December 7th, 2011

Laura and I awoke to another full day ahead, beginning with a visit to Nippon-Ichi: the company behind the Disgaea series. It was a hell of a hike out to the studio, involving another trip on the shinkansen, at least three other trains, and a bit of a walk (about 2 hours total…). It was really cool to visit a new place, but it was exhausting as well.

            The company had it’s own building in the Gifu Prefecture that looked very official in comparison to the neighborhood around it. The interior was very clean and well organized, and they took us up to the top floor conference space in good time. The company began with a presentation, though it rapidly became obvious that our translator was struggling with the technical diction and rate of the presentation. Noriko stried to help, eventually having to step in  fully as a translator between us and the Nippon-Ichi representatives. I felt bad for the translator, but I’m glad Noriko stepped up to the plate.

            Nippon-Ichi considers itself somewhere between a developer and publisher company, seeing as it does a little bit of both, as well as taking development commissions. The company feels that American and Japanese game companies are very similar, and seem to be very active in targeting an overseas audience. The expressed to us that they are currently based in the console market, though are branching out into mobile gaming. Nippon-Ichi expressed that they see the line between mobile and console gaming disappearing, and they wish to be a company that can create game content that is applicable to a variety of mediums. It sounded like a very progressive idea and I’m interested to see what comes of it. The company’s overarching goal seemed to be the sale of entertainment in order to better society and provide good things. They wish to revitalize Japan as it continues to recover from the earthquake desaster in the spring, providing dreams and hopes through their merchandise. I was moved by their love of their country and desire to see it back on its feet. I only wish we could feel the same way about America sometimes.

            Nippon-Ichi walked us through their company structure, which mimicked the various other game studios we visited earlier in the trip. I found it interesting that Nippon-Ichi and its fellow Japanese game companies perfom user testing throughout the development process, while US companies perform user testing at the end, before the master version. It made me think back to From Software and the difference in development mindsets we discussed. I wonder if there is something that could be learned from the Japanese mind set, or visa versa? I’d like to see a mesh of some of these development strategies, and see if something successful might come of it.

            After discussing for a bit, the company brought in Mr. Suzuki, the manager of the Design Department. The conversation turned to Disgaea specifically, and the progress that the game has made. We discovered that Nippon-Ichi creates its own development tools in-house, building on the programs as the games develop. It was cool to see such a comprehensive company working on games and driven to make things to suit their needs.

            Moving from the technical aspects, censorship was brought up, and how they felt about the censorship that they had experienced with their games. They expressed that they are very nit-picky with translations, though they have had religious symbols and references removed from previous games. This has made them conscious of what may be censored overseas, and have even left some of these things out of the domestic versions. It was sad to hear that, but understandable. If they truly wish to be competitive on an international market, they have to (unfortunately) cater to the majority’s tastes.

            We wrapped up the visit with a photo-op with a Prinny (a penguin-looking character from the Disgaea series) before hustling off to find food and meet up with the rest of the group for our visit to Trident University. Yay more trains!

            We found everyone and were split into teams, joining up with some Trident students to engage in a scavenger hunt at Nagoya Castle. Laura, Christina, and I were will N, Yuko, and Mai. It was quite the adventure, since none of us really spoke the other’s language, but we managed to breeze through the hunt with charades and drawings and end up first! The language barrier was an interesting challenge and made it really hard for us to connect with them outside of the scavenger hunt. We couldn’t carry a conversation with the girls, so we were left to talk amongst ourselves and it was a bit fustrating. I had hoped to be able to share more of a connection…but I guess you win some, you lose some.

From there, we took some pictures and wandered the castle for a little while, before following the girls back to Trident. We all participated in a group activity, munching on chocolate and folding paper samurai hats and posingn in them. It was fun, though a touch quiet in our group. Afterwards, we took pictures and parted ways. It was a bit of an awkward experience overall, with the langage barrier. I was a bit jealous of the other groups that could communicate with one another, since they seemed to be having such a blast and getting along so well. I really wanted to connect with the girls in our group, but not being able to speak Japanese killed that a bit. It was disappointing for me, but I’m glad I got to have the experience.

      From Trident, it was back to Kyoto for our last night in Japan. Laura and I made a run to the convinence store for snacks and gift-things, before heading back to the hotel. We packed a bit more before dinner, enjoying the company of our peers as we ate. I enjoyed my curry before frolicking over the arcade. Since it was our last night, many of us wanted to blow whatever yen we had left on games and claw machines. I ended up winning Laura an alpaca plushy, much to her joy. It was so worth watching her face light up when she hugged it to her. It was then the fiasco of trying to win one for Michelle Ludwig. She watched me win the one for Laura and asked me to win one for her as well, but we didn’t quite realize how much money/effor that would take. 5000 yen and a good while later, Nikki was sweet enough to ask one of the employees for his help, and he aligned it just right so that Nikki could knock it down for Michelle. Much joy was shared and pictures were taken to commemorate the moment, and then we dashed out of the arcade so they could close. It was quite the adventure, and well worth the story that came out of it.

