Yoshimi Yamagata Aoyagi

September Dormitory Diary Entry - Ueno

Hello, this is Ueno with my September dormitory diary.

I apologize for the delay in posting. Recently, the weather has cooled down quite a bit, and it really feels like we’ve moved from summer into fall.

Drawing regularly is important for improving my skills, but I’ve come to realize how essential observation is. Lately, I’d been so focused on drawing itself that I wasn’t paying as much attention to everything around me. This summer, though, I made a point to observe, expe...

October Dormitory Diary Entry - Shin Hison

Apologies for the delay—this is my entry for October 6th.

I recently took another look at a drawing I posted about a month ago to add some shadows. Seeing it again after some time helped me spot areas I could improve, and I feel like I’ve made a bit of progress. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how to simplify shadows effectively, so I’m glad I had this chance to study it more. I’m excited to keep working on creating more three-dimensional shadows.

On a di...

Early Access: A Moment With a Japanese Animator ー Introducing Nishii

Early Access: Behind the Scenes ー A Moment With a Japanese Animator

Early Access Shorts - Clip Studio - Setting Up Your Environment

October Dormitory Diary Entry - Okumura Part 2

Apologies for the consecutive posts. It’s Okumura again.

Since Tachikawa Station is within my commuter pass area, I often go to the movie theater there. Members get discounts, so I’ve been taking advantage of that. Unfortunately, I accidentally signed up twice and still haven’t canceled one of the accounts, so I’m stressing about getting it sorted before the renewal date.

The theater’s...I don't know how to explain... “Extreme Sound” and “Extreme Blast (?)” effec...

October Dormitory Diary Entry - Okumura Part 1

Long time no see! This is Okumura.

I’ve been away for quite some time, and this entry is turning out to be a bit long, so I’ll break it into three parts and post one each day.

Part 1/3:

Time really flies. I’m surprised it’s already sweater season again. Before I knew it, we'd finished a whole anime season and switched to new shows. With just two months left in the year, it’s starting to sink in.

By the way, The New Prince of Tennis just started! I want to tak...

October Dormitory Diary Entry - Watanabe

Hey, it’s Watanabe.

This is my dormitory diary entry for October.

Man, September flew by, and here we are already in October. As soon as the Halloween-themed candy starts showing up in stores, I can’t help but feel the end of the year creeping up. It always puts me on edge. But hey, those Halloween packages are cute, so I can’t complain too much.

Work-wise, nothing’s changed—still grinding through retakes. The schedule’s been stretched, which gives us more time, ...

September Dormitory Diary Entry - Shin Hison

Sorry for the late update—this is my diary entry for September 8th.

I’ve been cooking for myself a lot lately, but the grocery store has been out of rice, so I’ve been making more meals with noodles and bread instead.

As for this time’s drawing, the model’s pose was really dynamic and super fun to work with. I’ve been doing these continuous sketches of poses from photos shown in a YouTube video by a creator named “hide.” Not being able to choose the poses myself ad...

August Dormitory Diary Entry - Shin Hison

Sorry for the delay—this diary entry is for August 4th.

Lately, I’ve been really hard on myself, but I’ve decided to take a more active approach to dealing with it. You know how people say it’s good to tackle small goals and build on those little successes? Well, I was feeling pretty burned out, even trying to achieve those smaller goals, so I came up with a new strategy: “It’s okay to stop halfway.”

I realized it’s better to start something—even if I only manage...

September Dormitory Diary Entry - Ura Takazumi

Hey, long time no see! It’s Ura.

Here’s my dorm diary update for September.

Sorry for going radio silent on these updates for a while. I figured now would be a good time to fill you in on what’s been happening lately.

So, I’ve been pretty swamped with our in-house projects lately and haven’t had much chance to work on anything from other studios. I used to bounce around between a ton of different projects, and while I miss that variety a little, it was awesome gett...

August Dormitory Diary Entry - Ueno

Thank you for your continued support. This is Ueno.

Here’s my dormitory diary entry for August.

