How's it look?
A little crooked on the right.
Too far.
There! Perfect!
Now that is quite the sight.
It looks good!
Studio...
Eizouken!
Film
What if we had the logo walk by at the beginning of every project, like this?
I love it!
We don't even have a project yet.
Oh, there you are, Kanamori—
Didn't I tell you two not to get ahead of yourselves?
But since we've got a meeting place—
Film
It just looks like a random sign that says "film."
A good design is about paying attention to the minute details that—
More importantly...
We need to fix up the building and then get to some actual work.
Because otherwise, our little group is going to be broken up.
Hang on! The eizouken only just came together!
Do you think we have all the time in the world?
After a certain someone spilled the beans about our
anime production to a teacher?
No way... I thought you convinced him to back down!
Are you getting enough oxygen to your brain?
My arguments were all just to get him to back off for the time being.
If he thinks about it calmly, he'll realize that we don't have a case.
My point being, if you don't want to take that sign down,
Film
we need to accomplish something.
Film
Episode 3 Let's Accomplish Something!
Keep
Your
Hands
Off
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
It's time to begin the briefing for our repairs of the club room.
A lack of suitable seriousness will not be tolerated!
Okay!
Kanamori, if you could get us started.
The phrase "pure profit" speaks to the
long-held dream of doing business without any initial costs,
but in reality, doing anything without incurring costs is next to impossible!
We've been able to obtain an animation desk and fans from the school for free,
but even those aren't usable without additional elbow grease.
The greatest example of which is this decrepit club room!
To wit: if we do not repair the holes in the walls and roof,
our crucial equipment runs the risk of water damage—
That's a alpine black swallowtail!
Catch it!
Wow, a butterfly!
Butterfly, flutter butter fly fly!
I have to say, the two of you are doing an incredible job of staying serious.
Uh... at this point I'd like to remind you all that we,
previously, came upon the sizable sum of 30,000 yen!
We did!
The footage of my fall from the second floor
managed to sell for 30,000 as accident footage.
And if you'll look here, this is all that remains of those 30,000.
It has been nearly exhausted in service of the roof and wall repairs.
A moment of silence for our late comrade, the 30,000 yen!
Silence!
Dearly departed 30,000 yen, please send a large group
of your comrades to my pocket.
I guess 30,000 yen is a lot of money?
That's about as much as I got for allowance when I was in third grade.
Raccoon dog!
Row row woof, it's a raccoon dog!
It's a sign!
Asakusa, we should start a festival! It'd be great!
Row row woof, it's a raccoon dog!
Get serious!
We are finishing these repairs today!
Any idiot who wastes further time
will be punished without mercy, so keep that in mind!
R-Roger that.
Film
Well, I'll handle the external holes, so the inside's all yours, Kanamori.
Please take this seriously, Asakusa.
But of course!
I have my doubts about that.
You say that, but Asakusa is pretty cool.
Gross. What brought that on? And how, exactly?
I have a big problem with people who start a conversation by praising someone.
That sounds like you!
But repairing the walls seems like a lot of work.
Isn't it impressive that she volunteered to do it?
She's only doing it because she wants to.
Asakusa is self-interested in that way.
You mean she enjoys helping people?
She isn't considering the fact that the work might be difficult.
Getting to play with a drill is fun to her, and that gets her motivated.
So it's more like our interests aligned!
That what she's like.
Think about grade school. One student always rushed to
the broom closet when clean-up time came.
They didn't really want to help clean.
They wanted to play with the coolest-looking broom.
That's a great example!
I guess there wouldn't be any motor noise, since space is a vacuum.
The effects make for a stronger impact,
but I think I'll deliberately go with muted sound.
There!
Would liquid paint float off before actually drying in space?
That calls for electrostatic powder coating!
Hang on...
In a vacuum with no gravity, wouldn't the ship develop an electric charge?
Will a regular electrostatic charge be enough for the powder to coat properly?
Ah, who cares, it's my fantasy!
No big deal if it's a little bit more convenient for me.
That just leaves applying the heat.
Care to explain why you're doodling and wearing a worn-out bucket on your head?
Uh, well...
I was just imagining what it'd be like to train to repair a spaceship.
A spaceship?! That sounds like a ton of fun!
I figured as much.
The walls can wait for now, so could you at least take care of the roof?
Film
What do you have your bag?
It's a manned maneuvering unit!
I'm going, too!
There we go.
This is so high up! Awesome!
Wow, the hole is huge up close.
It's set. Do you think you'll be able to close the hole?
It's just sticking another panel over it! Piece of cake!
No accidents, please.
Let's commence the mission to repair the spaceship.
I copy!
Ta-dah!
Club Room Ship Layout Eizouken
Mess Hall
Rear Hatch
Observation Room Not the bridge.
Captain's cabin
Beds
Extra-large rangefinder Not engines.
Antenna, not aerodynamic wings
The lens changes state from liquid to solid instantaneously, extending the range of the telescope
Ship's Hull Since it's a medium-sized space-faring vessel, it can't fly in high atmospheric pressure or high gravity, and it also can't withstand atmospheric entry. Designed with typical vertical orientation, but because gravity control is a pricier option, it'll be operated in zero gravity.
