pg. 12

[Sketches/dougen of Mia during her SSS introduction scene, when she begins to introduce herself formally to Arhes.]

Lunar anime. [arrow pointing up and down to specific Mia dougen] These were even in the manual. Eh heh heh! I drew them. (Her big head is due to Kubooka's revisions. [Toshiyuki Kubooka is Lunar's character designer.])

[arrowing point to sketches of Mia looking to the side, up sadly and then away again] These were rejected. They were really tough to do, but I enjoyed doing them.

[sketch for Mia's intro keyed in three layers according to shading] Please correct as needed; it's tough putting shadows on a drawing of a person
the eyes are weird...
3 layers [of shading] on the hair only; everything else has 2 layers
[note by stray mark on Mia's cheek] mistake
[Mia's hair on top is marked as the "normal" layer, with deeper layers marked as "layer 1" and "layer 2".]

pg. 13

[The sketch of Hiero exploring some ruins that appears on the cover. He's wheeling past a "ruined pillar" and clutching a "map". Various notes denote where the "light" is supposed to strike in the composition.]

LUNAR 2

I drew for the Kadokawa Sneaker imprint Lunar 2 novels, including for the covers. (I'M SORRY, all you Kubooka fans...) I personally didn't find [author] Hiromi Kosoe's Lunar 2 not bad... How's that for a statement?
What *I* liked was how Lucia was this young girl just turned to jelly by love.

pgs. 14-15

[A sparse group of sketches of Lunar 2's supporting party members, a bit more grown-up - Jean's a bit more voluptuous yet tougher; Rong-fa sports a redesigned, more sectioned robe, a bindi, and a kiseru pipe; Leo (in a very rough sketch) is slightly more vulpine; Remilia sports a corset, not unlike those worn by the female Lumac twin in "Tamashii no Kokuhaku", over a sporty flowing dress with elbow-length sleeves.]

For the Sneaker books, it was no longer a Shigema and Kubooka combo but rather a second-tier operation (Kosoe & Funato), so I got a little cheeky and started playing around with the character designs, but in the end...

[near Remiena sketches] I'm an unabashed Magic Guild of Vheen fan, so...
Ohhh, Remiena-chan's so *cute!*...

pg. 16

[This is the "Character Love Relationship Chart!" that Funato included in her once-online notes on "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku".]

Guildmistress -> Zain: Her first love. She went and had Niea with someone else, but...

Zain -> Guildmistress: Though he was gentle with others, he was at times very harsh to her. It was a sort of twisted love... The personal accounts differ, and not all the facts are known.

Guildmistress -> Latona: I respect the magic race.

Latona -> Guildmistress: Vague dislike.

Zain -> Latona: Vaguely senses Latona's feelings, but kind of goes "oh, well" at them - not anything beyond "hmmm, this may be a little bit of a problem".

Latona -> Zain: Quite in love with him. Meaning, she's serious.

Zain -> Morris: Friend [li'l heart!].

Morris -> Zain: We get along quite well, for some reason - particularly seeing how our personalities are different! Sees Zain as a rival - hates him to a surprising degree. [Switching from Morris's voice to Funato's.]

Latona -> Morris: He can't hold a candle to Zain!

Morris -> Latona: Love. Why do I have to fall for women like her...

Latona -> Ghaleon: Like a little brother!

Ghaleon -> Latona: Like a big sister.

Morris -> Ghaleon: He hates Zain, just like me!!

Ghaleon -> Morris: He's always giving me a hard time, and it's like he reads my mind. I hate him!

Ghaleon -> Niea: Like a little sister.

Niea -> Ghaleon: Love. (But she'll naturally find another man when she grows up...)

Note near Ghaleon: Reverse brother complex. He means to hate Zain, but he in fact fervently loves him. Dain and Zain's names have a one-character difference [not unintentionally, I suppose].

Note near Niea: The only character who takes to everyone, human or magic-race. Somehow or another endears herself to everyone. That's the sign of good character, Niea!!

Personally, I wonder about Tagak...[heart] (What's the [heart] for!!)
I'd like him for my husband...

This is a character relationship chart I drew up for Ootsuki Beruno. In the first draft, young Ghaleon had a crush on Latona. It was in there, but there ended up being too many plotlines, and it was dropped.

pg. 17

[The pencils of the Vheen Hikuusen tankoubon cover.]

