Notes from Toboso Yana

• Riddle Rosehearts
• Trey Clover
• Cater Diamond
• Leona Kingscholar
• Ruggie Bucchi
• Jack Howl
• Azul Ashengrotto
• Jade Leech
• Floyd Leech
• Kalim Al-Asim
• Jamil Viper

• Vil Schoenheit
• Rook Hunt
• Epel Felmier
• Idia Shroud
• Ortho Shroud
• Malleus Draconia
• Lilia Vanrouge
• Silver
• Sebek Zigvolt
• General
• Manga

Seems younger than his real age both visually and mentally.
He has a surprisingly innocent smile.
Like Spade, he seems to be easily startled by the unexpected.
When provoked, his face becomes red with anger like the Queen of Hearts. 
Generally has his head slightly tilted back to look down on others (in a pompous way)
– Magical Archives Game Guide

Riddle’s personality was, originally, the opposite of what it finally became.
At first he was a character who had been spoiled growing up, disliked studying, was selfish and always broke promises and rules. But because of his strong magic, he could not be denied…in the end, I was not satisfied with my own scenario and rewrote it, resulting in the current Book 1 story.

“Skin tone loses color, becoming the color of ash.
(Crown and collar are) clock hand motifs.
Rose vines that move on their own.
Arms are dripping with what connects to the incarnation of the blot.”
– Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

(Trey) smiles when he is uncomfortable. His facial expressions are gentle, but his eyes are angled upward and his face itself isn’t built in a gentle way.
He has a dark side, so his smile may hold a deeper meaning.
It might be good to have him smile without showing his teeth.

He is usually very aware of what is going on around him and adapts accordingly, but I think this captures a “cute” side of him fully enjoying something he loves without holding back. (source)

Hairstyle is not half-up, it is a pompadour.
Crooked-tooth character. His right canine tooth is generally visible.
Drooping eyes. Both ears pierced. His face looks a little older than that of Ace and Deuce, as he is a third-year student.
He tucks his hair over here behind his ear, so it curls forward. Look at the overall balance and give him something of a sexy look with the angle of the curl.
He is usually smiling. It should feel like a very serious scenario if he isn’t smiling. Length is about to his chin. Not truly long enough to be considered ‘long hair’.
– Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

He has vertical slit pupils that become round in dark places. Round ears that face forward, as he is a carnivore.
– Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

About six buttons left open, but please don’t show too much skin. He is in a bad mood because the hood presses down on his ears.
– Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Design Note (Ceremonial Robes card)

During a meeting the development team asked me, ‘Leona’s braids are a traditional style, so is it okay to have them undone?’ When I replied ‘It’s not a problem. In fact, one of his braids is undone in an illustration in the second novel,’ they went, ‘It’s true!?’
It was too subtle, so no one noticed. (Loungewear card) (source)

His hairstyle is a little Mohawk-like, with volume at the top like a hyena.

The large eyes make him look a little young, but his proportions are the same as Ace.

This is his natural hair color. The roots are darker, based on the coloring of the spotted hyena.

His tail is short so it cannot be seen from the front.
-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

Ruggie’s tail isn’t visible from the front, but he does have one. He belongs to a species with shorter tails compared to the other two. We plan to reveal his tail eventually.
Designing clothes for these characters and figuring out how glasses fit on beast ears has been a new and enjoyable experience for me. (source)

He’s a tough-looking character, but as he is still only 16 please do not draw him so that he looks too tough.
Compared with Leona and Trey, he has slightly larger eyes.
Out of all the characters, he is the most muscular.
-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

He is like “Damn, I can’t wear this” because his ears won’t fit. (Ceremonial Robes card) – Visual Book 1

The part in the opening ceremony where he is proudly saying ‘I will take the role of the bad guy!’ – Visual Book 1 (Ceremonial Robes card)

He looks a little more mature than the other second year characters.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing, he often wears a pleasant albeit forced smile. Get to know him better and there might be times he laughs sincerely

Like Riddle, he’s not good at dealing with the unexpected. 

I think he is the champion in the “hair that is difficult to draw” category. If you don’t start with a rough outline of the silhouette and then draw it in, the right side will almost certainly come out too big…
(On his left, his hair) spirals down like a tentacle.
– Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

Eel Form. He is more fish-like than Azul, with proper fins.  There are gills on his sides. Eels have stripes, so is body has stripes in places.  Since the bottom of the sea is dark, his body is luminescent.

He is about the same height as Jack, but slender.

