Art Process 🎨

Alt Versions 🎨

Tested different gradient maps :>

I added some new ones that adds some post processing effects. They're also nice, but I prefer my more subdued colours up top 👍

The coloured line Auto Action I use lowers the lines opacity, uses Gaussian Blur on the lines, adds Saturation, then sets Layer Mode to Colour Burn or Multiply.

Colour Burn has a super nice vibrant effect on the lines, but it doesn't work on near white colours, so gotta fix that ✍️

Multiply lowers the lines' opacity so it blends in more with the colours underneath, has more of a subdued look. Multiply has dark lineart but lowered opacity.

I wanna combine aspects from both eventually to have both the glowy lines on the outside, and softer look on the lines 💞

MR2 Saeru HCs 🐍👘

In my HC version of MR2 Saeru, he wears traditional clothing and takes more design inspirations from Azami's design. 💗

I love everything down to the face. I don't vibe with the outfit tho, so I'd just draw my redesign/HC version instead. ✍️

Cuz I fuck with everything on this design EXCEPT for the canon design's crop top and X-shaped strap (and entire clothes, tbh)

I love the black snake scales on his face, the cute little tufts of hair and black horns, the braid in the back that looks like a scorpion's tail, red sclera and red gradient limbs, and the white sash with bloodstains on it. 🥰

Just not everything else 😭

In my HCs, he wears a long, thin floating scarf loosely inspired by the Chinese hanfu shawl Pibo (披帛), as well as the Japanese floating scarf, Tenne (纏衣/天衣) or Hagoromo (羽衣) 🤍🧣

Tenne/Hagoromo are long, thin floating scarves normally depicted with Japanese deities, gods, and celestial beings (and also, sometimes demons and youkai in animanga and games).

I HC he wears them around his arms. We'll see if I add them or not here 👍

I'm planning to redraw the horn shapes and make them more detailed and slightly more twisted looking... ✍️

I'd make him take more inspo from his Design Poll outfit and Azami's clothes.

He's an ancient being, so I'd rather him wear traditional clothes instead.

I'd make him have a white floating scarf around his arms. I'll probably play around with the outfit design

In my redesign, I'd give him a Pibo (hanfu shawl) inspired scarf to wear around his arms.

I like the shape language of Áo tứ thân (lit. "four piece/part dress")

I feel like I'd draw him in this Áo tứ thân but in black and red instead.

So he'd mainly be wearing a black cross collared top with red accents ❌

I'd have him wear black pants, white sashes tied around the waist and over his arms, and have the black front panel be dyed with a red gradient at the bottom.

And his usual form can wear a Áo dài (lit. "long dress") in black and yellow colours.

Art Rambles ✍️

I drew the initial sketch in April 2025, then redrew the expressions to the current version in July 2025. Recently filled in the colours for it 👍

The only reason why I didn't have his red sclera with black pupils was cuz it'd lose readability, especially with my style of drawing eyes.

I don't draw very big eyes in my style, so I just made his eyes red.

I'll adjust the shadows and coloured lines effect later! And ofc I'll also clip the airbrush layers to the colours, and paint over stuff too.

These are WIPs for now, so I'll post updated versions whenever I get the time.

Tried to colour with a different lighting method recently! I also tested a bunch of different gradient maps 💗

I love the glowy lines effect with either Colour Burn or Multiply 🤗

I used Gray Multiply layer and Overlay layer with airbrushed saturated colours. This method is so OP for doing dramatic lighting 🤯💥

At first, I wasn't sure how it'd look, but it starts coming together when you start adding more saturated colours.

I prefer this over the initial version I did. The colours look SO pleasing 🥰

It's so easy and quick to do. Gonna colour like this from now on 👍

Also, I'm not sure how this looks on other screens. My monitor lightens the colours considerably compared to my laptop and phone, so I brightened the art a bit with Adjustment Layers (Level Correction and Tone Curve)

Art Plans

I'm waiting for when I get more free time to adjust some things :>

I'll refine and redraw some stuff (redraw Saeru's horns, Ene's hair and headphones, adjust the light) 🫰

And I'll combine the coloured lines effect to have both Colour Burn's saturated glowy effect on the outer lines and Multiply's softer effect on the lines 🙏

Ngl I was debating whether to make his sleeves that huge that big tbh cuz it hides Ene almost entirely but I love how the clothing folds look… 💗

Gotta say I do love the way his sleeves lovingly drape over Ene. 🤭💞

Perhaps she could be clutching onto his sleeves…

I'm pretty obsessed with "Chara's long hair or sleeves lovingly drapes over their lover like a wedding veil" in compositions. 💞

I've been saving this art for when I have time. I wanted to decide on the sketch first. I usually redraw hair, face, eyes, clothes, etc., multiple times and then decide on the best one 👍

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Yen Press Rambles

I also noticed that EN localizers tend to lighten the scan colours a bit (dark gray vs. pure black) in their scans.

