WEBVTT

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You are listening to the USDN on the

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DFPN.

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Thanks for watching!

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What is up everybody and welcome to the

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United States Department of Nerds where we

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are for the people, by the people,

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and of the people.

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Some stories don't always begin in giant

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studios.

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Sometimes they start with a sketchbook,

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a late night idea,

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and a group of creators who simply refuse

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to stop imagining it.

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Across the world,

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a new generation of artists is redefining

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what manga can be.

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Not bound by geography,

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not limited by tradition, just passion,

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creativity,

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and the drive to bring new worlds to

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life.

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Tonight, we sit down with Akihiro Gouska.

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Yeah.

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Did I say that right?

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Yep.

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The director behind Frog Light Studio,

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a rising indie manga collective focused on

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building original stories and characters

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from the origins of the studio to the

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creative process behind the work to what

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the future might hold for the next

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generation of manga creators.

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creators.

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This is a conversation about art,

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collaboration,

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and the courage to create something new.

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So settle in because the Council of Nerds

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is now in session.

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Akihiro, welcome to the USDM, my friend.

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Hello, happy to be here.

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So Daylight Savings Times got us today.

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He Googled the time and Daylight Savings

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Time got both of us because neither one

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of us was expecting Daylight Savings Time.

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It just come out of nowhere on us.

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But we're here.

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I wasn't even aware that was a thing.

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Dude,

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it is such a pain in the ass.

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We keep hoping they'll vote to just

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disband it because it's an old thing from

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the past.

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They used to help farmers.

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Farming is now automated and daylight

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savings time and the fallback in the fall

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is no longer needed.

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And it's just such a pain in the

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rear end.

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But let's dive into this, man.

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And let's start at the beginning.

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Who is Akihiro and how did your journey

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into art and storytelling begin?

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It started when I was writing

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just mere fanfics.

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And I wasn't even called Akihiro Gosuke

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yet.

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I was in the platform of Wattpad.

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I'm sure you're familiar with that.

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Yeah.

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There was this new anime called Demon

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Slayer.

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It was getting really popular.

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And then I discovered Wattpad and I saw

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a lot of fanfics written about it.

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And I said,

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hey,

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I want to write my own and I

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have some cool ideas.

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Then when I wrote it,

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it wasn't really a good story because it

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was more of a list of things that

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I want to see instead of something that's

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connecting A, B, and C.

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But it was fun.

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A lot of people enjoyed it and a

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lot of people liked it, most of all.

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And I got a,

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I got like an ego boost with that

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because, Hey,

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I can write an interesting story.

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And that was back in, in.

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When it was locked down.

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So it was, it was, um,

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it was my way of coping with,

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with isolation.

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Um, it was, I wouldn't say it was,

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it was a sad thing,

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but it was very unusual.

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to be in the house all the time.

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So Wattpad was like an outlet for me.

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And so that's where I started.

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Also, regarding the name Akihiro Gosuka,

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it's not my real name.

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Akihiro Gosuka is an original character.

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And I wrote him in a way that

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represents me.

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And just like other artists or other

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writers, they either have a pen name,

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a nickname,

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I just wanted to follow that trend.

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And yeah,

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that's basically how I began as a writer.

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So what were some of the manga or

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creators that inspired you growing up?

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Oh, it was the, I forgot her name.

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It's the creator of Demon Slayer, but

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I think it was Koyoharu something.

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Koyoharu Gotoge.

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It's hers.

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Because of the simpleness of the story and

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also when I was watching the anime,

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I was reading the manga as well because

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the anime had to catch up first.

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And I was a little bit impatient with

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the schedule they have.

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So when it was taking so long,

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so in between I was reading the manga

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and I was very much ahead.

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And I was looking at the comic and

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I said, the art style wasn't,

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it wasn't extraordinary at all,

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but

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I was so hooked and the art style

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didn't even matter because in certain

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scenes where it's like the characters are

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so far away,

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there's like little indicators of their

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silhouettes and they don't even look good,

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but you still know that they're the

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characters and that's enough to convey

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that the shot is so far away.

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So I was fascinated by that because of

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how minimal they do,

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but say so much with the story alone.

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was so great about it and i think

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that's one of the reasons why my daughter

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fell so in love with manga as well

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is because the art is simple but the

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stories really go deep into certain

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aspects of things and she's like we

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literally have a whole room dated

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dedicated to manga

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And it just shelves upon shelves from JJK

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to Banana Fish to Demon Slayer,

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Death Note, you name it, we have it.

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And even some of the older stuff that

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she's really into and that we've been

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hunting piece by piece by piece because

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it's so hard to find.

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And she's been getting pieces from like

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I forgot where she just got one from,

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but it was a duplicate that she already

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had,

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but it was for sale for such a

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good price.

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It was one of those where I'm just

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going to buy it because it's so cheap

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and then maybe flip it down the road.

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But yeah, no, manga is definitely,

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it focuses more on the story than it

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does the art form for the most part.

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Now the animated versions of it,

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of course,

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they're absolutely just beautiful

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creations on the screen.

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So at what moment did you go,

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I'm going to do this and make a

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studio and I'm going to do my own

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manga?

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That actually started way before I became

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a writer.

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uh that was when i was in first

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year high school and my my friend patricia

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and i uh she had she had her

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own her own care set of characters uh

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and she basically shared them as self

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answers okay this is you this is me

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and this is him my our other friend

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and why not when i was looking at

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the the the characters

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I was like, oh, wait a minute.

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This one,

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these three characters kind of has

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potential.

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So I wrote a pseudo backstory for them.

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And then when a couple of years when

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we grew out of that creative phase,

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the ideas, they never left me,

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especially those three characters.

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It kept bugging me that I'm not building

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towards it.

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And

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I even had multiple dreams about it.

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So when twenty twenty four rolled around,

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I was like, OK,

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I got to I got to go serious

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with this because it just won't stop

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bugging me.

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And when.

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I started in twenty twenty five with the

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studio and I had no idea how to

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start a studio, but yeah, but.

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I just knew that I can write the

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stories, but I can't do the artwork.

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I can't do this alone.

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And a project like this,

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it's not something that should be done by

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one person because it's not enough for one

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person.

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I mean, it's too much for one person.

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So I posted that posting that,

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I'm going to start a manga studio.

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And originally it was called Goska Realms

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Studio,

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but we changed it along the way because

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Goska Realms, after some thinking,

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our studio manager, Kay Ortega,

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she suggested the change because Goska

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Realms sounds self-centered.

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And even though I am called Akihiro Goska,

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since we're now a group we don't really

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want to leave i don't want to really

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lean into selfishness selfishness now

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because even though i own it but we're

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a group i didn't i i started it

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but i didn't build it alone so yeah

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it doesn't it didn't feel right uh calling

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it ghost around studio so that's why we

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transitioned into frog light studio which

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they the the artists honestly really loved

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the the name change so that's a good

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segue into what is frog light studio and

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how did the studio really come together oh

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the studio came together um it it was

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a rough rough start uh they always are

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yeah it

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And I was really ambitious,

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which is the wrong mindset when starting

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these sorts of things because now I'm

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pushing too hard.

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And not all of the artists are going

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the same pace as me.

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So I have to slow down.

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And it was really frustrating for me

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because I feel like there's no work

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getting done.

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So when I was handing out tasks and

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will take some some some of them weeks

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some of them months uh i was i

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was getting really frustrated because why

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did i create the studio in the first

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place if you guys can't keep up but

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but i talked to my creative director ken

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uh ken and he he said that we're

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we're all students you you can't push us

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and

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Hey, Ortega, the studio manager,

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also agreed that, you know,

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you got to calm down.

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You got to calm down, dude,

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or else we all will leave you.

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That humbled me because just because I

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have a dream doesn't mean,

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even though we're in the same group,

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doesn't mean that I have the right to

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push people.

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Because...

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it's, it's not, it's not just me anymore.

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It's a group.

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You got a whole team.

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Yeah.

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Especially.

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And, and if I start barking orders,

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it's more like a,

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more like a boss thing instead of a

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leader thing.

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So when I did some,

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let's say just self-reflection just to be

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dramatic.

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And then I was,

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I was looking back on the messages.

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I was like, Oh my God, I'm, I'm,

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Am I allowed to curse?

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I don't know.

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I don't have a good word for it.

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Am I an ass?

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No, you say ass, dude.

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You're good.

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When I was looking back at a message,

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I was like, oh my god,

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I am an ass.

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And then, you know,

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it was a humbling moment.

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And I'm glad that

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the creative director Ken and studio

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manager Kay Ortega was there because

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otherwise I would have ruined the whole

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studio because of my lack of leadership

00:14:39.755 --> 00:14:40.076
skills.

00:14:41.595 --> 00:14:44.635
you're twenty two years old and you just

00:14:44.676 --> 00:14:47.238
learned a very important lesson, you know,

00:14:47.758 --> 00:14:49.219
because sometimes you have to take a step

00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:49.539
back,

00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:51.520
humble yourself a little bit and

00:14:51.581 --> 00:14:52.961
understand that other people have

00:14:53.042 --> 00:14:53.701
priorities,

00:14:53.761 --> 00:14:55.482
especially if they're in school and they

00:14:55.523 --> 00:14:56.384
are students.

