Digital Release: Kantoku’s C73 Illustration Doujin "KAGE"
I don't think it's fair that Kantoku labelled Kage (Shadow) as for Adults Only. Only one page is outright NSFW, and that was a mini-feature on a game he illustrated. The rest of the pictures were ecchi, one of them pushing the envelope a little, but not actually anything to warrant the (IMO) over-zealous self-censorship. That said, be aware that this release might not be safe for work. [Download: RAR] [Directory]
Included in this release is a one-page calendar that was distributed at Comiket73 with the doujin. The illustration on the calendar featured on the last page as a monochrome cut-off, and is rather cute. \o/ It's a cat.
A fairly small release (all fits on one contact sheet!), this was debound (an extra copy came this morning) and then scanned. Batch-processed, then gone over manually to fix the areas the program missed. Some areas might have been missed, so apologies for that.
Remember, page 12 is definitely NSFW. Most of the rest are just ecchi. Except maybe number 7. :P
As usual, Kantoku's style is impeccable, but see if you can spot the drawing mistake he made. :)
This book definitely represents a certain level of value, because of the high proportion of full page colour images, and the fact that most, if not all of the illustrations cannot be found elsewhere. Good stuff.
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“As usual, Kantoku’s style is impeccable, but see if you can spot the drawing mistake he made.”
Is it the bike on page 4?
These look sort of washed out: the black level is around 25%. I wondered if the source was really like that (since I assume you level things during processing, and some artists are that weird), but then I noticed the Creators 10 scans were like that too, though Creators 9 was fine.
I can sort of adjust the levels myself, but not the difference between eg. [pireze]Megami_Creators10_38.jpg and http://moe.imouto.org/post/show/7807.
Generally, my scanning settings are set up to capture the source material as close to the original as possible. That is, the scanner software does some colour enhancements, but generally I set brightness and contrast, hue and saturation at a neutral level. These settings are uniform for most of my recent releases.
In some previous releases, I experimented with leaving it up to the scanner software to determine the “optimum” settings, and they didn’t turn out well at all (extreme loss of details and certain colour information). I suspect Megami Creators 10 might have been one of those releases.
I take extra care NOT to play around with the levelling or colours during processing, though descreening does affect the colours to a degree.
My approach to this is purely that of documentation or (to steal the words of a famous group) preservation. I don’t think it’s my job to be adjusting the colours of the source: I leave it for the wallpaper makers or whoever.
I mean, yes, it is possible to “enhance” the look of the pictures, but what some people call “enhance”, others call “destructive interference”. I try to offer a neutral origin in my scans nowadays (some previous releases weren’t).
That said, like you, I noticed the colours on these scans have a low black level. However, the colours are not “washed out” as such: the colour details and variations present in the originals are preserved here.
This effect is due to the non-glossy, uncoated thick paper that it was printed on. Whether as a scanner, I should adjust the output to compensate for media deficiencies, is debatable.
On the one hand, one could argue that I should aspire to adjust my scans as close as possible to the ultimate source, the digital drawing files from which the book was printed. Problem is that I don’t know what these look like, and if I had access to fully digital versions, I wouldn’t be scanning.
On the other hand, one argues that I should replicate as closely as possible the visual experience of doujinshi buyers when they look at the book, inclusive of whatever nuances the backing media introduces into the art.
All that aside, I do apologise to the leechers for variations in quality between releases, because my scanning processes are subject to constant experimentation as I seek to optimise. Sometimes the experiments fail, sometimes they work.
“…but see if you can spot the drawing mistake he made.”
The leftmost present in the Christmas tree picture.
Awesome; I love Kantoku’s art style.
all plausible guesses, but what really stood out to me was page 6. Kantoku did not erase a drafting line on the knee of the girl on the right, resulting in an effect almost like a doll’s joint or a scar.
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I’d also like to point out another mistake that my boyfriend pointed out when I showed him the Christmas picture. Take a look at the arms on the girl on the left. Either the artist forgot to draw the hands or she has some seriously short arms. He also pointed out how dumb it was to have what appears to be a fireplace directly in back of a Christmas tree. I guess even the best artists make mistakes.