The Best of The Splendid Seven and Their Friends

It should be no surprise that Inuyasha, Texhnolyze, Wolf's Rain, Baki the Grappler, Shootfighter Tekken, Hajime no Ippo, Fullmetal Alchemist, Detective School Q, Ultra Maniac, and Solty Rei were the anime series which have played an extremely integral role in my life as an animation aficionado, voice actor, anime fan, and artist.

Ever since I grew up with these anime series from the ages of 11 to 18, I was whisked away by how striking each of these characters were. From Sesshoumaru's, Inuyasha's, and Ayame's strength and fierceness to Ichise's and Ran's enigma and reflectiveness to Kiba's and Cheza's style and lovability to Rosé's, Winry's, and Maya's brand of independence and strong will, I was completely enthralled to have had them in my lives to the point where I wanted to keep making more fan art of them.

Furthermore, aside from my Splendid Seven AU headcanon starring Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Ayame, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran, I thought it would be great to have these seven amazing warriors coexist with Baki, Ichise, Ichiro, Kiibo, Ippo, Kintaro, Kiba, Rosé, Ran, Rose, Winry, Maya, Solty, and Cheza in an anime universe where they can thrive together and interact with each other as a sort of anime universe.

When I started being on DeviantArt two years and nine months ago, I made it crystal clear that I was a major Inuyasha x Ayame and Ginta x Shunran shipper ever since I was a little boy and I let my love for my two most beloved OTPs show with glee, passion, and joy flowing all throughout my heart and veins. This was the start of something that defined me as an artist specializing in Inuyasha fan art and talking about what AU headcanon scenario I have put them into such as having Inuyasha and Ginta be the best of friends and having Ayame and Shunran be akin to sisters. Aside from my love for Inuyasha x Ayame and Ginta x Shunran as my OTPs for life, there was also squeezing the love I had for Shuran x Hakkaku as my BroTP for life with Sesshoumaru partaking in Inuyasha's and Ayame's loving relationship to the point where I used to place him as a shipper on deck supporting his younger brother and his younger sister from another mother.

Speaking of Sesshoumaru, thanks to reading a good deal of Sesshoumaru x Ayame fanfics, I concocted the extraordinary idea to have both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha be in a three-way relationship with Ayame, thus making them the ultimate anime throuple ever. It was great because I have always perceived Ayame to be a great mother to Rin and even the likes of Dai, Roku, Kai, Shiori, and Shinta and a loving, supportive, steadfast wife to both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, thus putting her foot down to stop them from quarreling. Furthermore, this got to the point where I had Ayame bear six sons from Sesshoumaru, six sons from Inuyasha, and six daughters who bore both Sesshoumaru's and Inuyasha's traits. By making Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha guardians of the Northern Yoro Tribe, I thought it would be wonderful to have Ayame prove herself to be a strong, courageous, fierce fighter, a tender, compassionate, and loving wife to both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, and a great mother to a great army of children. All of these even tie back to the AU headcanon of The Wolf Elder and The Dog General being the greatest of friends and blessing Sesshoumaru's, Inuyasha's, and Ayame's union as the strongest warriors of the Northern Yoro Tribe and the Western Lands. Ergo, I have always perceived Ayame as the cement to make Sesshoumaru's and Inuyasha's family mighty and valorous as well as be the heart and soul as to what makes their family sturdy and unwavering for all time.

While I was really happy having Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and Ayame be in a wonderfully sturdy three-way relationship, a part of me felt like something was missing. So, squeezing in Shuran's and Hakkaku's brotherly friendship and Ginta's and Shunran's harmoniously loving relationship with Sesshoumaru's, Inuyasha's, and Ayame's strong three-way relationship was what constituted The Splendid Seven. To make this troop of seven warriors even better, stronger, and more everlasting, I even had the pleasure of making Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Ayame, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran start their lives as childhood friends and maintain that friendship as they came of age and started having families. Therefore, I have obtained all of my favorite relationships within The Splendid Seven. Aside from having Sesshoumaru x Ayame x Inuyasha as my OT3, Shuran x Hakkaku as my BroTP, and Ginta x Shunran as my OTP, I bro-shipped Sesshoumaru with Shuran and Hakkaku as well as Inuyasha and Ginta, Inuyasha with Ginta, and Ayame with Shunran, thus making this the most dynamic set of relationships I fully committed to with pride and joy. The fact that I was able to make Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Ayame, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran not solely limited to being a superhero team akin to The Justice League, The Avengers, and The X-Men but also being a family made me feel a sense of fulfillment and assurance that there is the possibility of unity and fortitude within this family.

