You've probably seen the Retour redesigns, but I'll post these anyway.

[indigozeal.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine that someone on the internet hasn't already posted scans of the Angelique Retour manga that was in the December issue of Sho-Comi, but my copy arrived in the mail today, so just in case, I come bearing...err, low-contrast photos of the character redesigns as depicted by the manga. I'll come back with better images later - I'm having computer issues, and at almost three inches thick, the Sho-Comi issue is gonna be really difficult to scan. In the meantime, enjoy the photos of my alligator fingers.




The title page & Limoges's redesign. Not a big departure.



Group shot, part 1. Of note:
a) Oscar has thrown in with his BFF Julious in the stupid brooch (or at least emblem) department;
b) Randy looks like a Haruka chara now;
c) Marcel's bob - I don't know what commentary to add here; I just want to mention it; and
d) c'mon, man, Zephel's an engineer. He can't wear all that extraneous stuff.



Sorry about this one; it's a bit too near the binding for me to get a good photo. (We don't get a single clear shot of Lumiale in this manga, if it's any consolation.) Of note is Olivie's style, which seems to me taken more from Giovanni - flamboyant, but not outright feminine. Don't know what I think about that.



Different angles of some of the Guardians.



I tried to get a better photo of Oscar's outfit, because the manga is 90% Oscar by weight - a reenactment of the traditional scene of Limoges walking through a forest & Oscar swooping down on a white charger to make his debut. Despite the redesigns, the content of the manga is extremely traditional Angelique (Rosa with her "ho ho ho" laugh, Limoges trying to be endearing & relatable by being klutzy; Julious yelling). I would've thought a soft reboot of the franchise would've meant a different take on the content.

Anyhow, that Oscar image idea didn't work out, as you can see. Sorry about that.

.

I took a couple pictures of Rosalia because she's really rocking in her equestrian boots & side ponytail. Easily my favorite of the redesigns.



Everyone. Zephel won't cooperate and be on the same page with everyone else; big surprise.

Comments

[sailorstarsun.livejournal.com]

OMG, Zephel, where did all that hair come from? D= Where's the trademark spiky do?

Anyway. .^^ Thank you so so much for the pics!

[tattoo-dreamer.livejournal.com]

I am not feeling these redesigns o.O Maybe if a different artist had done them, but . . . ugh.

[btamamura.livejournal.com]

I'm seeing this on my phone, which can even upset 'good quality' pictures with zoom. I do remember seeing the Julious and Clavis colour image on ANN and thinking "Clavis-sama, you don't seem to look right...".

Maybe it's because I prefer Yura Kairi's art but I am not quite feeling it at the moment...

[btamamura.livejournal.com]

Still, thanks for sharing!

[guardianrandy.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I REALLY hope the art in the game is better than this... Because this? Those faces? They're atrocious (and I'm allowed to say that because I'm an artist, myself)!

Yura Kairi's may have had some technical issues here and there, but she at least knew where the eyes were supposed to go on a f%$#ing face...and how to play with proportion but still make it visibly appealing. Whereas, in this case, they all look way too young and lack any sort of visible emotion. It feels like fake, forced emotion if that makes any sense. Am I the only one?

Call me crotchety, but I seem to be under the impression that I'm not alone in my overall dislike of the redesigns. The clothes? They're actually drawn pretty well for what they are, so I can't get too picky on that end.

But I can't forgive the new artist for ruining their beautiful faces.

[darkheart54.livejournal.com]

No, you're not alone in your opinion at all. I will say that I agree with indigozeal - I think Rosalia's design is nice and Angelique's is okay. I've had time to reconcile with Julious and Clavis (though Clavis is still making me frown), but this upsets me. I'm cautious with Olivie's design because it looks okay, but like it was said above, he looks too much like he's trying to be Giovanni. Everyone else just looks wrong. I don't like them because they don't look like the same people. The only way I realized who Randy was, was through process of elimination. I didn't recognize him, and for a game that relies on a pre-established fanbase, that's not good.

Like you said, they look too young. I also thought Luva was Lumiale when I first glanced at it. He looks extremely feminine in that picture. I'm hoping it's just a bad angle. Something is telling me it's not.

Overall I'm now wary about this game. I'd honestly would have preferred they left the franchise alone if they were going to be making so many changes. I hope it's just the manga's art style that makes them look so bad. Looking back on the announcement pictures of Julious and Clavis, I have some hope, but not a lot. Hopefully they can handle this gracefully.

[beldarius.livejournal.com]

What the heck, Oscar. Now he looks like a carbon copy of Ace from Alice in the Country of Hearts. See? (https://31.media.tumblr.com/1f613fe790eefb2875318b7858e305fe/tumblr_inline_mzcs17Mh5w1qmej14.jpg)

And Marcel looks even more like a girl.