Tumgik
#ミナヅキショウ
Text
Capri’s Guide to Sho Minazuki Content — Masterpost
Disclaimer: I don’t know, nor care to hunt down, every last piece of official content for him, as especially with the merch stuff can be really obscure. But I’ll list anything I do know or other people inform me of here.
This will also be updated if I get around to making new posts, new content comes out, or I learn of content I haven’t listed here before.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Games:
Persona 4 Arena — (indirect appearance)
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax — (the game all about him)
Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight / Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight — (DLC dance & limited character interaction voicelines)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Art Books:
[P4U2 Official Design Works]
[P4U & P4U2 Super Official Design Works]
P3D & P5D Official Visual Book — (character graphic & screenshots, Japanese VL transcript, potentially mentioned in the interview but I haven’t checked yet. No concept art or art pieces)
Shigenori Soejima & P-Studio Art Unit: Art Works 2 — (art pieces)
P4U2 Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Stage Project Visual Book — (seems like a photoshoot of the actors in costume?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manga:
[P4U2 manga adaptation by Rokuro Saito] — (Eng fan-translation)
Udon Entertainment publication of the P4AU manga adaptation — (official Eng translation; will finish releasing by February 6th, 2024; has an exclusive edition with new cover art and a standard edition with the original cover art)
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Comic Anthology (published by DNA Media Comics) — [Eng fan-translation of a couple comics here] — (~4 non-comic art pieces, 1 koma, 5 multi-page comics, and small cameos in 2 multi-page comics)
「タルタロス劇場」 Vol 3, 「ワイルド」 Vol 1 & 2 — (AKA “Tartarus Theater”; a couple to a few komas in each volume, appears on the cover of Vol 3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Theater:
Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Stageplay — (prominently featured. For a list of screentime timestamps, see [here])
Persona Super Live P-Sound Wish 2022 (concert) — (Day 2 I think, but I haven’t watched it yet. There’s also photos of the actors in costume online, for example [here], [here], [here], and [here])
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Merch:
To be honest, I don’t particularly seek out merch, nor do I always remember to document it when I come across it, so if anyone has information on this, I would be very grateful!
As well, if any of the active shop links are discontinued, let me know and I’ll add their screenshots to the merch documentation folder.
Folder of documented merch [here]
Ultimax Stageplay list of merch [here]
“Rule Smashing Pun Machine” embroidered cap [here]
P4AU box art poster (normal version) [here]
P4AU box art poster (Shadow version) [here]
A Tumblr user’s keychain & pin collection [here] — (note: no clue how much is official and how much is unofficial)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Etc.:
Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold The Complete Guide — (an official game guide from the original release, going into mechanics for each fighter, from what I can tell. I don’t own a copy though, so this is just estimations from internet pictures)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Resources:
For resources uploaded to the internet like VL files (Jap&Eng), sprites, understanding the Cyrillic script on Sho’s armband, etc., see my page [here].
29 notes · View notes
adachimoe · 7 months
Text
About Sho's Name
Tumblr media Tumblr media
In P4U2 / Arena Ultimax, Sho's name is written 皆月翔. His alternate personality who can use a Persona's name is written ミナヅキショウ. These are both pronounced "Sho Minazuki". The difference is that the main Sho's name is written in all kanji characters and the alt is written in all katakana characters.
This might seem *really* stupid if you've never encountered this before in Japanese media, but... I mean, it's a game with text so you can always see which characters are being used and thus know who is talking and it's not like the voice actor voices both of them the same way. It's really not that bad when you're actually playing the game.
The English localization of the game got around this hurdle by calling the main personality just "Sho" and the alt personality just "Minazuki" which I thought was pretty simple and worked well. Which brings me to Udon's localization of the manga and how they're handling Sho and his alt personality: I can tell from this one page that the translator at Udon is unfamiliar with the already existing English localization of Arena Ultimax lol.
In this scene in the manga, the alt takes over and introduces himself as ミナヅキショウ, and Udon put, "I am Sho Minazuki", then has him saying "We are Sho Minazuki" on the next page. Speaking strictly about what's written in Japanese, neither of these are wrong, but it's not what fans who played the game as far back as 9 years ago would be used to.
Following the English localization of the game, you would probably put something like, "I am Minazuki" and "Together, we are Sho Minazuki". I'm aware there are some "legacy translations" for media that just suck and probably do not deserve any respect 9-10 years later, but I think "the main guy is called Sho and the alt is called Minazuki" is a veeery simple solution that should be followed lol. This isn't Kara no Kyokai where there's "Shiki, Shiki, Shiki, and [ ] (who is also Shiki)".
Unfortunately, this is a trend with Udon. In the localization for Persona 4 Arena, which was also published by Udon, Labrys's dialect was written as Southern Belle even though it was Brooklyn in the game. This stuff just happens cause a different person winds up translating the manga years later and they're going the freelance contracted translator grind and they don't look into the existing material much. I imagine for collectors and long time fans, the lack of consistency can be annoying. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
On the plus side, here's the foldout poster of Adachi manspreading and Yu's crazy sleeve. It's from the normal cover of volume 2.
Tumblr media
30 notes · View notes
cosmodiacom · 7 years
Text
■コスモディアストア!!(Cosmodia Store): October 27, 2017 at 09:52PM
斉藤ロクロ先生が描くコミック版『P4U2』第29話が電撃マオウ12月号に掲載。 八高の頂上でミナヅキショウと鳴上悠がガチ対決! 世界を滅ぼそうとするミナヅキに、悠は皆月の“本当の願い”を説くが……!? 激しいバトルが見どころの最新話に注目です! #P4U2 http://pic.twitter.com/XMqhfmVQXX
— アトラスグッズチーム (@ATLUS_goods) October 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/cosmodiastore
0 notes
Text
Just musing about a couple small oddities I noticed while going through the Japanese version of Ultimax. Disclaimer: I still don’t know a super-ton about the Japanese language, so these observations might not actually mean anything of importance. >_>
(And if anyone with better Japanese knowledge than I comes across this post and wants to help elucidate things, I’m always down to learn more.)
