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This article is about the artist. You may be looking for another Deep-Sea Prisoner or funamusea.
An overview of Deep-Sea Prisoner's works can be found here: Deep-Sea Prisoner's Works.
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Content in this article may be triggering to some. Proceed with caution.
Content warning(s): Sexual assault.
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Deep-Sea Prisoner (funamusea)
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Deep-Sea Prisoner (海底囚人, Kaitei Shuujin; commonly shortened to DSP), also known as funamusea and Mogeko (formerly), is a Japanese indie artist and game developer. She is well-known for creating games such as The Gray Garden and Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea. Currently she is working to create more stories through various forms of media. Since 2020, she has also started producing VTuber models.

Deep-Sea Prisoner has an official website, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube account. More information about her social media is available on her carrd.

History

Deep-Sea Prisoner launched her website on April 21, 2006. The site became a place for her to store and display her artworks. Initially, she was mainly creating fanart for Yume Nikki. Also prevalent was art of 2channel ASCII art characters, whom would later serve as inspiration for her Mogeko characters. These characters used to be a sort of self-insert for Deep-Sea Prisoner, but they later became vermin. Deep-Sea Prisoner described that they began to "multiply in number, becoming more beast-like creatures." [3] She also originally went by the nickname "Mogeko," but has stated that she no longer wishes to be called "Mogeko," [Citation needed] as the name has developed a negative connotation because it is associated with her fictional characters "Mogeko," who are depicted as sexual assaulters. Deep-Sea Prisoner's alias, Kaitei Shuujin (海底囚人), comes from another kanji that looks similar to her real name. [4]

Deep-Sea Prisoner's website went through multiple different domain names before settling on the current one, funamusea.com. She initially wanted to name the website after her handle name, Kaitei Shuujin (海底囚人), which is Japanese for "Deep-Sea Prisoner." However, website addresses do not accept Japanese characters, so she decided to make her site's domain name "funamusea" instead. [5] "Funamusea" is a combination of the Japanese word "funamushi," meaning sea/wharf roach, and the English word "sea." [6]

Deep-Sea Prisoner would start drawing comics and artworks of her original characters. On the 1st of April, 2012 she released her first game, the original Mogeko Castle, made using RPG Maker 2000. She has since stated that she opted for this role-playing game (RPG) format, since the sprites allowed for effective and expressive storytelling. [7] That same year on the 27th of December, she released her second game The Gray Garden.

Kanri nean13

The image previously displayed on Deep-Sea Prisoner's About section on her website.

One year later, on the 21st of December, 2013, her third game Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea was released. The Mogeko Castle remake, which is the version of the game that most people know, was released on the 5th of March, 2014. That same year, Deep-Sea Prisoner published her first manga by the name of Obsolete Dream. She has said that she started drawing manga to "make [her] beloved characters more dynamic." [8]

Deep-Sea Prisoner created her Twitter account on the 22nd of May, 2015, during the time she was in the hospital after being hit by a car. [9] That same year, Deep-Sea Prisoner's creations, especially Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea, started receiving fairly positive reception overseas from Japan. In an interview at the time, Deep-Sea Prisoner stated that she was glad for the response from abroad. [8] She was surprised at first, but being kindly sent drawings and being able to receive thoughts and impressions made her very happy. [8]

In 2019, Deep-Sea Prisoner started accepting commissions on her Skeb account. On the 25th of July, 2020, she streamed her first livestream on her Youtube channel. At the time, she was using a voice changer called YukkuriTalk. Later that year, she did a voice reveal during her third Minecraft livestream. During her drawing livestreams, she occasionally answers questions sent in by fans. Questions can be sent in to her through Odaibako.

Since 2020, she has started producing VTuber models using Live2D and has started using one herself as well. In 2021, she was one of multiple creators to receive a "Live2D Buzz Creator" badge pin from the company behind Live2D.

Creative Process

Deep-Sea Prisoner draws with a tablet pen and the digital art program Clip Studio Paint. She uses a brush customized from Clip Studio Paint's standard pen.

