Are you okay, Midori?
I'm carsick.
Do you need a bag?
No.
Okay, almost there.
By the time I was in sixth grade, my dream was to become an adventurer.
We're gonna live here?
Shibahama South Building
Holy cow!
It's on top of a river!
I'm gonna go explore!
You are? Be careful!
It's gonna take a long time to see everything here!
Adventure Log
Hidden Door!
Underground World
Break Room
Kitchen
Mysterious Giant Fish
Undersea Tunnel
Station
Fruit Store
Fish
Vegetable Store
Midori?
I'm going to the airport to pick Dad up.
Watch some anime and wait for me, okay?
Okay. Be safe.
It's raining like it's the end of the world.
Singing Cactus
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Conan of the Lost Island
In July of 2008 AD, humanity faced the threat of extinction. The use of supermagnetic weapons, with power that dwarfs even nuclear bombs, result in half the world being devastated in just moments. Twenty years later, Conan, the last inhabitant of a solitary island, rescues a young girl who washes up on its shore.
Watch from Beginning
Episodes
Getting ready...
It wasn't something I could do myself.
But the big, epic world of adventure I wanted to experience...
was right in front of me.
That was the first time I realized...
that someone made the anime I watched.
Episode 1 The Greatest World!
Keep
Your
Hands
Off
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Here's what you asked for, Asakusa.
Red bean soup and green soybean mochi.
Excellent work, Kanamori.
If you're that curious, you could always head down there yourself.
I don't do well in crowds.
Huh? Kanamori? Where's my change?
I'm taking it as a service fee.
Why, Asakusa, did you expect to get my labor without compensation?
Volleyball
Tennis
Water Polo
It's the age of robots! The time has come for—
I guess I didn't think it through.
Anyway, Kanamori, my friend...
What's up?
I'll buy you some milk,
so would you come see the screening by the anime—
Absolutely not. Sounds lame.
I'm begging you!
I'll up it to two bottles of the milk they sell at the Ongyoku Bathhouse!
Is this like how some people only go to the bathroom as part of a group, Asakusa?
I'd feel weird going alone.
Why the anime club, exactly?
Well, because I love anime, of course.
Why not make something at home, on your own?
It's hard to make anything more than a short on your own.
And I need the right kind of environment, and an opportunity to get anything done.
And that means you spend your days just staring out at the campus?
What exactly are you looking at, Your Excellency?
Isn't it obvious, Kanamori?!
Look at this campus, built on the water!
Shibahama High School
The continued renovations, over time,
have created a layout both complicated and inexplicable!
A total lack of consistency between upper and lower levels!
The bridges that go into town!
Shibahama High School
That clock, which isn't visible from most of the campus!
Which means we usually end up looking at...
The clock over on the coast!
It's a public building shaped like a dungeon!
I want to make an anime with this school as the setting!
It's gonna look like this! What do you think?!
You get fired up at the drop of a hat, don't you, Asakusa?
I'm not sure what you want me to say...
We just enrolled here, and you've got all this... stuff.
Don't you have anything better to do with your energy?
Come on, let's go to the anime club's screening, Kanamori!
Make it four bottles of milk.
You're taking advantage of me.
A/V Room A
Anime Research Group Special Screening
Go on, go on. Head in there.
Please stop using me as a shield.
Doesn't seem to be very busy...
Let's sit in the back, Kanamori.
Let's sit somewhere else!
Start it up, please.
Conan of the Lost Island
What about this is entertaining to you?
You have this simple-looking, round machine,
that can fly thanks to a unexplained anti-gravity device,
which is depicted with an attention to fine details...
Like how they pick it up with their hands!
It's like when you push a car, hoping the engine will turn over!
They're taking the obvious visual cues of the animation
and using it to create an air of reality!
The spacing of the frame...
Establishing the location...
The relaxed pace that's set by the running!
The way it sets up the character's physicality!
And this sense of scale!
Look at the size contrast created in this crossover shot!
And by having debris flying around,
it creates a real sense of propulsion!
And the movement of the air...
With the character running against it, showing the resistance,
and how it pushes them around...
Right here!
You take something that's totally implausible, but pass it off like it is!
You take reality and then exaggerate it in a way that makes sense!