I wonder if it's intentional irt printing EN volumes (or if it's cheaper to print them that way?)

I far prefer Yen Press over the other major English manga localizers (Viz, Kodansha)

I LOVE Yen Press' prose and translation style.

Yen Press’ TLs are always more liberal compared to fan-TLs. Their translators typically have such a good understanding of context.

There are some minor errors with the Eye Ability names being translated inconsistently, but I’ll forgive it since it’s honestly inevitable in a 200 page volume.

Thank god that they were the ones who translated the Kagerou Daze manga.

Yen Press's official EN TLs have always been good for the most part (aside from the minor TL errors for the Eye Abilities and etc., but I can't really blame them since it's inevitable in a 200 page volume)

100000000% prefer them over Kodansha and especially Viz LMFAO

Yen Press as an EN manga localizer has really good prose.

Yen Press rules.

I trust that Viz has skilled translators, but Viz tends to make weird translation choices sometimes. Maybe this issue is on Viz's publishers or editors?

At the very least, Magi's official EN TL is decent. Thank god.

Though, I wish Yen Press translated Magi tbh.

It’s usually Viz that tends to get the rights to shounen series (and some shoujos)

I just vastly prefer Yen Press' approach to translation and their TL quality.

I really like Yen Press’ translations.

Though I’d say that the ONE thing that Viz and Kodansha TLs have going for them over Yen Press is that they release scans in super HD (or at least make it more easy for manga raw providers to rip them), so their scans are much more higher quality and more convenient to use as art refs.

Viz and Kodansha's official mangas tend to be sized at about the 1500 x 2500 px range.

It depends on the series.

Yen Press releases their E-books at a smaller resolution size.

Kagerou Daze's official English version scans by Yen Press are about 900 x 1350 px.

I know Yen Press translated the KagePro manga volumes and LNs.

And frankly, thank god.

YP has minor TL errors with inconsistently translating the names of the Eye Abilities at times, but that’s more minor tbh. I really like their translation style in general.

And how Yen Press tends to include info pages explaining honorifics and key terms.

Idrc for Yen Press’ lack of redrawn SFX tbh, so I'm completely fine with Kodansha and Yen Press just putting the translation for what the SFX means in EN text, either next to, or under the original JP SFX.

I did confirm that the Kagerou Daze Manga’s Official English Translation by Yen Press has scans that are 900 x 1350 px.

They are not as HD as the ones I ripped directly from the JP raws. The Kagerou Daze manga's JP scans are 1441 x 2048 px.

But it'll do for now.

Yen Press also tends to release official EN TLs really quickly for the series they work on. Yen Press is honestly a blessing

Yen Press is one of the only major EN localizers (at least that I know of) where their TLs are either the same quality as, or even better than fan translations, and much more accurate too.

Yen Press' TL and wording/prose are REALLY GOOD. I also love their translator notes.

It helped me figure out things since they added to the context of some lines.

Their translators are REALLY skilled and have such a good understanding of context.

Their translators make more liberal TLs, but are still in line with the OG text for the most part.

My ideas are specifically based on these frames of the Angel Sisters and Daemon Sisters 💗

Misc Rambles

Just gonna repost some old doodles cuz I'll be finishing up finals soon👍

I originally doodled these in October, and recently sketched a few new ones.

I just wanna update here with my KuroEne doodle log 🖤💙

I wanted to refine how I draw in this semi-SD/chibi style first, so I tested with Saeru 👍

When I get the time, I wanna draw a matching Ene to match with each one of my Saeru doodles 💙

I was experimenting with many different eye styles and hair shapes.

Whenever I get the time to clean up my sketches, I'll post the revised versions 👍

Plans to Redraw

I sketched SO many, probably 20 - 30+ in total 😭

Not including all of my sketch attempts here. Will probably put them in another post (including the ones I left unfinished and scrapped)

I don't draw as angular as PSG style, so I was testing different ways to draw his hair

I'll redraw Ene's expression and pose since I want them to match 🥰💞

I'd like to redraw some hair, clothing and headphone details eventually 👍

I'll adjust the proportions and redraw the limbs longer for Saeru when I get the chance...

KuroEne's height difference is 25 cm (182 cm vs. 157 cm) 🤯💥

So the bottom of his chin would be near where the top of her head is.