Doesn’t make very big facial expressions and doesn’t open his mouth very wide. You can see jagged teeth when he opens his mouth, as he is an eel. He is basically always smiling. It would be nice if he could raise his hand to his mouth when he laughs, but it’s not necessary. He does not shock easily.
– Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

In the early development stages, he had an extremely punk hairstyle with lots of accessories on his ears. We adjusted it to fit the direction of the Mostro Lounge, making it more subdued. Others also had their outfits adjusted to be more versatile. (source)

His hairstyle is the mirror image of Jade’s. It is slightly messier, but it’s the same otherwise. I think having him slouch a little would help differentiate him from Jade. 

He has a sturgeon scale earring in his right ear that matches Jade’s. Inspired by Ursula’s “Beluga Sevruga, sturgeon of the Caspian Sea”* 

– Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

*It seems that when Disney’s The Little Mermaid was translated into Japanese, the lyrics were changed from “Beluga Sevruga, come winds of the Caspian Sea” to “Beluga Sevruga, sturgeon of the Caspian Sea”, so this might be a reference to the movie that only people who have seen the Japan release of the Little Mermaid will understand.

Like Jamil, he has prominent lines around his eyes. His expressions are similar to Ace’s, but 30% more exaggerated and he doesn’t try to look cool. He doesn’t look down that much. He’s easygoing.
His “mean” face is more like a prankster.
The look he makes when he’s being controlled by Jamil looks a lot like Jamil himself.
-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

He is a character with more common sense than the others.
Even without makeup his eyes have dark, distinctive lines around them.
He generally doesn’t open his mouth very wide when he laughs.

His gold accessories ring like bells.
He has four cornrows decorated with bells and coins where they begin. Decorations can also be found here and there in the unbraided parts of his hair as well.

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

NRC’s new school year starts in September.
The birthday boy is Jamil, the oldest of the second-year students. (source)

Just a well-groomed face. Heavy eyelashes, both top and bottom. Eyebrows are masculine and thick.

His face is also slightly long in a masculine way. The placement of his eyes and nose are balanced in the same way as Leona’s and the other older students.

It would be great if his gestures could be graceful, similar to the Evil Queen.

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

You usually can’t see his eyebrows. His design is similar to that of other slender-eyed characters, but when he is making a normal expression his eyes aren’t actually that narrow, so watch out for that.

His demeanor is very over the top, to the point that he seems insincere. I’m thinking he could have a scary, thin smile. As if he’s projecting maliciousness through his smile.

He is secretly very well-muscled. He almost never takes off his gloves for everyday tasks (in order to not leave any fingerprints behind).

His neck and arms are thicker than Vil’s. When weighing himself it was discovered that he is actually heavier than Trey, and he feigned surprise. His hair is just slightly longer towards the front.
-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

I designed the character to be a beautiful boy who looks like he belongs in a 1970s shoujo manga. He is a countryside juvenile delinquent on the inside, but Vil is forcing him to be a ‘bishonen’ character. His acting is not very good so his facial expressions are usually stiff, but when his true self comes out he often laughs a lot, gets angry and is generally mischievous.
-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

He is thinking ‘I’m going to become strong at this school…!!”, but from an outsider’s perspective he just looks uncomfortable.
– Visual Book 1 (Ceremonial Robes card)

Initially, he was a character with thick glasses who aspired to be in showbiz. (source)

A beaker with a tea bag in it. Hot water.
– Visual Book 1 (Labwear card)

The flames of his hair become weaker when he loses interest in something.

Compared to the other villains Hades is quite a comical character, so I think that it would be good for Idia to be very expressive.

The bags under his eyes and the blue of his lips are not make up, but entirely natural.

His eyebrows always make him look troubled. His hair is flames, so it is always moving, and the ends are translucent. His eyes are always shaded. He has a well-defined face, but he is not aware of it.

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

Just like his brother Idia, his hair is flames. His full face is never shown (with either the upper half or lower half being hidden).

The rings on either sides of his cheeks glow when he speaks.

Unlike his brother, he smiles often.

His entire expression relies on his eyes because of his mask, so it might be hard to tell when he’s being mean. If possible, we can do things like raising or lowering his shoulders in a ‘hehehe’ gesture.

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

He has pointy ears. Since his horns are so large, his head tends to look too big if his face is not drawn a little smaller than other characters’.

He has long lower eyelashes, but his facial features are a little softer than Vil’s and Leona’s.

He doesn’t get excited easily, but he’s rather cold-blooded when he gets angry. He is unfamiliar with the world, so often times he goes ‘oh!’.  Sometimes he sulks childishly.

Generally he has two sections of hair resting on his chest, but this can change depending on his outfit.

 His horns angle a bit behind his head. Either he can’t sleep lying on his back, or he has a special pillow (laughs).