A character moves around on top of a background, and it creates an entire world!
Seeing a character wandering around a mysterious world fills you with a sense of adventure—
I understand, and you can stop now.
Getting more of an explanation than you asked for is excruciating.
Sorry about that.
I'll admit, anime is more complicated than I ever thought.
Excuse me, you in the hat?
Nice to meet you. I'm a first-year, too! Tsubame Mizusaki! I like anime, too!
Wow, close! Uh, yes! Okay!
Sorry to spring this on you, but I need to borrow your hat!
There she is.
Whoa, are those MiBs?
Thanks, see you later!
Wait, my hat? Where'd it—
Conan!
Kana!
A young girl, fleeing from villains...
She's actually a famous fashion model...
On top of being the daughter of some huge megacorp's boss.
I thought there were anti-monopoly laws to get rid of those.
This smells like cash...
And adventure.
Strawberry Milk
There she is!
Well, now...
What are they talking about?
I can't hear.
If this is just a lecture, you didn't need to follow me to school.
I was looking forward to the anime club's screening.
I don't understand why I'm supposed to put on an act just because my parents both do it!
I want a normal life! Going home with my friends, doing after school activities!
Our orders are to keep you from joining the anime club.
So if it was live action or any other kind of film club, it'd be fine?!
Correct.
Asakusa...
Go and make friends with Mizusaki, all right?
Being an animator is a real job!
You breathe life into all kinds of roles!
And not just people, but wind, the environment, machines...
Sometimes they create performances bigger than anything live action could!
Hey...
You're the girl who had the hat...
S-Sup! Sorry about the delay!
I was late catching my bike! Can you believe it?
Hey, it's almost 2!
Why don't we chill on the roof and chow down our lunches, Tsubamecchy Mizusaki?
Come on, there's a weirdo lurking around.
Uh...
Excuse me. Who are you, exactly?
Run for it!
Wait! Hey, hang on!
Get back here!
This way!
Go up!
There you are!
That guy works for my parents!
Thankfully, he's tough enough that that probably didn't hurt him.
Man, you grabbed me when I was taking a sip,
and now I'm covered in strawberry milk!
I am so sorry.
It's kind of crazy you thought he was some kind of bad guy, though.
Sending someone to spy on you at school...
Your parents keep you on a short leash, don't they?
Whoa, Kanamori!
They won't shut up about wanting me to be an actress.
I'm not allowed to join the anime club,
so I told him to get me a strawberry milk and slipped away.
Not that it matters now.
Wow, I smell like strawberry milk.
That's Mizusaki Tsubame!
No sense in chatting with an audience. Let's get you cleaned up.
Kanamori, I'm not sure we should be butting in this much.
What're you saying? First you save the princess, then comes the treasure.
This isn't about rescuing a princess from a villain! It's a family disagreement!
I know you heard her talk about anime, Asakusa.
Let's just escort her to the laundromat for now.
You're scheming something up, aren't you, Kanamori?
Is this where you sleep?
Mizusaki, that's where actual people sleep!
Wait, someone lives here?!
Here we are.
This is the laundromat?
Admittedly, it doesn't exactly give off the impression of cleanliness.
Coin Laundry
Rear Entrance Ongyoku Bathhouse
Wow! Why is it in such an out-of-the-way place?
There's a walkway on the second floor that leads to the Ongyoku Bathhouse!
Why's the air conditioner on the door?
Lots of places have cramped entrances.
It's bigger on the inside than I expected.
This place is a bit like my secret hideout.
Detergent
Change Machine
Take this as an apology.
Aw, you didn't have to...
I've got some cash.
Wow, thanks!
Oh, no, just think of it as an investment.
There's a waiting room on the second floor!
Coin Laundry
I love weird buildings like this. Can never draw them right, though...
You draw, Mizusaki?
Well, I want to be an animator.
What kind of things do you draw?
Take a look.
What do you say, Asakusa?
You can tell she's serious about being an animator.
Lots of figure drawing, the kind I have trouble with.
You draw too, Asakusa?!
Uh, well, I...
Here you go.
Thanks!
I'm gonna take a look.
Damn it, Kanamori, who said you could—
Let me go!
These are... image boards and concept designs right?
E-E-Exactly.
What's an image board?
