Film
We've definitely got to add all the coloring and sound effects
we had to skip last time.
Definitely. We definitely do!
A story, too! I want it to be even better than last time!
Even better!
96 days until the culture festival Let's double what we did last time Not double!! Synopsis: Robot VS Monster Title: TBD Setting: Shibahama High School 15-20 minute runtime "All Digital Animation" Now using Bit Winsoft across the board!!
If we're going to have dialog, that means we need voice actors, right?
We'll need to hold auditions.
I'd wait until the storyboard is done to worry about that.
What about backgrounds?
Colored this time. Naturally, I'll—
The art club actually wants to help us out this time.
They said our work
made an impression on them at the budget committee, much like the robot club.
Huh, that's pretty cool.
I'm sure they realize they can get something out of it.
As soon as Asakusa finishes the storyboards,
we'll meet with them to hash out the backgrounds.
A meeting...
You're going to need to explain to them what kind of art we need.
I-I can't tell people what to do...
Well, you also can't draw the backgrounds for every cut on your own, can you?
No groaning, moaning, or excuses.
There's one other hurdle to deal with.
The robot club has requested that an opening sequence be included.
Greatest, Strongest Robot Song
The song is already in the works, apparently.
Lots of Nutrition! Allgrapes Natural Sweetness
Bright Day Milk
Egg Biscuits
A
Cola
Recommended for 7 months and up
We'll discuss it in more detail once the demo track is ready.
What about the music during the actual film?
I think it should be epic!
Could you handle that, Mizusaki?
Never done it before. What about you, Asakusa?
I've never had a chance to try before.
I'll ask around to see if anyone I know writes music.
We've got three times the amount of time for production...
But will our club activity time be enough, Mizusaki?
No way! I've gotta work at home, too!
Animating designs with so many lines is a ton of work, y'know.
They say you're not a real animator until you can do 500 pieces of art a month,
but for anime, you need to be able to draw the necessary amount of art
at the required standard of quality,
which is nothing like randomly dashing off 500 doodles of whatever you want!
How difficult is it, exactly?
Imagine having to draw 500 rough drafts while wearing gloves and handcuffs,
and if you're even 0.02 millimeters off from frame to frame, you end up in hell.
But even before that, imagine having to uniformly draw ten pieces of art
that accurately move a millimeter at a time, while wearing armor, or you starve.
Having to draw three pieces of art, every hour,
with so many lines, while thinking about how it moves?
It's basically a curse!
Producing anime while in high school is impossible!
So the entire premise of this club is invalid.
How are things coming along for you, Asakusa?
So far, so good!
I'm pretty sure that can't be the case since we're having to adjust the schedule
based on your progress with the storyboards.
Mizusaki, do you have any suggestions for how we can improve our efficiency?
Well, it'd definitely be faster if we had a computer in the club room.
That way, we can handle the finishing touches and the photography here.
Having to use the PC room every time we need to make slight adjustments
definitely eats up time.
I'm heading out.
Episode 6 Let's Do Better Than Last Time!
Keep
Your
Hands
Off
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Kanamori never came back, huh?
I imagine she went home.
Main Gate
Let's get something to eat.
Kanamori is inviting us out to eat?
Wh-What is this place?
Does it look like a shoe store?
R a m e n
I can smell gasoline. Is this a good idea?
A few fumes never killed anybody.
This is my treat.
Whuzzat?!
Really?
Whoa, hold on! This is Kanamori we're talking about!
Nothing is scarier than a free meal from the yakuza!
It's fine.
I've just got ulterior motives.
That's the scary part!
Think of it as an advance on your overtime.
Since we're going to have to work on this project
outside of club hours to finish it.
Pickled
Garlic
That's more considerate than I would've figured.
Hardly. I'm only doing the obvious thing.
You'll be expected to work it off, eventually.
Bamboo Shoots
Seaweed & Salt
Roasted Pork
Ramen
Kake ramen!
Red pepper, please.
Can I get a soft-boiled egg in mine? With extra wakame!
And firm noodles?
Sure thing!
So, Asakusa, have you made any progress with the storyboards?
Es perfecto!
The time is before school is open.
That'll save us the trouble of drawing people.
Good idea.
Generally speaking, it's the same layout as Shibahama High.
Brrrmm... Brrrmm...
There are eerie movements underground.
Whoosh...
The water shoots up!
Splash
There's a sudden spray of water!
Here we have the base.
Computer Room Crane Hydraulic Pistons Hatch
Observation Tower War Room Rabbit Pump Water Tank Catapult
The first and second floor are directly connected!
Looks good.
For various reasons, the robot is now eight meters tall.
That's a fair bit bigger.
