Tomato

The grounded slice-of-life aspect of Hethereau in Neverness to Everness is represented by everyday food items like a simple tomato. Characters have to eat at the local diner or grab groceries or eat street food after a late night race, in between car tuning and hunting down supernatural anomalies. Watching an Esper deal with regular food is a calming contrast to their high-powered city ways. The game’s extreme detail in food rendering gives even simple produce a pop against the neon-drenched city backdrops, grounding the supernatural elements in a believable modern reality.

These laid-back food-themed art pieces are often used by people in the community for chill, low-key phone wallpapers. A simple shot of a character eating or lugging groceries goes a long way toward creating a warm, mundane feel on a device screen. Digital artists are also hunting down these backgrounds specifically to study how the game renders organic textures and food lighting in conjunction with slick tech-wear outfits. Hethereau’s aesthetic is about the balance of surreal with the mundane and these references are a great study material for creators to draw slice-of-life urban anime scenes.