While May Day (shown above) traditionally marks the arrival of summer and the turning of the academic calendar, for us at Drillimation, we’re representing a major creative rebirth. As the world gears up for graduation season, we’ve been busy graduating our own production pipeline to a whole new level. We will pull back the curtain on the technical evolution behind our latest visuals and what the future holds for the Drillimation Danmaku Universe.
There’s more than just warmer weather and graduation season. Our next title is getting close to another milestone on its development journey. As we bridge the studious grind of spring and prepare for the vibrant energy of summer, we will break down the reasons for the upgrades we’ve been doing to our artworks and explore the new tools and philosophies shaping the next era of our development.
Key Developments
Stages 4 and 5 of Touhou Meishuugeki ~ Cursed Sweeper and Bewildering Parallel are Done
The first thing I need to talk about is Touhou Meishuugeki ~ Cursed Sweeper and Bewildering Parallel. You may think we’re getting into the late-game phase, but don’t think or speak too soon. Once the final stage is done, only the first half will be finished. This is a more ambitious project than my previous ones. If you’ve played past stage 3 in the demo, you may have seen that there will be fourteen playable stages – twelve main, plus an extra and phantasm stage.
As we transition into the second half of a classic mode campaign, the danmaku patterns will be shifting into more complex ones that may feel like you’re being put under a curse. The fourth stage in a Touhou Project game usually features a haunting, atmospheric climb where the density of the danmaku mirrors the thickening plot, and the fifth acts as the point of no return, introducing high-speed proximity hazards and spell cards that will require more guts, even if you’re already a seasoned player.
In line with our improved development pipeline and utilizing our new previsualization workflow, the danmaku may look more vibrant and detailed than anything we’ve produced to date. We’ve also spent considerable time fine-tuning the soundtrack to ensure the auditory experience for both stages and bosses matches the high-fidelity visuals. With these stages finalized, our focus this month shifts to the climactic final stage and the endings that go along with it. I hope to get Alpha Version 1.1.0 out by the end of this month.
How Did the Artworks Suddenly Leap in Quality?
If you’ve been following our social media channels over the past three months, you may have noticed the art quality has improved significantly. This evolution was shown in the Spring 2026 State of Drillimation article, the header image above, and in the gallery below.
In late February, we introduced machine learning to the creative process to improve the quality of our artworks. This transition doesn’t mean my hand will be replaced, but rather augmenting it. I know you’re probably thinking the pieces of art look like they are generated by AI, but no. Generative AI actually has some legitimate uses; for one, it can be used for previsualizing your work from a rough sketch.
By utilizing these tools to create the basis for the lineart and shading, I’ve been able to achieve a level of depth and detail, particularly in fabric textures and environmental lighting that was previously out of my reach and simply impossible to achieve. This has allowed me to focus more on character design and conceptual integrity while maintaining a high-fidelity visual standard. However, the intricate detail of these artworks also requires more production time. What used to take only a few hours in a single day now requires at least three days’ worth of work. The only day I get off is Saturday.
This new pipeline has bridged the gap between my older, crude aesthetics from the days I used Mine-imator and VRoid Studio to create character models and a more modern, polished look. By integrating generative AI to create the rough draft, we can use it as a template to deliver professional-grade illustrations at a much faster cadence, ensuring that every update to the Drillimation Danmaku Universe is as visually stunning as it is mechanically sound.
Machine learning has helped us learn from our mistakes by smoothing out the rough edges and bringing more life to the characters you love. Over the next several months, many of our beloved characters will have their visual identity pushed to greater detail. Whether we want to give your favorite Touhou Project character a royal makeover, prepare them for the ball or a daring adventure, or give them comfy clothes when out of school or the workplace, we will pamper and primp them until they look manga stunning.
How to Avoid AI Detection In Your Art
If artificial intelligence tools such as Adobe Firefly and Google Gemini Nano Banana have become your companions when you draw, you may wonder if your viewers or fans can tell. When you’re working in a professional or commercial setting, you may even contend with AI detectors scanning your artwork.
Understanding how AI-detection tools work is important so that you can learn what to look out for in your artwork. However, avoiding AI detection for art isn’t about outsmarting detection tools. There are ways to use AI tools thoughtfully so your artwork reflects your intentions and ideas.
