Naughty Bits Comic Art Remaster! Akane, Nabiki, Shampoo, Ukyo & Ranma-kun: Life After Fame (Patreon)

Hey gang!

This Naughty Bits remaster had been planned for Monday, but was delayed a couple days due to a very unexpected issue: the original work file has been lost. :(

It is extremely rare that a work file is lost, but in this case all of SHADE's previous efforts could not be used for remastering. This meant that we had to start over and create a new version based on what little existing original art elements were left.

This is where it gets really complicated. The only art file that existed was a PNG inked file of the original image shared in this post for comparison. It had no fixes or adjustments, and cleaning it up was time consuming. Possibly we could have used the original jpg posted at Ranmabooks.com as a base, but it was tiny and cleaning the noise would have been more trouble than it's worth (or required us to use some kind of upscaling that could alter the original lines in unexpected ways).

The bottom line is, with the exception of the character line art, everything here is either redone or new.

It's never our intention to go this far in the remastering process- to the point it's almost a new piece of art- because that is unsustainable if we want to keep making new art. In this case, we simply had no other choice. So expect this remaster to look quite different from the original version, though the poses are at least pretty much the same.

The last bit of business is commentary on the layout. In the early plan, the characters were to be split up in different panels, the way you'd expect from a comic. But it was decided long ago we'd ditch that and have the characters sharing the same space instead. The concept had been planned as a Naughty Bits page and was still released as such, but that is why it's in pinup form.

Quite a troubled history for this piece of art, but we've given all the tender love and care we can, so now it's time to share and hope that the community will enjoy it, flaws and all.

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Picture if you will that the Ranma anime we know and love used LIVE actors like most television shows. What happens to actors accustomed to an expensive lifestyle when the fame and money suddenly dry up? Well, every gal has gotta eat and the girls of Nerima appear to be ravenous. ❤️‍🔥

If readers are familiar with our Out of Character comic series, this should be a nostalgic trip up that same dark alley!

Remastering details:

• Remastered in UHD.

• Splotch & noise cleanup. Various line overruns have been removed.

• Ranma's eye color corrected to light blue, Shampoo's eyes are now pinkish red, and Ukyo's eyes are the blue/green combo from the anime.

• Outfit colors have been redone, such as Shampoo's dress and particularly Ranma's suit. Ukyo's apron has very minor color and lighting corrections. Nabiki's money is now Japanese currency instead of American, but we chose to keep the paper simple to avoid it being distracting.

• Added missing line art details (inner ear lines, fingernails) and adjusted others (finger shaping).

• Akane's missing nipples are AT LAST visible under her shirt!

• Complete background replacement. The action now takes place in a seedy strip club and brothel, rather than the ponderous waterfront at night (these high-class gals would not be working the docks if Nabiki has anything to say about it).

• The character positions have also been adjusted. The original looked too much like posing for a group photo. The new version- we hope- gives the reader the sense the gals are hard at work in their new environment. Ideally, we want this to be what a customer might see if they walked through the door at the club.

• The original Ranmabooks release is included for comparison so that patrons can see how much the quality increased!

Until next time patrons, perhaps it is not said enough, but we want to thank everyone for their patience while we strive to put out the best art releases that we can for the community. We realize that in this economy- an economy where working folk have their budgets stretched perhaps beyond the limit- that our service is a luxury. And for those who continue to support us through thick and thin, it means that much more. Take care of yourselves and if you can, take care of somebody else too. ❤️

-Deep Star