For the sixth parody, I slightly deviated from my original project idea and let myself be inspired by a couple sketch that did not come from a manga. I really love the tenderness in this drawing and I immediately saved it as to turn into a JnM couple sketch :3

I turned them into Haruhi and Satoshi. HaruSato is a couple that I have not written about a lot yet, but with this sketch I kind of re-realised (xD) how sweet they actually are together. They are like two lost souls that find each other under very coincidental circumstances. I changed their clothes, since they live in Japan and not in some French-inspired European looking fantasy world as made up by Miyazaki Hayao. Also, I love Satoshi’s hair. Do I ever mention how much I love Satoshi? No, I don’t. I love Satoshi 🙂 He’s such a sweetheart actually.

So here you can see the original image versus my version (yes, the original is in colour, but my project is still all about sketches 8D)

The fifth drawing I made for this project was based on the ‘first kiss’ moment between Umi and Naka from the (apparently very unknown) manga Nosatsu Junkie or Charming Junkie. This scene was one of the first scenes I had in mind when I started this project, but it took a while before I decided on which JnM couple to choose for the parody.

I turned the couple into Emiko and Takeshi. I’ve been wondering for a long time on how to develop their romantic relationship. Since they’re childhood friends, they’ve always been kind of like a Lovely Complex-inspired comedy duo (I also based their lengths on LoveCom orz) so I don’t see them becoming all lovey-dovey and cheesy. Umi and Naka are a couple who are also bickering all the time, and this kiss kind of came as a result of a fight, so I thought that was kind of suitable for EmiTake as well. I had a bit of difficulty drawing the clothes, since the original image shows a lot of vague lines – I can’t even see what part is what there, so I kind of focused more on the hands and faces. Since Emiko is taller than Takeshi, I reckoned it would be easier for him to kiss her when she was sitting, or, in this case – sitting while being pressed against the wall.

So here you can see the original image versus my version (don’t criticize the always and ever amateur me too much please 8D)

The fourth drawing I made for this project was based on a sketch I found on the Internet (probably fan-made) of Naoki and Kotoko from Itazura na Kiss. Personally, I am a fan of this story and watched the anime and all drama adaptations that have been made up to date. I just think they make a wonderful couple ^^ never mind how predictable the story may be 😀

I turned the couple into Kei and Megumi. Why? Because I was looking for a couple in which the boy wouldn’t be looking overly tender or romantic or cheesy, but rather stoic. Kei is like that. I think this image is really fitting for MeguKei because they are like that as a couple. Megumi is very energetic and romantic and Kei is very stubborn and stoic and doesn’t show his feelings most of the time. But he’s not as jerkish as Naoki :’) I can imagine Megumi calling him ‘Irie-kun’ for fun, though. I didn’t change Naoki’s shirt, but I did change the style of the face. At first, Kei’s face was more like Naoki’s in the drawing, but then I thought that that wouldn’t be very me, so I changed his face to my own style :3 Also, Megumi is wearing something else and I love how her hair came out.

So here you can see the original image versus my version (don’t criticize me too hard, still and still an amateur~)

The third drawing I made for this project is based on a title chapter drawing from the manga Say I Love You (or ‘Suki tte Ii na Yo’). The couple from this manga kiss a lot, but I was looking for a special image to use and this one caught my eye.

I turned the couple into Riku and Yamiko because they kind of have the same feeling around them as Mei and Yamato. I love Mei’s hair!!! (:3) so I decided to draw Yamiko’s hair like that too. I didn’t really change the expressions because the way they look in the original image would be about the same as YamiRiku would look.

So here you can see the original image versus my version (please don’t criticize this one, I’m still an amateur in training~)

I may have gone a little far with this drawing since I purposely added elements from the lyrics into the drawing instead of just going with the flow. Anyways, this is a song I don’t specifically listen to a lot, but one time I did I decided that I was going to draw something for it. I have to say I am not entirely sure what it’s all about, but what my imagination made of it can be seen in the drawing.

It features Yura and she is trapped in a tower. There is a lightning-shaped crack in the wall through which she can see the outside world and she is making her way towards it, climbing sideways against the wall. Behind her is her shadow, ‘luring under evil intentions’ as it says in the lyrics. The drawing turned out very abstract in my opinion. I took some lyric-elements quite literally, like ‘the voice of captivity’ as a mouth voicing the Japanese character for ‘captivity’. And the palm of a hand reaching towards the girl is the ‘identity which she cannot escape from’. Although I prefer just letting my imagination run free next time and not focussing too much on stuff from the lyrics, the abstractness kind of has something.
Also, the print on Yura’s dress is based on the Tower of Babel.

(You can find my English translation to this song in ‘Nice Music’ > ‘Nana Mizuki’ > ‘Impact Exciter’ > ‘Toraware no Babel’.)

The first song on Impact Exciter and it really is a flashy start. I really like those kind of uptempo songs by Nana. I was just imagining the world she describes. Next Arcadia really focusses on the modern world, how we are so digital right now and evolving. Listening to this song, I could see a big, arcade-like world, very flashy and full of lights. The focus of this drawing is the outfit. I actually put the image I had of the lyrics into the outfit.

It features Anzu and she is wearing a very flashy and extravagant outfit. The space is a personal one, with a big chair and a seeing ball. I kind of saw how Anzu portrayed the Queen of the whole arcade.

(You can find my English translation to this song in ‘Nice Music’ > ‘Nana Mizuki’ > ‘Impact Exciter’ > ‘Next Arcadia’.)

This song is really epic (in my opinion). It’s one of my favourite songs from Impact Exciter (the album) and it really gives off this feeling of Japan as the traditional empire with emperors and dragons. You can also hear traditional instruments within the music. It just made me think of a dragon empire, and the lyrics also mention elements such as history, an empire, dragons and war. So that is how I came to draw my very first dragon. It is a cute one, though and it is asleep.

It features Chihiro as some sort of Dragon Princess (which it says on her huge collar). The place is some sort of a meditation hall or resting space, including lanterns with the words ‘ansei’ (‘rest’ or ‘quiet’) and ‘kaiki’ (‘recovery’). I imagine the dragon being her pet and she rests with it once a day.

(You will be able to find my English translation of the song in ‘Nice Music’ > ‘Nana Mizuki’ > ‘Impact Exciter’ > ‘Dragonia’)

I haven’t gotten very far with this project yet, but the concept is as follows:

some songs give me a certain vibe or association with something (be it clothing, a situation, a place or a time period). Since I listen to Nana Mizuki’s music a lot, I’ve started getting associations with her songs and started drawing images of what I pictured while listening to the song featuring one of my JnM characters. Songs I have covered so far:

Dragonia

Next Arcadia

Miracle Flight

Toraware no Babel

Maria&Joker