��                                                           [1]
Tumblr media
In Labrys’s arcade mode, Minazuki introduces himself as purely “ミナヅキ”, while in every other instance I can find in both story mode and arcade mode, he always introduces himself fully as “ミナヅキショウ” (like shown below with Chie).
The closest thing I can find to the contrary of his usual pattern is how he introduces himself to Adachi in “Episode Adachi” (pictured below), but even then he still gives his full name after a moment.
Meanwhile, in the English translation of Labrys’ arcade mode story, this discrepancy is entirely glossed over as Minazuki just introduces himself in his English-typical “Minazuki. Sho Minazuki”.
I haven’t checked through the manga to see if this pattern holds there too, ‘cause I’m not as familiar with its sequence of events as I am with the game and so would have to comb through it more meticulously. So there might be something there that affirms or breaks this pattern?
So yeah. I don’t really have enough sociocultural knowledge to know if him doing that is indicative of a closer relational position, of him being more disrespectful, or of it being some purely grammatical variation with little characterization meaning, though I do find it interesting from a “well, it’s an oddity of behavioral pattern if nothing else” perspective.
(Oh- and for additional context, in that scene in Labrys’ arcade story, Minazuki makes mention of how he and Labrys are the same, something that’s reiterated in one of his “spectating Labrys’ dance” voice lines in P3:DiM. Thus why it seems plausible to me that he might consider himself relationally closer to her. Though on the other hand, he might still see her as an inanimate tool as well, so not treating her with the same formality as he would a person could give credence to it being a more disrespectful form of regard instead? There’s not really enough context to tell, as even his Labrys-specific battle lines and DiM lines could be read either or both ways. :P)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
                                                            [2]
Tumblr media
In EpP4, when Minazuki stabs General Kagutsuchi and demands to know what he’s planning to do with Sho, he seemingly goes to refer to Sho as “this child(この子を)”, then pauses for a moment before changing his address to “Minazuki(皆月を)”, with “を” being a grammatical marker for the “direct object” of a conversation or sentence I think..? If there are more nuances to it than that, I haven’t learned them yet, haha. Anyways, after changing the direct object that he’s referring to, he then goes on to say the rest of the sentence.
Meanwhile, in the English translation, this is just simplified into “this boy” with no further distinction between the two apparent forms of address that the Japanese version has.
As for the manga, he just outright uses “皆月を” from the start, though, aside from dropping Kagutsuchi’s name from the dialogue boundaries, says the line exactly the same (どうするつもりだ). The English fan-scanlation on Mangadex follows in the footsteps of the English game translation in writing the line as “Just what do you intend to do with this boy?”.
Also, just for context, I think usually any other time that any character uses “皆月”, it’s translated as “Sho” rather than “that boy”? (With the exception of the manga ‘pronunciation subtitles inform you that the spoken word is entirely different than the written word’ thing where sometimes “皆月” is written but “この子” is spoken, I think.)
So yeah. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be an important characterization detail on Minazuki’s part, since this happens right after Yu gets him to realize that he's a person supporting Sho rather than Sho being totally alone, or if it’s just a negligible grammatical thing. Though, since I don’t think Minazuki ever calls Sho “皆月” outright outside of explaining Sho’s past to other characters, in which even then I think he uses “皆月翔” specifically, it kind of makes me think that him using a more direct form of address for Sho rather than an indirect one might hold some significance?
Although, as a counterpoint to that, we also don’t ever really see him directly conversing or interacting with Sho outside of a couple scenes in the manga and a couple lines in P3:DiM, so maybe he does call Sho by name more regularly and we just don’t get to see it. For example, in the P4U2 DNA Comics anthology, there’s quite a few times where Minazuki directly addresses Sho by his family name, but the anthology is non-canon as far as I know, so I can’t really count it. :T
Also, I haven’t extensively combed through every last instance for this point, so you may want to take it with a grain of salt, as some things may have fallen through the cracks. ^^;
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
                                Addendum: P4U2 Stageplay
I’m putting the stageplay in a separate section here mostly because 1) I don’t know how “canon” it’s considered and 2) my phonetic Japanese comprehension still needs a lot of work and I don’t have subtitles like I do with the game. Also I kind of wrote-up everything above before remembering that it existed. <_<;
Anyways, going through it with my limited comprehension, I can say that Minazuki sticks with his “ミナヅキショウ” full introduction and sticks to referring to Sho as “彼(him)” and “この子(this child)” throughout his appearances... with a single exception. In a flashback to when Minazuki confronts Ikutsuki with Tsukiyomi, Minazuki at one point says “翔(Shou)” specifically. However, as I don’t know the rest of the words preceding it, I don’t really know if he’s referring to Sho, of whom he kind of yeeted out of the body a bit beforehand, or if he’s referring to himself since he shares a name with Sho.
And as for what he says to Kagutsuchi just before he gets possessed, he actually seems to say just “どうするつもりだ、カグツチ?”, bringing the three variations full-circle by keeping Kagu’s name but nixing any direct reference to Sho.
8 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Some plushie concepts that I’ve been working on recently! I still need to do the back and side profiles for Sho and Minazuki’s outfits, but I have to rest my drawing arm first, so I might add those in a reblog later.
Anyways, bullet list of lil’ details:
I’ll be making the Minazuki plush in full size (about 12in IIRC), while the Sho plushie will be roughly the size of a large keychain, because then I can bring Sho many places and make all the post-Ultimax world-travel references that I want. And maybe inevitably drop him off a cliff by accident, but I’ll try my best not to. xP
The sclera and teeth are gray instead of white because the white blended into the skin too much to be visible.
