Lotta (Dark Hirkey)

Review Details

The client provided a page by page script with general poses and a basic flow between them as well as all the dialog. The artist handled panel layout, flow, and camera direction with some minor feedback from client.

Note: I’ll be using he/his and Dark interchangeably with Dark Hirkey.

General Impressions

Coming from a lesser known anime with a brilliant soundtrack, this doujin brings the world of Acca 13 to paper. Well, doujin paper, as the anime was actually based on an original manga with a similarly beautiful art style and unique character designs. The artist that draws this doujin also brings his own unique art style and soul to the world and it’s definitely something worth seeing.

From the first page we can see Dark Hirkey’s style showing through with a large use of white and gray with bold lines accentuating the character outlines. Black tones seep into composition in the form of harsh shadows, artistic effect, and also for our male lead’s clothing. Overall, this gives each page a uniquely gradient feeling with a full spectrum of tones which I believe gives this style a interesting contrast that makes character details pop off the page [Ex. 01].

The background art is usually very simple and tends to appear only when story relevant with white space, gray tones, or effect lines making up the majority of empty space. Given the composition of most panels this isn’t very noticeable as the characters are very much given the focus. The simple backgrounds also pair well enough with the bold character outlines to keep their body shapes easy to see and understand. That said, I can see where some readers may want a little extra background art, or some wide angle panels, here or there to help them understand the environment more.

Lastly, I want to point out the line art style that Dark uses. While bold lines help accentuate the character shapes, he tends to also use hatching and thinner lines to add extra definition to the characters's bodies and their clothing. There’s good example of this on page 2, when Lotta is washing the dishes. A strong use of hatching is used to add definition to the folds of the clothing and thinner lines are being used to add details to the hair [Ex. 02].

Moreover, this kind of line art also give off a more sketched aesthetic to the doujin, where line thicknesses are more dynamic and each stroke isn’t necessarily as rounded and clean as a more traditional doujin style. Personally, I like the style and find that it gives this art a unique flair, but I can also see where other’s may feel it’s a little unrefined, especially paired with a few scenes where the characters feel slightly unnatural; but more on this in the next section.

Characters

Our main characters in this story are Lotta and Niino and it’s great to see them recreated in Dark’s own style. Lotta’s character is well represented and it’s easy to see the likeness to her anime counterpart. Her pony-tailed blonde hair and casual outfit are drawn well and her slim body and modest breasts are represented perfectly. Her facial expressions can lean a little exaggerated, but overall they are very well drawn with her emotions being clearly readable and quite evocative when things heat up. I want to tease a particular expression on page 12 that I think really shows Dark's versatility in facial expressions [Ex. 03].

To expand, I think Lotta’s expressions are really well drawn and do a great job at conveying her emotions because I think Dark is particularity good at showing surprise, embarrassment, and subtle lust. He keeps the expressions fresh and they almost always feel well matched to the scene. That said, there are a few instances where the expressions can feel a little awkward, almost like the eyes are a little lopsided [Ex. 04], but these are the exception from the usually great norm.

Niino’s likeness is also well represented with his dark hair and glasses easy to recognize for those familiar with the source material. In a similar fashion he has some exaggerated expressions that deviate from his anime personality, but his serious tone still comes through when appropriate. As slightly expected from a hentai doujin, his face and body aren’t seen as much through the story as Lotta’s, but his presence is never forgotten and I appreciate that he’s never given the “generic male protagonist” treatment; his eyes are present throughout the story and he doesn’t feel like a generic stand-in character.

Looking deeper at Lotta’s outfit, I appreciate Dark’s details when rendering her layered shirts and striped leggings. As mentioned earlier, he has a style that gives good definition to the clothing, but I was still impressed with his handling of her leggings during foreplay. Dark was able to show the stretch and distortion of Niino’s hand as he initiated foreplay under her leggings and it was great to see it drawn so well [Ex. 05].

Flow & Camera

This story ramps up fairly quickly, in part due to my script fitting into 15 pages, but I believe that Dark was able to interpret the script quite competently. He establishes the characters and setting quickly with a great use of panels and camera angle to keep the story flowing. I appreciate the first page’s reverse camera angle panels and the great use of foreground and background space to help show the relationship between the characters’ positions.

