Sunday, March 4, 2012

February 2012

When I played “Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom”, I was overwhelmed by depth of the story and appreciated how the writers added as much historical facts into the storyline as they could. However, because of this was based on real people, it made it that much harder for me to “get over” this series.

War is very devastating and cruel… and to know that most of the Shinsengumi died at such a young age… It’s too depressing for me.

I drew this in my Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Journal a few days after I finished Saito Hajime’s route. With the storyline and Japanese history still fresh in mind, it’s not uncommon for me to have dreams about them.

Before I explain the artwork, I know how many people think pairing your original character with an existing one is “bad form”, but you have to understand: Hakuoki is an otome game. It’s made so that the protagonist is actually, in fact, you – the player of the game. So please, if you want to insist that this piece is romantic in all the wrong ways, just pretend the girl is Yukimura Chizuru with a new hairstyle, ok?

And besides, Saito would never fall in love with Rei. She’s far more headstrong than Chizuru, and she wouldn’t stand not fighting along side the Shinsengumi if she was in the war herself. That’s just how my alter-ego is. ;)

The text I wrote on the side is something that I would actually say to Saito after he explained about samurai/bushido having to always walk on the left side of the road. This is to protect their swords, worn on their left side, because the swords were a part of them, a part of their souls, that should never be touched by anyone else.

Such was not the case for Saito, because he was left-handed. All his life, he was told that his stance was wrong, and that he was cheating for being born left-handed. In the Shinsengumi, they accepted him for who he was, and he finally found his place.

But we all know that we cannot always walk on one side of our paths in life. Rei knows this for a fact, and she also knows she should never walk beside him, as she is a girl, and girls must always walk three steps behind the men. She would never take Saito away from Chizuru, so this is her way of being of some use to him.

Did I mention I drew this so that I can get over my feeling of depression from the last week? And I just realized that this took an entire week to finish as well. =A=;;; Oh, and this was colored in color pencil, inspired from Misakichan’s works, but the scanner always eats the blue hues away, so I had to add some blue on Photoshop. ♥

6 comments:

  1. i just saw this today.... ohmygoodness~ this iz just awesome!!!! and i love the "frame feel" to it~ and your little handwriting on the side... XD

    why is pairing your own character with another bad? is it bad? @__@ cos i love doing cross-overs all the time! XD aw, rei you don't hafta be so defensive about it~ /(^^)/

    and now that i think about it, maybe you can cosplay as yourself as well... XD

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  2. Lol~ Thank my CBTL planner for the frame. xD My scanner didn't pick up the faded logo of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on the lower right corner, which is awesome because I was going to erase it anyway~

    I'm... not exactly sure? I know it's "taboo" in Deviant Art and whenever you post something romantic between an unpaired character from an existing series and your original character? Well, be ready to get trolled. =A=;;; I can't help being defensive... I hate trolls, but they kinda follow me everywhere! ;A;

    ...LMAO Cosplay as myself. I would ruin my character for sure! xD

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  3. It really gives off the feel of one of those chinese wallscrolls. XD

    draw more stuffs in your planner!!! i don't now how the CBTL planner looks like, but I like how the page is all blank. (and with "frame"! XD) well the SB planner's like that too, but I doubt if I would be drawing anything there since it's quite small, and mine's already full of writings and er, plans and stuffs. TAT

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  4. Well, it's not entirely blank. xD There are little drawings on the paper, but some are more "faded" looking than others. :)

    I was thinking about using my Starbucks Planner this year, but I opted for the CBTL one because Aly told me to use "the purple", LMAO~ It's ever so slightly larger than Starbucks' too. :3

    And you should draw on your planner too, even if it's just tiny sketches. :D A sketch is a sketch, and each sketch is practice~ ♥

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  5. oh, i have another sketchbook entirely for that purpose. ^w^
    the starbucks planner is for my uh, schedule and plans and budget and reminders and stuffs. i have bad handwriting and the planner's quite small, so .... yah... >__<

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  6. Envy~ xD I have too much in my bag already so I can't bring a sketchbook and my planner unless I want a bag that's heavy enough to knock someone out, LOL!

    It is pretty small. @_@;;; But the main problem I have with mine is the cover... it tends to give me splinters. >o<;;;

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