AI detectors analyze artwork for certain patterns or characteristics to estimate the likelihood of AI involvement. You’ll see these tools used in settings like education, publishing, and content moderation to flag work that may not be original or require a closer review. They spot traits often found in AI-generated content, such as inconsistent details, unnatural textures, strange anatomical features, background issues, or confusing text.
No system powered by AI or machine learning is perfect and 100% accurate. These tools provide probability-based assessments and not definitive results. Just because something gets flagged doesn’t necessarily mean it was created by AI. Likewise, AI-generated artwork might not get flagged at all.
AI can be a helpful part of the production process, from creating outlines to suggesting clearer shading tactics. The main goal isn’t to cheat or hide your use of these tools – it’s to make sure your final piece looks authentic, personal, and unmistakably yours. There are a few ways to work with AI while keeping your drawing grounded in your own hands:
- Think of it as an assistant, not the main author. It can help you brainstorm, organize your thoughts, or offer a clearer way to draw something. Your final perspective and piece should come from you.
- It can be tempting to share an AI-generated piece on social media or art sites like DeviantArt or Pixiv, but doing so often leads to work that feels generic or impersonal. Instead, use AI outputs as a rough draft or guide and then make it your own through redrawing or refinement.
- One of the easiest ways to humanize your artwork is by bringing in details the AI couldn’t generate.
- One giveaway of AI-generated content is overly uniform content that can look generic. Mix things up by using a tone that reflects your intentions and voice to make your artwork unmistakably human. If you take the time to search through galleries of AI-generated images, you’ll learn the indicators of AI-generated content.
- Everyone needs an editor, especially when you’ve been doing things yourself for a long time. A friend or colleague can help spot quirks in your artwork, awkward design choices, and inaccuracies.
AI can be a great assistant that offers suggestions, helps you brainstorm, and refines your message. When you create human-generated content, it helps resonate with your viewers. When you use AI irresponsibly without any understanding of what goes in, you can face unintended consequences such as plagiarism, overly generic or formulaic content, violations of academic integrity or corporate values, and a loss of originality, personality, or credibility.
It is important to be transparent about the role AI plays in your creative processes. Some institutions or companies may expect AI-generated content to be disclosed. When expectations are unclear, it’s better to ask questions or check relevant policies.
Statistics
Over the past two months, the website’s subscribers increased by 45 for a total of 2,483 today. You would have expected that number to double, but no. We’ll explain why.
On March 31, 2026, we noticed a drop from 2,479 to 2,371 – we lost 108 subscribers on that day. Noticeable drops in subscriber counts can be concerning and can happen for a few reasons. While most subscribers are lost due to people manually unsubscribing, email bounces and cleanups of inactive and spam accounts can result in a decline. The latter is done to ensure that our hosting provider continues to perform smoothly and ensure 100% uptime. We have continued our approaches to keep subscriber counts going, and we hope to see that number return to similar levels by the time we release our August 2026 Monthly Digest.
The follower count increased by a whopping 265 for a total of 7,725 today.
Bluesky
Over the past two months, the follower count on Bluesky increased by 152 for a total of 2,682 today.
Instagram/Threads
YouTube
Over the past two months:
- Content was viewed over nearly 16,000 times, generating over 407 watch hours.
- Subscribers increased by 27, which was better from March’s report.
A few weeks back, Drillimation started a second channel under the name of Drillimation Records. This serves as the Official Artist channel for Drillimation Danmaku Universe game soundtracks. In the first month of operation, we accumulated over 2,300 views, generating 39.5 watch hours, and received 26 subscribers.
Future Goals
We will continue our Drillimation Danmaku Universe soundtrack rollouts over the next several weeks. It won’t be until a few months that you’ll see every game soundtrack on the official artist channel.
For Touhou Meishuugeki ~ Cursed Sweeper and Bewildering Parallel, our commitments this month are finishing the final stage, programming the endings, and releasing a new version of the alpha by the end of this month. We’re hoping to get Yukari Yakumo and Kaguya Houraisan into the game as soon as possible, but we can’t do so at the moment.
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Very nice.
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