The clever use of continuing action is also on display in the 2nd page where Dark shows Niino approaching Lotta from behind in a simple three panel chain that drives the action perfectly even through larger jumps in time and space [Ex. 06]]. I found this three panel style is used a few times throughout the story to show continuing action and it works quite well each time with their use being similar to closeup panel chains that I’ve commented on in other doujin. Just, this time, the panels tend to be medium shots or even wide shots.

Turning attention towards the camera, we are treated to a number of great panels that combine dynamic poses and camera angles. I’ve already talked about Dark’s use of foreground and background space in the beginning pages, but I also wanted to shout out the good use of foreshortening we see on page 2 [Back to Ex. 02]. The subtle use of perspective in this panel is a great example of what will come next with more dynamic camera work giving us similar use of perspective that’s put to good use.

Another great example of Dark’s use of perspective, dynamic posing, and well placed camera angle comes on page 8. The second panel has a brilliant showing of how a dynamic pose and a low angle camera can really highlight a character’s silhouette providing a really evocative visual [Ex. 07].

However, one downside of such enthusiastic posing and camera work is that that the characters’ anatomy can be a little awkward from time to time. There can be a panel or two where the character pose combined with the camera angle makes for an added difficulty that results in a more awkward drawing [Ex. 08]. This only happens once or twice in the story, and personally, I appreciate the attempts at great posing more than taking a safer route with a different pose or camera.

Sexual Content

As usual, with my commissioned scripts, there’s a total of 15 pages. Things start fast with foreplay mainly beginning on page three. The foreplay consists of a kiss followed by breast groping and finally vagina fingering. There’s only male on female foreplay in this story before things progress which may be a shame for those looking for more variety, but the brevity in foreplay does make more room for intercourse.

Insertion begins on page 6 and continues through page 14 with 7 pages of full copulation and a 2 page break in the middle for a change in the story. When it comes to what kind of sexual content is in the story, it all begins with a standing insertion with Lotta leaning against a counter. Things progress quickly with Niino being a quick shot before realizing that he wants to continue. When intercourse continues after a short break we see a doggy position, side position, and finally a missionary position before the climax is reached on page 14.

As mentioned, throughout the doujin we are treated to a number of great dynamic poses and camera angles, and I wanted to quickly talk about a couple that showcase the great way that Dark was able to blend good compositional elements with good character posing for great, evocative panels. ​

On page 6 we get the insertion scene, and while I don’t usually show these panels, I found the drawing really encapsulates a number of things I’ve mentioned about Dark’s style that makes it stand out. The camera is positioned at a lower angle, looking up, and it captures the position well with everything on full display. Lotta's expression fits well and Dark’s ability to draw good, detailed privates is on display. And finally, the drawing itself extends over panel borders making it a showcase image for the page showing how the camera position, character pose, and overdraw style all work together [Ex. 09].

Additionally, page 11 has a couple of great panels, and while the bottom panel is my favorite of the page, I actually want to talk about the first panel as it is another showcase of how a dynamic camera and a fun pose married together create a great showcase of Dark’s skill [Ex. 10]. This panel uses another low angle camera positioned below Lotta's kneeling character to give a great view of the action while also showing good use of perspective with a beautiful body shape. And once again, Lotta’s expression works great with the scene and really lends itself to the sexual excitement.

Reaching the end of the story, the climax on page 14 is really spectacular. The almost full page render is beautiful and really provides a very satisfying finish to their intercourse with a missionary position finish from Crow's POV.

The last thing to mention is that page 15 winds down the story with the last page showing some post-sex positions and a small bit of story to quickly wrap things up.

Final Thoughts

I think Dark Hirkey’s work really shines through a slightly rough exterior. There may be a few instances of awkward anatomy or where the line art may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I find his strength in composition really shows through to make the doujin incredibly evocative. I’m very excited to see more of Dark’s art because I think there’s going to be a lot of positive growth with each work he completes.