Happy New Year, everybody. Antoni here. The year of Our Lord 2023 is fast approaching its end. Therefore, it is time for me to feature the pieces of work that I have enjoyed doing since this year. Yes, I know my fanart uploading has been a bit slower and fewer this year. This is because I have been producing more online reviews on my YouTube channel, which I am happy to say that I have now reached 1,930 subscribers, dealing with my three semesters going on four semesters as a Master's in American Studies student attaining A's and B's on my transcript of records thus far and enjoying every discourse I have been sinking my teeth into, and doing everything I can to keep everything together in my university, YouTube, DeviantArt, and writing life. Furthermore, it has been four years since I have last traveled abroad, as I have been spending Christmas and New Year in Sydney, Australia, where I have been spending time with my outstandingly wonderful host family and witnessing everything I needed and wanted to witness thus far. This is especially true considering all the insanity I dealt with in graduating with honors/distinction in my Bachelor's in English and Musicology and doing everything to improve greatly in my current Master's in American Studies tenure. Nevertheless, everything I have been dealing with in this year has been fruitful, productive, and brilliant. I never regretted anything. I have been blessed thanks to my father, my mother, my younger siblings, all my relatives, all my friends, all my colleagues, and every actor, voice actor, singer, musician, artist, online reviewer, writer, online content creator, and academic I have constantly considered as my role model. With that said, let's get cracking with my favorite pieces of work from each month.
January: Octagon Ice and Olympic Fire
2023 started off with a bang, as Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha aka the Inu Brothers took center stage. My anime martial arts AU headcanon was strong in this one, considering that Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha are the bedrocks of their martial arts team, The Splendid Seven. I wanted to capture the dichotomy of Sesshoumaru's deadly prowess in Mixed Martial Arts and Inuyasha's rampaging brutality in Pankration because of how relatively similar yet utterly different their main martial arts are. Sesshoumaru's element of ice means that he can abide by octagonal cage regulations, uphold the martial arts code with all his being, and give his opponents the ground-and-pounds and Kimuras they deserve, while never giving in to rowdy obnoxiousness featured in the UFC reality television show. Inuyasha's element of fire means that he can do anything and everything he wants in the Spartan arena from torture racks to double axe handles all while making his muscular virility an offering to Zeus and all the Olympian gods. Put these two dog Yokai brothers together, and they are ruthlessly invincible.
February: Olympic Champion Power Couple
Now, it is time to feature the first work containing my most beloved one true pairing of all time Inuyasha x Ayame. It clearly shows that my loyalty to my OTP knows no bounds and will always inspire me to create more InuAya fanart, let alone fan-related content. Nobody can slaughter, mash, and cream the competition like Inuyasha and Ayame can. With Inuyasha's powerfully muscular brutality in Pankration and Ayame's furiously fierce velocity in Kyuk Too Ki or Korean Kickboxing, no opponent can ever bring them down even if they tried. As Inuyasha's background in Ancient Greek Wrestling, Ancient Greek Boxing, Ssireum, Combat Sambo, Vale Tudo, and Kapu Kuialua makes him a mighty Pankratiast and Ayame's skills in Muay Thai, Dutch Kickboxing, Japanese Kickboxing, Muay Lerdrit, Bokator, and Muay Chaiya have made them gain a reputation for being powerful opponents, it is easy to see why competitors would not dare mess with this power couple. Inuyasha and Ayame have the physical might and the spicy intimacy to prove that they can conquer anyone who crosses their path.