00:14:58.044 --> 00:15:00.567
So it's I'm glad you got to learn

00:15:00.606 --> 00:15:03.869
that lesson now rather than like over

00:15:03.908 --> 00:15:05.409
three quarters of the way through this

00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:06.090
project.

00:15:06.190 --> 00:15:08.370
And then they go, you know what?

00:15:08.392 --> 00:15:08.792
We're done.

00:15:08.812 --> 00:15:09.091
We're out.

00:15:10.586 --> 00:15:13.607
And you're stuck with a halfway project.

00:15:14.629 --> 00:15:17.812
Yeah, and that's the problem.

00:15:17.892 --> 00:15:20.153
I'm just glad that I learned that.

00:15:20.994 --> 00:15:22.235
That's good.

00:15:22.294 --> 00:15:24.856
So why the name Froglight and what's the

00:15:24.917 --> 00:15:26.038
story behind that?

00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:33.583
We had a meeting when Kay Ortega said

00:15:33.984 --> 00:15:35.125
that we should change the name.

00:15:36.046 --> 00:15:37.947
The artist had a meeting in Discord.

00:15:39.207 --> 00:15:39.589
Then we

00:15:42.283 --> 00:15:45.063
We kind of voted on what would sound

00:15:45.124 --> 00:15:45.544
good.

00:15:45.745 --> 00:15:50.486
And Frog is our actually lead artist.

00:15:50.767 --> 00:15:52.168
She's the one who's...

00:15:53.048 --> 00:15:54.509
Her nickname is Rotten Frog.

00:15:55.149 --> 00:15:56.629
And we call her Frog most of the

00:15:56.668 --> 00:15:56.909
time.

00:15:57.649 --> 00:16:01.751
And she's the one creating the comic

00:16:01.812 --> 00:16:02.511
illustration.

00:16:02.591 --> 00:16:06.474
So it was only right to give her

00:16:06.514 --> 00:16:09.294
the honors of representing the studio.

00:16:09.955 --> 00:16:11.035
And we...

00:16:11.874 --> 00:16:13.335
We landed on a few different names.

00:16:14.076 --> 00:16:15.236
First was Pond Light,

00:16:15.256 --> 00:16:18.080
which I said it was really good.

00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:21.182
But then it got switched into Frog Light.

00:16:21.822 --> 00:16:25.986
And I thought about the symbolism of frogs

00:16:26.027 --> 00:16:26.707
and ponds.

00:16:28.548 --> 00:16:31.572
Maybe it's because of the lily pads.

00:16:31.631 --> 00:16:34.114
The lily pads represent different worlds.

00:16:34.174 --> 00:16:37.336
And then the frog is like the...

00:16:38.479 --> 00:16:40.899
the vessel or the vehicle that will take

00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:43.302
the audience through these different

00:16:43.562 --> 00:16:44.042
worlds.

00:16:44.402 --> 00:16:46.384
So I thought about it.

00:16:47.504 --> 00:16:49.644
And then I, I eventually agreed.

00:16:50.046 --> 00:16:52.126
I really, I really liked pond light,

00:16:52.167 --> 00:16:54.908
but they, they were so, it was,

00:16:55.469 --> 00:16:57.750
it was, it was all against one.

00:16:57.830 --> 00:17:01.272
So I just, I just had to agree.

00:17:01.711 --> 00:17:02.893
Pick and choose your battles,

00:17:02.993 --> 00:17:04.134
pick and choose your battles.

00:17:04.692 --> 00:17:07.315
Yeah, it's either that or they leave me.

00:17:07.355 --> 00:17:08.455
So no, I'm kidding.

00:17:10.838 --> 00:17:13.740
But Froglight, I eventually grew with it.

00:17:13.881 --> 00:17:17.404
And then when I saw the logo design,

00:17:17.505 --> 00:17:18.345
I was like, oh my God,

00:17:18.384 --> 00:17:20.527
my heart just warmed up because it was

00:17:20.748 --> 00:17:20.948
so cool.

00:17:22.219 --> 00:17:24.160
Yeah, no, it really is.

00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:25.500
And I was just like,

00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:27.541
because I'm going to be fair to you.

00:17:28.022 --> 00:17:30.943
When you first emailed me asking to come

00:17:31.045 --> 00:17:32.505
on for an interview and everything,

00:17:33.086 --> 00:17:36.688
I'm like, who in the hell is this?

00:17:37.729 --> 00:17:41.510
I'm like a manga studio outside of Japan.

00:17:41.750 --> 00:17:42.711
I'm like, is that a thing?

00:17:44.025 --> 00:17:45.625
So naturally you have to go,

00:17:45.744 --> 00:17:48.226
like I do every guest that sends me

00:17:48.246 --> 00:17:49.865
an email to request to come on the

00:17:49.905 --> 00:17:50.645
podcast.

00:17:51.267 --> 00:17:52.826
I research and I'm like, okay,

00:17:53.146 --> 00:17:57.087
they really are a brand new manga studio

00:17:57.827 --> 00:17:59.909
from the Philippines, getting their start,

00:18:00.028 --> 00:18:00.989
getting their feet wet,

00:18:01.028 --> 00:18:03.729
creating their first piece of work and

00:18:03.749 --> 00:18:04.670
their own to come up.

00:18:05.589 --> 00:18:06.509
And once I had seen that,

00:18:06.529 --> 00:18:07.210
I was like, yeah,

00:18:07.289 --> 00:18:08.730
I got to talk to these guys because

00:18:08.750 --> 00:18:10.371
it's such a cool thing.

00:18:12.184 --> 00:18:17.228
And to be outside of the Japan realm

00:18:17.488 --> 00:18:19.088
of what manga is,

00:18:19.148 --> 00:18:20.808
is a really cool concept.

00:18:21.450 --> 00:18:22.730
And I don't know how many of them

00:18:22.769 --> 00:18:23.530
there are out there.

00:18:23.550 --> 00:18:25.451
I didn't really research that part of it.

00:18:26.412 --> 00:18:29.133
But just to see somebody at least trying

00:18:30.253 --> 00:18:33.095
to make a manga outside of Japan is

00:18:33.295 --> 00:18:34.016
really cool to see.

00:18:34.056 --> 00:18:36.876
And like I said, when you came on,

00:18:36.957 --> 00:18:38.097
I had to ask you if you're old

00:18:38.117 --> 00:18:38.837
enough to be here.

00:18:42.070 --> 00:18:43.352
And at such a young age,

00:18:44.272 --> 00:18:45.034
I'm doing this,

00:18:45.134 --> 00:18:46.734
and we're going to do this as a

00:18:46.795 --> 00:18:49.277
collaborative effort between yourself,

00:18:49.797 --> 00:18:51.919
your office mates, and your artist,

00:18:52.659 --> 00:18:56.602
which is really cool to see that you're

00:18:56.642 --> 00:18:57.303
doing this.

00:18:58.083 --> 00:19:00.885
And so far, it's so good, right?

00:19:03.186 --> 00:19:03.386
Yep.

00:19:03.446 --> 00:19:06.108
I eventually found the flow of them,

00:19:06.390 --> 00:19:08.070
and it's going smoothly.

00:19:10.454 --> 00:19:10.934
Dude, that's cool,

00:19:10.974 --> 00:19:12.755
especially because so many different

00:19:12.835 --> 00:19:15.036
artists work at such different paces.

00:19:15.895 --> 00:19:17.476
And the fact that you got to learn

00:19:17.496 --> 00:19:18.836
that early on is really good.

00:19:18.856 --> 00:19:21.416
Yep.

00:19:21.436 --> 00:19:23.517
So what roles, like,

00:19:23.557 --> 00:19:25.438
kind of walk me through a day-to-day at

00:19:25.458 --> 00:19:26.057
the studio.

00:19:26.117 --> 00:19:26.258
Like,

00:19:26.278 --> 00:19:28.998
what roles and responsibilities do you

00:19:29.038 --> 00:19:32.239
handle versus your office manager versus

00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:34.118
your creative director and whoever else

00:19:34.159 --> 00:19:37.460
you may have there on staff?

00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:38.200
For me,

00:19:39.787 --> 00:19:43.587
I, we were really like separated.

00:19:43.688 --> 00:19:45.729
We're connected online.

00:19:46.189 --> 00:19:49.109
So when, when I'm handling tasks,

00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:52.190
I would inform them beforehand, uh,

00:19:52.230 --> 00:19:53.911
maybe two or three days.

00:19:53.951 --> 00:19:55.971
So they can tell me if they have

00:19:56.011 --> 00:19:56.751
some schedules,

00:19:56.771 --> 00:19:58.711
they have some personal plans.

00:19:59.172 --> 00:20:01.413
Maybe there's some, some,

00:20:01.732 --> 00:20:04.173
something comes up that,

00:20:04.213 --> 00:20:05.193
that I don't know about.

00:20:05.294 --> 00:20:08.474
So, uh, if, if they can't.

