[hao-sama]

was away for a few days so... time for Haimura illustration comments.

VOLUME 5

Spoiler:

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/mw5.jpg
>The cover for Volume 5. Accelerator and Last Order.
>This was a collection of short stories and had a story that was close to being the "opposite" of Volume 3, so I made the composition similar to the Misaka sisters on the Volume 3 cover.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/hp02.jpg
>Yamisaka Ouma. He was originally a character for a Dengeki hp short story, so I did not come up with a coloration for him.
>His Azusayumi is mainly used for festival spells, so it is not made to hold an actual arrow.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/hp00.jpg
>Since I don't have many roughs for Volume 5, here is a rough for Dengeki hp (now known as Dengeki Bunko Magazine) that came out around that time.
>This was the cover of Dengeki hp Issue 33. The publication date was close to Christmas, so I added in some Christmasy items.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/hp01.jpg
>This was the color page for the short story published in the same issue.
>Unfortunately, my health wasn't too great at this time and I also had a few other jobs I had to work on, so I was unable to make as many roughs as I would have liked.(That is why there are no character roughs for this volume).
>...And so for efficiency's sake, I just took the same rough and added little jokes into it.
>There were "analog" roughs for Last Order, Yoshikawa, and Amai, but I lost them at some point...

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t5_0.jpg
>The rough for Volume 5's cover. I already mentioned the gist of this one back at the top.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp26.jpg
>Bonus. This is the design of Magical Powered Kanamin who briefly appeared in the hp short story. Her coloring was based off of a certain robot.
>However, around Volume 5 was right in the middle of the change to a more deformed style, so the balance between her arms, legs, head, and height is quite strange.

NOTE: It's Gundam.
Her name is a parody too.

In Japanese, Mobile Suit Gundam is 機動戦士ガンダム which literally means "Mobile Warrior Gundam".
Her name has furigana for the Magical Powered part, but the kanji is 超機動少女カナミン or "Super Mobile Girl Kanamin".

VOLUME 6

Spoiler:

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/mw6.jpg
>The cover for Volume 6. Index-san had not been on the cover since Volume 2, so I decided to put her in.
>Because Volumes 3-5's covers had such dark colors, I made this one bright.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp27.jpg
>Sherry Cromwell. She was in a different position from the other female characters, so I decided against making another "cute girl" for once and focused on broadening the range of the characters.
>By the way, her face and clothes are a bit different here in this rough versus in the actual illustrations.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp28.jpg
>Sherry Part 2. Her clothes have been modified. They changed even more in the illustrations.
>Since the Golem Ellis is constantly changing forms while gathering the surrounding objects, its form changes bit by bit in all of the various illustrations.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp29.jpg
>Kazakiri Hyouka. Unlike Sherry, she is the standard type. I restrained myself a bit in her design.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp30.jpg
>Kazakiri Part 2. Her hairstyle and hair band have been changed slightly. Due to revisions to the novel, her "insides" were changed to something other than what is shown here.
>By the way, her glasses and that long bit of hair going off to one side were designated were designated as her characteristics from the beginning, but at this stage, I viewed them as devices allowing her to access both the Imaginary Number District and Academy City.
>Something like the glasses being a monitor and the hair being a LAN cable.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp31.jpg
>Yomikawa Aiho. Just like with Sherry, her look changed a bit between the roughs and the actual illustrations.
>Also like with Sherry, I felt trying to forcibly make her fit in with the various "moe designs" of the existing characters would just make any odd aspects stand out more, so I intentionally avoided trying to do that when drawing her.
>I was supposed to draw an Anti-Skill version as well, but it did not seem it would be used in the novel, so I never did.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp32.jpg
>Kazakiri cosplaying as Magical Powered Kanamin's rival character. I made it look like something from an old anime.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t06_0.jpg
>An unused design for Volume 6's cover. Art-wise, I think this one is better than the rough below, but the backlighting and the more detailed and color-filled background seemed to bury the characters.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t06_1.jpg
>The rough for the final cover. The backlighting was done away with and the background was completely removed. I focused on making the characters look bigger.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp33.jpg
>Bonus. Mikoto's hairpin changed starting in Volume 6. There were signs starting in Volume 3, but by Volume 5 it was clearer than ever that she was in a position of a double heroine alongside Index.
>As such, I wanted to add something more feminine to her design, but Tokiwadai Middle School requires the uniform (no personal clothes allowed), so I chose a hairpin by process of elimination.

