Sure, I said that people with a set of wheels
would be hired on a preferential basis, but...
But my Crescent Moon is a hard working, adorable...
Who in the world refers to a bicycle as a set of wheels?!
A set of wheels always means a car! A normal car!
Oh boy, I've blown this one. Looks like I won't be working here.
Have some tea, please.
Oh, thank you very much!
Don't worry. We're really short-handed around here.
Our conditions are strict, so few people apply even if we're hiring.
Right, Boss?
Can you be any more blunt?
Hey, you'll start today, okay?
Really?! Thank you very much, Sir!
All right, Chie, show the kid around the place.
Okay!
So her name's Chie. She's such a cute and kind co-worker. Terrific!
...and these are the animators' desks.
Nice to make your acquaintance...
The mornings in animation studios begin late.
Wandering Student
Animation is Fun!
My name is Kintaro Oe.
I'm an easy-going, job-hopping part-timer.
Right now I'm working part-time at an animation production company.
I'm a production administrator in training.
I recently discovered that the creation of animation
involves numerous production steps and a lot of people.
The job of a production administrator is to organize
and administrate the overall production process.
just finished collecting the completed cels.
Put them over there.
What are you doing?
I'm getting rid of the air bubbles that are in the cel paint.
By tapping the cel from the other side, you can pop the bubbles,
and that makes the cel come out nice and neat.
Wow, how educational.
You're sure an avid learner.
Being an administrator is no piece of cake, but hang in there.
Yes! I sure will!
A nicely developed body!
I'd guess her bust is at least 84 centimeters, maybe even 85!
Man, Chie's got it going!
While I may be an administrator, I'm only a trainee,
so most of what I do is odd jobs.
Animation production is full of things I never knew, so it's very educating.
People that draw and make the drawings move are animators.
They draw dozens of pictures on paper with pencil.
Animators are further sub-divided into two groups.
First, key animators draw the general outlines of the movement,
then the in-between animators fill in the rest of the movement.
All these finished drawings are transferred onto celluloid,
which must then be colored.
Producing anime is a tough job!
What's up, Kintaro?
This key sure is something!
Is it all right to draw stuff like this?
Don't worry, this company does smutty videos as well.
Her breast looks like Sakura < Bleep >!
Oh, you're familiar with this stuff too?
I was drawing these using this as reference.
Great stuff!
It's work.
But I like breasts that are shaped like this...
Hey, you're pretty good at drawing.
You really think so? I like to scribble in my pocketbook.
I personally prefer ones where they are firmly pointing upwards.
Yes, but lines like these can really draw someone in.
Kintaro, you're really good with boobs. Why don't you become an animator?
Really? Thank you!
Kintaro! What are you screwing around for?!
I told you to clean the place up before the guests arrive!
I'm really sorry!
Hurry it up!
I'll get right to it.
Hang in there.
Oh, please come right on in, Mr. Engawa!
Boss, the guests...
It's the sponsor and the original author.
Hello, Director.
Hey, hiya.
Mr. Engawa is here.
Oh, thanks for coming.
Yo!
Chie, who is he?
He's Tatsuya Engawa, the manga author.
You know, see the poster?
The ultra-popular author of "Imperial University Story"
and "Golden Girls" from the Weekly Comic Bungee Jump,
who can draw erotic illustrations better than anyone else,
and is the richest person alive and is really slick and handsome.
That Tatsuya Engawa?!
That's the image of how the film will turn out.
Okay, Director, I love it.
I just ask you to make this scene absolutely gripping!
Truly captivating!
Got it! I'll do my best to make it really hard-hitting!
Excuse me! Could I have your autograph?!
Who are you?
Kintaro Oe, twenty-five. I'm a production administrator trainee.
Listen here, Mr. Engawa is a very busy person!
Do you actually think he has the time
to give an autograph to a mere administrator?!
Sure.
Oh, it's so much like you, kind and everything!
I'm sorry.
There.
Thank you very much, Sir!
Guess that's it for the meeting. Why don't we get something to drink?
Forward ho!
I'd like to talk about the schedule.
You will have the project done by the deadline, right?
You have a month and a half to go.
The art in Mr. Engawa's manga is so rich in detail, it's hard to work with.
This hasn't come up before!
Kintaro! Have you finished cleaning yet?!
Oh, not quite!
Well, we'll make adjustments to the schedule as needed.
Of course! Otherwise it will be most troublesome!
By the way,
I don't think it was appropriate to say a "mere" administrator.
Oh, well excuse me.
There.
This sure is educating!
What the hell are you doing?
And so, I guess we're going to have to complete
the animation project within a month and a half.
