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「スキルアップ」 (Sukiru Appu)
“Skill Up”
With a majority of this week’s episode focusing on raising Honda’s skill in drawing, I really appreciated the fact that the story didn’t slow down and in-fact decided to kick things up a little.
Skill Up!
Ever since the first episode where we learned about Tama’s hard-boiled style of drawing, I’ve been eager to see what stylistic decisions she’d make when it came to what she was used to drawing versus what the game itself needed. Seeing how the latter half took care of itself with Aya opening the story just enough to incorporate a hard-boiled ojii-san, I’ve been dying to see what Tama was going to do on her end. Sure, the actual answer to Tama’s problems may have been a bit.. basic, but the journey we took to arrive there was well worth it in my opinion.
When you really think about it, most problems in life come down to this simple fact — we tend to over think things and in turn miss the things right in front of us. And while this is normally applied to romance or our car keys, seeing it used in Tama’s situation felt pretty damn perfect. As a wishy-washy freshman who’s trying to find some direction in her life, I think it’d actually be more unrealistic if she figured out all these things by herself! Luckily, there were a handful of new characters this week to help lead Tama down the correct path.
More New Characters!
While Marika and Natsu may have appeared first, Teru-senpai definitely left the biggest impact on me. And no, it wasn’t her neko cosplay or the excessive -nyas she was adding to her words, but rather the way she inconspicuously tossed Tama some advice while keeping her identity a secret. Because if there’s something that Tama really needed, it would be the guidance of a senpai who knows the doujin circle from the inside-out and has enough self confidence to do it all from the shadows. Then again, I suppose a little shock from a talented kouhai named Haruma could do the trick too.
Looking Ahead
With the issue of art mostly solved, I can’t wait to see what other troubles the SNS-bu runs into. With the clock ticking and tons of work left to be completed, will the stress get to them? Or will they be able to take it in strides and manage to pump out a game that both they and their senpai would be proud of? In any case, next week’s episode looks like it’ll focus on some sort of deadline (with an episode titled countdown what else would you assume?) and hopefully things don’t come to a crashing halt.
See you next week!
Preview
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I always felt the thin legs was a bit of an artistic choice, but Teru viewing Honda as being malnourished due to the size of her legs proved me wrong. Not calling out the art style or anything, I still find it appealing, but I found it amusing they have someone in-universe would raise a small fuss about that.
And even though they approach the topic with a fairly big sense of dramatization, with the soft piano music and Honda being overly appreciative, it is still a good lesson for all artists alike that referencing images and/or real life for your art is not something to be fearful of, if you can’t create something from your mind with utmost perfection. I dabble in art, and I still need to look at clouds for reference to get the fluffiness/shape of it right. Same thing applies to character creation, chances are something or someone you’re making will have details based on something in existence and a reference can help.
I still think it’s a slightly silly approach, but it has a genuine sense about it that I can appreciate a good amount. The show does have humor that feels a bit forced at times, but when it does stuff about learning and friendships, I think that’s where it really starts to shine.
Yeah, have to appreciate the simple things. As someone who dabbles in 3D art, I can appreciate some of the struggles Honda was having this episode.
Honda’s reactions to Teru were amusing and I get the impression that Teru is wiser than she appears. It was also rather unusual to see one anime character tell another they needed to put on some weight. Normally it’s the opposite and I can’t recall any other time I’ve seen that.
It was also cute to see the little crush Haruma got on Honda, it was cute and actually kind of refreshing the way it was handled and Aya and her siblings act like real siblings. It helps that Honda is so sweet and humble too. Kayo’s reactions to that development were amusing. Also amusing was Shii’s handling of the fighting siblings, almost like she’s the older sister.
I’m quite interested in Aya’s past and what she was like before. She gets so embarrassed about it after all so it makes me curious.
I’m a bit surprised that Honda was mistaken for someone in grade school when she doesn’t really look any younger than her friends, at least not by much, and she’s not much shorter either. Maybe it was Haruma’s wishful thinking XD.
So far Yumine is my least favorite of the main characters, though she can be funny at times, I guess I’m just tired of her archetype, though I will admit it’s handled better here.
While looking for references seems like a very basic idea, it’s indeed a very important suggestion for learning artists. I had an artblock for months which was solved by simple learning and imitating acts.
So yeah, another great SoL episode. Again, I recommend SoL fans — especially those who are familiar with production of creative works– to watch this gem.