Shichimi: 2020 Model sheet
While painting on the future episode 34, I felt the design of Shichimi's clothes had −to say it gently− "a lot of room for improvement" ;-) If you don't remember it, she was dressed so far with a sort of a kimono that was looking like a bathrobe with pink roses pattern on it. I'll not blame myself for this design; so many things were happening when Shichimi appeared for the first time on the potion challenge episode (5 years ago): the new website, the translation system and a epic nine pages long episode... I had not a lot of time to study more clothes variations for the new secondary characters.
I still have no time; but while I'm waiting to receive the printed proof of the 4 books in hardcover and softcover (it should happen somewhere during the next days now, the printer shipped them), I'm feeling a big pressure. I feel I'll have deep difficulties to recover if I receive another fail at print... So, being conscious about it and to deal with this omnipresent fear, I keep myself busy. I'm doing way more freelance works than usual (because July/August were invested into the book-publishing project full time) and I prepare the next production of the episode.
So, long story short; Shichimi is a character that really deserved a lot more care since years for her design; and the more I write on my global story arc, the more she is important. I tried to keep what I liked on her design and I iterated over that until I was happy with it. I hope you'll like it. She now has a variation colors and material: dark leather, almost pure poppy-red kimono and a layer of white clothes under it. I also added a tiny bag she wear on her back and she can just rotate around herself to pick herbs, ingredients, mini potion or a wand quickly. That will probably solve the missing pockets on the design if Shichimi needs to keep a key or any object during a quest. It has no purpose for the next story, but this type of detail might be useful in the future.
