Third Aerial Girls Squad
Are you nervous, Miyamori?
Yes.
Let's just relax.
That's right.
Um... I'm sorry there isn't any color in episode one.
Yeah, I wish at least episode one could have been all-color.
I'm terribly sorry.
Don't pick on our ace, Inanami-san.
People are saying you've been strict with the young ones lately.
Oh, stop. I decided I'd be the nicest sound producer this year.
You say that every year.
Suzuki Kyouko Voice of Aria
Good morning.
Good morning. I'm Suzuki Kyouko, and I'll be playing Aria.
It's a pleasure to work with you.
Glad to have you.
Suzuki-san.
Yes?
You shouldn't sit on the end like that.
Sit in the center.
But I'm new.
That doesn't matter. The lead role sits in the middle, new or not.
Okay!
Okui Yui Suzuki Kyouko's Manager
We're from Hairen. Please take care of Suzuki today.
Sure. It'll be our pleasure.
All of our actors are here. Please begin introductions.
Right.
So, Katsuragi-san, the director, and... Huh?
Is there anyone here from the author's side?
Ah, Nodome-sensei won't be coming.
His editor, Chazawa-san, isn't here yet, either.
And also, Watanabe-san.
Miyamori, go in my place.
Huh?
Let's go, Ace.
Oh, right.
All right, we will start the recording of Third Aerial Girls Squad today,
so let's have everyone introduce themselves.
First, Katsuragi-san from Western Entertainment.
Hello, I'm Katsuragi.
Aerial Girls is a popular title from Yotaka Booksellers.
Um... Oh, yes. And it'll be animated by
Musashino Animation, who has been on a roll lately.
And, um, what to say... I really hope Aerial Girls takes off
and becomes a huge hit, thanks to the cast.
Yes. Take off into the sky!
And that's it from me. Thank you.
Thank you.
Next is the director, Kinoshita-san.
I'm Kinoshita. Well, Aerial Girls is...
Hm... Um... Do you have any questions?
Yes!
I'm Suzuki, who'll be playing Aria. Um... What's Aria's...
Aria's?
...blood type?
Blood type?
Yes.
I'm sorry. I don't know.
Oh, I see. I'm sorry about that.
Um... That's all. Next is our production desk...
Huh? Wait, is that all, Director?
I forgot what I was going to say.
Win-win, remember? Come on!
Ah. Right.
This title's theme is "win-win."
I want to make it a title that'll make everyone working on it happy.
And the lead will be
all of you, the cast members.
You really do say that to everyone.
Shh. They'll hear you.
I heard you clearly, Director.
Ouch. You're harsh, Itou-san.
And now, let's hear from Miyamori-san.
I'm the production desk, Miyamori Aoi.
The staff and director are all fully behind Aerial Girls.
I truly believe that all those involved in this project are stars.
It's only one cour,
but we'll work just as hard as all of you on the cast.
Thank you very much!
Thank you.
Good work. You looked great out there.
Good job, Ace-kun.
Me?
What about me?
Nope.
All right, we're starting the test.
You Set Me Up!
Thank you for your hard work.
Next week, we'll be doing interviews after the recordings.
Oh?
Funny story, are you done recording?
No. The girl playing Aria is staying a little later.
Oh, my.
I'm terribly sorry for the trouble that Suzuki is causing.
Not at all. This happens all the time, so please don't worry.
I'm so sorry.
Smoking Room
Her voice is nothing like how it sounded in the audition.
It sounds a bit flirty.
Maybe the rumors that you're harsh on the young ones made her self-conscious, Inanami-san.
I told you, I'm the nicest!
Well, she is pretty new.
Sorry, I've got another thing I have to get to, so I'll be off.
Thanks.
Miyamori, go on in.
Ah, is the recording starting?
No, um... Here.
Thank you, Miyamori-san.
Oh, you remember me?
Of course.
I remember all of the staff listed in the script.
I don't have any other shows, so...
Third Aerial Girls Squad
We're starting, Aria.
Right!
Please do your best.
I will!
It's like ice...
I've already
thrown away my heart.
All right, take a break.
She's almost there.
She just needs to sound a little more natural.
