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INTEREST: Akira Film Easter Egg Hints at Artist's Exasperation With the Workload




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sailorstarsun



Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 172
Location: Japan
PostPosted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 9:04 pm Reply with quote
On one hand, it's kind of funny.
On the other hand, it's really unprofessional. That artist is blatantly saying they would have rather just halfassed the job.
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lys
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Posts: 1017
Location: mitten-state
PostPosted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 11:28 pm Reply with quote
I've seen bits in manga like this too, teeny-tiny signs hardly meant to be noticed as anything more than background art but if you do take the time to peer in close and investigate you might get a message from the artist like "wow, thanks for taking the time to read all this to the very end" or "lately i'm craving this snack" or other stuff that's neither here nor there. I don't think it's unprofessional, but rather a creative way of filling up space with something other than complete gibberish, something that may cause a few watchers to smile or even just think for a moment of the human effort that went into the work.
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sailorstarsun



Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 172
Location: Japan
PostPosted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 11:43 pm Reply with quote
lys wrote:
I've seen bits in manga like this too, teeny-tiny signs hardly meant to be noticed as anything more than background art but if you do take the time to peer in close and investigate you might get a message from the artist like "wow, thanks for taking the time to read all this to the very end" or "lately i'm craving this snack" or other stuff that's neither here nor there. I don't think it's unprofessional, but rather a creative way of filling up space with something other than complete gibberish, something that may cause a few watchers to smile or even just think for a moment of the human effort that went into the work.

It's not the easter egg itself that I find unprofessional, but rather the specific thing this person wrote.

I agree that little, harmless things like a thanks or talking about snacks can be a fun, cute way to fill space, but the person in the article wrote, "Why do we have to draw every detail?" Like, dude.. You have to draw every detail because it's your job.

Can you imagine paying someone to paint your house, and then find out that instead of painting one panel, they just wrote in sharpie, "Why do you need every inch of your house painted? C'mon!" That's a completely different story than if the house was painted properly, but then you found they drew a smiley face in the corner of one brick or something.

There's fun easter eggs, and then there's whining about having to do your job. I personally find the latter quite unprofessional.
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icomeanon6
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Joined: 19 Mar 2009
Posts: 116
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 1:02 am Reply with quote
sailorstarsun wrote:
There's fun easter eggs, and then there's whining about having to do your job. I personally find the latter quite unprofessional.

You gotta walk a mile in someone's shoes. Akira was a preposterously detailed movie, and for all we know this artist was overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated, so who's to say this wasn't an understandable reaction to having to do a lot more than just "their job"? To which I could say, "You get what you pay for." And it's only human to get back at your job a little when it beats you down.
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1009
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:13 am Reply with quote
It was meant in a joke, in a time when the exact details couldn't be perceived by most viewers (any more than nooks in great cathedrals). But thanks to home video, that all changed and we could pause and see these things. I still prefer the Budweiser missiles in Macross Do You Remember Love.
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Silver Kirin



Joined: 09 Aug 2018
Posts: 1235
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 11:17 am Reply with quote
This reminds me of a rumor saying that in the credits of an anime there was a hidden message in the name of one of the animators apologizing for the bad animation that the show had, but it turned out that people had misinterpreted the meaning of a kanji. Anyway, this is pretty close to that rumor, perhaps there are more anime with hidden messages left by the animators.
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kamui85



Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Posts: 267
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 2:14 pm Reply with quote
sailorstarsun wrote:
lys wrote:
I've seen bits in manga like this too, teeny-tiny signs hardly meant to be noticed as anything more than background art but if you do take the time to peer in close and investigate you might get a message from the artist like "wow, thanks for taking the time to read all this to the very end" or "lately i'm craving this snack" or other stuff that's neither here nor there. I don't think it's unprofessional, but rather a creative way of filling up space with something other than complete gibberish, something that may cause a few watchers to smile or even just think for a moment of the human effort that went into the work.

It's not the easter egg itself that I find unprofessional, but rather the specific thing this person wrote.

I agree that little, harmless things like a thanks or talking about snacks can be a fun, cute way to fill space, but the person in the article wrote, "Why do we have to draw every detail?" Like, dude.. You have to draw every detail because it's your job.

Can you imagine paying someone to paint your house, and then find out that instead of painting one panel, they just wrote in sharpie, "Why do you need every inch of your house painted? C'mon!" That's a completely different story than if the house was painted properly, but then you found they drew a smiley face in the corner of one brick or something.

There's fun easter eggs, and then there's whining about having to do your job. I personally find the latter quite unprofessional.


wow so what do you propose? hunt him down and cancel his career? -_-
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tsog



Joined: 16 Sep 2017
Posts: 257
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 6:54 pm Reply with quote
Silver Kirin wrote:
This reminds me of a rumor saying that in the credits of an anime there was a hidden message in the name of one of the animators apologizing for the bad animation that the show had, but it turned out that people had misinterpreted the meaning of a kanji. Anyway, this is pretty close to that rumor, perhaps there are more anime with hidden messages left by the animators.

Wow, no one else remotely brought up the easter egg in My Sister, My Writer yet?

animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2018-11-20/my-sister-my-writer-credits-list-animator-with-pseudonym-honestly-im-screwed/.139743

While this may be unprofessional, this is such a minor thing that shouldn't warrant anything more than a slap on the wrist. Besides, art has historically been used to speak truth to power, to disrespect (standup/late night comedy is a prominent example of this), and this is just one form of that.
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iamthevastuniverse





PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 7:04 pm Reply with quote
Alright that's kinda of interesting.
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DeTroyes



Joined: 30 May 2016
Posts: 521
PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:06 pm Reply with quote
Huh. I thought this was common knowledge. I remember having it pointed out to me 30 some years ago.
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Sariachan



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 1507
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:24 pm Reply with quote
I think this is some kind of inner joke. Anyway, those little details are among the things that make Akira a masterpiece (even if I prefer the manga).
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