Magic Boys, Wombats, and the Power of Love, Oh My.

My husband and I try to do "date nights" every week. One week we decided to turn on Crunchy Roll and watch the first episode of about a half dozen animes we had never seen before. These included Sword Art Online 2, Kill La Kill, and Cute High Earth Defense Club Love

. There were others. I don't remember their titles (clearly did not make an impression on me). This blog is going to be devoted to the last of the three listed series. I really had no idea what to expect from this, although I had high hopes that it would be silly because it was one of those nights after a long day and a long week, and I really needed a laugh.

Did it live up to that hope. Yes. Yes it did. Magnificently. I saw a lot of references to Sailor Moon--this may or may not have been intentional. The series starts with a group of boys, most of whom are lazy students who are looking for an easy way to get extracurricular credit for doing nothing. They encounter a pink wombat who engages them, along with a hyperactive boy who loves wombats, to become Battle Lovers and fight the forces of hate.

Whether it was intended to be funny or not, I found the series to be hilarious. I could not take this seriously even if I tried (and needless to say, I was not interested in taking it seriously when I watched it). It's worth a watch--at least one episode. Will I watch more than that? I don't know. I haven't yet. I guess we'll see.

Magic Girl Archetype

So this looks much better in person, but it is finished. This is going to be the first in a new series. I am coloring this coloring style "Noir." It's technically not part of that artistic style, but it's to differentiate it from my normal coloring style. This is the style I used for the Nintendo Noir set and the Mare Do Well picture I did last year. There is a definite art nouveau influence. That is one of my favorite art styles.

A Little Something WIP

I'm just going to leave this here. Any guesses as to where this is going? Here's a hit, it's not just a group pic of random Attack on Titan characters. It will be so much more.

Code Geass

Code Geass is one of my all time favorite animes--right next to Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I love this series for so many reasons. I've seen it all the way through maybe 3 times. I'm working on a 4th.

Why is this anime so awesome? There are a lot of reasons, but for me, it is the characterization. I love the variety of characters. I like that Lelouch is not a standard "hero." That role actually falls to Suzaku. There are a bazillion side characters, which, if you know me, makes me the happiest of fans. Although a series doesn't have to have side characters, I think they help flesh out the world because, well, most worlds don't revolve around the lives of half a dozen characters; they tend to be limited. You can still have a good series with just a few characters (Madoka Magica), but I find I do tend to like the stories that include larger casts of characters. My two favorite characters from Code Geass are actually side characters: Lloyd and Rakshata. And for once, my favorites don't die (OMG).

Most people have heard of Code Geass, but for those who haven't, let me throw in a little caveat on what the series is about. It's a postapocalyptic styled future roughly; most of the world has been conquered and falls under the imperial control of a country called Britannia. Lelouch hates the Britannian Empire and meets C.C., an unusual girl who gives Lelouch the power of Geass. This power allows him to give one command to any person who has eye contact with him (but it only works once on a person). Geass gives Lelouch the power to fight against Britannia. The rest of the story pretty much follows Lelouch's war on Brtiannia. The plot is actually a little more complicated than that, in how it's told; that is really a very basic synopsis of the series premise. I like the more complicated plot. Some of the story is predictable, but there are plenty of surprises too. It kept me entertained, and I like how I can sit down with friends and hash out plot points or character choices and break it down on a sociological or political level.

This is just gorgeous. It's from one of the art books.

I also love Code Geass for the costume design, and for anyone new to my blog or to my taste, yes, I will watch something or play a game simply because I like the costume design for the characters. I suppose the same also goes for not watching or not playing something. Maybe this makes me strange, but whatever. =P Given unlimited resources, I would cosplay several variations of C.C. and I love Euphemia's formal gown from the art book. It is a political drama with a side of mecha. If this is your thing; watch it. Even if it's not, watch it. =P It's not really my thing, and I did not really expect to like it. It's a little like Game of Thrones with technology but with less sex, and maybe a few more people make it through to the end... maybe...

Archetypes Coming to Society 6

I am going to be moving my archetype collection to Society 6. I am in the process of phasing out all of my badges including my archetype badges. I will be cleaning up the chibis, since some of the earlier designs for this set were drawn some years ago.

In the mean time, as you saw in my last WIP post, I am working on a new set of larger prints for the archetypes as well. The prints I will have at my table will be full color and awesome (in my opinion). Since all prints I make now will be limited print runs, the full color design will not be available anywhere else but my art table (and maybe Etsy, but I really want to find a more cost effective way to ship before I list them there). I will be however posting a monochrome color variant of the design on Society 6. The monochrome variant is going to be exclusive to Society 6. The Magic Girl is available now as an art print, phone case, or phone skin. We will be formatting it for other products, eventually.