Yurika Kubo (Shikaco) Anime Central Greeting Banner, 2023

Yurika Kubo, voice actress for Hanayo from Love Live, was invited to Anime Central in Chicago in 2023. Similarly to the banner I designed to greet Hinata Sato, I was commissioned by the Midwest Livers to design a blank banner for fans to sign. We decided to make it bigger than ever as that weekend was also her birthday!
The banner depicts Shikaco at left, then at right, clockwise from bottom left: Hanayo in her Wonderful Rush outfit with the Chicago flag, Kaede Azusagawa from Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, the Older Girl from the game A Light in the Dark, and Yuuri from Girls Last Tour. Each of the four characters holds a star from the Chicago flag.
The messages were selected by me and the Midwest Livers, with translation assistance from Jess WIlliamson. The Japanese message is a pun on her nickname, welcoming Shikaco to Chicago.

Illustrations were done in Ph. Martin's liquid watercolor, Pigma micron, alcohol marker and comic white ink, then composited in Clip Studio Paint with final typesetting done in Adobe Illustrator.
Photos of the banner in action are from Hatate @MeltedGeneral on Twitter and Yurika Kubo @shi_ka_co on Instagram.