Though I'm gonna redraw Ene's expression and pose to make her art match with Saeru's art. I might redraw her legs as scattered pixels rather than actual shoes... 🤔💭

I need to simplify more and go more angular with my shapes. I want bigger (wider) shapes for Ene's sleeves

Scanning Plans

Sidu's Artbooks

.dsd Sidu Illustration Works (2011 - 2015)

.dsd/V (WHITE/BLACK ver.) (2011 - 2018)

KagePro Production Materials

Mekakucity V's (Limited Edition)

Kagerou Daze -in a day's- Blu-ray Limited Edition Box: Original Materials Book

KagePro Official Artbooks

Kagerou Daze Official Visual Fanbook

Kagerou Daze Official Anthology Comics

Kagerou Daze Official Anthology Comics: UPPER, DOWNER, SUMMER, WINTER, SPRING, BITTER, SWEET, SPICY, FANTASY, REMEMBER, FUTURE

KagePro Merch

Various postcards, clear files, bookmarks, sticker sheets, etc.

Rambles

I got a bunch of KagePro merch within the last several months :)

I will scan them from time to time, at my own pace.

Basically, whenever I have free time and have the opportunity to scan things.

Sidu's Artbooks

I have Sidu's artbooks, .dsd and .dsd/V to scan, which is what I'm most interested in, since .dsd/V's special illusts have not been scanned online in HD before.

The .dsd/V artbook is the hardest for me to scan because the book is bigger than my scanner, so I have to scan a single page multiple times (at least twice) to get all sides.

Kagerou Daze Anthologies

Kagerou Daze Official Anthology Comic -WINTER-

Illustration: Osora

Not my scan, but unfortunately I couldn't find the OG source with Reverse Search

This is the one I wanted to scan in HD for my own purposes :)

For my Saeru and Ene needs 🤭🙏

I have all Kagerou Daze anthologies physically.

I bought them for cheap through a secondhand resale, cuz unfortunately, there were no digital versions I could rip.

Most anthology comics were translated by @/pyralisa but there were some coloured illustrations that weren't posted online.

I'd also like to scan the Anthology illustrations in HD.

KagePro Merch

Source: KagePro Wiki

I also have some miscellaneous merch, including various postcards and clear files of mainly Kuroha/Saeru, Ene, Konoha, and the Mekakushi Dan.

For example, I have the Kagerou Daze -from the darkness- illust of Kuroha and Azami as a postcard without text, so I'd like to scan it.

Kagerou Daze -in a day's- Complete Limited Production Edition

Just gonna use the official merch preview images for some of these.

I got the Kagerou Daze -in a day's- Complete Limited Production Edition Booklets.

It comes with a holographic Ene card, and a postcard version of Ene (both her Music and Movie design on each side)

I scanned the Ene postcard since I wanted to have it in HD.

This art hasn't been scanned before in HD.

I took photos of the entire Kagerou Daze -in a day's- Production Materials booklet (100+ pages)

It includes the MekaDan's concept arts, as well as some animation key frames and the storyboards for the whole Movie.

Due to Tumblr's 30 image size limit, I'll probably post these in parts in separate posts eventually.

I also wanna scan these eventually, but ofc that will be time consuming so I'll go at my own pace.

I applied colour corrections to my photos to make it easier to see.

Mekakucity V's Limited Edition Blu-ray Box

Not my photos/scans.

Mekakucity V's Limited Edition has the KagePro MVs in HD, as well as the Limited Edition Booklets, so I got my hands on it (both digitally and physically)

The Limited Edition Blu-ray Box came with 2 booklets that contained the production images used for the KagePro MVs, as well as the storyboards.

I don't think that Mekakucity V's is very urgent to scan, considering the entirety of Mekakucity V's Production and Storyboard Booklets have already been scanned online by professional scanners.

Most production image pages were cross posted to the KagePro wiki for easy access.

With that being said, I do want to scan some pages myself since Outer Science's pages are really dark, and I remember seeing some early scans that got the colours lighter.

I'd like to try my hand at scanning it too. The booklet is much smaller, so it'd be much easier for me to scan

Kagerou Daze Official Visual Fanbook

I scanned the Ene art 💙

I wanted to have Ene's art in HD since it hasn't been scanned in HD yet.

Again, I don't think this is very urgent to scan since the Official Visual fanbook mainly contains early KagePro arts, but I'll put it on my to-do list for the future.

Rambles

Descreening Scans

Disabling reblogs for now because I wanna finalize my scans by trying to remove this "Moire texture" from my scans using this Descreen plugin first.

I wanna descreen my scans first to remove the grainy texture.

Editing for colour corrections actually doesn't take too much time for me.

Since my scanner scans slightly lighter, I just use Level Corrections to edit the colours to try and make it as close to the OG art as possible.

