Kasumi Blog

It’s finally here! We’re really excited about this…with good luck and great resourcefulness, we managed to create a real life-size model of Kasumi’s Sakura hair clip! And OMG! It’s super Kawaii! Here’s the initial concept design from start to finish:

Below is Kasumi and I’ve highlighted her Sakura hair clip.

Here’s Sugimoto-san’s initial design:

Here’s a high def version that we had sent to create the model. ^_^

And finally! The sample model!!

Yippee! Now that the sample is done, we can start making more of them! We’re thinking of giving them out as promo gifts to our manga fans! So stay tune to find out how you can get yourself a free Kasumi Sakura hair clip!! ^_^

kiborg

I’ve been procrastinating long enough and I’m finally starting on the Chap 2 dialogue for vol.2. ^_^ I’m done with my manga reading, drama watching and rock band playing and now it’s time to get serious. Sugimoto-san had just shared some of his music with me and they will give me inspiration as I plough through the dialogue and typesetting. My newest fav music is by “The Indigo”. Their music gives me a light, happy feeling like waking up from a cotton-candy dream. ^_^

Oh yes! Sugimoto-san and I were discussing Chap5 sketches for vol.2 the other day and we both agree that vol.2 is turning out to be amazing. I know one should not self praise but seriously, vol. 2 is jammed packed with action, mystery and more than its share of new interesting characters. It’s because the story is moving with such pace that I’m having a writer’s block for Chap6. I’ve to make it even better than the rest because it’s afterall the final chapter and like all good stories and mangas, it has to end with a bang, right?! ^_^; ~~~stress~~~stress~~~stress~~~

Wow…it’s been a while since I last posted. Ooops! ^_^ So…what’s new? Well…I’ve been into playing this new game called “Rock Band”  (http://www.rockband.com/). I’m not really a hard rock person but there’s something about this game that’s uber cool. I think it’s ‘cos you can sing, play the guitar or even be a drummer. Or maybe it’s ‘cos you can create your own character, perform with your band at various venues, travel in a rock band tour bus and perform at rock concerts! My first attempt was with the vocals and frankly, I sucked. Like I said…I’m not really a rock gal and the songs I sang sounded kinna whimpy. *haha*  Ah well…anyways, the guitar’s real cool and my new fav is the drums. We had to buy the rubber covers for the drums because the sound of wood hitting plastic and then bone ~~~ Ooowwuch ~~~~ ^_^; Alrightee…I’ll try to take a picture the next time and will post my character up. Her name is Sabi, by the way. :p Okay, later rock and rollers! PEACE!

Creating Kasumi has been lots of fun. I think what’s more fun is watching Sugimoto-san create the deliciously, handsome and cool male characters. I can’t even begin to describe how estatic I was to see the sketches of the guys that I had describe come to live in Kasumi, vol.1&2. Sugimoto-san is really good at portraying their emotions and hands down, Ryuuki is super-uber cool. So, I think you can guess who’s my all time fav guy. Here’re some sneak peek moments:

Are you drooling already? Stay tune for more updates on my other top picks of cool guys in Seiran!

ps: In regards to Sugimoto-san’s question in his blog below about which incense scent I like…if there is a scent for the smell of fresh flowers after a rainy day…that’s the smell I like.

音楽もそうですが、近頃気分を変える時に良く使うのがお香です。輸入雑貨のお店で安価でしかもかなりの種類が在るので、色々な香りを試すことが出来て良いです。cool waterとvanilla orangeがお気に入りです…。Surt-sanも試してみてはいかが？それではペン入れに戻る事にします。

Okay I admit…writing doesn’t come naturally. There has to be a few factors in place before I can sit down and write an endless, continuous flow of words. Like Sugimoto-san, music is one of my most important inspiration. The type of music will affect the type of story…which brings me to Volume 2…I’ve been listening to a mishmesh of jpop - from “Sarasa Ifu” - Moyashimon theme (http://youtube.com/watch?v=rbXGISKlTS0), to Strawberry Chip (http://youtube.com/watch?v=52DZ_4RVpyQ), to “The Indigo” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=zP2TlIR6E0U). Unfortunately, all of them are on Youtube, at present, as I wait impatiently for my CDs to arrive…*sigh*. Can you imagine the number of times I have to click “Refresh”? As for other factors…rainy days are the best and after waking from a beautiful dream.

I have to heave a big sigh of relief for everyone at Monkey Square. Volume 1 is done, at least, on our part. Now, all 208 pages are with the publishers, who are perusing the pages in great detail. I hope they’ll find the comedic scenes funny…I used to…untill I had to review them for the 5th time…even humor has its limits…:p      

So, what’s in store for Volume 2? Alot of excitement, action scenes and explanations to the numerous questions that Volume 1 raises. We have learnt alot from Volume 1 and have high hopes for Volume 2. Like wine…it tastes better as it ages…or as we grow in experience. Which upon saying it…puts lots of pressure on the poor o’writer o’me. >_<. *Ganbatane* as I shout to no one in particular...a faint attempt to encourage my lethargic brain...By the way, did I mention that Moyashimon Anime is pretty good? I've also been watching the "Honey and Clover" drama - one of my favs now. Okay, I'm all charged! Back to writing! :D

 (Aspergillus oryzae - taken by rahen z from Flickr)     

はじめまして、kasumiの作画を担当しているsugimotoです。どうぞ宜しく！現在vol2のネームを作っています。自分にとって色々な場面を想像し考えるのに必要で重要なのは音楽、、先日も幾つかCDを買いました。そのなかで最近気に入っているのが写真の４枚です。
これからもdozo-yoroshiku!

Happy New Year! or 新年あけましておめでとうございます!

I can’t believe a year has already passed! We went to a friend’s place for New Year’s Eve and had Nabe and Sukiyaki. Oishiso~~ My Japanese friend also served us 蒲鉾, kamaboko - fish cake, shredded daikon and just before the New Year’s, we had soba for longevity. ^_^ We also watched the NHK special - Red and White show (Kōhaku Uta Gassen), which is like the Dick Clark’s New Year’s special, from Japan. There were alot of Enka singers and my friend explained that it was a music/performance competition between Men (white) and Women (red). Gackt was very impressive with his whole Samurai theme performance (http://youtube.com/watch?v=zl_mqVhmJjY) but the one I was most impressed with was the woman in the big dress - http://japonismo.com/IMG/jpg/sachiko.jpg . WOW! Her dress was as big as the stage and changes in color and style throughout her performance. Watching it change reminds me of a Kaleidoscope. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalefarwalker/1347763262/ 

I’ve been having a writer’s block for several weeks now…nothing seems to click and I couldn’t find my music muse…but just now…it started to rain and something in me began to bloom… hahaha…figuratively :p…back to writing Vol2-chapter2! matta ne!