I should know by now that summer is a hard time to keep up with a blog. Paradoxically, it’s probably the busiest time of the year for me. But that’s not the only reason that June went by without an update here. A few weeks ago, I lost my grandmother suddenly. It seems like I was just with her, helping her go through her garage and letting go of things that she didn’t need. Last week, I was helping my mother and aunt sort and organize her house, now that she is gone. We never want to say goodbye to anyone in our lives, but there are some ways that we wish we didn’t have to lose them.
I am hoping to be far better about getting new posts up, so stay tuned! You know me–it’ll be eclectic as ever. This week, I have a link to a project that my sister and I worked on back in March. A translation and comic hosting site, MediBang, partnered with the big manga publisher Shonen Jump to hold a manga contest, open to anyone with an inclination to try their hand at the Japanese comic style. My sister and I have been working, off and on, on a shonen (action style) manga for some time, and we took the contest as a challenge. Granted, we heard about it late, and so we had two weeks to throw something together. All in all, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out as a rush job, though a lot of things could be improved if I had had more time! Here’s a synopsis of the short story:
In the future, the world struggles with recovering its buried history and the ravages of a virus that has sprung from an unknown source. Guardians, those with special skills for not only fighting but also the arts, are tasked with protecting the artifacts and the people that are left.
But who watches the guardians?
Military attaché from England Nathin Blackfriar has never considered himself to be a soldier. He doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. He finds himself in a heated situation when a local Sanctuary, where history is kept, falls under attack. Ash, the mysterious creatures that appeared in the wake of the virus, swarm the place. He and two guardians from the Ametsuchi Sanctuary in New Edo are called in to save whatever they can.
It’s hard enough for Nat to be in the field, but these two guardians don’t seem to get along at all…
In this modern retelling, Japanese fairytales weave together as the classic tale of Momotaro meets the Boy Who Drew Cats.
Sound interesting? Click here to read the story. It’s drawn in the traditional style, so it’s read right to left. I also recommend the full view for scrolling.
So that’s another one of my random projects. Hopefully I’ll have more time in the future to keep working on my art. Thanks for stopping by!
Ariane Peveto 