The grainy Moire texture happens when you scan printed works.

I think there's a plugin that can do it, so I'd have to look into that first and try to figure out how it works.

Misc Rambles

Wanted to give a little update :)

The bias is so real. I mainly prioritize my favourites first 🖤💛💙

I also have plans to scan for the others ofc!

I almost deleted this post by accident by misclicking when I went to post. Jumpscare moment

Hit the 30 image limit with this one.

It's a shame that the Outer Science illust wasn't brightened for the artbook (similar to how it is in the .dsd/V merch) to make it easier to see.

I can see the art better in my own scan, compared to when I have the book in front of me... 😭

Wanna try looking into the descreening plugin because I want to remove the Moire texture on my own personal scans using this descreening plugin

Though my solution is to ask my scanlator mutual Bas if I can't figure it out/get it to work

I wanted to remove this texture on Sidu's .dsd/V artbook Kuroha/Saeru illust (and also from the rest of my scans), since the illust is really dark, and I wanna make the scan clearer to see for viewing and archival purposes.

It's just that the Outer Science illust is where the Moire texture is morenoticeable due to the dark colours.

It's more noticeable here cuz Saeru's illust is so dark. That's why I wanted to use the descreening plugin.

I also considered going to the local library or my school's library to try and see if they have a scanner big enough to scan the book

Though admittedly I'm a little worried about bringing my artbook out of my room and into a backpack to carry with me 😭

I don't want to accidentally bend the pages.

But Ig I got 2 copies of Sidu's .dsd/V artbook for this very reason. I bought 2 just in case, so that if one gets damaged, then I'd still have the other one in completely safe condition. I got both the black and white cover version.

Unfortunately, me handling the book sm caused me to accidentally bend the bottom corner of the Outer Science which has the Summertime Record (Haruka) illust on the back 😭

My white cover version has 1 accidentally bent page and thankfully it's not too noticeable or on anywhere important.

I also scanned the Outer Science illust page a couple times before that happened.

That one meme that's like "If all else fails, ask guy on Discord"

If I can't get it work on my own, I'm probably gonna ask Bas to see if he can look into the PS plugin for scanning purposes (to descreen scans and remove the grainy texture)

Bas is a scanlator mutual of mine who runs a fan-scanlation team and has been into animanga 🏴‍☠️ for 15+ years.

So he can rip the raws of any series that's available digitally for you.

He's so based 👍 He is really experienced with scanlation.

I also learned how to rip digital scans from certain E-book sites, which is how I ripped the KagePro Light Novels and Kagerou Daze manga volumes in JP.

Rambles

Rambles I had with Feila.

WIP for now since I've been busy with school. I haven't drawn clothes on him yet, so I cropped it for now.

Gonna redraw the MR2 form's hair later.

Every masc chara I draw getting the buff-ification (or at least looking more muscular) cuz of Douman is sooo funny to me.

Though it's funny how some EA/SEA fan artists draw Saeru buffer than I do.

Cuz I fuck with everything on this design EXCEPT for the crop top.

I love the black snake scales on his face, the cute little tufts of hair and black horns, the braid in the back that looks like a scorpion's tail like Judar's, red sclera and red gradient limbs, and the white sash with bloodstains on it.

Since Azami is Saeru's creator, I'll be incorporating more of Azami's traditional clothes inspired outfit onto his design~

Since the slit in Azami's outfit also reminds me of some Viet traditional clothes like Áo dài ("Long dress")

I do appreciate Mahiro’s work, but I'm not a fan of the manga art style by Satou Mahiro cuz the art is weak and undynamic.

Iirc, Sidu designed Kuroha/Saeru's MR2 design, so I REALLY wanna see her concept art sketches one day.

I love how Sayuki draws his MR2 design in the Children Record Re:boot MV since the inking is really good.

I'm thinking of doing a Kuroha/Saeru MR2 (Manga Route 2) form redesign that's loosely inspired by EA/SEA traditional clothes

I'd like to draw alts of him wearing Vietnamese traditional clothes and Chinese traditional clothes.

Azami's outfit is inspired by Japanese traditional clothing.

The slit in Azami's outfit does lowkey remind me of áo dài ("long dress")

KuroEne wearing Việt Phục

I have more ideas about this ofc but I'll put it in a separate post.

I wanna draw KuroEne in matching couple clothes (Vietnamese traditional clothes) 🖤💙

Imagine KuroEne in Vietnam wearing Việt Phục (Vietnamese traditional clothes) 🥺💞💗💖

I'd imagine that Saeru would wear black Áo giao lĩnh (Cross collared dress) and Ene would wear blue Áo Tấc (Ceremonial dress)

My skrunklies going on a vacation in my home country would be peak comfort for me~

I'd love to see them wear Việt Phục while in Vietnam's historical sights and gorgeous landscapes!

