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[Nekomata]

@Nekomata

OMG, I finally did it. I caught up. I apologize and I'm ashamed it's taken me this long. Yikes.

Most important point first, I really love seeing the art from the beginning of chapter 1 go from quite good to insanely epic Neko knows how to kick ass into chapter 6. Witnessing that transition is quite nifty and enjoyable awesomesauce. The art in the first few chapters is still quite good, but later on, I see those signature Nekomata-specialty lighting and highlight effects working their way into the art and holy snap, that really makes the stuff shine really brightly! I know it's extra work but holy cow, don't stop doing that!

Also, eyes. I know I mentioned this before in some of your other art threads, but I love the way you do eyes. They shine, they gleam, and boy are they eye-catching (you see what I did there?). XD There's also an EXTREME amount of improvement from the way you illustrate fire and water. I look at the art in the prologue and the art in chapter six and it's almost a wonder "hey, are these by the same artist?" The transition is amazing. I love the new art and it's definitely kickass to amazing degrees. Fire goes from looking fuzzy to really looking bright and even casting illumination effects! Heck, look at the way Moltres glows now! I love the new style. Wow, you've come a long way but I see you trying new things and they totally click and work so well for this.

Storyline-wise, I actually thought a lot of the mysteries surrounding the characters probably would have been solved by now, but nooooopppe, they only got more intense! I think the element of the storyline that gets me wondering the most is Naya's connection with Echo, who seems to be this mysterious, darker Flareon that has the keys to Naya's true memories and recollections, but has her on a leash and seems to follow her wherever she goes. Seriously, WHO IS THIS DUDE? Not the most trustworthy guy around, but it seems if Naya wants to unlock the knowledge about her true self and her lost memories, she only has Echo to look for answers. Thing is, you've got me wondering what happens when this dude knows too much. And then there's the fact only Naya is aware of Echo's presence.

Bern's storyline arc is unique as well. And man, this dude sure is tough and mature for a Charmander, but considering his past, it's no surprise he went full-on hardcore the way he did. And I'm almost ashamed I nearly missed "Stay strong" in that last, faded speech bubble between Bern and his Charizard mother. Seriously, make the Houndoom that did that pay. Dearly. >:( Bern, you have full diplomatic immunity for what you do to that Houndoom. Go whack off his head and rearrange his face all wrong.

My goodness, this stuff rocks and is ultra inspiring. PLEEEEASSSSEEE keep going with this. I will chase you and haunt you if you don't! X3

It's fine. xD PXR doesn't really stalk the comics section as a whole. There's maybe 4 or 5 people tops that are actually caught up with the comic- and I'm sure at least one or two of those follow it on SJ or DA first. And considering we're at... what- 160 pages? It's a lot to catch up with at this point.

And yes! Art improvement! The whole purpose of me starting a webcomic was to force myself to draw more and improve my art. I'd say the whole project has served it's purpose very well! PRS has helped my style grow so much over the years. It's kind of exciting to see the improvement. You can look at each chapter and see some amount of improvement. Even between the two latest ones! I still have a ways to go and I'm always developing my style, but I'm happy to have come this far. Of course, I try not to spend too much time on each page, so I know I can do better now if I weren't trying to be time efficient.

I've always felt eyes were an incredibly important part of any form of art/visual story telling. After all, the eyes are one of the most expressive parts of any character. So they get treated a little differently than the rest of the character when it comes to shading! I've got a layer that darkens or lightens all of the character flats to fit the current lighting situation- but I don't let this layer effect the eyes. That's why they appear to glow, especially on the darker settings. They're missing a shading layer that is applied to everything else. And don't even get me started on the fire. I swear, the number of different ways I've drawn fire in PRS is absurd. xD I don't think I'll settle down with any one style for a while yet though. I do think it helps that I've accepted a more comic approach to it than a painterly one though. I've started to go that way with a lot of effects overall. I think it matches better as a whole... even if it typically requires more inking. </3

And the story. I started this comic a bit... unprepared? So the pacing at the beginning is a lot different than I'd like it to be. In fact, I'll be redoing a lot of the older pages and trying to condense it all into 20 page chapters. It should be more than possible without having to take out scenes (I might add some as I redo things!). Chapter Six is a better example of the amount of story I want to happen per chapter- it's hard to find just the right balance of how much per page. xD I'm hoping to have the temple stuff wrapped up in Chapter 7 with Chapter 8 being the conclusion to the Greyfog story and a lead in to the next story! This story went on longer than I thought it would. Hopefully I'll get better about pacing as I go. xD

But onto Naya and Echo. Their connection/relationship will be a key part of the entire story. We'll learn more about them both as time goes on- but it's not something I'll be revealing anytime soon. I've dropped some hints to both of their backgrounds already, but small ones. I'll continue to do so until the time comes to throw some big reveals in! That said, PRS is going to be long-ish, so that might be a while. I do love Echo. They're a snarky jerk that loves to pick on Naya for laughs. Poor Naya. I'm actually quite excited to get to -both- of their backstories.

As for Bern. Hah. Like I said already- I never meant for the Greyfog story to last this long. In fact, this was just meant to introduce a few concepts of the story- the villains, some of the legends, and get Naya into her first fights. Nothing big, but the whole thing became a lot more plot relevant as a whole when I did some more work on the Greyfog history- namely the fight between the Day and Night Guards. Bern was going to be a side character that would exist purely for this arc, but... well, his backstory grew and became tangled up in the larger plot. He's definitely going to have an existing plotline after this- one that has been hinted to already! I'm not even done with the flashbacks yet! You'll see more of Zila soon enough. You think you hate her now? JUST WAIT.

And no worries. I have no intent of stopping PRS at this time. It'll be a very long-term project, but I want to see this through the end. I do need to plan a bit more so I can control the pacing better and get the plot moving a bit faster though. I'm so excited to get into some of the other story arcs I've got planned. And new characters. Introduce them all. I'm too excited for Chapters 7 and 8 right now. I promised myself I'd finish the script/thumbnails before resuming updates though. </3

I think you did it superbly. :] You have a knack for setting and mood and such. Your backgrounds are always top notch too, which is awesome and admirable. :D You definitely did it awesomely. :D :D Good thing that their burning tails came in handy. C:

Thank you! I always try hard to get the mood just right... not sure if my backgrounds are 'always' top notch though. XD I do tend to glaze over them sometimes. Gradients are my friend. xD To be fair, not every panel -needs- a background. I try to spend too long on pages, so backgrounds get cut out of panels frequently.