As we wrap up the production of Naver Webtoon Originals series, Cydonia Shattering, we take this chance to ask the spearhead of the project, Cocoon’s very own Adeshark to ask him some of his thoughts about working on the exciting, action packed series, Cydonia as well as some of his favorite scenes!
Adesa, who has led the work on Cydonia for almost 2 years from the conception to the last episodes, now that we’ve finally see Cydonia’s conclusion, can you tell us some of your most memorable moments while working on the series? What is your the most memorable challenge you’ve found while leading a project like Cydonia so far and how did you overcome it?
My most memorable moment was actually during the final episode, where you can find callbacks to the earliest episodes. I had to re-read the early episodes to make sure we got the details right. It took me by surprise seeing how different the comic looked back then. The looks of the characters, the details in the background, the lighting effects…Seeing all the improvements made me realize how far we’ve come.
As for the most memorable challenge, it is definitely the time management. We’re on a weekly schedule, but for some episodes there were scenes that were more difficult than usual. Giant monsters, all-out war and magical constructs come to mind. To counter this, we had to work smart. Making an asset list of said monsters as we went through the episode that we could tweak and re-use for future episodes is one way we saved a lot of time. This goes for character head rotations as well!
Seeing all the improvements made me realize how far we’ve come.
Any favorite step/task while working on it? Without mentioning any spoilers, what is your favorite scene in Cydonia? What would you say to new reader to encourage them picking up this series?
My favorite part is definitely the final touch-up phase right after the coloring. Our colorist did an amazing job, but adding extra details such as Galaxy-like particles on the wings of an Eldritch horror, dust particles floating in the room lit by a god-ray coming through a stained glass, or a well-placed lens-flare during a dramatic sunset scene, goes a long way in giving the art that extra oomph!
I’m a giant monsters fan, so the scenes with them are my favorites, especially the Aethwryms. They’re in some of the coolest scenes and play a huge role later on in the story. Unfortunately they don’t appear until near the end of the story. But don’t worry, there are other interesting creatures and monsters in the earlier episodes as well! So if you’re a monster fan like me, you should give this series a try!
Lastly, any thoughts or comments for aspiring Indonesian webtoon creators?
Follow your heart. Make what you want to make. I’ve worked with many talented comic artists and story writers and I found that those who love what they’re making tend to be more successful. Because they love their work, they’re more eager to promote their work, respond to their readers’ comments and most important of all, you can feel their love and passion in the way they tell their stories. And I like to believe that the readers can feel it as well.
It’s not going to be easy, but great things never come easy.
So keep your chin up and do your best! I’ll be rooting for you!
