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Mother is a Stinkbug is a fully traditionally animated, 30 minute short film, with the vibes and essence of a film like “Whisper of The Heart” or “Only Yesterday,” with a tinge of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” ‘s latter half. As well as the prequel to my previous short film, Penguin Midnight. Of course sharing in its same style of fluid animation with detailed and location accurate sound and background environments. 

**((ALL SUBSEQUENT BLACK & GREY DRAWINGS ARE ROUGH STORYBOARD IMAGES AND NOT INDICATIVE OF THE FINAL PRODUCT))**

It follows Penguin Midnight’s female protagonist, Masshiro Tanaka, and seeks to explore her further from a psychological and developmental perspective.

How does such a kind and warm-hearted girl become one who chooses to reject intimate connections with others, even when they’re coming from a place of sincerity? And how did she end up in the circumstances in which we saw her in Penguin Midnight?

Masshiro’s inability to be vulnerable with intimate connections was something I could relate to on a personal level, so I sought to look inward in that regard. Some elements and realities in my own past are present in Shiro's life; Non-supportive teachers, friends who betrayed my trust, and experiences with cold and gossipy school cliches. And although I didn't grow up in a house full of addicts, I often witnessed how it affected friends around me, so in that regard I drew inspiration from their behaviors as a result. But my most significant focus is the path she chose as a “Career Woman,” or Escort, on the streets of Tokyo.

If you’re familiar with Penguin Midnight, then you’re aware that in order to make the ambience of each scene feel as authentic as possible, I visited the areas in Japan that the short took place in to do both image capture for background references, and sound capture. 

And now I’ve done the same for “Mother is a Stinkbug.” Kabukicho is an infamous area of Tokyo, very well known for its nightlife, both among sex tourists and the burnt out salarymen. The Okubo Park area is where you’ll find girls standing like statues, mindlessly scrolling their phones, until a prospective customer offers the right price to spend anywhere from an hour to an entire night with them.

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