Have you heard of “Inktober”? It’s a drawing challenge that takes place in the month of October; the idea is to create one drawing for every day of the month. Artists are given a “prompt” for every day of October; a prompt might be “Poison” or “Whale” or “Muddy” or something else along those lines.
In 2016, a Russian artist named TachTan decided to create Yandere Simulator-themed drawings for Inktober. She drew Kokona eating poisoned food for “Hungry”, Yandere-chan hiding a knife for “Hidden”, etc. I was absolutely astounded by TachTan’s artwork, because she frequently drew characters in locations or situations we’ve never seen them in, such as Yandere-chan hugging a body pillow of Senpai, or drew creative and artistic concepts, such as Oka Ruto’s body tangled around the arms of a clock. I was also amazed by the sheer amount of details she packed into the backgrounds of her images, such as all of the books on Info-chan’s shelf in this image.
So, of course, I was absolutely thrilled when TachTan chose to draw Yandere Simulator-themed images again in 2017. Once again, she drew plausible scenarios that we’ve never seen in-game, such as Kaga Kusha experimenting on rats, or Yandere-chan spacing out on a date with Senpai. Within the game itself, we’ll never actually get to see Yandere-chan rotting in a prison cell after being arrested for her crimes, but thanks to TachTan, we get to see what it might look like. Just like before, she drew fantastical scenarios such as Yandere-chan having a katana duel with the Succubus Demon, and packed her backgrounds with dozens of details, like in this illustration of Kuu Dere reading a mountain of books.
When the calendar date rolled over from September 30th to to October 1st, I thought of TachTan. I wondered if she’d chose a Yandere Simulator theme for her Inktober drawings again this year. With a sigh, I acknowledged that it was unlikely. The amount of Yandere Simulator fan art and cosplay has been dwindling over the past couple of years. Many artists who frequently drew Yandere Sim fan art in the past have now moved on to other fandoms. Of course, I fully understand why; it’s not easy to maintain enthusiasm for an unreleased game with an unusually long development cycle. It makes perfect sense that there are people who have moved on. I only hope that I can capture their interest again when the final game comes out; that’s the only time when hype really matters.
Dejectedly, I gradually accepted the fact that I probably wouldn’t hear from TachTan again this year.
Then, yesterday, I got an e-mail.
It was TachTan! Typing no more than a single, simple sentence – “please look at my art” – she linked me to 31 Inktober drawings – all using the theme of Yandere Simulator!
Surprisingly emotional artwork depicting Midori learning about her true nature as a clone. A shocking number of objects in the background as Oka Ruto reaches for a book on a high shelf. A scenario that we may or may not actually see within the game itself, the Gardening Club discovering bones in their garden. Fantastical situations, such as Miyuji floating in a column of music. And, of course, just cute and silly stuff, like Yandere-chan geeking out over Senpai’s boxer shorts. It’s all here! Everything I love about TachTan’s artwork! And in 2018, a year that has only seen a relatively sparse amount of Yandere Sim fanart! 31 new illustrations from TachTan! Even though it was Halloween, it felt more like Christmas when I opened that e-mail!
It’s difficult to express how happy it made me to see TachTan’s artwork again this year. And when I saw it, I simply couldn’t do any less than write a blog post about it. I want the world to see her art, and to know how much I appreciate it!
So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, TachTan! I’m very, very happy that you chose to give your Inktober drawings a Yandere Sim theme this year, and I hope that this isn’t the last time I’ll see you draw the characters!
…by the way, new build. Click “Continue Reading” for the changelog.
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