VHEEN HIKUUSEN MONOGATARI

pg. 18

[Sketches of "mazoku men" - Tagak and, mostly, Morris. Tagak is almost utterly unchanged; Morris, however, sports straight, long hair in a ponytail that seems either slightly braided or bound with a braided leather strap in the back near the neck.]

Early sketches. Tagak and Morris changed greatly in both character and their roles in the story. I was the most worried about Morris. I couldn't really get a handle on his personality.

[notes near Morris] Morris Alma [Morris's early name, obviously.]
Kazuhiko Inoue [Funato's (initial) choice for Morris's voice actor.]

The worldly man
Life of the party who brings everyone together; cheerful and kind.
Painstakingly courteous.
Good relationship with Ghaleon; friend of Zain.
Morris always puts on an adult face in front of Ghaleon. [Yes, I'd say Morris did indeed change greatly from the initial character thumbnails.]
model academic
Doesn't really have faith in humanity
horribly two-faced
(I'd thought I understood Morris at the time, but I guess I really didn't know anything about him at all.)

[notes near Tagak] Tagak (tagaku [portmanteau from two kanji meaning "great/many" and "learned/skilled"])
[Next to Tagak's name is Funato's choice for his seiyuu, but I can't find a match for the name. Help, anyone? I'd like to know.] Beethoven eyes
single layer ["Hitoe", and I don't know to what this would refer; it's just a character sketch (well-drawn, but not for an anime or any use requiring multiple layers).]

The military-type man
Thinks that constructing the ship is stupid, but Zain...Zain was always right.
Secretly respected Zain but couldn't bring himself to say so and in the end never did
Always fighting, usually
Doesn't like humans
Strictly adheres to hierarchal relationships
Doesn't have a good relationship with Ghaleon
Never takes part in conversations, which leads to misunderstandings

pg. 19

[A sketch of Morris, of Zain's face, and of an early version of KSK Ghaleon where he has longish straight hair and looks like a member of the defunct boy band Hanson.]

Zain appeared only in flashback scenes and in a calendar illustration (see the back of the tankoubon), didn't he...

[note near Zain] Big brother
He's supposed to have lived for 800 years. I'd think that'd be enough...[Note: Funato in her "Tamashii no Kokuhaku" sketches labeled Ghaleon as 200-300 years old - which cannot be correct in view of the one-page Vheen Hikuusen epilogue and its "120 years later" time marker, so you might want to take Zain's stated age here with a grain of salt. On the other hand, these rough sketches were clearly issued after the release of the tankoubon, whereas the doujinshi with the TnK sketches was released before "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku" - so maybe Zain really is 800.]

[note near Ghaleon] At first, I had planned on Ghaleon looking like [arrow pointing to the sketch], but I was told by a friend about Kenji [or Takeshi] from Hoshi no Sabaku [Desert of Stars, a standalone manga Funato did] that "he looks like a kappa, and that's not very good", so I said "yeah, we can't have him looking like a kappa (which he DIDN'T, *but!* (heart))" and I changed it. [Supposedly, kappas have this straight bob cut. Ghaleon's hair here is a bit longer; the Hanson analogy is apt.]

pg. 20

[KSK Ghaleon in a few cape-like topcoats.]

I didn't have much time to spend on the character designs, and so it's too bad that I didn't really get to fuss much over the costume designs.

I found these [sketches] in some rough sketches I drew a long while back of Ghaleon and everyone.

I couldn't come up with clothes that suited him very well, so in the end, I just settled on a modern prince-like style. (Yes, his character concept was that of a prince...)

pg. 21

[Sketches of the Guildmistress.]

Vheen's guildmistress.

She was actually a character I had created to use in another manga. She was misappropriated...SORRY.

In the beginning, she came across as more of a cool character, but that aspect of her didn't really show in the manga... If she came off to the reader as a "bad person", then the story would be a failure, so.

Her character concept was that of "a fiery woman". Less the type who sneers in the face of danger and reels off the ultimate spells with the greatest of ease, but a classy big sister. I like her.

pg. 22

[Sketches of the guildmistress, her daughter, and of the group illustration of the mazoku KSK characters used for the back of the tankoubon and one of Funato's calendars.]