It was back to the hotel from there, where we had a youtube bonanza in the room, watching music videos and funny cat videos and just having a blast. I’m really bumed that I’m not going to get to see these people all the time after this It’s been so much fun spending time with them and getting to know them that it’s going to be weird to not have them around all the time.

            After everyone departed for their rooms, Laura and I packed some more before heading to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

December 1st, 2011

Today was a very late start, though very much appreciated. Rising at 1pm, Laura and I grabbed lunch at the Lawson’s across from the post office and meandered across the street to withdraw money. I found that I really enjoy oni-giri (rice balls), especially for lunch or breakfast. Something about the flavor of rice and seaweed is very appealing to me. I’m going to miss it.

            We met up with the group a little later, rumors flying about a mandatory meeting that had been called. After going out the night before, I was a little anxious. Noriko, Jose, and Shiro gathered us all together and informed us that we had a lot of freedom, since we are college students, but warned us against being reckless about it. They know that some of us have been going out and they can’t stop us, but they warned us against the dangers of the city at night. They asked us to be careful and not to do it if we could avoid it, for our own sakes, as well as theirs. If anything happened to us, they would be held liable. I and some of the other folks I had been out with felt really bad and apologized, though Shiro seemed to imply we were not the trouble case. It makes me wonder what actually happened to trigger the warnings.

            From the meeting, a group of us visited Nakano Broadway with Shiro and Jose. Talk about an anime lover’s paradise! Anything from figures, to plushies, to manga, to cds, this place had it and then some. Laura and I wandered the three levels, ogling at all the pretty and exciting things and weaving in and out of the stores. We found a fantastic, retro/used figure store, where Laura found an original Final Fantasy VII figure and I found an old Thunderbirds figure for my Dad. There were so many cool things in that store! We found a used DVD/CD store too, and got some awesome music; though it was a bummer that the DVDs wouldn’t work back at home. The store that took the cake was in a back corner, but sold just about any boxed figure you could think of. They had taken the figures out of the grab boxes and were selling them individually, so you could get whichever figure you wanted. Laura and I spent a lot of time there, trying to pick and choose figures. It took us a while, but was so worth it. If only I wasn’t on such a budget, eh? From shopping, we went up to the gallery, where they were featuring some anime-style art. There were some beautiful pieces, and it was wonderful to see the anime style outside of the animations and in a more classical realm. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time, so we had to bolt, but I’m glad we got to see the gallery.

            After spending way too much money, we rendezvoused with the rest of the group and headed back to Shinjuku, proceeding to drop off our things before Laura and I lead the way back to the Square Enix store. Time to spend more money! We all agreed that this would be our last trip to the store, so we each made all the purchases we wished to make. I’m glad I got to see the place so many times: it really is a beautiful store. I ended up purchasing the Odin shirt (summon from Final Fantasy XII) and a Cloud tumbler, and piched in with Laura to get our mutual friend a Chocobo. I’m sad that we won’t be going back, but my wallet is happy to be away. It’s unfortunately expensive there.

            We joined Megan and Giselle for a wonderful dinner of Tempura (so good!) near the hotel and called an early night, bunkering in to shower and do some laundry. Then sleep. Wonderful, wonderful sleep.

November 30th, 2011

Today saw a relatively early start and was very full with two company visits. Today was out Toei/Telecom day!

            Toei was first, after a train ride and a short walk. It was a large building, compared to the game companies we have visited thus far. I was very excited to get to see inside, and hoped that we’d get to see behind the scenes of what made the company tick.

            They took us inside to a conference room, handing us each an information packet before taking us to the testing room. The room had a larger ‘movie’ screen, a medium size television, and a little television in it, along with a cabinet full of sound and viewing equipment, as well as theater-style seating and a number of large videotapes. Each of the viewing screens served a purpose: the largest was for detail viewing, the middle for how it would appear to viewers, and the smallest was for color. They showed us an introductory film featuring the characters from Pretty Cure, followed by a few opening themes from some of their well-known anime. We got to watch on the three screens, observing the differences in each viewing experience. It was quite exciting to experience!

            From the testing room, they gave us a general tour of the studio, starting with the background area. Most of their backgrounds are painted by hand and we learned that, in one 30 minute segement of footage, there would be about 300 background paintings. 300! They allowed us to look at some examples before bustling us quickly through some of the work areas to the place where they cleaned up the line art and applied color to the characters. We were allowed to watch as one of the employees cleaned up and applied color to a series of images that would animate a character from One Piece. The used color charts to color the character, and then would test the color consistency with movement. One has to have extremely good attention to detail and be able to pick out even slight variations in color shades as the images pass by. I was boggled by the speed at which the woman went through the images, swiftly cleaning up and coloring the images. Knowing from previous experience, that is not easy, but this woman made it look like it was the simplest thing in the world. I was very impressed. The employee explained that she was using Retas Studio software when asked: a tool very similar to Photoshop.