Yes, the hair will be that fluffy on the actual plushies.
Ideally, all the clothes will be removable, and the sheathes actually functional, but I’m not sure if that’ll be feasible and/or secure enough at a smaller scale intended for travel, so we’ll see.
They’ll probably have little crescent moon charms instead of recreations of the moon key, but I have to see what I can find materials-wise on that front.
Random circle-star on the sneaker tongues because I have no idea what’s actually supposed to be there. I looked through all the art and live-action costumes that I could think of, to no avail. >_>
Conversely, I can say with confidence that the Yaso High 3rd year pin is canon in some form. If you look carefully in Ch28, Vol4 of the P4AU manga, it’s distinctly a 3rd year pin on the jacket Minazuki nicks.
I’m undecided on if I’ll use the gray-eyed version or the blue-glow version for Sho’s face yet. Minazuki’s will keep the slate blue irises though, because imagining that the Plume affects the color of their body’s eyes the more active or energetic it is is fun.
Both of them will have the scars on their bodies though. I just drew them on a separate iteration for referential ease. :P
A lot of Tsukibat’s design here won’t match up with the final plush because fabric and pattern differences. For example, Tsukibat-back #2 is not at all how the fabric I have is going to work, alas. Also, I still need to finish wrangling a helmet reference for Tsukiyomi so I can better translate that to the plush... <_<;;
Tsukibat’s lil’ sun and moon charms are there to represent his two Persona-users.
I didn’t give Tsukibat Tsukiyomi’s crescent-mohawk because I thought it would be a bit much with the giant ears also being present. I think it looks alright with the design though.
I’ll be using [this pattern] and [this pattern] with some modifications for the plushies, respectively. (The latter was what inspired Tsukibat in the first place, actually. Galaxy bat x Tsukiyomi = this.)
I don’t currently have plans to make some to sell, but I might consider it in the future if it’s not too much of a hassle to create them. I’m not a professional or anything though, so IDK if they’ll even be sale-quality, lol.
Read all the way down here? Cool. Your reward is getting to see the derpy little embroidery color tests I’ve done for these so far:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
(This second/third one was supposed to be a Minazuki expression version, but I botched it by doing the outline before the fill and then pushing the fill too close to the outlines, so it took on a much derpier form, lol.)
5 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Just a random Velvet attendant Minazuki design, with an additional non-VR palette version because I got curious.
Fun fact: the back of his waistcoat is the typical vibrant royal blue of the VR, if it’s a bit difficult to tell from the small patch of it that’s visible here. I kind of had it in my head that, as someone not native to the Velvet Room, he would feature colors more representative of himself than those of the Velvet Room, or at the very least less congruent with the Velvet Room’s typically royal blue-prevalent scheme. Hence, the first impression people would get of him, if facing him straight-on, would be this more subdued shade of blue, only getting the more direct cue of who he’s associated with if you see him from another angle.
Also fun fact: his iteration of the Compendium is like those old encyclopedia tomes you could find on a pedestal in the library, but more handheld in terms of size, and has dark teal covers with gold detailing.
4 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Some goodies from the P4U x P4U2 combined art book! (So very much not my art, just to make that clear!)
Mainly posting this because I haven’t really seen any of Sho’s concept art from this art book mentioned around the internet so far (although I may just not have come across it yet, but regardless), just the stuff in the P4U2 solo art book, and really the only place I found any confirmation of this book having Sho’s remaining concept art was a stray review on the book on like Amazon Japan I think. So I wanted to share it so people know that it exists! (And also to not look to the P4U2 solo book for it like I did, because you’ll likely end up disappointed, but I have a more comprehensive post for that purpose..)
There’s all sorts of cool stuff in this book in general: concept art, animation frames (with creator notes sprinkled all over!), storyboards, creator interviews (with questions pertaining to Sho! I don’t know fully how yet as I don’t yet know Japanese, but I’ve seen his name pop up several times throughout them), official art, illustrations, art of the stages... they even collected the PQ1-style lobby avatars and the majority of different color palettes for the character sprites in the game. So if that stuff interests you for any of the characters (because all of the main characters in Arena and Ultimax get this treatment, minus the creator interviews since that’s dependent on what questions get asked and what conversations take place), then I definitely recommend it if you ever come across a copy of the book! (Keep in mind that it’s all in Japanese though, because there doesn’t seem to be an official English translation of it.)
Anyway, I’m not going to post all of that in great detail because I don’t want to be disrespectful to the creators, but at the very least this stuff seemed like it might be enjoyable or useful to other Sho fans, so... here it is!
Also sidenote! Though again I can’t read the Japanese, I’m pretty sure that the first picture (with Sho and Yu’s sprite concept drawings standing side by side) is intended to be a height comparison, as this isn’t the only place in the book that that specific Yu art is used in this manner. Take for example this reference for Koromaru:
Tumblr media
Though the horizontal lines aren’t exactly the same, their general purpose seems to be. Therefore, it seems to be that Sho was intended to be slightly taller than Yu? (I think the Dancing game models might have already confirmed this? But if not, then this might.) Of course, official numbers for height haven’t been given for either of them that I recall (I’m not as well-versed in Yu though, so it’s possible that I’m incorrect), but at least it can be approximated when you take illustrations where various characters appear together and do a lot of comparisons, hehe.
Edit: Also adding because I found this, evidently someone else scanned the colored version of the second image’s fullbody, or else had the digital version, and posted it on Tumblr in the past. If you’d like to see it, the post is here!
And if you want to see some of the PQ-style lobby avatar pictures, I included a picture of them in this post here.
104 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media
Your sentence... is to go give Minazuki some more love and appreciation. :V
Happy Ultimax port y’all! (Even though I’m like... 4 days late at this point. <_<;) Here’s to hoping for more recognition of its story and cast in future Persona series installments!!! \o/
(WIP versions below the cut!)