I want Ene to wear the gorgeous fairy style Áo Tấc with translucent sleeves! My wife would look absolutely gorgeous WAHHH 😭💞💘💓

Kuroha/Saeru would fit really well with the last one (painting)

I love the black and white, and gold embroiderings.

The black one is SO Saeru-core RAHHH

KuroEne wearing Hanfu

I haven't picked hanfu for them yet, but I'd imagine Kuroha would wear black hanfu (with accent colours like silver, white, gold, red)

Ene would wear blue hanfu (with accent colours like white and black)

It'd be cool if he wore thin white pibo (披帛), hanfu scarves/accessories.

It'd be reminiscient to his MR2 design.

I want it to flow around him and have an exaggerated shape language/silhouette like a snake 🐍

I'm planning to draw that in my Saeru MR2 redesign (cuz I don't feel like drawing the top and bottom part of the canon outfit, so I'm just gonna draw what I want)

F: > Your art

Cunty ahh pose also good luck with it :D

The crop top aspect (of the canon MR2 design) is a bit weird, but it's unique to me to I let it slide this time

Me: Yeah I was just thinking that for my future KuroEne arts, I don't feel like drawing the crop top so I'll just make up my own design

Also the canon MR2 outfit is confusing/hard to draw since we don't have coloured refs for it.

It's hard to tell what's going on with the bottom part of the design tbh since it's just inked in black

I'll continue the WIP later, I can tell you about the ideas I wanna draw irt KuroEne wearing traditional clothes (traditional Viet clothes)

So with the slit in Azami's outfit, I was thinking of taking inspirations from EA/SEA traditional clothing

Azami moved to and settled in Japan, and wears a more traditional esque outfit

So I was thinking of drawing Saeru in VN and CN traditional clothing as my alt designs.

I'd take inspirations from Việt Phục (traditional Vietnamese clothing) and Huafu (traditional Chinese clothing)

I'll see which ones fit the best. It'll be fun to experiment with different clothing designs.

He can just change his clothes with Awakening Eyes.

Though I'll keep Saeru's high collar, since he has it in both forms.

I'll also keep his MR2 form's scorpion tail shaped braids.

Việt Phục Rambles

This type of Việt Phục is called Áo dài ("Long dress"), it has a high slit around the waist.

Áo ngũ thân ("Five part dress") is the predecessor/ancestor to the Áo dài. It has 5 pieces/panels of fabric sewn together, compared to the Áo dài's 2 panels

Áo Tấc ("10 cm dress") is a type of Áo ngũ thân ("Five part dress"). It's the formal version with wide baggy loose sleeves

Áo Tấc is also called Áo tế (Ritual/Ceremonial dress). It's a Việt phục (VN traditional clothing) originally worn in the Nguyễn dynasty, but modern renditions are being made

Name comes from:

1 Tấc = 10 cm, width of the bound seam

I have the purple and pink Áo Tấc myself 🥰💗

Since Azami's outfit has loose baggy sleeves, I want him to have longer sleeves too hehe

Áo tứ thân ("Four part dress") is a dress that originates from Northen Vietnam. It has a skirt and sashes tied around the waist

The big hat is called Nón quai thao ("Wide flat palm hat with fringes/strap tassels"). It can basically be worn with any Việt Phục.

I really like the look of Áo tứ thân's sashes tied around the waist, so I'll also consider it... I think I wanna draw him in it eventually.

This outfit is traditionally femme, but Viet men's fashion isn't as diverse as Viet women's fashion (at least from what I've noticed), so I'm just gonna take inspo from it anyways

Forgot to ramble about Áo Giao Lĩnh ("Cross collared robe")

It looks similar to hanfu but is distinctly different

F: Interesting

I love the purple ones

The colours fit my taste :D

Trưng Sisters (FGO)

I can't believe that FGO, which is super hit or miss with designs (and in general), gave me the first Viet rep in popular animanga + games (related works)

The Trưng Sisters, Hai Bà Trưng ("Two Sisters [Named] Trưng"), Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị are drawn by Pokemon Sun/Moon, Sword/Shield, and Legends Arceus' main character designer: Takegarou (Take)

And because the artist is Takegarou, they have wonderful designs

Take's designs are very diverse and tasteful

They have a GREAT aesthetic sense. The colours are so good.

God bless that their artist was Takegarou, cuz if it was anyone else I could've easily gotten some ugly obnoxious fanservice incel gooner bait.

