#shuuko

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While sadly nothing as cool and interesting as a post about Rockman 8 cels, I did roll the dice on yet another EXE production art auction last week. It was listed as mostly backgrounds and reference, but I was hoping there might be something besides the one piece of character art in it.

Sadly, no.

It’s basically one piece of character art and like 100 backgrounds and references. BUT, I can’t say I’ve ever had a settei batch with studio-used reference images, so it’s unique in that aspect, if only to get a little insight into what the animators were thinking as they designed the world and characters of the EXE anime. So while a little disappointed, it is what I figured it was, and is still really interesting. Just won’t be as exciting for people who only want to see character art.

So to start out, the one character page is from Axess Ep. 49, as Yuuchirou and Sci Lab team try to use the vaccine chip to ‘cure’ Dark Blues back to his normal self. It doesn’t quite contain everyone who was in that original scene, but here is that screencap as a comparison:

So it gives a little color guide info, and pieces are actually colored in a bit with colored pencil on the sheet. On the back of that page, there is a dig ‘n drill construction vehicle concept that is X’d out, and another color swatch page stapled onto it.

Then there is one background piece from Axess Ep. 17 that is actually watercolor painted. You can kinda see the paper crumpling up from the watercolor in the upper center, along with the sides to a lesser extent. No, it’s not torn or ripped, the paper is just wrinkled up in those spots. And that’s the underwater portion of the tower where Yuriko and Beastman try to destroy those legs to send the tower toppling during Tamako and Netto’s visit.

Following that, there are 2 pages of internet area backgrounds, such as a steel mill, IPC and a hospital, from Axess 26-30, which are essentially color screencaps of the 3D art.

And then, a couple reference samples. Most of these I got are all color copies, and it really has a lot of variety, from bat photos (likely for Shademan’s wing motions and design), other insects, desert backgrounds, tornadoes, even Freddy vs. Jason movie posters. It’s honestly hilariously interesting to have all this random reference, but at the same time makes me feel a little less worse about using reference as an artist.

The two reference pages I’ll post today are from Axess Ep. 40. It was such a heavy Laika/Sharo episode, I didn’t realize this was even used until I got to the end of the episode.

For comparison, Netto does go into a department store at the end of the show, that is essentially a maid store, as the maids are giving out samples and working the counters. The first page has a reference for the exterior of the store, along with maid costumes they used. The second has more samples of actual workers in this store handing out samples, and interacting with customers.

So, here’s how that reference was used in the show, as seen in these screencaps:

Compare to the reference sheets, and it’s quite interesting to see!!

Reaper’s Grimm

Name: Shuuko Satake

Time of Death: 10:34pm

Time of Discovery: 7:00am

Location: Elevator

Cause of Death: ???

Shuuko made his way towards the third floor, opting to take a moment to himself in the spa. He usually wasn't really open to bathing with others, nor did he like the possibility of anyone walking in, but he was so stressed, and if his entry fee was hating takeout- y'know, one of the FEW things he found happiness in- so he might as well treat himself.

So, upon arrival, he made way towards the stalls and quickly removed his jacket and t-shirt, promptly placing them over the door to avoid getting wet. Feeling a bit unsure of himself, he inched towards the water, towel in hand, debating with himself about whether or not he should actually dive in or take his time. The latter seemed to be the only realistic option for Shuuko.

He tiptoed towards the side of the sauna, sticking a single bare toe in the water. The temperature was way hotter than he'd imagined, and he fell back, squealing in pain. It was nothing a normal human couldn't handle, but for Shuuko, it took him off guard and caused slight redness in his sensitive skin. To be fair, this was his first time ever entering a sauna, much less having the courage to try it out. Ultimately, he didn't like it. A pool perhaps might be better, but alas, this was all the mansion had to offer.

He gathered himself and sat back down on the tile, watching the water's movements instead of getting back in it. That was, minutes later, when he noticed Beau at the entrance of the room, and immediately jumped back up into a defensive stance, grabbing his towel and attempting to cover himself with it, only to slip over his own feet and subsequently fall backwards into the sauna.

Screaming, he scrambled out, soaking wet at this rate, and absolutely infuriated. He dashed at the speed of light for a new, drier towel and hid himself, turning his back to her to hide the reddening hue that gave way on his cheeks. He was very embarrassed.

Shuuko rolled his eyes. He could think of a million things he would have preferred to have been doing- even with his newfound lack of interest- before he would have ever liked to hear the mascots utter another word. But he knew it was inevitable, and as the class was summoned, the park ranger found himself huffing and puffing with irritability as Chuuya spoke. 

"Yeah. Because that's all possible. Listen, if you want me to kill someone, you might as well make your motives believable. If reviving dead people was possible, don't you think we would have known that by now? Don't you think we would have already tried that? Come on, how does anyone believe this crap?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot on the floor.

"Besides, what if someone wants to just revive the person they killed to make this motive come true? There's a lot of wormholes in that. Not that I expect much out of you freaks anyway. Seriously, next time I demand you really woo me. Blow my mind."

He rolled his eyes.