NOVEMBER 2005

November 3, 2005
Hello, this is Long Skirt.

Our director has a meat allergy, especially with chicken. Today, while he was away to attend a meeting, I dashed away to my favorite K#C. Everyone rushed to buy deep-fried chicken lunch boxes. It's a dream come true to be able to devour chicken at work. With big smiles, we hurriedly chewed down some chicken.

But the poor production controller guy; he had so much to do and was way behind all us in the rush to the K#C. He ran and ran, and when he finally got hold of his chicken fillet sandwich, the director called, "I just finished with the meeting, so I'll be coming back."

Many thoughts must have gone through his head. "Would the room smell if I ate the sandwich now? Would the director find out about the sandwich?" Finally, he made up his mind to go up to the rooftop.

I suppose he ate his sandwich looking up at the melancholic late autumn sunset sky. To be a production controller, you've got to be very considerate at times.

So sad.

November 24, 2005

Hello. This is Long Skirt.

Here's Snow White and I chattering away like school girls thinking about how wonderful a character Hagi is, who quietly watches over you from a distance not too far yet not too close. Then we went on to consider what it would be like if Hagi was the production assistant.

This is what we call "Hagi Production". (The rest is rather predictable.)(*)

He suddenly appeared, bringing with him a storyboard and telling in a gentle yet firm tone: "Saya... Draw."

When the production desk warned him about his ways, with a somewhat coy and sorrowful look he produced his name card and said, "Please call me Hagi. Just tell me what to do." And he vanished as quickly as he appeared.

So I was doing the key drawings, and, when I happened to turn around, I noticed that he was quietly watching me from the shadow of the partition. (I think that's all it was.)

I was tired of this and so I nonchalantly asked him if he would give me a hand. He then said, "If that's your wish." He was diligently helping me, but since he's just a production assistant, his drawings are rather cheesy.

So when I was talking about how he comes around and gets on his knees in front of the drawings desk, humbly putting out the cut bag and whispering "Retake", the in-between checker happened to be passing by and said, "I don't want to see him around anymore!"

Too bad.

(*) Hagi, the name of Saya's dark and cool guardian, is pronounced as "haji", meaning "shame" or "disgrace" in Japanese.

November 25, 2005

Hello, this is OO.

The setting is Vietnam for the program from Episode 8, which is broadcasting this week in Japan. The art, characters, and costumes for the Vietnam episodes completely replace that from the Okinawa setting.

It's a lot of additional work for the staff, but it's a lot of fun too, as the change in the picture is quite apparent. To be honest no one on the staff has been to Vietnam, but you can still expect to look forward to seeing some exotic sight up on the screen.