And I would've been like "Typical Fate /neg"

Trưng Sisters' Ascensions (Outfit Inspirations)

AC1: More modern type of áo dài (long dress) + nón lá (conical leaf hat). Can be worn casually or formally. In some places, it's a school uniform.

AC2: Maybe the áo yếm (undergarment) + áo tứ thân (four-part dress)

AC3: More traditional type of áo dài. Compared to the modernized áo dài (which was tightened to accentuate curves), it's more modest and is longer in length (drapes to the floor)

(These are my speculations)

Also I'm pointing these out cuz I LOVE the wavy pattern Take drew with AC2's áo tứ thân inspired outfit, the pointy wavy ends.

That'd be so cool to do with Kuroha/Saeru since Awakening Eyes' power manifests in the form of a black aura or black snakes for him, so it'd be fun to have his clothes and aura make swirly pointed shapes like that around his feet.

F: Wooawee, it's nice to learn more about Viet culture :D

I've always loved Femme traditional outfits.

So you're gonna draw Kuroha wearing Áo dài?

Me: Glad it's interesting to learn about 🥰💗 I love learning about traditional clothes. I'll probably draw my faves wearing all kinds of traditional clothes in the future.

I guess for my design of Saeru wearing Viet traditional clothing, I'll be drawing whatever I feel like.

It'll have the slits of the Áo dài and its shape but it'll have bigger sleeves like Áo Tấc.

Probably gonna redraw the hair later but here's a WIP for now.

F: Oooohhh. Hell yeah, turn this man into a modest gay bastard

Me: <333

F: I'm scared of people who draw the parts of the body before the clothes. I just cover it with clothes

Me: Sometimes I do either or! Depends on what I feel like. It makes sense for people to draw the body first since they have the overall gesture/silhouette so they can just draw clothes on top. Sometimes tho I just feel like sketching quickly so I draw the clothes on right away

Me: The thin long scarf that's worn with hanfu is called Pibo (披帛)

One of the biggest examples of a chara I can think of with a chara who has a hanfu shawl like this is my wife Kougyoku (Magi)

Japanese deities, gods, celestial beings, etc., tend to be depicted with Tenne (纏衣/天衣) and Hagoromo (羽衣)

Iirc, in animanga and video games, supernatural beings. like deities, gods, demons, youkai, etc., tend to be depicted with them.

Me: Because on Kuroha's MR2 design, he has the white sash with blood stains on it.

I was thinking it'd be really cool for Kuroha to have a thin long scarf like this that surrounds him, similar to the white snake-like projections in Mary's queen (Medusa) form.

Now that I think about it, it'd be cool for him to have black horns.

Reminds me of oni...

Also the masks worn by Kabuki and Noh actors to depict oni (demons)

Saeru Hebi is like a sleep paralysis demon, after all 🥰💖

...

F: HANFU MENTIONED.

I'd kill to wear one

Me: THEY'RE SOOOO NICE TO WEAR...

I got a Judar colours themed hanfu back in 2023 and it's sooo pretty omg 😭🖤❤️

F: I NEVER WORE ONE.

I'm gonna sob

The last time I wore a traditional clothing was for a school event, and it was a Kebaya (quite tacky to wear but I love the look it gave me)

Me: I'm finally getting better at tying the wrap around skirt (qun)

(Not posting my own pics due to privacy so I'll just post the previews from the site I got it from)

F: LLAHDKSJS IT LOOKS GORGEOUS

(Both person and Hanfu www)

Me: It's also my headcanon hanfu for Judar so now I match with my fave 🐈‍⬛🖤❤️

I based my Judar (Magi) hanfu HC design on this one!

F: I mean... at least I could tell he's Chinese with that outfit on

Me: Yeah I'm definitely not drawing certain Magi charas in their canon outfits 😭

The racial stereotyping and colourism are my biggest criticisms of Magi.

Also even aside from orientalism, the racially stereotyped/orientalist outfits in Magi are just mad ugly 😭

Judar looks so good in hanfu. Should've been his canon clothes!

F: I just can't draw abs so if I ever need to draw a canonically half naked guy? Give him a shirt

Me: Yeah drawing buff men takes practice

F: Tbh Saeru fits more with the buff body type. While Dark Konoha fits more with the... average teenage boy body type

Me: Oh yeah they're technically both twinks in canon, but I'm just gonna draw both with a more muscular body type.

Now every masc chara I draw gets the buff-ification treatment cuz of Douman

Me: Oh yeah they're technically both twinks in canon but I'm just gonna draw both with a more muscular body type

F: IT DOESN'T FIT SAERU THO. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE INTIMIDATING AND MONSTROUS.

