#well work on it

KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XXXIV: ADRAMELECH

We at Kaneko’s Crib Notes are positively giddy that we are able to bring you a Crib so fresh, its game of origin isn’t out of the oven quite yet. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final’s version of Adramelechis a thing of beauty. Kaneko looked no further than to…oh, right, this one isn’t by Kaneko, but by current Maniacs Team artist Masayuki Doi. But any confusion is complimentary, as we believe Adramelech to be one of Doi’s finest demons so far, and every bit in the style of the Kaneko compendium.

As we were saying, Doi looked no further than to the Dictionnaire Infernal, the eternal occult wellspring, for inspiration. Louis Le Breton’s print of the demon anthropomorphizes features of mule and peacock in depicting a fallen angel with the relatively posh position of tailor of Hell. (Is he responsible for Lucifer’s wardrobe malfunction in SMTIV?) Like many of Kaneko’s designs before him, Doi took a conservative approach with Adramelech, using the Le Breton version as a model from plumage to posture to headdress, but not without appropriate cosmetic embellishments like lipstick and mascara befitting a demon whose job requires fashion sense and looking fab.

A noticeable difference is the object held in the left hand: Le Breton’s grasps a kind of eyeglass, presumably to aid in tailoring; Doi’s holds what could be a warming pan with coals. But that matters little. Any way you look at him, Adramelech is pure chic–and we are absolutely smitten. May there be many Doi’s Crib Notes of this caliber to come!