I finally got a chance to see the Kazuo Oga show happening at the MOT today. I picked today so that all the kiddies would be in school and most normal people would be at work. There's nothing more tiring than trying to see a piece of work with 50 other people breathing down your neck.

Well, silly me...


That says "70 minute wait", btw.

Fast forward... No pictures from inside the show unfortunately. The show itself was well layed out and packed full with his work. Some reaching far back as the early 80s with his work on the Barefoot Gen anime and some post-apocalyptic stuff I've never seen or heard of before. Nuke clouds and burning cities all meticulously rendered. It was quite depressing stuff actually but beautiful nonetheless. It was a stark contrast to his idealized images of nature and family friendly cityscapes. Before his Ghibli works section, they had a little diorama set up of the Totoro lair that you could peek inside to see the big Totoro asleep in his den. His chest moved up and down. It was cool but a bit cheese. The following 3/4 of the art portion of the show was selected works from the Ghibli films in chronological order. Totoro, Kiki, Porco, etc. Truly amazing stuff. His colours are so vivid and his work is super tight but at the same time surprisingly loose. It's hard to explain. When you watch the movies everything tends to blur so I'd say what the viewer gets is only a mere impression of these completed paintings. And they really are paintings. Dramatized with carefully calculated shots to tell a story, yes, but holy shit, man... this dude can PAINT. It reminded me of work I was studying back in undergrad except not as high contrast and bogged down with biblical narrative. An art critic would probably have a field day arguing it as fluff but it would most likely be followed with a punch in the mouth and a kick to the junk. Just because. Anyway, the show was sweet.

A coupla pictures from the snap happyable area:

They had an additional "how-to" section adorned with a short film showing Oga working on a piece from the show. Also, some animation tips and tricks and a film production streamline. A nice little addition to the earlier pieces.

They also had this fold-your-own-Totoro room where you got to do some origami. The face was left blank so you could draw in your own. Very clever.

Here's mine...


I'm undecided whether making this show into a "Ghibli-fest" drew attention away from the art or not. It certainly helped make it a complete experience and one enjoyable for both kids and adults. I'm probably just thinking too much into this. It rocked, yo.

TAK

Round 2. Shueisha. After the last interview I went in with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I'll get to that in a minute.

Once again, a 3 o'clock interview. Shueisha has 3 seperate buildings. All very modern and sleek. Not as much security as Kodansha but I did see guards looking imposing and eyeing visitors. Same routine of filling out a visitor form and getting a badge but this time we were led to a small room to wait for the editor. There was a public conferencing space with cubicles right outside but it seemed pretty full and boisterous. The general feeling was very informal and casual. The editor came and ordered us something to drink while we exchanged greetings and business cards. I'd met the editor last Christmas thanks to C.B. Cebulski and my writer has a friend who had worked with him so there was already a connection established allowing for some small talk.

Fast forward as I pull out my print-outs. He was very thorough with his viewing. He'd brought us a copy of a magazine he edits so it was nice to have something to do while we sat there. He went through it twice and his following critique centered mostly around the story and characters. We took notes as he suggested things to make the concept a little tighter and the characters a little more likable but, in the end, he liked it and thought that with a bit more work it would be marketable. He touched on a few art details like adding more "manga-isms" in order to create tempo but mentioned not to cater too much and to balance it since it made it unique. He also asked me to incorporate bigger and wider panels but other than that it was good and he was supportive. The interview lasted about an hour-fifteen. Maybe an hour-thirty.

So, basically, we're in bizness. We're gonna work closely with the editor to produce another 30-something pager as a one-shot and see how things develop from there. This still doesn't mean a regular gig by any means but it's a foot in the door. I have a feeling his art requirements will become much more severe in the later stages but for now I've got direction and an opportunity.

Rock.

TAK

I spent the last week chilling out and decompressing. I have to renew my visa by the end of November so I had brunch with my uncle today to talk about the required paperwork and how to fill it out. It should work out fine which would allow me to stay another 3 years plus an option to keep renewing after that time. I think. I recall the immigration lady saying something like that and urging me to just get a Japanese passport to avoid the hastle. That's also another option but if it requires me to give up my Canadian citizenship it's a "no thanks".