March: The Seven Scintillating Sirens
Coinciding with my anime martial arts AU headcanon was me celebrating International Women's Day the only way I knew how. I featured Rosé Thomas, Rose Anderson, Winry Rockbell, Megumi Minami, Maya Orihara, Solty Revant, and Kaoru Ichinose working together as a septet of spectacular soul sisters possessing all the punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, shin strikes, grapples, and takedowns to their hearts' desire. Given that I have been watching Karate Combat for nearly one or two years on YouTube and have been playing Tekken and Street Fighter when I was a child, I gave the Queens of Scintillating Strikes various Korean hybrid martial arts. Rosé Thomas had Yongmudo. Rose Anderson had Gongkwon Yusul. Winry Rockbell had Kuk Sool Won. Megumi Minami had Hwa Rang Do. May Orihara had Tang Soo Do. Solty Revant had Kong Soo Do. Kaoru Ichinose had Soo Bakh Do. Whether these ladies threw uppercuts, spinning back kicks, axe kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, chokeholds, or jointlocks, they combine elegant beauty with ferocious beastliness in their attacks. Outside their penchant for unleashing tornadoes of furious attacks on their opponents, they also love the finer things in life from art to music and are also fiercely protective of children.
April: Bulging Biceps are what a Warrior Queen Loves
Inuyasha x Ayame as a super strong and splendidly sexy power couple strike again for the second time. This was reasonable because it was InuAya Month 2023, which went rather sporadically because of the continuous growth of my YouTube content and starting the summer semester in my university among other real-life obligations. Yes, I was pleased to have done group shots of Inuyasha's and Ayame's fourteen children consisting of seven sons and seven daughters, at least where the two sets of triplets and three sets of twins are concerned, but nothing beats Inuyasha and Ayame as the mighty power couple and equally mightier parents they are intended to be. Furthermore, Inuyasha's mightily magnificent muscles and Ayame's fearlessly fabulous fierceness always compliment each other in the most glorious way possible. It also helps that Ayame desires her dear husband's bulging biceps of titanium and granite, while Inuyasha is aroused by his precious wife's advances. These two are certainly fortunate to have each other, and their fourteen children are grateful to have powerfully mighty parents.
May: Inuyasha the Mighty Pankration Champion
I always insist that Inuyasha is an exceptional match for Pankration as his signature martial art. What I argued went into effect when I first created my series of InuAya family individual profiles, which included not only Inuyasha's and Ayame's individual profiles, but also all of their children's. So far, I have done profiles of their seven sons. I have not done profiles of their daughters yet, but that is another story. Inuyasha's muscular might and manly magnificence make him an ideal combatant in Pankration to the point where more potent opponents would flee from his super strength and magnificent muscles. He would even make Heracles, Antaeus, Sisyphus, and Theseus green with envy because of Inuyasha's super strength. Aside from Inuyasha's bulging muscles and triumphant virility, he possesses several wrestling-based attacks that can easily overpower his opponents including guillotine chokes, rear-naked chokeholds, sharpshooters, torture racks, and piledrivers and boxing-based punches that can break all of his opponents' bones such as double axe handles, hammer fists, and liver punches.
June: Ayame the Formidable Kyuk Too Ki Prizefighter
Coming to the conclusion that Ayame's main martial art shall be Kyuk Too Ki or Korean Kickboxing was no easy feat. Although Kyuk Too Ki is basically a combination of kickboxing, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, and Hapkido, considering the range of punches, kicks, knee strikes, elbow strikes, and takedowns done, Ayame's Kyuk Too Ki style is not only limited to the Korean, Japanese, and Thai striking combat arts. She would also have influences in Dutch Kickboxing from the Netherlands, Bokator from Cambodia, and both Muay Chaiya and Muay Lerdrit from Thailand. Therefore, she would demonstrate range and versatility in all of her punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and shin strikes, especially where her iron fists and speedy limbs can provide her with leverage and acceleration. Once Ayame steps into the ring to knock down stronger opponents, she would easily wipe the competition and make them fall down to the ground like felled sequoia trees. Her uppercuts, jabs, hooks, cross punches, elbow slashes, knee strikes, and axe kicks are certainly going to make her opponents suffer for a long time.