00:20:09.125 --> 00:20:11.547
they can't do the task i'll i'll just

00:20:11.886 --> 00:20:14.088
hold it back or if they can i

00:20:14.108 --> 00:20:16.371
will give them less of it just so

00:20:16.411 --> 00:20:18.492
they won't get bombarded with something

00:20:18.633 --> 00:20:21.976
and for when for the greatest director um

00:20:22.596 --> 00:20:24.838
i usually give them the task of seeing

00:20:25.159 --> 00:20:30.282
inconsistencies um especially with with

00:20:30.323 --> 00:20:34.067
characters and then for our studio manager

00:20:34.646 --> 00:20:35.607
uh i would

00:20:36.532 --> 00:20:38.016
I would often give her the role in

00:20:38.115 --> 00:20:41.201
marketing because she's also the marketing

00:20:41.241 --> 00:20:43.586
manager, by the way, I forgot to mention,

00:20:44.468 --> 00:20:44.728
um,

00:20:45.987 --> 00:20:47.926
she would, she would plan out these,

00:20:48.007 --> 00:20:50.208
these public posts, these pub masters.

00:20:50.248 --> 00:20:52.647
So we stay, stay relevant in,

00:20:52.827 --> 00:20:54.848
in the public spotlight so that the

00:20:55.269 --> 00:20:57.048
algorithm won't go like, Oh, this,

00:20:57.269 --> 00:20:58.169
this guy's quite been.

00:20:58.229 --> 00:20:58.490
Yeah.

00:20:58.630 --> 00:20:59.670
And trust me, dude,

00:20:59.710 --> 00:21:01.970
that that's the hardest part of all this

00:21:02.349 --> 00:21:05.330
marketing will always be the hardest part

00:21:05.351 --> 00:21:07.070
of anything you'll do that money.

00:21:07.830 --> 00:21:09.551
The two M's marketing and money.

00:21:10.432 --> 00:21:12.592
It's the, it's the bane of our existence.

00:21:13.172 --> 00:21:13.913
Us creators.

00:21:14.053 --> 00:21:14.353
It's.

00:21:14.492 --> 00:21:15.272
Oh yeah.

00:21:15.373 --> 00:21:15.772
If you, if,

00:21:16.163 --> 00:21:17.865
no matter how good that piece is,

00:21:17.984 --> 00:21:19.365
no matter how good the story is,

00:21:19.445 --> 00:21:21.946
if the marketing is, is BS,

00:21:22.407 --> 00:21:23.347
it's not going to work.

00:21:24.127 --> 00:21:24.348
Yup.

00:21:25.388 --> 00:21:27.069
But, um, so let's,

00:21:27.329 --> 00:21:28.510
let's slow it down a little bit and

00:21:28.530 --> 00:21:30.152
talk about the creative process.

00:21:30.632 --> 00:21:32.932
How do you stories typically begin?

00:21:33.493 --> 00:21:34.713
Did you start it with a character,

00:21:34.773 --> 00:21:37.276
a world, or this just idea?

00:21:38.676 --> 00:21:42.097
Oh, for, I,

00:21:42.117 --> 00:21:43.618
I'll give you a bit of backstory in

00:21:43.659 --> 00:21:43.858
this.

00:21:44.460 --> 00:21:44.619
Um,

00:21:46.266 --> 00:21:48.666
As for the three characters that I

00:21:48.707 --> 00:21:51.988
mentioned earlier,

00:21:52.028 --> 00:21:54.809
the other one I made her Chinese,

00:21:54.849 --> 00:21:56.029
the other one Japanese,

00:21:56.130 --> 00:21:58.530
and then the other one,

00:21:58.871 --> 00:22:01.291
I wasn't sure who that's supposed to be.

00:22:01.372 --> 00:22:02.393
And that's Christian, by the way,

00:22:02.432 --> 00:22:04.753
the main character now.

00:22:04.773 --> 00:22:06.574
Okay.

00:22:06.874 --> 00:22:09.476
When I was developing their stories,

00:22:09.615 --> 00:22:12.916
I already had the name, the story,

00:22:14.045 --> 00:22:17.367
the background for the Chinese and the

00:22:17.407 --> 00:22:18.709
Japanese characters.

00:22:19.308 --> 00:22:20.609
But for Christian,

00:22:20.790 --> 00:22:24.193
I had no idea how to handle him.

00:22:25.094 --> 00:22:27.596
And I was kind of getting stuck.

00:22:28.017 --> 00:22:28.458
I was like,

00:22:28.478 --> 00:22:30.419
either I get rid of this character or

00:22:33.261 --> 00:22:34.782
I just continue with the other ones.

00:22:35.604 --> 00:22:39.567
But when I was developing...

00:22:40.557 --> 00:22:43.560
story about him being in high school it's

00:22:43.580 --> 00:22:45.221
not even supposed to be fantasy at first

00:22:45.662 --> 00:22:48.105
it supposed to be in high school supposed

00:22:48.125 --> 00:22:51.247
to be this insecure dude who suddenly

00:22:51.267 --> 00:22:53.048
gained some powers and suddenly when

00:22:53.209 --> 00:22:54.829
someone bullies him he accidentally

00:22:54.930 --> 00:22:56.632
activates his powers and when he flicked

00:22:56.652 --> 00:22:58.512
his hands like this and then an ice

00:22:58.594 --> 00:23:00.935
wall came up and the bully gets injured

00:23:01.056 --> 00:23:03.498
very very badly and that's when he gets

00:23:03.518 --> 00:23:07.101
scared and runs away but when

00:23:07.622 --> 00:23:08.642
When I was writing that,

00:23:08.741 --> 00:23:10.623
it didn't feel right for the character

00:23:10.643 --> 00:23:12.604
because it felt too small.

00:23:14.484 --> 00:23:16.125
In high school, really,

00:23:16.684 --> 00:23:17.625
when I was writing that,

00:23:18.665 --> 00:23:21.787
I was talking to myself, not high school,

00:23:21.886 --> 00:23:23.748
it's supposed to be something else.

00:23:24.428 --> 00:23:28.309
And then eventually I came up with the

00:23:28.349 --> 00:23:31.070
kingdom of Kaldarheim.

00:23:31.990 --> 00:23:34.251
It's a realm where it's like,

00:23:35.134 --> 00:23:35.513
Basically,

00:23:35.534 --> 00:23:38.375
when you take a country and make it

00:23:38.596 --> 00:23:39.777
a world in itself.

00:23:40.416 --> 00:23:42.558
Yeah, yeah.

00:23:42.598 --> 00:23:43.578
Where it's, like, floating.

00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:47.882
It's inspired by Yggdrasil from Norse

00:23:48.021 --> 00:23:48.582
folklore.

00:23:49.061 --> 00:23:49.502
Okay.

00:23:49.542 --> 00:23:50.702
Norse mythology, I mean.

00:23:50.722 --> 00:23:52.003
Sorry.

00:23:52.805 --> 00:23:55.826
And then when I got that idea,

00:23:56.007 --> 00:23:56.567
it felt right.

00:23:57.027 --> 00:23:59.229
But now I have to think about what

00:23:59.509 --> 00:24:02.431
his internal conflict will be.

00:24:02.691 --> 00:24:02.851
Um...

00:24:03.887 --> 00:24:07.308
what will be Christian's internal

00:24:07.348 --> 00:24:07.848
conflict?

00:24:07.868 --> 00:24:09.388
If he's in a kingdom,

00:24:09.709 --> 00:24:10.990
he's either going to be the king or

00:24:11.009 --> 00:24:11.589
the prince.

00:24:12.269 --> 00:24:13.390
So I made him the prince.

00:24:13.890 --> 00:24:19.332
So he has like a goal to achieve.

00:24:20.152 --> 00:24:21.031
But then I thought to myself,

00:24:21.071 --> 00:24:21.892
that's very typical.

00:24:21.932 --> 00:24:23.553
That's very lion king.

00:24:26.353 --> 00:24:29.173
So I gave him like this,

00:24:29.453 --> 00:24:31.875
instead of being excited to be a king,

00:24:31.974 --> 00:24:33.474
like most other kings,

00:24:33.847 --> 00:24:36.909
characters are i made him like very very

00:24:36.969 --> 00:24:38.769
scared very insecure he's not ready to

00:24:38.829 --> 00:24:41.210
step up even though he's at the right

00:24:41.390 --> 00:24:44.050
age he's not ready to step up however

00:24:44.651 --> 00:24:47.051
because of something something bad

00:24:47.092 --> 00:24:48.932
happening he has no choice but to step

00:24:48.992 --> 00:24:51.492
up he has to step up reluctantly and

00:24:52.233 --> 00:24:55.835
i i i guess the the message of

00:24:55.855 --> 00:25:00.675
this story is accepting your role even

00:25:00.715 --> 00:25:03.116
like for example if if the if your

00:25:03.217 --> 00:25:03.576
parent

00:25:04.228 --> 00:25:08.631
is suddenly not able to function uh as

00:25:08.691 --> 00:25:12.032
well as they did before and then you're

00:25:12.093 --> 00:25:15.815
so used to being at home um maybe

00:25:15.855 --> 00:25:18.636
going back and forth to school but now

00:25:19.037 --> 00:25:22.898
you see your parent struggling to even to

00:25:22.979 --> 00:25:26.040
even walk walk the hall without bumping on

00:25:26.101 --> 00:25:27.461
something um

00:25:28.682 --> 00:25:31.845
then you have to make a choice.

