January 27, 2019

Howdy everyone!

So I’m sitting here…typing this blog with a case of sunstroke and a pinched nerve in my back.
I’m not sure what happened, but earlier today I went to the beach with some friends and ended up throwing my back out.

I have a belly full of Subway sandwiches and pain relief medication, so please forgive me if this blog post isn’t my finest :P

I mean, I could have just skipped the blog but there’s no way I’m doing that.
I had a car accident back in 2016 in which I was almost killed (legitimately), and I still came home from the hospital in time for my interview with a pop culture magazine regarding Millennium Exile.

I take my commitments to you guys and this project very seriously :)
So with that all said…

LET’S JUMP INTO IT!

Sweet baby fish nipples, it’s finally done….

The freaking Series plan is DONE!

In short; the series plan is a complete list of each story arc, and a breakdown of all the events that takes place within them.
This is to better help myself and a studio to sit down, and go over the contents of the Millennium Exile story, in order to get a feel for how everything will unfold.

The plan is a highly summarized document, in order to give as much information as possible, in an expedited manner.

Time spent: 4 months
Pages: 101
Word Count: 49,214
Estimated Episodes: 72

This means 3 seasons of 24 episodes
or
6 seasons of 12

Now this is just the first pass through...meaning I'll now be going over and revising the document as a whole - checking things like sentence structure and whatnot.
Although this is a summarized brief, it still needs to make sense :P

Let’s have a look at some updates and releases shall we?

Firstly, let’s talk about the newest character release I have Hary working on….Riku Krauser!

Riku is an assassin and Blader Meister, and speculated to be the younger brother of Julia (featured in blog #20)
This piece is shaping up to look freaking amazing, but you’ll have to wait for the full release for Riku’s complete character bio :)

Next up….some Demo Reel updates:

I have recently adjusted the way I am releasing demo reel artwork…
As a way of giving back, all full images are now only available by becoming a Patron of the Project.
This was also discussed a little more in detail in Blog #21.

These images are unlocked to all members, regardless of tier…so if you are a fan, and keen to help out, please consider heading over to the link below and showing your support!

https://www.patreon.com/millenniumexile

Elmer has been working his very best to bring these scenes to life… in particular, these astonishing images from the Lan Vs. Kouru & Tetsuya portion of the demo.

With blood still pouring from his open wounds,
Lan's body shakes uncontrollably as he slowly gets back up.
Suddenly his spiritual energy changes drastically, and Kouru and Tetsuya are taken back as the air begins to fill with a murderous intent.

Lan looks up at Kouru,
"Do you really think a little blood is going to stop me?
He says with a foreboding tone, as his voice began to distort.

"If that's the case...then you'd better THINK AGAIN!"
Lan's eyes suddenly change to that of a deep orange.

It soon becomes apparent to both Kouru and Tetsuya that they were no longer facing Lan...no, this presence was different.

It was almost as if he were now being possessed by some unrelenting force of pure carnage.
A force driven by rage, who's sole focus was the elimination of all who stood in its way.

Oh boy….

In particular, let’s talk Sasuke memes….

I’m sure many of you know already what I’m talking about, however for those of you not in the know; a Sasuke meme has made its rounds across the Internet throughout the start of 2019.

The meme depicts a scene in Naruto in which Sasuke is pinned against a wall by his brother Itachi.
Well, people (for some reason) have been cutting old Itachi out of the picture (literally) and replacing him with a variety of different things.

For example:

you-dont-deserve-to-be-a-meme-sasuke-when-1st-gen-40195156.png

Well, our boy Setsuna joined the meme status thanks to fan of the project: Tyler Smalley ( @reddead405 )
I have to admit, I laughed my ass off when I saw this :P

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill
Kelsey Ellis
Ben Karnaghan

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Coyen Olsen
Shaun Ivanku
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen
David Haynes
Dru Parker
Rachael Hajje
Bradley Walters (New member)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson

Hero (Tier 4)

James Salhani
Edward Tremenheere

First Blog of 2019!

January 27, 2019

Welcome to 2019!

I hope everyone had a safe, healthy and happy holiday season, FILLED with good company, food, drink, games and of course (ahem) anime :)

I myself caught up with family and friends, however as I work in retail as a computer technician, I don’t really get any time off during the holiday break. In-fact, business for us is even crazier than the rest of the year, so it’s pretty easy to get burnt out.

….and that’s exactly what happened lol.

It’s been a few weeks, but I thought I would ease back into the MillEx blogs, with them continuing to be released fortnightly (at least for now).
As it’s still early in the year, there are lots of plans for the project in 2019, but not too much to actually report on just yet.

That being said, I still have lots to talk about, so lets jump right into things!

With a new year, comes another new Anime season….and one I’m actually pretty excited for!