We'll need to confer with the robot club.
They're alerted to the monster's appearance!
There have been reports about vibrations being detected underground.
Darker than the last cut (but power is still on) Monitor is lit brightly
Wall
Rotating emergency light
Voice on the Radio: "It's a monster. A crab-type monster has appeared!"
Captain: "Move out! Everyone, to your positions!"
A1 (In Shadow) A2 (Normal)
The robot is being mobilized!
The team rushes to their positions!
Off go the bolts!
Underwater
The gate opens!
Bottom of Gate
Outer Wall (Bright)
Light up the rails!
All the various machines come alive in a dizzying fashion!
Preparing Launch
Launching
It launches!
Ejected from the catapult!
It encounters the crabtle underground before the creature escapes,
but once it re-appears on the school grounds, they battle!
The robot wins! The end!
Here you go.
The others will be a bit longer.
Go ahead and eat.
Appreciate it.
SHIBA8 is lit up Explosion SE: Pow! Struck by the cavitation, SHIBA8 is blasted back SE: Bang!
Time to eat!
These action scenes are extremely... broad, to put it lightly.
That's all up here.
Well, it needs to be on the damn page!
How is this "perfecto"?! You're supposed to be specific!
I'm not good at action, okay?!
I've been drawing a bit of action myself.
The arm shakes from the impact of the blow!
It pulls a leg back to avoid from getting too close.
That's cool!
And then, the arm is knocked back from the recoil of an attack!
The movements leading into a charge...
The wind-up for a punch...
When you're trying to show a powerful hit,
you need to include these little movements!
That's some high-quality acting.
Why don't we let Mizusaki choreograph the action scenes?
No objections.
Here's your kake ramen.
Sorry, the red pepper ramen's gonna take a little bit longer.
Time to eat!
I wanted to ask, what're we gonna do about sound effects?
They're really important.
Good question. What should we do?
For now, I can look into using royalty-free ones.
That reminds me, I've made arrangements for a computer.
How much was it?
Thirty-two thousand yen.
That is a thuggishly low price!
I talked to the information service research group.
Apparently, every time they put together a new PC,
they dispose of the old one, no matter how powerful it was.
Like when they tear down new buildings
just to throw up newer ones.
What about the software and other stuff?
It's already taken care of.
It is?!
You sure about this, Kanamori?
We're not gonna get raided later, are we?
Would you put a sock in it already, you cowardly raccoon dog?
For the software... the school already had paid for the licenses.
So it's... basically free.
Here you are. One red pepper ramen.
I guess this is part of why she's so tall.
Her ramen's gonna get cold.
Okay, I'm ready to start drawing when I get home!
If we're doing this on PC, there's a tablet at home I can animate on.
You sure you won't get caught?
It's easy to hide stuff when you're in bed!
I'm gonna be animating at home and on the train!
Our goal this time is to complete this anime!
Completion isn't our goal, it's a predetermined outcome!
We're not starting production, we've already started!
That is a terrifying way to eat.
Thank you for the food! Check, please!
That'll be 2,450 yen!
Separate tickets, please.
I make it a point to never carry more than 1,000 yen.
I'll pay you back for the ramen later.
What the heck?!
Student Council
The robot club explained what's up.
The student council has to track the flow of money.
Why, are you going to tax us?
It's just a simple check to make sure it's not being misused.
We've got a lot of crazy clubs, like yours, and it keeps us busy.
Akihabara Culture Group & Fermented Foods Advocacy Club: Odor complaints Drone Photography Club: Invasion of privacy Messenger Pigeon Club: Forgery of school documents Carbohydrates Revolution Lab: Dangerous protest activities Sound Club: Ignored order to vacate Lure Appreciation Club: Prohibited deals Neue Deutsche Härte Club: Noise complaints Saw Table Tennis: Destruction of equipment Man-Faced Fish Investigation Lab: Incitement of other students Exterior Club: Excessive spending on renovations
Messenger Pigeon Club: Forgery of school documents
Carbohydrates Revolution Lab: Dangerous protest activities
• Sound Club: Ignored order to vacate
• Lure Appreciation Club: Prohibited deals
• Neue Deutsche Härte Club: Noise complaints
• Saw Table Tennis: Destruction of equipment
Sound
Storage Building 3
Sliding Door
Music Room
Sound Club 2
Audio Room
Sound Club 3
Broadcast Room
Sound Club 4
Sound Club
Excuse me.
A sound-proof door, huh?
Would you knock it off?!
Who are you supposed to be?
I'm with the film club.
Film club? No, thanks.
I don't exactly need your thanks, as it turns out.
Wh-What?!
Give it up...
Hey!
Don't just barge in here!