00:25:32.086 --> 00:25:34.988
Either you continue with what you're used

00:25:35.028 --> 00:25:39.651
to or you add something in your routine

00:25:42.093 --> 00:25:44.894
that will honestly break you.

00:25:48.077 --> 00:25:49.018
Because now,

00:25:49.459 --> 00:25:51.599
without the parent functioning properly,

00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:54.423
without your parent being able to function

00:25:54.482 --> 00:25:54.942
properly,

00:25:55.384 --> 00:26:00.607
the family is slowly falling apart and you

00:26:00.667 --> 00:26:00.928
have,

00:26:01.209 --> 00:26:02.710
you have to step up even if you

00:26:02.730 --> 00:26:03.710
don't want to, that's,

00:26:04.030 --> 00:26:06.051
that's part of growing up and that's what

00:26:06.092 --> 00:26:06.873
maturity is.

00:26:06.972 --> 00:26:07.713
Even if you don't want to,

00:26:07.733 --> 00:26:08.354
you have to do it.

00:26:08.374 --> 00:26:08.534
Oh yeah.

00:26:08.894 --> 00:26:10.695
Oh yeah.

00:26:11.737 --> 00:26:14.479
So what does the collaboration product or

00:26:14.659 --> 00:26:17.201
collaboration process look like between

00:26:17.260 --> 00:26:19.942
yourself as the writer and your artists

00:26:20.022 --> 00:26:20.303
out there?

00:26:20.323 --> 00:26:20.683
Like what,

00:26:21.516 --> 00:26:23.916
Like I'm guessing you already have a few

00:26:23.957 --> 00:26:26.558
stories already done and they're working

00:26:26.598 --> 00:26:27.739
on the art right now.

00:26:28.740 --> 00:26:31.421
Like what kind of direction do you give

00:26:31.441 --> 00:26:31.641
them?

00:26:31.681 --> 00:26:32.942
Do you just give them a story and

00:26:32.961 --> 00:26:34.083
just tell them to go?

00:26:34.942 --> 00:26:36.683
Or do you actually give them like the

00:26:36.723 --> 00:26:38.825
play by play for the panels and stuff

00:26:38.845 --> 00:26:39.345
like that?

00:26:40.566 --> 00:26:42.386
I actually give them a play by play

00:26:42.487 --> 00:26:46.189
because I treat the pages like it's film.

00:26:46.209 --> 00:26:46.308
Yeah.

00:26:49.270 --> 00:26:51.291
I treat each panel with care.

00:26:52.772 --> 00:26:57.075
Unless the particular shot is a bit too

00:26:57.115 --> 00:26:58.895
difficult to recreate,

00:26:59.596 --> 00:27:02.096
I just simplify it and then have the

00:27:02.136 --> 00:27:03.278
same meaning for the shot.

00:27:04.137 --> 00:27:04.557
However,

00:27:06.159 --> 00:27:09.900
regarding if I have finished stories and

00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:10.861
they're just writing it,

00:27:11.141 --> 00:27:12.761
we're going one at a time.

00:27:13.281 --> 00:27:15.482
We're focusing on Christian for now.

00:27:16.137 --> 00:27:19.901
And all of the characters that has been

00:27:19.941 --> 00:27:22.281
shown, they're all part of the same story.

00:27:22.663 --> 00:27:24.084
They're not like separate things.

00:27:25.345 --> 00:27:27.105
What will be separate is those three

00:27:27.125 --> 00:27:28.267
characters that I mentioned,

00:27:29.186 --> 00:27:31.449
the Japanese and the Chinese characters.

00:27:32.249 --> 00:27:35.872
And so we're focusing on Christian for

00:27:35.932 --> 00:27:37.192
now, Christian Frost.

00:27:37.893 --> 00:27:42.396
And we're actually near finishing chapter

00:27:42.517 --> 00:27:42.616
one.

00:27:43.376 --> 00:27:45.699
It's a slow but smooth process.

00:27:47.936 --> 00:27:52.000
I don't rush them now.

00:27:52.019 --> 00:27:53.040
I think you've learned your lesson on

00:27:53.080 --> 00:27:53.800
Russian, bud.

00:27:58.204 --> 00:28:01.086
How have you been approaching blending the

00:28:01.146 --> 00:28:04.288
manga storytelling with your own creative

00:28:04.328 --> 00:28:04.890
style?

00:28:04.930 --> 00:28:06.790
Every writer eventually develops their own

00:28:06.851 --> 00:28:08.051
style.

00:28:08.112 --> 00:28:10.253
How have you taken the manga storytelling

00:28:10.294 --> 00:28:12.596
style and developed it into your own?

00:28:14.528 --> 00:28:15.950
For that,

00:28:17.412 --> 00:28:20.634
because I used to write novels in Wattpad

00:28:20.673 --> 00:28:22.015
as well, not just fanfics.

00:28:22.996 --> 00:28:26.317
So I'm kind of wordy.

00:28:26.719 --> 00:28:31.603
So I'm having a difficult time writing

00:28:31.663 --> 00:28:33.183
dialogues because they're too wordy.

00:28:33.923 --> 00:28:38.647
And for... What was it you say again?

00:28:39.107 --> 00:28:39.489
For the...

00:28:40.761 --> 00:28:42.643
Just kind of like how do you approach

00:28:42.682 --> 00:28:45.002
the storytelling of it from like

00:28:45.022 --> 00:28:47.243
traditional manga style and then kind of

00:28:47.263 --> 00:28:48.763
making it your own style?

00:28:50.345 --> 00:28:52.244
Oh, okay.

00:28:52.285 --> 00:28:52.684
For that,

00:28:53.345 --> 00:28:56.465
I generally follow the footsteps of others

00:28:56.945 --> 00:28:59.487
just so because it's my first manga.

00:28:59.666 --> 00:29:00.606
It's our first manga.

00:29:02.448 --> 00:29:04.127
So for now,

00:29:04.288 --> 00:29:06.328
I'm still following someone else's

00:29:06.388 --> 00:29:06.628
footsteps.

00:29:06.648 --> 00:29:06.888
Yeah.

00:29:08.185 --> 00:29:09.767
Just so I can get the,

00:29:09.787 --> 00:29:10.787
I can get the hang of it.

00:29:10.807 --> 00:29:10.846
No.

00:29:12.307 --> 00:29:13.008
And that's smart.

00:29:13.167 --> 00:29:13.667
I mean, why,

00:29:13.827 --> 00:29:16.028
why go against a system that's already

00:29:16.068 --> 00:29:17.769
been in place for years and years and

00:29:17.808 --> 00:29:21.250
years when you can just do the same

00:29:21.290 --> 00:29:21.570
thing,

00:29:21.631 --> 00:29:24.112
but with your own story and your own

00:29:24.832 --> 00:29:26.633
sense of art and style to it.

00:29:26.653 --> 00:29:27.712
Yeah.

00:29:27.752 --> 00:29:29.054
If it's not broken, don't fix it.

00:29:29.094 --> 00:29:29.374
Right.

00:29:30.013 --> 00:29:31.134
Yep.

00:29:31.173 --> 00:29:34.035
So your first story is I believe snow's

00:29:34.075 --> 00:29:35.596
warm embrace.

00:29:35.635 --> 00:29:35.715
Yep.

00:29:37.013 --> 00:29:39.336
So what can you tell us about that

00:29:39.375 --> 00:29:40.636
story in particular?

00:29:41.897 --> 00:29:42.898
I know it's your first one.

00:29:43.078 --> 00:29:45.240
It's going to be centered on Christian and

00:29:45.280 --> 00:29:49.884
his unlikeliness to want to be king.

00:29:50.365 --> 00:29:50.505
Yeah.

00:29:50.605 --> 00:29:56.349
And it will be about role acceptance,

00:29:56.509 --> 00:29:57.131
like I said,

00:29:57.290 --> 00:30:00.834
and also recognizing your own weakness as

00:30:00.854 --> 00:30:01.273
a leader.

00:30:03.516 --> 00:30:06.038
Because Christian right now has it rough.

00:30:06.547 --> 00:30:08.548
thinks if he's king he's supposed to know

00:30:08.647 --> 00:30:11.669
everything and that puts a lot of pressure

00:30:11.729 --> 00:30:15.471
on him um yeah he thinks he's supposed

00:30:15.490 --> 00:30:17.551
to handle these he's supposed to handle

00:30:17.612 --> 00:30:20.192
the the people and then the army but

00:30:20.374 --> 00:30:23.414
he doesn't he doesn't still know that he's

00:30:23.434 --> 00:30:27.116
supposed to instead dedicate skilled

00:30:27.196 --> 00:30:30.597
people yeah who can do those while

00:30:30.678 --> 00:30:35.340
listening to him so because right now his

00:30:35.421 --> 00:30:35.721
his

00:30:36.413 --> 00:30:39.936
His internal conflict is if he's not

00:30:39.997 --> 00:30:42.338
hands-on, he's not useful.

00:30:43.118 --> 00:30:45.840
Even though someone else does it for him

00:30:46.141 --> 00:30:48.002
after he said the order,

00:30:49.064 --> 00:30:51.265
he doesn't feel useful because I just said

00:30:51.325 --> 00:30:54.067
something and I'm not doing it.

00:30:54.107 --> 00:30:55.588
So what am I doing?

