Larva attacks: A1, A3
Source: TV
Layers: 1
Sketches: 3
Cel Number: A1, A3
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Added 9/24/2016
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Cut 251 of an unidentified episode. This sketch set shows Miyu’s “soul servant,” the shinma Larva (ラヴァ, “Lava” or “Rava”) using his razor-sharp fingernails in an attack. Appearing in the midground, he moves quickly toward the viewer, brings his left arm up, then slashes quickly to the right, ending with two intense facial close-ups.
This complete genga set contained six A-level gengas plus two planned in-betweeners showing Larva, appearing first at middle distance, then advancing quickly toward the viewer. With them were four gengas of a diagonal box that becomes thinner as the series went on. I soon realized that these represented the slash that Larva makes, as his hand is poised to the left in A4 but stretched out to the right in the A5 and A6. (See the reanimation to see how I think these fit in).
I’ve featured the A3, the closest and most interesting of the pre-slash poses, showing Larva’s gloved hand with its sharp nails getting ready for action, along with a fine partial shuusei that refined the work on the mask and glove. (This was scanned against the genga, so you can see the rest of the image as a ghostly backdrop to the the correction work.) The A1 key, showing how the cut begins, is added in the second thumb.
SENSEI CHECK!
Larva is an important secondary character in the Miyu plot, appearing in the manga, OVA, and TV series. In each of these, he first appears as an antagonist of Miyu, attempting to kill her before she becomes a full-fledged vampire. When he fails, he is forced to become her devoted companion and protector, and must wear a mask in doing so. In addition, he grows sympathetic to his mistress’s loneliness, and in all versions they become emotionally devoted to each other.
While this sketch set shows Larva with mask (and matching gloves) in place, in the TV series he occasionally can take off both and reveal himself as a romantic, hunky shinma, a fine companion for the perennially lonely Miyu.
SENSEI CHECK EXTRA!
The name “Larva” originally meant “mask” in Latin and also was used to refer to an evil spirit of some kind, which tended to take on some kind of disguise (e.g., as a beautiful woman or as the ghost of someone the viewer once knew and loved) in order to attack humans spiritually or even physically. The pioneer biologist Linnaeus adapted the term to refer to living creatures (such as insects) that adopt one appearance in a juvenile stage and then dramatically change to another form at adulthood (such as a caterpillar changing into a butterfly).
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