-----------------------------
Lineart version:
Tumblr media
And the original concept draft (because I’m super out of practice with traditional medias so I didn’t want to mess it up, lol):
Tumblr media
39 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(Specifically headspace shenanigans, because trying to explore how I want to illustrate that. Also because the Ultimax manga has given me a strong craving to create more such interactions between these two. xP)
I went into this aiming to draw someone giving Minazuki a gentle hug, but instead I somehow got a sulking Minazuki and a Sho giving him very Sho-like concern. I guess it could be a flipside situation to [this] doodle? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sho was probably just like “Okay! He’s been like this ALL. DAY.” then whips around internally so he can shake Minazuki and tell him to stop being stupid.
21 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
For Arenatober — “Stars”
This just in: A Cryptid has been spotted being an utter dork at the local Samegawa floodplain. No word yet on what exactly he's trying to accomplish, but man is he high up there.
It’s dooooooooooone. \TuT/ Unfortunately not in time for Oct 31st, but that’s my fault for overestimating my on-hand wrinkle references and needing to scour around for more. >_>;
That aside, I used a stock photo as the basis for this! Honestly, if anyone else is looking for ref stock to use for drawing Sho and Minazuki, I highly recommend this guy. He’s got a similar body shape to them, is well-toned (albeit supposedly from 15+ years of dancing rather than training to be a fighter, but it’s still another aspect closer), and he has a lot of action shots in his gallery too! Different facial shapes though, but amending that kind of thing comes with the territory for using ref stock. xP
---------------------------
Etcetera:
Fun fact: Originally that was meant to be Sho, wearing a grin alongside his attire. Then the plan just kinda shifted to being Minazuki at some point. xD He also gets starry scarves because 1; darkness is Minazuki’s element (especially more wispy/shadow-esk aspects) and 2; further starriness for the Stars prompt. Also just being high-up is a good excuse for messing with flowy scarves, in my opinion. xP
That shirt actually exists IRL too! A friend spotted it in a store last month and sent me a picture of it, and I I immediately decided that I had to draw Sho in it. It’s just too on-theme for him, hehe.
Tumblr media
(For shippers, you can imagine Minazuki's S/O down on the ground below the beams taking pictures like this was meant to be a photoshoot, if you want. Meanwhile I'm laughing 'cause I can kinda see Rise or Yu being willing to stage a photoshoot like this (1: it'd be fun, especially with Minazuki's athletic cabilities, and 2: maybe body positivity or self-worth agendas?), and Minazuki finds it an amusing proposition so he goes along with it. But then he happens to be really good at it, so he's in part so smug because Yu/Rise is just a blushing mess down below him but trying not to get too distracted so they can keep taking pictures. Rise would recover pretty quickly though and perhaps start making cheeky or flirtatious comments about it? Yu would probably heap loads of gentle-natured praise on Minazuki when they’re reviewing the photos later-- of course somewhat when they’re actually staging and taking them, but definitely a lot more afterwards. //isn’t so well-versed in the IT at the moment though, so pardon any iffy characterization in these musings. ^^; )
And lastly, this marks my last prompt for the challenge, at least officially. Thus, I must extend my gratitude to the admin(/s?) who hosted this event. It was a very enjoyable way to pass my October, and I had fun with it, so thank you for taking the time to create and host it. uwu
22 notes · View notes
Text
Capri’s Guide to Sho Minazuki Content — P4U2/P4AU Art Book
[Link to the masterpost coming eventually!]
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Also known as the “P4U2 (Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold) Official Design Works”!
Unlike the P4A/P4U solo art book that came before it, this art book does not have an official English translation, any creator interviews, or any sprite animation frames contained within it, so if you’re looking for any thoughts on the creative process behind Sho, the most you might find is in the ‘story movie’ storyboards section or Tsukiyomi’s prototype concept art. That said! I will break down what Sho-related content is actually included in this book.
Official Illustration
Tumblr media
[The background art on the official website] by ドメリカ (maybe “domerica” the company? They appear to at least have worked on this game)
[The normal box art (sans logo)] by アトラス デ ザイン チ ー ム (Atlus Design Team)
[The Shadow version of the box art] by アトラス デ ザイン チ ー ム
[This Sho and Yu] piece by ドメリカ
The cover art piece, albeit in uncropped and textless form, by 副島 成記  (Soejima Shigenori)
[This fighting ring illustration] by アトラス デ ザイン チ ー ム
And the above image by 副島 成記
A thing to note! If the official illustrations are your top priority here, out of the Arena series art books, the cover image art (by Soejima) is only published in this book! It is NOT reprinted in the P4U x P4U2 Super Official Design Works. However, it was also collected in the more recent ��Shigenori Soejima & P-Studio Art Unit: Art Works 2″ book alongside a lot of other Arena series illustrations at the very least (if there’s more places, I personally don’t know about them as I’m just a casual working with what I’ve got, not a collector xP). In addition, some of the illustrations here are reprinted in different formatting in the combined art book:
Is printed a little larger in the P4U2 art book than the P4U x P4U2 combined book, though that’s at the expense of the outer edges being somewhat cut-off for the former.
Is printed a little larger in the P4U2 art book than the P4U x P4U2 combined book. In the former, the outer-edges are a bit cut-off, while in the latter, the top and bottom are a bit cut-off instead.
Is printed a little larger in the P4U2 art book than the P4U x P4U2 combined book. In the former, the outer-edges are a bit cut-off, while in the latter, the top and bottom are a bit cut-off instead.
Is printed in a nearly full-page format in the P4U2 book (at the cost of a slight cut-off to the outer edges) versus the 3/4′s page in the combined art book.
