Cross really left an insurmountable amount of debt and an infinite amount of debt collectors and members of mobs to dodge just to fuck with his least favorite and deceased nephew huh
-This is not necessarily in the order she talked. I tried to create categories so it would be easier to read.
-I skipped all the parts where she just answered comments with just "thank you"
-Of course, BEWARE OF SPOILERS.
-long post ahead
I. About her assistant looking at Twitter
Yesterday, I got a message from my assistant (laughs).
You know, I’m not on Twitter, so I don’t know what’s happening there, and yesterday he contacted me. Usually, we don’t chat outside of work hours (...) but yesterday he sent me a message saying: “Sensei, Lavi is trending on Twitter!”
For this chapter, there are a lot of new backgrounds, right? So, my assistant in charge of backgrounds was working very hard this time. Especially since I delivered the final blow by asking him to draw that double-page spread (the one where they arrive in the field near the Campbell mansion). Of course, I was having a hard time myself, but my assistant was also struggling. So when he told me, “Lavi is trending on Twitter!”, I went like, “Oh, really?” and he answered, “I’m glad we worked hard.” (laughs a lot)
I’m not on X, and I try not to look up online what people say about D.Gray-man, but my assistant likes to see people’s reactions on Twitter. He often looks things up, especially when he’s having a hard time. He takes screenshots of tweets complimenting the backgrounds to cheer himself up.
II. L.A.V.I.
Comment: Thank you for Lavi
Yeah, sure. You don’t have to thank me (laughs).
Maybe some of you have noticed, but in D.Gray-man, because of the passage of time and also because each character has their own reasons, their hair tends to get longer or shorter. For instance, until recently, Allen’s hair was longer, right? Or Lenalee, her hair has been growing since the time she cut it during a fight. Anyway, I’m the type of person who likes making their characters’ hair shorter or longer.
I think I’ve been influenced by Dragon Ball. Their hair changes, right? I love Dragon Ball, so I think it comes from that love.
Anyway, I don’t know if you noticed, but Lavi’s hair got a bit longer (!) Well, it’s a bed scene, so maybe it’s hard to tell... Wait?! Bed scene? (laughs) No, no, no, that’s not what I meant! He’s just lying in bed, ahaha. His hair got longer. And while drawing, I realized how difficult it was to draw Lavi with longer hair. I tried four or five times before succeeding.
(...)
Since Lavi hasn’t woken up yet, I think it’s hard to notice that his hair has grown. But I tried to show that it got longer, it was difficult.
If I make his hair too long, he ends up with the same hairstyle as Allen, but I don’t want that: it’s Lavi, he has to look like Lavi. I think I’m not used to drawing Lavi with longer hair, so please be kind in the future chapters (laughs). If you think it looks weird, just think, “Well, Hoshino is still struggling, ahaha.” Please wait until I master the technique.
So yeah, Lavi’s hair is hard to draw. When he wears his bandana, it’s quite easy, but when his hair is down, I struggle.
You know, in the Bookman clan, they share the same blood, it’s different from the Noahs, so when I draw them, I try to show they belong to the same clan. For the Bookman clan members, I try to show they’re part of the same family, that they have something in common, that they share the same aura. Well, Panda is a bit different, but yeah, that’s what I try to express in my drawings. For instance, their hair, even though each Bookman has their own hairstyle, I try to draw some similarities.
You know, I had decided a while ago that I’d draw Lavi for the cover this time, but I realized you would have killed me if I hadn’t drawn him in the chapter even though he’s on the cover (laughs). I was a bit nervous. I was like, “You’re all going to tell me: why is he on the cover but not in the chapter???”
Comment: “There was so much information, my heart is pounding and my head is hurting.”
Really? Eh, really? But I think it was a funny chapter, there was a lot of comedy, right?
III. About her favourite panels
My favourite panel is, you know, the scene where Link gives a strong blow to Allen’s forehead.
And the scene that I sadly had to draw very quickly and didn’t have much time for is the panel where Cross says to Allen, “Give me money.” (It’s a small panel after Allen learns that Cross is actually Cyrus.) I didn’t have time, but in reality, I wanted to draw Cross in a cool way. But I realized I didn’t have time, so it ended up becoming this sort of comical panel (laughs).
Comment: I just love the fact that the first memory that comes to Allen’s mind when thinking about Cross is “MONEY.”
