I recently had the good fortune of landing a couple of rare doujinshi (OK, to you folks who live in a metropolis with access to a Chinatown or sizable Japanese bookstore, my "couple of doujinshi" must seem like a joke, but for a gal who lives in Montana, this was an event), so I thought I'd share the wealth by scanning some choice pics from 'em and posting them here.

Tsuki no Kokuhaku (Confession of the Moon)

I can't believe I got this! Tsuki no Kokuhaku is actually an 82-page collection of li'l manga stories and production sketches drawn by Akari Funato, the mangaka behind Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari! The sketches actually come from "Tamashii no Kokuhaku" and Younenki no Owari. The manga and must've been drawn rather early in her involvement with Lunar, judging from the less-distinctive style employed, but it's exciting to see them nonetheless. That I was actually able to find this on eBay, much less win it, much less not end up paying an arm and a leg for it, does nothing less than astound me; I'm sure I've used up all my good luck for the year.

• front cover - Remilia, Alice, and Luhna (even though Luhna's hardly in this book)
• back cover - Ghaleon and Dain from "Tamashii no Kokuhaku". (Anyone wanna take a guess on what Dain's reading? Probably something Ghaleon assigned him to read, from his expression...I can't imagine Dain reading any book without pictures on his own volition. -_^)
• everybody's favorite stringbean rendered in "Tamashii no Kokuhaku" manga style.
• Alice, Hiro, and Ruby from Younenki no Owari (Akari Funato asks the reader to forgive the poor image quality - it was taken from a fax copy. Looks just fine to me, though.) (Later note: Arrrghh. I just learned that "FAX" stands for "Fan Art Exchange" in this context. Why didn't anyone tell me? -_-;;)
• Lucia smiles This pic is drawn more in Akari Funato's current usual artistic style (which differs somewhat from that of Vheen Hikuusen and that of a lot of the art here).
• Hiro sits From Funato's Younenki no Owari settei (planning/production) sketches.
• Jean and Lemina
• sketches and more sketches of Alice, the lead character of Funato's Younenki no Owari manga. (I've got to get this - Alice looks so cute and expressive!)
• Xenobia, also from Younenki settei sketches (Funato says that Xenobia is her fave Lunar chara design, BTW)
• a head shot/sketch of "Tamashii no Kokuhaku" Ghaleon Love the line strength on this simple sketch.
• Remilia looks so beautiful here! Love that French provincial dress...this's from the "Tamashii no Kokuhaku" sketches, of course.
• Remilia's still quite lovely
• Temzin and Pilya That's Tempest and Fresca to you and me. (Is his name really "Temzin" in Japanese? It's spelled out "Temzin" in the Newtype SSS artbook, but the raw kana name, "Temujin", is what Eastern folk call Genghis Khan, so I was just wondering about the possible reference...) This pic is also done in Funato's usual drawing style.
• a Nasch semi-collage Ditto for the art style of this one.
• Remilia in semi-battle dress? Or is this just a variation of the outfit she had on in the previous pics (the one she wears under her guild deputy's jacket in the manga)? Prob'ly the latter...
• a purdy Remilia facial sketch
• Ghaleon, Ghaleon, Ghaleon It's my website, and I'll have as many Ghaleons as I want, goldang it.
• Remilia's mom from "Tamashii no Kokuhaku"
• a rough sketch of a possible "Confissão"/"Tamashii no Kokuhaku" cover I wish Funato'd at least made this sketch into some cel art...
• Hiro hugs Alice...and Funato's conception of a human Ruby
• Li'l Mia with a lantern!
• Jean in a nice Burmese-style (Myanmarese-style?) dress
• Page one and page two of early character designs for Faithia and Rouyce! (Funato was indeed the gal who designed the pair.) It's pretty apparent from the sketches which is which, isn't it? Funato seems to have Faithia pretty well pegged right at the onset, but Rouyce took apparently took some time to create - she's more sassy-flirty-girly in her early incarnations.
• Remilia and Ghaleon Remilia is apparently making lovey-eyes at the audience. Ghaleon is busy reading and has no interest in making lovey-eyes at anybody.
• A kitty. Kitties are cute.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A 24-pager published in the summer of 1992 and drawn by two female artists named Miyuki Tachibana and Rinko Sakura. It's composed solely of miscellaneous artwork and sketches - no manga or stories here. (Incidentally, there're many more games covered in Midsummer's artwork - Dragon Quest IV, Romancing Sa Ga, Shining Force, Arcana, and a couple others I can't identify. I've only posted pics from games my site covers, but if you'd like scans of any of the other artwork, e-mail me. I might not be able to scan a whole lot, but we'll see what we can do.)

Final Fantasy IV:

• Cecil sipping lemonade This's the cover pic.
• Hmmm...Rydia, mebbe? This pic is part of a frontispiece and isn't in the FF4 section, but judging from the character, the use of green, and the white, Mist-like dragon in the background, I'd say Rydia'd be a good guess. (Correct me if I am indeed wrong.) (I need to rescan this - the illustration on the reverse side of the page is showing through...)
• Cain soars above the clouds This's part of a two-page panorama. I wish I could scan it all to show the full effect, since it's a beautiful pic in that form, but (probably due to my own failings) I can't get the two halves of the image (from the two separate pages) to align correctly.
• FF4, first page - Dark Knight Cecil, Paladin Cecil, Palom & Porom (or Parom & Polom or whatever they're called in the Japanese version)
• FF4, second page - Cain, Edge, Cain kneeling at Golbeza's feet

Phantasy Star III:

• Mieu (Bah. She looks like Barbie.)
• Searren
• Ayn
• a headshot of Searren
• Miun
• Lyle
• a headshot of Lann - and Shiin/Sheen/whoever in a typical pose

The World of Phantasy Star

I've only scanned the pics pertinent to the BizarroLutz storyline, but there's lots more where this came from. Not a Compendium-caliber trove of pics, mind you, but a goodly number of small, interesting illustrations.