I’ve been alternating between working on assistant key animation and in-between animation. I wanted to increase my pace and focus on the tasks with the closest deadlines, but I almost made a mistake while working on my in-betweens. It made me realize how important it is to stay mindful. Moving forward, I want to be more conscious of what I’m working on and what I need to pay atten...

September Dormitory Diary Entry - Watanabe Sara

Thank you for your continued support. This is Watanabe.

Here’s my dormitory diary entry for September.

Lately, I’ve been drawing using a display tablet. I used to work with a pen tablet, but since the company provided a display tablet, I decided to give it a try! At first, I found it a bit awkward compared to the pen tablet, but once I got used to it, drawing became much more intuitive and enjoyable. Incidentally, I’ve heard that many animators use display tablets. When I us...

August Dormitory Diary Entry - Shin Hison

Here’s the diary entry for July 7th. I sincerely apologize for the delay.

It looks like a typhoon is coming—how is everyone holding up? I’ve noticed a difference between the drawings I made when preparing my portfolio before entering the anime industry and the ones I create now after gaining some industry experience.

Recently, I’ve been posting a series of drawings that were based on pose photos I found while searching for sketch videos on YouTube. These were poses I would...

August Dormitory Diary Entry - Okabe

Thank you for your continued support. This is Okabe.

I’m looking forward to having a clearly defined schedule for the coming weeks—or at least, I’d like to feel that way. Unfortunately, it looks like I’ll need to start working late into the night, which I’m not too excited about. It’s not that I’ll be working more hours, just that my hours are shifting later. Ideally, I’d like to wake up with the sun and wind down when it gets dark. But honestly, my sleep schedule is alr...

June Dormitory Diary Entry - Shin Hison

I apologize for the delay. Here’s my diary entry for June 23rd.

I’ve been struggling to manage my line quality. It's difficult to keep my line thickness and pressure consistent, so I'm sorry for the shotty quality. However, I'm starting to get a better grasp of the fundamentals of commercial animation. Before I got into animation, I used to draw single illustrations, and I always enjoyed drawing hands. I knew animating them would be a challenge, but even so, I found it really fun to...

June Dormitory Diary Entry - Shin Hison

I deeply apologize for the delay. Here's the dormitory diary entry for June 2nd.

In June, although my pace was still slow, I finally managed to finish a cut that had been holding me up for a while. I feel like this has been a turning point for me. I had been unsure whether I could actually pull it off, and that uncertainty made me hesitate, but I'm really happy that I was able to complete it.

-----------------------

大変遅れまして申し訳ございません。

6...

July Dormitory Diary Entry - Aina Sugisawa

Good morning! Here's my slightly delayed dormitory diary entry for July.

Since I lived without air conditioning in Hokkaido, this is my first summer coexisting with one. I still haven’t quite figured out the balance. Just living normally and ending up drenched in sweat—what a fearsome humid subtropical climate...

Over the past couple of months, I’ve steadily increased the number of frames I produce each month, little by little. Starting this month, I placed a calendar next t...

Early Access: Crowdfunding for the New Animator Dormitory Now Live For 2024!

August Dormitory Diary Entry - Okabe

Thank you for your continued support. This is Okabe.

Lately, it's been difficult to balance my workload. The project I’m currently doing animation checking for is progressing slowly, so during the downtime, I’ve been working on animation tasks for other projects. I was worried about not meeting deadlines once the animation checking work picked up, so I focused on tasks that I could finish quickly. But as it turns out, I'm not getting as much work as I expected, so I’ve just ended ...

August Dormitory Diary Entry - Watanabe

Hello, this is Watanabe.

Here’s my dormitory diary for August.

The mornings have been incredibly hot lately, so I rush to the office for relief. While the air conditioning there is a blessing, it sometimes gets too cold, prompting the need for a blankie.

Recently, I received feedback on some of my work pointing out that my drawings look stiff. It’s a common issue when doing in-between animation for a long time, as refining lines too much can lead to stiffness. I was wond...

July Dormitory Diary Entry - Ueno

Hello, this is Ueno.