Ahaha yes (laughs). In the storyboard, Cross was supposed to look cool, ahaha. But I realized I couldn’t do it, I was just so tired, so I drew it without thinking, in one go, without even making a draft. So that panel is a bit different from the others (laughs).
IV. Lucia and the fight scene
Comment: I love Lucia more and more.
Really? Really! Really? (laughs) I see... when it comes to Lucia... well... (laughs and says nothing, it’s suspicious).
And yeah, suddenly, Lucia started fighting, right? She’s fighting against a rabbit yes, it’s a rabbit (laughs), not a bear!
At first, it was supposed to be a sort of demon, that’s what I planned in my storyboard. But I couldn’t make it. I spent SO MANY HOURS on the last scene with Lavi that I didn’t have time to draw it. And actually, I’m pretty bad at drawing monsters. I tried to make it scary, but it didn’t work, so I asked my assistant what I should do, and he told me: “Don’t force yourself. Don’t try to make something scary. If you can’t, draw something cute. Draw something you’re comfortable with.”
At first, I was doubtful... but then I thought: Timcampy is rather cute. And since it’s Timcampy’s brother, it doesn’t have to be that scary, it can be cute.
But I needed to put a bit of Cross’s DNA in the design to show it was made by Cross. So that’s why I added a lot of frills. The frills are the proof that it was made by Cross (laughs).
Cross loves frills, remember how mad he got when his frilly shirts were destroyed by an Akuma? So yeah, he hates dirty things, and I realized he probably hates scary things too. It’s not his type. I think he likes fancier things. So, just before I started drawing, I suddenly changed the monster and made it a cute rabbit.
And look at its mouth, it’s a bit like Tim’s, right? When it opens its mouth, it has the same teeth as Timcampy. But yeah, everything’s in the frills. And I had so much fun drawing this rabbit, really! Its eyes are cute, they’re shining (laughs). And you know, when this kind of monster appears, someone always gets eaten, right? Well, it had to be Allen (laughs), but he got out safely (laughs).
Also, do you remember Chomusuke? Chomusuke is an Akuma modified by Cross. Cross didn’t make her from scratch, he just modified her a bit. She’s a creation of the Earl, not of Cross himself.
This cute rabbit is the guardian of the house, and as Lucia said, it will appear again. It doesn’t die. It’s like Timcampy, it can regenerate itself. So yeah, it will appear again. But yeah, inside the Campbell domain, those are the guardians (laughs).
Also, some of you might wonder why Lucia attacked it from above. Golems have, on the top of their head, a function to stop them, a sort of spell. It’s on the top of their head; if you pay attention, you might see it, but you won’t be able to understand the words. It’s a kind of symbol. If you don’t destroy the spell, they won’t stop moving, that’s why Lucia attacked from above. But I didn’t need to explain this in the chapter, it’s a bit meaningless.
But fighting while wearing a dress... it’s so hard... I really struggled with how to draw that. If it had been a miniskirt like Lenalee’s, it would have been so easy. Argh, I wished she were Lenalee (laughs).
But I had a lot of fun drawing an action scene after such a long time, it was fun.
V. Link
The only cool scene with Link was the one where he hits Allen’s forehead. But let me tell you, I put a lot of my soul into that panel. My sister is a big fan of Link. I knew she would be very demanding and that she would love that scene (laughs). I hope she’ll be happy.
I wish that panel will be used for merchandise (laughs).
I think the blow didn’t hurt Allen that much, ahaha. Besides, Link used his left hand on purpose to restrain himself. But I had already decided since the last chapter that Link would get mad after Allen woke up. Link is an ally of the 14th, so you might think he wouldn’t get mad at Allen for this, but still, deep in his heart, he cares about Allen, he just wanted to hit him (laughs). I just don’t think Link has realized how much he cares about Allen. Anyway, he ended up hitting him. I think it would have hurt more if it had been his right hand.
Aaah, Allen is always saying sorry... even my sister is mad at him, and at Lucia. That’s what she told me. She can’t stand the fact that Link used his own lifespan to cure Allen. She won’t forgive Lucia, ahaha.
Comment: I also love the fact that Lenalee appeared for a small panel.
Ah yeah, but you know what? I realized I’m not able to draw in the same art style as I did before. I tried to make it as close as possible.
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So yeah, end of this small translation. As always, thank you for reading 🩷