It's the art done early in anime production to establish
the look and feel of the world.
Are you trying to kill me?!
I've wanted to make anime ever since elementary school,
and this is the kind of stuff I would always draw.
But you're the first person to ever recognize that it was concept art.
I've never met anyone who did concept design before.
Most people just do character art. Including me.
This is amazing... It's full of ideas.
You want to try an overlay?
It's like my art has a background!
That worked better than I thought!
Let's try with others.
Yeah!
How about this?
Nice!
And this?
It looks good! This is fun!
This is starting to get interesting!
Mizusaki, how would you like to make anime with Midori Asakusa here?
But I'm not allowed to join the anime club.
That's right! Where'd that come from?!
It's not like I have any experience, or know-how, or the guts to—
Why should a pair of bright young people
let nonsense like that stop them?
Do you want to make anime or not?!
If you can't join the anime club,
then you can just start a new club of your own!
We've got youth on our side.
That means we don't stand to lose anything here. There's no risk involved.
And I may not know anything about anime, but I can back you up in other ways.
Why would you do that?
Because a famous fashion model making anime sounds like a great way to rake in cash.
You want money?!
This ship is cool.
You think? I just drew it because I felt like I needed to try and do something
other than characters.
Asakusa, try drawing some lines on the frame there!
A couple of safety stripes, right?
Go ahead and pull mine out!
What do you suppose it does, though?
I hadn't thought about it, but I guess it's for construction.
In that case, some arms and winches would be good!
Winches?
Like the kind for spooling cables!
Good idea! Put some on!
Does it look good here?
Wow!
Y'know, I've never done any concept art before.
I like setting up concepts.
Did you ever draw a layout for a secret base when you were a kid?
That was always a ton of fun!
I remember adding traps and setting mines...
Not sure who they were supposed to be for.
The greatest world I can imagine!
I draw to bring that world to life,
so concepts are what it's all about!
You're really something, Asakusa!
In that case, let's keep going! Maybe it should have a light around here?
That'd make the engine look kind of cramped.
I'd like it better if it moved around in a more distinct way, though.
How about something like this? Wings like you'd see on a bug.
Oh, wow! That's awesome!
It can't really land like that, though.
Let's add some landing gear with tires for a counterweight,
and turn the ducted fans into contra-rotating propellers.
We can attach a tail to make it look like a dragonfly!
All-Purpose Manned Flying Pod Kairi
It's done!
Fantastic!
And the wings' surfaces are made of solar panels!
Plus, the structure for
the wing joints is modeled after real exoskeletons and muscle fibers!
It's tiny!
It has to be, to be light enough.
All right, let's do a motion check for the wings.
All good!
Hold it!
Oh, no! Let's get out of here!
The switch for the launch catapult is on the outside.
I'll go!
There was a door here?
Is this it?
Huh?
It says number three is empty!
That means there's no steam pressure! The catapult's not gonna work!
I'll push! Kanamori, help me!
Whatever...
Move!
All right! Get in, you two!
Come on!
It worked! We're actually flying!
Ice
Is there no way out of here?!
There are massive skyscrapers in every direction!
This is bad.
Over there!
It's too narrow!
We'll fly sideways!
It's not gonna work!
Huh?
What? What is it?
One of the wings isn't responding!
It took a hit!
We're gonna crash!
The three of us can figure this out!
Kanamori, let's try and shift the weight!
Oh, for the love of...
Yeah!
Ow, ow, ow...
This... It's the greatest world.
Is it just me, or did we go somewhere awesome?
It felt like we saw something amazing.
Oh, shoot, I need to go!
The new anime by the animation dream team of
Inoue-san, Ohira-san, and Iso-san is gonna air!
Can't you record it?
I've gotta see it live!
Which way is the station?!
I'll show you the shortest route!
I am not running.
But you always get better times than me.
Mizusaki, how fast can you do 100 meters?
When I was little, I used to say I could do it in one second.
Then we can get to the station in eight seconds!
Whoever's last to the station has to treat me to something.
See ya!
Hey, wait!
That's cheating!
You two are the ones who decided to just stand around!
Why wouldn't we?!
Kanamori, you're too fast!
Your washing is done. Please unload the machine.
Illustration by Aoki Toshinao