# Character Image Direction

## Goal

Create high-impact base character images for a mature romance dating game. Each image should communicate the character's age, personality, body type, fashion sense, sensual appeal, and romantic tone at a glance.

## Baseline Prompt Rules

- Solo adult woman, clearly 19 or older.
- Full-body standing key art, vertical composition.
- Main direction: glossy anime romance game key art with saturated color, crisp linework, expressive eyes, polished skin highlights, and stronger character-specific silhouettes.
- Use bright romance-game presentation, attractive adult proportions, vivid fashion readability, and bold facial identity.
- Legacy semi-realistic and pure photoreal styles are now comparison tests only, not the target.
- Mature, attractive, unmistakably sensual fashion and body language.
- No nudity, explicit sex act, fetish framing, school uniform, childlike styling, or ambiguous age.
- No text, logo, watermark, extra characters, or busy background.
- Use generous margins so the character can be used as a standing portrait asset.

## Quality Checklist

An image passes only when all of these are true:

- The character clearly reads as an adult.
- Outfit, pose, expression, and silhouette match the character brief.
- Face identity is distinct from the rest of the cast, not just the same face with different hair or clothing.
- Face shape, eye shape, brow style, nose/mouth proportions, hairstyle, makeup intensity, and expression habit should all reinforce the character archetype.
- Even shy or pure-hearted characters still carry visible adult sensual charm through styling, posture, and lighting.
- Body type is distinct from the rest of the cast.
- Face is appealing, stable, and not uncanny.
- Hands, legs, and feet have no obvious anatomy errors.
- The asset works as a base standing image in a character screen.
- Resolution is high enough for production review, or the asset is marked as a draft for upscaling/regeneration.

## Cast Variety Targets

- Avoid making every character the same face, height, pose, and body shape.
- Do not default every character to the same oval face, long dark hair, soft eyes, small nose, and gentle smile.
- Rotate visual tone: warm, shy, sharp, glamorous, mature, athletic, artistic, elegant, casual.
- Use fashion to signal route identity before the player reads text.
- Keep sensuality character-specific: shy routes should feel quietly irresistible, career routes sharply confident, public-image routes glamorous, and mature routes restrained but intense.

## Facial Identity Rules

- Every character prompt must include at least three facial differentiators: face shape, eye shape, brow style, hairstyle, makeup level, expression habit, or facial maturity.
- Similar hairstyle and face structure are allowed only when the route concept demands it; otherwise vary hair length, bangs, parting, styling, and volume.
- Approval requires comparing the candidate against existing assets at thumbnail size and full size.
- If a candidate looks like another character in cosplay, mark it `needs_revision` instead of `accepted`.

## Current Asset Notes

- `assets/characters/han_seoyun_glossy_v2.png`: accepted glossy anime cooking-instructor base asset.
- `assets/characters/yu_harin_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime shy-librarian base asset.
- `assets/characters/kang_mirae_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime brand-manager base asset.
- `assets/characters/jung_naeun_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime tsundere-cafe base asset.
- `assets/characters/baek_chaewon_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime event-planner base asset.
- `assets/characters/oh_sera_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime mature-florist base asset.
- `assets/characters/moon_jia_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime festival-staff base asset.
- `assets/characters/lim_sohee_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime clinic-receptionist base asset.
- `assets/characters/cha_yuri_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime model base asset.
- `assets/characters/shin_yerim_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime concert-producer base asset.
- `assets/characters/kim_doa_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime adult-university base asset.
- `assets/characters/park_minseo_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime fitness-trainer base asset.
- `assets/characters/seo_irin_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime illustrator base asset.
- `assets/characters/yoon_gayoung_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime friend-to-lover base asset.
- `assets/characters/choi_ria_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime influencer base asset.
- `assets/characters/hong_sua_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime jazz-bar-owner base asset.
- `assets/characters/lee_bom_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime flower-shop base asset.
- `assets/characters/go_eunjae_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime lawyer base asset.
- `assets/characters/ryu_haena_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime nail-artist base asset.
- `assets/characters/nam_juhee_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime police-officer base asset.
- `assets/characters/marina_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime international-coordinator base asset.
- `assets/characters/song_arin_glossy_v1.png`: accepted glossy anime second-chance-shop-owner base asset.
- `assets/characters/style_references/glossy_anime_fallback_reference.png`: user-approved main reference for the bolder anime romance look.
- `assets/characters/style_references/semirealistic_main_reference.png`: legacy semi-realistic reference kept for comparison.
- Legacy semi-realistic candidates remain useful for comparison but should not be treated as the main visual direction unless the user redirects the style again.
- `assets/characters/style_tests/han_seoyun_photoreal_test.png`: useful pure-photoreal comparison, but no longer the main direction.
- `assets/characters/style_tests/kang_mirae_photoreal_test.png`: useful pure-photoreal comparison, but no longer the main direction.
- `assets/characters/style_tests/yu_harin_photoreal_test.png`: useful pure-photoreal comparison, but no longer the main direction.
- `assets/characters/style_tests/han_seoyun_semi_realistic_test.png`: earlier semi-realistic comparison candidate.
- `assets/characters/style_tests/yu_harin_semi_realistic_test.png`: earlier semi-realistic comparison candidate.