KNT Art at Character Designer Tenko's Blog

[KyoZaber]

Tenko is complaining about the newcomer waitress of the 'Matsu' restaurant. Her service was slow and she was paying attention for the customers' talk rather for the work. Moreover, she served missoshiru soup only after Tenko has eaten almost all his lunch.
I'm posting a comment in the Tenko's blog. Maybe this would make him more happy to draw KNT characters.

The story makes sense.

Hopefully the gal who was serving him is a quick learner. I'm sure she'll pick up the pace and be able to serve him (and other customers) better in the future. If anything, hopefully the next picture like this we'll see will be of Pururun serving everything to a pleased customer.
... Or at least Pururun in better spirits... Because she looks like she's having a bad day in that one.

[Violet]

Pururun got a job at a maid cafe

[KyoZaber]

Lovely Mipple / Pointless Sisters fans get ready...
We have Little Tokyo's favorite bombshell... Omitsu / Lucille!

http://geocities.yahoo.co.jp/gl/suzukitenko/view/20080918

A very lovely picture. She looks shy in this one. I'd think that would be moments before the curtains go up, and she's looking at Pururun / Polly, thinking... "No turning back now..."
... Or it's probably something else.

[felineki]

Very nice! I've always thought the ribbon around her left wrist for that outfit was really cute.

[KyoZaber]

Man, I just love this guy's art style.




<--------clearly.

I wonder what sort of reference material he uses.

Well, we know that the Polly / Pururun maid one was due to a bad experience at a restaurant.
As for everything else... I'd say he just has his own style that he picked up as he moved along.

(Edit edit: For those of you just joining in, Harm's quote isn't pointing towards my icon. ... I have no art styles.)

[KyoZaber]

No, I mean from a drawing point.  Does he draw from pure memory?

Gack! Should've figured that's what you meant.
Hmm... That is a good question. We may have to kindly ask one of our resident translators to be so kind to try to post that question if they have a spare moment.

If asking him directly isn't possible... I'd just assume that Tenko's just that cool. 

[felineki]

Maybe he still has some copies of the model sheets he drew back in the day, but these look more like they were drawn from memory to me. They have sort of a spontaneous quality to them.

[felineki]

Nekkii/Spritz. Which reminds me, there actually is such a thing as a scuba-diving cat in the real world.

[sans soul]

  scuba cat looks just like burkey's cat. except it's only a quarter of the size, and scuba diving.

thanks for keeping us updated with new pics from tenko :7

[felineki]

Usa no Tsubone/Empress Freda

[Daisensei]

Usa no Tsubone/Empress Freda

Pity he hasn't drawn the empress in full body pose. 

No, I mean from a drawing point.  Does he draw from pure memory?

Gack! Should've figured that's what you meant.
Hmm... That is a good question. We may have to kindly ask one of our resident translators to be so kind to try to post that question if they have a spare moment.

If asking him directly isn't possible... I'd just assume that Tenko's just that cool. 

OK, Kyo, as it was requested, I asked Tenko about that. Now we have only to wait for his eventual answer.

[felineki]

Today we have a picture of Wanko no Kami/Big Al looking rather cool. And we also have a response regarding the drawing reference question.

[Daisensei]

Today we have a picture of Wanko no Kami/Big Al looking rather cool. And we also have a response regarding the drawing reference question.

Tenko said the following:

I'll answer
... because in the 9th a comment with question appeared.
Well, after all I'm the only one “Teyandee” designer in the world, who knows everything about how they have been shaped or what part are linked to somewhere. (the huge enemy robots weren't mine though) The mega-up-parts that had been made by cleaning up the things brought from toy makers haven't remained in my memory, so they will make no appearance in a diary written in carefree style. Nevertheless everything have been stored in files.
I, who hadn't made anything better than magazine illustrations or being manga artist's assistant until then, suddenly became the character designer of a TV animations that would be aired weekly. Thus I draw with great tension, bewilderment and enthusiasm. I remember pretty well all. Except from the colors, since they have been seen only on the screen, they aren't accurate. However for “Okara” I had to see the production's file and also watched some video.

Indeed toy makers dictate the must appear items on TV. 

[felineki]

Oh, so Teyandee was one of his first character design works? I didn't know that. He certainly did a great job. Thanks a lot for translating his response, it was a very interesting read.

[Violet]

Good to get some KNT history from Tenko-san.  If only we could lure him and some Japanese fans to our poor forgotten Japanese EE board...

[Sinder]

Toy companies actually do have a lot of control over the content that makes it into certain television shows; Hasbro, for example, maintained a tremendous amount of influence over what showed up in Transformers, and certain characters were created specifically so toys based on them could be sold to children.

It sounds as if Tenko was referring to the extra-topping armor upgrade when he talks about "mega up parts". I keep hearing that Bandai had a stake in the series, so it's entirely possible that this was something that was added to the plot at their insistence so they could sell action figures and model kits later on.

[felineki]

Yeah, the "Extra Topping" upgrade is called "Mega Up" in KNT. And Bandai was involved with KNT. The show's rights are co-owned by Tatsunoko and Sotsu Agency, the latter of which is affiliated with Bandai. All of the KNT toys and models were by Bandai, as far as I can tell. The magazine that Tatsuya Souma's KNT manga was serialized in was also published by Bandai.

[felineki]

Seems to be Pururun in a spacesuit of some sort.

[Violet]

Seems to be Pururun in a spacesuit of some sort.

His post is about the movie "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet" which is an American version of the earlier Soviet movie "Planeta Bur".

[felineki]

Gotton/Meowzma