I haven’t done this type of thing in previous blog posts, however I’m considering making this a usual topic, where I talk about what I’ll be watching every new season moving ahead.
What do you think?

So…..what are you watching Ty?

Well dear reader, I’m glad you asked….thank you for being so super interested :P
Below are the titles I’ll be diving head first into:

Rising of the Shield Hero:

IN A NUTSHELL:

Man travels to a fantasy realm and finds himself as one of the four great heroes of legend…said to posses the power needed to save the world from a demonic presence.
However the protagonist finds himself as none other than the heavily mocked and underestimated “Shield Hero”.

LINKS:

My Anime List:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35790/Tate_no_Yuusha_no_Nariagari

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKnyi3TRznA

The Promised Neverland:

IN A NUTSHELL:

Orphaned kids growing up on a massive property, and told never to go near the fence. When kids are adopted or leave the sanctuary however, they are never heard from or seen again….until three of the orphans discover the truth behind their orphanage.
All is not as it seems! (oooohhh)

LINKS:

My Anime List:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37779/Yakusoku_no_Neverland

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBwApg_nAvY

Mob Psycho 100 2:

IN A NUTSHELL:

(Series 2 of Mob Psycho 100)
Kid with psychic powers, low self esteem and no social skills is taken advantage of by a man claiming to be a physic master and uses Mobs insane powers for his own financial gain.

LINKS:

My Anime List:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37510/Mob_Psycho_100_II

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epZaT8B31-g

Dororo:

IN A NUTSHELL:

Crippled kid has his body parts stolen at birth by a group of demonic entities. He is given deadly prosthetic’s and now hunters the demos down to regain his former body.

LINKS:

My Anime List:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/37520/Dororo

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neqxQdpTyXE

With the arrival of 2019, comes a few changes being made to the content I’ll be sharing on social media and Patreon.
Don’t worry though, PLENTY of artwork is still going to be shared, however as I’ve mentioned earlier, I'm working very hard to be ready for pitching to studios by 2020.

This means completing the series plan, demo reel, having all character artwork completed as well as the art-book published in both English and Japanese formats!

After 10 years working on this project, it's extremely exciting and scary to say the least :)
To think of where this all started to where we are now is simply astonishing to me, and I have so much more to come ;)

That being said however, I need to make few more things exclusive to Patreon... in particular, the demo reel artwork.

Any and all support for Millennium Exile is extremely appreciated, and very much needed this year.
This means giving back even more to those who are helping project financially through Patreon.
I love all my fans and don't get me wrong...you will still be getting plenty of artwork and updates through social media, and completed scenes will still get shared - albeit a cropped version.

But moving forward, all ‘full’ scenes will now be Patreon exclusives :)

I know we have just come out of the holiday season, but if any of you have the capacity to do so, please consider checking out the page and contributing what you can....every little bit helps immensely!

Demo Reel:

A little sketch preview of the next demo reel still from Elmer Damaso.

This whole scene between Lan and Kouru has a lot more key frames and elements than any other scene in the demo reel to date...but that's precisely why it's going to be 🔥🔥🔥

Also, who can the this mysterious third person be? 🤔

Remember to become a Patron of the project for exclusive access to the completed scenes, along with their subsequent story-boards.

Cropped versions will still be uploaded to all socials.

Character Art:

Hary is at it again! :D

This is Sonic, a female Meister from Vincent's past.

Despite being a Lancer Meister, Sonic now has a special ability to expand and contract her spiritual energy at an extremely high frequency.
This vibration of energy, super-heats the air around Sonic for a split second, before emitting a massive clap of thunder from her body.
The thunder varies in destructive capabilities, acting as something of a Sonic-boom and melting the ground beneath her as, well as anything within radius of her spiritual pressure of a few inches.

Link to Sonic’s Full bio can be found here:
http://www.millenniumexile.com/sonic

Hary is also currently working on a new character release, however we do not yet have a WIP to show.
I can however, tell you that the character being released this month is Riku - a deadly Nexus assassin with gravity manipulation abilities!
Stay Tuned for future updates!

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Ben Karnaghan

Jaycen Hill
Kelsey Ellis

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Shaun Ivanku
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen
David Haynes
Dru Parker
Rachael Hajje
Bradley Walters (New member)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 4)

James Salhani
Edward Tremenheere

2018 - Year in Review.

December 21, 2018

Wow, what an epic and eventful year this has been for the project!
With so much behind me, and with so much still ahead…let’s look back at the events of 2018.

The year started off with such an amazing achievement , being featured in a Kotaku article!
I remember I was so freaking excited when this piece came out, that I literally couldn’t contain my smile.. I’d be walking down the street, looking as though rainbows and puppies just fell out of me.
When people would ask “What’s got you so happy?” I would reply, “My anime project is getting noticed and Kotaku just did a piece on me!”
They’d then look me up and down, noticing that I’m a 6”1 pastey-ass white Aussie, talking about making an Anime and probably just assume I’d completely lost my grip on reality.

