Here's another batch of concept art from
Secret Level's Mega Man: Start. These "exploration" pieces by
Mauro Belfiore (
Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse) give us an early look at Mega Man/Rock and Dr. Light, drawn at Nexus Studios before the episode went into full production. The designs are drastically different from the final product, but that’s the point of the exploration phase—trying out different ideas and seeing what works.
I'm... glad they didn't go with this version of Rock.
ReplyDeleteFirst one looks creepy, but the one above Dr. Light is okay.
DeleteThird one from the top isn't terrible, either.
DeleteI don't see why they feel the need to redesign everything.
DeleteBecause they think themselves creatives. And every creative has to put their stamp on whatever they do.
DeleteIts like a natural law or something.
@8:41 PM and shrap There's nothing wrong with making new designs for pre-existing characters for sequels or new adaptations. You are free to not like new designs, but don't act like they're doing something wrong just because you feel the need to be purists.
Delete@Shrap, if mainly seems to be a western thing that they can’t just leave character designs alone. I hate it.
Delete@anon 8:47
Deletenow now, It's not just the west. The east does it as well. It's just artist/studio style.
Good to see they were never intending to diverge too far from the classic design.
ReplyDeleteExcept they did end up going with designs that look nothing like classic Mega Man.
DeleteAt the very least I'm glad the "heart" of the characters were kept in mind as early as the concept art stage.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a lot of Yuji Ishihara influence in this artwork
ReplyDeleteYuji Ishihara is my favorite artist!
DeleteThese are pretty interesting. My favorite is the second one on top of the article, I saved it on my phone. Anyway, I understand what they wanted to do for the final product.
ReplyDeleteI’m not a fan of Mauro’s designs and am thankful they didn’t go with this.
ReplyDeleteCreepy looking faces.
ReplyDeleteI should prefer Sushio or Yoshinari Yoh-san doing concept art for Mega Man instead. Secret Level is quite trashy but...
DeleteYOUR SOUL BELONGS TO MEEEEEE
DeleteIt just looks weird with how much his face is scrunched up in the middle like a meme.
DeleteMogo Mon
DeleteLove this concept, very Disney vibes that gives for me.
ReplyDeleteI really love the designs for Dr. Light! I think he looks great. But I feel like Rock/Mega Man doesn't look quite right. The body is fine, but his face just doesn't look as it should in my opinion. (By extension, the shape of his helmet/how it sits on his head, and his facial expressions are also just a bit off). But I think the Dr. Light designs work very well.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I don’t like is that the yellow bar thing is on the opposite side of the Buster.
ReplyDeleteAmerican box art style?
DeleteI actually almost prefer it like that. It looks less cool, but makes more sense, since Mega Man can actually see it (not that he would need to…).
The face looks extremely bloated for some reason.
ReplyDeleteThe third and forth picture down, with the close up shots of the head area looks more like an adaptation of the Dragon Quest II hero than Mega Man. I think it is because the helmet doesn't have as pronounced of contours and it is so high up on his forehead that it exposes his thick black eyebrows...
ReplyDeleteIt just looks more like Hero II from Dragon Quest... especially the way the cheek part of the helmet hangs down like that. It makes it look more like a pilot cap. That pilot cap effect is really pronounced in the last set of black and white images.
That artstyle looks pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThe face looks terrible.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, it's not proportionate at all.
Delete