Comparing this to the “Shigenori Soejima & P-Studio Art Unit: Art Works 2″ book instead of the P4U x P4U2 one; in this book, it was printed full-page on a single page, oriented landscape-wise instead of portrait-wise. In the Soejima & P-SAU one, it appears to be a two-page print, oriented portrait-style and printed somewhat larger (though the page divide cuts through the illustration as a result). (If you would like to see how it looks in the Soejima & P-SAU book, you can see it showcased a bit in this video here. If the timestamp link fails, it’s at around 3:30 in the video.)
Is printed a little larger in the this book than the combined one, but at the cost of a slight cut-off at the outer edges in the former. The colors are also printed a bit differently, and it has a white border in this book, while it has a black border in the combined art book.
Is printed in a full-page format with a white border in this book and a half-page format with a black border in the combined art book. There is no cut-off in the former.
Character Illustration
Tumblr media
In the Character Illustration section, you will find pretty much any character art you can find in the game itself. This includes:
The arcade art, viewable from Gallery Mode in the game, for both Sho and Minazuki (as seen above on the left)
The “glasses/megane” variant of the arcade artwork in a smaller headshot format for both Sho and Minazuki
The official art for Tsukiyomi
The fighter profile/versus art for both Sho and Minazuki
The pre-combat (when you start an arcade run or something and see a character’s fighter tagline) graphics for both Sho and Minazuki (which you can also see a scan from this book of [here] if you’re curious how it looks!)
The Story Mode portraits for both Sho and Minazuki, as well as 6 expressions for each of them in a headshot format. Two of them are duplicated between Sho and Minazuki, and not all of their possible expressions are collected here (for example, Sho’s deliriously angry expression is missing from his set).
A shared ‘profile’ card for them both. It’s basically like the fighter info that shows up beneath a character on the Versus screen (so yes, it’s all “???”s like it is there), but with the addition of a “Weapon” and “Type”(for the weapon) category that does have a bit of non-”???” text. It basically just says that Sho and Minazuki use two katanas, and that I think Sho’s “type” is “body attack”, while Minazuki’s is “standard”, referring to Sho’s lack of Persona (thus using just his ‘body’ to attack) and Minazuki having a Persona like a “standard” fighter in the game?
Minazuki’s Insta-Kill cut-in
And Sho and Minazuki’s shared Awakening cut-in, as well as the glasses/megane version of it (which you can also see a scan from this book of [here] if you’re curious how it looks!)
Everything in this section is reprinted in the combined art book, albeit in different formatting:
The arcade art is actually printed a bit larger in the combined book than the solo one, but only Sho’s is printed in it. Minazuki’s gets relegated to a headshot alongside the glasses renditions of the art, which is zoomed in a bit more and framed by a circle instead of a square.
Is covered above
Tsukiyomi’s art is printed a little smaller in the combined book than the solo one, going from about a half-page to a third-page or a quarter-page
The versus portraits are actually only a smidge smaller in the combined art book than the solo one, and Minazuki’s arm doesn’t get cut off. The torsos for both Sho and Minazuki’s are a bit vertically cropped in the combined artbook however.
The pre-combat graphics are printed significantly smaller in the combined art book than the solo one, going from a 3/4ths page for Sho and a partially-obscured half-page for Minazuki to an equal quarter page for both, albeit Minazuki’s is no longer obscured as a result.
The story portraits go from about a quarter page in the solo book to a eighth-page or so for Sho (and a little smaller for Minazuki) in the combined book. There’s also a third portrait at the same size as Minazuki’s in the combined book showcasing their red-eyes default expression, which is only a headshot in the solo book. Aside from that, they share a pool of 10 total expression headshots in the combined book, some being labeled as exclusive Sho’s, some exclusively Minazuki’s, and some “common” which assumedly are shared by them both. They’re printed slightly bigger than the solo book’s and zoomed in a bit more, and include some of the expressions missing in the solo book (such as Sho’s wilder expressions). It’s still not a complete collection of every possible expression the two could make though; for example, Minazuki’s common ‘forlorn with closed eyes’(or however you’d describe that) isn’t included in the combined book, while it is in the solo book. Neither of them possess the version where Sho’s scar and eyes glow blue in the true ending though.
The “Profile” card is instead a “Personal Data” section in the combined art book, now with added “Star Sign”, “Blood Type”, and “Persona” categories, and also with English category names instead of Japanese (the actual answer text for each category is still in Japanese though). The only one that isn’t just “???”s out of those three is Persona, being answered with “Tsukiyomi (Minazuki)”.
The Insta-Kill cut-in is about the same size in both, although it’s filed under Sho and Minazuki’s section in the combined book instead of the general gallery for Insta-Kills in the solo book. It’s also slightly cropped in the solo book, whereas in the combined book it is not.
The Awakening cut-ins in the combined book are printed a little larger than in the solo one, but they’re also cropped narrower vertically than the solo one’s.
You can find pretty much all of the art in this section on the internet via a simple “Sho Minazuki” search as far as I’m aware, even the full range of Story Mode portrait expressions [here] (albeit you’ll have to do a bit of photo-editing to combine them into whole portraits). So if you just want to see that art outside of the game in general and not possess it specifically in art book form, then that’s very possible for you to do!
Art Works
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Hanging out in the Art Works section is basically a bunch of concept and technical art! For Sho in this section we’ve got:
Sho’s prototype designs, or as the book calls them, “rough sketch”es. (This also is the source of the camo coat that Sho is illustrated with in the Ultimax manga adaptation, I would guess.) (They’re pictured above, but if you’d like to see them in a clearer digital form, you can see them [here] and [here]!)
Tsukiyomi’s prototype designs (Also as pictured above.)
That’s pretty much it for Sho’s stuff in this section; a final total of 4 pages of content. A big thing to note though! Tsukiyomi’s prototype designs are NOT reprinted in the combined art book. Out of the 3 Arena-series artbooks, this is the only one it’s printed in. (I know, it’s kinda sad that you can’t just get all of Sho’s related concept art in one nice neat place. T-T So... I’m tentatively posting both of Tsuki’s pages here so other people might not have to deal with that issue.)
