Suicide Consultant - Page 37

Well... I finally got around to posting the very last page. I've had it done for forever, but today I redid the tone traditionally instead of digitally just to see what it would look like. I think I actually like the traditional tones better... I had to make a few changes from the previous page, like her ribbon, because I only have so much screen tone on hand... but I think I'm going to use these next two weeks to go in and redo everything. I probably won't post the toned versions for a while because I need to just worry about the Japanese version and not have to go in and do the English for every page.

Probably a little anti-climactic since I never got around to posting it, but... I hope you all enjoyed the story. Some fun facts:

- All the character names are based on three infamous people involved in the biggest "seppuku" scandal of the 20th century. A famous author named Yukio Mishima ordered his pupil Masakatsu Morita to cut off his head after he committed ritualistic suicide (aka seppuku, slicing his own belly open). Morita couldn't do it, so instead Hiroyasu Koga ended up assisting Mishima in suicide.

- One of the inspirations for Hiromi Koga was actually Beat Takeshi, who is insanely popular by older Japanese people and with (apparently) French film lovers. Here he is known as a comedian more than anything and was known especially for pushing buttons in his younger days. Well, to some extent he still does, because I was watching TV a few years ago and saw him being interviewed. I was only half listening to the TV while I did the dishes or something, but I started listening when I heard the man say "It's a good thing not everybody has dreams. If everyone had dreams they pursued, nobody would work at the convenience store." I thought that was an amazing (not in the good way) statement to say on national TV... I am not a very big Beat Takeshi fan, but his statement made me want to design a character like that, so I kept his interview in my mind until an opportunity presented itself.

- All the phones they use are based on actual models. Yukina's phone was a 2011 Winter Softbank model, Morita's phone was an older DoCoMo model that my brother-in-law uses, and Hiromi's phone is of course based on the iPhone. I changed Yukina's phone a little so the shape resembled my own phone.

- I don't necessarily believe any of these characters are 100% redeemable. I wanted to write a story that reflected three people with different ways of dealing with the concept of suicide; one who kills herself thinking it will bring her the attention she's always wanted from her peers and her boyfriend, one who has a sort of delayed acceptance that his girlfriend has died, and one who has no respect for human life below her own social class. I think there are a lot of people who kill themselves without realizing what it does to other people, there are people who don't realize their actions can sway others in big ways, and there are people who just don't care either way. The point of these three characters is to make you think about suicide from alternate points of view than what you see on TV or read about in other stories, and maybe to consider your own beliefs toward suicide. Is it justified? Is it unfair? Is it a coward's way out or a last resort? Have you ever known characters like the three in this story?

Hopefully this story made you think a little. Maybe you disagree with Hiromi, but maybe she has a point. Maybe you think Morita is a jerk, but then again how many high school romances have you seen where it seems one person is just dating someone for the sake of dating someone? Maybe you know someone like Yukina who can't see the world beyond high school...

Anyway, that's my story. It's a little gloomy, but I hope you enjoyed it. Here's hoping my next story will be better (and maybe a little more upbeat!)

Thank you so much for reading this far! You guys are the best!



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art and story © me

This page is about 85% traditional. Did some digital touch-ups, the font, and drew the iPhone screen on the computer. Tones, inking, etc were done by hand.