VOLUME 7

Spoiler:

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/mw7.jpg
>The cover for Volume 7. It uses the new character combination of Orsola and Agnese.
>From Volume 6 on, I gave all my color illustrations a single base color.
>For this cover, that color was reddish-purple and both the background and the characters follow it.
>Perhaps it's due to the color, but this one looks oddly erotic...

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp34.jpg
>Orsola Aquinas. All of the nuns so far like Index and Misha Kreuzhev had looked nothing like a normal nun, so I intentionally worked to make her look as normal as possible.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp35.jpg
>Agnese Sanctis. All of the nun's in this novel have the same basic outfit, but part of the sleeves and skirt can be removed via zipper.
>By the way, the lines on the chest are meant to be a cross.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp36.jpg
>Tatemiya Saiji. The instructions for him I received were "A baggy appearance with cross-decorated handheld electric fans hanging down," so I designed him to wear something like a B-kei version of a clergy outfit.
>His flamberge is about 50% longer in the actual novel.
[TN: A B-kei or B系 is a Japanese person who dresses and acts according to African American hip hop and R&B culture.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp37.jpg
>Laura. When I made this rough, her last name was Cornwallis, but it was changed to Stuart before the novel was released.
>I designed her to look how I thought Index would look at around college age.
>Her hair clip and her umbrella on the Volume 7 table of contents were given elements to their design that resemble Index.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp38.jpg
>Details. I already explained about Laura's hair clip. >It was made to look like multiple of Index's badge lined up.
>The cross Orsola put on partway through the story was changed for the novel since I realized the design should be different given the sect issue.
>Agnese's Lotus Wand is based on the design of the magic wand Kanamin had (See the Volume 5 roughs).

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t07_0.jpg
>Cover Idea 1 Rough. This one wasn't too bad, but I discarded it myself because Orsola did not seem quite right. I'll explain why later.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t07_1.jpg
>Cover Idea 2 Rough. I designed this one with the intention of having opposing colors like the yin and yang, but the cover would have lost its simplicity, so this one was discarded too.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t07_2.jpg
>And this was the one chosen. In this one, Agnese is not embracing Orsola, she is "capturing" her.
>Instead of getting along with Agnese, Orsola is passively trying to escape.

VOLUME 8

Spoiler:

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/mw8.jpg
>The cover for Volume 8. These two were the main characters this time and the cover reflects that.
>I felt Shirai's design up to Volume 6 was not quite suited to a protagonist or the cover, so I made various minor changes for Volume 8.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp39.jpg
>Musujime Awaki. Since her character was in a position opposite to Shirai, there are some slight similarities in their designs.
>Her uniform is the Kirigaoka (the high school Kazakiri "went to" and that Himegami was enrolled at) winter uniform.
>...And I completely forgot that fact when drawing the left version, so the skirt is different from Kazakiri's.
>I corrected that in the redone version. I also changed her kneesocks to ankle socks and increased the size of her breasts.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp40.jpg
>Uiharu Kazari. I designed her as a character who would look surprisingly normal and uninteresting without the flower decorations on her head.
>I wanted to have some fun by having the flowers on her head be in full bloom or wilting to match her expression and mood. While it might have worked in a manga, the number illustrations is so limited in a light novel that it would have just been confusing, so I decided against it.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp41.jpg
>Accelerator's redesign. His overall coloration changed from black to white and gray.
>His hairstyle is very casual. His electrode choker looks like a portable music player.
>The design of his shirt is supposed to be something like a simplified representation of a bird of prey soaring from the sky after its prey.
>...I digress, but the vaguely tokusatsu-esque taste in Accelerator's clothes is intentional.
>Up to Volume 5 it was Devilman and from Volume 5 on it was Ultraman...I wonder what will happen once the series reaches winter.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t08_0.jpg
>The cover rough. I had a clear idea of what I wanted to show off this time, so I had no real trouble coming up with the design.

VOLUME 9-10

Spoiler:

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/mw910.jpg
>The covers for Volumes 9 and 10. I composed these two to make a single double-page image when lined up.
>Looking back, the coloring on the characters seems a little too simple...