            From clean up and color, we were led to the Special Effects lab, where we got to see how they put the final, significant touches on a scene. SFX are in charge of adding auras, smoke, dust, wounds, and other similar details to the characters and items in a scene, adding depth to the scene as a whole. They draw directly on a tablet, allowing them a deeper degree of versatility in their work. The gentleman who we were observing and interacting with explained that “What you can’t show with a drawing, one can add with special effects.” He showed us a couple of examples, such as adding texture to a flag and an aura to a character. It was fascinating as he took us through the step by step, showing us all the layers that would go into a single shot. He really ran home that one has to have drawing skills to be a SFX person, and that reference materials are invaluable. I really enjoyed watching him at work and I feel that I have a better appreciation for the amount of work that goes into anime now. Seeing the amount of detail going into each image blew my mind a little bit, for it was something I had just watched and let flow over me previously. Seeing these people at work, seeing the step by step, has really made me appreciate how much individual effort ends up in the shows.

            After SFX, they allowed us to visit their new gallery set up, which will be opening up to the public tomorrow. It was beautifully organized, featuring various storyboards, character sketches, and cells. The gallery primarily featured their newest series and we didn’t get to stay long, but I spotted posters from some of my favorite series and snapped some pictures for posterity.

From the gallery we proceeded back to the conference room where we were introduced to Mr. Azuma – the head of the Operation Planning Department. Our guide performed introductions and we all sat down for a Q&A session with him. Censorship was the big topic, seeing as there has been so much anime censorship stateside. Mr. Azuma explained that censorship was implemented by the company importing the work, and that they did not truly have much of a say in it. He also discussed work hours with us, explaining how the hours seem endless. Embellishing, he explained that animators tend to work at night, while others will work during the day, so the hours are not clearly define. If he had to set hours, he told us that they’d be from about 9am to 6pm. Mr. Azuma explained that productivity per day was not as significant as the quality of the animation and the meeting of deadlines. The studio as a whole is very proud of its technique and the quality of anime it has created, and wishes to continue that tradition of excellence as they shift to CGI. Mr. Azuma informed us that they wish to maintain the handdrawn quality in the 3D realm, and continue to deliver interesting works as the studio progresses forward.

            Mr. Azuma described Toei as having a character focus in many of its anime, trying to creat funny, interesting stories and characters that are acceptable for younger audiences. He specifically expressed that the studio wishes to maintain interesting characters, even though the media is rapidly changing. In targeting a specific audience, Mr. Azuma told us that the softer curves and simplistic designs reached out to a younger audience, yet the incorporation of certain trends would reach out to an older audience as well. I appreciated how they try to reach out to audiences of all ages, for it is not an easy thing to do. I believe they have been relatively successful however, seeing as many of my personal favorite anime from Toei are still enjoyable to me now that I’m older. I was also surprised that Toei outsourced much of their work, keeping the key animators and main project workers in-house. I supposed I shouldn’t be overly surprised, but I had thought most animation, even in-betweens and the like, were done in-house as well.

            As we wrapped up the meeting, our guide spread a number of goodies out on the table and asked us to take them all. We were all quite pleasantly surprised and came away with some awesome things. Toei’s generosity seemed to be a bit of bragging in comparison to the other companies I’ve visited thus far. They can afford to give things away for free, because they’ve been around for so long and are a very successful studio: some of the other companies we have visited are not nearly as well established.

            Expressing our thanks and saying our farewells, we departed from Toei on the hunt for lunch. Our translator took us to a place that was relatively inexpensive and we split into two tables in order to accommodate everyone. I had the pleasure of eating with Shiro and some of the girls, enjoying a shrimp/pasta dish and lovely conversation. The only downside was that we were in the smoking area, and had to deal with the billows of cigarette smoke that would float across our table.

            After lunch, it was off to Telecom! Telecom is the home of series like Inuyasha, Last Exile, Lupin the Third, and Detective Conan. Settled above a grocery store, Telecom looked run down and cluttered in comparison to Toei, though it felt more close knit then the other studio. The president of Telecom, Koji Takeuchi, gave us a personal tour, talking about the number of employees (60-70 total, all key animators, background artists, etc) and showing us where each section worked. We got to see some in-progress work from the new Superman series as it was being drawn, the area when they added color, worked on backgrounds, and when they composited it all in Adobe After Effects. We even had an exclusive viewing of part of an episode of Lupin the Third that they were working on to release later this week. It was fantastic to actually see After Effects in action. Getting to see a working that I know and use was so inspring. It makes me feel like I’m actually getting somewhere with what I’m learning, and that they’re actually applicable tools. It made me smile and get very excited.

