Part 29: Okami Artbook 1
Characters
Wandering Warrior Monk, Benkai
"Traversing each region of Nippon with his collection of nine-hundred and ninety-nine weapons, Benkei challanges every worthy fighter that he encounters. Hearing that there is a living sword somewhere under the waters of Lake Beewa, he rushes to the scene only to realise that he has no rod with which to fish. The single character "rod" upon his loincloth is quite manly."
Priestess Rao
"Priestess of the Ankoku Temple, she governs Sei-an City in Queen Himiko's stead, by royal decree. Rao requests Amaterasu's assistance in recovering a powerful Divine Weapon called "The Fox Rods", from a sunken treasure ship, so that she might stand up against the forces of evil. Her true intentions, however, remain hidden by her generous bosom..."
Wandering Artist, Issun (close up)
"Throughout his travels with Amaterasu, he has regained his passion for art."
Moonlit Beauty, Kaguya
"An excruciatingly beautiful young woman being held captive in the prison within the Imperial Palace. She was found in a bamboo forest by Mr Bamboo and his late wife, who raised her like she was their real daughter. She does not remember anything prior to her life with Mr Bamboo..."
The Emperor
"The former Emperor that used to govern Sei-an City before Queen Himiko. He was cursed by a demon and ended up spreading a poisonous mist over the city. The true Emperor is a warm and kind person. His hobby is collecting Demon Fangs."
Guards
"The Guards protecting the Emperor's mansion. They trust the Emperor, but have also been habouring suspicions regarding the Emperor, and the strange mist plaguing the city."
Enemies
Headless Guardian
"A guardian deity that lost its head to vandalism and became a demon. In a desperate search for its head, it is said to knock on the doors of peoples' homes and screaming, "Give me back my head! Give me back my head or I'll take yours instead!""
Haloed Guardian
"A demon that appears in mid-air, taking the form of a Guardian Deity of Children illuminated by a bright light. Most of the faithful fall to their knees before what they believe is a divine light, but upon closer inspection, they would see that the figure has no head. This demon tends to target those of strong faith."
Executioner Guardian
"The head-hunting guardian deity attacks people by throwing its own head, which it usually wears on its body. Of all the demons that take the form of a guardian deity, this one is said to be the most terrifying. There is a well-known legend about a Buddist priest who defeated the Executioner Guardian by using his own spiritual power to not only stop the flying stone head, but actually reflect it back at the Executioner Guardian."
Bell Guardian
"The angry spirit of a monk beheaded because he disliked the sound of his temple's bells, inhabits this guardian deity. If you hear the sound of a temple bell ringing underground, it is an indication that the Bell Guardian is closing in on its next target."
Bandit Spider
"The Bandit Spider is a huge demon that tricks people and steals their valuables before stealing away to hide deep underground. Anyone that discovers its burrow will find its vast hoard of treasure."
Ubume
"The lingering resentment of woman who lost their lives to a samurai's blade are represented in this world by the Ubume. Even the most skilled samurai find their blades easily parried by this demon's paper parasol, and are finished off by a single counterattack."
Thunder Ear
"The final form of a stubborn individual who absolutley refused to listen to the words of advice offered from others. Even after death, the ear will not hear any words of caution, and any warnings uttered in its presence are turned into roars of thunder."
Earth Nose
"This wheel monster was originally a demon who wielded the power to control wind. It is able to conjure strong winds that not only blow down people, but houses as well. In order to exorcise this monster, one would need the ability to manipulate the flow of time itself."
Fire Doom Mirror
"This mirror absorbed the angry spirit of its user, someone who was constantly frenzied with an all-consuming anger. If you see your expression distorted by anger when you look into a mirror, it could be the work of this demon."
Ice Doom Mirror
"This mirror belonged to a famous actress who took the world by storm with her cool beauty. The actress peered into her mirror day after day, wishing her beauty would last forever. Eventually, her life was absorbed by the mirror, along with her powerful wishes. Those who see her beautiful countenance reflected in their mirror have their lives stolen by a single glance from her eyes."
Thunder Doom Mirror
"This mirror was lovingly used by a stage actor for a very long time, and became the actor's guardian spirit upon his death. However, it was later struck by a suspicious lightning bolt and turned into a demon. It now appears wherever it finds bad acting, and calls lightning down from the skies. Though it may be nerve-wracking, the only way to get this demon to leave is to continue the bad acting and see the act to its conclusion."
Wind Doom Mirror
"This mirror relfects the aged face of an old man, and appears before those who are deemed to be wasting time. It summons strong gusts of wind to turn the entire room upside down, and generally makes a mess of everthing. According to some legends, the Wind Doom Mirror is not a demon at all, but rather a guardian spirit who seeks to change the ways of the lazy youth."
Jiro
"Jiro and Saburo are the final forms of two lovers who threw themselves into the sea, when their parents opoosed their union. Jiro will throw sea urchins at anyone in an attempt to protect Saburo."
Saburo
"Saburo appears on beaches to torment fishermen along with Jiro. Many witnesses have seen Saburo on various shores, digging in the sand. It is said that if Saburo digs up water, she and Jiro will be joined together forever in the sea."
