[ART1] Card Game Art Works: Mikanko

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For more information about the general lore of the Mikanko, you can check our VBEX article.

Ohime the Manifested Mikanko
Full art:

Emotions:

Top: “Reserved in showing emotions”
Bottom: “Ohime archaic smile“

Shield:

“She’s not holding it, it’s floating”

Colors:

Right: “Gives a feeling of ‘there are girls for the other Attributes too'”
Color range: “FIRE, EARTH -> LIGHT -> WIND, WATER”
Bottom: “Maybe there’s a DARK Mikanko too…?”

Sword:

“The back side is EARTH”

Crown/halo/hair accessory:

“Slightly slanted and floating”

Back:

“Tail and feathers”

Manju:

Ohime: “So this is a ‘manju’?”
Note: “The local specialty of the village: A mikan manju from the sacred tree”

Hungry:

Ohime: “So this is ‘being hungry’?”
Note: “Ohime syntax”

Illustrator’s comment:

“The Mikanko of Ohime was designed after a pure and innocent goddess of abundance who loves to dance. Because she descended without memories and in an innocent state when the previous ritual was performed, she has a deep curiosity about all sorts of things. Since the request was for the motif to be mikan-based, I decided to draw the sacred mikan tree in the background! Or so I had concluded, but ended up settling for the current design. I think her current form borrows from the looks of the girl that became the first Mikanko.”

Ha-Re the Sword Mikanko
Full art:

TL note: Most of the notes are the same from the Twitter posts. We have previously translated them here.

Mikan symbol:

Bottom: “Without the external circle”

Clothes:

“Back -> Can be removed -> Jacket”

Nails:

Left: “Doing her nails herself”
Right: *Frustrated sounds*
Bottom: “I-I-‘m d-done~!!!”

Ni-Ni the Mirror Mikanko
Full art:

TL note: Most of the notes are the same from the Twitter posts. We have previously translated them here.

Self-care:

Left: “When she goes outside, she’s conscious about keeping her eyebrows crisp”
Right: “She also diligently takes care of her hair after taking a bath”

Hu-Li the Jewel Mikanko
Full art:

TL note: Like with Ha-Re and Ni-Ni, most of the notes have been translated before, from a Twitter post.

“Hu-Li’s usual way to connect with people”

TL note: It’s not clear if that line is about her hypnotizing people, or spinning things, or both.

Note about the other girl in The Great Mikanko Ceremony:

“Interested in her hairstyle”

With her hair down:

Young Hu-Li:

“Back then, when she had no [obligations/fetters]”

Illustrator’s comment:

“According to the setting, she is supposed to possess the orb [relic], but that being the case, how is she supposed to dance? That’s something that I struggled with at first. Since Ha-Re has the swords dance, and Ni-Ni has ballet, for someone like Hu-Li, coming from a branch family of a house that honors traditions, I envisioned an elegant yet relaxed dance like Japanese dances. Therefore, what if I made her hold hand fans, and have her dance spinning the orb in those fans, like when orbs are spun on umbrellas? That’s the idea that came to mind, and it became her current design. When her orb elegantly dances mid-air, it’s almost like a pendulum used for hypnosis, bewildering those who watch it. Specially since she’s Psychic-Type. At first glance, Hu-Li is a child genius with an attitude of being able to accomplish anything without breaking a sweat, but in reality, she’s terrible at opening herself about her inner feelings, and can be a very awkward girl every now and then.

Arahime the Manifested Mikanko
Full art:

TL note: We have posted about Arahime before, but it didn’t include many notes, other than the inner part of her outfit and the number of edges in her weapons.

Outfit:

“The motif and the composition are that of a sunshower. White kimono + tsunokakushi, or rather, kitsumemimikakushi.”

TL note: There’s a couple of puns to unpack here. The description of the composition uses one word for “sunshower”, but the motif uses a more metaphorical expression 狐の嫁入り (kitsune no yomeiri), also meaning “sunshower”. This expression literally means “fox(es) getting married”. There are many theories to the origin of this expression, but one of them suggests that “foxes create the illusion of rain during sunny weather, causing humans to return to their homes, so that they can’t watch the foxes getting married”. The tsunokakushi is a bridal headdress, but its name literally means “horn concealer”. The author jokes that this would be more of a made-up “kitsunemimikakushi” (fox-ear concealer).

Power:

“I’ll be the one that obtains Ohime’s power”

The three houses:
Full art:

Mitsurugi house #1:

From left to right: “Ha-Re’s papa”, “young brother” (in mother’s arms), “Ha-Re mama”, “big brother”
Papa: “Great work, Ha-Re! You are definitely going to become the rhinoceros beetle [Mikanko]!”
Mama/brother side: “More like this! Like this!!! You are a genius!!! (I’m a genius too!!)” and *camera sounds*

Mitsurugi house #2:

Family: “GENIUS!”
Middle: “The type of family that praises each other”
Wooden sword: “For practice”

Mitsurugi house #3:

Left: “Gonna practice a little longer…”
Right:
-Old man: “Here you go, take it”
-Ha-Re: “Come on, hurry, hurry!”

Mikagami house #1:

“Father, mother, please look at this!”

Mikagami house #2:

“Ni-Ni is an only child”

Mitama house:

“Hu-Li has a much older brother, but they are estranged. She does have lots of cousins.”

Thanks to an anonymous contributor in our comments for the pictures.