A bit cold, isn't it?
What exactly do you want?
I'm here on behalf of the student council.
It seems you've been occupying four club rooms,
on top of ignoring orders to vacate them.
Wow!
Whoa!
This is crazy!
You got here fast.
This place is totally amazing!
This room has every sound effect you can imagine!
And how much do those cost to use?
There are free libraries, and ones for professionals
that cost hundreds of thousands of yen...
For movies, they tend to be custom made.
This room alone might be worth over five million yen!
All right, let's sell it all!
The library isn't for sale, not for whatever dirty money you're after!
You're looking at an audio collection!
A museum of sound, indexed by location, time, and recorder!
You could search the entire world and not find something this valuable!
That's right!
For example, look at these 72 different recordings of Kegon Falls!
Kegon Falls: Clear Skies, Rain, Snow, Cloudy
72 Variants
Normally, when you're indicating the season in anime...
You have cicadas in summer,
bell crickets in fall,
and dogs howling at night in winter.
Not a lot of variety, right?
But here we've got 72 different takes on the sounds of Kegon Falls!
That's every different type of weather condition multiplied times three plus alpha!
Forget the four seasons, we're talking about seventy-two times of year!
You're not going to find a massive record like that anywhere else!
Yeah, what she said.
Now, if you understand, get out of here!
Before I call school security!
You still don't seem to understand your situation.
I wouldn't try and threaten me, if I were you!
I'm recording this entire conversation!
You still don't seem to understand your situation.
SEARCH WARRANT
We're here to enact legitimate school council business.
Y-You can't trick me like you can everybody else!
Everyone knows that anarchists, street gangs, the yakuza,
violent criminals, and the eizouken are public enemies!
So if you try to stick me up and damage my precious sounds—
This has nothing to do with anarchy, bureaucracy, or anything else.
The bottom line is you're squatting here against the rules.
Read the damn thing!
I am done!
I give up! You can have the building back.
But do you realize how long it took me to move this stuff in here?
And you want me to clear out in a rush? When there's four whole rooms?!
That's not happening, especially considering I don't have a budget.
Wait, there's another four rooms like this?!
The whole reason I joined was the sound library,
but I'm the only club member...
And now I'm supposed to clear out right after joining?
I'm begging you, could you pretend you didn't see me?
Either that, or loan me some cash?
You expect a loan when your club's got no budget
and is on the verge of being dissolved? Damn, you're dumb.
What?! I won't let them dissolve the club!
I'm not seeing any other outcomes for you right now.
Yeah...
What a waste!
When there's all this great stuff...
Meanwhile, listen to our audio situation!
Stop those sound effects right now!
This is what we're actually dealing with.
Please, make it stop!
We've got basically no sound effect files.
And even if we were to take all of these files in,
we wouldn't be able to digitize them quickly enough.
How about it?
We're willing to loan the sound club our two stories
and one basement's worth of storage.
We'll also guarantee your independence and continued existence.
In exchange, we'll be granted free use of your sound library.
You can digitize and sell
the sound club's library in order to secure your own funds,
and we'll take a service fee.
One other thing... I'd like you to be an audio advisor on our projects.
If it'll keep the club from being dissolved, and won't cost me anything...
O-Okay, agreed.
We have a deal, then.
Yes! We just scored all the sound effects we need!
You'll need to empty this place out and move everything today.
Whoa, I can't manage that! I've got my hands full with existing business!
I should be able to manage next month...
I suppose that'll have to do.
But make it some time this month.
Right, understood.
How about we get a formal handshake?
So I can report it to the student council.
Who, me?
The name's Asakusa. Nice to meet you.
I'm Doumeki.
Doumeki? How do you write that?
The kanji for "hundred-eyed demon."
Oh, wow! That's cool!
Yeah, yeah, I'm taking the shot. Look this way.
And click.
Kanamori! Good morning.
How are things progressing?
Straight to that, huh?
Film
Asakusa?
G'mornin!
How'd you come in from up there?
I found a route into the club from the forest
that passes through the sound club's building three days ago!
Here's today's storyboards!
Wait, you already finished this much?
I see you're still fast when you get going.
I'm going exploring until first period starts!
Asakusa has this ability to draw an incredible amount once she gets going,
but she spends too much time not drawing otherwise.
How do the storyboards look, Mizusaki?
There's a big clang, and then a rumble...
And boom...
Four days of delays, and then three days' worth of progress.
Asakusa's motivation switch...
Okay, lemme introduce you.
I'm the club president, Okamoto.
And working on this is gonna be...
Nakamura and Kubo. They're both second-years.
I'm Nakamura.
I'm Kubo. It's nice to meet you.
H-Hello there! It's nice to meet you!