Here’s my dormitory diary entry for July.

Recently, I’ve been gradually getting more work as an assistant key animator, aiming to improve my skills. It’s challenging to capture the fine details of each from while sticking to character design documentation, but I find it very enjoyable and rewarding.

This is on top of my in-between tasks as well. I like to think I’ve made some progress and find motivation in that; not understanding something or fi...

July Dormitory Diary Entry - Okabe

Hello, this is Okabe.

I’ve been working in animation QA since April, and I've completed two projects. This month, I get to work on another one. However, since these are not TV or theatrical animations, it will still be a while before I get credited for my work. A few years ago, I never imagined I’d become an animator, and now I’m working on projects in genres I never expected to be involved in. Life certainly is full of surprises!

Up until now, I’ve been sharing my QA duti...

June Dormitory Diary Entry - Aina Sugisawa

Good morning. Apologies for the delay, but here’s my June dorm diary.

I started off June with a nasty cold, battling a fever over 38 degrees Celsius. Thankfully, it happened before the peak summer heat set in. It has been relentless, and it seems that medication is in short supply at the moment.

Please make sure to take care of your health.

At the end of May, the studio had a major leak due to heavy rain, which didn't make me confident heading into Japan's rainy season. 2024-08-13 02:20:19 +0000 UTC View Post

July Dormitory Diary Entry - Watanabe

Hello, this is Watanabe.

Here's my dormitory diary entry for July.

How've you been holding up in this non-stop heat?

The other day, I almost succumbed to heatstroke, likely due to the high temperatures.

Fortunately, I quickly recovered after drinking plenty of water and getting a good night's sleep. I always get careless around this time of year and tend to let my health slip.

Please make sure to stay hydrated and get plenty of rest!

Starting this year, the...

May Dormitory Diary Entry - Junta Sakurai

Thank you for your continued support. I apologize for the very late post. Here’s my dormitory diary entry for May!

Yep, it's May...

Again, I'm really sorry about the delay.

I’ve been swamped with training, so I haven’t had the time for anything else.

However, one thing I did do was join a live drawing session hosted by my studio.

All the participants gathered in a circle with a model standing in the center, and everyone sketched the model.

It's pretty...

June Dormitory Diary Entry - Ueno

June Dormitory Diary Entry

Thank you very much for your support. This is Ueno.

I draw every day at work, yet I've noticed that I have less time than ever to draw in my own style. I'm trying to find the time, but it's difficult with my demanding schedule...

My sister's wedding is coming up soon, so I tried to draw a picture of her and her fiance for this post. Drawing from imagination is great, but practicing via observation is very important. I'd like to incorporate more of ...

May Dormitory Diary Entry - Yūta Ueno

Hello, this is Ueno.

Here is my dorm diary entry for May.

I apologize for my delayed post.

Recently, the number of drawings I've been able to produce has stabilized, and I'm gradually getting a feel for the pace at which I can trace and create in-betweens.

I hope to continue producing at this pace consistently moving forward, too.

However, when new movements that I haven't drawn before come up in the in-betweening process, it still takes me quite a bit of time to...

June Dormitory Diary Entry - Junta Sakurai

Thank you very much for your support! I apologize for the long delay between my posts.

Here's my exclusive diary entry!

Is it just me, or do trains appear more frequently than buses in Japanese anime? When I think back on anime, iconic train scenes from movies like "Spirited Away" and "Your Name" come to mind, but I can't immediately think of any memorable bus scenes.

Growing up, I took the bus more often than the train, but I never really questioned this observation. I real...

Exclusive June Dormitory Diary Entry - Watanabe

Hello, this is Watanabe.

Here is my exclusive diary entry for June.

The other day, I saw some hydrangeas in bloom. They were so beautiful that I stopped to take a bunch of photos. When I find a good motif, I can't help but capture it. The photos serve as good reference material and can be inspiring when I'm out of ideas. It's great to be able to take photos so easily.

It's already been quite hot lately, and thinking about the increasing heat makes me feel a bit down. I want ...