Since I can see Mikage having stoyline in Adolescence similar to Black Rose manga chapter, I decided to play around with his uniform too. Though I am really fond of black in general, I think I’ve read somewhere (I don’t remember where, I’m sorry D:) full-black uniform in Adolescence was reserved for Touga because he wasn’t alive anymore. That’s why I put Ruka in full black too and I considered it for Nanami - not because she is dead but because of her connection to her brother.
But you know who would be in full black in Adolescence too? Who is not alive anymore? Mamiya. So Mikage got three versions here. One black, as the most of the uniforms in Adolescence, one deep royal blue, that one is just the variation of his uniform in the series, and my personal favourite - wine red. I like this option the best when I think of Mamiya in black by his side but that may be just my preference.
For the details, I just altered things like buttoning on the side since they use this type in Adolescence a lot. (and I love buttoning on the side, I am biased). Also Mikage got epaulettes and those dangly things because he didn’t have them in the anime and he deserves some.
thinking of an older mikage is counterintuitive because the point is that he is forever trapped in the ultimate form of eternal stasis. that being said, there is no doubt in my mind that he would be a miserable adult, and i would be fascinated by his way of living
all i believe is that mikage does not consider himself to be nemuro, but he only has nemuro's *TAMPERED memories to build an identity out of. i just think it's worth paying attention to
flashback nemuro never having any sepia/blue/any bg light color overlay on his character when other charas do. his line 'i *was* a human computer back then' it is not the memories itself he is reminiscing the moments as mikage. it is important it's not just showing us the warped memories it is mikage currently going through them.....the i was a human computer is an addendum by the current mikage and not nemuro's self assessment then the 'that was true until today' to tokiko's question; if geniuses can't experience love. while it sounds like the latter half of his dialogue/answer to tokiko but its also an addendum an afterthought by mikage. it is never ever nemuro. it is nemuro being played by mikage. this may be the only real nemuro we ever see. he never existed at least before our eyes
Hello, I'm here just saying again how much I love your art! Your latest piece was so surreal and interesting. Nightmarish, so much details that I adore! Just the silhouette of Nemuro/Mikage, and that paper-resembling texture filling his head (mind), just symbols, no face. And opened curtains, "revealing" insides, that resemble just circuits, a computer. Something like this I interpreted. Nevertheless, I'm uncertain! The picture was so, so interesting, that it would be very nice to, um, hear it more from you? That is totally not necessary, I understand that sometimes pictures just speak much better than words! But if you want, it would be nice to hear just a little bit elaborate on the imagery and your ideas in it. (And don't feel pressure if you don't want, I love your art anyway! <3)
thank you so much for the lovely comment. i am so happy. the initial concept of this piece is "the dismantlement of professor nemuro". my idea was to convey a defunct machine that is being salvaged for "parts"-- parts that would later be reused for the creation of mikage. but it ended up feeling a little different.
here is my attempt to explain this piece. sorry it's long.
let's commit dissection. i have created a diagram for us to follow. each section is numbered by the order i thought of them in. sorry if it's hard to understand, i'll try to explain it.
THE CORPSE: nemuro is dead in this image. the machine has been broken. the human has died. life is no longer present for this vessel. of course, even the dead can be exploited in akio's world. here, his corpse has been opened up for the purpose of finding something useful.
THE HANDS: these are all hands that belong to people who contributed to nemuro's exploitation, subsequent death, the birth of mikage, and death again.
the first set of hands ( top center ) belong to the chida siblings: tokiko ( left, on cheek ) and mamiya ( right, on head ). i put them here to represent their place in nemuro's life: in his mind. his memories. they are gentle hands, petting and cradling his head/face, almost pacifying. it's a cold gesture. nemuro is already dead. his head is slightly turned, his cheek pressed into tokiko's palm.
the second set of hands ( middle center ) belongs to akio/dios: white gloved hands open up the curtains to reveal the spare parts. the replacement. the understudy turned main actor. the duelist, so to speak. with the white gloves, free of blood, there is an almost regal feel to this reveal. he is the director, after all. the ideal. the star. an operating theater used to be a place where observers can watch live surgeries. i wanted dios' association with the stage to be prevalent here.
the last set of hands ( bottom center ) belong to anthy/fakemiya: they are a dark red color. this is meant to be two things: the illusion of shadows behind the curtains, and the allusion of blood on her hands. while akio is credited as the mastermind, anthy is the one who is doing the dirty work. she is the one who is actively manipulating mikage. she is the one who is actively taking nemuro apart. she is the one who ultimately ensures their demise. she is holding a screwdriver in her left hand, the shank + tip of which is piercing through mikage. more on that later.
THE STAGE: i wanted the focus of this piece to be nemuro's insides, where mikage is found. the screwdriver held by anthy/fakemiya is what allowed access to nemuro's ventral cavity ( basically his entire front. ) the two curtains are an opening of the body's walls, and the curtains are a not-gory way to suggest the redness of blood and meat.
within the body is circuits and screens. the screens are meant to echo the specimen frames we see in the evil therapy elevator, and were supposed to have the bug phases with mikage's head taking up the leaf frame to represent his ultimate regression. but i opted to keep the screens as dead as the body.
the stage is many things. a body being dissected. a machine being taken apart. a coffin for the dead. an elevator to hell.
THE DUELIST: ... who is the actor, who is the perpetrator, who is the victim. nemuro himself was never a duelist: it was only when he chose death that he became one-- became mikage.
he is in the same pose that he's in during his descent in the elevator. he is curled in on himself, hand on the shoulder. the screwdriver, held by anthy/fake mamiya, is piercing through his left breast. it is a black rose, it is a sword, it is death. mikage, too, was already dead when akio decided to use him. he had already lost the moment he came back with the ring on.
the stage that is set up for him is one of futility. he will think he's in control, and he will think the stage is his own, and he will think it's his story to tell. we, of course, know that he's nothing.
THE TEXTURES: there are three.
on september 9th, 1947, a moth was found inside of the harvard mark II computer. it was aptly called the first "computer bug" found. i decided it would be fitting to use.
a blue screen of death. the modern association with computer errors.
a window from episode 22, in the room where nemuro finds tokiko kissing akio. it is specifically the right window. side note, it's interesting that tokiko/akio are on the left side; associated with the heart.
i hope this provides some sort of clarity for you. thank you for always being so kind and interested in my work!