            After the viewing, we proceeded back to a small sitting area and engaged in a Q&A with Mr. Takeuchi. He told us about the process of animation (it was encouraging to here that it’s the same, even in Japan), and how they started with hand-drawn storyboards and keys and ended up with digital in-betweening, shooting, and editing (yay scanning!). I found it interesting how Japanese storyboards utilize a top-down format, in comparison to our left-to-right in the US. I find it easier to follow on a singular sheet in comparison to the American norm, though I’m not sure using a top-down format would work well in the American industry. They map timeing the same way folks do in the states though: exposure sheets! The frame rate is no different either, staying at the good-old 24 frames per second. I found it interesting that, in comparison to Toei, Telecom does their SFX in After Effects, rather than the Retas program. Telecom uses Retas as well, but not for SFX.

            The internal ladder works the same way as it does stateside: start at the entry level and work your way up over time. Employees have to come in as an in-between, production assistant, or a similar, low teir position and earn a higher position in the company’s ranks. Not at all different from studios stateside.

            When we asked Mr. Takeuchi which series was Telecom’s most successful and why he thought it was so, he went to Lupin the Third. Lupin has been a conglomeration of various studio’s works, and Mr. Takeuchi believed that its action and romance appeals reached to a broad audience and made it successful. We learned that, though Lupin has come out of various studios, overseeing directors work to keep characters consistent: well, as much as they can.

            We inquired after Mr. Takeuchi’s opinion regarding the current 3D trend animation seemed to be taking, and he expressed his concerns. He feels that expression is difficult to work with on a 3D face, and explained that animators are trying to circumvent the problem by working with 3D bodies and hand drawn faces. The series debuting this technique is to be released by a big animation studio stateside sometime soon, or so we were told. In lue of this dicussion, Mr. Takeuchi expressed that, to be hired, animators need drawing ability, sense of perspective, and an understanding of acting. I could not agree with him more. Without these things, anime would not have the visual quality it maintains. It also would make the job that much more difficult, since (as Mr. Takeuchi enforced) the animation has to convey as many senses as it can even though it is translating through visual means.

            The discussion turned to the difference between anime and American cartoons. Mr. Takeuchi expressed that viewers can feel a tempo in anime through its continuous story spanning multiple episodes, and how the seasons reflect a passage of time. However, US animation gravitates primarily towards individual, self-contained stories per episode and lacks the same feeling of time passing. I fully agree with him! The reason I gravitated towards anime was because of those longer, more intricate stories that spanned multiple seasons. American cartoons bother me because they seem so shallow and simplistic in comparison, leaving them boring and almost annoying to watch for me. I was excited, especially since someone running an animation studio shared my views. It was encouraging to know that people were still in it for the story, and no solely for the gags and profit.

            We spoke briefly of Telecom’s relationship with Warner Brothers and the upcoming Superman anime, encouraged my Mr. Takeuchi’s positive view of the relationship between the two studios. The Q&A wrapped up shortly afterwards and we filed out, thanking Mr. Takeuchi profusely for a look behind the scenes and for his willingness to answer questions. The fact that we got to actually see things being worked on and had full access to the studio was so inspiring. I appreciated that a lot, and it really encouraged me to keep working at my studies and learn more about the programs. I’m excited to one day be able to apply what I’m learning in a setting like Telecom’s.

            We trekked back to the hotel and hung out for a while, joining up with some of the gang for a bit before heading out to dinner. I had octopus (which is delicious!) and had a really good time with the group, before going out for a night on the town, and then back to the hotel to sleep. 

November 29th, 2011

Laura and I slept late for the first time today. We did have anything this morning, so we stayed in bed until 10ish, though ended up out the door around 11. We finally found the Square Enix store! It was a quick walk from the hotel and was pretty easy to find. It was small, but exciting anyway. Expensive though. Laura and I got to sample some character inspired perfumes (Cloud, Sephiroth, and Lightning), each one smelling like the character, which was awesome. They had some beautiful jewelry and gorgeous shirts, not to mention a plethora of plushies and figurines. They even had a Sephiroth in the floor that Laura and I got to take a picture with! The clerk was a very good English speaker and was very helpful, even though Laura and I didn’t buy anything. We’ll be back though. And then we shall by all the pretty things.

            After our outing it was back to the hotel. I got to skype with my sister for a little bit, which was lovely. It was proving difficult to stay in touch with folks in the States because of the time difference, so it was nice when I could manage it. I couldn’t talk long though, dashing off to meet up with the group headed to Geisha Tokyo.

