分类： 前线来信·Mail call

Fixed a few things with the site & made sure Sune’s post went through. Website upgrades tend to be a tad more difficult than we think, since neither Zero nor I are really good with anything involving technology.

Generally, if you see a mail call missing, it PROBABLY means that we had a front page update or something “bigger” than our usual updates. Believe me, I really do enjoy popping in here to show off what we’ve done, and it’s a good way for us to see what we’ve made.

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“How big are the Abyssals?”

Mostly very big. Smallest ones tend to be bigger than modern warships and larger ones seen so far are kilometers in size.

Something that I’ll point out is that unlike KanColle or even Strike Witches where antagonists take consistently humanoid forms, we rarely use the human form for our Abyssals. If something’s looking human she’s either a character or meant for very specific purposes (like the humanoid anti-shipgirl unit we showed a while earlier).

Instead, most of our Abyssals tend to be monstrous in form. By this, I don’t mean grotesque or unusual, but rather you will note that we have a strong affinity for creatures of the deep and other “legendary” creatures. We’ve so far only shown the grunt scouting units of the Abyssal fleet, but in general, they tend to resemble oversized whales or fish bedecked with armor and weapons. Polished and sleek, of course, but nonetheless still “fishlike” (that’s the term Sune uses, anyways)

Also, you may have noticed that our Abyssals have an “eyeless” “helmet” or “mask.” Again, for this type of Abyssals, that’s a defining trait. From an artist perspective we wanted to show that these things aren’t simple monsters, and that an intelligent hand played a role in their creation. The overall goal (as hopefully you’ll see in our own upcoming Abyssal book) is to give them a sort of otherworldly, vaguely high-tech sort of flair.

I’m excited that I get to do one of these.

“Why is Japan the way it is in Pacific?”

Because I want it to be that way.

I come from a traditional Japanese household that places strong emphasis on our culture and historical traditions. This includes a very significant patriotic element that is seldom seen in many Japanese families.  Many of these viewpoints are obviously in conflict with what people in western countries think. As I have interacted with people outside of Japan, my opinions also change.

I am of the opinion that Japan suffers from internal conflict. You can even call it selective amnesia. I also believe that Japan is losing, or have lost, much of what made Japan what it is in the modern era. It is caught between worlds that often diametrically oppose one another, and I despise the situation Japan often places itself in.

This underlying instability and paradox is the theme behind my Japan. For there to be order there must be chaos. In order for Japan to grow again, it must first deal with its own issues first. A slightly more isolationist America will be sufficient to facilitate these types of changes in this timeline.

Not to mention, we creators all benefit from the capabilities of hindsight. There are certain critical mistakes that we could have reasonably avoided due to choosing one particularly alternative path.

It pleases me to write for and on behalf of Pacific. It is sufficient to say that I believe parts of my Japan will make both westerners and Japanese uncomfortable. You may not be willing to believe that there are people believing in such things. That does not mean they do not exist. I believe this contributes to Pacific’s perspective. It makes the story richer by providing a viewpoint that contrasts with the American girls on many perspectives.

Morgane may say that Pacific is a simple work, but I do not see it as simple. Matters dealing with values are never simple. Only profound.

Sometimes I skip a question because it’s relevant to a future update. It’s not because I don’t want to answer it.

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“Since the abyssal thing is being kept hush-hush, I’m guessing shipgirls don’t appear at USO events?”

No.

At least, not in the way you’d expect. For starters, there is no reason to believe that the USO even know STEC has shipgirls. 🙂

Secondly, after STEC goes public, the answer is still probably no for the vast majority of the situation. There are only a handful of shipgirls and you need them fighting the Abyssals or performing other objectives. I don’t think the shipgirls themselves would object (and I have a feeling Tennsy concerts might be pretty popular), but you really have to think about the practical situation and whether or not it’d actually be sensible to pull the girls away from the frontlines.

Honestly, the best case for the USO might be waiting to see if USO-fairies pop out of Avalon. Those might be better suited for their objectives.

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“Makes me wonder whether or not Marble written her very own fan work or doujinshi during off duty.

Though, I wonder if her puns also transfers over to her works… XD”

Heeeeey. Are you saying I can’t write? I can write! I am a significant contributor to the Avalon Weekly! Langley sometimes put my stories up on the kitchen fridge!

…That’s because Langley needs a calendar, idiot. The Avalon Weekly’s literally the right size for the freezer compartments. 

Marby likes to write. It’s her hobby. As K9 mentions, she writes a large range of works. However, I’d like to point out that what passes for fanfiction for us (in the context of Pacific) is more like, Marby’s (sometimes very questionable) stories about her friends.

A shipgirl who declares herself a long-time reader of Marby (who, by the way, is definitely not Marby) speaks on conditions of anonymity. She describes her work as “tremendous,” but observes a distinctive tendency for her to veer off on very unusual directions.

Basically, coupled with her occasional head-in-the-clouds tendencies and you sort of “get” what kind of a girl she is. Marby’s a bit awkward in the sense that she has no real filter for what’s going on in her little head. If she thinks of something she’s likely to just blurt it out. It’s not that she doesn’t want to be social. It’s more like she’s BAD at recognizing that some things aren’t necessary, and she’s read far too much that her jokes end up either so esoteric that nobody gets them, or they’re basically really bad puns instead.

Naturally, Sune really likes to use Marby for her stories and the bits that she builds. She’s definitely one of the funner ones to use in that regard. The chibi Marby is definitely one of my favorite chibis because it just really, really fits her. 🙂

Some days, when I’ve had a long day, this is what I do in response. Literally I want to grab my pillow and go sleep.

But, then I take a look at the site, and went, hmm, what to show today…

Eh, a new shipgirl can be shown later. Some days I’m seriously tired and don’t want to answer questions. It’s not like I’ve stopped writing or reading, though. That is a sort of daily hobby at this point.

I think instead, I’m going to talk a little about one of the characters we plan for the next book. Unfortunately, much of what I know about her happens to be from family hearsay (and not to mention, family bias), since I have family members (still living!) who served on her during the war.

Yes, he’s aware of this project. In fact he’s made some very curious demands about her er, proportions.

No, I’m not going to have him pose with a cardboard cutout. I thought about it, and I don’t think the hilarity or the advertising it could bring is worth his peace and quiet. I’d rather that the character we created stand on her own, and said family member made it pretty clear that “his gal” was literally the best and doesn’t need anyone’s endorsement to be the best shipgirl ever.

Hoo boy. I know from lurking about that WWII veterans come in all shapes and sizes. Mine just happens to be … very open minded with the idea of shipgirls and whatnots. He loves the idea of Pacific, and absolutely finds this whole thing to be hilarious. In fact, he showed me some sketches from below decks (apparently the navy had a strict policy at the time about pin-ups and whatnots, but below decks where officers hardly lurk, that’s another story) and basically said, yeah, your girls need less clothing on them thanks.

(So in other words he basically think like Sune.)

… What, were you expecting some high-browed opinion? Not everyone’s got families of generals and admirals you know, though, come to think of it, a few did get fairly high up the food chain…

Anyways, should be interesting. We did sit down and basically lay out exactly what kind of a girl she’d be. To be honest once you hear some of these sea stories, I really, really, really can’t see her being written any other way.

And, yes, someone‘s got competition…