A ramen bowl developed with the intent of making ramen slurpable even in zero gravity.
The scientific community spent 10 years and 12 billion dollars to develop this bowl which rectifies the issue. (79,8000 yen)
The Eizouken's Club Room Ship!
The hull! Since it's a medium-sized space-faring vessel,
it can't fly in high atmospheric pressure or high gravity,
and it also can't withstand atmospheric entry.
It uses typical vertical orientation,
but since gravity control is a pricier option,
it'll be operated in zero gravity.
Classical design!
It has a bulbous bow like you'd see in a maritime vessel for wave resistance,
but since that's pointless in space, we'll stick the radar in there!
The frame is made of a special material
that can transmit electrical and optical signals,
which eliminates the need for various cables!
By altering this material, you can create
optical and electric circuits inside of the frame that function like computers!
This is the part of the vessel that needs the most advanced technology!
And to allow for the slurping of ramen in zero gravity, there is—
Enough!
The hole must've been caused by a debris impact.
It's pretty long.
The impact must've been at a shallow angle.
We'll use a hydraulic cutter to remove the warped parts.
And here's the Pistol Grip Power Tool, PGT, which needs no introduction!
I've never heard of it before.
Well, it's a battery-powered driving tool that's been
used since the first mission for the space telescope's—
Debris! Take cover! Now!
No way! It's hailing!
Yeowch!
The sudden rush of debris made the club room ship's emergency lock engage!
This is bad! I have to go to the bathroom!
We don't have much oxygen left.
Hey!
Mayday, mayday! Please respond!
Yeah, yeah, this is the command room!
Is it an incident or an accident?
An accident! The ladder fell down, and we're stuck up here!
Requesting assistance!
I need oxygen—I mean, to use the bathroom!
What in the world are they doing?
Kanamori, I have to go!
That assistance is going to take a second.
I've got a bit of situation down here, too.
Help me!
We're down to the air in our suits!
Please! We're gonna die!
Good grief.
M-Mizusaki, calm down! Take deep breaths!
We're doomed!
I'm not sure why, but please release the emergency lock.
We've got two astronauts on the verge of bladder rupture. Over.
Or alternatively...
All right, the ladder is up! Now get down here!
K-Kanamori...
The bathroom emergency is taken care—
How'd you get down?
We slid down the gutter pipe—
I ended up having to smash through a wall.
That's extra labor and expenses, which I assure you will come at a cost.
This rescue costs a week's worth of bottled milk from the Ongyoku Bathhouse.
S-Seven hundred yen, huh...
Fourteen hundred yen, actually. I intend to drink two a day.
Film
All right!
Now to make a name for ourselves, so we can get promoted to club status!
How are we going to do that?
Well, we're the film club, so the smart thing to do would be to
produce something high quality to make our case to the school.
Heavy...
So heavy.
And here I thought being a club advisor would be good for my circulation,
but my beard feels heavy, as usual.
Oh, and here.
Budget Deliberation Committee
The seasonal budgets for clubs and associations
are based on the presentations given here.
Well, good luck with that.
Let's announce a project at that with our presentation.
If we succeed, we'll have made a name for ourselves,
gotten promoted to a club, and secured a budget!
It'll be three birds with one stone!
It's time to go on the attack!
Yeah!
It's essentially a place to announce plans to the student council and teachers.
Shibahama Food
Today's special
Here's your beef bowl!
I'll take a shoyu ramen with with extra seaweed and nori!
The format has each team make their presentation in the gymnasium,
which is then the basis for their budget during that period.
Here's your shoyu ramen with extra seaweed and nori!
Two bottles of milk, seven croquettes, and one red bean bun with smooth paste.
Wait, we've gotta go up in front of a crowd?
That's right.
Each group has ten minutes to make their presentation.
Our film production association is going to be requesting 60,000 yen.
That's the maximum amount an "association" can ask for.
So the anime should be about five minutes long?
We'll have to start with a script and some storyboards.
Quality isn't our prime concern here.
We need to make a big impact with the least effort possible.
Our goal is to overwhelm the committee and secure funding,
along with a promotion to club status.
Aw, I wanna take the time to make something good.
Easily said, but we only have 55 days to finish it.
If we go for 12 frames a second,
a five minute film means you'd need to produce 3600 drawings.
Factor in additional work beyond animation,
and the two of you would need to work 50 days in a row non-stop, without sleep.
That being the case, we need to begin as soon as possible.
Let's... make the runtime... three minutes, then.
We can't get started if we don't have any idea what the story is, though.
I've got a bunch of ideas stockpiled over at my place.
End seat is first come, first serve!
Well, I get to sit on the end on the way back!
This is my trip home anyway, so no rematch for you!
Dang it!
In Association with Tsubame Mizusaki
Huh.
I think the car's been hijacked by ads starring you, Mizusaki.
They definitely give off a different impression.
Can we shake your hand?
Of course.
Thank you so much!
You're very welcome.
She's switched into popular model mode.
We're big fans! Please, keep up the great work!