Niea...she was the only innocent, pure-hearted character and was always at Ghaleon's side...always "near" Ghaleon, hence her name "Niea". ...I'M SORRY.

* - She's a different person from Remilia's mother. That's "Miea".

[notes by sketches of the Guildmistress, pointing at her hat] It's red! I like red - it's the color of life!
Red is the color of blood - it's a color to be shunned [Considering the connotations of the color red, at least in the West, I think Funato might have meant to write the equivalent of "the color of those to be shunned/sinners", but I'm translating the test as written.
There's an interesting contrast sideways noted here between the Eastern concept of red (auspicious, energetic) and the Western concept (The Scarlet Letter etc.).]

pg. 23

[Sketches of Niea and Latona.]

Latona was initially "the traitor Latona" [a reference to an early plot for "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku", detailed in an old page from Funato's website translated here], but in development, she ended up being a sentimental character who elicited sympathy...

[notes near sketches of Latona's costume and tattoo]
Latona
has tattoo on her left arm only
[pointing to inside of the two thin "sleeves" that hang from Latona's shoulders] black velvet [possibly "black and white velvet"; there's a small "white" kanji in the vicinity, though it's not clear to what it should be applied]
All the mazoku are in pure white

[notes near other Latona sketch] Latona
Places great importance on memories
Finds many memories here and there throughout Vheen

[note near Niea] 4 heads tall

pg. 24

[Sketches of Rouj and a quick draft of the back-of-the-tankoubon group shot.]

He's an old person ["roujin" in Japanese], hence "Rouj". Sorry.

[note near Rouj] Grecian [referring to Rouj's clothing style, I suppose]

[notes near tankoubon illustration, reproduced in Funato's online KSK notes]

Tagak, man of many trades and skills. Sheetmetalworker, artisan. Unsociable.

Rouj, old scholar (hence his name). Child of the old city, born and raised. Chikao Ohtsuka [she means the seiyuu she had in mind for Rouj. Ohtsuka's had tons of roles, but not anything I think instantly recognizable to Westerners; he has done Dr. Eggman tons of times, it seems]. [A scribble between Rouj and Tagak notes that they are parent and child.]

Morris, premier of Vheen. Has a sly, Takeshi Kaga voice. [I presume everyone knows who Mr. Allez Cuisine is.]

(cool sidelong glance away from the camera) Ghaleon at seventeen years old. (Fourth son.) [Note: Funato in several places says she had tons more unpublished story pertaining to both KSK and to Lunar in general; I don't know if the idea of Ghaleon being the fourth child in his family belongs to that material or if it was rejected and Zain is indeed Ghaleon's only sibling.
Then again, we're never told in the published KSK that Zain is Ghaleon's only brother. It seems odd not to mention the others, but then I imagine the first and third sons, as well as any daughters, would have time to meet their deaths over the long lifespans of their magic-race parents. Still doesn't sit quite right, though.]
Student of divinity. [He's sighing in the thought balloon.]

Zain, scholar. Second son. [See above about this.] Dead older brother.

Latona. Like a foster mother/governess. Vocalist.

pg. 25

[A height-comparison sketch of the mazoku males in their winter wear - Rouj is 6.5 heads high, Ghaleon 7, Morris 7.5, and Tagak 8 - as well as a few costume notes for Ghaleon and Niea.]

I worried about Morris's character up until the very end. He just didn't make an impact...

But then!! There was Takeshi Kaga on the TV...!! The moment I heard that voice, I thought, "That's it!", and Morris's seiyuu changed from Kazuhiko Inoue. After that, he just came together. [This leads to me envision Morris in Chairman Kaga's Iron Chef getups, which suit him frighteningly well.]
Morris's character concept was "a hypocrite in love".
Tagak's was "a craftsman". He's a good person.

[note near Ghaleon's outfit, with cape/collar both on and off] can change looks

pg. 26

[A couple more sketches of Latona, a sketch of "Kioku Suru Fuukei" Ghaleon, and a full-face (!) sketch of Zain.]

Since the mazoku are leaving Vheen, they are clad entirely in white, meant to symbolize the dead.
In contrast, the humans are dressed almost entirely in solid black.
The manga's visual concept was "a funeral".

