The characters were heavily inspired by the Marauder’s from the HP series, since it’s something I think lacks content in canon, even though it’s loved (and demanded) by the majority of fans.

I started out making thumbnails of various characters, since I knew I wanted at least 4.

At this point I still didn’t know the look I was going for, so I focused on silhouettes. Later on I decided to focus more on a Avatar the Last Airbender’s style.

After vomiting 30 characters I selected the ones I liked the most in different groups.

At the start I didn’t know what kind of school it would be, so I tried different approaches with a more traditional style + modern uniform.

I ended up not using these designs, since I wanted a more modern look to it.

Shinji was supposed to be the main character, and his traits were in the briefing. I tried to make a friendly character, someone you would trust and want as a friend.

Tooru is a professional trouble maker, and a very fun company. Her grandmother teaches Muggle Studies in her school but she keeps getting in trouble.

Makoto is that reliable friend who everybody turns to when they need help, even though he’s the one who comes up the plans for the pranks most of the time.

Koushi comes from a rich and traditional background, but he’s the black sheep of the family and doesn’t mind to show it.

Some color tests for the characters.

Shinji was the main character and because of that, all the others were decided based on his initial colors.

Final Render of the Characters

Some notes over their designs and some special traits, for example: Koushi comes from a very traditional family, and he doesn’t agree with their beliefs, so to piss them off he wears a lot of muggle graphic tees.

The school uniform ended up being a call back to the original Harry Potter series, with the colors we most associate with and a similar look.

Shinji is a very passionate young man, and doesn’t try to hide his emotions.

Something I explored was Shinji having a Ghost companion that only he could see. Having a connection to the past, and it would serve as a guide to him. The ghost can’t remember his past life or why he’s there so this was a mystery they had to solve it.

The magic school they would attend is trying to shape a new generation of wizards, magic from Japan is very different from the West, and the Japanese Wizard Society is trying to “adapt”, that’s why the uniform is way more modern than the inicial sketches.

Tooru is very energetic and expressive, talks really loudly and doesn’t have any shame.

Makoto tries to not be the center of attention. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t like a bit of mischief, or that he’s not gonna fight you over some quidditch.

Is the only one of the group who’s not an open book when it comes to emotions. Is a trouble maker with Tooru.

This was the first take on the uniforms, I was trying to keep the silhouettes cohesive with the normal clothes. But it ended up looking too much like FE3H so changes were made.

Trying to show some of the group’s dynamic.

This was to show that the series would evolve with every season, and as the plot moves forward so does our heroes and the mood of it. My plan was to spend more time with them as young adults than the HP’s series did.

Inspired by Japanese Magic, the wands (a fairly new thing in their magic society) had to have special objects linked to the wizard who owns the wand. So basically you can’t just buy any wand, it has to be made for you.

Broom exploration, inspired by Japanese brooms.

I decided to not have houses in school, but still wanted to have quidditch teams. So basically there’s 4 school teams and you can apply to any of them, or even make your own with friends. If your team has enough members you can play in the tournament.

Yokais are part of the Japanese magical world as much as the wizards and I wanted to show the diversity of it with the older cast. Featuring Tengus, Tanukis, etc.
Some classes are different as well, Divination being actually Tea Ceremony.

The project wasn’t focused on the school whatsoever but I found it hard to create without a base, so I drafted a quick & simple moodboard to help me.

The way to go to school was also something that was bugging me, since I knew I didn’t want the school to be in the center of Tokyo, but I wanted the main character to live there. The answer was the same as the original series: magic train!

Disclaimer: All the names were simple place holders to help me get the vibe of the environment.

Quick draft of what kind of stores the “Diagon Alley” has, but it’s also a street that has coffee shops and convenience stores for the kids to stop by.

This and the next 3 images were made long after the presentation was done, but I still want to explore this world. This time, I focused on the convenience store: 7Cats or NanaNeko.

Ended up with an early morning light, imagining students and other people buying their school lunch.