00:30:55.608 --> 00:30:57.730
That's his mindset.

00:30:58.090 --> 00:31:00.231
It's learning how to do that delegation

00:31:01.113 --> 00:31:03.434
and delegate it to the person who knows

00:31:03.454 --> 00:31:04.134
how to do it.

00:31:04.875 --> 00:31:05.076
Yeah.

00:31:05.867 --> 00:31:06.847
Yeah, for that,

00:31:06.989 --> 00:31:08.949
and that's what Christian is struggling

00:31:09.009 --> 00:31:09.190
now.

00:31:09.329 --> 00:31:11.790
And for the villain,

00:31:13.090 --> 00:31:16.593
he eventually successfully invades the

00:31:16.633 --> 00:31:17.012
kingdom,

00:31:17.093 --> 00:31:19.394
and Christian has to start from the bottom

00:31:19.453 --> 00:31:19.594
up.

00:31:19.653 --> 00:31:22.935
And this villain,

00:31:22.955 --> 00:31:24.316
I'm not going to reveal his name yet,

00:31:24.436 --> 00:31:26.978
but I'm sure you saw his lore card.

00:31:28.397 --> 00:31:30.578
He was the final panel in the hype

00:31:30.659 --> 00:31:32.019
video.

00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:33.601
Yeah, he's...

00:31:34.753 --> 00:31:36.095
He's just a shadow for now,

00:31:36.134 --> 00:31:38.276
a smiling shadow with question marks on

00:31:38.316 --> 00:31:38.895
his paper.

00:31:39.576 --> 00:31:42.136
And I'm not going to say his name

00:31:42.196 --> 00:31:47.398
yet because I want him to be a

00:31:47.439 --> 00:31:48.420
surprise for now.

00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:51.101
But what I can say about him is

00:31:51.141 --> 00:31:52.382
that he's very powerful.

00:31:52.521 --> 00:31:54.301
He's nearly unstoppable.

00:31:54.962 --> 00:31:58.044
And he's inspired by the Victorian era

00:31:58.084 --> 00:32:02.786
from Britain, the UK.

00:32:03.481 --> 00:32:06.085
So now there's like a technology

00:32:06.125 --> 00:32:06.664
imbalance.

00:32:07.246 --> 00:32:09.327
Christian and his army are still using

00:32:09.367 --> 00:32:11.650
bows and arrows, but this villain,

00:32:11.950 --> 00:32:14.573
his army, is using guns and cannons.

00:32:15.113 --> 00:32:21.298
So now I've created an unfair power

00:32:21.318 --> 00:32:23.080
dynamic, and I like that.

00:32:23.881 --> 00:32:26.784
I like making my villains very powerful

00:32:26.884 --> 00:32:28.645
and the heroes very weak.

00:32:30.316 --> 00:32:32.596
And I think that makes for a very

00:32:32.636 --> 00:32:36.480
cool story in the end because the good

00:32:36.539 --> 00:32:37.881
guy always wins, right?

00:32:38.300 --> 00:32:40.122
So it's how he gets there.

00:32:40.261 --> 00:32:43.223
The journey is always more fun when the

00:32:43.624 --> 00:32:46.145
hero looks like they could actually lose.

00:32:46.746 --> 00:32:48.906
And I like that about a story is

00:32:48.967 --> 00:32:50.907
when it looks like that hero is actually

00:32:50.948 --> 00:32:51.769
going to lose.

00:32:52.269 --> 00:32:54.391
Only to figure it out and then pull

00:32:54.510 --> 00:32:55.931
off a successful victory.

00:32:56.612 --> 00:32:58.113
So that's really cool that you're doing it

00:32:58.133 --> 00:32:58.593
that way.

00:32:59.473 --> 00:32:59.634
So...

00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:03.799
What kind of audience are you looking to

00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:05.840
attract to Frog Light Studios,

00:33:05.881 --> 00:33:07.580
like your normal manga audience?

00:33:07.621 --> 00:33:10.481
Are you looking to possibly go beyond that

00:33:10.561 --> 00:33:13.021
and possibly get into the comic world of,

00:33:13.461 --> 00:33:13.582
like,

00:33:13.622 --> 00:33:15.102
try to pull in some of those types

00:33:15.122 --> 00:33:15.603
of people?

00:33:17.623 --> 00:33:18.103
For now,

00:33:18.282 --> 00:33:21.044
we're building our community and

00:33:21.423 --> 00:33:24.003
attracting the audience that are

00:33:24.084 --> 00:33:28.065
interested in magical battles.

00:33:29.380 --> 00:33:31.942
Those who are struggling internally as

00:33:32.001 --> 00:33:33.982
well with who they are,

00:33:34.103 --> 00:33:37.085
with what their role is in their family

00:33:37.244 --> 00:33:39.246
or in their workplace or even in their

00:33:39.266 --> 00:33:39.766
friendship.

00:33:40.767 --> 00:33:45.068
That's the type of audience that we want

00:33:45.108 --> 00:33:48.791
because if this story can reach their

00:33:48.832 --> 00:33:49.251
hearts,

00:33:50.673 --> 00:33:53.074
it can eventually help them make good

00:33:53.114 --> 00:33:56.736
decisions instead of making very bad

00:33:57.156 --> 00:33:59.238
mistakes that would

00:33:59.683 --> 00:34:01.244
would often ruin someone.

00:34:01.365 --> 00:34:02.866
And it's like,

00:34:03.287 --> 00:34:05.088
it's like my mission as a writer to,

00:34:06.130 --> 00:34:07.510
um, to,

00:34:08.331 --> 00:34:10.614
to make my audience feel like they're not

00:34:10.653 --> 00:34:11.074
alone.

00:34:11.094 --> 00:34:12.396
Yeah.

00:34:12.456 --> 00:34:12.936
No,

00:34:12.956 --> 00:34:14.617
that's really cool that you're not just

00:34:14.657 --> 00:34:17.119
trying to just put out an entertaining

00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:20.342
story, but also, you know,

00:34:20.382 --> 00:34:22.806
provides some type of, um,

00:34:24.255 --> 00:34:26.556
relief to them like they aren't alone in

00:34:26.596 --> 00:34:29.697
that hey other people and you know going

00:34:29.737 --> 00:34:32.119
through similar struggles in your stories

00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:33.338
and that's really cool that you're doing

00:34:33.398 --> 00:34:37.641
it that way so we're seeing more creators

00:34:37.740 --> 00:34:39.842
making manga outside of japan and like i

00:34:39.862 --> 00:34:41.603
said you were my you're my first one

00:34:41.623 --> 00:34:43.324
that i've discovered but i'm sure there

00:34:43.344 --> 00:34:45.945
are many more why do you think this

00:34:46.065 --> 00:34:49.246
movement is growing the way it is outside

00:34:49.427 --> 00:34:50.126
of japan

00:34:51.635 --> 00:34:54.617
Because a lot of people love manga,

00:34:54.717 --> 00:34:56.757
and a lot of people love Japan in

00:34:56.818 --> 00:34:57.398
particular.

00:34:58.137 --> 00:35:00.298
And oftentimes,

00:35:00.318 --> 00:35:03.739
a lot of people love to adapt certain

00:35:03.800 --> 00:35:05.320
cultures, certain practices.

00:35:05.521 --> 00:35:09.862
And I believe manga is not anything

00:35:09.902 --> 00:35:10.661
different than that.

00:35:11.242 --> 00:35:14.163
It's a culture that a lot of people

00:35:14.222 --> 00:35:16.264
want to be included in, want to follow,

00:35:16.324 --> 00:35:18.905
because it's a very cool culture.

00:35:20.153 --> 00:35:21.835
No, it really is.

00:35:21.875 --> 00:35:23.476
And it's one of those things where you

00:35:23.496 --> 00:35:26.539
look at the world as a whole and

00:35:26.599 --> 00:35:29.862
what countries and cultures have given to

00:35:29.902 --> 00:35:30.402
the world.

00:35:31.003 --> 00:35:33.945
Japan's given us manga, Godzilla,

00:35:34.204 --> 00:35:34.726
thankfully.

00:35:34.905 --> 00:35:35.726
I love Godzilla.

00:35:36.527 --> 00:35:37.027
King Kong.

00:35:37.807 --> 00:35:38.108
Me too.

00:35:38.128 --> 00:35:40.751
Korea's given us K-pop, you know,

00:35:41.130 --> 00:35:42.012
mukbangs.

00:35:42.911 --> 00:35:45.253
And so it's really cool to kind of

00:35:45.273 --> 00:35:46.976
take a step back and see kind of

00:35:47.016 --> 00:35:49.117
like the cultural shifts over the last

00:35:49.177 --> 00:35:49.438
like,

00:35:50.420 --> 00:35:53.664
five years maybe from like really where

00:35:53.764 --> 00:35:56.905
manga really started hitting and then

00:35:56.985 --> 00:35:59.307
followed by K-pop almost around the same

00:35:59.347 --> 00:36:01.369
time when I feel like these things both

00:36:01.389 --> 00:36:04.092
kind of took off at the same time.

00:36:04.152 --> 00:36:04.472
Right.

00:36:05.132 --> 00:36:06.492
So it's been kind of cool seeing that.

00:36:06.554 --> 00:36:08.094
And I've lived both places.