When Deep-Sea Prisoner has a story idea, she starts by deciding on a rough timeline of events, then proceeds to plan the story and situations in notebooks and memos. [8] Subplots are usually made up along the way. [8] While creating a story, she particularly focusses on the relationships between characters, such as which characters like or dislike each other. [8] There are also times where she really wants a character to kill another, [8] though she has also voiced her intention not to kill off too many of her characters, since she sees this as "a waste." [10] She further stated that she wants her characters to have some kind of meaning when they die. [11]

Deep-Sea Prisoner develops her character designs in various ways. Sometimes she bases them on animals, or starts from a color scheme or motif. [8] She tends to decide on a character's personality after making them talk in a game or manga she is working on. [8] However, there are also times where she changes a character's personality while she is drawing them. [8]

Deep-Sea Prisoner has also said that, with "the exceptions of humans and some other groups," everyone in her creations is bisexual (unless stated otherwise) and that ideas such as gender and age are left as an afterthought in her creative process. [12] Several of her characters are also "without gender, or somewhere in the middle, so it's pointless to even think about." [12]

In her first-ever livestream, Deep-Sea Prisoner mentioned she would often draw for 12 hours a day soon after she graduated high school. [13] She has been drawing since grade school, but it was not until she found a good drawing tablet that she began drawing a lot. [14] When asked if she uses pose references, Deep-Sea Prisoner replied that she used to, but that it has been a while. [15] One of her art inspirations is Osamu Tezuka. [14] [16] Some of her favorite artists also include Mucha, Van Gogh, Gauguin, [15] Zdzisław Beksiński, Nekojiru, Kouta Hirano, and Suada. [16]

Contact

Deep-Sea Prisoner has a contact form on her website. She knows a small amount of English, but makes use of translation engines. An English translator of her works has advised people to use simple messages, emojis, and no idioms when writing to her in a foreign language. [17]

Ways to Support

Deep-Sea Prisoner has a variety of ways in which people can support her, one main way being that of Ci-en, where people can get access to exclusive and behind-the-scenes content of projects she is working on before they are publically released. Another method is through Booth, where she sells her merchandise, alongside Redbubble, Alice Books, Amazon, and Suzuri. Deep-Sea Prisoner also accepts artwork commissions on Skeb and Live2D VTuber model commissions on her website funamusea.com.

Controversies

Tumblr Incident

In the summer of 2014, controversy arose on Tumblr when several users got upset at Deep-Sea Prisoner because of a fan-requested drawing she posted on her Tumblr blog. This now-deleted drawing depicted one of her characters, Syakesan, sexually assaulting another character of hers, Wadanohara. Deep-Sea Prisoner deleted her Tumblr blog in response to the negative reactions. This controversy lead to her temporarily adopting new policies in regards to sharing her content.

Rising Sun Flag

In late 2014, Deep-Sea Prisoner uploaded a calendar artwork with a background similar to the Rising Sun Flag texture. In various Asiatic countries (particularly Korea and some parts of China), the Rising Sun Flag is viewed as a negative symbol of Japan's 20th century imperialism. While Deep-Sea prisoner apologized for the usage of this texture, she did not take down the artwork; in response to the severe backlash from Korean followers and server attacks she received, she ended up blocking Korean IP addresses from her site and banned Korean translations of her games. In spite of this, she continues to feature the Rising Sun Flag texture in several of her artworks.

In 2023, Deep-Sea Prisoner released a statement about the matter. She said that she "never [draws] illustrations with political intentions" and gave examples of other uses the flag has in Japan. However, the statement did not soothe people who took issue with the flag nonetheless. She ended up blocking a number of users.

VTuber Incident

In early 2024, several VTubers that Deep-Sea Prisoner had created models for released a statement documenting their experiences with purchasing a model from her. Several factors included Deep-Sea Prisoner promising a specific timeframe for a commission only to change the date, resulting in models not being given for months or years at a time, faults or errors occurring during the commission process, not properly communicating with her clients, and so on. Many VTubers ceased using the models that Deep-Sea Prisoner had made for them and distanced from her in the aftermath of the issue. Deep-Sea Prisoner has since requested mass refunds for everyone involved.

Guidelines

Deep-Sea Prisoner has outlined guidelines for the usage of her works on her website, a summary of which can be found below. [18]

1. There are no issues with fanworks, doujin activities and cosplay if they are kept at a non-profit fan or hobby level.

2. People are free to stream, share, and monetize Let's Plays of Deep-Sea Prisoner's games. Deep-Sea Prisoner would like for people to credit her name, as well link to the specific game's page in the description of the livestream or video (Example).

3. If people want to translate one of her works, Deep-Sea Prisoner would like for them to contact her about it first.

4. It is forbidden to use Deep-Sea Prisoner's content for illegal matters, commercial purposes, etc. (Full list). She would also prefer it if people did not create content that could be mistaken as canon.

5. It is forbidden to share and/or distribute content hidden behind a paywall such as Ci-en posts or paid material such as Seaside Dispatches (Series).

