Because I was bored, I guess

[effervescible]

One of the things I love about 268 is the way KT draws flashback!Kaien in a way that differentiates him from Kaiencar, who looks like Kaien but sort of twisted slightly in his expression, and from Ichigo--a lot of Kaien's flashback expressions seem more like Kon. In any case, you can clearly tell they're different men. I've always thought that one reason Rukia didn't seem to think that much about the resemblance is that even with similar facial features, expressions and the way people move make a HUGE difference. Ever seen someone from behind who looked like someone you knew until you saw how they moved? Yeah. Like that. I think KT really gets across that Ichigo/Kaien difference in 268's flashbacks, which is quite impressive for still panels.

For the most part. There are a couple shots of him where he does look a lot like Ichigo. One in particular looked very familiar, but it wasn't until I was flipping through volume 26 last night that I figured out why.



Ichigo from chapter 225 and Kaien from 268 (and well before 225 chronologically.) Ichigo is flipped, obviously, but still--just looking, you can see how close it is. Then In decided to kill some time by seeing how well they matched up in the details.



Quite well, as it turns out! If you look at the first pic, you can tell that the heads are turned at slightly different angles--Kaien is close to profile than Ichigo is and Ichigo's head is angled slightly down, so they don't match exactly. Then I decided to see how similarly KT draws the individual parts of the face.







Also pretty damn similarly. The hair spikes don't match up specifically, but the angle of the spikes are also damn similar, and the overall "skyline" matches.

Conclusion? In the right mood, Kaien can look a damn lot like Ichigo. Um, duh. We all knew this. I just felt like playing around with the Multiply layer. This is what I do with my Futzing Around in Photoshop degree.

Comments

[meghatron.livejournal.com]

I <3 you so very, very much.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

<3 Likewise, behby. It's Livejournal; I figured my penchant for useless dorktastic imaging shenanigans would be welcomed by someone.

[kane-shi-megami.livejournal.com]

Wow, you did a good job with this. I would never have been able to -_-;;, so I'm glad YOU did :) Never thought they were this similiar....

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Thanks! They really aren't always this similar, but when they are, boy they are.

[covet.livejournal.com]

Amazing.

I call threesomes.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Rukia would be the luckiest girl EVER.

[covet.livejournal.com]

You know, if anything, this incident with Kaien now may have been partly a device to put him back into our memories so that when we find out who Ichigo is related to we're not all going ....who?

Of course it's also been an awesome mindfuck, and meant Rukia has had to endure what I suspect is the greatest emotional (and physical) trauma of anyone in the manga so far. But there you go.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

I think you're exactly right re: a device to get him into our minds, because I've been saying since he showed up again that now the resemblance HAS to be explained, since it's being shoved in our faces.

Poor Rukia. I agree. She really needs a vacation with fruity drinks and cabana boys.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Cabana boys with spiky hair?

[jaina.livejournal.com]

I like the way you think.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

It seemed the logical conclusion. [/Vulcan]

[mymzee.livejournal.com]

Awesomely done. And also uncanny. It's amazing to see how KT is so...meticulous. They're just close enough. I'm sure we can do psychological experiments on delicious babies with these pictures to prove that KT is a genuis. A wicked, evil genuis.