Part 25: Okami Artbook 1
Characters
Boy of the Forest - Kokari, Man of the Forest - Karude, and Ume the dog
Kokari
"A young boy living in Agate Forest. He is a gentle soul and often worries that he will not grow up to be a valiant man like his father."
Karude
"A hunter in Agate Forest and father of Kokari. He enjoys fishing and hopes that his son will grow up to become a strong man.
Ume
"Kokari's best friend."
The Great Fang Trader Kiba (Demon Fang Merchant)
"Kiba trades expensive goods for Demon Fangs, and in modern terms could be called a devoted trader. According to Kiba, Demon Fangs have become a fad among the nobles, and therefore can be sold at a very high price. If you were to offer him a large amount of Demon Fangs, he would probably trade you an item from a King's vault."
Bone Reader, Madam Fawn
"A mysterious old hag that lives quietly in the caves within Agate Forest, offering guidance through her bone readings to those who have lost their way. The caves in which she dwells are connected to caves all over the country and she can therefore, offer guidance when needed."
Wandering Prophet, Waka
"The mysterious young man that monitors Orochi's seal in the Moon Cave. Calling himself an exorcist, he appears with the beautiful notes of his flute to provoke Amaterasu."
Enemies
Exorcist Waka
"This mysterious character is sometimes depicted as a Tao master and sometimes as a loyal disciple. In any depiction, he always carries his sword, Pillowtalk, and has even raised his blade at Amaterasu. That battle was won by carefully knocking down Waka's thrown swords."
Bud Ogre
"The blossom of a ground cherry that has been transformed into a demon by dark energies. As travellers pass by, the Bud Ogre reveals its true form amd pelts them with red berries."
Lockjaw
"This cyclopic demon appears as a lock on various important doors barring anyone from passing. The only way to open this lock is to pierce its eye with an Exorcism Arrow"
Blockhead
"Taking the form of a giant plaster wall, this demon does not harm anyone, but can significantly hinder your journey by simply in your way. It is a solid wall, impervious to blades or cannons, but it does have hidden weak points that can be revealed by those resourceful enough to exploit them."
Concept Art
Bud Ogre
Artist Notes posted:
This demon makes his first appearance at the Tsuta Ruins. I chose him name after some heavy internet research. One dubious source mentioned a demon named after a ground cherry, and I let my imagination take it from there. There are a couple of variations on the spelling of 'ground cherry' in Japanese, but they are all pronounced the same way. It is my understanding that ground cherries play a part during some Japanese customs invloving the spirits of our ancestors.
Blockhead
Artist Notes posted:
A plaster wall, Okami style. The mouth-like crack was actually a big deal to me. He turned out to be a shy-looking, cute little guy.
Director's notes posted:
Takeuasu [the lead artist] was quite adamant about including this demon, arguing that we could "just have him stand there". So we implemented it as a stationary demon that blocks your progress, which would in turn require the use of a brush skill to remove it. It's really a play on the "Keiroukikou"* idea. I still struggle with Blockhead Grande.
Demon Tree
Artist Notes posted:
I understand that there was a particular necessity for this demon, but I would have liked to have more time on it. Of course, many of the "real" demons are of a rather flimsy design, so maybe it is more belivable as a demon this way.
Director's notes posted:
"Come up with a stationary enemy that we can use for the Power Slash tutorial". With this preperation suddenly thrust into our plate, and with the knowledge that "cherry blossoms" could be done, we decided to make a demon tree. It was one of the more unexpected creations, but we got a lot of use out of it, [reusing it].
Lockjaw
Artist Notes posted:
I was really picky about making the iris of its eye, the keyhole.
Director's notes posted:
[We decided to incorpetate a demon with the opening of doors.] The reaction triggered by bringing the Exorcist Arrow (key) to this demon is a personal favourite of mine, so I hope players take the time to enjoy it.
Waka
Artist Notes posted:
I never expeceted this character would become so important. He's a handsome man, but I gave him extremely short legs, and special "stilts" to compensate for his shortness. I was hoping that this would make him at least a little memorable, but he turned into such an important character, that this little distinctions proved unnecessary."
His hood was designed with Gatchaman* in mind, with his flute being like Yattodetaman**, he is a very Tatsunoko-like character. I had him stick his pinky finger up all the time as a habit from playing his flute, and this little quirk made some scenes a little more interesting.
*The hoods of the various characters are modelled after birds, and the characters have long flowing capes, identical to Waka's (or should that be the other way around?). Interestingly, the characters Gatchaman were designed by Yoshitaka Amano, most famous for his Final Fantasy artworks. His flowing, elegant style is derived from Art Nouveau, which in turn was derived from Japanese art.
**Yet another Japanese show. All these series also seem to be the basis for Viewtiful Joe, and much of the content of God Hand, which of course, being from the same developer as Okami, all get references.
Other
Ammy using Lily Pad and Vine techniques.
More artwork of Sakuya.
One of the original designs to her more powerful form (i.e reviving more trees) was going to be just removing her kimono, exposing more of her ass...again. They went with a slightly more conservative one.
That said, there originally was going to be a third version, which, as you can see, is her just wearing her mist. This was vetoed, and they just stuck with the second design. Apparently, even Clover studios had limits, though judging from Bayonetta (made up of staff from the now defunct Clover studios), that limit is apparently on the other side of the solar system, and overtaking the Voyager Probes.