Anime Corner: Masaaki Yuasa

Hello friends!  The other day, Zer07 and I watched Masaaki Yuasa's animated film, "Mind Game."  It was quite possibly the trippiest movie I have ever seen!!  Aside from the trippiness, the movie left a big impression on me for its unique aesthetic and unconventional storytelling.  At times, the boundaries between reality and fantasy become blurred, but essentially, the story is about facing mortality and living life to the fullest.  If you haven't seen the movie yet, check out this crazy sequence:

It was exciting to watch something so unique and experimental come out of the Japanese anime industry, which is why we were excited to learn about Masaaki Yuasa's newest project, "Kick-Heart."  The project is described as a love story between two people -- a man who is a pro-wrestler and a woman who is a nun.  Each has a secret to hide...  

What's especially exciting about this project is that Yuasa and Production I.G are reaching out to an international audience to try and obtain funding via the popular crowd-funding site, Kickstarter.  Why should  you care?  This could start a trend towards a more interactive relationship between anime fans and production companies.  By showing support for unique projects like "Kick-Heart," we have the opportunity to directly influence what the anime industry produces.  If this Kickstarter campaign is successful, we could potentially see a new wave of innovative anime that pushes the limits of style and storytelling.

Join us in supporting Masaaki Yuasa's "Kick-Heart!"  Visit the "Kick-Heart" Kickstarter here

Until next time.... Ninja smoke bomb!!!

Exploring TVPaint

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Recently I've been using TVPaint to practice my traditional animation skills.  Shironinja and I are heavily considering using the program to produce a future project we're currently developing.  Right now I'm just familiarizing myself with the program doing short practice animations.  It's a great way to practice both style and motion while also developing my skills using the program.  Check out some of the work I've done inspired by the music of Digiflesh:

Rough lines:

Finished lines:

I still have to add some more line detail onto the "Finished lines" image.  After that I plan on adding color and a background.  I'll post another update soon.  Until then, feel free to comment or critique.

Intergalactic Pla.Ne.Te.Ree!

-07-

Update!  Part 2 can be found here.

Figure Drawing: frustration...

Ossu!  Shiro Ninja here.  Last week, Zer07 and I went to another Dr. Sketchy's figure drawing session.  The model was terrific as usual, but it had been several months since our last "live" figure drawing session, and we both felt a little rusty.  I tried to pay special attention to her silhouette and often ended up running out of time on these timed poses.  So frustrating!  Must keep practicing...

Shiro Ninja:  5 min. sketches, bottom left 10 min.

Zer07's 5 minute sketches.

Until next time... Nin, nin!

Therapy Session

Written by:  Unit Zer07 and Shiro Ninja
Art by:  Shiro Ninja