Let's begin, then. Asakusa?
R-Right!
Uh, um...
Here's the storyboard. We've also got the data for you.
This scene takes place at around 6:00 AM,
so the light would be coming from this direction.
Huh? What're these holes?
Oh, those are for pegs.
What pegs?
Uh, well, um...
They hold the animation paper in place when animation is being drawn.
It's also on the layouts, so you can use them to make sure
the animation and backgrounds line up correctly.
They'll be fastened to them too,
so please be sure to note the peg locations in the backgrounds.
What color is this car? And the model?
Uh, the car is going to be a cel, so we'll be drawing that.
Anything you see that's yellow will be on a cel.
A cel? What's that?
Well, it's not actually a cel in this case...
So, considering the type of material...
Hey, why's there no students around?
Wouldn't a buncha people running around be more of an anime thing?
Not that I'd know, but...
W-Well, having additional people makes it more difficult to draw.
That's why it's going to take place so early in the day.
Yeah, but don'tcha think it'd be weird if there wasn't a night watchman around, y'know?
Oh, sorry? Did I say something funny?
Never mind me!
What were you thinking for this one?
Uh... W-Well...
Something like this?
Oh, right. Yes.
You just need something similar in atmosphere. I'll leave the details to you.
But since it's going to need to match the cel,
make sure you keep these lines intact—
Okay.
So, where is this building?
R-Right...
Wait, what?
Film
Welcome back!
Huh? Where's Asakusa?
She needed to oxygenate her depleted brain.
Obsidian!
If the soil here was brought in from the residential area,
that means there might be more obsidian over on that mountain...
Since the school grounds are reclaimed land from a lake.
A groundhopper! They're so round and cute!
Groundhopper goes in the creature log.
I'll mark the boat remains and tires as not being able to be removed.
As for the geological log, I found some obsidian.
Soil is mostly clay, but with lots of stones.
There's a logic to all things.
A monster-fighting robot...
Wait. Is this really what we should go with?
I've been trying to avoid thinking about it,
but shouldn't it be able to fold its arms? And look directly up?
How does the pilot stay safe? Would they be protected in this thing?
I'm having trouble breathing. What if people criticize it?
Should we really have a robot like this?
Not to mention, giant robots are like a collection of lies in the first place!
In that case...
Let's ditch the giant robot anime!
Dumbass!
That's the one thing we can't do!
Stop rocking the boat.
But I can't come up with a robot premise that can satisfy everybody!
It's fine. Your art is already amazing.
People who can't draw always say that!
You're more cynical than I figured.
Don't you worry.
I've got an alternative in mind.
Behold!
What's this tiny thing?
1) Press down the pedal
2) Twist the seat
3) Squeeze the lever
4) As it goes down, they fold over
Hunting Mode (High Speed)
Normal
Both
Buggy (Electric Powered Model)
Track control levers
Accelerator
Brake
A vehicle that's going to take down the monster instead of the robot!
It's a buggy!
Taser Gun (Multi-Probe) Panel pressed Elected
Electric flow
Exterior Generator & Converter Cable length is 35 meters Not very portable, but has high output!
Buggy (Electric Powered Model)
Track control levers
Accelerator
Break
Tail light
It's perfect!
Completely unacceptable!
We all agreed to this after trampling through
those contradictions in that pain-in-the-neck meeting!
But the audience can be really harsh.
If we cut corners, the robot police will catch on fast.
The pilot can't see behind them. There's no space for an engine.
And how do they escape if there's an emergency?
Giant robots carry a lot of responsibility, after all.
And working on a robot anime means having to commit all kinds of crimes.
You're kind of doomed either way.
An imperfect giant robot...
Is my only option being doomed to settle for what we've got?
Since when are you slick enough to satisfy everybody with your art, anyway?
Well, what the heck am I supposed to do?!
Just draw, and stop worrying about anyone else.
My dear Kanamori, if I were that bold, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
You can be quite foolish!
You want me to slap you silly?
Listen here. This project is only in trouble if you think it's in trouble.
It's got nothing to do with anyone else.
Your only choice here is to draw the kind of robot
that you would be satisfied with!
Everyone is working their hardest to follow your directions.
That's because we all believe you've imagined something incredible.
I won't be particular about the final product as long
as it's done in time for the culture festival.
But if the finished product is some boring piece of crap,
then that's your responsibility!
Because you're the director!
Film
Is she back?
Changing just the interior, huh?
This is amazing.
So that's the trick, huh?
I'm resuming my expedition!
Behold my blade, the Lightning Flash!
I guess Asakusa's motivation switch is pretty random.
Random enough that we should let her run free.
Illustration by Eri Kinoshita