Note: This article is a machine translation from the original Japanese post. If you notice any translation issues, please let us know.
One day, while browsing the internet to pass the time during the stay-at-home period of the COVID-19 pandemic, I happened to come across something called "doujin cel art." At the time, I simply thought, "There are still so many worlds I don't know about," but some time later, while thinking about the visuals for a new game project, the idea of cel animation suddenly crossed my mind.
Looking at titles like Cuphead and River City Girls, it was clear that the new retro boom had already spread to video games. What if we could create a game with meticulous visuals in the style of 1980s Japanese animation? The unique expression inherent to physical animation cels had the potential to become a niche yet globally appealing form of game art.
In the process of exploring that style, I decided to try actually creating cel art, but I was surprised to discover that all the materials needed for production had been discontinued. I had read in past news articles that the finishing process of commercial animation had shifted to computer processing, but it had never occurred to me that the materials needed for cel art production would be completely unavailable.
Rather than stopping, I decided to search for ways to create substitutes using modern materials. To deconstruct cel animation, the only way was to create the real thing. It was the kind of challenge that most people would consider not worth the effort, but I had curiosity and recklessness on my side. Before I knew it, my game development had wandered into the unknown world of animation art supply manufacturing, becoming a never-ending journey.
Image credit: Senad Palic