Me: Technically both designs are Saeru/Black Konoha, but yeah I feel like he should be more muscular in comparison to someone weak and wimpy like Shintaro /lh

F: THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING.

Mahiro did great but, I need him to look more intimidating

Me: I appreciate Mahiro's work, but, since I'm not really a fan of the manga's art, I also need him to look hotter.

Where's our hot snake demon man /lh

Thank god we got MR2 Kuroha/Saeru by Sayuki.

But I also wanna see Sidu's sketches since she designed it

F: At least Sae is safe from SHAFT

Me: HADHSHDSH YEAH...

F: > Sayuki's MR2 Saeru

It was only for a brief moment, what a rip off

Me: Right... And all the frames in the Children Record Re:boot MV are covered by text smh

F: And Shit Place’s trademark expires in 2028

Kuroha Doodle

When I first came back to KagePro in late April, I drew this doodle inspired by Kagerou Daze VII -from the darkness-

I imagined yellow cords and ropes tied around him, similar to Azami in the Outer Science MV

This was my first recent KagePro doodle in a long time.

KagePro LN 7 has my fave LN cover. I love it soooo much 💞

Sidu has a brilliant aesthetic sense. The way Kuroha and Azami are drawn in this... Omg...

I still like some parts, but I'd probably redraw it to make it consistent with my current art style

Like I'd probably redraw it with a new pose. The expression is nice tho!

F: OOOOH CUTEEE

Me: YEAH I just thought these would be super cute 🥺

Unfortunately we don't know the date, but that doesn't stop us from HC-ing what their birthday dates will be like 💥

F: Imagine the gifts they gave her 🤔

F: Yeah, Jin doesn't want the peak character to get cool birthday arts 😔

Some people are weirdly suspecting October to be her birth month

Me: OOOH good point!

Kuroha/Saeru's rich ass will be able to get her anything LMAO

He did manipulate people so he could get funds/resources to get the lab built and such

He's putting that money to good use

F: Oh, maybe one of those "buying everything my gf touch" /j

Me: 😂

Me:

MaryEne celebrating Ene's birthday:

I feel like Mary would make her a bouquet of flowers (since she makes flower bouquets and sells them for 5 yen each), and also get her a tea set 💐🫖🍵

And maybe she'd try to get Ene into journaling/scrapbooking with her as a way to spend time with her

I feel like it'd be fun for them to go clothes shopping together (which I could also see with AyaTaka/AyaEne). Like buying cute dresses and such...

F: Konoha... cake baking and him eating all of it in the end 🍰🎂😭

Me: HELP LMAO

Me:

KuroEne celebrating Ene's birthday:

He would get her new clothes and plushies, new video games. And perhaps he would take her to a Hot Springs vacation/onsen. Or a get-away vacation. Or go on an Amusement park date, or an arcade game date. Lots of possibilities!!!

F: Or flying into another country, most expensive choice

F: Tho I like to imagine a quick trip to the mall

Me: KuroEne trip to Vietnam, go go go!!!!!

My KHR AU Yume (Canon/OC) ship, XanLena, fits the most with this scenario, because Selena is my Viet NB KHR OC. Vietnam is her home country 🪷

But I would also love to think of KuroEne exploring my home country... 🥺🙏

Me: Oh yeah lol... Apparently this guy got the department store made in the first place

Me: Makes me wonder if his accumulation of knowledge applies to languages too.

Like if he knows everything from the start of civilization up to modern science, then it probably does, right?

F: Maybe?? I like to imagine it that way. Multilingual Kuroha

Me: At first Azami wrote in an ancient Medusa (?) language that Ayaka (Ayano’s mom) could somehow read. So I bet he could probably write and read it too

Cuz he knows more than Azami does (even about her own Abilities)

Me: Wait I was just looking at the old merch and... MaryEne ice skating date. I know Mary doesn't do well with the cold but she can bring a jacket at least

This is why I commissioned a chibi art of Snow Day MaryEne together 💗

KuroEne trip to the water slide!!! Lots of possibilities

Me:

Yukata KonoEne (Hanabi set)

Weh weh weh Ene in twintails.............................. Oh Japanese festivals (matsuri) are a great idea (not just for birthday related stuff, but can be in general, too)

F: Shintaro working out in that Sports merch set is so cursed. But really off topic PONYTAIL MARY IS PRETTY

Me: At least Japanese ping pong is on the lighter side of sports Ig

Me: I love seeing Mary in alternate hairstyles 💗

F: With Mary's original hair length, the skates might get stuck to it

Me Oh yeah true good point. Makes sense she'd have to tie her hair up

Me: KuroEne should visit Japanese gardens and koi ponds

KuroEne trip to Vietnam is fun to imagine... Ehehehehe

F: A fish feeding date :v Fish feeding is actually fun so a good date idea :D

Me: Lots of date ideas... Idk why I never thought of this before but zoo or aquarium date. Though Ene probably must be so used to the presence of snakes now cuz of this mf