[notes near Latona sketches] Latona
Believes that the powerful should rule and that we would be better off without rulers who need symbols of their authority.
Has a "survival of the fittest" mentality
A woman of nothing but lies
pretends to be sweet
Tries to bring down the current guildmistress without her knowing - uses tender words and pretends to have a gentle demeanor while she is still in power

[notes near "Kioku Suru Fuukei" Ghaleon] Ghaleon around the time that he met Dain. I was just worried to death over this, so I settled on this [arrow pointing to sketch] version of him quite quickly.

white [clothing] on top, black underneath

[note near Zain portrait] Zain (older brother)

pg. 27

[Sketches of Ghaleon's two capes.]

His cloak and cape are actually hand-me-downs.

The mazoku sure do hold onto things, huh... Maybe they're [the goods] infused with magic or something...

The hint is near "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku"'s departure scene.

[notes near the sketches] Ghaleon's cloaks
[arrow pointing to metal bands on Tagak's cloak, worn by Ghaleon on his shoulders] weighted down on the shoulders
[arrow pointing to medallions from Morris's cloak, used here at Ghaleon's neck to tighten the cape like a hood] clip used to tighten
[on back of cape at neck] pleated so that it does not take on the shape of a hood [when it's gathered in back and not being worn as a hood, Funato means]

pg. 28

[The upper part of the page consists of Hajime Satou's designs for the airship. The lower half consists of a couple sketches, uncommented upon, of a young Dain (older than he was in "Kioku Suru Fuukei", though) and Ghaleon, his hair short but a tiny bit longish in back.]

These are the designs for which I asked and graciously received from Hajime Satou. Vheen Hikuusen wouldn't exist without them; thank you, thank you, thank you! I was just thrilled with them!

[Satou's notes on the design] Vheen's Magic Airship
[note on long banner flying atop ship] banner with Vheen's crest (I'll leave the design up to you!)
[note on sheet of cloth covering top of ship] the cuts are to allow air to flow through
[near silhouettes of ship] seen from above
seen from the side
[near fabric sheath for balloon] this sort of underlying construction
[near metal framework on balloon] metal framework is like this
[near magic gauge] magic gauge
[note to right of large 3/4 view] If there're any parts you have reservations about, go ahead and change them.
[near device that lifts passengers into the airship] the elevator's like this, but it's all right if you change it to suit your needs

pg. 29

As for the students...I drew a certain number of character designs just to get a rough idea, but afterward, for the first draft, I just went ahead and winged it.

When I draw so many cute and pretty faces, the beauty and grace of the magic race gets buried underneath them, and that's just horrible!

[note near sketch of the Smarter Than the Average Guild Student who figures out the energy tank problem]
<-- Rumack-kun. Already with the family's weird hair. [To my knowledge, Nasch's family name has never gotten an official Western spelling. It's "ruumakku" in kana, and the only person outside the Lunar canon who readily pops up on the Japanese web with that surname is Leslie Nielsen's character from Airplane!, indeed a Dr. Rumack. I'd prefer to make it "Lumac", but the French "u" apparently isn't transcribed in Japanese with an elongated "u".]
wide forehead
easily flustered

[note near sketch of student afraid of Tagak]
googly-eyed; thick eyebrows
color-coordinated
a little chubby

[note near older woman with babushka; I don't think she actually appears in the manga. The closest matches are one of the guildmistress's attendants during her introduction scene or one of the extras in the Vheen street scene where Ghaleon is talking to Niea]
Maruko-chan [This might be a reference to the manga Chibi Maruko-chan, to whose heroine the woman bears a very slight resemblance, or to the round (marui) shape of her face.]
[note on her hair, covered by the shawl] <-- extends to her shoulders

[note near the student with the short blonde hair who, with the others introduced by the guildmistress, pleads to be allowed to work on the airship]
short, on the skinny side
pointed jaw
[about hair] like a kappa [See the previous note about Hanson!Ghaleon.]

