Dzibutin

4th piece of the "Crossroad" project!!

Koga is the center of this art piece and for him I decided to focuse on his idolisation of Rei. Why did I actually include Rei in a drawing that was meant to be Koga centered? Well, it is because, in my opinion, it is impossible to look at Koga's character without acknowledging Rei.

From "Backdoor" we learn that Koga had a pretty normal childhood: loving parents that spoiled him and a doggie - Leon. However, Koga also says that, even though he had a happy childhood, he still had a hole in his heart that was later filled with Rei. "Sakuma Rei, Sakuma Rei, Sakuma Rei. My soul wants him". (Sorry, I adore "Backdoor").

In "Crossroad" we can still see Koga yearning for Rei. The prime examples are him chasing Rei everywhere to the point that it could come across as stalking. Koga wanted Rei to notice him and to teach him his ways.

Koga loved Ore-Rei, he idolised him, which pushed Rei away, as he didn't do "hero worship" as he called it. Koga wanted to be like Rei, if not BETTER than Rei. He said that being better than Rei meant being on top of the world, which is a prime example of idolisation. Koga's desire to become like Rei also had an impact on the way he acts. In "Repayment festival" Koga said that the way he acts right now is strictly influenced by Ore-Rei's behaviour. He's basically like Ore-Rei reincarnated (a bit of an exaggeration from my part, but you get the point).

That is why I chose the song "Magnolia" for Koga. The singer's idolisation of Magnolia is like Koga's idolisation of Ore-Rei, and the finishing line "I wish I could be Magnolia" is basically like Koga's desire to be Rei. To be his god.

(I love ReiKoga.)

3rd art piece of the "Crossroad project" is Souma Kanzaki! I am not really proud of this one but I think it's because it's my first time ever drawing Souma (⁠｡⁠•́⁠︿⁠•̀⁠｡⁠)

TL of the song:

"The censor cuts the words with his guillotine

And the executioner blesses the heads of the convicts, yes!

Every other person at my place would get crazy

So it probably had better be me!

Somebody has to be the executioner

Somebody has to be the executioner

I only wish

It won't have to be you

Somebody has to be the executioner

Somebody has to be the executioner

I only wish it won't have to be you".

So, I couldn't think of any strictly "Crossroad"-related work for Souma, therefore I decided to go for a work inspired by the events that happened around "Crossroad", which are more related to "Meteor Impact". I focused on the fact that Souma had the role of an executioner in the Shinkai cult, where he had to get rid of the god (Kanata) if he had started to act against the community or act up in any other way.

In the background we can see a pair of eyes, Kanata's eyes to be exact. I decided to put that in not only for the aesthetic reasons but also to show how much Souma cared and still cares for Kanata. In "Meteor Impact" he was hesitant to act against his god, to "execute" him with the two members of Akatsuki, during the subjugation of the Five Eccentrics. Moreover, we can see that this care still continues to the more recent days as in "Submarine", when Souma heard that Kanata was meeting up with a strange religious group, he panicked and rushed to the scene to see if he really had to fulfill his role.

So from that we can see that even though Souma has the role of an executioner, he still is hesitant to act against Kanata, as he also considers his god as someone close to him, as a friend.

Second art piece of the "Crossroad project" is Kaoru Hakaze!! I chose to depict him sitting on a beach in a rather cloudy and "sad-looking" weather. Why did I choose the beach instead of the underground livehouse that was under Kaoru's care in "Crossroad"? Well, it's majorily because of how Kaoru was depicted in this story. He was shown as unmotivated when it came to both school and the livehouse as well, and also he didn't care much about that building. Kaoru said in "Crossroad" that, because of Yumenosaki's reputation tumbling down, the street around the school, on which the livehouse is located, started to lose it's value which made the livehouse basically worthless. Moreover, the livehouse was a duty put on Kaoru by his father, with whom our blondie didn't have a great relationship, which made the building even more of a burden for Kaoru (at least that is how I interpret it). Furthermore I decided on the beach also because it was a place that Kaoru's mother made him love, so we could say that the ocean is a safe space for Kaoru. Speaking of his mother, I decided to depict Kaoru looking rather grim to show that he is still mourning his mother's death. You could also say that beside him looking sad, he also looks unmotivated, with no ambitions at all. It is because of one of his lines in "Crossroad", basically this one: "If work had made us all Sakuma Rei, we'd all be busting our butts. Unfortunately, that's not how reality works. Anyone who works expecting to be rewarded is an idiot". This line had such an impact on me back in the day (⁠・⁠_⁠・⁠;⁠)

I decided to do a project where I draw every character from UNDEAD and Akatsuki that was involved in "Crossroad". The first piece out of the seven planned is Rei Sakuma!!

The first art piece of this project is, of course, Rei Sakuma (or, more specifically, Ore-Rei). In this piece, Rei is standing at the backdoor to the underground live house, the red light is emitting from that place that Rei held close to him during "Crossroad".

Rei viewed the livehouse as a place where he could actually relieve himself through playing rock, where he could forget about any trouble he had and just go at it by playing rock. That was his momental relief from the boring world, from the unwanted idolization and heroisation, and from his family business. A break from anything in the world. Rei held that place close to him BECAUSE of it being a source of relief for him.

Yet, he is smoking. As my headcanon goes -Ore-Rei smoked because it was a way to cope with everything that had happened to him during that era. Why is he smoking while also staring at a place that was supposed to be his safe space? It's because that safe space was actually torn away from him at the end of "Crossroad", when Rei betrayed his old friend - Keito - as he didn't want to be viewed as a god, as a hero, but as a normal human being that has their own troubles, a normal human being that DOES NOT have to hold the troubles of all of humanity and help everyone while actively sacrificing his own self. When Rei betrayed his friend, that place no longer held the image of a safe space but a space full of bitter memories. I also decided to play a bit with the light here. Rei is turning away from the dark, mundane, boring world and is actually looking towards the red, glowing passion emitting from the livehouse. Rei hated boredom, it was his worst enemy, he craved for sometime and anything to happen, and he could somewhat graze that "something" thanks to this place, thanks to the passion with which he could perform. Even if the passion was not a real one, as rock was just a way of relieving himself and not his real hobby, his real passion. Rei loves jazz actually. And for the song I chose... It was a fierce battle between "Godess" by Laufey and "First Love/ Late Spring" by Mistki, however, in the end the latter won. I decided on Mitski's song because it not only shows how Ore-Rei behaves way more childish, chaotic, and rebellious than he used to in the past but also because of the line "Please don't say you love me" which (in the context of Ore-Rei himself) could be interpreted at his loathe for "hero worship", as he called it, and being scared of the love that Koga had for him during that time. I just love Rei so fucking much... Man, my nerd took over...

So, I hope you like it!!