About
Thet's me, taking on my weekly, self-appointed task of coming up with Darkbolt ideas...
I'm 28, and I'm currently an Instructional Designer at
ElementK in Rochester, NY. I'm also working on setting up a board- and role-playing-game company called
Tremorworks. Look for out products in stores the summer of 2006! My major interests of late have been mostly drawing and writing (most of my recent drawings can be found in the Gallery, and my writing has been mostly RPG rules, for the Darkbolt RPG, as well as a couple others and a card game or two). I've really been slacking off on my other creative responsibilities. I would like to design computer games, since I'm full of ideas, but I don't know how I could get into a market like that.
I like to sing and am a novice on the guitar, and I've written some song lyrics based on some Fire Bomber songs (the band in Macross 7). I'm in sort of a band (myself and another guy) and we do some music once in a while.
I originally created Darkbolt
back in 1994, when I was in my "super-hero comic book" phase. The
original darkbolt was a man given negative energy powers in a world-encompassing
event known as the "Big Bang" (an alien starship exploding over Tokyo).
Darkbolt was just one of the thousands of people affected by the event,
and was actually conceptualized long after many other characters and the
event itself.
However, this character never went much farther
than the sketchbook.
Then, in the spring of 1996, a friend and I
were watching Sailor Moon, and inspiration struck. Demons confined
in orbs of different colors, the leader of which being the Demon of Darkness.
Then, high school students being bound to the orbs and receiving amazing
powers. (The picture here is the absolute first picture of Naoko, ever. As you can clearly see, my art has gotten a lot better since then. This was drawn during a particularly boring class one morning.)
With that, 4 episodes of fanime were written, and recording was attempted. Due to problems we won't get into at the moment, nothing actually got accomplished. But, the story lived on, gestating in my head for 4 years, until I finally decided to do something about it.
Naoko was inspired by Sailor Saturn, and developed
from there. She is incredibly shy, but very pretty and sought after
by many a male student in her school. When using her powers, she
becomes much more liberated, almost inherently angry and violent.
However, in her heart is still a great kindness. Her name, Naoko
Yamino (Japanese form: Yamino Naoko) means "Naoko of Darkness", the name
Naoko itself being taken from the creator of Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi.
However, the similarities to Sailor Moon don't really go much farther than
a few underlying concepts and the basic "magical girl" premise.
The current Darkbolt storyline is this...
At the dawn of time, all aspects of the universe came into being as the universe itself was created.
The negative aspects of existence coalesced into the Demons (Darkness, War, Death, Evil, and Destruction),
while the positive aspects took the forms of the Angels (Light, Peace, Life, Good, Order, and Love).
The Demons, led by Darkbolt, the Demon of Darkness, plunged the universe into chaos, following closely
behind the Angel of Life as it created new life on barren worlds. For thousands of years, the Demons
and Angels battled each other, neither side able to win decisively. Alongside the demons fought the
Tenma, a race of powerful, evil beings who sought to rule the universe.
Eventually, the Demons
were beaten and sealed in orbs, scattered throughout the universe, and left under the guard of the
elemental spirits. The Angels, exhausted, lacking faith from those who once believed in them, and suffering the loss of one of their own,
retreated into obscurity, and the Tenma seized control of the many inhabited planets of the universe.
Only one planet remains to be conquered by the Tenma, a world inhabited by creatures that led to the downfall
of not only many of their own, but to any opposing enemies. On this world, there is said to be a great
power, guarded by one even more fearful.
That world is Earth.
About the characters' names...
I already explained the background and Naoko's name, so now the rest of them. All the last names are real Japanese family names, as well as plays on the characters' powers.
Dakuu - This name was originally Daaku (the romanization of the word "dark", pronounced in Japanese). However, I changed it to "Dakuu" in order to alleviate any confusion between his name and Darkbolt (Daaku Boruto in Japanese). Besides, it always ended up pronounced "DakUU" in voice recording sessions.
Sensha - This name doesn't really mean anything, although I'm pretty sure there is a Japanese word "sensha". It's pretty much just a variation on the word "senshi", meaning "soldier".
Mariko Ikusa - I got this one from one of my favorite singer/voice actresses in Japan, Mariko Kouda. Mariko really bears no resemblance to Ms. Kouda, but I needed a name. Her last name means war.
Yun Shino - This one's a little interesting. The entire character is actually based on a friend of mine, who helped me develop the Darkbolt storyline, Kevin Yung. Looks like him and everything. So, his name is Yun, no "g". Shino means "of death".
Ikkou Zenkai - There has been no confirmation as to whether the name "Ikkou" is a guy's name, or even a name at all, even though dictionary sources state is as a name "who's gender has not yet been defined". Originally, the name was "Iko", based on the name of a comic book character my friend Robert came up with. But Iko turns out to be a female name. So, I found the closest match (pronounced the same, for all intents and purposes, unless you really want to get technical). Zenkai has a number of meanings, being a last name as well as "complete and total destruction". Wait for it...
Shiori Murasaki - The last name "Murasaki" means "purple", and I just liked the way it sounds. Besides, she and Johji both have purple hair. Shiori's name was originally going to be "Midori", which means "green", but then I realized that there's nothing green about her. So, I just stuck with a name that I liked, Shiori, similar to that of the elven princess Iori in the novel I'm working on.
Johji Murasaki - Johji was originally Juuji (10 o'clock), but that name made no sense. So, I changed it to the name of the manga artist whose art inspired me to draw manga and anime, Johji Manabe, of Outlanders and Caravan Kidd fame.
 | Sean's Quick and Dirty Guide to Pronunciation
Since I've gotten a few questions about how to pronounce names and stuff that I've made Japanese, here's a quick list and, I hope, decent guides to how they're said. I won't bore anyone with a lesson on Japanese. I'll just write things in phonetic English. The capitalized syllable is where the emphasis is placed.
Naoko Yamino - NAH-oh-ko YAH-mee-no
Mariko Ikusa - MAH-ree-ko EE-koo-sah
Yun Shino - YOON SHEE-no
Ikkou Zenkai - EEK-ko-oh (no pause between syllables) ZEN-ka-ee
Johji Murasaki - JOE-jee MOO-rah-sah-kee
Shiori - SHEE-or-ee
Dakuu - DAH-koo
Yasha - YAH-shah
Sensha - SEN-shah
Tenma - TEN-mah
I hope that was informative, and as much fun as my little drawings... ^_^ |
The Making of Darkbolt
Here it is, a little tutorial on how I make Darkbolt each week. Enjoy!
|