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

He looks cool in the outfit but he was not invited to the opening ceremony. Showing the entirety of his horns might make his face look too small…
A hood with holes customized for Malleus. There are gold accents (please match the accents at the center of the hood). – Visual Book 1 (Ceremonial Robes card)

(Malleus’) staff is based on the motifs of spinning thread and thorns. The idea is that, when it is used, magical thread runs through it and the gears turn. (This is really just an idea, I don’t mean that that is what needs to happen!).

I wanted him to have a bulky staff that looks like it would be the most difficult one to handle, and this is what I came up with. It is just over 2m 30cm long…

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

He wears a jacket in the same design as Malleus’ but it is oversized and floppy. The collar and sleeves, etc. are drawn overly large and exaggerated.

Three layers of frills. The bottom layer has small pleats (after the pleats it becomes transparent).

Bangs are dyed and cut, the rightmost part stops just above his eyes. The inner side of his hair has been dyed pink. His natural hair color is black. Only one part of his bangs has been dyed pink and not the underside, but the rest of his hair from the sides to the back of his bob has all been dyed pink underneath. He changes the color depending on his mood, so sometimes it is in a different color.

His expressions are less so cute than they are calm. He opens his mouth wider than Riddle does and makes improper expressions, carelessly picking his nose, etc.

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

As if magic has been released from a flower that had been closed inside the book (“I touched it and magic came out…” kind of way…) – Visual Book 1 (Labwear card)

A cool-looking character that makes few expressions. He can get drowsy all of a sudden and is frequently in a daze. 

When he does smile―which is rarely―it’s a gentle expression. Lilia sees him smile quite often. 

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

His expression says “I got into the same school as Malleus-sama…!!!” – Visual Book 1 (Ceremonial Robes card)

He is not as well muscled as Jack, but he is rather sturdy. However, his facial features are similar to those of Azul, and he has a refined face. Although he has an older-looking face for a first-year student, on the inside he is more like a puppy, and if you get to know him, he laughs a lot. In front of Malleus he acts like a cool and composed follower, but he actually has a wide range of facial expressions.

His bangs and eyebrows are shaped like lightning bolts. He has an undercut hairstyle. He actually wants to push it all back, but his hair is too strong and won’t allow it. He is growing his hair out to be able to style it all back.

-Toboso Yana, Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives Game Guide

I’ve been watching Disney movies since I was a kid, but in the last three years, I’ve spent about 200 hours watching Disney movies.

I cry every time Genie becomes free in Aladdin, I cried at the stage play, and I’ll probably cry at the live-action version too.
I also like the part where Jafar (easily?) returns in The Return of Jafar. (source)

Since the announcement of Scarabia dorm, a few old acquaintances I hadn’t heard from in a while have asked me, “Are you drawing for a game called Twisted Wonderland?” (Maybe they judged by the large eyes and tan skin with white hair…?). 

I remember being told something similar during the Black Butler anime, that my characters’ eyes are unusually wide for my art style. (source)

Deciding details like the characters’ heights and hobbies is something I rarely for my own manga, so it’s very refreshing. I often hear comments like “They are taller than I imagined” or “Why do they have a hobby like that…?” and explaining the reasoning is also new to me. Despite being with the Black Butler characters for over ten years, many of them have hobbies and favorite foods that are still unknown. (source)

I often receive fan art for Black Butler through letters and replies, but recently I’ve also been getting Twisted Wonderland fan art, which makes me very happy.

Overseas fans will sometimes send in ‘original students’ –that they create themselves, which is fun 😊❤️ I am glad that people are imagining and drawing so many different things. (source)

When creating non-human characters, I tend to start by considering:

• Are they oviparous or viviparous?
• If they resemble humans, what about belly buttons and other physical characteristics?
• Their tastes and staple foods.

I think I was influenced by seeing “Waterworld” as a child. It is the same with work by Guillermo del Toro—whenever I see a character with a vibe that makes me go, ”Oh, a non-human!,” I can’t help but smile. (source)

Even a few seconds of ‘Part of Your World’ is enough to definitely trigger the tear ducts. I’m personally happy that the live-action Ursula has glowing elements.

I thought that the merfolk Azul and others from Twisted Wonderland might have glowing elements due to their ecological background in dark seas, and it seems the creators in the original country thought the same thing. (source)

Speaking of which, as I only mentioned the school uniforms for Heartslabyul I was asked, “What kind of dormitory is this, from your perspective, Toboso-san?” Maybe, “a tyrant and cheerful students who can read a room, in a group of five~” (source)

810 rules…because ❤️ (source)*

*As “8” and “10” can be pronounced similar in Japanese to the word “heart,” that is why there are 810 rules of Heartslabyul.

