually got some of the artwork bought. So things have improved a lot since last year. What a sad year that was… But now I just have to keep pushing forward.
To do that, I figured I have to be ready for anything. I noticed that one of the things that holds me back is not having ideas on what to do as my next project. So with that in mind I decided to fully catalog all the old artwork that will be part of the “RESTORATION PROJECT” that I announced a long time ago. I just went through all my sketches and sketchbooks and have a nice amount of work to use. This gave me a respectable 80 pieces of different work that I can work on in the future. But of course I also have to keep in mind to do completely new work as well. After all, as an artist I have to give my customers what they want, so I have to make sure at least half of my work is even relevant to the tastes of “today” whenever that is.
I wonder how I can increase my exposure on Pixiv, or Deviantart for that matter. I guess I have to be more social huh?..
Well better find someway to increase my popularity and soon.
As stated before, I am currently working on a new commissioned work. For this one I decided to do something a bit different and add 3D elements to my work. So it will have a mix of different techniques I have acquired thus far. I used a variety of tube, straws, wires, cables, computer parts and a lot of hot glue. Over all I really like the way it has turned out. But I still need to add the Gundams and mobile suits themselves to this battlefield before I can feel like the project has made and good progress. After all, I still am hoping for a end of the week finish. I’d say it’s doable.
I have been tempted to leave it as just a G Gundam inspired piece, but since the original piece is what made my customer want one. I will continue with the original plan of making it a mixed series piece.
What do you guys think?
As for some thoughts that are completely unrelated. I have been working hard to become a pro artist. And although the definition of an artist being a pro is someone who is payed for their services, I still feel… lacking. I wan’t more, I want more customers so that I am completely sustainable with my art. And I know I am being selfish wanting all of this so fast, but my circumstance require it. As one grows older responsibilities manifest themselves whether one wants them or not. And that can make one’s pursuit of this career path a long shot not just for the many others around one that see it as a pipe dream, but to oneself as well. After all, at the beginning of this path, well, things are quite tough and stressful. Unlike other jobs/careers, one is not instantly and steadily rewarded for one’s feats and efforts. No, for the most part it is unpaid and lacks a lot of benefits. Being an artist is tough and definitely not for anyone. But for those that do decide to stick around, there is a reason. And that is to make one’s dream come true. We see everyone else that has given up on their dreams and instead decide to pursue the “normal” and “real” jobs that society has deemed so. Meanwhile those of us who have chosen other paths going away from the norm are seen as just taking an excuse not to work. It can be quite stressful. But we know that what we are doing is a gamble that can have repercussions later on. But I decided to gamble everything on this, and I will not falter so easily, I just hope, I can bring some results from my hard work.
One thing I’ve noticed is that I really crave more details in my drawings. But because of the size of the drawing I don’t always manage to add them. My tools aren’t quite as precise as I would wish them to be, and that is a problem. Now if I made the subject larger I wouldn’t have a problem, but that isn’t always an option. I have to find a way to remedy this without having to use photoshop to refine my drawings. I actually had to use it a bit on the eyes of the recent Samus Aran drawing. Although it wasn’t much that I had to do, I stilled used photoshop, and I prefer not to. I’m going to be changing gears a bit on the next drawings. Instead of full backgrounds, I will do either none or very simple ones. We’ll see what happens.
I now have finally finished and made a decision when it came to Asuka’s drawing. I will upload it on Friday and for now I will see what else I will be working on.
Now as for something else I wanted to talk about is the graduation of Sayumi Michishige. If I’m correct she has already graduated as of yesterday. This marks the last of the members of my ever favorite Platinum Era. I don’t really know how I feel right now. I feel kind of, off. Though I seriously can’t get myself to look at any of the new stuff that Morning Musume has made (mainly because I get nothing but nostalgia to about how it was almost 5 years ago now, and sadness because it is now all over). I’m sure all the new members are good, but the current Morning Musume. 14 is not for me. It’s for the new generation of fans and all the hardcore Momusu fans that have been there all along.
It actually wasn’t until recently that I found out that I wasn’t really a fan of Morning Musume, no, I was a fan of the members from the Platinum Era that ran from the end of 2007 till the very end of 2010. They were, just different from any other idol groups. In fact, Idol groups never really caught my attention. It was Morning Musume that changed my mind about what an idol group could do, and that they could and maybe even should be taken seriously (more on this later). And although I can’t do that for every idol group, I did gain some respect and even got to like a couple of other idol groups like Berryz Koubou and Cute (yeah I’m an H.P. fan almost exclusively). Though I liked and still like to look at the videos that were in the Golden Era and the Eras before the Platinum Era, I finally realized that the reason I liked looking at this videos is because I got to look at most of the Platinum Era members in their first years in the Idol world growing up before it was them taking the reigns of the group. It’s amazing how things turned out. I just get really warm and fuzzy looking at those videos and the ones during the Platinum Era.
