Thanks! The scene in the first panel inspired the comic. Nanaki looked like he was having so much fun watching the soldiers! Deciding where to crop it was interesting, since the soldiers and Nanaki were pretty far apart on the screen. I did have to move things around to fit them all in the panel. I’m happy Rufus made it in.
Ha! I realized after finishing that it was a square 4-panel comic and FF7 is a Japanese game, so there’s zero indication of which way it should be read. It was late so I posted it anyway. :P But yeah, it can sort of be read both ways, huh? Though if it were fully right to left, he should be wearing the uniform in the last panel.
This was the hardest panel to draw. I had to put the soldier and Nanaki on two different layers and shift them around to see where they fit best. I think you’re right about the focus on the eyes and nose. His face area is also made of similar triangles, which I think helps make it look more cohesive. If you enlarge the V shape made by his eyes and nose, it’s nearly the same shape as his whole head and ears. I tried a version with his mouth open like it’s about to bite the guy, and that looked too scary. Shading the guy darker would’ve also differentiated the two characters.
If I redid this, I’d also make the exclamation mark extend outside the panel boundary, and make the lines around the panels a little thinner and less wiggly. The dark and extremely wiggly lines were left over from my previous idea of making it look as if Nanaki had drawn the comic himself. I think they stand out a little too much here and make the scenes feel too squeezed into them.