For the differences in printing for the Sho prototype designs though... The uncolored one with the little blobby dude is printed severely smaller in the combined book, being rendered as about an eighth-page or so as opposed to its full-page rendition in the solo book. The camo coat concept art is printed at about a third of the page in the combined book versus the half-page of the solo book, and the drawing with the two handed sword is roughly a quarter-page in the combined book versus the half page of the solo book.
Story Mode Illustration
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Lastly, we’ve got the section that collects some other pieces of art from the game, such as Story Mode illustrations, Story Mode background art, and then the storyboards for the various animated cutscenes that appear in the game as well. For the last one, it doesn’t really collect many frames from the finished animations in the book (to be precise, it has exactly 3 from each featured storyboard for some comparison between what that specific board covers and the corresponding final product, just not really any printed much bigger than a thumbnail’s size), just the animations’ collections of storyboards.
(Also note: I’m including the background art in this guide due to the fact some of it may hold a strong association with Sho and/or Minazuki for some people, and thus may potentially useful if people are looking for references or collections of them for Sho-related purposes.)
Story Mode Illustration:
(Note: Going by the numbers listed in the book, which should match up with the names they’re given in Gallery Mode in the game, as well as listing their channel numbers from Gallery Mode for reference.)
Story Illustration #7 (Channel 43; Minazuki sneak-attacking Naoto)
Story Illustration #10 (Channel 46; Yu, Chie, and Yosuke meet Minazuki... and Tsukiyomi)
Story Illustration #28 (Channel 64; Mitsuru gets a bleary look at Tsukiyomi)
Story Illustration #37 (Channel 73; Labrys, Yukari, Ken, and Junpei are about to battle Minazuki on the Moon Viewing Platform)
Story Illustrations #38 (Channel 74), #39 (Channel 75), #50 (Ep.Adachi DLC), #52 (Ep.Adachi DLC), and #53 (Ep.Adachi DLC) (or to specify them by details: the picture of General Teddie and Sho/Minazuki at the tower top, Sho facing away from Labrys in the TV Studio, Minazuki/Sho and Adachi on the Moon Viewing Platform just after the fog was summoned, Adachi and Sho facing each other down at the tower top, and Sho pummeling Adachi, respectively) are not included in this book. On top of that, the cut-in image of Minazuki’s sadistic grin on Illustration #37 is also wholly omitted from the book, for whatever reason.
For comparisons in formatting between this book and the P4U x P4U2 one:
#7 is printed at about a third-page size in this book and a large thumbnail size in the combined book, albeit laterally and vertically cropped in this book.
#10 is printed at about a third-page size in this book and.. I honestly don’t know the fraction on this one, but somewhat smaller in the combined book, and is very laterally and vertically cropped in this book.
#28 is printed at about a third-page size in this book and a large thumbnail size in the combined book. ...I can’t really tell if it’s cropped differently between the two due to the overall bleary and dark nature of the image. ^^;
#37 is printed at about a third-page size in this book and a large thumbnail size in the combined book, with Yukari’s arm (specifically) getting cut-off in the combined book but not this one. Beyond that, the Minazuki cut-in portion actually is technically printed in the combined book, but only as a small fractal piece of the background on the Sho and Minazuki profile page (which will be pictured in my P4U x P4U2 artbook post).
#38 is actually printed in the combined art book at least, at about a third-page size.
#39, #50, #52, and #53 are not printed in the combined book either. It is a very sad day that I’ve come to realize this. T^T
So the final verdict is that if you’re looking for Story Mode illustrations of Sho Minazuki, this art book only has less than half of the total ones he’s depicted in from the game.
Movie Story Board:
Opening Movie (Channel 90; the one that plays before you get to the title screen/the one the short version of “Break Out Of...” plays for): all boards (01-29), with boards 04, 05, 08, 11, 14, 18, 20, 24, 26, and 27 being featured. Out of those, Sho appears in boards 04, 23, 24, and 25.
Story Movie #1 (Channel 91; Yu watches the red fog hit Inaba at the start of EpP4): all boards (01-32), though the only one that matters here is board 26, as Sho is set to briefly appear on the TV during the countdown. It is not a featured board.
Story Movie #5 (Channel 95; Sho’s introduction to Yu, Yosuke, and Chie in EpP4): all boards (01-03), with board 02 being featured. Sho appears on all three boards.
Story Movie #7 (Channel 97; the giant backflip.. tower version, not the town version found in some Arcade Mode runs, though only the background really changes if memory serves): all boards (01-07) with boards 04 and 06 being featured. Board 01 is just debris falling, so Sho appears in 02-07.
Story Movie #8 (Channel 98; Minazuki activates the Shadow clones): all boards (01-02), with board 01 being featured. Minazuki only appears in 01, as 02 is a just a shot of the clones ‘coming alive’.
Story Movie #9 (Channel 99; the limo goes off the road): all boards (01-14), with boards 02, 05, 10, and 12 being featured. Sho appears only in board 12.
There appears to be no boards for Story Movies #12 (Channel 104; Kagu-possessed Sho is devoured by Kagu’s new body) or #14 (Channel 106; Sho in the ‘true’ ending when the tower top is all blue) in this book, but they are somewhat collected in the combined artbook! As for the differences, the combined artbook only collects some of the boards at kind of random, but prints them at sizes somewhere between the featured boards and the tinier side-page boards. Alongside that, there’s little captions for each Movie, with two specifically for the Opening Movie, while all of the rest only get one each. The boards it collects for each Movie are:
Opening Movie: 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08, 09; 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27
Story Movie #1: board 26 is included
Story Movie #5: 02 & 03
Story Movie #7: 05 & 06
Story Movie #8: 01 & 02
Story Movie #9: board 12 is not included
Story Movie #12: 06 & 07 (06 showcases Sho.. he’s kinda nommed by 07)
Story Movie #14: 02 & 05 (neither of them showcase Sho)
So overall, depending on what you’re looking for out of the animation storyboards, one book might be better over the other, given they both possess some things that the other does not.
