An exciting day was ahead of us because the first place we were visiting was a game company called Grasshopper Manufacture. I wasn't as familiar with their work but I looked them up and found that they're known for games like Contact, No More Heroes, and Flower, Sun and Rain. The descriptions of Grasshopper's titles tout unique concepts and styles and their CEO Goichi Suda seems to be popular as well. When I arrive back home I definitely plan on trying out some of their latest games. Unfortunately, in respect to the company (and an NDA) I can't expand upon the what we saw during our visit. What I can say though is that I love their graphic design; the company logo is really eye-catching.
We had a Q&A session with the president, along with a group of Japanese students that had come on the tour. One thing I noticed about this interaction was that our group was loud and would often speak out, whereas the Japanese students were waiting patiently with hands raised. I also felt like our group monopolized the conversation and it was eye-opening to witness the difference between our cultures in person.
Before we left the president wanted to know why we enjoyed Japanese animation; to which we responded the storyline, aesthetic style, and substance of the plots. He was curious about the kinds of programs we liked in America. We told him that shows like Spongebob and South Park were popular, but that enough people simply didn't know about anime or the range of storylines it encompasses (rather than just kids shows like Pokemon).
Left to Right: Employee working on digital backgrounds (with makeshift wall to block out light),
President showing storyboards, Storyboard sketches close-up
We got tired of wandering and decided to split off from the rest of the group and go back to the restaurants closer to the hotel for dinner. The only problem with this was we didn't know the way back. Luckily we played it by ear and found some maps along the way. When we finally recognized some landmarks and made it back we were so proud of ourselves! We stopped in at a sushi place where we had some california rolls. Then before we called it a night we tried out a local bar called Three Bar. It was pretty empty and quiet and we found out how small Japanese portion sizes were even for drinks.
$9 Japanese Margarita == 1/3 size of a Margarita I could get in U.S.
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