I'm gonna go see this by the end of the month. It's a gallery show for the background painter from the Miyazaki movies, Kazuo Oga. Pretty stoked about this. I think the success of Tonari no Totoro lies heavily in the hands of Oga and it's gonna be amazing to see the painted works in the raw. I don't have anything on my walls besides a calender and my crappy drawings so it would be awesome to dress it up with a poster of his work so I can be humbled on a daily basis. The following image is stolen off the internet:


My web guy Tu has uploaded the checklist section to my site as well as updated the profile page. I honestly don't remember much of what I've drawn so if you happen to have something I've worked on and you don't see it on the list please post a comment and I'll make sure it gets on there. Even if it's only a cover.

Oh, I've begun work on the commissions. I'll try and get them done in the next few weeks. By month's end for sure.

TAK

I had my meeting with Kodansha yesterday. I'm not really sure where to begin with this report so I'll just start at the beginning and write about what I remember. I was pretty dazed and confused throughout the visit so there might be some backtracking. Bear with me.

My meeting was at 3 in the afternoon. Took a train with my writer (yes, I'm working with a writer) that let's us off right at Kodansha's doorstep and, first of all, the place is huge. It looks like a courthouse with a surprisingly high level of security roaming in and outside the building. There was a building attached to the main one where visitors have to go to fill-out an ID form, be given a badge and wait to be personally escorted. I sat for a bit while trying to calm my nerves and eventually the editor came down to greet us and guided us upstairs where an entire terrace and floor was devoted to tables and chairs meant for meetings and powwows. I'm gonna be pretty anonymous with names and titles from here on in just to be safe, btw.


My writer had previously mentioned that I'd worked for companies in the States and that I'd moved here hoping to get work in Japan, blah blah, so I didn't have to explain where I was coming from with my style and look and all that so it was really just down to business. The editor flipped through my print-outs while I sat there totally blanking. I didn't know what he was gonna say and he was expressionless throughout his viewing so there weren't any hints for me either. Anyway, he put down the pitch and came straight out with that it wasn't good enough. There were problems with both art and story but I'll just focus on the art since that's what I'm most concerned with.

One of the major points was that it didn't have enough "manga-isms" to it. By that, he meant, more light-hearted touches like those wacky faces and more humourous touches that many people associate with manga backhome. I studiously avoided any of that stuff and it seems it came around to bite me in the ass. Also, not enough movement in the images. If you check out my more physical scenes or action sequences for SMLMJ or BFX you'll notice that I mainly work with suspended shots rather than blurry and trailing arms or legs. He mentioned it's okay to use once in a while but when it's the same note throughout it loses it's impact and becomes dull. The sound effects weren't dynamic enough either. He cited examples and it quickly dawned on me that I should've taken more care and time with what seemed like something rather minor to me. The way I greytoned everything came across as rather lifeless as well since I'd filled in the majority of backgrounds with gradient just for sake of having something. Ultimately, it just wasn't drawn well or tight enough. He suggested maybe entering a seasonal contest for new talent his magazine had since I was at that level or assisting an established artist to pick up certain techniques I was lacking. Other than that, he couldn't really do anything for me. I asked a few questions and we talked about some of the story elements afterwards but that was pretty much the bulk of our conversation. The entire interview lasted about 45 minutes.

I was disappointed of course but it was disappointment directed at myself. I don't like making excuses and I was very thankful he was being honest and forthright. I really needed to hear what he had to say. Especially now. I think I'm still trying to come to grips with reseting my style and look for a market that I've only known through reading and reading is good but doing is much more important. To be honest, I thought I'd shed some of my habits from backhome but yesterday really made me realize I had to fuckin' heave everything out the window and start fresh. Daunting, yeah, but I sorta have to.

I had coffee with my writer afterwards to review our review and decide to on what we wanted to do. We're gonna try another publisher to hear one more opinion before changing course but we're assuming the result will be the same. Not good enough. Faaaaack.

I recall a Paul Pope interview I read a while ago in which he stated he'd produced hundreds of pages that never saw print and it's quickly sinking in that I'll probably be treading similar waters over the next year. Not that I'm anywhere near as proficient or as good as that guy but the process of getting a gig here seems to prerequisite that amount of patience and effort. And then just maybe little bird...

TAK