            I knew very little of Geisha Tokyo going in – I knew they were a smaller company, but I wasn’t all that clear on what their focus was. Visiting the studio was extremely insightful. Geisha works primarily on social games, with their biggest project being Alice: an Augmented Reality (AR) figure. The program utilizes a computer’s web camera and allows the user to ‘interact’ with a woman that appears out of a die they place within the camera’s range. The user can poke, prod, change, and even undress Alice as she makes complaints or even asks the user to stop. Watching the President of Geisha, Mr. Taisei Tanaka, made me extremely uncomfortable. Alice was just an object to the user, for him or her to do with as they please. That level of objectification was very disconcerting, especially knowing that a product like that was selling.

            Progressing from Alice after a time, we spoke more directly with Mr. Tanaka, discussing the company as a whole alongside where he felt gaming was going in the future. Mr. Tanaka’s response was that gaming is going social: no one has time for console games anymore. Believing that, he was focusing the company on mobile, social games – things that one can bring up quickly on the train or on the go to pass the time. He felt that business was more of a drive in the company than artistry, seeing as the money allowed them to keep developing games. He feels that games need to cater to the public and make a profit, regardless of what the developers want. It was an interesting outlook for me, considering that I am a console player with an appreciation for game artistry. It makes me wonder if I’ll be able to find the work I want to do, if many game companies share this outlook.

            Mr. Tanaka proceeded to give us a tour of the small studio, discussing the internal departments as we walked: designers, programmers, engineers, technical support, and human services. They were small, each within it’s own relative space, but with no real definition between each department. We got to speak with one of the employees who had come to the company from abroad and Mr. Tanaka was very eager to promote Geisha and encourage us to apply. After touring the space and watching some of the employees at work, the group resumed the overall discussion. I realized Laura was missing and went searching for her, discovering that she hadn’t been feeling well from Professor Noriko. I went and found her, Nikki, and Michelle Moy in the bathroom recovering. I spent much of the remaining time with them, keeping the ill feeling girls company until we departed. Geisha wasn’t what I had expected, but represents a facet of the gaming market that I had previously overlooked.

            From Geisha Tokyo, the group proceeded back to Shinjuku and we lead a portion of the group to the Square store again. I spent most of the time talking with Greg, having some really deep, philosophical conversations. We talked about personal views, what we want from life, societal issues…all the way to dinner. And then through dinner too.

            Dinner was lovely. Great food, good company and just a wonderful time. I was seated with Heather, Michelle Ludwig, and Greg, and had some wonderful conversations about societal standards of beauty and Final Fantasy. I definitely ate too much, but it was well worth it.

            From our wonderful group dinner, we all proceeded back to the hotel. Laura and I blues it up a bit before rejoining Greg, Josh, the Michelles (Moy and Ludwig), and Nikki and going to the arcade. We played some more Tito Drums, and I found a fun mech game. The player is basically in a bubble with a screen filling one’s vision. The player then selects a team and a mech, then engages in combat. It was epic! I was horrible at it, but had a blast. Too bad it was 400 yen a play.

            After arcade adventures, it was time to head home and get to bed. We’ve got a full day tomorrow, so time to get some rest. 

November 28th, 2011

           Dang did we have an early start. Up at 4am to meet in the hotel lobby for 4:30am…But we got to go to the fish market, so it was well worth it! It was a train ride and a bit of a hike away, but once we got inside and started the tour, it was quite intrigueing to watch. They had us on a specific path wearing vests that marked us as visitors and took us to a wherehouse space filled with people and fish. The fish were massive! I think they were tuna, laid out in rows on the floor with the buyers examining them. Then the auctioneers stepped up and the process of buying and selling the fish began. The auctioneers rattled off things in Japanese at a mile a minute, many going red in the face and out of breath by the time the ‘round’ had finished. With subtle hand gestures, the fish were bought and marked by a man with red paint to show who had bought them. It happened very quickly and was an amazing thing to watch. It reminded me of the floor in a stock market, except slightly more organized and with fish.

            We were lead back out into the pre-dawn after two rounds or so of auctioning, weaving through trucks and wagons, past a massive pile of Styrofoam to get back to the office/entry area we began at. Removing our vests we proceeded on our way back to the train and to the hotel, where most of us nabbed a quick breakfast at the convinience store in the basement before heading back up to our rooms. Laura and I ate and proceeded to take a quick nap before we had to meet up in the lobby for the Ghibli Museum.

