🦁 INTERVIEW WITH ESCANOR VS. ESTAROSSA 2D ARTIST, DANIEL KAMARUDIN

The visionary concept artist for Ban vs. King returns as the lead 2D artist on Escanor vs. Estarossa! Daniel Kamarudin has worked on past Figurama powerhouses, including Teresa vs. Priscilla, Dororo & Hyakkimaru, and Caiman & Nikaido. We caught up with him for an exclusive interview regarding his artistic process on the second statue in the Seven Deadly Sins lineup!

Escanor’s Cruel Sun is a very static attack while Figurama traditionally uses a dynamic style. How did you ensure that this iconic pose could be replicated while preserving Figurama’s dynamism?

We chose the moment just before Escanor throws Cruel Sun out. When someone moves into action from a static pose, especially when intending to exert a significant amount of force, there is a nice shift in position that creates the initial force to move an object. In this case, Escanor’s got to use a lot of force to move that sun.

What suggestions or recommendations did you make to the concept of this statue that were incorporated?

Surprisingly a lot of my suggestions got included! There are two highlights for me, personally. Firstly is the melted arms and armor on the diorama. SImilar to the scene, it was used to show the heat in the area. Secondly is the swap-out bare arm and broken chest piece from Escanor. I found that to be an interesting detail and thankfully it made it in.

How is this piece compatible with Ban vs. King? What elements did you consider to ensure there was visual cohesion between the two statues?

There were two elements I wanted to keep for cohesion within the Seven Deadly Sins series. The first is to have a loud action diorama to represent the style the anime likes to use, and the second is the wanted poster. For every Sin used, their wanted poster will be added as an Easter Egg somewhere on the statue. 

Tell us one thing about the concept stage of this statue that someone may not know simply by looking at it?

That large sun was quite hard to balance compositionally, especially in a fight scene. The thing’s massive in the anime and keeping it within reasonable proportions was definitely a challenge. 

What element of Escanor vs. Estarossa’s concept are you most proud of?

Definitely Carlos’ sculpt! He really brought these two to life, especially in the portraits. Their faces are quite difficult to nail and I think he’s done an amazing job capturing their likeness!