July: Bulging Biceps and Limbering Limbs
Inuyasha does feel at his most virile and his mightiest when he dons a protective cup made from demon lion's fur, especially when he has his knockout queen of a wife Ayame by his side. They do not need any introduction in terms of what they can do to crush their enemies into self-pitying paeans running and ducking for cover. Opponents will feel massive pain when Inuyasha squeezes them in an overpowering bearhug, torture rack, and Full Nelson combo. Then comes Ayame to deliver her series of devastating jabs, uppercuts, hooks, overhands, liver punches, rabbit punches, and bolo punches, considering that her boxing gloves are made of a demon ox hide and bones. Once their attacks are done, their opponents will have no choice but to flee in utter terror. It is part of being the king and queen of the Northern Yoro Tribe and the worldwide martial arts tournaments that Inuyasha and Ayame consistently bring home the gold and exude confidence as champions. Neither hulking brutes nor stealthy strikers can knock them down, for they have each other to conquer the arenas and rings of the world.
August: Muscularly Colossal Build and Steely Iron Fists
Leave it to Inuyasha and Ayame to demonstrate that they are truly a couple rich in super strength, fierce ferocity, and copious amounts of confidence. Inuyasha is one bodybuilder king, wrestling champion, and Pankration winner who would never hesitate to strip down to his birthday suit, rub himself in olive oil, and have a nude bodybuilder posedown to please his number one lady Ayame. Ayame clearly demonstrates that she does not need her boxing gloves and shinguards to finish her enemies, for her handwraps and anklewraps suffice in making her movements free and easy but devastatingly forceful. Inuyasha's kingly brand of muscular virility makes Ayame thoroughly aroused and hypnotized by his musclebound body from his bulging biceps to his granite glutes to his crushing calves. Ayame's furious fists demonstrate that she always means business when protecting her family, especially her musclebound husband, from enemies, let alone those who are foolish enough to destroy him. When all the carnage is done, there is no doubt that Inuyasha and Ayame would have an intense makeout session in the end.
September: A Competition's Virile Appeal
It was amusing to have had Inuyasha and Raymond be best friends forever and brothers from other mothers because I never thought about it before. The idea was based on the whole martial arts tournament scenario focusing on Sesshoumaru, Shuran, Inuyasha, Hakkaku, Ginta, Ayame, and Shunran versus Ulrich Wernerstein and his bodybuilder goons. Out of all the seven Yokai martial artists, Raymond would be easily inspired by Inuyasha's brutal ferocity just as Alex is easily inspired by Ayame's rampaging fists and feet. Sure, Raymond is mainly a bodybuilder, gym instructor, and an amateur wrestler at best. However, Inuyasha is that one friend willing to challenge Raymond and have him be the strongest combatant he can be. How does he do it, you ask? By engaging him in an Ancient Greek Pankration match with special focus on wrestling all while being naked and slathered in olive oil. Ayame and Alex would be indubitably aroused by their husbands' muscular virility, tight brotherhood, and their undying penchant for combat, for Inuyasha is the Ryu Hoshi to Raymond's Ken Masters.
October: Ferocious Jungle Muscle Rampage
Spooky Month in my lecture hall means one thing. Having George of the Jungle, Basuli, Tarzan, and Maugli unleash their primal, feral, and beastly sides to engage in combat full of blood, muscles, brutality, and viciousness. All four jungle warrior king brothers are pumped up, muscled up, and all oiled up to have the bodybuilding posedowns and mixed martial arts matches of their lives. Possessing the lion's share of the combat brutality are obviously Basuli and Tarzan who have done a number on each other. Having them do a number on each other sounds more like a euphemism. Basuli and Tarzan have ferociously and lethally torn each other apart with punches, takedowns, grapples, bitemarks from their sharp fangs, and slashes from their sharper claws. thus giving each other bruises and blackeyes galore. Neither Basuli nor Tarzan are going to surrender, and they have the maniacally fang-exposed evil smiles to show it and even give Scar a good thrashing. George and Maugli are just as important in maintaining their brothers' intense sparring match, but even they get involved in the blood-soaked carnage.