Trivia

  • "Funamusea" was originally meant to be read as "funamushi" (funamu-sea) out loud. However, due to fans having written "ふなむせあ" (funamu-say-ah), Deep-Sea Prisoner occasionally adopts this pronunciation as well. [6]
    • Even though Deep-Sea Prisoner is her official alias, she has stated that she likes being called "Funa," but thinks "Funamu" is even cuter. [3]
  • Deep-Sea Prisoner likes lots of flowers, with roses, snapdragons, and carnations being some of her favorites. She also enjoys gerbera and pansies. Overall, she finds flowers beautiful. [19]
  • Some Pokémon that Deep-Sea Prisoner considers her favorites are Groudon, Rayquaza, Darkrai, Kyogre, Jirachi, and Mimikyu. [3]
  • Her favorite characters in Sonic the Hedgehog include Shadow and Knuckles. She commented that Knuckles reminds her of Ivlis. [3]
  • Her favorite Sanrio character is Pompompurin. [13]
  • Another favorite character of hers is Dr. Blackjack from Black Jack. She also likes Alucard from Hellsing. [14]
  • Deep-Sea Prisoner has drawn fanart of VTuber Yamikumo Kerin, whose content she enjoys. [20]
  • Some favorite games that she considers are perfect "time thieves" include 7 Days to Die and Stardew Valley. [13] Some other games she enjoys are Kenshi, RimWorld, and Arknights. [16]
  • Super Mario Sunshine is Deep-Sea Prisoner's favorite Mario game. [21]
  • Some animes Deep-Sea Prisoner enjoys include Neon Genesis Evangelion, PriPara, [13] and Higurashi When They Cry [16] Her favorite movies are The Goonies, Modern Times, The Silence of the Lambs, Soylent Green, [16] and Ghost in the Shell. [22] Black Jack and Phoenix by Osamu Tezuka were two anime that she grew up with and also enjoyed. [21]
  • One of Deep-Sea Prisoner's favorite books is Paradise Lost by John Milton. [23]
  • She loves the music by the Japanese alternative rock group Bump of Chicken. [24] She also likes Vocaloid [25] and Nijisanji. [16]
  • Her favorite color is red, with purple coming in second. [13]
  • Deep-Sea Prisoner's favorite animal is a dog. [26] She prefers dogs over cats. [3] She also likes killer whales a lot along with chinchillas, chickens, [13] and birds. [16]
  • Regarding Skeb commissions, Deep-Sea Prisoner "explicitly avoids drawing spoilers." She also said that she "does not draw things that are impossible for a character to do." [27]
  • Deep-Sea Prisoner has dreamt about Maekami killing her three times. [28]
  • Her goal is to create 1,000 characters. [14] She loves all of her characters. [29]
  • Some foods that Deep-Sea Prisoner enjoys includes includes sushi, ramen, miso, tonkotsu, and taiyaki with red bean paste. [13] She also likes persimmon seeds, [13] takoyaki, [25] strawberries, mandarins, sashimi, mochi, [16] and thinks cooking is fun. [13] Her favorite ramen is tonkotsu (pork bone) with lots of garlic. [30] Her favorite foods can change, but she always enjoys meat. [14] She also likes shortcake. [4]
  • Her favorite drink is coffee. [16] She also likes bubble tea [13] and RedBull. [16] She tends to drink coffee with milk at home. At Starbucks, she enjoys the ones with caramel or limited time flavors. At other cafes and coffee shops, she often drinks what the store recommends. [31] She also likes most alcohol but is not a huge fan of highballs and beer. [32] Her favorite Monster Energy Drink are the "pink" and "ultra white" ones. She also enjoys peach. [33]
  • Vietnam and Bali are two places she has visited. As for places she would like to visit, she said she would like to go to Thailand and Taiwan. [13]
Read more/less

Quotes

I'm glad for the response from abroad. Thank you very much. I was surprised at first, given that I didn’t even think to see if access to it could come from overseas [from Japan]. To result in being kindly sent drawings, and able to receive thoughts and impressions… (When receiving something in a language I can’t read, I make good use of translation sites.) Things like this make me very, very happy.
Deep-Sea Prisoner in a 2015 interview with Pixivision. [8]
Thank you to everyone who participated in Mogekomarch for all the great art, stories, and pics! I am very happy. Thank you again and again!🙏💕
Deep-Sea Prisoner in a tweet about Mogeko March 2022.
Deep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep Prisoner
Deep-Sea Prisoner in a tweet.
Deep morning Prisoner
Deep-Sea Prisoner in a tweet.
If [people] take a step back because of the unwholesome content I do, that's super understandable. If you see something I'm making that does fit your tastes though, feel free to come back and enjoy just the parts that strike you.
Deep-Sea Prisoner during her 26th livestream.


