Esse Mortalis

Kon’s is more neat and meticulous, like there was care put into it. Every line is smooth. All the eyes are facing forward which makes it feel more confident in a way, but they're also not quite as open as Ri's.

Meanwhile, Ri's looks more messy and hastily made, no care about making it look good. There's edges and uneven lines. The eyes are all wide open and looking in all directions, as if making sure they won't miss anything.

Also, not to mention Kon's looks more modern than Ri's which is interesting. Idk I just noticed and thought this was cool.

Edit: Another thing I found under the cut ⤵️⤵️

alt vers + parts i like under cut

The Divine Ritual of Ri

My idiot self focused on the reference a little too much and probably made him a little more muscular than intended. I kinda drew him from memory and only started fact checking myself by the time I had to draw his tattoos/markings and realized Ri's true form was more into the lean kind just like his own physique. My bad.

Well there is a Mononoke show, which I have issues with because of an antiblack caricature in the first episode, but then there’s the Mononoke Movies!

That’s a trilogy with the first movie “Phantom in the Rain” having come out in 2024, the second movie “Ashes of Rage” came out in 2025, and I’m pretty sure the final one “Stone Serpent” has already come out back in May! The trilogy follows the character The Medicine Slayer, investigating an Ooku during the Japanese Feudal Era. He hunts these demon that are known as “Mononoke” which are intense restless spirits that form through heavy trauma in life.

And y’all. The first two movies were absolutely amazing, I watched them both several times and I still feel like I’m noticing little details with every rewatch. The visuals are absolutely stunning and the cinematography is so integral to the story telling, I just love it!! The voice acting is something that I think goes hard in the English and Japanese dubbing but there are pretty defining scenes that I feel should also be watched in English!

The topics and themes discussed are incredible; the politics of concubines in the feudal era, colorism, classism, internalized misogyny, women’s bodily autonomy, just to name a few. There’s so many nuanced, complex, beautiful female characters that I am just obsessed with!! Just to name some of my favorites: Botan, Fuki, and Owashima for sure~!!

I did a speedrun of being an fan of an anime by accident kinda

So I watched a movie, realized there was an anime made before it, realized the anime was a spinoff of another anime so i had to watch that one too, finished the anime, saw there was a second movie available, and heard there was another movie coming, so now im waiting for the third movie to come into netflix or any pirating website

I really did all this because:

1. Dont want to be called a larper.

2. Need more content.

And then i realized the fandoms mostly inactive. Anyway the animes are "Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales" and "mononoke(2007)" the movies are these in order "Mononoke: the Phantom in the Rain" and "Mononoke: The Ashes of Rage" where a third movie "Mononoke: The Curse of the Serpent" is only available in theatres rn.

Heres the protag

They're different people. The movies use Kon Kusuriuri, but the anime uses Ri Kusuriuri.

Their names are actually unknown, because Kusuriuri means "medicine peddler" in japanese and Ri/Kon is the name of their sword. So the fandom refers to them by sword and occupation.

They also have some other guy called shingi. No differentiation this time by name.

They're the final form or wtv.

The Medicine Seller of Ri (again)

I ended up changing the entire composition because i wanted to try something different and apparently I can render skin and clothes but not faces and hair. It's a nightmare.

Zashiki-Warashi, the ghost parlor children.

🧿 My page spread illustration for the Mononoke zine project "Tokihanatsu" 🧿

Leftover zine copies will be available at @mononoke-zine!

Mononoke (2007) is a psychological horror anime about the Medicine Seller, who exorcises yokai spirits by learning its Form, Truth, and Reason.

WIP!

I got curious and apparently back in the Edo period in Japan the most attractive and erotic part of the body (especially for women) is the back of the neck- being "a major focal point of Japanese femininity, serving as a subtle, elegant, and sensual point of allure."