November: Wagnerian Irish Princess Party
Now, I have come to something more elegant and enchanting because this was Maddygirl13's Owl House OC Halloween contest. Yes, I did it in November of all months. However, other passions and priorities came into play. Her contest inspired me to create a best friend, confidante, and sister from another mister for Maddygirl13's OC, Niahm, in the form of my Owl House OC, Melanie. When I saw Maddy's design of Niahm in her OC folder, I automatically thought that she would make an elegant and noble princess. After all. An elegantly noble princess does need a confidante in the form of her lady-in-waiting from time to time. Enter Melanie, who is the total opposite of Niahm donning her red hair and predominantly blue gown, as she has dark brown hair and is in a lavish attire consisting of purple, magenta, and fuchsia. Their dynamic made me think of Brangäne and Isolde from Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. For Melanie, I was envisioning the mezzos who sang Brangäne such as Blanche Thebom. As for Niahm, it was the dramatic sopranos singing Isolde such as Margaret Harshaw.
December: Elegant Ladies in Winter
My final piece for 2023 came in the form of seven ladies I have been wanting to draw for quite some time. They were Toran, Blue, Wakana, Mika Seido, Enju, Karan, and Takako Kawashima. In my anime martial arts AU headcanon, this septet of elegant and noble ladies constitute The Blood Empresses who are in charge of giving their enemies a barrage of brutal attacks. Toran's mounted chokes and liver punches in Krav Maga, Blue's circular throws and knife hand strikes in Pencak Silat, Wakana's cervical locks and ox jaw strikes in Systema, Mika's small joint manipulations and downward elbow slashes in Bokator, Enju's downward elbow strikes and spinning elbows in Bokator, Karan's reverse punches and shin kicks in Hapkido, and Takako's calf kicks and spinning back fists in Taekwondo are definitely painful. However, when opponents are not being beaten up as a result of underestimating them, these fine and fabulous ladies love to soak in the holiday spirit by walking in a winter wonderland. To these ladies, the holidays are all about enjoying the simpler things in life and embracing the winter season.
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, my 2023 art summary. It has been a pleasure producing fanart in that year. I know I would have loved to produce more Inurangers fanart content. However, my university life and a bunch of other priorities got in the way. Nevertheless, I am excited to see what 2024 has in store. Until then, I hope the new year will be an exciting for all of you. Take care, stay safe, and may your 2024 be prosperous, everybody.
George of the Jungle belongs to Jay Ward.
Basuli and Tarzan from Tarzan belong to Disney and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Maugli from The Adventures of Mowgli belongs to Rudyard Kipling, Roman Davydov, Leonid Belokurov, and Soyuzmultfilm.
Sesshoumaru, Toran, Inuyasha, Wakana, Enju, and Karan from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Sunrise.
Blue from Wolf's Rain belongs to Keiko Nobumoto and Studio Bones.
Mika Seido from Geneshaft belongs to Kazuki Akane, Bandai Visual, Satelight, and Studio Gazelle.
Takako Kawashima from Shootfighter Tekken or High School Exciting Story: Tough belongs to Tetsuya Saruwatari and Anime International Company.
Raymond and Alex from Totally Spies belong to Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, David Michel, and Marathon Media.
Rosé Thomas and Winry Rockbell from Fullmetal Alchemist belong to Hiromu Arakawa and Studio Bones.
Maya Orihara from Ultra Maniac belongs to Wataru Yoshizumi and Ashi Productions.
Rose Anderson and Solty Revant from Solty Rei belong to Gonzo and AIC.
Megumi Minami and Kaoru Ichinose from Detective School Q belong to Seimaru Amagi and Pierrot.
Melanie belongs to me.
Niahm belongs to Maddygirl13.
The Owl House belongs to Disney and Dana Terrace.
