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Cover art for Freedom 5 dvd, due for release on the 26th of October. Ao makes her debut cover together with Takeru on the earth modified vehicle.

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I’m finally back in the studio after a much needed one week break. Its amusing how I am always craving for some personal time when the 18 hour days are killing me but not haven’t the foggiest idea how to spend it well when I do get some. I took lazy afternoon naps, had dinner with some Japanese friends, met up with 2 Singaporean friends who came for the Tokyo Game Show, and watched a couple of films, in between a fair bit of just lounging around doing nothing – an enjoyment nonetheless.

Here are some photos I took while exploring an area near Shimokitazawa.（下北沢）
The first one looks like something straight out of a scene in Akira :

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About 2 months ago, word came that we will be helping out with the production for Utada Hikaru’s MTV for “Kiss & Cry“, her latest single. Although Freedom has always been associated with Utada’s music right from the start ( the opening credits feature her song “This is Love” ), the chance to actually work on one her MTVs naturally got me fairly excited, as I am a big fan. A rough cut of the MTV has already been completed, and I was just dying to see it.

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Takeru’s maglev hoverbike from Freedom.

Now…what would one built with Lego look like ?
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It was work as usual yesterday despite the weekend, but in the evening a few of us bugged out for a short breather at the local Matsuri 祭, a traditional Japanese summer night bazaar, or something like that.

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A piece of conceptual artwork done for Freedom 4.

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Design for one of two new Freedom posters to be given away as prizes in an upcoming Nissin Cup Noodle Campaign. This is actually a scene appearing in Freedom 4, where Takeru says ” やっぱり外で食ってうまいよな！” – which roughly translates as “It ( Ramen ) just taste better outdoors !” Whatever that means.

Anyway, you probably won’t notice this, but if you are to examine the poster again in detail you might notice that Takeru’s noodle cup is just gargantuan ! Sure, we have 大盛り ( jumbo ) sized cup ramen here in Tokyo, but that’s really pushing it. A correctly sized cup would have looked tiny in Takeru’s hands, so I figured the modellers scaled that up upon request from Nissin.

Freedom 4 goes on sale today, so I can finally post some screen caps from the renewed opening sequence :

I must have seen the opening sequence a hundred times over（ both the old and updated one ) through the course of my work here but I still get that adrenaline rush everytime I watch it because its so beautifully done ( by the brilliant folks at Kamikaze Douga 神風動画 ), with the visuals and Utada’s “This is Love” complementing each other perfectly. In this renewed sequence the visuals get an update, with some new content from episode 3 spliced in, as well as Ao’s first appearance.

Freedom’s 6th television commercial starts airing on Japan TV today, so I can show some screencaps from the clip. The theme music is again Utada Hikaru’s “Kiss & Cry”, the single is slated for release later in August. We started working on this about a month ago, shortly after we finished Freedom episode 4. Its the first time the audience get to see Takeru and Bis on earth and the lush greenery is a nice change from the colder colour palette used in Eden.

You can watch the full clip from Freedom’s website here.

And now for a little production trivia. Which part of the animation was 3D and which was 2D ? ( excluding backgrounds, dust effects and water ) Is it…

1) Everything is 3D. Period.
2) Only the vehicle is 3D, the rest are hand drawn.
3) Only the vehicle and the 2 characters are 3D, the bison are hand drawn.
4) Everything is hand drawn.

Anyone ? :]

ps Please read this post for the previous (5th ) Freedom Cup Noodle Commercial.

The first book from the Freedom novel series, which cover plot events happening in Freedom dvd 1 and 2. I’ll probably never get around to read it but for those who wish to immerse in a more detailed and elaborate world than the one featured in the anime series it might be an enjoyable trip. I wonder if you can find this in Kinokuniya Singapore ?

Meanwhile at work one of the production staff members was kind enough to check with me regarding the name I would like to see appear in the credits for the US Freedom dvd. For a while I was afraid they might just do a direct translation from my Japanese Kanji pronunciation（黄永豪）; spelled “Kou Eigou” – but this is totally unrecognizable to anyone who knows me so I naturally opted for my english name “Vong yonghow.” I just hope they spell it right !

Cover art for Freedom 4 dvd, to be released on the 27th of July, with Biz finally getting his own cover. My colleagues and I all agree that he looks rather stylish and cool; which is really amusing once you get to see what he’s up to in this episode.

Check out the other released cover art for Freedom 1, 2, 3 and Previsited.