Super-Seishin Soldier Sanada

Koi Sanada is Mia’s biological father and the main character of the upcoming Saikou Star, our space opera about what happens after humanity hits eject on Earth and crash-lands somewhere far less inviting. He’s also the unofficial leader of the Sakura survivors and thus the Shiratori Clan — mostly by virtue of being the only one willing to take responsibility when things go wrong.

He’ll first show up in a flashback in Dinoking #2, but his proper debut is in the prequel From Earth With Love, where we follow the early years of the Sakura settlers struggling to survive on a hostile alien world while dodging angry dinosaurs with space-age weapons.

Like all humans in the Dinoking setting, he’s named after a game — in this case, Koi-Koi, a hanafuda card game that’s all about knowing when to play it safe and when to double down. This tells you pretty much everything about Koi's approach to leadership, survival, and relationships — especially with Rem and the Shiratori clan, where things get… let’s say “complicated.”

He’s a decorated USSF warrant officer and senior security NCO aboard the Sakura — not in a command possition, but often tasked with leading high-risk boarding actions, internal threat response, and asset protection. Reliable, composed under pressure, and the kind of soldier officers actually listen to when things get ugly. He’s a cunning tactician, and a skilled close-quarters combatant, who carries within him, Seishin (精神), the enduring spirit of the samurai.

Koi wasn’t just picked for his service record — though it’s sterling. As one of the Sakura’s senior security officers, he was tasked with protecting a ship meant to carry the future of humanity across the stars. His family name didn’t hurt either. The Sanada line has stood for centuries — not just for battlefield legend, but for its long, steady contributions to Japanese culture, public service, and national identity.

Koi isn’t flashy. He’s not the chosen one. But when things fall apart, he’s usually the one left holding the plan.

More of him soon in From Earth With Love.

Behind the Design Super-Seishin Soldier Senada

Like his distant ancestor—the legendary Crimson Demon of War—Koi’s origins were anything but smooth. The artist on From Earth With Love (DK: FewL, pronounced “fuel” if you’re feeling brave) was in the middle of wrestling cloth folds and lighting studies when I hit pause. Quality first. Naturally, right around page 36, the universe threw in its two cents and the artist’s hard drive died, taking a chunk of in-progress pages with it and kicking us back a few weeks.

Still, around here we turn setbacks into opportunity. I used the downtime to revisit Koi’s original design.

I created three new uniform variants. Option 2 leaned too hard into Gundam territory, and Option 3 — while objectively the coolest — strayed too far from the space-navy aesthetic I wanted. So, Option 1 is what I settled on. Clean, sharp, and just grounded enough to belong aboard the Sakura.