Comic Treasure 24: Shigunyan

STILL THE BEST

Nekomimi Haruna shows no signs of relinquishing her control over my heart on the cover a roughly drawn continuation of Shigunyan's ongoing KanColle parody series.

Comic Market 86: Shigunyan しぐにゃん

I will say it until you believe me...

...SHIGUNYAN HARUNA IS BEST HARUNA.

I wish all of doujinshidom could see the perfect, celestial synergy taking place between Shigunyan and Kantai Collection's Haruna--somehow, some way, a relatively unheralded and undistinguished circle has found its muse, and we are all best served by merely bearing witness to the adorable display.  Thus far, she's graced three doujinshi, a tapestry, and a small bag, and now the cat-eared cutie comes dakimakurized, wedding-banded and ready for prime placement in your otaku lair.  

Not content to simply laze about in bed, Haruna is also featured in an erotic parody doujinshi, her fourth such appearance for the circle, though it's not certain where her nekomimi have gone off to in this outing...

Also, for the third time, KanColle's Kaga will star in an erotic parody book for the circle, apparently having inherited Haruna's cat ears and also sporting a wedding ring, neither of which she had in her previous outings at C85 or Sankuri 62.

Finally, Shigunyan's 52nd convention-exclusive omake booklet, featuring a chibified KanColle Airfield Princess...

Sunshine Creation 64: Shigunyan

Paradigm-setter

Once is a rumor, twice is a trend, three times is a paradigm--SHIGUNYAN HARUNA IS BEST HARUNA.  Shigunyan first captured my attention at Comic Market 85 with their rendition of Kantai Collection's demure destroyer Haruna looking completely fetching sporting nekomimi.  Looking into the circle's past output, and considering some of the work the circle's done since, it seems to me like Shigunyan has simply found its muse in Haruna, and I hope that when all the kanmusu collecting wanes, the circle can capture this moe moe lightning in a bottle once again.

COMIC1☆8: Shigunyan / しぐにゃん

Shigunyan Haruna is best Haruna

After all was said and done after Comic Market 85, my number one most desired book was not from my favorite artist, Tony Taka, or my favorite circle, Digital Lover, or from my favorite parodied franchise, OreImo.  Above all comers, my attention was rapt by a circle I previously had no knowledge of whatsoever, Shigunyan.  Their presentation of Kantai Collection's Haruna, sporting nekomimi, looking every inch the embodiment of Because Japan, put the circle firmly on my radar.  Looking into their past catalogue, I didn't see a whole lot of books that caught my attention, and the covers of their releases since C85 have been, frankly, somewhat underwhelming to me--had the circle managed to capture lightning in a bottle just the once?  With the circle's recent revelation of their plans for this year's COMIC1, it certainly seems that lightning can indeed strike twice.  Haruna makes a triumphant return on the cover of the circle's feature-length ero parody, as well as a B2-sized poster and a small bag.  German kanmusu Z1 and Z3 appear on the circle's 48th iteration of their omake books.

Sunshine Creation 62: Shigunyan / しぐにゃん

Kitto Katsu, Kanmusu Kyudo-ka Kaga!

While it was their nekomimi'd Haruna that caught my eye prior to Comic Market 85 and first got me interested in the circle, Shigunyan surely has been awfully busy since then in preparation for this weekend's Sunshine Creation 62.  However, it's a follow-up of the circle's other Comiket book, featuring Kantai Collection's Kaga, that the circle will be selling, and at a giga-sized 32 pages to boot.  Attendees of the convention will receive a custom-wrapped Kit Kat featuring the demure aircraft-carrying archer for their trouble.  

Comic Treasure 23 & Raigeki-sen Yoi! 6: Shigunyan / しぐにゃん

Kansai's kanmusu fans served

Credit to Shigunyan for not abandoning the well-worn trail and foregoing the attention of Kansai's Kan Colle cravers, as the circle will have a presence at both Raigeki-sen Yoi! 6 in Tokyo and Comic Treasure 23 at INTEX Osaka this weekend, moving this weekend-exclusive omake book featuring a stripped-down Shimakaze on the cover and other ship girls in the mood to dock.

Comic Market 85: Shigunyan / しぐにゃん

Haruna Nekomimi Mode Melts My Face Off

One of the great thrills of being a doujinshi fan is discovering new artists.  Whether via Pixiv, Twitter, or Toranoana, it seems that every Comiket I find a new book from an artist I don't recognize which stops me in my tracks and forces a headlong dive into their backlog to learn more.  With just a couple of days between now and the beginning of Comiket 85, and a never-ending stream of the same kanmusu over and over to wade through, I truly did not expect to find anything to capture my attention this time around.  Then, I saw this cover, and my rate of deceleration was concussion-inducing, Formula One-grade.  I needed to know more.

From long-time doujinshi circle Shigunyan, this presentation of Kantai Collection's Haruna reclined on tatatmi and sporting nekomimi arrested me on the authority of her supreme cuteness, and the preview pages proved that the art quality carried over into the interior of the book, which, given the high number of submissions and short turnaround time from the Summer Comiket, is even more rare in Winter Comiket releases.  I am rapt.  Going to the artist's website reveals that in addition to this release, the circle will offer a second full-length book featuring a fuwa-fuwa take on Kan Colle's Kaga and a third omake book with kanmusu I-19's torpedoes heavily featured.

Looking back through Shigunyan's previous works reveals that the circle has been in the game for quite a long time, and sticking on a pair of nekomimi to a character seems to be something of a trademark of theirs, but, in this writer's opinion, the circle's art seems to carry shades of mid-90's character designs and, quite simply, isn't that attractive to me.  I am not certain what elements have clicked to produce this Haruna release, but I will definitely be watching to see if Shigunyan's work stays at so high a calibre as this.