Because I also grew up with Texhnolyze, Wolf's Rain, Baki the Grappler, Shootfighter Tekken, Hajime no Ippo, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ultra Maniac, and Solty Rei, I saw it just as fit to give The Splendid Seven friends and allies from these aforementioned series.

I have always perceived Ichise, Ran, Kiba, and Cheza to be the attentive, genuine, unpretentious friends The Splendid Seven would be grateful to have in their lives, especially where Inuyasha's and Ginta's tight, superb, brotherly friendship with Kiba is concerned and Ayame's and Shunran's loving, caring, supportive sisterhood with Cheza is on the frame. Therefore, I had one OT3 I cherished so much in the form of SessAyaInu, one BroTP I adored in the form of ShuHak, and three OTPs I absolutely admired in the forms of GinShun, IchiRan, and Kiza, as I have kept these relationships close to my heart, mind, and soul when I was a twelve-year-old boy being the hardcore fan of Inuyasha, Texhnolyze, and Wolf's Rain that I was.

I am still a major Inuyasha x Ayame, Ginta x Shunran, and Kiba x Cheza shipper because these three were, are, and will always be my most beloved Adult Swim anime OTPs of all time as well as giving two sets of three-way friendships in the forms of Inuyasha, Ginta, and Kiba and Ayame, Shunran, and Cheza, but I have also learned to mix this up by having Baki x Rosé, Kiibo x Winry, Ippo x Maya, Ichiro x Rose, and Kintaro x Solty involved in this wonderful AU world I have created for them to be together in harmony. Ergo, I have made Inuyasha, Baki, Ginta, Ichiro, Kiibo, Ippo, Kintaro, and Kiba bear the tightest brotherly friendship and Ayame, Rosé, Shunran, Rose, Winry, Maya, Solty, and Cheza bear the firmest sisterly friendship, thus making these two groups of close friends a whole lot more fun to witness. Moreover, I would love to keep expanding on their relationships and friendships.

I am ecstatic to have The Splendid Seven, The Two Pensive Couples, and The Five Crossover Couples on board and I would love to keep drawing a lot more fan art of them. Whether they are with each other as friends, with their respective families or in their respective pairings, I want to keep the spark and glow alive for each of them. There is no stopping me and the love I have for them.

I hope you all enjoyed this collage in terms of the years I have drawn all my favorite characters coexisting in the world I have created for them. I will see you all in the next submission and I hope you all had a Happy New Year. Stay safe, take care, and Happy New Year, everybody.

Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Ayame, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Sunrise.

Ichise and Ran from Texhnolyze belong to Hiroshi Hamasaki, Chiaki J. Konaka, Yoshitoshi ABe, and Madhouse.

Kiba and Cheza from Wolf's Rain belong to Keiko Nobumoto and BONES.

Baki Hanma from Baki the Grappler belongs to Keisuke Itagaki and Group TAC.

Kiichi "Kiibo" Miyazawa from Shootfighter Tekken or High School Exciting Story: Tough belongs to Tetsuya Saruwatari and Anime International Company.

Ichiro Miyata and Ippo Makunouchi from Hajime no Ippo belongs to George Morikawa and Madhouse.

Rosé Thomas and Winry Rockbell from Fullmetal Alchemist belong to Hiromu Arakawa and Studio Bones.

Kintaro Toyama from Detective School Q belongs to Seimaru Amagi and Pierrot.

Maya Orihara from Ultra Maniac belongs to Wataru Yoshizumi and Ashi Productions.

Rose Anderson and Solty Revant from Solty Rei belong to Gonzo and AIC.