Navigation

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Deep-Sea Prisoner Deep-Sea Prisoner (funamusea) · Deep-Sea Prisoner's Works · funamusea.com
Archives funamusea Stream Information Archive · Image Log Archive
Miscellaneous Ciphers Used by Deep-Sea Prisoner · Deep-Sea Script · VTuber Models by Deep-Sea Prisoner

References

  1. "Deep-Sea Prisoner's Twitter Biography". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Date Unknown. Retrieved 25 May, 2022. (Archive.)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Untitled. Deep-Sea Prisoner. Twitter. Published 11 May, 2021. Retrieved 25 May, 2022. (Archive.)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "funamusea Stream [2020.09/12]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 12 September, 2020. (Summary archive.)
  4. 4.0 4.1 "[Live2D Art] funamusea work stream!! [2023/08/14]". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 14 August, 2023. (Summary archive.)
  5. "funamusea Stream [2021.01/23]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 23 January, 2021. (Summary archive.)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Translator Yao from FunamuTranslate
  7. 2016 Interview with DSP. Deep-Sea Prisoner. Google docs. Published 2016. Retrieved 2016. (Archive.)
  8. 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 "Genepixiv Interview with Shuujin Kaitei, author of the free videogame Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Pixivision. Published 25 December, 2015. Retrieved 6 March, 2022. (Archive.)
    Note: Deep-Sea Prisoner's gender was incorrectly assumed to be male by the translator of this interview.
  9. "It's been seven years since I was hit by a car and hospitalized! #MyTwitterAnniversary". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Twitter. Published 22 May, 2022. Retrieved 22 May, 2022. (Archive.)
  10. "funamusea Stream [2020.12/12]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 12 December, 2020. (Summary archive.)
  11. "funamusea Stream [2020.12/12]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 12 December, 2020. (Summary archive.)
  12. 12.0 12.1 Untitled. Deep-Sea Prisoner. Translated by VGperson. Tumblr. Published 21 July, 2014. Retrieved 13 September, 2022. (Archive.)
  13. 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 "funamusea Stream [2020.07/25]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 25 July, 2020. (Summary archive.)
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 "funamusea Stream [2020.08/22]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 22 August, 2020. (Summary archive.)
  15. 15.0 15.1 "funamusea Stream [2021.12/25]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 25 December, 2021. (Summary archive.)
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8 16.9 "海底囚人/funamusea Deep-sea Prisoner". Deep-Sea Prisoner. carrd.co. Date Unknown. Retrieved 17 March, 2023. (Archive.)
  17. Yes, use short and simple sentences and emojis to make it clear! Also avoid using idioms Idioms are really hard for machine translators. yaoyao but purple. Discord. Published 14 January, 2021. Retrieved 10 May, 2021. (Archive.) The original source has been deleted.
  18. "About Guideline". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Funamusea.com. Published 9 May, 2022. Retrieved 25 May, 2022. (Archive.)
  19. "funamusea Stream [2020.08/15]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 15 August, 2020. (Summary archive.)
  20. "#fanart #ヤミクモケリン誕生祭2020 #ケリンの絵". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Twitter. Published 11 October, 2020. Retrieved 25 May, 2022. (Archive.)
  21. 21.0 21.1 "funamusea Stream [2020.10.24]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 24 October, 2020. (Summary archive.)
  22. "Btw, "Ghost in the shell" is one of my favorite movies.". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Twitter. Published 15 May, 2022. Retrieved 15 May, 2022. (Archive.)
  23. "A tweet from Deep-Sea Prisoner's side Twitter account". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Date Unknown. The original source has been deleted.
  24. "A tweet from Deep-Sea Prisoner's side Twitter account". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Date Unknown. The original source has been deleted.
  25. 25.0 25.1 "funamusea Stream [2020.08/01]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 1 August, 2020. (Summary archive.)
  26. "A tweet from Deep-Sea Prisoner's side Twitter account". Deep-Sea Prisoner. Date Unknown. The original source has been deleted.
  27. "funamusea Stream [2021.07/03]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 3 July, 2021. (Summary archive.)
  28. "funamusea Stream [2023.01/28]【Art / Chatting】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 28 January, 2023. (Summary archive.)
  29. "[Live2D Art] YEET!!!!". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 12 August, 2023. (Summary archive.)
  30. "funamusea Stream [2022.09/03]【Art / Chatting】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 3 September, 2022. (Summary archive.)
  31. "funamusea Stream [2022.01/15]【Art stream】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 15 January, 2022. (Summary archive.)
  32. "funamusea Stream [2022.08/27]【Art / Chatting】". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 27 August, 2022. (Summary archive.)
  33. "funamusea work stream!! [2023/09/30]". Deep-Sea Prisoner. YouTube. Published 30 September, 2023. (Summary archive.)

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