This is the blog post I’ve been talking about for weeks—and it’s finally here.
GemKnights will launch in a few days, so let’s talk about what I’m actually talking about here, lol
What is GemKnights:
For those of you who don’t know, I’ve had a series here for quite some time under the name “Gem Knights” that was published on and off. It was a comic series about magical girls who get corrupted, with a strong focus on the individual stories of the characters. Today, you can find this series on my page under “Gem Knights Prototype.”
“GemKnights,” on the other hand, is a kind of soft reboot and thus a new series. But what do I mean by that?
Soft reboot:
I struggled for a long time with how to implement this because I’ve always really liked “Gem Knights” as a series, but some of my old decisions and my insufficient knowledge about creating comics kept me from taking the next step.
And that step is the soft reboot—a completely fresh start featuring many of the old characters and their storylines, though there are some changes and the story is drastically expanded.
So don’t worry if you liked the old comics and the characters in them—a lot of that will remain, even though we’ll get to it later.
The "Why":
That’s a good question—I’ve already touched on it, but let me get a little more personal here.
People who’ve been following me for a few years know that I’ve always kept comic creation somewhat separate from my artistic interests; to be honest, I’ve always thought that visual media are a bit “dumber” than, say, literature.
That was before I discovered my love for visual storytelling and everything that goes with it.
Many of my early decisions for Gem Knights stemmed from the idea that I just wanted to try something new; then the series progressed, and my editor TJ talked to me in more detail about the characters in the story—a story that hadn’t really interested me at first.
But then, as I thought about it more and more, I started putting a lot more of my usual writing style into Gem Knights Chapter 4. It’s hard to believe how strange that sudden shift felt, because all of a sudden, Gem Knights became something I wanted to turn into a bigger project.
My test runs for this were my GemKnights novellas and my teaser, and then TJ also started writing a novel based on GemKnights, and suddenly I had a Bigger Picture of the whole thing, similar to what I was used to with my personal writing projects.
That’s how the idea of a reboot came about, though I thought long and hard about it.
What's in store for you?
First things first: GemKnights will stay pretty much the same as the prototype was, at least in broad strokes. We’ve got corruption, hypnosis, mind control—you know my stuff.
Plus, a narrative that’ll gradually get bigger and bigger, and a ton of characters.
One aspect that will change is the seriousness, brutality, and style of the Comic.
I’ve decided against posting a warning about “sensitive content” before every release, because I think most people can handle it, but if anyone absolutely cannot stand death, blood, mental breakdowns, and suffering in any conceivable way, maybe they shouldn’t read this xD
Another thing, of course, is the quality. I’ve invested a lot of time in learning and am still doing so; compared to the prototype or any of my other comics, GemKnights is probably my best work yet in terms of quality.
Releases, the content, and more:
GemKnights is a big project, so it takes me longer to produce than regular comics. I plan to release a new batch a
bout every two weeks, though sometimes it might take a little longer.
There’s also various bonus content, short comics, little mini-stories, illustrations, and much more. Some of this is published as a bonus on FANBOX as a reward for your support, but a few things also appear on other platforms.
Novels, teasers, and the first release:
The foundation for this first batch is laid by the teaser I created some time ago, which has since been heavily revised and expanded with many new scenes (so this first release is also interesting for anyone who’s already familiar with the story)
On top of that, right at the start of GemKnights, the first chapter of my editor TJ’s GemKnights novel will be released—it’ll feature completely different group of Gem Knights, but a few familiar characters will make an appearance as well. Be sure to check it out!
By the way, my GemKnights novellas, as well as the old teaser, have been temporarily removed from FANBOX so I can revise them a bit and then re-upload them to Pixiv in the meantime, as additional content for you to read.
My personal thoughts and my thanks:
It sounds a bit cheesy and might seem a little out of place to some, since I’m a moderately well-known adult content creator who doesn’t really produce serious work and rarely talks about things like this, but—and I mean this sincerely—thank you.
A thank you to everyone who reads this blog, a thank you to everyone who reads the first batch, a thank you to everyone who likes GemKnights. I’m grateful to be able to upload something to this platform that I enjoy so much, and it makes me so happy to see even just one person watching it. Whether you’re a fan of the corruption aspect of the series, the H-elements, the storytelling, the characters, or the style—even if you just read this blog for fun—thank you; this is the greatest gift anyone could ever give me.
Creating GemKnights is probably something I would have done anyway out of personal interest; I’m just the kind of person who likes to come up with stories and narratives for myself, but being able to share this publicly is a whole different kind of joy.
I’d also like to extend a huge thank you to my good friend TJ, who has repeatedly set me straight whenever my ego got too big for me to see the obvious. He’s the reason you’re able to read GemKnights in the form it exists today. I won’t lie and say that working on these projects has always gone perfectly—especially with projects like these, there’s always a lot to discuss—but his words and opinions have helped me come to some realizations. I’d also like to mention again that his GemKnights novel is coming out soon. Be sure to check it out.
The rest:
Planned releases outside of GemKnights have been pushed back somewhat, but have become significantly more interesting as a result. The planned Neuro/Fillian short is becoming a Neuro-only short comic; instead, Fillian will appear in a planned collaboration. I’ve also continued working on HoloParasite 3, and bonus shorts will likely follow for that as well.
Then there’s the news that I’m currently working more actively again on developing a video game together with TJ centered around the themes of mind control and hypnosis, and I’m confident that this game will be finished sooner than expected.
See you at the release!
Release date: JUNE 16th