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Description
Today's redesign is Maria, who I think I actually like best among the group, personality-wise. She's (relatively) cunning and crafty, and her plans are some of the only ones to actually work. I decided to go for a Valkyrie look not only because her ear fins reminded me of their helmets, but ice powers bring to mind the Arctic Ocean and thus Viking country. And apparently Valkyries have long blonde hair too. Score! I gave her some ice armor as well, being sure to carefully ride the line of functionality and shoujo aesthetics. And a spear, because that's also a hallmark Valkyrie trait. She also lizard features but I tried to steer away from dragons because that's Izuru's territory.

I was informed a while ago that yes, Mermaid Melody DOES explain some of my gripes about character and world design… eventually. I’ve been told the manga is better, so I’m trying to read it. Currently in chapter 2… , please tell me the pacing gets better… @.@ Anyway, the point of this paragraph is that in the light of possibly changing views on this series, I'm going to continue this redesign session. At least through the Dark Lovers. I'm thinking of it as a time capsule of my views. And when they change I may start a Redesign Mk2. We shall see.

Process shots on my Tumblr !
~~~
Mermaid Melody © Michiko Yokote/Kodansha
Art © Me

Description
Today's redesign is Maria, who I think I actually like best among the group, personality-wise. She's (relatively) cunning and crafty, and her plans are some of the only ones to actually work. I decided to go for a Valkyrie look not only because her ear fins reminded me of their helmets, but ice powers bring to mind the Arctic Ocean and thus Viking country. And apparently Valkyries have long blonde hair too. Score! I gave her some ice armor as well, being sure to carefully ride the line of functionality and shoujo aesthetics. And a spear, because that's also a hallmark Valkyrie trait. She also lizard features but I tried to steer away from dragons because that's Izuru's territory.

I was informed a while ago that yes, Mermaid Melody DOES explain some of my gripes about character and world design… eventually. I’ve been told the manga is better, so I’m trying to read it. Currently in chapter 2… , please tell me the pacing gets better… @.@ Anyway, the point of this paragraph is that in the light of possibly changing views on this series, I'm going to continue this redesign session. At least through the Dark Lovers. I'm thinking of it as a time capsule of my views. And when they change I may start a Redesign Mk2. We shall see.

Process shots on my Tumblr !
~~~
Mermaid Melody © Michiko Yokote/Kodansha
Art © Me