Background Illustration:
Pretty much any background art you see in the game is collected here, I believe, though I haven’t comprehensively combed through both the book and the game in their entirety to check the utmost-thoroughly. I have my limits of tedium I’m willing to go to for this stuff, so I apologize. xP
All of the backgrounds art in this book are either formatted as half-page or eighth-page size, with there being one half-page and 4 eighth-pages per full page. ...I’m not going to go through and transcribe-to-translate 65 different Japanese titles for the 65 different backgrounds included in this book so I can properly list the ones likely to be most relevant to Sho, but at least I can verify that I see art from both main routes, their epilogues, the ‘true’ ending of EpP4, and a couple specifically from EpAdachi.
As for the formatting in the combined artbook, the art is significantly smaller, with the biggest being sized around an eighth-page, the middle-size being like an elongated medium-sized thumbnail, and the smallest being like an actual medium-sized thumbnail, scattered around the page much more haphazardly. (The difference will probably be visible when I post the combined art book’s guide. ^^;)
Again, I’m not going as specifically through this part due to lack of concrete names to use, so there may be variances in which version of the background is collected, or some being omitted or gained potentially?
I haven’t ever tried looking up the Story Mode backgrounds on the internet before, so I’m afraid I can’t say how much luck you might be able to have looking for them on the internet versus the books. ^^;
Concluding Notes:
And that’s everything in this book! More or less it’s kind of got the feel of an art gallery in book form to it (which the super-vivid printing of the colors really helps-- it looks really pretty in-person, which the camera kind of picked up), I think, which the combined art book doesn’t quite match, but also lacks a lot of the concept and technical art for Sho that the combined artbook does have.
If you’re looking to get a copy of your own, I recommend checking Mercari or Ebay! I’m not sure if there’s other sites out there that have it or not, since I found my own copies on those, but you can try looking under both the Japanese version of the title (both in Japanese characters and in Latin characters) and the English one in general search engines or various other sites if you wish, or else perhaps sites like Amazon Japan or Rakuten (Japan?) if you’re trying to find a digital copy?
The guide for the P4U x P4U2 Super Official Design Works will come eventually! In the meantime, if you want to get an idea of some of what it possesses in terms of Sho content, I have a post [here] with a few pictures.
Also, if anyone knows something more than I do about anything I wrote here, please feel free to correct me! Nicely, of course, and preferably with an accurate source to cite, but despite being a casual I’d much prefer to have accurate info in these whenever possible.
18 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Misc. doodles from the past few months!
...I honestly didn’t realize Labrys was making similar expressions until I just put them together in this post. I drew those like 2 months apart. >_>;
‘Fantasy cat-hybrid’ Sho is about as random (and as fluffy) as he looks, haha. I’m also torn between him painting the X on his face to look cooler and it being a consequence of whatever resulted in his third eye (and, presumably, subsequently Minazuki), which would probably be something magic-related given its odd coloration.
Also yes, his shirt is half off in the lineart one. It’s actually just because I needed more skin and shadows to test out colors in the new medium I was trying. xD (Which isn’t pictured here because it came out.. kind of a mess. qvq; )
9 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Tsukiyomi x A-SSW x Minazuki! Because I like Tsukiyomi's design too much, and it just has such Minazuki vibes to it already that it makes combining it with Minazuki for Minazuki-specific designs really fun. Also because the A-SSW Sho Minauzki designs I've seen around the internet are really cool and I wanted to try my hand at my own take. xP
I modeled him primarily after Aigis/Gen 7, but I took a couple elements from Gen 5 and the spinoff character Kurogami as well.
For some more specific detail bits:
His name is engraved on the shoulder cap/s of his body like Aigis’s is in some renditions.
Also speaking of the shoulders; I ended up nixing the gold over-pieces because the more I thought about them, the less logical for movement they seemed, at least in regards to the rest of this specific design. Also, they just generally looked weird. :P
The blades stored on his back can be ejected out of their sheathes on command alongside being drawn normally. I don’t really know the exact mechanism for this, and it probably only has very limited practical use, but such is A-SSW logic.
The blades on his back are also basically replicas of Sho’s iconic katana. (Which I definitely drew way too small... one day I’ll actually succeed at drawing those at the proper size. xP)
Instead of guns, he has miniature blades stored in his fingertips...think kind of like traditional X-Acto knives, with maybe more like pocket knife blades for the fingers with finger-length white coloration? They’re moreso for utility purposes than combat, though they can have uses for technical damage and very close-quarters combat. Also lowkey considering the possibility of some other handy, basic utility tools, like maybe a screwdriver or something, but it would depend when and how he was designed if such features would be considered to be added to him, I guess.
He has knives/throwing knives stashed-up in the “gauntlet” parts of his arms... and potentially calves, I haven’t decided yet on what to do with those. They aren’t attached to his body though; they’re to be independently wielded in his hands. (I know I know, wrist blades look cool... but so much of using blades is in finesse that you just can’t get when they’re placed in such a way. So I can’t in good conscious give him weaponry like that. xP)
His ‘tactical visor’ would be like a mask-version of Tsukiyomi’s helmet, because it looks cool and is on-theme, so why not?
I’m not sure if he should have Sho’s iconic face scar or not? I guess again it would depend on the circumstances he came to be through; and if we’re applying less ‘cause and effect’ logic, if Minazuki, or whoever made his A-SSW body, just cared enough to have it replicated or not I guess?