The number of jobs assigned to me keeps on increasing.
Since I don't have a driver's license,
I have to carry everything by bicycle.
Animation sheets and cels become really heavy when there's a lot!
This is pretty hard work!
There are quite a few animators that work at home.
Their daily routines are all different,
so I have to be on stand-by at the company all night.
Most of the time I end up sleeping at the office.
Excuse me, Mr. Wakamoto.
Could you give me what you've finished in clean-up?
Here.
Thank you!
Mr. Wakamoto is the Director of Animation.
A lot of different people do key animation, so we need a director
who can maintain consistency in the art style and movement.
Oh, wow, you're an even better artist than Mr. Engawa!
Oh, really? Thanks!
The piece we're cranking on is an original animation plot
by Tatsuya Engawa titled "The Valley Where the Demon Cries".
It features a group of kindergarteners on a field trip.
They break the seal of a demon who then attacks the children.
It's quite a story, a fantastic spectacle.
But the schedule has become a fantastic spectacle too.
Well, thank you for this.
Kintaro, are you going to be doing a run outside?
Yes, I have to get more in-betweens started.
Could you get me a beef bowl from Matsunoya's on your way back?
No problem!
Kintaro, are you heading to Matsunoya's?
Get me a large beef bowl, please!
I'll get a ginger flavored beef pack.
Oh, me too.
Large grilled beef combo for me!
Could you get me a beef curry with a raw egg to go?!
When animators get really busy, they eat out less and less.
Their staple consists of packed lunches from convenience stores
with beef bowls and cup ramen for variety.
They aren't getting the right nutrition, and unburnable waste is collecting fast.
This can't be good!
Making food for yourself, Kintaro?
Actually, I wanted the animators to have a hot vegetable dish.
Wow, you're really into it.
I've worked part-time at a restaurant before.
You're doing good work, Kintaro. Let me taste-test it afterwards.
Sure, thanks!
Chie's so nice, giving me pep talks all the time. Gotta love it!
That cute Chie places her bottom on this!
Maybe her warmth is still there!
Oh, God! What am I thinking?!
But I can't stop myself!
Hey, what are you doing leaving the pot on the...
This sure is educational.
Okay now...
Oh wow, this really is something.
I bet you can't find anything in this mess.
There's trash everywhere. There's even leftover food.
All right then, time to clean it all up!
Kintaro!
Yes?
Did you clean my desk?
Yes!
Great! Now I don't know where anything is anymore!
You shouldn't be messing around with people's desks.
Okay...
It's great that you're enthusiastic about working,
but be more careful from now on, Kintaro.
This sure is educational.
Oh dear, my pumps got scratched.
All right! What do you have to say?!
What is this progress report?!
Three weeks to go and you don't even have a single scene filmed!
Please explain this!
Well, filming will begin this week...
And you're going to make the deadline, right?!
Well, the director is behind in inspecting the key animation.
We were hoping you would extend the deadline a bit.
How can you expect something like that at this late stage?!
You weren't planning on this from the beginning?
No, of course not!
You are in this as a business, are you not?!
This is certainly strictly business for us!
We aren't asking for a masterpiece!
But consider the aspirations of Mr. Engawa and the other staff...
That's something completely different!
It has nothing to do with the schedule!
Well, that might be the case, but...
Besides, in the original contract...
NO!
A right hook shot from a high angle!
Kintaro!
You damn pervert!
So that's the way you're going to be?! I understand!
Miss that deadline and I'll crush this company
with a breach of contract suit! Just watch me!
Boss...
About that talk...
My section won't get done on time.
Is everything all right?
With this schedule, the color coordination won't be done either.
Everyone, just as you heard, this has become
the gravest predicament our company has ever faced.
At this rate it's hopeless,
but you've got to bite the bullet and complete the film!
Please! Everybody!
Well, I mean, what else can we do?
We're really pushing it though.
When the director gets here,
we'll have to reorganize the production sequencing.
Everybody go back and review your assigned sections and...
Boss, the director was hit by a car and has been hospitalized.
That's it then.
No way it'll happen.
Well, Boss...
Don't look at my face!
Do not look at my face right now!
Scary!
You've got to keep your spirits up.
It'll all work out, for sure!
Thank you for what you did back there. You took the heat for me.
Did I do something?
If I didn't spill that tea, none of this would have happened.
What are you saying? That was a slip-up.
An accident. It wasn't any single person's fault.
Like I'm in any position to talk, right?
But it'll all work out! Come on, hang in there!
This is the last mad dash!
What I do has no meaning.
What?
All I do is paint cels every day to meet the deadline.
Nobody expects anything out of me.
