The voting was among the closest it's ever been this year, but you've had your say, and we've got fifteen winners to share!
Continuing on the timeless tradition of making the voting absurdly difficult for everyone involved, 72 intrepid artists put their best summer-themed pieces for the community to judge and after a whole week of agonizing waiting, we finally have our results!
Without further ado:
In first place with a blistering 7329 votes is Evaine's positively breathtaking piece featuring Aiko and Alisa cooling off in a shallow pond beneath a starlit sky.
This is about as tastefully intimate as we've ever seen a fanart contest entry get, and with more poise and grace than we honestly could've ever expected from a titular summer-themed contest.
A truly fantastic piece, and a well deserved win from one of our long-time participants - who by the way, has also won the Spring 2017 contest, and been voted into the winning finalists in nearly every single fanart contest we've held since.
Yowza.
Second place went to Alba's frilly and flowery masterpiece, with 6710 voters wishing they were among the sunflowers in Pippi's arms.
The skies all but sang the praises of summer in a beautifully muted wave of colour that produced perhaps one of the most evocative entries we've ever seen, at least in this author's humble opinion.
Summer means swimsuits, and Sylux6 absolutely delivered, hosing down third place with 6660 votes for this particularly endowed take on Mocha and Pippi enjoying some fun in the sun.
Scoring 6433 votes, Sunako's sunlit piece featured Pippi, Aiko and Mocha enjoying some time at the beach. This one wins a bonus mention from us for absolutely superb renditions of all three mascot designs in perhaps their most pure form yet.
And getting to see more Aiko is never a bad thing, especially when she's enjoying herself so much!
Flying high with 5913 votes, Shuuzo nearly knocked the ball out of the beach with his take of Pippi enjoying a game of catch with a giant inflatable ball. Simple, but superb.
Sticks at the ready, TheTofuBoi drummed up 5631 votes with his vibrant take on Mocha and a pair of dons making themselves known.
He's also made a speedpainting video detailing the whole process, check it out if you're interested!
4899 votes heralded rennine's fantastically unique rendition of Pippi and Mocha in summer dress, featuring a few nifty little accessory touches and some of the nicest costume design we've seen overall in a while.
All of our finalists are truly something special, and this one is really something quite distinct and gorgeous. Well done!
A tidal wave of 4890 votes brought aets' piece ashore, sporting Pippi and Mocha riding the maelstrom, and a little pyun surfing off in the distance.
Bonus points from us for extremely creative use of the template design!
4567 votes cheered all four of the main mascots on in PaperDawge's well-received piece. Rare to see them all together, and even rarer to see Yuzu sporting his height and pecs over the poor shortness that is Mocha.
4537 people were ready for SUMMER TIME!!! with R3_AL's take on a schoolgirl Pippi in of course, summer uniform. Sometimes less is more!
4337 brave souls managed to pick through the sea of references in snowyani2000's latest entry. A paragraph (or five) couldn't do the sheer number of cameos justice. Among other things that shall not be named nor encouraged.
We would just like to politely note that someone apparently can defeat Airman, if a candid little shot in this piece is to be believed. Have fun finding who it is!
3933 voters probably did not expect to see a mermaid Aiko and Mocha, but that is precisely what they got from YaoiForeva's adorable entry. Blub blub blub. They're almost too cute for this world.
Is there really anything more iconic than fireworks at a festival for a Japanese-themed summer? 3506 voters agreed, sending their support for Yaruwashi's entry. Featuring Pippi, Mocha and Maria enjoying themselves with all the classic treats, this one definitely shines bright.
3506 votes rose the heat for Reivaru-'s piece, showcasing Pippi and Mocha enjoying a bit of relief from the summer sky under a straw hat and umbrella.
And last but certainly not least, 3468 votes took Pippi's invitation to take a walk down the beachside wharf in Vio's striking entry. Really, how could you say no to that face?
Some entries were deemed by peppy to be inappropriate for the main menu screen, and therefore will not be included in the seasonal pack for this round. Rest assured, if you like one of the missing entries, you can manually set it as your menu background by dragging it into the osu! window (supporter tag required).
Like a particular piece? Clicking on the banner for it will take you to a full-sized download. Make sure to pass the wonderful artist responsible your thanks!
In addition to your undying adoration, each finalist takes home 2 months of osu!supporter for either themselves or a friend, and these winning entries are available NOW in-game as the seasonal backgrounds for this year's summer.
Thank you to everyone who entered this contest and made it the closest set of voting I think we've ever had overall. I know I say that every time, but seriously - check out how slim some of the margins are between the entries! We were spoiled for choice this time around, and it really, really shows.
—Ephemeral
why didnt the pixel one win :¬(
Comments83