I’m also not sure if I want to even-out the coloration of his fingers or not... It’s in a very weird limbo between the Gen 7 and Gen 5 designs right now. :T
Also, the uncolored sketch and the independent arm are from the preliminary design doodles, which is why they look a little different. (Trying to include the lines and rivets from Tsuki’s design in that way was waaaay too much of a clashing pattern, that’s for sure. >_>;)
(And an additional fun fact from the drawing side off it: for the non-digital drawings, the base for the gold parts was actually highlighter ink! It looks gold because I modified it with ballpoint pens; which is also what I used to color pretty much everything else.)
13 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
I can’t believe I forgot to post this– /)_<;
Art’s a bit wonky because I was just kind of messing around, but regardless. I don’t really have any rational explanation for this aside from the random thought of “I want to draw something, but what to actually draw... I should draw Minazuki getting nose-booped in a mini comic format at somepoint, because why not, but who would be the booper? ...Futaba. Futaba boops, right? Sort of? Right. ...I can’t really think of anyone better, so why not?”
I forget if I intended for Futaba to still have Sho’s coat here or not though... I think I did? I made reference to it in another post, but in a multidimensional sandbox world I have for messing around with, that world’s version of Futaba ended up stealing Sho’s camo coat (the one from his concept art/the Ultimax manga) thanks to her fondness for her own one already and thinking that Sho’s looked comfy too. It, uh... She pretty much vanishes in it if she sits curled-up, especially if she puts the hood up. If she tries to wear it while standing, she often has to fight to not get dragged down/toppled over by how much heavy material there is to it, and it sags down her shoulders a lot more than her normal fur-lined coat does. Her arms are also more sleeves than arms at that point, hehe. (Though in the current canon for that world, this interaction wouldn’t quite make sense yet, so it’s probably not canon to that..)
Also, Futaba’s probably barely able to reach Minazuki’s nose here, considering he’s like a whole foot taller than her. I think she just got lucky that he looked down to see what she was reaching for in that moment. xD
17 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
A couple rough doodles of possible sleeping positions for YuZuki(left) and ShoYu(right) and a couple notes to go along with it, because evidently I only draw cuddly Sho-ship doodles in the middle of the night when I should really be sleeping instead.
So notes!
Yu (for both):
Yu is pretty much a cat himself, so he curls up frequently in his sleep. He doesn’t mind if the blanket gets pulled off of him by his partner while they sleep because it’s a good excuse to curl up and cuddle closer to them for their body heat instead. Except for in the really muggy summer months, but he likes cuddling up to his partners and being cuddled by them too much to really complain.
YuZuki:
(Technical note: In the doodle, where Yu’s arm is draped across Minazuki’s chest, Minazuki’s got his nearest hand placed on top of Yu’s; meanwhile, Yu’s got his other arm wrapped around Minazuki’s other arm, which are both resting against the bed.) Minazuki’s basically content to have Yu cuddled up to him like that, and doesn’t really feel the need to get super clingy or entangled himself. His partner’s presence is there, and that’s enough. It’s peaceful, even, for him, so he’ll often have a gentle smile on his face before he falls asleep. Beyond that, once he gets kinda used to the idea I think, it would also mean a lot to him to have Yu want to snuggle up to him like that, as it would be a reinforcement of the notion that he—specifically him as an individual, not Sho—is wanted and cared about. (Yu is also very well aware of this, so he’s quite happy to oblige.)
ShoYu:
Sho is VERY clingy, so he’ll usually have 2-3 limbs covering and wrapped-around Yu at any given point (if not all 4), and his body pressed as closely to his as possible. Between hypervigilance, nightmares, and insomnia, he’s also a very restless sleeper, so he shifts around and readjusts his position a lot. He usually prefers to be the holder rather than the held during sleep as, though I’m not sure how readily he’ll admit this, that way Yu can’t leave him or suddenly vanish for other reasons unless he allows it. (During waking hours though, he’s totally down for being held by Yu instead. He’s a lot more vulnerable when he’s asleep however– anything can happen then that he’d be powerless to stop, so it puts him a bit more at ease if he can keep Yu in his arms at all times.) It also serves the double purpose of helping to anchor him in reality when he’s recalibrating after a nightmare or his paranoias start getting the better of him. ...Also the position they’re in in the doodle will probably get uncomfortable really quickly considering Sho’s got Yu’s lower arm pinned under his own lower arm. xD
10 notes · View notes
Video
youtube
Shenanigans of the post-canon boys of some undetermined-universe variety.
(Also sorry about the video quality—I think it’s just an RPGMaker resolution thing when mixed with this specific recording software? (And then YT deciding to lower the quality even further... it’s decently crisp on my local end. xP) This was my test run, so still trying to figure it out, but I think this should be okay for now?)
Dev-side... placeholder assets and unpolished things galore, haha. (For example, that 'no valid target’ SFX on using Tsuku abilities, since the proper animations/additional effects only trigger when in close-enough proximity to a valid target and otherwise just give you a somewhat-related noise and flashy screen to say ‘ya whiffed’, resulting in this accidental double-SFX that requires a bunch of reworking to fix the sequence of the ability to remove it... oops. <_<;) Also, Sho’s coming-to dialog usually fits a bit better when one actually plays the game as intended, given most switches to using Minazuki either last for longer or require more Tsuku-summons I guess? Not all of them though, so I might try find some way to measure time or engaged activities to give more situation-appropriate dialog. :T
(Additionally, for any potentially unaware peeps, sprite spacing in a lot of RPGMkMV basic tiles is very wonky, so that makes weird collision occurrences like this giant gap between the base of the mirror and the player, despite that technically being the directly adjacent tile. If I removed the collision on the bottom mirror piece, Sho would be walking on the mirror, which wouldn’t work for the purpose of it... >_>;)
8 notes · View notes