I finally decided to revive and decided not to come back empty-handed. I drew Edgar's cute face, but it turned out kind of weird, so sorry 🥲 I decided to try drawing in Ibis Paint for the first time, and I hope it turned out at least not bad. I always draw better on paper, but that's sometime in the future. Anyway here is the result)
This was my piece for the First Time For Everything Ikemen Fan Zine from @ikemen-watch.
So many amazing artists and writers contributed to this zine and it's 100% free so please check it out!!
I have such a soft spot for Ikerev. It was nice to go back and draw this world and these characters. I still love Edgar to this day 🥺
Originally, I wanted to do the prologue scene where Jonah handcuffs Alice (iconic scene and Jonah is not clowned enough for it tbh) but the urge to put Egdar front and center won out. Jonah still made it into the finished product though! Drawing this made me want to get back to drawing ikerev again but the fandom is so dead these days *sigh*. There was this AU comic I never finished, maybe I'll pick that back up.
Anyways, for a zine about first times, ironically, this was my first zine. I got a lot of valuable experience from this and even though this was Lorei and Dice's (the mods) first zine, they did amazing!! They radiated so much love and passion for this project. I feel like it's been a while since there was a community project like this, I'm so glad those two decided to step up. A huge thanks to them for organizing this and thank you for checking out our zine!
Hi again. I have an opinion on something from Ikemen Revolution... Maybe even a hot take!
Blanc was never going to get a route regardless of if the game shut down or not.
Now, dont get me wrong, I wanted a Blanc route SO bad. But I dont think it would've ever gotten released. I genuinely think that they would've simply added more characters instead of Blanc's route.
Why do I think this?
Because Blanc's mystery was essentially wiped out. You can infer most of his story from the other characters hints/lore drops about him. His own preview hints at it.
I think the writers knew he wasnt getting a route for whatever reason so they chose to "feed" the fans the hints/lore so that his story would still be completed.
What I think his route would've been:
I think it would've been similiar to Harr or Loki's routes. I would say it could be similiar to Oliver's, but im going to be honest and say i refuse to reread his route (the entire kid thing creeps me the fuck out) and I havent read it since it intially came out. Either way what I mean by this is, for whatever reason Alice lands herself in Blanc's house. I like to think shes moved there discreetly to avoid both the Red Army and Magic Tower at around chapter 7-10. (Of course she'd have previous meetings with him beforehand through the earlier chapters.)
While there she falls in love with Blanc, and he would fall the same, but eventually the climax of his route has to happen. I think it would be the Magic Tower finding Alice, and when he'd try to protect her, lets just say he tries to fight off the disciples while her and Oliver run, all three get caught. After all, they all have ties to the Magic Tower.
Alices tie is obvious to anyone who's played the game.
Oliver is because of his curse.
Blanc's is because of the "spell" casted on him, as mentioned in his preview.
But what that spell is has alreadly been seen through multiple routes. Its obvious that Blanc has a spell of immortality casted on him, but even more "wicked" is the fact that its implied he's been switching identities the entire time.
He's always been the record keeper, he knows a lot about Cradles past and can recount certain events clearly, but what makes me think he's changing identities is simple:
During the end of Edgar's route, Blanc and Edgar are talking about the trial against the Jack of Hearts 100 years ago. Blanc says he wishes Edgar well and is happy that the contract is over between the Jack of Hearts and the Queen and King. Says he always disproved of it or something along those lines. Edgar in response says something along the lines of "Why, you almost speak as though you were there to see it."
Blanc also seems to be scared of Edgar at the start of Edgar's route when Alice runs into the forest with him. This could simply be because of how Edgar acts, but I feel its probably just another hint to Blanc knowing about the Jack of hearts contract and understanding how dangerous the Jack's are. He was there at the trial. But no one knows he was for some reason even though it was a closed trial which no one else knew about besides the upper three of the red army, and presumably the record keeper.
I think they were direct hints to Blanc's immortality, but wouldnt everyone know the record keeper had stayed the same for the past 100+ years? Why wouldn't they know?
The simple answer is that Blanc had been changing his identity the entire time. Chances are pretending to be the son of the previous record keeper (aka himself).
I also think its implied that Blanc is slowly starting to lose his mind. It wouldnt be a drastic part of his route in my opinion, but Blanc's short-term memory loss seems to hint to some sort of psychological disorder developing due to his age.
I think his route would've ended with his spell being broken and Alice and Blanc living out their lives together. Chances are Olivers wouldve also been broken.
All in all, I dont think his route was ever planned to release and thats the reason all of these hints were scattered around. The only real unanswered question is who put the spell on Blanc, but in my opinion it couldve been either the Magic Tower, or Levie. I think it wouldve been a cool plotline to have Blanc directly connected to Levie, first because it would've confirmed how old Blanc actually is, but also because it gives Levie's character more grounding in the story. Plus, Blanc seems to know a lot about Levie regardless, so it'd make sense.
TheDollarStoreSatan out
(With Black Army outfit designs analyze coming at some point)
Hi. Welcome to a my retrospective on the Red Army outfit designs from the game Ikemen Revolution. This had some spoilers for all of their routes, though I doubt anyone will see this.
