Hitoshi Ariga, the mangaka of theMega Man MegamixandGigamixseries, recentlyposted on his twittera brand new reploid design. This new bot was created when his daughter came up to him requesting he should draw an amabie to help fight theCOVID-19 pandemic.
Being a talented artist and designer, Hitoshi took his daughter’s request. He went to create two images. The first, oozing withMega Man Xinfluence, is the reploid known as Antivirus Armorviel. I dread to think the damage that Armorviel could do if they went maverick, but I like to think this reploid would be immune.
Shortly after, he designed a second character. This time, venturing into the Battle Network universe. Far taller and leaner than its reploid brother, Amabie.EXE was born. Looking far more benevolent, I have no doubt that this NetNavi would be a great help to Lan and crew.
For those unaware,according to legends, an amabie is a mermaid-like demon with a mix of human and fish features. It is said that in times of disease and epidemics, showing people its picture will grant protection to those individuals.
In addition to his work on theMega Manmangas, Hitoshi has an extensive and impressive resume as an artist and designer on other manga and video games. He was responsible for designing the coolest lookingPokemonof recent generations, including Sword and Shields Corviknight and Aegislash fromXandY. He also served as an artist on the manga adaptation ofBig O.
In times like these, with so much confusion and the unknown, lighthearted things like ideas of a child can help ease the tension. It’s nice to take a break from the serious news plastered everywhere.
