July started off crazy busy due to Anime Expo, which I wrote about in my last quarterly. Now that that‘s over, I can relax right? ...Right? (Also I realized I have only been posting quarterlies and I would like to change that LOL)
Jokes aside, the work never stops. Particularly when it comes to my own personal growth as an artist. Missing a few days due to Anime Expo travel meant I wasn‘t drawing as much and I wanted to make sure I didn‘t regress! So I made sure to do a lot of practice.
Ah my youth. It was full of memories of buying packs of Pokemon or YuGiOh cards from the local hobby shops and convenince stores. When I saw Konami was reprinting boxes from the original series of cards, I had to buy them. I never bought booster boxes as a kid, but I was deeply familiar with each set and booster pack art. Thus I had a blast opening each box and flipping through the many cards I remember pulling a long time ago.
Sort of. For those who don‘t know, Patapon is a series of music rhythm games on the PSP. It had been a while since we heard anything about the series and it was feared dead, trapped on a dying console. On July 15th we got an announcement that a game called RATATAN would be having a kickstarter and one look at the screenshots it was clear. This is a spiritual successor to Patapon. And of course I kickstarted it.
It is being made by a lot of the old Patapon crew, so I have extremely high hopes for it. The music is also EXTREMELY Patapon sounding, as it is done by the same composer as well! Not only that, but one of my favourite character designers Nelnal is working on the character designs for Ratatan, and they look absolutely adorable.
This may be the most fulfilled I‘ve felt working at a company. Everything is exactly what I want to work on, and if there‘s anything else I want to work on, I just have to ask! I‘ve been able to flex my design and art skills which is really the best scenario for me. The days just fly by when I‘m having fun!!
There was also two larger projects that happened this quarter...
As far as new experiences go when working at VShojo, this was one heck of a first experience. I was in charge of the overall branding and merchandise for VShojo‘s first ever live concert!! It was quite a mad rush to get everything done but the concert was so much fun and now I technically have an IMDB page because of it.
I was also in charge of the logo and website design of VShojo‘s first art gallery in Japan! Check it out here: https://www.artgallery.vshojo.com.
A friend suggested I watch this anime, and now I suggest you watch this anime. The first season is only 13 episodes and every single one has a mystery and intrigue that makes you want to watch more. It is all expertly animated and color graded that you won‘t be disappointed. I won‘t say much about the plot as it is that kind of anime where its best if you jump in completely blind.
I raved about how much I loved the design on these V-pets and they finally arrived from Japan and I love them.
I am a casual fan of One Piece, but the anime just never quite grabbed me. When Netflix accounced it would be doing a live action adaptation of the Romance Dawn arc of One Piece, I was skeptical. Their previous foray into anime live action hasn‘t been good at all. But it was revealed that Oda himself would be heavily involved, there was a little hope. And when the first trailer came out, I thought it actually looked quite good! When it finally released, I binged it in two days. It‘s good.
In a behind-the-scenes video, the costume department revealed they used Oda‘s Color Walk and that sparked my need to own them all, and Oda‘s Jump Ryu.
I‘ve been playing Monster Hunter Now since it launched and I‘m having a lot of fun with it! The controls are not bad for being touch controls, and the gameplay loop is a lot of fun! I do have a lot of gripes about how the multiplayer is local only, which really sucks the fun out of hunting with others. Anyway I‘ll probably keep playing until I finish the main story.
Pokemon has launched their Card Illustration Competition for this year and FINALLY Canada is on the list!! After my mild success with the Digimon Card Illustration competition, I will definitely trying my luck with this one!
I love building stuff with my hands and wanted to get more in to physical medium. What perfect way to do that then get into Warhammer miniatures!! I have yet to prime and paint them, but looking forward to when I get to do that.
We went to go see the Blue Jays at the SkyDome (Rogers Center, but I‘ll never call it that). They lost horribly, but at least I got to see all the new renovated parts of the stadium and they honestly look awesome!
The Pokemon 151 set is the latest TCG set to come out and it has a lot of great art cards. I bought only three products: 2 Pokemon Center ETBs and a Mew Premium Collection box. I‘m still waiting for the Mew box, but I just received the Pokemon Center ETBs and got a few cards that I really wanted!
I had quite a busy quarter and it‘s hopefully going to quiet down, but who knows! I also want to post more collectibles on this blog because I‘m insane.
Made with Middleman and Tachyons.