Im actually gonna go in a weird order, but have funsies reading this
Zero
His outfit is simple, and compared to the other Red Army outfits (with the obvious expection of Kyle) is sort of messy. On top of this he also has many personal identifications on him. Unlike the Black Army, where there tends to be more personal touches on uniforms, the Red Army tends to be much of the same pattern. Choker like collar with roses and stems off of the rose then wrapping around the collar, sword on side (excluding Kyle, I wont count Jonah as excluded since dialogue hints at him still carrying a sword even though he doesnt have it on his art... for whatever reason?),
Either way, he has four markers on him that makes his outfit stand out,
A. Braclet
B. Tattoo
C. Yellow hair strand
D. "Civillian" clothes. (As id put it)
Braclet is asymmetrical. Tattoo is from his past as well as the hair strand. Civillian clothes (t-shirt under the button-up).All in all, ill get into this more detailed later, but Zero is on a borderline. A borderline between being a civillian and being officially a part of the red army.
Kyle Ash
Kyle ash is messy and disshelved and also has a couple personal items (stethoscope and pen which are unique to him, red army wise at least). But honestly, besides that he doesnt have much I want to talk about right now.
Jonah Clemence
Jonah has a lot more uniqueness to his design than I'd expect. The little cape (or whatever you want to call it), the sash. Honestly, I think that the cape and sash almost just serve to make him look bigger and taller than he is. The cape would give his shoulders a broader look and the sash would serve to elongate his legs making him seem taller. This connects to his history of getting bullied for his weak appearance.
Lancelot Kingsley
LANCELOT!!!! Woot woot. Or smth. Anyway. I honestly dont have much to say about his design, i thought id have more.
I dont like the lil leg part off his main coat. Its extremely awkward to look at and I pretend like it doesnt exist. It bothers me greatly.
Besides that, red cape helps hide his one arm (ifykyk), but I also think it is probably a piece of the King's uniform that would be passed down through the generations.
The sash i think serves to make him look accomplished than anything, as such sashes are commonly given to the winners of certain contests.
I do like his pose however. One hand over the sash, one hidden/obscured. It kind’ve gives the look like someone who's awkward to be there, or believes they shouldnt. He's hiding his "accomplishment" (the sash) and even if it wasnt intentional it gives him the look of being offputted, like he doesnt truly want to be in the position he has but is dedicated to the Red Army, its values and traditions, so he continues to carry the torch regardless.
Edgar Bright
Hi! Im biased. This is my fav and this is where most of this retrospectives word count is going. To be frank, Edgar doesnt have that unique of a design. Its the actual epitome of red army, it has no personal items on it, no real differences from any of the others, and is nearly perfectly symmetrical. It doesn't stand out. But that was the point.
If you've read Edgars route, you will understand this better. If you havent, A. Read it. B. I will try to explain.
Edgar isnt allowed to have personal items, or really any life at all outside of the red army. His outfit reflects this. His only solace, only personal touch is the gloves, that is the only unique piece of clothing he has. But honestly? I dont count that as unique at all. They're paperwhite and are never stated to have anything unique about them. They're gloves. They hold no sentimental value, they simply serve as a means for Edgar to, in a sense, "protect" himself and more potently, others. He doesn't wish to dirty them with his filth, the blood on his hands.
Here is what ive been wanting to talk about this entire time, the collars of the Red Army uniforms. Theyre simple in design but I think the most important part about them is how theyre presented. Edgar, Jonah, and Lancelot have them fully closed, Kyle and Zero do not.
I believe the reason behind Zero's is because as I said, he is still on a borderline. Trying to decide whether to fully commit to the Red Army, its traditions and values, or to have his own values and ideals. His is still open, but its upright and close to closing, it is on a middle ground.
Kyles is open wide while tilted slightly up. He is realistically the only person in the red army who is truly free. Kyle wouldnt be afraid to leave the Red Army, he respects its traditions but doesnt always adhere to them. He doesnt always follow the social hierachy or listen to his superiors. His collar is open because he is. Kyle could do what he wants in life and still be happy with his decisions regardless because he is not tied down to the Red Armys traditions and values.
Edgar, Jonah, and Lancelot at different from the other two. All of their collars are closed.
Jonah and Lancelot's collars are completely closed. Theyre tied down to the Red Armys traditions and ideals. They're tied down to their families and their expectations.
Edgars collar deserves more attention. Its the only one which is completely symetrical. (Jonah and Lancelots collars roses are different on either side, though hard to notice). Edgar's roses are directly mirrored from eachother. Edgar is also the only collar that has something hanging off of it, which I like to call the dog tag. Off of that tag is chain-like things. I think the entire point of Edgar's collar is to mimic a dogs. Which, if you've played his route, makes perfect sense. He is the Red Armys dog and his design reflects as such. He has no personal items. He is completely tied down to the red army, his family, their values and traditions. The gloves shows he can break some of them, but that he has no real control to ever get completely free.
Anyway lmk if any part of this fandom is still alive, bye bye 🥰
