SaGia merch concept I made based on Jikiru!

Although this is currently non-existent since my indie comic SaGia isn’t that big yet, I had thought of this concept for days and sketched out my concept on 5/12, which is based on one of my characters, Jikiru. 

I was going to work on more merch concepts based on my other characters (Rena, Haido, Lain, Lass, etc.), but wasn’t feeling the motivation this week. I tried so hard to sketch out concepts of action figures, plushies, a reversible plushie of Jikiru/Haido, but again, motivation was so low, I didn’t feel like doing it.

I picked Jikiru for this concept because writing her personality in the comic was fun for me that it made me warm up to her. Since I loved her so much, I thought of this idea: an interactive plush based on her. And so, I had sketch out the concept in Procreate and was satisfied with the results.

Apologizes for my handwriting in the above sketch concept.

I had the idea of having Jikiru’s eyeballs move as well as blink + having her mouth animate. Her head bobs from side to side as well as tilt to the side whenever Jikiru felt curious (like the above image at the start of this blog post). Since Jikiru’s hair could move or show expression in the comic, this plush did the same thing. When she felt excitement the more you played with her, the hair would wag back and forth like a dog’s tail, along with her Sagian Symbol (located on her chest) glowing. If she fell asleep after 15m inactivity, the hair would droop down from the side, while she would close her eyes. Before the inactivity starts, every 5 minutes, she would say random idle quotes such as humming, singing, begging you to play with her, saying that she really likes you very much, and more. 

You could:

Squeeze her stomach to give her a “hug” (sometimes she may ask if you want one; giving her a hug if she didn’t ask for one would cause her to blush + Sagian Symbol would glow, hair moves excitedly).

Tickle her by rubbing her stomach with your hand or finger (she would laugh uncontrollably the longer you did it + her Sagian Symbol would glow).

Pet her head (the more you pat her head, she would blush and her Sagian Symbol would glow, also her hair would move excitedly like a dog's tail).

Touch her nose (Jikiru would look cross-eyed at her nose and would make a comment or sneeze; there’s a 5% chance that a game would trigger where you must help prevent her from sneezing; don’t touch her nose too early or too late!).

Press her hand (she will say a random phrase, sing a song, tell one of 5 stories, or play a fun game; if you hold it for long (not in the second sketch), she will feel comfort (it’s like you’re holding her hand)).

Not in the second sketch is an idea of tilting her upside down; the longer you held her upside down, the more dizzy she feels and she’ll laugh about it. Also, you can cover her eyes and she’ll react; she’ll also react if she senses a dark area (ex. a dark room).

For quotes, I thought of her referencing her other friends in the comic (Rena, Haido, Lain, Lass, etc.) and her home planet, Sariju. Or maybe this Jikiru is separate from the one in the comic; unsure. Of course, if this happens, I would happily love to record dialogue for her - please have me on board. :)

There are secrets you can find by doing certain combinations; find them all!

Again, this is a non-existent idea that’s been livin’ in my head for days and I’m happy I brought this to life with my sketches. SaGia isn’t really that big and I have been slow working on the comic. Low motivation is the reason why I never really worked on it and I’m currently busy finding ways on promoting SaGia outside of social media since that’s been very frustrating for me.

Hope you enjoy this concept and maybe stay tuned for more SaGia merch concepts in the future?

I could do a similar concept with Rena; that's one idea I've been having in my head; just the only difference is that the only thing that can move is her eyeballs and head (in the SaGia comic, Rena's eyeballs, when happy go from normal to ^_^), as well as her necklace glowing when excited.