#nakazaki

1. Umeda Sky Building/Kuchu Teien Observatory

The boys went up about 40 stories for some scenes from Face Face. The trip up the first 37 or so are free, if you can hold your nerve during your ride on the glass elevator and then the trip Gu Jiacheng takes on their escalator. Then you pay to step onto the roof, which isn’t as bad as it looks from inside. 

Around the lens-shaped interior observatory, there’s a fancy restaurant, a cafe with its own special waffles, and a nice gift shop with capsule toy machines like the boys were sampling in the BTS. 

(After this, I had to change hotels, so the day passes quickly.)

2. Tempozan Hep Five Ferris Wheel 😂

My second stop was a mistake, though maybe a mistake a person can only make in Osaka: THE WRONG FERRIS WHEEL. You see, Osaka likes its ferris wheels, so it has two major ones. My photo is of the Tempozan one by our next location, but in Signal, Zhao Lei rides the Umeda one not far from the previous location. 🤦🏼‍♀️They’re even both red at night - here’s Tempozan later:

See? Pretty close! But the Umeda one is on top of the Hep Five Mall in a busier area, so that would explain Zhao Lei walking through those crowds. (Though he was also by the harbour where Tempozan is! Grr! 😁) Aaaanyway, it gets better. 

3. Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

This was the location I knew going into Osaka because Wu Jiacheng is my bias. (As your Tumblr mistress, though, members are equal - that’s why I have a personal Tumblr. 👍🏻) There were many, many, many pictures taken here, in part because much of the route through goes around the multiple levels of the massive main Pacific Ocean tank (in the second photos), which is 9 metres deep. The first set of photos goes under recreations of ice floes in Antarctica, while the last set is from the largest of various sizes of jellyfish tanks. 

5. Nakazakicho

I didn’t have a lot of hope finding the landmarks I wanted here when the only directions I had were to leave a subway station via a certain exit (4) and turn right into a maze of dark wood hipster places at night. I had almost given up when I re-traced my steps and found the odd corner in the first set of photos, and even then I kept comparing it against the Face Face MV photo on my phone to be sure. 😂Then I found a location in the BTS I’d used earlier to help me determine the neighbourhood. Clearly I wasn’t the first to do that, because across the way, there was a sign on a residential window for No Pictures. (Summimasen...) This is the place I wish I’d spent more time in during the day, because it has so many tiny shops and restaurants down its little alleys. 

6. Shinsekai and the Tsutenkaku Tower

I made this my grand finale because I knew it would be open because of its 24-hour food spots and because of its hard-to-miss landmark smack in the middle. The question was whether I’d pick one of the spokes leading to it that Peng Chuyue wandered down for Signal (and ate in during the BTS 😊). Then I turned around and BOOM - look at those signs on either side! Barely a change since it was filmed! 🏆It was the perfect end to my odyssey... well, at least it was once I ducked into one of those 24-hour places for some kushikatsu and a giant mug of whiskey & Coke. PCY would’ve approved. 😁

Thank you for coming with me on my XNINE Tour of Osaka. If you want to make your own pilgrimage, don’t do it last-minute like me, so you’ll have a chance to get to Katsuoji Temple. You may also want to check for cherry blossom season to get the full effect at Osaka Castle Park. Check those links above, including the ones leading to the Weibo guides from Dimples who helped me. 

Kabashima

Character Profile

A second year student at Kirisaki High School. He has pride in his powerhouse school. Even though he is a substitute, being able to get selected as a team member in the tryouts for a strong school proves his abilities. He frequently cautions Senichi and Manji for their lack of manners, but the two do not heed him.

Director’s Comments

Like with Kaito, I asked for him to be given a manly design so that his sincerity towards kyudo would be shown. Because he’s a second year, he has a large build, and his eyebrows and nose are large and firm, unlike the other characters. Motomura and Sase, third years at Kirisaki High School, have gentle and calm appearances, but in contrast to them he has a sense of brusqueness, and he might show some immaturity as a person. I will never forget Kadowaki-san’s flabbergasted face when I told her, “He gives off the image of a ‘greengrocer’s son.’”

Yushima

Character Profile

A second year student at Kirisaki High School. His shaven head is his trademark. He has a cool personality, the complete opposite of Kabashima who he is often with one way or another. He is employed as a whispering tsukkomi next to Kabashima, who has a tendency to rush ahead. He was selected as a substitute member for the group competition.

Director’s Comments

Kabashima’s (manzai) companion. When I drew the rough designs of everyone at Kirisaki and lined them up, while wanting a character who would make quips towards the things Kabashima did, looking at the overall balance I wondered if he should have a crew cut or a shaved head, and thus he had a shaved head.

He gives off the impression of someone who calmly and fixedly watches the course of events in a situation, so I had his eyes made characteristically large. Because I think of Kabashima and Yushima as a set, I requested that there be no sense of incongruity even when they are side by side.

Nakazaki

Character Profile

The owner of Nakazaki Archery Supplies. He is relied on by local archers. As Masa-san is also his acquaintance, he will also rush to the assistance of Kazemai High School. A person who is overflowing with empathy, he does things such as explaining kyudo to Ren, who knows little of it.

Director’s Comments

The owner of an archery supplies shop, Nakazaki-san, was created because I wanted someone existing on the outside. Since I imagined him as a man who is up for anything, with a determined spirit and the disposition of a true Tokyoite*, I conveyed all of that to Kadowaki-san.

As an important key person who is well-informed with figures in the kyudo world such as Yasaka 8-dan, Saionji-sensei and Osone-sensei, as well as knowing Masa-san’s past, we aimed for a design with a feeling of persuasiveness. I think of him as a character who watches over Masa-san’s inexperience and immaturity, similar to Tommy-sensei.

Takigawa Ren

Character Profile

Masa-san’s older stepbrother. They became brothers with the remarriage of their parents. He usually works in Tokyo as a photographer and illustrator. When he went back home, he takes pictures at the training camp and at competitions, and supports the kyudo club.

Director’s Comments

Ren-san is Masa-san’s older stepbrother by way of their parents’ remarriage.

Ren-san doesn’t know much about kyudo, and unlike Masa-san, he did not take over the shrine and left home, so an impression of him acting aggressively in the outside world was incorporated in his design.

He is an illustrator and takes his own pictures for reference material, so he always has his camera ready.

Kuma/Bear

Director’s Comments

A Bernese Mountain Dog. He has a plump nose, clear eyes and cute paws. Since Minato loves to cuddle him, so we took great care in making the feel of his fur looking soft enough to make someone want to bury their face in it.

When I was considering how he would cheerfully receive Minato, I found a picture of a dog poking its face out from a fence and thought, “That’s it!”

Fuu/Who

Director’s Comments

A snowy owl. I had the cuteness unique to owls incorporated into its design as well as sharp eyes. Because I want to show its silhouette as much as possible, I had Fuu’s feathers simplified to make them drawn easier, instead of drawing them one by one.

Among all of Fuu’s expressions, I like its self-satisfied look the most.

Lucy

Director’s Comments