I've already...
I've already
thrown away my heart!
Aria, did you stop anywhere before coming to the studio?
Yes. After getting off at the station, I bought water at the convenience store.
The convenience store here?
No, the one right next to the beef bowl place.
And you bought only water?
Um... Yes. That was all today.
Do you have the bottle?
I already threw it away.
There. One more time.
I already threw it away.
Okay, just like that. Start with "already thrown away my heart."
Ah! Already thrown away my heart.
Too much force, again. Say it like you did a second ago.
I've already thrown away my heart.
We're recording.
Um... Lieutenant Catherine.
Cathy.
Cathy...
Your memories really haven't returned?
The B1B that we believe has loaded the pillar's seed
is being guarded by fighter jets and is drawing near.
Please stop it, at all costs.
Let's go, everyone.
Right.
And we got it.
Ending
Thank you very much!
Okay, do it just like that next week, too.
Yes!
Not you.
Um... Is Ookura-san back yet?
The president hasn't come back from his meetings yet.
Sorry, and you've been calling every day...
It's fine.
Oh, it's possible that...
Bird Park... I can't find
that studio anywhere.
There it is.
Yakitori Bird Park
Pardon me.
Um, is there someone named Ookura-san here?
Um... Ookura-san?
Ookura-san?
Hm?
Ookura Masahiro Ookura Koubou President
Who are you?
Nice to meet you. I'm Miyamori from Musashino Animation.
Musani, eh? I'm surprised it's still around.
I came today to ask you something.
What would you like, miss?
Huh? Oh, oolong tea, please.
What? No alcohol?
I'm driving.
Damn.
Man, I'm so alone.
Aoi-chan.
How old do you think I am?
I have no idea.
I'm asking you how old you think I am.
About fifty?
So close! I'm sixty.
You look very young.
Young? You know how to make an old man happy.
She's just being nice.
What? That's not true, right?
Um, I came here to ask you if you'd do a job for us, Ookura-san.
It's for a series that's set
to start airing this fall called Third Aerial Girls Squad...
What could the world where backgrounds are now digital
want me to draw with my paint and paper?
I'm not an art director anymore,
and I'm just treated like a loud-mouthed old man.
I know no one likes me because I have a temper.
If you know that, why not fix it?
Because I can't.
Do you understand, Aoi-chan?
Um, there's a scene we'd like to ask you to do the background for, Ookura-san.
Ask me, huh...
Do you even know what I've done?
Of course. Neighborhood Space Squad, right?
Nope. I didn't.
Huh?! Um, uh...
I'm so sorry!
I'm kidding.
Our director says he really wants you to work on it.
His name is Kinoshita.
Yeah, sure. I'll do it.
Huh?
I'll do it.
Really?! Thank you so much!
Um... Then I'll be by tomorrow at 5:00 PM with
the art director to go over the scene with you.
Yeah, sure. Be happy to.
And as for things to bring...
Um... Ookura-san?
He'll be out for a while.
Huh?
Don't worry. Just leave him be.
Hiraoka-kun isn't here again today?
In his email, he said he was stopping somewhere.
Miyamori-san, did you find out where?
No, I'll confirm when he gets here.
By the way, Miyamori-san, I heard from Nabe-chan that
you got Ookura-kun to accept a job?
That Ookura-san?
Yes!
I can't believe no one's there, even after 3:00 PM...
That's pretty amazing of Titanic...
Is that even acceptable for business people?
They don't have a lot of people working there, so it can't be helped.
Huh?
Well, it'll be fine as long as everything works out in the end.
Hiraoka-kun, please let us know the places where you're stopping every time.
Yeah, yeah.
It shouldn't matter as long as everything works out.
Kunogi-san...
Oh! Do you want me to look at your key frames?
I think they've gotten better.
She's moving properly, too.
Let's go with this.
Re—
It might be returned,
but that always happened to me, too.
You get better by submitting and doing retakes over and over again.
Dir—
The director?
Sto—
The director's storyboards?
Well, he started as a production assistant, so his drawings aren't great...
No?
Letters... Bro—
Bro... Brother?
Looks—
Oh, it looks like your little brother's handwriting.