• This is the PS2-Alternate Lutz. Argh! He looks like he could be heading a Eurotrash band!
• Or moonlighting as Secret Squirrel!
• The PS2-Alternate party. Good Lord, if you look compare the three comrades there to Alisa, Tylon, and Myau, the whole thing just gets more and more Bizarro, doesn't it?
• An Esper. I'm not sure if this is the extra comrade Lutz & co. were supposed to pick up on the way, but this is the illustration used for the little bit where it talks about Espers being fitted with special magic-suppressing earrings.

Ultima: The Terror of Exodus

A selection of pics from the manga...

• Genji with dragon seal | Schwarzen-Genji with orb-seal sword
• Aida with sextant at beginning (in color) | Aida, friend to all the animals
• Lennon kneeling at beginning (he's so small!) (in color) | Lennon and...friend From the ending; using it as a Lennon illustration gives me an excuse to include a pic that would be hard to slip in otherwise... (It's hard to get good shots of Lennon, though...)
• Bigelow | Bigelow sits serenely...
• the heroes on watch | the heroes on the march
• the heroes' futuristic, ultra-powerful forms
• Mondain His hair's flying up, but this is probably the best overall shot of him...
• Minax Ditto on Minax's hair here...
• Exodus's full-fledged form
• Lord British
• the very first (picture) page of the manga I've scanned this page to display the author's talents with color compositions, of which both this illustration and the above portrait are excellent examples, in contrast with the often-rough black-and-white art.
• Bigelow with his armor on There're bigger, better pictures of armored Bigelow, but I'm running out of space...
• Lennon blows the Silver Horn
• Exodus Castle
• Exodus's platform-thingy
• a moongate

Ultima: Quest of the Avatar

• the cover | jacket-flap color pictures of Deane, Io, and Lord British | the same, but of the other companions Also, for some reason, this flap doesn't scan as well as the rest of the jacket.
• the full-color prologue, with Aila, Hawkwind, and bishounen Lord British: pg. 1 | 2-3 | 4-5 | 6-7 | 8
• The Avatar and his companions:
  • Deane | 2 | 3 | Deane, the holy comet
  • Io, and that's enough of her for now
  • Kati, with silver serpent egg | Kati, without silver serpent egg
  • Julia, with katakana confirmation of his name | 2 | 3
  • Shamino | 2 | Shamino under glass, as he should be
  • Geoffrey | 2
  • Mariah! Mariah, Mariah, Mariah! I've just met a girl named...oh, wait; I'm out of pics.
• Shiva | 2 | kind of a spoiler, even without words
• a slightly older Lord British, who apparently sprung for the laser portrait that year | Lord British at the age he is for the main action of the manga
• Hawkwind, and I was going to do a "Hawkwind doesn't change expressions" thing, but scanning these pictures has given me enough grief, I'm afraid
• Silver the silver serpent hatches | Silver as an adult
• Minor character roundup: Talfourd, with child Shiva and baby Deane | Sentri | Brother Antos | Father Antos, Maybe | why, Surlent, it's so nice of you to take a break from your Lago Stone research to come visit us (Calumny)
• the near-entirety of Deane's meeting with Sentri I just liked this scene.
• Sightseeing:
  • Castle Britannia, by way of Chenonceau
  • the Talfourd Family Hacienda This seems to be photoreferenced, but I don't recognize the source. Does anybody know?
  • Empath Abbey
  • the Lycaeum
  • a moongate
  • Sailing, sailing...
  • Deane stares into the Abyss | the Abyss stares into Deane
  • the Codex chamber Or, rather, the room beyond the Codex chamber.
• Group pics: Deane's companions | moongate transfer | Geoffrey, Deane, and ninja Shamino on the attack | Deane remembers his family | Geoffrey bops Shamino on the head, and so would you, if you spent extended time with Shamino | Mariah & Io | Geoffrey & Kati asleep
• Calumny shows you the proper way to harvest mandrakes
• Descent (spoiler)
• Sacred icons: a cathedral of Our Lord | the Passion | And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him | HE IS RISEN. | Madonna and child

Final Fantasy IV Prestory Comics from the Final Fantasy IV Perfect Fan Book

This is a combination beginner's strategy guide and compilation of FFIV fan comics that was published as a furoku for Marukatsu Suupaa Famikon magazine at the time of FFIV's initial release. The comics are ehh...

• ...but this by Hiroyuki Hataike - this is magnificent.

Miscellaneous Lunar

• Lunar currency.
• A Funato-drawn pin of Luhna and Lucia that apparently went with the coin set.
• Finally, this is a blatant Online Fanarts Protection violation, but a) these have not been online for about ten years, and b)...well, they're just too dang adorable to perish from the web:
  The artist's name was given as nothing but "Taro"; to my recollection, he didn't really have a fanart page - he was more of a tech guy. I do hope the gentleman forgives me.

Borders

A listing of the borders previously used to decorate the site.

• Hiro, Lemina and Leo attacking, from Kaori Naruse's Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Remix manga
• Ghaleon looking out the window, from Akari Funato's "Tamashii no Kokukaku" (from Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari)
• Ghaleon and Dain resting in the ruins, frontispiece from Akari Funato's Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari (enlarged for clarity)
• Ruby, Leo, Jean, and Lemina, from the back cover of Kaori Naruse's EB Remix manga
• close-up of Ghaleon looking at Vheen's ruins, from Akari Funato's "Tamashii no Kokuhaku" again
• cutscene strip from Lunar 2's ending, from the Lunar I & II artbook
• Lucia in her red robes, from Kaori Naruse's Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Remix manga

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