Shibahama South Building
This place is pretty neat!
M'home.
Gimme one sec.
Here we go.
Well, that's certainly detailed.
I looks like it'd be a lot of work to draw.
Let's avoid anything too complicated.
Exit
I like this one. It's relatively simple.
It's basically just a stack of cubes, after all.
Are we fine with using this for the location?
I like it! So, what's going to happen here?
We just need the animation.
Tank coming through!
Compact frame!
Two main guns!
And it comes with flashy hydropneumatic suspension!
Is that flashy?
To her? Most likely.
Ta-dah! The personal defense tank!
APFSDS Armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot
HEAT High-explosive anti-tank ammunition
Armor-Piercing Round
Gun-launched anti-tank missile
A trusty, fully-equipped vehicle which provides consistent support for our adventures!
Uses an odd caliber of 16.873cm. Has both rifled and smoothbore barrels. Length 300mm.
Able to jump up to 1m vertically
High-end hydropneumatic suspension makes low riders you'd see in the streets seem like kids' stuff.
Continuous tracks result in zero relative speed with the point of contact, which is cool!
Reaches speeds of 190 kmph, even on rough terrain.
An older design that resembles a rice cake.
It's cool how using continuous tracks
results in zero relative speed difference with the point of contact!
It can hit 190 km/h, even over rough terrain!
A trusty, fully-equipped vehicle which provides consistent support for our adventures!
The turret knocks the entire turret rig backwards
to eject the shell casing, after which it sits back up!
The sound's a bit out of sync.
That's detail in the sound effects.
Light travels faster than sound, y'know.
Think about light—
Okay, enough.
This is great and all, but can you draw it, Mizusaki?
Well, I've never done effects
like smoke and fire before, so I'd have to try first.
But the kind of animation I want to make is more like...
Sliding down an incline—
And falling!
Too plain.
You know that some animation puts a focus on realism, right?
It can be really ordinary, everyday actions...
But when animated, it looks really amazing!
Isn't there something more efficient?
Some kind of animation spectacle that
would be impressive to anyone who's watching?
To me, this is the most spectacular animation there is!
It'd cost too much for how plain it is!
You can even use limited animation, but please,
make something that's more flashy!
Animation is supposed to be about motion,
and animators are supposed to make stuff move!
—make stuff move!
Y'know, some professional animators will pick up a sword
and swing it around while working.
Summer Anime Special
How It's Made!
Part 3: Attention to Detail in Animation
What kind of poses happen when you've got a sword on your hip?
How does it look when you unsheathe it?
How do the wrinkles bunch up when you move in a hakama?
They work while studying all those details, not just imagining them!
Being an animator is like being an actor!
But you portray more than just people...
The movement of dogs and cats, the ocean, the weather...
Cars, planes, all of that is the animators acting!
I want to draw realistic, lifelike acting with my own hands!
I don't just want to make anime, I want to make animation!
—to make animation!
It won't matter how flashy the subject matter is
if the final product has less motion than a picture book.
That won't make a good impression with the review committee.
Technical experience is valuable, but more than that,
hurting the artist's motivation seems unwise.
Fair enough. Let's combine the tank with what you're trying to do, Mizusaki.
How about a schoolgirl with a sword fighting a tank?!
You can put the focus on realistic acting with the girl's animation!
Oh... okay.
And we can balance that by making the parts with the tank
and the explosions as over-the-top as we can.
Sounds good to me!
Should the sword be a katana?
How about a machete?
It's a bit more realistic for combat,
and you see them in action movies all the time,
but not too much in anime, I think!
I like the realism! Let's go with that!
Her hair should be able to flutter in the wind.
So cool!
Maybe I'm missing something, but how's she going to be able to fight a tank?
What if we give her an oxygen tank and mask?
Huh?
The world she's on has low gravity!
Which means the atmosphere is thin, and you need the mask to breathe!
But in exchange, since she came from a world with stronger gravity,
she can jump around all over the place, really quickly!
Since you won't have to worry about the face,
you can put your focus on the action!
Faces take quite a bit of time, after all.
I wanted to draw expressions, too.
Then how about simplifying things for the long shots,
but then you go for detail during the close ups?
Yeah! That should work!
Okay! Let's do that!
You're getting fired up!
I can't believe that animation paper costs so much,
when the only thing special about it is the holes.
Wouldn't punching holes in regular paper be good enough?
Hello... a hole puncher for animation pegs?
It's the exact three holes needed... this'll cover its own cost in no time.
So one thing we can do to make things look flashy without extra work
is draw one explosion,
and then copy it, to make it look like a string of blasts.
I see.
Oh, there's that thing where you build up tension during a big attack...
Cut between the tank, the girl, the tank, and the girl,
enough that it starts to seem repetitive!
Ta-dah! A vast world!
A girl in a gas mask!
And her foe...
Wouldn't it be easy to shoot someone who's jumping around?
We can give her a cable gun, then.
And then, while firing the cable, she climbs up a wall!
All to get in the blind spot of the tank,
since its turret can't aim high enough!
But then!
Will it all work out in the end?!
Dun dun...
Illustration by: Tsukumizu