F: There's a saying in Indo that goes like "Orang kaya mah bebas" which means "Rich people are free to do whatever" and it fits this context of KuroEne 😭

Me: LMAO YEAH

XanLena (KHR AU) and KuroEne (KagePro) can go wild

F: I FORGOT ABOUT XANXUS 💀

Me:

I imagine Xanxus' gifts to Selena (in general) are like:

A huge indoor garden with a koi pond and waterfalls, a trip to Vietnam, flower bouquets, rare/endangered plant species, an entire rundown village (cheap real estate with Italy's smalltown aesthetic) which includes a villa, cute clothes she likes (cute frilly clothes with ruffles, girly fashion, lolita fashion, custom made traditional Viet clothes), etc.

He'd also get the Servants to prepare flowers, chocolates, and food she likes for her birthday. And everything must be perfect. Otherwise he's firing them and very literally throwing them out of the building

Rich mafia boss bf and extremely selfish and spoiled… Expects nothing less but the best

Me: Though Ene probably must be so used to the presence of snakes now cuz of this mf

F: I don't think so, since Kuroha is also human-like, seeing snakes in the zoo would be like

Ene: Eeek! Snakes! I'm glad they're caged properly!

Kuroha: (…)

(→ Visibly offended)

Me: LMAO

Ene: Oh, sorry… I forgot about the guy next to me~ Should I put a leash on you or something?

Kuroha: Careful what you say, little bunny...

Kuroha: A caged/leashed animal can still bite, you know? (^-^)

Me: Oh I was moreso thinking about how he'd let his snakes from Awakening Eyes manifest in the house sometimes.

F: SNAKE LEASH IS A THING??? HELLLL 😭

Me: WHDSHHDSHDS

Me: Something like this:

Kuroha: Do you like them? They seem curious about you...

Small snake from Awakening Eyes: Sss 🐍

Me: And sometimes he uses Awakening Eyes to change his tongue to a forked snake tongue to tease Ene with

F: It'd be cute to imagine his snakes wandering around tho

Me: Yeah I think it'd be super cute to imagine them wandering around the house sometimes. Like if he lets them out sometimes.

I think Ene would eventually get used to his little snakes :3

After all...... they'd get curious about Ene since Saeru's scent is all over her

Me:

Ene: Eeek! Snakes! I'm glad they're caged properly, haha!

Kuroha: (...)

Ene: (Oops, maybe this was the wrong thing to say around my snake-like boyfriend...) 💦

Ene: Oh, come on... Don't get the wrong idea! The ones you let around the house are more on the friendly side~

Kuroha/Saeru Rambles

Me: It was somewhere in my notes but I forgot where it was so I'll just write this out again (until I find it again)

But basically I was thinking about how the thing with Saeru is that Azami's wish changing from her desire to know herself (the wish that created him and gave his existence/purpose meaning in the first place) changed to wanting to be with her family forever (so he felt like that purpose was taken away), as Mary states in MR2.

So, basically, he wants to be seen and acknowledged (because he fears fully disappearing and losing his sentience if he's fully forgotten)

And I was just thinking about how this does come full circle in the context of a Kuroha ship AU

While he works to further his goals to reset the timeline for his immortality, he entertains himself with exploring new possibilities in the Routes by messing around (including carnal pleasures, etc.), and the way he asserts himself into his S/O's life and sets up meetings/encounters to seduce them into falling for his temptations, like, now his existence becomes "necessary" to someone.

F: 💗

...

I think this is just a slightly different version of this post I made before

I'll quote the parts from it that's relevant

I think it’s incredibly interesting to think about, because in my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru gained a bit of a semblance of humanity, and a very human-like irony/contradiction of still being willing to “love” a human, despite him both loving and hating humanity.

In my KuroEne AU, Saeru Hebi lashes out against humans/the world because his existence was eventually forgotten/unneeded by Azami anymore and lost his sense of purpose when Azami's wish changed, and decides to rectify this by working towards his own plans (to avoid losing his sentience and thus gain a form of pseudo immortality through the time loops), and have his existence become "necessary/needed" to someone by making his S/O crave him and become addicted to him

Ofc he's unaware/not cognizant of the fact/can't grasp why his existence was deemed unecessary in the first place. So he gained a will and an identity, but lost his sense of purpose. And he resents this fact - losing a purpose.

Ironically, with him (Saeru) gaining an objective, he gained the human-like struggle to survive and preserve itself.