00:36:08.135 --> 00:36:09.275
I've seen both places.

00:36:10.096 --> 00:36:10.597
And for me,

00:36:10.657 --> 00:36:11.797
it's like just kind of cool to just

00:36:12.038 --> 00:36:13.938
see the rest of the world catching up

00:36:13.958 --> 00:36:15.260
to what I already knew.

00:36:16.081 --> 00:36:18.202
So it's been fun in that regard for

00:36:18.242 --> 00:36:18.362
me.

00:36:20.219 --> 00:36:23.782
So what kind of challenges do indie manga

00:36:23.822 --> 00:36:25.322
creators are facing?

00:36:25.342 --> 00:36:26.523
Because I know there's a lot of big

00:36:26.585 --> 00:36:28.385
studios out there producing a lot of big

00:36:28.425 --> 00:36:28.987
things.

00:36:29.547 --> 00:36:32.869
So what's been your biggest challenge in

00:36:32.909 --> 00:36:35.811
getting this started?

00:36:36.012 --> 00:36:38.195
It's getting recognized.

00:36:38.215 --> 00:36:41.677
That's the biggest challenge now.

00:36:41.717 --> 00:36:44.000
Because in the Philippines,

00:36:44.039 --> 00:36:45.039
it's often comics.

00:36:45.320 --> 00:36:46.942
It's not particularly manga.

00:36:49.394 --> 00:36:50.956
there are a lot of big comic studios

00:36:50.976 --> 00:36:53.898
here in the philippines too oh really i

00:36:53.918 --> 00:36:57.101
didn't know that yep i was actually

00:36:57.121 --> 00:36:59.103
something i was going to ask you like

00:36:59.242 --> 00:37:01.144
after the fact is like what's the comic

00:37:01.164 --> 00:37:03.005
book scene and like what's the manga scene

00:37:03.045 --> 00:37:05.788
like there i didn't realize that you know

00:37:05.807 --> 00:37:07.349
you could go down and go to a

00:37:07.389 --> 00:37:09.530
comic book shop there in the philippines

00:37:10.472 --> 00:37:14.755
yeah they're they're mostly online now so

00:37:14.936 --> 00:37:15.155
okay

00:37:17.896 --> 00:37:20.016
They're online selling instead of... Okay.

00:37:20.978 --> 00:37:22.197
But they do exist.

00:37:22.398 --> 00:37:22.797
They do exist.

00:37:22.838 --> 00:37:23.077
Yeah.

00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:24.219
That's really cool.

00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:27.360
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:37:27.719 --> 00:37:29.621
For our biggest challenge right now is,

00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:32.481
yeah, going against those big names.

00:37:32.541 --> 00:37:35.583
But even though it's our biggest

00:37:35.623 --> 00:37:36.023
challenge,

00:37:36.943 --> 00:37:38.463
I don't know why it doesn't bother me

00:37:38.503 --> 00:37:41.985
that much because... That's good.

00:37:42.065 --> 00:37:42.664
Yeah.

00:37:42.844 --> 00:37:43.525
It's a potential...

00:37:45.454 --> 00:37:46.916
I wouldn't, I don't want to say enemy,

00:37:46.976 --> 00:37:51.400
but, uh, opponent, I would say, um,

00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:52.061
competition.

00:37:52.780 --> 00:37:53.061
Yeah.

00:37:53.222 --> 00:37:53.422
Yeah.

00:37:53.481 --> 00:37:55.764
That's, that's the word competition.

00:37:56.043 --> 00:37:56.643
Uh, it,

00:37:56.704 --> 00:37:58.826
it's a potential competition and a big one

00:37:58.905 --> 00:37:59.347
at that,

00:37:59.867 --> 00:38:02.248
but it doesn't bother me that much because

00:38:03.489 --> 00:38:04.190
I, I don't,

00:38:04.570 --> 00:38:05.952
I don't want to sound egotistical,

00:38:05.992 --> 00:38:08.273
but no one does it the way we

00:38:08.313 --> 00:38:08.494
do.

00:38:09.594 --> 00:38:11.597
Um, I mean, sure.

00:38:11.677 --> 00:38:12.898
We're, we're sharing, uh,

00:38:13.556 --> 00:38:18.099
we're taking notes on how this person does

00:38:18.139 --> 00:38:19.978
it, how this certain studio does it.

00:38:20.099 --> 00:38:20.880
That's called learning.

00:38:20.900 --> 00:38:22.519
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:38:22.619 --> 00:38:23.141
That's learning.

00:38:23.240 --> 00:38:25.121
And also,

00:38:27.081 --> 00:38:30.742
I wouldn't say it's arrogant to say that

00:38:31.204 --> 00:38:32.384
we're doing it our way.

00:38:33.164 --> 00:38:35.105
No, if you don't do it your way,

00:38:35.125 --> 00:38:36.045
then you're copying.

00:38:36.706 --> 00:38:39.447
So it's best to learn what they do

00:38:39.947 --> 00:38:42.088
and then make it better and make it

00:38:42.168 --> 00:38:42.728
yours.

00:38:43.547 --> 00:38:44.807
Yeah,

00:38:44.827 --> 00:38:50.351
and that's a lot of the starting studios.

00:38:50.771 --> 00:38:52.652
I can see a lot of them.

00:38:53.353 --> 00:38:56.534
Even in Facebook, in Facebook groups,

00:38:56.574 --> 00:38:58.835
there are upcoming studios.

00:38:59.396 --> 00:39:04.380
And a lot of them, I would say,

00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:07.181
struggle with originality.

00:39:07.461 --> 00:39:10.983
And it's something that,

00:39:11.461 --> 00:39:13.804
that I personally struggled with as well.

00:39:14.545 --> 00:39:17.128
And it took a bit of coming to

00:39:17.168 --> 00:39:19.672
terms that I can't be too different or

00:39:19.871 --> 00:39:22.856
else the audience wouldn't feel safe in

00:39:23.335 --> 00:39:26.159
discovering whatever I have to show them.

00:39:26.760 --> 00:39:26.940
Yeah,

00:39:26.981 --> 00:39:28.322
it's one of those where you have to

00:39:28.382 --> 00:39:29.583
establish yourself

00:39:30.302 --> 00:39:32.943
and then later once you're established and

00:39:32.983 --> 00:39:35.224
people are then you can start tweaking

00:39:35.244 --> 00:39:37.925
things and making things maybe a little

00:39:37.945 --> 00:39:39.447
bit more out there a little bit more

00:39:39.626 --> 00:39:42.068
different than what maybe the status quo

00:39:42.869 --> 00:39:45.630
yeah it's like it's like um here here's

00:39:45.670 --> 00:39:48.251
how star wars do it oh here's how

00:39:48.371 --> 00:39:52.032
i do star wars and then then let's

00:39:52.072 --> 00:39:54.313
mix up but then once i get gained

00:39:54.333 --> 00:39:55.315
their attention with that

00:39:56.262 --> 00:39:58.362
um here's i do star wars with with

00:39:58.382 --> 00:40:00.543
a bit of a harry potter aspect so

00:40:01.083 --> 00:40:03.085
it's like it's like mixing and matching

00:40:03.125 --> 00:40:05.945
things that yeah that a lot of audience

00:40:06.487 --> 00:40:08.748
some of them haven't thought of oh my

00:40:08.788 --> 00:40:11.949
god this certainly works and that's that's

00:40:11.969 --> 00:40:15.010
a that's a very uh good feeling to

00:40:15.070 --> 00:40:16.110
have because it's

00:40:16.893 --> 00:40:22.340
It's them recognizing the skill and the

00:40:22.380 --> 00:40:24.280
connections that you have made.

00:40:25.782 --> 00:40:28.806
No, that's really cool, dude.

00:40:28.826 --> 00:40:30.447
You have no idea how cool it is

00:40:30.507 --> 00:40:31.909
to just sit here and talk to you

00:40:31.969 --> 00:40:32.268
and just...

00:40:32.849 --> 00:40:36.193
The enthusiasm that you have for what it

00:40:36.293 --> 00:40:39.596
is that you are attempting to do is

00:40:39.695 --> 00:40:41.336
absolutely infectious.

00:40:41.978 --> 00:40:44.298
And I really do hope that more people

00:40:44.318 --> 00:40:47.422
start coming online to what it is that

00:40:47.561 --> 00:40:50.844
you and Froglight are trying to do, man,

00:40:50.925 --> 00:40:52.025
because it's really cool.

00:40:53.463 --> 00:40:55.664
So what's the future look like?

00:40:56.465 --> 00:40:58.425
Is the plan just to stay with manga

00:40:58.445 --> 00:41:00.565
or do you have future plans to maybe

00:41:00.666 --> 00:41:04.188
expand it into animation as well?

00:41:04.248 --> 00:41:04.527
Yeah.

00:41:05.347 --> 00:41:05.668
Actually,

00:41:06.148 --> 00:41:08.809
I discussed this with our creatives

00:41:08.849 --> 00:41:09.329
director.

