An Interview with Kamuo

By Kasaix • 4 years ago

Kasaix: Hello Doujin Army! I’m here with Kamuo, another truly talented artist and animator. I’ve been following their work for some time, and I feel like a few of you have as well, whether or not their name was attached to it. I know I’ve seen the Nessa animation here and there. That animation went viral, and with great reason.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Thanks for taking the time to hang out. How’s it going, Kamuo?

Kamuo: Hey I'm pretty good

Did the Nessa animation really went viral? Lol

Kasaix: I know I've seen it around some time ago. Oh yeah, I even wrote an article about it a few months ago

Kamuo: I didn't know that. I know it did go viral as I suddenly got a lot of followers and even my local artist friends had their friends talk to them about it.

That's a bit embarrassing though as it's the very first animation I did, and I kinda didn't really know what I was doing.

Kasaix: That was your first animation? Wow, that’s amazing, and a great first impression to new followers.

But let’s start at the top, could you tell me how you first got into art?

Kamuo: Art in general, it's the generic answer of I've been drawing since I was a kid. But there was a time when I was in highschool that I started taking it seriously and I was convinced it's the job I wanna do.

How I got into hentai specifically plays into that. I really needed to start getting some stable income as I dropped out of college and refuse to get a day job. It was a bit of a journey trying things out till I started Kamuo and it's what struck gold.

Kasaix: Your work is definitely gold. Are you all self taught, or did you get any professional lessons?

Kamuo: I'm all self taught. I don't think I would have dropped out of college if I was in an art course.

Kasaix: That’s what I figured, I just wanted to make sure.

What are your favorite characters and themes to draw and animate?

Kamuo: I like dark themes, but I like cute just as much too. So I guess you can say my favorite is dark and cute together. I like making something that's supposed to be scary/creepy and make them cute.

Kasaix: Oh, interesting mix. I like seeing things that should be scary look all cute.

Do you have any original characters?

Kamuo: Yep I do. There's Vel who's a grim reaper that just wants to play games all day. And I recently posted about making another one who I haven't revealed the name yet, but she's a demon with a big shackle on her neck. I have other ideas for more, but I don't think I'll even have the time to make something for them so just those two for now.

Kasaix: Ah right, Vel. She's your profile picture, right? I've seen some pictures of her around. She's a grim reaper who just wants to play games. She sounds cute. I can't wait to see this second original character of yours.

What do you feel is your best picture yet, and why?

Kamuo: My current picture on twitter is the new character, but yeah.

For my best animation I don't think there's even a lot to select from considering I just started 6 months ago, but I'll have to go with this titfuck of Vel.

I like the overall composition with the angle and the lighting. I think it really shows her personality too in the position she's in. Also I like titfucks.

Kasaix: Fine work. I also like titfucks. I like the heart eyes too.

Let’s talk Nessa, the animation that went viral. I’m pretty sure that was around when Nessa was first announced and the internet at large went all rule 34 on her. Did you see the announcement and just decide to join in on the fun?

Kamuo: Basically, yeah. Actually most of my animations so far are decided like that. That's why most of them are from Pokemon Sword & Shield.

As I mentioned Nessa was the first animation I did. I was just trying to figure out what would get me views, patrons or whatnot as I was just starting. I just started animating whatever I could finish before month ends.

Kasaix: Nice. How long does it typically take you to finish a project?

Kamuo: It really depends on the project. I've been trying to finish 1 "complete" animation a month, but have been failing at it. I want to make longer animations that feels complete, and not have to sacrifice quality just for more length. I guess I could say 1-2 months for an actual answer.

Though I also started a visual novel with Vel and I'll be updating it each month. With my current plan for it it's gonna take 5 months to complete.

Kasaix: That sounds rough. You have the right idea though, not wanting to sacrifice quality in favor of quantity, just please don’t drive yourself nuts.

I’m curious about the visual novel with Vel. Is it going to be animated or a static image novel? Or a mix of the two?

Kamuo: For the vn the first part is already out, and the whole censored vn would for free. For this one, I'm doing it differently than the "classic" vns where there's character arts. It's basically all CGs and would be animated as much as they can be. I think this is a good example as one of the animation I did for the next update.

Kasaix: Nice work. I like everything about that.

Besides the vn, is there a project you'd really like to work on in the future?

Kamuo: My works are basically divided into two right now. With two patreons, one for animations and one for games. The animation patreon is currently for fan animations.

I like to keep making better and bigger animations, but I'm not sure what the ceiling is. Maybe a fully animated episode of some sort? No promises of course.

My game patreon is mainly to express my original ideas, and I have a ton of them I want to realize. I don't wanna reveal too much as I'm not even done with Vel's vn, but I have a bigger idea for a vn that plays into the dark and cute theme. I want to work on it as soon as I'm done with Vel's.

Kasaix: What setup do you use to draw?

Kamuo: Wacom Intuos medium and Clip Studio Paint. Nothing fancy but it's all I need.

Kasaix: Where does your username come from?

Kamuo: There's actually no deep meaning behind it. How I actually came up with it is just replacing the "i" in Kamui. This might sound tasteless but I chose it because it's unique and I knew I was gonna be the first result if you google it. Also it sounds cool.

Kasaix: That’s clever actually. Nice work.

Let’s wrap it up here for now. Do you have any final words to all your fans?

Kamuo: Just a never-ending gratitude. I created Kamuo to be successful and actually get money from it, but I never expected it to grow this big so fast. Most people probably don't mind it, but I'm still experimenting with my animations and trying to get better with each one I make. I personally still don't think I'm at the level I want to be, but I'm getting closer with each animation I finish. I'm just thankful for people's patience and support, and I don't wanna disappoint them.