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp42.jpg
>Fukiyose Seiri. I guess you could say she's the class president type.
>I digress, but the way characters in Index are designed changes in a general way to reinforce whether they are from Kamijou's ordinary life or his extraordinary life. Comparing Index to Mikoto might be a good example of this.
>(There are some exceptions like Komoe-sensei, though.)

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp43.jpg
>Oriana Thomson I drew this when the image in my head was still a bit vague, and it shows. Her figure is more like a "wife" than an "onee-san".

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp44.jpg
>Fukiyose Part 2. This also has the details for Touma and the others' PE uniform. (It's the same for guys and girls.)
>I saw her as a high school girl who looked completely normal with the exception of her huge breasts, so I did not give her any ribbons, shiny things, special hairstyles, or any kind of clothing that would stand out.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp45.jpg
>Oriana Part 2. Given how the rough above turned out, I redid her. I also redid her breast size.
>I'll just ignore the inevitable comments about how there is no way they would stay in her top and that you can practically see them already.
>By the way, it was decided that it would be a shame to let the second versions of Fukiyose and Oriana be wasted as roughs, so I fixed them up a bit and they were used in the color pages of the actual novels.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp46.jpg
>Shorthand and the Croce di Pietro (Stab Sword). Shorthand is just a standard flashcard set. The center of the Croce di Pietro represents the Son of God.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp47.jpg
>Ridovia Lorenzetti. Just like Sherry in Volume 6, I designed her to go against the usual expectations of an Index character.
>Her outfit fits in with the other Roman Catholics.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp48.jpg
>The two mothers. I guess you could say Shiina is a Masterpiece Theatre type of woman and Misuzu is an older sister with a refreshing personality?

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp49.jpg
>The rough for the front-side color pages of Volume 9.
>Previously, I had drawn 8 pages worth of color pages counting the opening page and the table of contents, but I clearly did not have time for that this time and I wanted to get across the excitement of the festival, so I composed it as a three page fold-out that was crammed full of characters.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp50.jpg
>The rough for the reverse-side color pages of Volume 9. For the reverse side image, I focused on showing a character rather than a situation.
>For Oriana's breasts I went with the "almost there but not quite" rule of shounen manga (i.e. have the important bits hidden in a contrived way), so they are hidden by the shadow of the Croce di Pietro.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp51.jpg
>The rough for the front-side color pages of Volume 10. I altered the plan from Volume 9 a bit and put the main characters in the spotlight here.
>By the way, I felt a bit sorry for Himegami after her treatment on this cover and the color pages for Volumes 6 and 9, so I purposefully made her stand out here.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp52.jpg
>The rough for the reverse-side color pages of Volume 10. I felt like doing something different, so I made this illustration in a pseudo-fresco style.
>In the final illustration, the layout of the people on the fresco in the background is completely different.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t910_0.jpg
>The rough for the cover. As soon as I heard the two novels would be a two-parter, I knew I had to make the covers connect.
>When I decided to put Komoe-sensei and Himegami on the cover, I thought it would be pretty funny to have them covered up by the ad, and the composition just naturally turned into all of them surrounding the two enemy characters.

VOLUME 11

Spoiler:

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/mw11.jpg
>The cover for Volume 11. This was the first shot of Kamijou and Index in a while.
>I chose green for the theme color because I wanted to use a color I hadn't used yet.
>I digress, but the two main characters had not been on the cover since Volume 2 because around Volume 4 or 5, I made a secret vow to save the two of them together for the cover of the final volume.
>However, I broke that vow here to give the cover a vacation-y atmosphere.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp53.jpg
>Itsuwa. She only had a slight role in the novel, but I went ahead and made a proper rough because I really liked her position in the story.
>The Amakusas (other than Kanzaki and Tatemiya) are supposed to be dressed so as not to stand out when wandering around town, so I did my best to not use any of the design features you would never, ever see in reality that are common in moe character designs.
>I suppose I did something similar with Mikoto and Fukiyose's designs.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp54.jpg
>Sisters Lucia & Angelene. I made them look bird-like to match Agnese who is below.
>I designed Lucia as the type that does not let others near her and Angelene as the member of the Agnese Forces that gets teased a lot and as the mascot of the group.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp55.jpg
>Biagio. Quite rare for the Index world, he is the stereotypical minor villain.
>For this reason, I gave him no features that stand out as a person and then buried him in overly decorated clothes.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp56.jpg
>Agnese - Rosary of Appointed Time version. I made her to look like a bird with plucked wings.
>When grouped with Lucia & Angelene above, she is something like the rival character teasing the sooty heroine in World Masterpiece Theatre accompanied by her two followers.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp57.jpg
>Additional designs for Orsola. Since she had scenes without her hood and wimple, I had to decide on her hairstyle.
>She is an example of the characters in Index that I did not expect at first would be treated as main class characters but ended up in the spotlight later on. (See also: Shirai Kuroko)
>For those characters, I had to add individuality to their designs after the fact, like I was playing my hand in rock paper scissors after seeing my opponent's hand.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t11_0.jpg
>Cover idea 1 rough. I composed this one to have Kamijou in the center, but I decided the cover had to have the girl front and center, not the guy. That was why I moved on to the 2nd design.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t11_1.jpg
>This was the idea that made it. I reversed their positions. The first version left your gaze wandering around indecisively in the center, so I composed this one so your gaze is drawn from right to left.