When designing character colors, I consider their background and balance. But when writing it down in setting material collections, especially eye colors, I often add elements that reflect the character’s inner self or special skills. For example, Sebastian’s eyes wouldn’t be ‘reddish-brown’ but ‘tea-colored.’ I do the same for the Twisted Wonderland characters. (source)

For ambitious characters, I might choose ‘sky,’ while for cynical characters, I might choose ‘smoky.’ There are many considerations beyond just color, like spicy colors, sweet colors, natural colors, and artificial colors. Colors often have names derived from places or artists, like ‘Turkish…’ or ‘Raphael…’ When working on Twisted Wonderland (another world), I often consulted a color dictionary.

The deluxe menchi-katsu sandwich from the cafeteria in Twisted Wonderland was localized to a different menu item in the North American version (if I remember correctly).

In California, there are plenty of teriyaki-based menu items, including katsu sandwiches, and Downtown Disney even has a nori bento with miso soup, showing the widespread presence of Japanese food. (source)

Chapter 7 has started, so there’s a rerun of Diasomnia.
Silver is still calling his father ‘oyaji-sama.’ When we read it aloud we decided to change it to the more stately ‘oyaji-dono’ before recording, because the repeated ‘sama’ (honorifics) was noticeable. (source)

Wow! The countdown illustration is to become merchandise. 

Initially I was only asked to draw the 7 housewardens, but they allowed me to draw everyone in the end, and it’s nice to see it all come together. (source)

Toboso: ‘For that scene, it would be amazing if we could use #Irasutoya’s Mifune-sensei’s stamps… but that’s probably impossible.’
Disney: ‘We got permission to use them.’
Toboso: ‘Huh?’
F4: ‘The video is ready.’
Toboso: ‘That’s incredible. Makes me want him to debut as a YouTuber.’
Aniplex: ‘Leave it to us.’
Toboso: ‘Huh?’ (source)

NRC is considered a ‘high school/technical college,’ so everyone enters at 16. In Japan high school enrollment is typically at age 15, but in this case, everyone is one year older. This means that if you celebrate your birthday during your second year of school, you become an adult (18 years old).” (source)

In the game, the age/gender of the prefect are not set and there are events like birthdays…(laughs). The characters don’t refer to each other’s ages, but on the official website are listed as how old they were when the prefect was summoned. (source)

NRC follows the European/American-style system that begins in September. This is the reason why birthdays started in September. (source)

It was briefly mentioned in the story, but Ace is what would be considered ‘late-born’ in Japan (born in September, the oldest of the first years), while Riddle is  ‘early-born’ (born in August, the youngest in the second year).” (source)

NRC is essentially a technical school. Although there is what is uniformly called a middle school, the systems likely differ depending on a person’s country of origin, and there are also a fair number of students who are homeschooled. (source)

Volume one of the manga = the first three episodes of the anime. And up to this point in the game is the tutorial and prologue. The real start of Book 1, the Heartslabyul arc, begins here. In the game, the Housewardens of Books one through three mostly appear as boss characters, so their scenes are concentrated in the latter half. Because of that, the manga adaptation adds a few more scenes for the Housewardens earlier on. (source)

In “Alice in Wonderland,” the Queen of Hearts doesn’t appear until the last 20 minutes. In “The Lion King” and “The Little Mermaid” as well, the villains’ biggest highlight, the direct showdown with the protagonists, also happens in the last 20 minutes. This is the traditional structure of Disney’s legendary films.

In the game app through Book 3 I deliberately adjusted the Housewardens’ appearances to reflect that structure. (source)

In Twisted Wonderland, the clothing and accessory designs that appear in the comic adaptation are created with each country’s climate and natural environment in mind.

The Queendom of Roses is located farther north than the Isle of Sages, so even when the background looks spring-like, the children wear long sleeves.

In the Sunset Savanna, they wear loose half-sleeve tops and sandals.

School bags in the Coral Sea are net-shaped to reduce water resistance. (source)

I haven’t heard if there will be a third volume of the anthology, but the third-year students are even more free-spirited, so I’m already nervous about what to do if I’m asked…(source)

There was a quote-retweet saying, ‘Toboso only drew illustrations for Yuuta and not for Yuuken or Yuuka’ for the Twisted Wonderland comic, but an illustration for Yuuken can be found in volume 1 of the Heartslabyul arc, and Yuuka is in volume 1 of the Savanaclaw arc.  (source)

There are a few more character setting drawings for Yuuken, but due to page limitations they were not able to be included in the published comic. The comic has a page limit, and depending on the number of pages in the main story there just might not be space for additional illustrations at the end. The enthusiasm is appreciated, but unfortunately this is an unavoidable factor. (source)