00:41:10.130 --> 00:41:13.650
And he suggested that if we're going to

00:41:13.670 --> 00:41:18.192
grow, when we're going to grow,

00:41:19.092 --> 00:41:21.994
we shouldn't call ourselves some like,

00:41:22.653 --> 00:41:22.934
you know,

00:41:23.809 --> 00:41:25.510
There's certain studios that call them

00:41:25.831 --> 00:41:27.351
like the last name of the creator and

00:41:27.391 --> 00:41:29.253
then comics, the word comics.

00:41:29.932 --> 00:41:34.355
And so we went with studio because we're

00:41:34.394 --> 00:41:35.936
not just limited on manga.

00:41:36.175 --> 00:41:39.177
We're going to soon transition into

00:41:39.277 --> 00:41:39.777
animation.

00:41:40.277 --> 00:41:43.860
Maybe simple animations like three or ten

00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:47.882
second animation just to show what we can

00:41:47.942 --> 00:41:48.061
do.

00:41:49.940 --> 00:41:51.840
i like it and that's how it that's

00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:54.782
how it starts man you you drop them

00:41:54.842 --> 00:41:57.043
samples like so you have issue one of

00:41:57.063 --> 00:42:00.485
your manga about to release you animate

00:42:00.525 --> 00:42:02.567
thirty to forty seconds of that or ten

00:42:02.586 --> 00:42:05.047
to twenty seconds of like maybe two three

00:42:05.108 --> 00:42:08.929
or four panels and um so many of

00:42:08.949 --> 00:42:10.751
them are doing it now even the comic

00:42:10.791 --> 00:42:11.311
book world

00:42:12.239 --> 00:42:15.181
it's going into that direction as well to

00:42:15.222 --> 00:42:18.103
where when the next upcoming issue of

00:42:18.143 --> 00:42:20.045
something they will go and animate like

00:42:20.065 --> 00:42:22.387
the first like two to three pages of

00:42:22.467 --> 00:42:24.989
it and it's been really cool to kind

00:42:25.010 --> 00:42:26.831
of see for me being a comic book

00:42:26.871 --> 00:42:30.733
guy just to see like the evolution and

00:42:30.773 --> 00:42:32.896
how the marketing is working because it's

00:42:32.916 --> 00:42:35.878
a great marketing technique so

00:42:38.032 --> 00:42:39.672
But so let's look ahead for a minute,

00:42:39.693 --> 00:42:39.992
man.

00:42:40.132 --> 00:42:42.655
What projects is Frog Light Studio working

00:42:42.695 --> 00:42:43.315
on right now?

00:42:43.394 --> 00:42:46.717
I know you have Snow's Warm Embrace,

00:42:46.757 --> 00:42:48.358
but what else do y'all have coming down

00:42:48.398 --> 00:42:51.039
the pipeline?

00:42:51.239 --> 00:42:52.699
After Snow's Warm Embrace,

00:42:52.740 --> 00:42:54.320
we're going to focus on,

00:42:54.742 --> 00:42:56.822
we're soon going to focus on the Japanese

00:42:56.842 --> 00:42:59.603
world.

00:42:59.784 --> 00:43:01.626
And the Japanese world is called Hino

00:43:01.666 --> 00:43:02.085
Sekai.

00:43:02.766 --> 00:43:07.409
And it's basically ruled by a shogunate.

00:43:09.045 --> 00:43:11.947
And the main character for that particular

00:43:11.967 --> 00:43:14.188
story is Hinote Sato.

00:43:14.849 --> 00:43:21.074
And he's a guy who lives peacefully.

00:43:21.173 --> 00:43:27.599
And then I took inspiration from World War

00:43:27.639 --> 00:43:30.900
II for that story,

00:43:31.501 --> 00:43:33.702
where he's suddenly pushed in

00:43:35.153 --> 00:43:37.875
Reluctantly and you you can see that the

00:43:37.894 --> 00:43:40.157
way I do things that they these characters

00:43:40.197 --> 00:43:43.237
don't want to do The things that they're

00:43:43.277 --> 00:43:43.858
going to do.

00:43:44.478 --> 00:43:44.719
Yeah,

00:43:45.259 --> 00:43:49.940
that's that's um The the trend that I'm

00:43:49.981 --> 00:43:52.623
following with with my own writing if it

00:43:52.663 --> 00:43:54.864
works it works right and I think every

00:43:54.903 --> 00:44:00.206
writer has their their own Their thing,

00:44:00.306 --> 00:44:00.706
right?

00:44:01.713 --> 00:44:04.614
Like for you, it's the reluctant hero.

00:44:05.596 --> 00:44:09.277
So it's really cool to see that.

00:44:09.338 --> 00:44:10.637
You always look for that, right?

00:44:10.657 --> 00:44:12.179
When you're reading a comic book or you're

00:44:12.199 --> 00:44:14.940
reading a manga, you kind of like,

00:44:14.960 --> 00:44:16.900
especially when you read multiples of

00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:17.181
them,

00:44:17.920 --> 00:44:19.722
you start to pick up what it is

00:44:19.762 --> 00:44:22.583
that writer, like what their thing is,

00:44:22.623 --> 00:44:24.523
because they all have that thing they

00:44:24.603 --> 00:44:24.943
like.

00:44:25.625 --> 00:44:27.425
So that's really cool that that's your

00:44:27.445 --> 00:44:27.786
thing.

00:44:27.965 --> 00:44:28.385
Yeah.

00:44:31.871 --> 00:44:33.512
get pop up some of them.

00:44:33.532 --> 00:44:34.293
But, um,

00:44:34.313 --> 00:44:37.414
so what's the vision right now looking

00:44:37.454 --> 00:44:38.614
like for frog light?

00:44:39.414 --> 00:44:39.974
Like what's the,

00:44:42.175 --> 00:44:44.757
the long-term visions like five, ten,

00:44:45.438 --> 00:44:46.657
fifteen years from now,

00:44:46.757 --> 00:44:50.059
what do you see frog light studios?

00:44:51.719 --> 00:44:52.440
Uh, I see,

00:44:52.579 --> 00:44:54.760
I see frog light studios being its own,

00:44:55.041 --> 00:44:57.422
its own self-sustaining studio.

00:44:57.442 --> 00:44:58.722
Um, where,

00:44:59.931 --> 00:45:02.514
we don't depend on these big names who

00:45:02.554 --> 00:45:04.175
can potentially take advantage.

00:45:05.996 --> 00:45:10.378
Maybe even put the original artists out of

00:45:10.458 --> 00:45:10.739
work.

00:45:11.298 --> 00:45:14.601
And that's what I want to prevent is

00:45:14.641 --> 00:45:17.503
that if they started with me,

00:45:17.643 --> 00:45:21.826
they're going to go with me.

00:45:22.425 --> 00:45:23.547
I don't want any of them to be

00:45:23.567 --> 00:45:25.887
screwed over by someone outside of our

00:45:26.389 --> 00:45:27.028
studio that

00:45:29.057 --> 00:45:31.237
wasn't even here when it started.

00:45:32.858 --> 00:45:36.918
So looking now is that for the future,

00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:40.460
I see the studio as, like I said,

00:45:40.639 --> 00:45:42.780
its own body with the same artists.

00:45:44.780 --> 00:45:46.081
Well, not exactly the same artists,

00:45:46.141 --> 00:45:50.282
but the original ones joining,

00:45:50.681 --> 00:45:51.882
still with us.

00:45:53.161 --> 00:45:56.382
And that's basically...

00:45:57.438 --> 00:46:00.559
how I see it and the animation aspect

00:46:00.599 --> 00:46:00.978
as well.

00:46:02.960 --> 00:46:06.521
I don't really see too much too far

00:46:06.581 --> 00:46:09.400
in the future because I... Yeah,

00:46:09.420 --> 00:46:10.382
the here and now, right?

00:46:11.041 --> 00:46:12.001
Yeah,

00:46:12.121 --> 00:46:14.543
it takes my attention away from the

00:46:14.583 --> 00:46:18.063
present and I want to focus on the

00:46:18.103 --> 00:46:18.623
things now.

00:46:20.054 --> 00:46:21.335
No, that's smart, actually.

00:46:22.155 --> 00:46:23.076
Get yourself set,

00:46:23.135 --> 00:46:24.496
get yourself established.

00:46:25.217 --> 00:46:27.697
And then once things are flowing the right

00:46:27.737 --> 00:46:27.938
way,

00:46:27.978 --> 00:46:29.458
that's when you can kind of stop a

00:46:29.478 --> 00:46:29.998
little bit.

00:46:30.398 --> 00:46:31.599
The work's not going to stop.

00:46:31.639 --> 00:46:32.480
It's already flowing.

00:46:32.500 --> 00:46:33.561
But you yourself,

00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:36.842
as the director of Froglight, can go,

00:46:37.362 --> 00:46:39.983
okay, now I can breathe and look two,

00:46:40.043 --> 00:46:42.585
three, five years down the road, maybe.

00:46:43.025 --> 00:46:44.545
But no, that's a good approach to it.

00:46:44.606 --> 00:46:44.885
And

00:46:45.525 --> 00:46:45.826
Dude,

00:46:45.925 --> 00:46:47.307
you got a lot of life ahead of

00:46:47.347 --> 00:46:47.487
you.