[note near male student who relunctantly recites the levitation spell]
wide, prominent jaw
narrow eyes
tall and thin
strong

[note near...I think it's one of the students holding up the big banner on the airship in the "Look!" panel]
bangs stand up straight

[note near one of the guildmistress's guard during Latona's attack, I believe, though the part in his hair is different]
no cheekbones
jaw [used to point out the strength of his jawline]

[note near hood on the female version of the Vheen guild uniform - both male and female versions are displayed]
flounder ["hirame" - this might refer to the character's nearly-nonexistent, smooshed-in nose and three-quarters-perspective glance she's giving in the sketch, which makes it look as if both eyes are on one side of her face]

pg. 30

INITIAL PLOT

At first, I had planned to include some mystery-like panel layouts and construct what you could call a deepening riddle. However. Even with 90 pages, you have to expend so many panels on staging and direction, and so I ended up abandoning the idea.
But I also feel that it was for the best, considering the story's contents and quiet tempo.

BEFORE -

Brother's Funeral
-A magic-race woman is crying, singing a requiem. A scholarly man grouses that with this, there are only five magic-race left in Vheen. The old man who was building an airship with the brother gives up on the project.
-Ghaleon suddenly says that he's going to build the airship in his brother's place.
-The guildmistress offers help, but Ghaleon refuses.
-His brother was a quiet man of few words. Though Ghaleon and he lived together, Ghaleon didn't know his brother well.
-Ghaleon himself doesn't understand why he said he'd take up the construction of the airship when he has such a negative attitude toward both the ship and his brother. He doesn't understand why his brother was trying to build an airship, either.

Airship Construction
-The magic-race woman talks about nothing but memories. Ghaleon looks toward the ruins; he himself is creating something that will ultimately crumble to dust.
-The guildmistress's only daughter wanders around the airship construction site, raring to help. He takes the little girl around with him, telling her that this is dangerous and so to stay where he can keep an eye on her.
-The ship is mostly built; all that remains is the assembly of the main engine parts and the test.
-The scholar deals with the merchants and gathers the supplies for Ghaleon.
-Even he [Morris], usually so personable, does not think kindly of the humans who little by little are overtaking Vheen.
-The old man's son is in charge of the exterior. Not one to mince words, he says that he has no place in Vheen any longer.
-The last five magic race remaining in Vheen are greeted by the city's residents with timid respect and fearful glances.
-They're like birds in a cage.
-The old man says that we create things precisely because of the fact they will someday be destroyed.
-Through the woman's reminiscing, Ghaleon learns that his younger self was the catalyst for his brother becoming obsessed with the sky.
-Let's build the ship; we'll leave it behind in Vheen, and it will be our proof that we were here.
-They propose to depart from Vheen and leave it in the hands of the humans.
-There's one night of work left on the ship; just before the day it is to be completed, the old man is wounded and consequently dies.

AFTERWARD: The old man won't even say who did it; he says he's at the end of his life, so they can't worry about it. Just before dying, he covers up for the culprit by saying it was an accident. ("All right? Nothing lasts forever. You remember that!")

They continue not knowing who killed the old man; the construction runs into trouble. (The ship is meant to carry passengers) (It's held back due to safety concerns)
Ghaleon learns in his brother's study that he really was loved by his brother.
Ghaleon decides to accept the guildmistress's offer and receives help in building the airship.
One could believe that the breach between the magic race and the humans, always so wide, could simply be due to lack of interaction.
The students soak up the magic race's knowledge like sponges. The students' cheerful manner, so different from their own, encourages the magic race that the humans will create a Vheen filled with life.
Who killed the old man? The magic-race begin packing; when the airship flies, they themselves will leave.
On the day of the flight test, the magic-race woman refuses to hand over Vheen to the humans, saying that Vheen was originally the magic race's and that Vheen is for the powerful to rule. She attacks the guildmistress but is quickly defeated.
The ship flies. The residents are surprised by Ghaleon, who says that the ship will be left in Vheen. He says that the ship won't be able to be maintained if it's not in Vheen. The guildmistress's daughter makes a fuss to Ghaleon about him leaving the city. He promises to come back again.
There are so many things Ghaleon has wanted to try and to do. The scholar goes to Meribia. The old man's son sets off on a journey. Ghaleon will one day fulfill his promise to the guildmistress['s daughter, I believe] - but that is yet another tale.