What’s sad is that I can’t really get to enjoy much of the videos and content after 2010. All that comes to mind are the words; “it is not the same anymore”, “They are all separated now”, “Why couldn’t they have stayed together?” and “They were the best line-up”. Most of the members in the Platinum Era were good at singing and dancing, and those that weren’t like Sayu had other strengths that made the whole group even stronger. And that is what I liked about this line up. They all had weaknesses but they made up for it by working as a group, and that made them strong. And in my opinion it made them the strongest line-up that there ever was and ever will be. But it seems like the fans aren’t really into that. They tend to prefer the more electronic and autotuned songs more (funny, I remember when many people made a big deal of “Kimagure Princess” because they used a bit of autotune). What am I doing? I’m getting off topic.
It’s strange seeing how things turned out and my feelings that come out because of it. Ai, Gaki and even JunJun didn’t pursue singing, instead they went into acting. Ai got married (this was a big blow for me, specially because she married this questionable older guy). Aika stayed behind in H.P. but is now gone to study English in New Zealand (I’m actually quite happy she decided to further her education). Sayu was still in Morning Musume and has created this great bond with the new members (this makes me sad, somehow I feel jealous that she may like them more than the Platinum Era Members – minus Eri). And speaking of Eri, she hasn’t made a return after leaving Morning Musume after the 2010 graduation (man how I miss her). Luckily there were at least two member who are still singing. LinLin decided to go solo in China. She went with a more “children’s style” songs. Although I like that she is still singing I didn’t really like it much (well to be fair I am not a child so… yeah). I did really like her third song that was in her single. It was more her style I think and it was beautiful, I really hope she sings more songs like that. And another person who has been keeping my attention even after graduation more than anyone is Reina Tanaka. All her decisions I have really liked up to now. She decided to continue singing. So she had a rock band get together. I actually think she goes well with the members (strangely enough I have nothing against them, in fact I think I actually like them). She had a rough start since they were doing just covers for the old guys in Up-Front but after a couple of events they finally got to sing some of their own material. And most of the recent material is really good. I like the path they have taken. What I like most of Reina is that she actually said what I and many other Platinum Era fans have been saying all this time, The Platinum Era was the greatest there ever was. And she even questioned just how far they would have gotten had they been more popular. This… this just made me so happy. To have one of the the members of that time, and even a member that many thought really wasn’t enjoying her time with those members say these words. And have it be one of my favorite members second only to Ai (though they did fight that position many times). I just felt this warm feeling that it wasn’t just an illusion what I was witnessing. That was a magical time.
This is getting long, but I will just end it with this. Thank you Platinum Era Morning Musume. With Sayu graduated, now there are no ties to you which is sad. But, I have hope that someday all these members will get together and form something special that will take the world by storm. (wishful thinking I know, but I will continue to hope)
So one more year of life has passed by again… this time I didn’t really make a drawing though… I guess I will instead use this yearly post for something else, to talk about, well, life. Not all of it, because I probably will not stop writing. No instead it’s about things that influenced me and thoughts about what I should have done differently.
For one, I have always liked drawing. I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t drawing at least once a year. Sadly though I didn’t really like showing my artwork. Not because I wasn’t confident in my artwork but because I didn’t really like others to make remarks before I was done with the drawing. People always had some remark about what I needed to do. Although people might not know, I’m actually a really proud person (though others might just call it petty) so I didn’t want others to take credit for what I was about to do. For that reason I tended to draw when no one was present and hid the drawing when someone entered the room while I was drawing (this had some really bad repercussions , which I will touch upon later).
Despite my “shyness”, I actually did built a reputation at school for being good at art.
For those fans who have been following any news of the newly released live action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin, the news of the release of the dvd and blu-ray release should already be known. Sadly you would also know that is was only released in Japan (for now) and that the screening of the film in the States is only in select theaters (from what I found out, it was going to be in a film festival in California), to those who got to see it in the theaters. I can only say, lucky… But despite not being able to see it in the theater, I was able to watch it. And I only have one word to say about it; extraordinary.
In the past we have been given some really far off adaptions of games or manga (and in the west, comics). But it seems like that is all starting to change (finally). Many of the stories one grew up with were usually destroyed when movie companies decided to choose what the viewers wanted to see. Changing the cast to different ethnicities and their over all personalities (Dragon Ball Evolution as an example). And from what I have heard, American comic adaptations also didn’t fair too well either. But it seems like fans are finally starting to make their voices be heard. In the states we have seen the Avengers and the Dark Knight trilogy (I would like to point out that I do not follow comic books so I do not know if they stayed true to the source, but like me, I have heard that fans really seemed to enjoy the adaptations). Now a new era has been forged for comic book adaptations which will give rise to others (like the Justice league, or so the rumors say).
