The winning One-Shot comic that’ll close out 2025 featured Dandadan, which I think is quite appropriate. Dandadan was a newer anime that I really took to, but I’ve only done a handful of pics with it so far (aside from one side project comic). This comic brings in most of the main cast that I hadn’t drawn yet, with a focus on Okarun and Jiji. The script made no mention of Turbo Granny, but I threw her in purely of my own volition.
For a bit now we’ve had a little tradition around here, a way to look back at the past year’s art and spotlight some relevant characters. I run a few polls on SubscribeStar, while also running some numbers to come up with a few awards to hand out. First, we have the popular vote results:
And now we get to the stat-based awards. Each category here is based on appearances from the year, specifically the SubscribeStar posts. This means some of these winners may not make sense for non-Subscribers, as it’s based on content that may be months away from going public. Most of these awards are based purely on their number of appearances, but I’ll mention when that’s not the case. In the past we did awards for the most appearances in One-Shots or Asks, but I decided to drop those categories this year. Instead we just have a handful of winners.
This reward spotlights the characters (male and female) who returned after the longest absence. Charlotte’s comeback pic, which you get a preview of here, won’t be public for a while yet. She was a last-minute winner of the female half of this twofer reward. On the male side, both Mello and Near made return pics this year, with their last appearances being a mutual debut in a very old commission. Since Mello’s return Ask happened after Near’s, by default that gave him the edge for the longest gap return between them.
This one surprised me a bit, as I hadn’t realized how much I’d drawn Sero since his debut in the U.A. Wall series. Part of why he snuck up on me is one of his appearances being an anon-type situation, but both he and Al had four pics this year, tying. Only a bit of Al’s content has gone public currently, but it’s fun to see him win this award since his brother won it last year.
Seiko got a lot of love in the polls this year, too, and it’s not hard to see why. I’m quite fond of her, so even though I was slow to draw her initially it doesn’t shock me that I ended up using her a fair bit once she got into the Studio. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of Seiko in 2026 as well.
We had a tie in this category this year, and just barely. Goku was the winner of this award last year, and it’s not hard to see how he keeps coming ahead. Besides being popular in his own right, he’s one of a handful of characters I’ll default to for a top when one’s needed in Asks or the like, and he also had some appearances in different forms this year. Yuji tying with him is actually a bit of a miracle, as he doesn’t have the same advantages. He has appeared often as a partner for different folks in Asks, however, and he’s also had a lot of commission appearances this year, including in the Hot Yoga comic.
Speaking of ties, we had a bit of a shocker here with the ladies, too. Bulma had two ongoing comics that helped to bolster her numbers, while Kanamori’s comic wrapped and Butt Witch’s had very few updates. Still, we got a three-way tie here. Last year Kanamori was the Newcomer of the Year, but I mentioned then that she actually had the most appearances overall as well. With her taking the Newcomer spot, however, Butt Witch took this award last year, which lead to them doing a pic together. With that history, it’s a bit fun to see them both come out as winners this year, and alongside a woman they’ve both worked with in the past, too.
So Hange and Ilse never got to meet in the actual canon of Attack on Titan, which is sort of the basis for this Ask. Hange finds and studies Ilse’s journal, which has valuable information on the only recorded instance of a titan talking, so I think it’s natural to assume she’d seek Ilse out for more info as soon as she heard she was in the Studio. Hange may not have to deal with titans in the Studio ever, but I doubt her fascination would die any with the separation.
Lost in the Fright Zone is the next comic returning in my rotation schedule. I’m planning to do four pages of it before moving on, including this one. For now, we pick up right where we left off five years ago.
This is a Mini Commisison featuring Izel, the protagonist of Onyx Equinox. Since I don’t pay any mind to Crunchroll, I’d never heard of this show prior to drawing this. I checked it out a but while prepping for it, and it seems interesting. At a glance, it seems kind of like an adult Avatar using South American mythology and deities. Some of what I saw seemed pretty interesting. At any rate, here’s a little pic of its protagonist.
So twice now Corey and Yuji have hung out “Corey’s way.” Corey’s capable of being a fair guy, so even if it’s not his thing really he’s willing to give Yuji’s way a chance here.
This is another Vanguard-tier reward, this time for Sailor Saturn. Saturn’s one of the outer Sailor Senshi, and although I did watch the old anime as a kid I don’t remember much about her or her arc on the show. I tried to pick a cute pose for her, though, and I hope fans of this character will enjoy seeing her here.
Continuing our annual tradition, here’s another Studio Christmas party! I had a couple people I thought would look really good in Santa outfits, and a few others I just wanted to draw. I’m really happy with how this year’s party turned out, and I hope y’all will enjoy seeing a handful of Studio residents living it up!
