By Gatsumann
We launched this comic in July of 2018 a little over a year ago, after Lagoloid, and I, Gatsumann, had been planning and building the world, characters, design, lore, and everything else for this comic in late 2014. We created a little bit of celebratory art, which we shared with our email subscribers first (we do encourage you to join!) and now we want to share with the rest of the community. It can be difficult to find the needed time to create extra art, but we wanted to mark the occasion with all of you! It’s important to us to celebrate these moments, and we know and truly appreciate how much you all have really embraced the comic, it’s characters, and world. Not only is it our 1 year anniversary, but we also, as of this post, have a full two chapters completed and published as we enter into our third chapter!
I met Lagoloid well over a decade a go, while he was working on his very first comics, and we have been close friends ever since. We had always wanted to do something creative together, so we took some inspiration from the characters and ideas of his old comic, and decided to completely reinvent what little bit we borrowed from it, and mixed it in with all the stuff we came to love over the years from our favorite comics, anime’s, manga, video games, tv shows, and more. We have been inspired by so many things, that it is too great to list here. But we will give you some of the big ones for us. Let’s start with the aesthetic, all those beautiful tropical locations and super colorful art!
Video Games:
We knew early on we wanted to do this in a gorgeous tropical setting, we both played the Chrono games from Square Enix in our younger days, and we both adored the entire look and vibe of that world. Chrono Trigger is a classic, but it was Chrono Cross with it’s blue skies and water, and it’s wild exotic plant life, diverse cast of characters, and it’s occasional dip into it’s mysterious ancient fantasy lore that gave us that initial spark. We also really loved the Mana games, particularly Legend of Mana. The colorful inviting visuals of that game and it’s cute creatures also served as inspiration. We took these classic JRPG’s and combined them with other western titles to develop the other aspects of our comic, this includes, but is not limited to: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, classic point n’ click adventure games from the 1990’s which were filled with lot’s of great stories and lore, and a touch of artistic inspiration from Sega classics and Capcom as well.
We also need to give a little nod to Solatorobo which has never gotten the love it deserved. There are many more we could mention, but these are what first came up when we planned this complex world. Lagoloid and I are huge Nintendo fans and we continually draw new ideas from the amazing stuff that company creates. Lagoloid, which will come as no surprise to those that know and follow him, is a big Pokemon fan too, and he loves creating new creatures for you guys! That series has not just helped us nail down the look of our comic, but also helped us formulate how we want to approach our world building as well. I myself, am a massive Final Fantasy fan, and I would be derelict in my duty to not mention the influence it has had over our creative output for this comic as well.
Anime:
Once again, between us, we have seen literally hundreds and hundreds of anime’s, from OAV’s, TV Episodes, to Movies. Many of them have played a huge role in the characters and world we are building, but also the stories we want to tell. Here is a sampling of the big ones, some won’t come as a shock, but others may surprise you if you are a hardcore Wukrii fan! Without a doubt, lagoloid’s art has been inspired by the venerable Osamu Tezuka, which in turn has inspired a great deal of the other source material we took inspiration from, like Capcom related content as just one example. Some of Lagoloid’s other favorites are Summer Wars, Red Line, Sword of the Stranger, and Macross Plus. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Pokemon again, in this case as an anime. We both remember when that series came onto the scene in the 90’s and it continues to have an impact on what we do now. (We know many of you are fans too!)
We also, unsurprisingly, as most of us, and especially artists are, big fan’s of Studio Ghibli films. Without Hayao Miyazaki and Osamu Tezuka, we wouldn’t be here. We have made a concerted effort to see every commercially available Ghibli film in theaters. We are both huge fans of the Ghost in the Shell franchise and related cyberpunk anime like bubblegum crisis and others. Another creator we adore is Satoshi Kon, he was a masterful story teller, and we still learn something new from his works whenever we see them. His TV series “Paranoia agent” was my first proper introduction to him before I got to see his amazing films.
We grabbed bits and pieces we loved from a variety of what is now considered classic anime, some of it a bit more obscure than others. Iria: Zeiram the Animation, Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran, Ninja Scroll, Record of Lodoss War, Weathering Continent, Vampire Hunter D, Heroic Legend of Arislan, Claymore, and the collective works of Katsuhiro Otomo, famous for Akira. We also need to mention Tenshi Muyo, Ranma 1/2, Kaze No Yojimbo, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Gunsmith Cats, Gundam, Samurai Champloo, Patlabor, and what is probably without a doubt, the most influential series in my world, Berserk. There are simply too many to list, but this is a sampling.
We wanted to tell an ongoing story, that could be told for many years to come, exploring the dynamics between the different species; humans, demimons, and wukai, and putting them in a colorful world filled with creatures, mysteries, and exciting stories to tell. We felt that, despite the extra work involved, it was worth creating lush detailed backgrounds that you could really see these characters in, and we look forward to showing you brand new parts of the Wukrii islands as the story unfolds.
For us, we think memorable characters and world building is essential to a lasting comic, and we have planned out years worth of content with new places to see, new creatures and people’s to meet, and plenty of stories for all of your favorite characters and new characters yet to be discovered. We have plans to expand the lore of the world with lots more detail for you to dig into. We are excited for you to see what we have in store!
Not only do we try to create completely unique creatures that could easily be right at home in your favorite anime or video game, but we also meticulously designed two unique species (*very* hard to do!), our riding creature, the Tikibi, which is a chimeric two legged riding animal, with lots more to show about them in the future (anyone want to see them race?!), but also, our community’s favorite little half dragon and half rabbit species, the drabbunnies!
Drabbunnies
We had a feeling early on in the creation of this species we had something really special. We had a feeling they would be loved and adored, but like any creator making something completely brand new, we were not sure. You guys have really embraced them, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. It is not an easy thing to create something completely new in today’s world of gigantic companies with massive budgets and teams outputting tons of lore, art, and new ideas.
We were excited to know we had made something truly unique that nobody else had done before, that was both fun and endearing. Nothing is more satisfying to a creator than doing this, except for when it’s also loved by the fans. While the comic does not focus on them exclusively, as we are telling a broader story, they are a huge and important part of the world, and we know a big favorite with all of you. We plan on giving you more information on them and their world as the comic develops. As we close on one year of comics and a full two+ chapters worth of pages, we look forward to bringing you more joy every Monday.
And remember, if you love this comic and you want to see it, and the community grow? Share it! Tell others who you think my like it. See you in the comments!
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