::NPC:: blue

Design notes:

I had no idea what I was going to do for this contest. I knew there’d be a lot of entries, so I had to come up with something that was…different. So, once I started sketching, I actually found it easy to find something that was different. I’d started a character like this at one point, but never got anywhere with it. I decided on the name “Aoi” because of another character I really like right now; it’s not because I just wanted a Japanese name and came up with one. The color scheme is purely coincidental with the name.

The skirt is something I’ve wanted to do for a while: it gives her a more feminine air when the rest of her outfit doesn’t look so girly. Rather, it keeps her from looking like she’s a complete tomboy and rebellious. It’s probably my favorite part, since I like swishy things like that. xD The wings behind her aren’t really wings. They’re attached to her collar, and are more for decoration and show than anything else.

The blue spots are what she uses to “guide” people; she’s what is called a “Guidean” (at least, she calls it that), someone who guides people when they’re lost. She isn’t too hard to miss, and will exchange information of directions, locations, items, or anything you need or want (yes, anything) as long as you can pay the price. Once paid, the spots pictured here can guide you wherever you need to go—Aoi never actually has to leave her spot outside the café where she usually hangs out.

Aoi aspires to go into the medical field; this is why she asks for so much and is almost desperate for money. Though it doesn't show, she's willing to do anything to help others and get herself through medical school. She seems easy-going and carefree, but under that kind face is turmoil and conflicts that she hopes she'll never have to show. She wants to keep her problems to herself and help others, even if it means that she has to suffer for it. On days when she isn't outside the café or in the back alley by the club at night, you know that she had a hard time at school and wants to protect everyone from seeing her in a stressed-out state of mind.

“The World Ends With You” is, to me, largely music-based (as far as I can tell—I know the main character has headphones!), so I tried to incorporate this into her design: her hair clip that keeps her bangs pulled back is the shape of a treble clef, and she has a small design high on her cheek that is a music note. Marks that aren’t shown include a bass clef on her back (right shoulder), a quarter rest on her left ankle, a sixteenth rest on her left arm (covered by her arm warmers), and a fermata on the small of her back.

WEWY (c) Squeenix
Aoi (c) me~