END

By the way, I wrote about...mmm, 10 pages of plot. I sifted through it again afterward and ended up throwing away just HUGE amounts of plot. This is the cleaned-up draft.

pg. 31

"Vheen Hikuusen" was the first manga tankoubon for me that wasn't based on a previous work or someone else's plot outline. It is LUNAR, but it is quite unabashedly Funato's version. I was given complete free reign, without any checks - I was so happy!
I've been associated with the world of Lunar for 4-5 years now. I know it so well now, and I've come to feel at home there. I was able to do this book as a result, and I am so grateful.

[The page features roughs for an early version of "Kioku Suru Fuukei". They consist almost exclusively of voice balloons; only a few rough shapes can be made out.]

(pg. 1)

LUNAR
Away from the Sky

Someone, Most Probably Ghaleon [thinking]: How long has it been since that day that we first met...

[Note: the frontispiece to the finished "Kioku Suru Fuukei" in the tankoubon shows "Tamashii no Kokuhaku" Dain asleep in the Vheen ruins next to a still-awake Ghaleon - a probable cue as to when this reminiscing takes place.]

(pg. 2)

[Rough establishing sketch of Burg; it is "the middle of the night" out.]

Narration: Burg was a simple village newly settled by the southern peoples...

One of Dain's Grandparents: P...priest....priest, sir...Wake up, please...

(sleepy-looking Ghaleon)

(old farmwife)

Sleepy Ghaleon: ...sounds coming from the barn?...

Dain's Grandmother: I'm so ashamed. We just can't deal with it ourselves. I can only imagine if he has help...
Oh, I'm so scared...

Ghaleon: They say escaped convicts come to remote country like this to hide... No matter. This will be repayment for my night's stay.

(barn)

SFX: ::sneak sneak sneak::

SFX: ::creeeeaaak::

SFX: ::grab, rustle::

Ghaleon: One of the lower magic-race?

(the mysterious shadow causes some feathers to scatter)

SFX: ::rustle:: ::crack::

(pg. 3)

Ghaleon: Sh!

(Ghaleon signals the farmwife to be quiet)

(the dark shadow, who doesn't notice)

(Ghaleon takes a step forward)

(grabs)

(the light reveals--)

Someone: AAHH--!

(the wife looks disgusted)

SFX: ::dangling...::

(The culprit is Dain, 13 years old? caught plucking a chicken.)

Dain: ......

Rejected continuity sheet. There has to be a prologue for the people unfamiliar with Lunar, so the story took its current form to show that Ghaleon's a priest, that everyone prays to the goddess Althena, that this is a world where magic exists, etc.

pg. 32

[Roughs for the climactic pages of "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku". Only voice balloons and rough panel divisions are provided.]

(pg. "32" ["Kokuhaku Suru Kioku" was originally published in two parts, so this might be referring to the page count for the second half of the story.])

(the ship flies)

(far above Vheen)

(pg. "33")

(shadow of ship sailing above the earth)

(overjoyed residents)

(fullscreen of inside the ship)

(pg. "34")

(satisfied Guildmistress)

(Niea takes Ghaleon's hand)

(Niea looking happy)

Niea: It's like we're birds now.

(Ghaleon smiles)

Ghaleon (thinking): That was what I wanted, wasn't it?
My delusion...
That if I had the airship to myself, I'd have my brother, too...
(pg. "35")

(leaving)

(outside the gate, clear weather)

(Morris is wearing Latona's ring)

Ghaleon: Morris...that's...

Morris: It'd be a pity to leave her behind, don't you think?
She was a woman severe in her prejudices, but...

(carefree Morris)

Morris: to me, she was a good woman.

Tagak: Ghaleon!! Isn't this your hat?

Niea: It was me who found it!

Guild Student: We washed it all up for you! I'm glad we made it in time!

Ghaleon: The one I lost that day.

(Ghaleon takes the hat)

Ghaleon: ...Thank you.

Ghaleon (to Guildmistress): We're leaving the airship.

Guildmistress: Ghaleon!

Ghaleon: There's no way it'd be able to be maintained it if it weren't in Vheen.
It was my brother's sole request.--

Time after time after time...my continuity sheets never have any pictures. My supervisors probably can't stand it, either. I guess it's in great part due to how, when I do draw pictures in my continuity sheets, I just can't focus on the script... Well... Also, in revising the tankoubon, I has planned to give that baby a name and completely forgot. What a fiasco. Sorry.