All I do is paint.
There are no jobs that are meaningless, Chie.
Animation is extraordinary.
What?
Well... Don't you think so?!
I mean, animation's got full color with pictures that move and sound!
Manga and novels can't do that!
Plus you can do things that can't be done in live-action films.
That's animation's distinct charm.
The skills of the professionals keep all this going.
Nobody can watch anything unless everyone chips in to get it done!
I'm dazzled by the idea that I'm working along with professionals,
together participating in the creation of a film.
Chie, animation is fun!
Let's not give up until the very end! Gotta go for broke!
It's all a matter of studying!
Studying?
Whatever you say, something that's impossible is impossible.
Come on, the director's down.
Who's going to inspect the key animation?
Well, I'll carry the shots to the hospital and back and...
That's not the only thing.
There are numerous shots that haven't been worked out yet.
Ain't going to be no milk run.
We can divide the work and do our best...
Mindless effort ain't gonna make things better.
We're completely overloaded.
Then why don't we use computers like Disney does?
You idiot, doing animation with computers is no walk in the park.
CG takes a lot of time as well.
And where is the money for CG going to come from?
Are you going to cover it?
There's no way in hell. We'll never make the deadline.
It just can't be helped!
Hey, it's not as if it's your fault, Kintaro.
Yeah, I mean sometimes you just gotta let it go.
Well, it'd be different if we knew someone that worked in a CG firm.
I got it!
That's it! That's it exactly! Friends that do CG!
Hey!
Yes, this is TN Soft...
Kintaro?!
Oh, God, I searched everywhere for you!
Where are you now?
What? CG?
What? Anime?
Well, we don't specialize in computer graphics,
but we could make wire-frame guidelines.
Okay, I'll be waiting. Bye-bye.
Everybody gather around! We have an emergency!
Excuse me, I gotta get to some meetings!
Study! Study! Study! Study! STUDY!
I can't thank you enough, Kintaro.
It's all part of studying! Any other problems?
I need reference material for cut 218.
I'm so happy you remembered me, Kintaro!
Actually, I have a favor to ask of you.
My swimming?
Sure, will an 8mm video be okay?
Thank you so very much! Yes! Yes!
Do you have a fax machine?
Then I'll send it right off!
I don't know how I can thank you for all of this.
All right!
Here is the reference video you asked for.
Thanks a bunch.
Hey, what about cut 230?
Right! Study! Study!
Kintaro! Haul those shots to the photographer's place!
Right away!
Please! I beg you!
Hello, I'm from Ganeya, the noodle shop.
I have some food for all of you.
I'll get some delicious noodles ready right away.
I know you must be going through hell, but please hang in there.
Yes, Ma'am!
It seems that animator types are attracted to girls like Noriko.
How very educating.
Kintaro, help me peel the tracing paper off!
Sure!
Please have all of this checked by tomorrow.
Sure I can do that, right?!
Please, I'm sure you can!
Damn! The voice actresses for tomorrow bailed!
I have somebody in mind!
Hello!
Wow, it's all so cool!
Nice to be working with you!
Girls these days aren't nervous and shy at all. These two will work fine.
Thank you, Sir.
Boss?!
No! We got this far, but it's not gonna make to the lab in time!
Kintaro!
I've got it covered!
You're our only hope!
The last reel!
Leave the racing up to me!
You're in charge now!
Screening Schedule
The Valley Where the Demon Cries
Too cool! Too cool!
What?
What's going on?
Could it be?!
Could it be that they hate it?!
Is it because I screwed around with some stuff in it?
Oh, what am I going to do?!
The End
Awesome!
All right!
I'll be expecting the final re-edited film day after tomorrow.
First thing in the morning.
All right, we have one last clean-up job to do.
Boss, Kintaro's gone!
His bicycle and luggage are missing!
What?!
He's run away again?!
Damn it!
Bastard! Damn it!
Bastard! He can't be far!
If we lose track of him now, we'll never be able to get hold of him!
Wait for me!
Wait for me too!
Go for it!
Chie, you're not going after Kintaro?
No, I have to get back to the studio.
I have to get the last of the re-editing done!
Kintaro Oe, twenty-five years old.
Tokyo University Department of Law dropout.
However, he independently withdrew from school,
because he had mastered the entire curriculum.
Since then, he has been changing jobs numerous times,
learning about life.
Riding his favorite bike, Crescent Moon, he keeps on moving.
And perhaps someday, he may save the anime industry...
Oh, no, I mean, even the world...
Kintaro...
You taught me how fun this job is.
You taught me how important this job is.
You taught me all that, Kintaro.
I'll see you again someday, won't I?
Study!