00:46:47.527 --> 00:46:50.230
So I'm looking forward to seeing what it,

00:46:50.250 --> 00:46:51.431
what, what you do,

00:46:51.911 --> 00:46:53.773
what the studio is going to do,

00:46:54.474 --> 00:46:55.914
but for everybody who's going to be

00:46:55.994 --> 00:46:58.858
listening either later when this releases

00:46:58.918 --> 00:47:01.219
on YouTube or later when it releases on

00:47:01.320 --> 00:47:03.221
all the podcasts and platforms out there,

00:47:03.942 --> 00:47:06.043
where can people follow frog light

00:47:06.103 --> 00:47:08.905
studios?

00:47:08.965 --> 00:47:09.646
Oh, um,

00:47:10.153 --> 00:47:12.373
We currently have our Facebook account,

00:47:12.454 --> 00:47:13.434
Frog Life Studios,

00:47:13.534 --> 00:47:16.135
and it's the same for different platforms

00:47:16.175 --> 00:47:17.916
as well, Instagram and TikTok.

00:47:19.295 --> 00:47:21.076
We actually have something big planned for

00:47:21.396 --> 00:47:24.097
Twitter or X or whatever that platform's

00:47:24.137 --> 00:47:24.737
name is now.

00:47:28.117 --> 00:47:28.737
For X,

00:47:28.858 --> 00:47:31.898
we plan to create different accounts for

00:47:32.577 --> 00:47:35.119
all these characters so they can like,

00:47:35.947 --> 00:47:38.530
the audience can immerse themselves in how

00:47:38.570 --> 00:47:40.612
this character speaks in this account and

00:47:40.711 --> 00:47:42.713
how this character speaks in that account.

00:47:43.233 --> 00:47:43.934
Oh, that's really cool.

00:47:43.954 --> 00:47:45.454
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:47:45.554 --> 00:47:46.516
It's like a personal,

00:47:47.197 --> 00:47:47.876
it's like the characters.

00:47:47.896 --> 00:47:50.039
It's like the new AI chats, you know?

00:47:50.858 --> 00:47:52.521
Yeah, yeah, that too.

00:47:55.003 --> 00:47:56.983
The audience can ask these characters

00:47:57.023 --> 00:47:59.626
questions too and the characters will

00:47:59.646 --> 00:47:59.965
answer.

00:48:00.467 --> 00:48:03.148
And it's an immersive thing.

00:48:03.889 --> 00:48:04.510
That's really cool.

00:48:06.103 --> 00:48:08.003
I want my audience to be immersed with

00:48:08.324 --> 00:48:12.588
the world and the characters as well.

00:48:12.668 --> 00:48:13.547
I like it, man.

00:48:14.128 --> 00:48:16.411
I'm telling everybody right now,

00:48:16.971 --> 00:48:19.233
go over to Facebook, go to TikTok,

00:48:19.572 --> 00:48:23.596
go to Instagram, follow Frog Life Studios.

00:48:24.817 --> 00:48:25.617
Over the last...

00:48:26.635 --> 00:48:28.637
couple of weeks three weeks maybe a month

00:48:29.117 --> 00:48:31.260
they've become very active on social media

00:48:31.320 --> 00:48:35.083
and sharing their art and sharing just the

00:48:35.123 --> 00:48:37.166
day-to-day processes that are going on

00:48:37.206 --> 00:48:38.347
over there and it's been really cool to

00:48:38.387 --> 00:48:41.309
see you know that and just follow along

00:48:41.349 --> 00:48:42.891
with what y'all are doing over there

00:48:43.070 --> 00:48:44.932
you've released some more panels some some

00:48:44.952 --> 00:48:47.956
of the story panels it's been really fun

00:48:48.436 --> 00:48:50.398
and honestly when you had sent me the

00:48:50.737 --> 00:48:50.938
um

00:48:51.974 --> 00:48:53.554
the character sheets, I was like,

00:48:53.594 --> 00:48:55.155
that's going to be a really dope,

00:48:55.434 --> 00:48:58.615
hype video because I can take those

00:48:59.317 --> 00:49:00.896
character sheets, line them up,

00:49:01.577 --> 00:49:03.157
and kind of put your, you know,

00:49:03.217 --> 00:49:04.237
that's how I'm going to advertise your

00:49:04.257 --> 00:49:05.079
appearance, right?

00:49:05.759 --> 00:49:06.978
And I thought it was just such a

00:49:07.019 --> 00:49:08.539
cool thing to be able to grab those

00:49:09.480 --> 00:49:10.581
and use those, right?

00:49:11.784 --> 00:49:13.905
So appreciate you sending me all the cool

00:49:13.925 --> 00:49:15.005
panels, all that stuff.

00:49:15.025 --> 00:49:16.706
I know the first cover is done.

00:49:17.206 --> 00:49:18.527
It didn't get done in time to be

00:49:18.586 --> 00:49:20.086
included in the hype video,

00:49:20.748 --> 00:49:22.367
but it's going to be a really cool

00:49:22.407 --> 00:49:24.469
surprise for when people go to watch the

00:49:24.528 --> 00:49:27.150
short clips from this and get to see

00:49:27.170 --> 00:49:28.610
that cover for the first time.

00:49:28.650 --> 00:49:29.710
That's going to be really dope.

00:49:29.731 --> 00:49:29.811
Yep.

00:49:31.831 --> 00:49:35.393
I'm actually really excited to see it.

00:49:35.532 --> 00:49:36.773
It was like, like,

00:49:38.168 --> 00:49:39.789
It was one of those where I was

00:49:39.809 --> 00:49:41.108
kind of sad that I went, oh,

00:49:41.128 --> 00:49:42.210
this would have been so cool to do

00:49:42.409 --> 00:49:43.150
for the hype video.

00:49:43.170 --> 00:49:44.530
But then I was like, no,

00:49:44.550 --> 00:49:46.751
it's going to be even better because when

00:49:46.791 --> 00:49:48.632
the clips start coming out and when I

00:49:48.693 --> 00:49:50.793
send you the clips and people are going

00:49:50.813 --> 00:49:52.675
to see that cover for the very first

00:49:52.715 --> 00:49:54.195
time, like, dude,

00:49:54.215 --> 00:49:57.016
that's going to be really – what better

00:49:57.056 --> 00:50:00.197
way to introduce that first cover than

00:50:00.237 --> 00:50:02.519
with the release of the clips from this

00:50:02.539 --> 00:50:02.920
show?

00:50:03.519 --> 00:50:05.481
I think that's going to be really awesome,

00:50:05.541 --> 00:50:07.242
and I'm excited for that.

00:50:09.036 --> 00:50:14.141
so but everybody tiktok instagram facebook

00:50:14.481 --> 00:50:16.782
frog light studios they are not hard to

00:50:16.822 --> 00:50:20.646
find go give them a follow they are

00:50:21.447 --> 00:50:23.447
a group of kids i'm saying kids in

00:50:23.487 --> 00:50:25.369
the most polite and most respectful way

00:50:25.409 --> 00:50:28.672
possible because they're literally i'm old

00:50:28.693 --> 00:50:30.514
enough to be their fathers more than

00:50:30.554 --> 00:50:31.094
likely but

00:50:31.815 --> 00:50:33.155
But give them a follow.

00:50:33.396 --> 00:50:36.496
Join this journey with them because it is

00:50:36.516 --> 00:50:38.619
going to be something fantastic to watch

00:50:38.639 --> 00:50:42.561
these kids grow and learn and evolve in

00:50:42.661 --> 00:50:45.262
this business that really wasn't designed

00:50:45.302 --> 00:50:45.782
for them,

00:50:45.882 --> 00:50:48.864
but they're still taking it head on.

00:50:49.543 --> 00:50:50.565
But Akihiro,

00:50:51.184 --> 00:50:52.885
thank you so much for joining us tonight

00:50:52.965 --> 00:50:54.706
and sharing the story behind Frog Light

00:50:54.746 --> 00:50:55.166
Studio.

00:50:55.807 --> 00:50:58.048
and the creative journey you're building

00:50:58.809 --> 00:51:00.829
independent creators are constantly

00:51:00.949 --> 00:51:04.030
pushing the boundaries of storytelling and

00:51:04.070 --> 00:51:06.592
it's always exciting to see new studios

00:51:07.152 --> 00:51:10.492
new voices step to the front if you

00:51:10.532 --> 00:51:13.434
want to follow akihiro and see froglight

00:51:13.474 --> 00:51:15.855
studios and creating net and what they're

00:51:15.875 --> 00:51:17.956
creating this make sure you check out the

00:51:17.976 --> 00:51:19.516
links down in the description

00:51:20.532 --> 00:51:22.693
And to everyone watching and listening,

00:51:22.793 --> 00:51:24.375
thank you for supporting independent

00:51:24.414 --> 00:51:26.936
creators and the stories they bring to

00:51:26.976 --> 00:51:27.175
life,

00:51:27.215 --> 00:51:30.097
whether it's comic books or a brand new

00:51:30.137 --> 00:51:31.278
manga studio.

00:51:32.039 --> 00:51:33.119
Until next time,

00:51:33.960 --> 00:51:36.902
the Council of Nerds is adjourned.

00:51:36.943 --> 00:51:39.184
This has been the USDN Podcast,

00:51:39.585 --> 00:51:41.826
where indie comics come to life.

00:51:43.186 --> 00:51:44.268
Y'all be safe out there.