            It was a train and a bus ride to get there (the bus had all sorts of Ghibli movie themes covering it, which made it extra fantastic), but it was well worth the trek. I was so excited when we got off the bus, admiring the outside of the building and the semi-forest it was located in. The building was adorable – both inside and out, as we discovered. Photography wasn’t allowed insde, but good lordy it was absolutely fantastic. Many of the windows were stained glass featuring characters from the films and the whole building was styled in a way that reminded me of a hobbit hole: all round openings, soft corners, and a wonderfully homey feel.  The first section we walked into displayed a genearal overview of what films the studio had released, as well as some of the things that gave the studio its start. From there, the group wandered in and we each went our own ways, many of us giddy like children in a candy store. The first area Laura and I stumbled upon featured life-size renditions of settings in some of the studio’s best known films: the forest from Princess Mononoke, Sophie’s hat shop, Kiki’s bakery, and even a life-size Cat Bus from Totoro! We spent a while in the Cat Bus, taking a breather and soaking it in before setting out again. Laura and I wandered into a section that was set up like the studio itself, featuring original storyboards, reference books, paints, cells…It was breathtaking to behold. It caught me off guard, just how much work went into the films and how detailed some of the preparatory work was! After taking a storyboarding class during the fall quarter and seeing how rough some of those were, I was amazed at the little details that were included in some of the storyboards available for viewing. Wandering further, we found a mini-Cat Bus for the children, as well as a book and general gift shop. We didn’t stop there until thouroughly exploring the rest of the museum, taking in the sheer beauty of the place and the work it contained. I finished the morning in the stores and the rooftop garden, spending a good bit of money on some pins and the Spirited Away soundtrack, as well as a Howl’s Moving Castle art book. The rooftop garden was pretty, crowned with the robot from Nausica. Many visitors wanted a picture with it, so the space was quite popular.

            I was sad when it was time to leave, but so happy to have spent time at the museum. It really inspired me to create something beautiful with my work and tell a story that is worth telling. I never thought I’d get to see half of what I saw inside, and it is probably the favorite part of the trip thus far. I also love how the movies reach out to children and adults both: the museum was filled with people of all ages, hitting home how meaningful and touching those movies are for people. I want to make something like that, that can reach everyone, no matter their age or gender.

            From the Ghibli Museum, a group of us headed to From Software on a series of buses and trains. Poor Laura and Josh almost got left behind when Laura’s card didn’t work and none of us looked back for her. They made it just in time, so all ended up fine.

            From Software was a brief walk from the train station, in a coporate-style building. We met one of the representatives out front with our hired translator, Noriko exchanging greetings with them both before we began inside. I had done a little bit of research on From Software before attending, stumbling upon an English translation of their website. There introductory power point embellished on what I had learned, adding to it significantly. From is a game development and publishing company, creating games like Aromored Core, Dark Souls, and Demon Souls. They started in 1986 as a software development company and progressed into games from there. They have about 200 people on staff and have done some of their games completely in-house (Armored Core specifically). Beyond console games, they are also working on developing internet games.

            Our speaker broke down the company for us, presenting a diagram representing how From is structured. The biggest departmental separation is seen between their Development department and their Administrative department. Development handles planning, engineers (programmers), graphic design, and sound creators; while the administrative end is composed of producers (those who take care of the commercial/marketing side) and directors (those who take care of the game content). It was interesting to finally have the departmental breakdown of a company explained to me. I knew departments existed, but I never quite understood how they were broken up and defined. It also came a surprise to me, that not everything was in-house. I had never really realized, even in doing my research on Square Enix before the trip, that companies might soely develop a game, but out-source for publishing, or visa versa. I am glad that we visited a company that does so much in-house work first: it allowed me to better grasp a semblance of structure that I can now take as context to other visits.

Mr. Miyazaki on the left, Mr. Yasumori on the right.

            After the introductory presentation, From brought in Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Dark Souls and Demon Souls, and Ogura Yasumori – the producer that handled Dark Souls’ marketing and press release content for the domestic release. We switched to a Q&A type panel, asking Mr. Miyazaki and Mr. Yasumori various questions about his games and the nature of the Japanese game industry as a whole. We primarily focused on Demon Souls, inquiring after how the game was made, what region it was targeted at for release, and other, similar questions. Mr. Miyazaki was very open and modest with us, explaining that Dark Souls was meant to appeal to those who enjoy convential games, and that it was not determined by region. He also explained that they had used a From Software original Library Engine (Dandelion), programming in the C++ language and using 3DX Max as its primary model generator. When we inquired to why a game was released on certain consoles, Mr. Miyazaki and Mr. Yasumori shared a chuckle and a knowing look before explaining that politics sometimes determined which console a game would appear on. They couldn’t go into detail, but we got the feeling that there were some interesting stories there.