Ichiro
"A giant shark-shaped demon that is actually the combined form of Jiro and Saburo. They prowl the ocean in search of fishing vessels. When they spot a target on the surface, they charge up from the watery depths, and leap fiercely into the air, only to come crashing down on the fishing vessel, sinking it."
Blight
"Though this demon appears as a fallen warrior impaled by countless sowrds and arrows, Blight's true identiy is the sword, "Goldnail", which is held in one of the gauntlets. This sword had seen many battlefields and fed on the blood of many warriors, before dark powers possessed it, giving it physical form and the ability to sprad disease among its surroundings."
Locations
Imperial Capital - Sei-an City
Artist's Notes posted:
I just really wanted to show off the scale of the city, and I remember bugging the Scenery Lead until he relented. The shape of the city itself is a square front with a circular back.
Sunken Ship
Artist's Notes posted:
I feel that a certain kind of romance surrounds wrecked vessels and ghost ships. This ship may look like a western pirate ship, but is actually based on a on an old Japanese freighter.
This bit of horror stands out in the Okami world. I think a lot of people would agree that this is the scariest place in the game. I was trying to create an atmosphere similar to that of a haunted house.
The Emperor's Stomach
Artist's Notes posted:
It's a stomach. Many famous folktales and fairytales take place in stomachs. The diseased area of the stomach has literally been labelled with the kanji for "disease".
Concept Art
Benkai
Artist's Notes posted:
The word "rod" on his loincloth wa there before we established him as a fishing character...that's a little obscene. The thing on his back is the Fifth Lane Bridge*.
*This must be another thing that was directly translated without providing the English name. Great job Capcom!
Rao
Director's Notes posted:
This character was based on Happyaku Bikuni [a nun of legend who was granted eternal beauty and life for saving a mermaid, but ended up viewing it as a curse].
It may have been the influence of a certain Nikkatsu movie*, but she was designed, based on the fact that nuns are hot and quite lusty.
When I was trying to get her breasts to sway and bounce properly, Oomoli, one of our programmers came in and created a bounce and sway program for me with great attention to detail.
*Probably this movie.
Issun
Artist's Notes posted:
As his name suggest, we based him on the character of "Issunboushi", and, as such, he was designed with a "northern country boy" look. We wanted him to look like a Japanese fairy, so we used a lot of plant and insect-based items in fashioning him.
We initially gave him a rather comical face, but [the director] Kamiya, begged us to make him more handsome, so we gave him elongated eyes, and a more serious expression.
Though he may be obnoxious at times, he is still my favourite character, especially so, because drawing him in "flea mode" is easy.
Despite being labelled as Chrysochroa Elegans his helmet looks closer to an Australian leaf beetle.
The Emperor
quote:
One of his earlier designs had a treasure ship motif and they were going to make him a greedy selfish character, but that changed in development.
His eyes are gold coins, and the design on his robes are, Mount Fuji, a falcon and an aubergine/eggplant. It is said that if all three of these items show up in the first dream of a New Year, then you'll have an awesome year.
Ubume
Artist's Notes posted:
The Ubume is a melancholy demon said to be the manifestation of the spirits of deceased pregnant women. For this reason it is written as 'Kokakuchou', it is blended with the term for 'birthing woman', and is pronounced 'Ubume'. This is also why birthing women are often depicted in the form of birds. Though you cannot see the demon's face, when you consider its depressing background, it is difficult to feel any real animosity towards it. In a potentially brazen move, we dressed this demon in courtesan style robes.
Wheel Monsters
Artist's Notes posted:
I basically drew these guys in one go. They are demons with a human anatomy theme.
The Headless Guardian Deities
Artist's Notes posted:
Basically an upgraded version of the Imps, I like that hte phrase 'Headless Guardian' has a creepy feel to it. I knew what they had to generally look like once the name was decided on, so designing these fellows was quite easy. The difficult part was trying to come up with the subtle variations on this simple design. I asked Hattori from the 3D modelling department to help me out with that aspect of these designs.
Bandit Spider
Artist's Notes posted:
This demon came out of instructions to design a slightly different, more difficult, boss-like demon for a side-quest. The instructions were loaded with strict guidlines - the monster had to share the Spider Queen's body model and animations - but I think it turned out really well.
Jiro
quote:
Based on a hermit crab, his face is a horrible joke.
Saburo
quote:
Designed to look like a scorpion, Saburo's is another special face.
Ichiro
quote:
Ichiro, the quintessential combination demon of Okami. I really like his face in the image scrolls...very scary!
Greater Monster
Artist's Notes posted:
This monster was designed as the main trap on the Sunken Ship. Due to game mechanics, its face moves around freely, but the initial designs just had the face and arms sticking up through the deck. I think alot of players may have been surprised by the appearance of the arm..
Reminds me of Mara, the penis demon from the Shin Megami Tensei series.
The Doom Mirrors
Artist's Notes posted:
I plowed right through this set of monsters. They are themed with the recognisable Ukiyo-e art style.
Blight
Artist's Notes posted:
Designed to be the ultimate armoured soldier. When Kamiya and I were searching for the meaning of "ultimate", we started talking about how taking hits in battle is maybe what makes a soldier truly ultimate. So this soldier we designed has taken more than his fair share of hits. But, like a true soldier, he took all the hits head-on, and has no swords or arrows sticking out his back.