VOLUME 12

Spoiler:

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/mw12.jpg
>The cover for Volume 12. There was really no other option for this one but these two! No explanation necessary! It's just Kamijou and Mikoto.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp58.jpg
>Kamijou and Mikoto - Autumn Version. Since the characters were changing their uniforms in this one, I had to change the designs of almost every pre-existing character in the novel.
>(By the way, Index, Accelerator, and Yomikawa had no change.)
>I had previously wanted to put Kamijou in a stereotypical gakuran uniform, so I went with that.
>On the other hand, I made Mikoto look a little more modern.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp59.jpg
>Kamijou's school pals. The girls' winter uniforms were fairly standard, but I wanted them to stand out somewhat, so I took a normal sailor uniform and changed up the colors slightly.
>Tsuchimikado and Aogami are basically the same, but I still redid their design a bit.
>Also, you may think you see something behind Fukiyose, but just ignore it.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp60.jpg
>The magic forces. For the new character Vasilisa, I went through the super simple thought process of "Russia -> Cold -> Religious Christmas outfit" and made her something like a female Santa.
>Kanzaki is wearing a plain, minimally decorated yukata.
>I didn't think Sherry was the type to show off her sexuality, so I made her a little more indifferent than sexy.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp61.jpg
>The Academy City characters. For Komoe-sensei, I went the "summer uniform + an extra" route. For Last Order, I just made sure she was different enough from Komoe.
>Shirai was changed to be more modern like Mikoto. Uiharu is basically a plain girl, but I made the flowers on her head a little more autumnal.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp62.jpg
>Other. Misaka's necklace, Tsuchimikado's shirt, and the like. The pattern on his shirt is a bit different from the one above.
>Misaka's necklace is an open heart design that you could probably find anywhere. I made the cuffs of Maika's sleeves a little showier.
>By the way, a bit before Volume 12, the talk of the manga & anime versions were settled and we started helping work on their release.
>From this point on, I made the new characters and even the existing characters have simpler designs with fewer lines. (So there was less of a difference between the novels and the manga or anime.)

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp63.jpg
>Kihara Amata. I took out any of the design aspects people expected of the Index world.
>We already had a young man researcher with Amai in Volume 5, but Kihara is almost the polar opposite of Amai.
>Kihara looks a bit like someone you would find in Don Quijote. Of course, even there you would almost never see someone with a face tattoo...

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/ilp64.jpg
>Vento of the Front. I designed her to be the kind of girl who fit in the Index world the least and she ended up like this. She has thick makeup around her eyebrows and eyes like in a Peking opera.
>Sherry and Oriana are other good examples, but if you have nothing but cute girls, you lose variation and all the characters end up looking the same.
>That is why I feel characters like this are necessary sometimes.

http://r-s.sakura.ne.jp/w/n/t12_0.jpg
>The rough for Volume 12's cover. I decided to go with Kamijou & Mikoto for this one at a very early stage. It was basically my first thought.
>I felt having them linking elbows would tie the picture together well, so I went with it.
>By the way, starting here, I altered the designs even further.
>The most obvious aspect was shortening the characters, making their heads bigger, and shortening their legs just a bit.
>...But the arms and legs still seem to taper off a bit. Maybe I still need to balance it all a bit better.