Origine Stories

Mev Stories

Mev Gardenia is a young girl born on August 10… across multiple timelines. Whether it’s 1917, 2017, 2099, or even the distant year 3000, Mev exists in distinct eras, each shaped by its own destiny. A Leo through and through (with a dash of adventurer), she stands 1.64 meters tall and weighs 49 kg. As for her measurements… well, she prefers to keep that little secret to herself and let your imagination do the rest.

Universe

The world of Mev Gardenia is rooted in our own, but stretches across different eras, each with its unique flavor and challenges. We follow four distinct incarnations of Mev, all linked by a mysterious force:

Mev Gardenia 2017 : A passionate collector of Japanimation figures whose world changes forever when she discovers the power of a gardenia flower.
Mev Gardenia 3000 : In a distant future where Earth is under alien rule, she prepares to pilot a massive mecha to fight for humanity’s survival.
Mev Gardenia 2099 : In an ultra-urban world, she forges her heroic path, gaining electrifying powers worthy of the greatest comic book legends.
Mev Gardenia 1917 : A bold adventurer embarking on a thrilling quest around the globe to uncover the truth of her origins.

Common points

While each Mev lives in a very different world, they all share some crucial common threads:

• All of them were adopted, growing up with a quiet sense that they were meant for something more.

• Each wears a white gardenia flower in her hair—an enigmatic artifact that grants extraordinary powers.

• The flower chooses the powers itself, drawing from the deepest parts of its wearer’s soul.

And above all… behind every adventure beats the same heart: Mev Gardenia, a heroine of a thousand faces, united by one destiny.

Creator Interview Daniel Lam

Daniel Lam Interview, the illustrator who created Mev Gardenia (Interview is signed ActuGaming). 

Daniel Lam is the illustrator and creator of Mev Gardenia, the new brand by DeriveFigurine.com. For this occasion, we offer you our full interview with him that will give some information about his new project type RPG which bears the name of Gheldia. Obviously, we will also talk about the new Mev Gardenia icon.

• ActuGaming : Hello Daniel, could you introduce yourself to all our readers for those who dont know you yet ?

Daniel Lam : First of all, hello and thank you for interviewing me. For those who don't know, I am an artist in the video games industry. I have been doing game art professionally since 2001. During that time, I established a name for myself among the anime community under radiantdreamer.net.

Though I am more of a veteran now in the anime community, I still enjoy lurking and keeping up with what's going on.

• ActuGaming : What exactly is your job? Which work can you do without problem in the middle of the video game or the animation. When we look at your CV, we see that you touched a little at all kind of job.

Daniel Lam : I do game art. Though I suppose that's a bit general. And it's true because my skills and work have touched on almost all facets of game art development. In my earlier days in the games industry, my work consisted of pixel art, and environments. I  later did work in animation, and special FX, and 3d modeling, and finally art team management, and concept art and illustrations.

Though I still enjoy every aspect of game art, I enjoy pixel art, and character illustration the most.

• ActuGaming : Do you live with your passion and if so, how long ago?

Daniel Lam : My passion has always been video games, art, and anime. I live it every single day in one form or another. If I'm not doing art, I'm playing video games or watching anime. If I'm not doing those, I'm doing game or anime related art, either as part of my hobby, or part of my job.

• ActuGaming : What can you say to all the young graphics artists and designers which have the ambition to exercise this profession ? Any special advice to follow ?

Daniel Lam : Follow your passion. Your passion is what will motivate you during the toughest times. If you work in something you're not passionate about, you won't get up when you fail, and you will fail. Do what you love, and love what you do.

The games/media industry is not a glamorous industry. It's tough work. And if you don't have the passion, you won't have the motivation you need to fight.

• ActuGaming : You worked for big company and on many fun projects. I think about Monster Lab, BlazBlue and even on Sonic. How did this happen ?

Daniel Lam : Most of the time, these projects are brought on by the companies I work for. By choosing the right company, you get the projects that most align with what you want to do. Though I have some very popular licenses under my belt, I have also had my share of companies that brought on projects that sucked. And that is how you learn to choose better.

Monster Lab was an original IP created at a company I worked for. Being the lead artist allowed me to contribute to its creation, backed by Eidos, the company that owned Tomb Raider.

Sonic Rivals was a spin off title developed also by the same company I worked for. I was special fx artist, animation coordinator, and eventually lead artist on that project. Backed by Sega, and an amazing team, we had the ingredients to make it a success.

Blazblue was done purely through luck and networking - "luck" is really opportunity + preparedness. Opportunities are everywhere. Are you prepared to take those opportunities?

• ActuGaming : Is there any license, project or company that you would like to work for ? Or maybe there is also some series or franchises which comes to your mind ?

Daniel Lam : To be honest, I don't have a dream license or franchise I would want to work on. I would just be narrowing my breadth and experiences. We are always learning, and this is especially true with art. Having a goal is always good, but you have to be careful that you spend so much time focusing on that goal that you miss other wonderful opportunies and experiences right in front of you.

• ActuGaming : What are you doing right now ? I mean, on what kind of project ? (since you finished DeriveFigurine’s mascot for ou rfriends from Derive-Figurine.com haha) ?

Daniel Lam : Right now, I am working with a company called Hunt Game Studios on a 2d action adventure game called Gheldia. I am creating hundreds of assets for it as their artist and consultant. Check it out on gheldia.com and on steam greenlight!

• ActuGaming : From all your creation, do you think about one in particular that you are the most proud of?

Daniel Lam : I don't have a permanent favorite. I rarely look into the past to admire my own work. I look to it to find things I can learn from and improve upon. Having a favorite in the past means that I haven't improved my own skills. Having said that, my current favorite is Video Game Mev. She captures an essence and femininity that I really like, and her costume looks cool. My art techniques have improved vastly since Mev was originally designed, that I consider this a good milestone.

• ActuGaming : About Mev Gardenia for DeriveFigurine.com, which one do you like the most ?

Daniel Lam : While I enjoyed working on all of the new Mev variations, I definitely had the most fun with Video Game Mev. Her demeanor, pose, and costume design really brought out a facet of her that was different from her normal personality, but still felt like Mev. With her being a representation of video games, there was a lot of creative freedom compared to her other version.

• ActuGaming : You made so many different Mev in no time ! How did you do to not get trapped by « cliché » and how did you give her so many originality and personality to Mev ?

Daniel Lam : The most important thing when creating and designing a character is that the character must have a personality. That personality has to feel believable and realistic. A realistic personality is always complex with different facets at different times, but also must have consistency in the main aspects of a character. Once those are established, it's a matter of being able to illustrate those personality traits in a tangible way. Things like facial expression, clothing choices, and accessories help bring that out.

When Mev was originally created, I asked A LOT of questions to do with Mev's personality, hobbies and interests so that I could build a story around her, and that story is brought out in her design.

• ActuGaming : Well, did all this work gave you futures ideas for Mev Gardenia and did you like working on this project ?

Daniel Lam : I absolutely loved working on this project! I would definitely like to see more Mev and create even more for her. As things progress, so does her personality grow and solidify, much like art itself.

• ActuGaming : Last question, do you have a little information to give to ActuGaming.net and do you have a little message to say to our readers ? Maybe are you going to work on a big big project ? Tell us !

Daniel Lam : Please enjoy ActuaGaming, and spread the love of Mev!