Extra Content from Volume 11 (Vigilantes).
O'Clock II#
The Rough Design#
O'Clock II
The circles all over the costume represent the "O" in "O'Clock".
When moving extremely fast, his face scar (?) and the lines on his costume glow.
His color palette is blue and black, with yellow lines.
Behind the Scenes#
It took quite a while for this version to show up in the story, but I actually requested these rough designs just after the character first appeared, at the end of volume 4.
The idea behind this design is a sleek and cool "hero-like hero" (despite the dark truth) who stands in contrast to Koichi.
-Furuhashi
There was a huge gap between when I made these designs and their implementation into the story, so when it finally came time to draw this guy in action, I modified the design by adding a belt and other little details. This look is, of course, an homage to the former sidekick of the character Master is an homage to (sorry, that's tricky to put into words... LOL).
-Betten
Koichi#
From the very start of Vigilantes, I've portrayed flight as this awe-inspiring thing that's emblematic of true heroes, so the moment when Koichi finally achieves flight is really emotional. Even if he doesn't have full control in the air...
-Furuhashi
Since Koichi's the protagonist, I set out to make him easy to draw, but for whatever reason, I still run into a lot of trouble with him. Like it just doesn't click, sometimes. Maybe it's because Koichi's grown a lot in the story, but my own growth hasn't been able to keep up...
Still, one of the big things I strive to show is how, along the way, he's transformed from this undeniably uncool guy (at the start) into someone with an actual cool factor about him.
-Betten
Midnight#
In Vigilantes, Midnight's character is basically an obliging woman who loves to look after others, which I extrapolated from her presentation in the main series (where she's a teacher who interacts with students a lot, and is someone whose, let's say, "proclivities," influence her words and actions). I can always count on her to discuss things with Koichi and the gang.
-Furuhashi
For some reason, I get a lot of chances to show Midnight Sensei in street clothes or disguises. (LOL) I don't know if I'm nailing her whole image correctly or not, but I'm having fun at any rate.
-Betten
Detective Tanuma#
- Name: Eizo Tanuma
- Birthday: 5/2
- Height: 167 cm
- Favorite Thing: Smoking, Western Liquor
- Quirk: Free Walker
The Rough Design#
Tanuma
Skinny necktie
Vest
Kind of disheleved, but the clothes he wears are pretty nice
Behind the Scenes#
As Tsukauchi's partner (or perhaps superior?), Tanuma is the more mature and mellow detective of the two. Believe it or not, he's been in the story since way back in volume 1. Since he's not interested in climbing the civil servant ladder any higher, he's the same rank as Tsukauchi despite being a whole 24 years older. That's the gist I'm trying to get across.
-Furuhashi
I remember initially having trouble when putting together designs for this guy, since we didn't really have his personality nailed down. In retrospect, I wish I'd made him a little more handsome... In my own mind, I've decided that Tanuma has a preference for fine clothing.
-Betten
The Rapper#
The Rough Design#
The Rapper
Shorter than Fat Gum, but taller than Master
Taping on forearms is all haphazard
Behind the Scenes#
When I asked myself which character should make a cameo during the underground fight club investigation, it wasn't hard to arrive at this answer. But we never get to see his bare face in MHA proper, so I decided to solve that problem by giving him a pro-wrestling-style mask here. It gives off quite a different impression than the bizarre mask in MHA, so I was really glad when the overall reader response was still "Ah, good ol' Rappa."
-Furuhashi
I might've adjusted some details, but I made a conscious effort to keep his overall silhouette the same as in MHA. Still, it's hard to imbue him with that sheer energy and intensity he has in the main series.
-Betten
Same-ko, Kame-ko, and Rookie Fat Gum#
The Rough Design#
Rookie Fat Gum
Kame-ko
Map
Turtle backpack
Same-ko
Souvenirs
Behind the Scenes#
Both of Ru-ko's friends have these smooth, round faces that make them really cute background characters. Since Ru-ko's got the rabbit motif, I figured her friends should be shark-like (alluding to the "Hare of Inaba") and turtle-like (a la "The Tortoise and the Hare"). Basically, representing those old folktales. She might also have a tanuki-like friend (to reference "Kachi-Kachi Yama")!
The concept behind young Fat Gum is that he's neither plump nor skinny. At this point in life, he was only snacking on that relatively small box of takoyaki.
-Furuhashi
The shark girl and turtle girl needed to 1) be cute, 2) imply their respective animal motifs, and 3) clearly be in the middle of sightseeing in Osaka. Getting across all of that at once, visually, is a lot to ask, no? (LOL) Given that Fat is still a young guy here, I wanted to suggest that he cares a lot about his hairstyle.
-Betten
Tiger Bunny#
The Rough Design#
Mystery high school girl
Behind the Scenes#
It's you-know-who during her high school days, and in addition to the Rapper, she was the one who sprang to mind when I needed a character to crash the underground fight club. At first, I wondered if pro wrestling fans would be mad about the tiger mask, or if people would accuse me of ripping off Air Master, but when I checked out the fan response, a ton of readers thought I was referencing Tiger & Bunny. It was a real "Huh? That's the conclusion they leapt to?" moment for me.
I guess it speaks to the generation gap.
-Furuhashi
In this context, she's meant to be an unknown high schooler, but meanwhile, over in the main series, she's already been shown fighting these awesome, epic battles. So I was conscious to portray her a little differently here (with a little less of that sheer fervour, but still animated and sprightly).
-Betten
The Ripper#
The Rough Design#
The Ripper
Somewhat slim
Behind the Scenes#
Master, in his earlier days. He put together this costume to infiltrate the fighting ring, but it would wind up being a prototype for his Knuckleduster getup. It also occurred to me that his run-in with the Rapper might have influenced him down the road, and that encountering yet another girl who hops and bounces around would probably bring back memories of this whole episode later in his life.
-Furuhashi
I purposely included design elements that would tie this to his later Knuckleduster look, and I set out with the intent to draw this version of him a bit slimmer than the Knuckleduster persona. But in the heat of the action, keeping that consistent proved to be a challenge. (LOL)
-Betten
A Hero Team in "What-If" World#
The (Hypothetical) O'Clock Hero Team
Illustration: Betten Court
Kurogiri#
Message from Kohei Horikoshi#
11
Congrats on Volume 11 · I love Rappa ·