            We moved onto broader topics from there, discussing the future of gaming, general tips for those looking to become involved in the industry, and some differences between the Japanese and American industry from their point of view. Mr. Miyazaki feels that the future of gaming is moving away from consoles and more into mobile games. He expressed that many people don’t have time for consoles anymore, and that he expects them to disappear as the industry moves forward. Judging by the chorus of agreement that came from many of my fellow classmates, he may not be wrong. This prediction inspired a hint of panic in my mind, alongside a stubbornness to not give up on consoles. Console gaming is my primary mode of gaming, since I find social/mobile games unfulfilling and cheap, for lack of a better term. I would rather sit down and take the time to get drawn into a story rather than play a quick game on my phone while I wait for the train. As such, I want to work on console games and continue to create the types of stories I love to play. If Mr. Miyazaki’s prediction comes true, then I may end up out of a career. I’m not sure I could go into social or mobile games in any true respect. Only the future will tell I guess.

            Mr.  Miyazaki commented on one of the biggest differences between Japanese game developers and overseas developers: the mindset in game construction. He described the Japanese industry as a constant process of critiquing and rebuilding the game, not quite knowing how it will turn out until they reach the end. In contrast, he explained the overseas mindset as having a prototype to build the game around, with the final product already in mind. After thinking about it a moment, I realized that he wasn’t far off. It also reflects the difference in overall mindset of Japan versus the overseas, though on a much smaller scale. It was an interesting revelation to be party too. Mr. Miyazaki also imparted some personal advice that I felt is so important to hang onto. First and foremost, he told us to be unique. Yes, it’s ok to draw from existing ideas, but he told us to understand why the existing material is the way it is, and to make it our own. He also said to not create something without having reason for it to exist. He was referencing more in-game, but those words really resonated with me for a reason I still can’t put into words. So much of what is created these days is the same or suits the same purpose of something that came before it. What makes something truly unique is telling a story or having a different reason to have said thing exsist. It’s hard to describe, but I feel like his advice, though meant for in-game items, applies a lot further than that for me.

            We wrapped up the Q&A with a presentation of a game that Joscelyn had worked on alongside some fellow DePaul students and some students from Trident University. Matsuri was the name of the game, and featured a 3D take on a 2D sidescroller. I really enjoyed the concept and Joscelyn receive a bit of feedback from Mr. Miyazaki and Mr. Yasumori, which was really cool. Then it was a group photo and a few game signings (Mr. Miyazaki didn’t seem sure what to do with all the attention. He was so modest and humble when it came to his work…It made me respect him that much more) before we were back on the road.

After From Software, it was back to the hotel to kill time until dinner. I hung out in the room with Laura, chatting with a friend back in Chicago before meeting up with Michelle, Josh, and Greg for dinner. We went to this awesome Udon shop and ate our fill on udon noodles and tempura (fried things of deliciousness. I had squid and shrimp) before picking up some beverages and heading back to the hotel. We ended up chilling out in the boys’ room, watching youtube videos and chilling out until we called it a night. 

November 27th, 201

Oh, wow. What a day.

We were up early, meeting in the lobby for 9:30 am. Laura and I grabbed breakfast at the convenience store, each partaking in two onigiri and a pastry (mine was sweet, with rasins and almonds). After everyone gathered, we headed out, going to the Hakuhikan Observatory (aka, those buildings with the weird things on the top in the third season of Digimon). We went up to the 45^th floor and looked out over the city of Tokyo – holy crap is it huge! Driving through the city, we didn’t realize how large it is, but standing in the observatory, all we could see was the city around us. It’s truly impressive. While we were up there, we did some shopping before return ing to the ground floor and beginning our walk to the Meji Shrine and Harajuku.

            The walk was lovely, and we got to see some fun architecture. It was amazing to see the transition from the city to the forested area around the shrine. It went from cityscape to forest very quickly and was impressive to see. The forest was so quiet and serene compared to the city, and smelled lovely. The shrine itself was beautiful, presenting a purification fountain outside and a prayer wall/prayer coin toss (coin throw, bow, clap area), inside. We even got to view at least two traditional weddings taking place at the shrine, which is apparently very rare (it’s a popular shrine). We spent only a short time there, wandering the space while taking pictures and a handful of us taking part in the coin toss bit. After meandering for a little while, we met up again and began walking, making our way towards Harajuku.

            Harajuku is one of Tokyo’s big shopping districts, featuring a variety of stores selling a variety of items. From posters, to autographed pictures and collectable cards, to clothes and Lolita-style dresses, it had a little bit of everything for everybody. We bee-lined for the Evangelion store, which was down one of the adjoining alleys from the main thoroughfare. I haven’t seen Eva yet, but good lordy could I appreciate the store. Clothing, bags, jewelry…you name it, they had something based off the show in terms of apparel. They even had swiss army knives with the coloration and patterns of the Evas. And that was just the main floor. The second floor was filled with the dvds, books, figures, postcards, more shirts and bags, glasses, mugs…all sorts of swag. It was a touch overwhelming, just the sheer volume of stuff, but was really cool to see. I really need to watch the series now.

