Deep-Sea Prisoner (funamusea)

: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.
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." She also originally went by the nickname "Mogeko," but has stated that she no longer wishes to be called "Mogeko," 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. 
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. "Funamusea" is a combination of the Japanese word "funamushi," meaning sea/wharf roach, and the English word "sea." Translator Yao from FunamuTranslate 
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. That same year on the 27th of December, she released her second game The Gray Garden. 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." 
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. 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. She was surprised at first, but being kindly sent drawings and being able to receive thoughts and impressions made her very happy. 
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. Subplots are usually made up along the way. While creating a story, she particularly focusses on the relationships between characters, such as which characters like or dislike each other. There are also times where she really wants a character to kill another, though she has also voiced her intention not to kill off too many of her characters, since she sees this as "a waste." She further stated that she wants her characters to have some kind of meaning when they die. 
Deep-Sea Prisoner develops her character designs in various ways. Sometimes she bases them on animals, or starts from a color scheme or motif. She tends to decide on a character's personality after making them talk in a game or manga she is working on. However, there are also times where she changes a character's personality while she is drawing them. 
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. Several of her characters are also "without gender, or somewhere in the middle, so it's pointless to even think about." 
In her first-ever livestream, Deep-Sea Prisoner mentioned she would often draw for 12 hours a day soon after she graduated high school. She has been drawing since grade school, but it was not until she found a good drawing tablet that she began drawing a lot. When asked if she uses pose references, Deep-Sea Prisoner replied that she used to, but that it has been a while. One of her art inspirations is Osamu Tezuka. Some of her favorite artists also include Mucha, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Zdzisław Beksiński, Nekojiru, Kouta Hirano, and Suada. 
== 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. 
== 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. 
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. 
** Even though Deep-Sea Prisoner is her official alias, she has stated that she likes being called "Funa," but thinks "Funamu" is even cuter. 
* 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. 
* Some Pokémon that Deep-Sea Prisoner considers her favorites are Groudon, Rayquaza, Darkrai, Kyogre, Jirachi, and Mimikyu. 
== Quotes ==
== Navigation ==
== References ==
Category:About