That’s all nice and good for comic book lovers, but what about for those who follow Japanese Manga/anime and games. So far we have been given some horrible slaps in the face, with two Street Fighter movies, Dragon Ball (I get tempted to just call it Evolution) and there is bound to be a couple of more that I luckily have not heard of. Now most of these movies have been taken outside of the country of origin and changed dramatically (sadly I also hear that Akira will also be done in the states, once again changing things). But what of movies made in Japan, the source. It is sad to say that film companies have a bad habit of changing things to their desire, thous hurting the original story. And there is also the use of cgi, sadly from past movies that I have seen, Japan did not have as much control over it as the US. This was one of my greatest worries for the Rurouni Kenshing film. Despite this bad record in the past, Japan has made some good progress as well (just like the US with comic adaptations). Some of the films I have enjoyed so far (specially since I was already a fan) are; Cromartie High school (funny and nonsensical like the manga), Death Note (although not a fan, it still kept most of the components of the original), Shinobi (although there was too much cgi that was apparent), Dororo (do not know the original, but it had that manga film to it) and Casshern (which was estraordinary, the first adaptation I loved. Although I do have to admit I do not know much about the original story). With these titles, I dare to say that this is now the new era of adaptations both on the East and West.
Now on to the main topic of this post (sorry for my previous rambling), Rurouni Kenshin. I must start off by saying that this is by far one of the best manga out there, the anime was also really good (too bad after the Kyoto arc they strayed from the original source). I am an immense fan of this series, and even now after a couple of years of first reading it, I can still remember it quite clearly. So having heard of the adaptation I was weary of what they would do with this master piece. Would we have another “Evolution” movie, or would we have a “Shinobi” film (which was good, but had too much cgi). I really wanted this movie to have extraordinary action, but still have that realistic element to it. After seeing the trailer for it, I was completely blown away. If the movie was just as good as it was being portrayed then maybe just maybe this would become one of my favorite films. But I had been fooled before, so I did not want to make any premature decisions.
here is the preview if you have not seen it yet:
I will try to review it in a way that I do not give too much away. So here goes.
The film is set to cover two of the first arcs, the Kanryuu mansion and the Jin-e arc. Now, because they were condensing so much story into a film two hours long they regrettably had to cut out some events and characters out. But I will say that despite that, it did not hurt the original story too much. The main characters shown are Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, Sanosuke, Saito, Megumi, Jin-e, Kanryu, and for some reason Gein and Banjin from the Jinchu arc. I do not know much about the other fans out there, but I was kind of sad that Aoshi Shinomori and the Oniwabanshu would not be present in this film. If you had this concern as well, all I can say, do not worry. I actually believe it might have been for the best. I heard that Watsuki san had a say in the film, so I am sure this was his plan. You see if Aoshi and the Oniwabanshu were revealed here then their story would be too weak and short. So I assume that to make up for this they used Gein and Banjin which in turn also helps tie it to any more films after this one (which would inevitably lead to the Kyoto arc and the Jinchu arc). Now as for the other characters in the manga, other secondary characters also make a brief appearance, such as Tsubame, Tae, the police chief and the commander (sorry forgot their names), as well as the old man with the little girls that often come visit Kaoru. And surprisingly we also get a glimpse of the man who married Tomoe as well as Tomoe herself (don’t worry, they don’t say or clearly show her, but fans will know it is her), this was done for those who do not know much about the manga and why Kenshin decided to become a wanderer.
Now I have been going around the net and read a couple of comments of how some were miscast, all I can say is that they are all wrong. I understand some of their arguments, but the demeanor, vocal tone and over all appearance are spot on, heck even the costumes were done in a way that would look realistic but also keep a close tie to the original. One could really see the effort given to this film. Even Jin-e’s eye was kept in tact. Despite the weird design of the original, they did their best to keep close to it and to also make it look realistic keeping any cgi almost unnoticeable (only one scene looked a bit off, but even then it wasn’t bad). Kenshin, Sanosuke, Yahiko, Megumi, Saito well everyone looked just like in the manga. But the biggest complain I hear some say is that Kaoru was too beautiful in this film, but really from what I read she wasn’t really that plain in the manga (and specially in the anime). I’d say she fits the part rather well. I have also heard comments of how Saito appears too emotional in front of Kenshin, and although this does seem to happen at some points (not crying or something like that). I have to say that it felt rather natural to me. Saito does seem to have this bond with Kenshin of rivalry and that of a comrade from the past (despite being enemies then) in the manga.
The story is actually much like the original except with some minor changes that fans will immediately notice but will not mind too much. The film left it open so that it can be continued (although it did give a solid ending that could leave the movie alone as it is). It was done in a way that the film left a satisfying feeling of an end, but also did not give any problems so that the story could continue and
(minor spoiler, you can skip is you want) that Gein and Banjin could make a return in the Jinchu arc.
Luckily for me and all the fans another installment is set to be released, and some other great news is that they vow to keep it closer to the manga. Seeing as they did not change too much on this installment, then the second movie will be extremely close to the original. Hopefully they follow a four film plan, uncluding this one. They should introduce the Oniwabanchu and then start to tie it in to the Kyoto arc for the second. Eventually the Kyoto arc is completed in the third. And finally for the final movie we see the Jinchu arc, with the return of Gein and Banjin in their original costumes and gears.
Over all the film was the best adaptation I have ever seen, the acting and action was definitely top notch. If only because of some of the changes to the original story and the exclusion of Aoshi I will give it a 9.5/10. An almost perfect score. If you ever get the chance to see it, do so. And make sure to support the film so that the film company knows that these are the kind of results we expect from manga adaptations.
till next time and also a hoping you have an Amazing New Year,
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