Animec Vol. 31, July 1 1983
(This is a faux cover promoting a nonexistent Animec special)
To bookstores: this book will not actually be released.
To readers: you know the score
Daicon OP Complete Edition Special
CAPTION UNDER MAIN IMAGE:
Fight for acceptance! Based on this basic policy, an unprecedented missile battle takes place in the skies over Osaka…
“The Daicon is on a journey that will never return…”
Osaka producer comedian’s tearful press conference
At 11:00 a.m. on July 1, 1983, Producer Okada held a tearful press conference, announcing that this summer would be the last time for an opening anime. The mysterious final OPA, with the theme of space acceptance, was unveiled.
CAPTIONS:
Two years have passed since last time..the girl has grown to an adult. “I will fight for it!”
The Daicon, which made the round trip between Tokyo and Osaka in two years, is now on its final journey after being upgraded…
(The reporter also saw an unpublished storyboard of the Daicon exploding).
The enemy powered suit was also transformed to be more mechanical and powerful.
GenPro Hanzai Chronicles EXTRA
Daicon IV Opening Anime Collection
by Yasuhiro Takeda and Toshio Okada
Planning: Daicon IV opening animation
Producer: Toshio Okada
Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga
Chapter 1: The producer didn’t know what a budget was
Okada was on fire. This anime is going to sell again! He was only a few steps away from the status of BNF in the SF world! If he could just complete this anime, he could win the Nebula Award, or even the Japan Science Fiction Grand Prize this time. Just in case, he checked out Trieste’s application rules.
This is what they mean when they say don’t count your chickens before they hatch. If you open the dictionary in his head, it says Producer (noun): profit, make money, become famous, evade taxes (i.e. Yoshinobu Nishizaki). We can’t really speak well of the director, Yamaga, either. Let’s look into his head, too. Director (noun): famous, become famous (i.e. Yoshiyuki Tomino or Spielberg).
It was unfortunate that these two were in charge. They thoughtlessly ordered tuxedos and held a press conference in the Kagami Room of the Utopia, a prestigious hotel in Osaka.
Okada: This anime will make me famous.
Yamaga: I’ll become famous.
Okada: I’ll be so famous that I’ll even send my pants out to for cleaning.
Yamaga: I’ll be so famous that a tourist bus will stop in front of my house and sell pastries.
The press conference was filled with such puffery. However, even in the midst of all this, they were steadily making preparations. First, they had to prepare the anime color. The two of them ordered a whopping 250 colors! Even Disney is said to use around 170 colors, but 250 colors for just a few minutes of anime….
The fact that the two of them knew nothing about anime could be seen from the fact that the color arrangement almost wiped out the budget.
Yamaga: Okada-san, we’re in trouble. To make anime, we have to buy cels, too.
Okada: Cels? Can’t we use Saran Wrap or something?
To my surprise, they seriously considered using Saran Wrap. But fortunately, they canceled the idea because of the obvious, or rather stupid, opinion that “it’s hard to trace on.” However, the purchase of cels reduced the budget to zero.
Chapter 2: 8 x 2 = 16 was incorrect
Their incompetence also exploded in terms of ideas.
Staff member A: We’re thinking of music to go with the anime. How about hard rock?
Okada: What’s hard rock?
Yamaga: We’re talking about Finger 5.
Okada: Well, what about Rumiko Tenma?
Yamaga: That’s pops.
Okada: What about Mineko Nishikawa?
Yamaga: Rockabilly, of course!
However, due to the fierce opposition of the staff, Finger 5 was the only one that was avoided. And there was also this incident:
Okada: Hey, director, can’t you make it in 16mm?
Yamaga: Where’s the budget for that?
Okada: It’s 8mm, so shoot half of each frame and tape them together afterward. The tape is transparent, so you can’t see it. 8 x 2 makes 16mm!
Yamaga: (pause, then) Okada-san…you’re a genius! Indeed, 8 x 2 is definitely 16!
It would be a pity to call Yamaga an idiot here, let alone Okada. A few years ago, he held his breath to stop hiccups. He forgot to resume breathing and fainted. He scored an unbelievable IQ of 40 on an intelligence test in junior high school. That’s why he’s so weak at persuading people with numbers.
Daicon bridge design
Upgraded powered suit design, Hideaki Anno
Chapter 3:
Bimbo anime was just plain old
The anime studio in Morinomiya, Osaka, was called the “Octopus Room” by the staff. It did not mean that they were forced to work without returning home, but because all they ate was takoyaki (octopus dumplings) every day. The amount of work was too much, there was no money, and there was no time to go out to eat.
At such times, they would say, “Hey, can someone buy some takoyaki?” And they would drink a lot of water. At night, it was also horrible.
Here are some word definitions:
Extravagance: to sleep in a single bed.
Luxury: to sleep on a desk.
Frugal: to sleep on three chairs lined up
Plain: to sleep on a cardboard box on the linoleum floor.
Contract: sleeping locally
Extra: to fall asleep on a desk while working, with a pencil in one’s hand.
Also, animators usually wore GenPro T-shirts. The fabric was good for the price, and the shirt was very comfortable to wear. The staff thought to themselves, “I’m so grateful that such a wonderful T-shirt costs only 2,300 yen!” Every day, they would shed tears of gratitude to God in heaven and sleep with their feet facing Momodani [train station].
Left: Director Yamaga (right) and illustrator Akai | Center: A full view of the studio. | Right: The rumored 250 colors!
CAPTION 1 (top middle): The girl from two years ago appears in a flashback scene (I like this one better!).
CAPTION 2 (far left): The girl has grown up by two years. She is the heroine this time.
Chapter 4: Still not enough staff
You who are reading this text: if you live in Osaka, have free time, are dead serious, and you like coloring cels, then why not become a staff member of OPA?
Takeda felt a chill run down his spine when he saw Okada’s smirk as he wrote in his cat-stroking voice. It’s a common thing, hahahaha… (Why am I ten days late for just this one sentence? Oh, well.)