            I purchased a postcard to stick on my wall before I went out to meet up with part of the group. Laura was talking with Frank as he opened one of his figures. He didn’t get the one he wanted (he got kaoru, instead of one of the ladies), so Laura went back in and got a different one of the same sereies, and traded her Auska for his Kaoru. We joined up with some other folks and proceeded to browse the shops, stopping to pick up crepes along the way for lunch. We all got sweet crepes (mine was a vanilla custard with strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream!), though Heather got one with a piece of cheesecake in hers, which made the whole eating of it an adventure.

            After consuming our treats, we proceeded to browse again, moving with the flow of the foot traffic and trying not to get separated. The number of people on the on street was hard to get my head around and was so packed in comparison to similar shopping areas that I’ve been used to. Add in people shouting and trying to coerce shoppers to look at their wears in a language I can’t even begin to understand…. I had to let a lot of it just wash over me. Otherwise, I would’ve been even more overwhelmed.

            Laura stopped at a couple of sock shops to look at gifts for her roommate, the rest of us trying to stay out of the way outside, or trailing behind her for the sake of continuing to move. We ended up finding this fun little store in an alley offshoot near the main entrance, which sported various bags, clothes, and fun knick-kancks. I perused the belts and suspenders, before wandering out and chuckling at some of the interesting shirts that a stand out front was sporting. There were no Engrish shirts, but they were quite amusing all the same.

            Heading out and reuniting with the entirety of the group once again, we proceeded to walk a ways and found ourselves (after a bit of a pause waiting to grab folks we had been missing) at the Shibuya Crossing. You know the pictures and videos you see online of that intersection in Tokyo that is flooded with people when the crosswalk sign goes green? That one. I was initially terrified to cross, watching the numbers build on the various corners of the street. It would be so easy to get separated from the group and swept away in the tide of people. S o, when the light changed, I latched onto Laura and we surged across the street. The pictures show you just how many people were crossing. Good Lord.

            We survived the first and managed to survive the second too, heading into the train  station and catching a train to Akihabara. By the way, the trains in Tokyo are fanta stic. Well-padded and heated seats, plenty of places for standing passengers to grab on, and they come every 2-5 minutes! CTA could learn a thing or two.

            Akihabara… Oh good Lord. I couldn’t get my head around it. I still can’t. so many stores, so many people, so much all at once. The sensory overload shut me down for a minute and all I could do was stare with my mouth agape and swear quietly under my breath. After everything I had seen today, the culture shock finally hit me hard at Akihabara. I was tired and worn out to begin with, but it was still so fantastic to get to visit. Laura and I tagged along with Jose and his group to Super Potato: a massive, 4 or 5 level retro game store. Another wave of sensory overload stuck as soon as we walked in, the number of old games and systems and everything just striking me at once. I meandered the first of the floors in a bit of a daze, just trying to take things in. The second floor was more exciting for me, featuring playstation and gameboy games that I recognized and played myself. Laura and I found quite the deal on some original Final Fantasy VII guides (in Japanese, but super exciting anyway), as well as some other wonderful games and books. We perused the other floors before heading outside, checking out some of the other shops near by. We stopped in a couple shops, proceeding to spend lots of money in rapid succession. We went into one store (Supermart I believe?) and I was enthused by the merchandise. It was like a Walmart or Target, except for all electronics and games. Talk about a techy’s paradise.

            After doing a lot of shopping, we wandered up and down the strip, just taking in the sights. I found it interesting how many of them seemed to be very male oriented, depicting well endowed, scantily clad anime women in many displays or sporting large quantities of similar merchandise. We even passed a number of adult stores with said displays, and in the arcade we stopped in, most of the crane machines were filled with male-targeted items. I wasn’t quite sure how to take this, even though the females have their ‘equivalent’ with anime bishonen. I did not see as much evidence of the female-oriented culture, however, and was left only to ponder the other side. I’m not sure what to make of the objectification of both men and women seen in many anime these days. I don’t think it’s right in either case, but…it’s hard to put into words. Seeing it in such large quantities made me uncomfortable, to say the least.

            Taito Games was a fun stop on our way back up the street to our meeting place, ending in Laura and I playing a game of Tekken before heading back down to the street. We gathered outside of the train station after admiring the Gundam Café, chatting with some of our group mates about our spoils. We definitely need to come back again to see everything! Two hours wasn’t enough.
            We caught the train back to the hotel, playing a bit of shuffle with regular versus express lines before getting to our stop and walking back to the hotel. We dropped our things off at our rooms and Laura and I met up with Greg, Josh, and Michelle. We went to a revolving sushi bar, which was fantastic. It was really easy to rack up a bill, but it tasted phenomenal. From there, we went to the Sega arcade and proceeded to spend our money on Tito Drums and, in my case, and Eva figurine in one of the claw machines. It was a wonderful end to a wonderfully busy day!