When i was starting my research in October and November one of the main Primary topics i was looking into was Feudal Japanese influence. I had a strong idea when my concept was still in its early Stages that the characters would wear feudal japanese style clothing, and fight with Samurai Style weapons. This is how i came up with my main characters name Ronin, as Ronin means a master-less Samurai. I wanted the characters to have a very japanese style colour seen such as what is seen in japanese ink paintings.

I did look at many different aspects of Feudal japanese culture such as how Samurai Armor is put on and the exact uses of it. A book that i looked at closely was Secrets of the Samurai which goes into great detail about how clothing was worn, here are some examples of pages from the book.

Even though i wasn't going to be designing any landscapes i did watch films like Shogun Assassin and the Last Samurai to get an idea of the whole environment, and also i looked what the characters were wearing and how they behaved. I carried out this research but I did not want my designs to be completely influenced, i still wanted to add my own touch to the designs.