I'm sorry. I heard that you called...
In regards to Aerial Girls episode five, we haven't received even one layout yet.
Could you let us know what's going on?
Uh, well...
Ah. It looks like over half is done.
What? Then why hasn't it come to us?
Looks like all the cuts are stopped at the episode director.
Mimura Kenichi Studio Titanic Production Desk
He's so busy that he only comes by
two times a week, at night.
We have to have our director check, as well,
so could you please start having them finished tomorrow?
Well, I'll ask him, but I'm not sure...
Thank you.
Miyamori-san, have you gone to Ookura-kun's place yet?
I'm heading there now.
Oh, good. Here's a gift for him.
Please tell Ookura-kun that
it'll be a pleasure working with him.
Atsumi-san, are you nervous?
Of course. Ookura-san is
the whole reason I got into this business.
Oh, really?
The scene in Neighborhood Space Squad where the town died out was amazing.
Man, my head hurts.
Good morning. It's Miyamori.
This is the art director of Aerial Girls, Atsumi-san.
Hello, I'm Atsumi Yuuji.
I'm told you'll be helping us. Thank you.
Um...
Who are you people?
What?! Ookura-san,
I'm Miyamori from Musani. I met you last night at the yakitori place.
I don't know you.
We talked! You even accepted the job!
We haven't even met before.
We have met! I even gave you my business card.
You put it in your wallet.
I'm telling you, I haven't gotten a business card.
I'd remember that much,
no matter how drunk I was.
Hm?
Production Desk
Aoi-chan. I remember now.
Sorry about that.
As for yesterday, sorry. Please forget about it.
I won't be taking the job.
But...
What?
Nothing... I'm sorry.
You're Atsumi? The one who worked under Aoyama?
Yes...
If he said anything about me, it's a lie.
Especially if he said anything about when I was at Sawamori-san's. It's all a lie.
Right...
Um, in regards to Third Aerial Girls Squad...
We're done with that. I'm not doing it. That's all.
In the animation, we've asked Atsumi-san
to concentrate on the atmosphere of the air and the feel of the clouds...
The clouds are 3D, aren't they?
Yes! My job is to make sure the sky is consistent with them.
We'd like you to work on a very important scene completely separate from that.
If I were you, I'd rather die than ask an old man like me
to do such an important scene.
Why don't you do it yourself?
Well...
See? You want to do it, don't you? So do it.
Of course, if I could do it all myself, I would.
I have some pride.
Right?
But right now, my head is full with trying to make
a spectacular sky and clouds for the planes to fly through.
When they mentioned the scene with the ruins,
the first thing to come to mind was your scene
of the town dying out in Neighborhood Space Squad.
But I'd never be able to come close to that.
You're kidding.
Then I'm like a ruins myself.
Or something.
Please. Let me learn from you.
That's even more reason to do it yourself.
Surpass me.
Don't rely on an old guy like me.
Well, then, I'm off to drink.
Want to come with me, Atsumi?
Oh, yeah...
This isn't much, but...
What? Is it alcohol?
Oh! These couldn't be...
They're dorayaki from Konekoya!
How nostalgic!
This! The way the red bean paste just instantly melts...
How did you know I liked these, though?
Um, Marukawa at our office asked me to give them to you.
Who's Marukawa?
He's our president.
So Marukawa-san is back at Musani...
That's playing dirty! You set me up!
You let me eat this first, then dropped Marukawa-san's name.
That's not fair! You should have said that to begin with!
You're the one who just started eating it, Ookura-san.
Oh, also...
There's something else?
Marukawa said it'd be a pleasure working with you.
I see... Marukawa-san said...
it'd be a pleasure working...
Yes.
With me...
Yes!
Man, I can't even let my guard down for a second.
Just the ruins scene. Nothing more.
Yes!
Thank you very much!
I'm sure you know this, but I only work with paper.
If you dare add anything on top of it, I won't forgive you.
Yes, of course!
So, would a one-shot background without doing an art board be all right?
Huh?
Yes, that's fine.
Thank you very much.
Well, damn!
There must be at least two hundred cuts here.
The episode director at Titanic released all of the layouts that were at him.
