My Frog, King!

My frog, King!

Char and Sayla reuniting at Texas Colony. Illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

I love Athrun, because his entire character to me is just him trying to do the right thing as the world goes to hell around him until he eventually has the thought “fuck, Kira was right all along wasn’t he? Again. DAMN IT”.

When Kira goes to Cagalli, Lacus, Shinn, Murrue, etc etc. for emotional support it's because they're genuinely good at offering advice, empathy and a shoulder to cry on. When Kira goes to Athrun for emotional support it's because seeing one of the most important people in his life is inherently uplifting, because it sure as fuck isn't for Athrun's emotional management skills.

by nuqui_herping

My favourite page from the Complete Character Book <3 (no duh!) I love Ito Yu's art a whole bunch, and even though the art style and character designs were what got me to check the show out in the first place, I don't think Chiba's anime adaptation fully does it justice. That's because the anime has a very rigid, hard-shaded look, while Ito's art has this soft, voluminous three-dimensionality to it. Especially when it comes to hair and cavernous clothing that seems to engulf the characters. It's so unique. I also like her preference for a more stocky build with her characters, gives some variety from your typical noodle anime silhouette. Plus the endless variety of facial features on display. Her rough drafts for the show are a display of incredible skill and talent all on their own. Here's some interesting notes on the page:

Shino's particularly wide shoulders are to differentiate him from Akihiro, who is wide and sturdy all over, and from Orga, who is slim and narrow like a straight line.

Akihiro is built like a judoka, he always tucks his shirt in.

Shino is built like an olympic swimmer or a basketball player.

His shoulders are really wide.

Further notes on Shino: Both ears pierced, cheerful, muscular, short hair, Latino appearance.

The crying Shino sketch is from when he's mourning Denji, the quote above says: "Didn't you say that, Danji?"

When Yamagi's hair is lifted it reveals his beautiful face with japanese features.

Yamagi is beautiful but he's also strong.

Yamagi has small, short eyebrows and a shallow nose bridge.

He's quiet and unobtrusive but he likes being with everyone else.

Tekkadan uniform was designed by Juuki Maejima, Ito Yu's husband. Jackets and pants are a common feature, underneath are random t-shirts and tank tops. Yu's comment on Shino: "Initially he had short dreadlocks*. To be honest I thought he was going to be a very minor character, kind of a small fry (lol). It was a great surprise to see him become such an active participant. I didn't expect it to be an ensemble drama which gave spotlight to so many characters, I thought the other Tekkadan members were rather minor characters at first. They've all become important people." Yu's comment on Yamagi: "My impression of him was someone of asian descent, so I was surprised to see that he ended up blonde. His hairstyle seems to reflect the director's image of an introvert. It's only when Shino caressed his head that both his eyes were revealed, and I think that's why grown-up Yamagi in the last episode decided to lift his bangs and show both his eyes. Grownup Yamagi wasn't something included in my proposal, I was very impressed with the artistic skill of showing his whole heart at a glance with just a single image." *I have also seen it mentionned on twitter that Shino initially also had a lot darker skin. As a result of several edits he gradually ended up looking more like Asian/Latino mix. The reason why his design was changed were never given, but my take is that dreads were deemed too difficult to animate for someone they thought would be a minor character.

Royal Space Force : Wings of Honneamise (1987)

TV broadcasts and effects from the movie