Q. What the hell is this?
A. This is the home of The Aka Ryuu Chronicles, an illustrated original anime story by Liz
Staley. As far as I know, it is the only illustrated anime story of its kind– combining prose
chapters with illustrations (an average of four illustrations per chapter, depending on length!) to
tell a story about twenty-sixth century Earth and a small group of outlaw Martial Artists who try
to free Hinomoto (formerly Japan) from the grips of a tyrannical government.
Q. So why should I read it?
A. Because it’s a combination of descriptive prose, great characters, and pretty pictures?
Aka Ryuu Chronicles is an original sci-fi/martial arts story that I think almost anyone could
enjoy– especially if they are an anime fan as well. The illustrations will draw you into the story!
Plus there’s the fact that I’ve been working on it for almost six years now, and I think it’s a good
story, but I’m a touch biased...
Q. And just who are you, anyway?
A. You can find that answer in the About Me page.
Q. When do you update?
A. There is at least one new chapter released on the first and fifteenth of every month. Other
maintenance updates may be done whenever I feel like it. ^_^
Q. Will you ever be turning this into a comic?
A. Ahhh... unfortunately, no. I’m too lazy to do comic work, which is kind of ironic, because I do
plan on turning the story into an animated TV series after I open OAPStudios. I think of the
illustrations more as storyboards than I do comic panels.
Q. What does OAP stand for?
A. Can’t tell you. Don’t ask again.
Q. Awww, come on! Tell me!
A. Ask another question, please.
Q. Okay fine. Why is Andrea’s hair see-through?
A. Without giving a first story spoiler, Andrea’s hair style is semi plot related. Her eye shows
through her bangs because... well firstly because it’s easier to make her emote if you can see both
eyes. Secondly, it’s the way her character design has always been, and will always be. Besides, if
Nobuhiro Watsuki can have
magical-hair-eating-eyeballs, then I can too! Good enough for Rurouni Kenshin, good enough for
me. ^_~
Q. What do you use to write/draw/ink/color?
A. All the story writing is done in Corel WordPerfect (because I despise Microsoft Word... It’s
the only word-processing program I have ever seen that doesn’t.know.english.) I usually draw the
illustrations with a mechanical pencil (.05 lead preferred), and then ink them with a brush and
India Ink. I color them with Adobe Photoshop 7.0 after scanning them in at 300dpi. Sometimes,
if I’m feeling lazy, I’ll ink them digitally in Photoshop with my Wacom Graphire 4x5.
Q. How did you come up with the idea for the story?
A. You can see the History Page for that information.
Q. I see mentions of “Aftershock” on your site in certain places. What is it?
A. Aka Ryuu Chronicles: Aftershock is the second story in the ARC series. The reason why I
have some stuff up on the page from it is because I had been working on the second story before I
went back and started this rewrite of the first story. Because I had to make many drastic changes
to the original story, I decided to stop production of ARC:Aftershock because I was going to
have to completely rewrite it once I finish the first story. I’m too lazy to take down the Gallery
Sections on it, though I did pull down the Character Profiles and the chapters because I felt they
were confusing new visitors to the site.
Q. Wow, a sequel! How many of these stories do you plan on writing?
A. I have plans set down for four full-length Aka Ryuu Chronicles stories (basically, four
“seasons” of the show). There are also plans for several short stories and specials- including the
possibility of a manga short if I ever get off my lazy butt and work on it.
Q. How long have you been working on this?
A. I’ve been writing the story since August 2000, though while I was in college the site was
pretty much on hold for various reasons. The first story rewrite, specifically, has had the years
2003, 2004, and 2005 in its title (which shows you just how long it’s been taking me to rewrite
the story... although in 2005 I scrapped everything I had rewritten and started all over again).
Technically, it should be switching to 2006, but I don’t want to. ^_^
Q. Is there anyone in particular you’d like to thank?
A. I’d like the thank the Academy, and the goddess because without them I wouldn’t be receiving
this awar.... Oh wait, sorry, that’s not for a long time yet. ^_~ I do have a Special Thanks Page, but there are some people that just deserve to be
thanked in more than one place.
Ghost, thank you for starting this whole thing running, and for encouraging me when I needed it
most. Bunny, my darling, thank you for never giving up on me, and continually reminding me
that you want Aftershock, so I’ll get through the first story quicker. You have been a light in
darkest times. Byron, thank you for reading that crappy version of the first story, critiquing it, and
getting me on track with a rewrite. Rob, you’re the bestest beta reader ever. Thank you for all the
ideas that I used to make this into something I’m really, truly proud of.
And to my Mom, because she’d never let me give up. Yellow plank, forever! ^_^
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