Director, you can get all of the checks done by today, right?
No, no, no, no! Three days... No, at least two.
All right. By the end of tomorrow, then.
Miyamori!
The bentos at the convenience stores usually get there by 11:00 AM,
but if the clerk is slow, they don't all get laid out until 11:30 AM.
So the battle's on
between 11:45 AM to 12:00 PM.
That's important.
Right...
Sakai-tei
Also, Sakai-tei. Their fried chicken bento is the best!
It's Director Kinoshita's favorite.
Other than that, there's the mixed cutlet bento,
or we can go back to basics with the dried seaweed bento...
Hey, Miyamori, what's with these layouts?
What?
Look at Catherine right here.
We discussed in the meeting that she'd be in regular clothes, but she's in her uniform.
Not to mention, the pose in the next cut is different!
On top of everything, this!
In the storyboards, it's Aria, but in the layout, it's Tatiana.
Ah...
Did they just overlook all of the messages and things they promised?
They didn't even do a minimal amount of work.
There's no way the episode director looked at this.
But there's a signature...
I can't believe these have been checked by the episode director!
Maybe the production team at Titanic
just said they were checked.
Does that even happen?
Of course we'd never do that.
Can you get a hold of the episode director?
Right now?
Look, here and here. The poses are totally different.
Yakushidera Zaruyoshi Episode Director
Not to mention the character is different.
That was my mistake, I'll admit that.
But I'm working on five shows right now,
so it's not going to be perfect.
That's not the point.
Are you even looking at the dialogue sheet?
I am.
I mean, this is a scene full of tension, and the line is "The enemy's here!"
And yet it's using four seconds.
"The enemy's here!"
I decided that was fine.
Anyway, could you be a bit more careful with this?
All right. I'll look over them again.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Kinoshita-san.
I'll back down this time,
but if you keep doing things that don't suit TV,
you'll wreck again.
Director?
I can't say anything back, but I'm so frustrated.
What? He's off?
Ookura Koubou In Call
Yes, he said he won't be back for about two weeks.
Huh? I thought he declined the job at Musani.
No! Do you know where he went?
Not a clue.
Could you give me his cell phone number?
The device you have dialed is either out of the service range or is turned off.
Are you all right, Miyamori-san?
He ran. When it came down to it, it got to be too much effort.
I totally get it.
What?! The episode director quit?!
Yeah. When he came back,
he said he wouldn't be able to do Aerial Girls. Out of nowhere.
I knew he was busy, but...
Then how about another episode director?
There isn't anyone
who could do it on such short notice.
Worst case, it'd be me.
What? Mimura-san, are you an episode director?
No, I'm a production assistant.
But I think I could pull something off.
Um, I can't make this decision, so I'll go talk to my superiors.
I'll contact you again.
Okay.
Is something wrong?
Well, apparently, Atsumi-san forgot to give Ookura-san something,
so he wanted you to call him back.
Iguchi-san just stopped by asking about the animation direction schedule for episode five.
The dates given for the dubbing
for episode one were wrong,
so the filming staff was mad, saying they couldn't film.
What should we do, Miyamori?
Panic, panic! What are we going to do?
If everyone talks to me at once, I don't know what to do!
But isn't that the production desk's job?
Yeah, but when I say I can't, I can't!
Even if it's impossible all at once,
if you start with the little things, it'll eventually get done.
Start with the small things...
All right. I'll contact Iguchi-san myself.
Andou-san, please go retrieve the key frames from Kisa-san.
Satou-san, please contact editing and
ask for a start time, and tell the episode director.
Understood.
I'm going now.
Taro-san, um...
What should I do?
Who's an episode director I can ask?
Madoka-san? Yamada-san?
No...
They're both concentrating on episodes three and four.
The director...
That's not happening.
Youga-san and Matsuizaki-san...
They declined when we mentioned Aerial Girls in the first place...
Anyone else? Anyone...
Nope.
No... I can't think of anything!
I can't do this... What do I do?! I'm out of ide—
I'm back.
Hello, this is Musashino Animation.
What? You just got a new type of wheat?
Better make some noodles, then!
Next time on Shirobako: Are You Catching Any?