Still though, what an amazing start to the year!

Shortly after the Kotaku article, my phone was lighting up with calls…one of which was from ABC, asking if I would be interested in doing an interview on the radio.

The interview would go to air some months later, and was so heavily edited that it turned out as nothing but some sob story about how hard my life was - and how Anime inspired me…rather than focusing on the project itself.
Although my life indeed had a sad beginning, there was so much more to tell, and I was genuinely excited to share my story with the people of Australian radio.
But, the mainstream media loves to sensationalize drama…lesson learned.

Still though, it was a great experience, being my first time on the air! :)

Although I have been teaching and visiting schools for a while now, 2018 was one of my biggest years ever, as word of mouth about myself and the project was now reaching more schools across SE Queensland.
I had the pleasure of attending 9 different schools this year, talking about Anime & Millennium Exile, as well as speaking about being a Western creative attempting to break into a predominantly Japanese industry.

It’s always such an amazing experience to talk to all these children who are so passionate about Anime - just looking for a way to express their creativity and individuality!

Definitely one of my favorite parts of the year! :)

Then came the big dog….Patreon!
Without a doubt, one of my biggest challenges this year, and one of my proudest successes.

Several years ago, back in 2015, I made a disastrous flop attempting to bring Millennium Exile to Kickstarter.
At the time, I was younger and far more inexperienced - with none of the amazing voice actors attached to the project that I have now; and with far less work to show the public.
Kickstarter wasnt the right platform for MillEx either….it’s an amazing website, but I find that it’s far better suited to projects that ONLY need money to fund the creation of their goal.

Millennium Exile however, is a different breed...
Even with funding, I’ll still only then be ready to pitch - leaving my fate in the hands of the studio Gods in Japan.
Soon enough, Patreon released as a new platform, designed to help creatives BE creative…without the need for a definitive finished product.
I wasnt just going to jump on the next bandwagon that rolled into town…I needed to better prepare myself and to grow, both as a brand and as a person.

Then earlier this year, I caught up with a friend who sat me down over a coffee and with a stern expression, tells me:
”I think it’s time you revisited the idea of putting MillEx on Patreon, I think you’re ready!”
Up until that point, I had been receiving a steady flow of donations from the fans via direct links on Paypal, so the support & interest was definitely there among the community.

Eventually I bit the bullet, and the response from you has been amazing to say the least!

As a result, I was even able to hire a new artist who would draw for the Demo Reel “Elmer Damaso” - aka: IQ40.
His work has gone such a long way into expediting the project, which in-turn, helps Hary so much, as the poor guy no longer has to try and do both the demo and the artwork for the book, hahaha.

Going on Patreon also placed me on more deadlines in order to meet and deliver the rewards for each of the tiers, and my social networking / marketing for the project had to get to the next level also…that includes the resurrection of this blog.
Although it’s doubled my workload, it’s been such a blast and I’m loving every minute!

To all of you who currently supports, or ‘has’ supported the project through Patreon: Thank you all so freaking much!
Here’s to 2019 and finally clearing that $500 target.

2018 was also the year for conventions for Millennium Exile, with yours truly presenting the project for the very first time both on the convention floor at Oz Comic Con & on stage at Supanova!

The support and numbers at both of these events truly blew my mind and touched my heart so much. Even at Supanova, which quite literally fell into my lap, with zero time to prepare, and up against all star guests speaking at the same time as me - I was still able to fill more seats than expected.

Lastly, but certainly not least….

I became a representative of the worlds largest Anime Discord community, with over 100,000 members: Anime Base!
They even gave me my own little Millennium Exile channel in there so you can get all your updates and posts via the Discord app!

Oh, and let’s not forget the other day, when god damned, voice acting royalty Steve Blum followed the Millennium Exile project on Instagram!
Sweet baby fish nipples I was on Cloud 9 all day :)

Let’s get into some art shall we?

On the Left:
We have the finished artwork for Julia! A bad-ass Melee Meister who annihilates her foes by utilizing her brute strength through a series of destructive kicks.

On the Right:
A WIP (work in progress) for Sonic. Another ferocious and powerful female working for Nexus.
Sonic possesses an advanced manipulation over her spiritual energy in order to emit a very unique, yet devastating force.
More on her when the official artwork releases! :)

Both of these amazing pieces of artwork are from none other than the spectacular Hary Istiyoso!

This freaking cool set of images show Vincent, backed into a corner and ready to retaliate - mustering up every last ounce of his strength!
We also see a few more peaceful moments, as Zero passes on some sage advice to the newest member of the team.

All three of these images are drawn by the aforementioned Elmer Damaso for the project’s Demo Reel.
I really love how these turned out….which actually leads me to my next topic…..

As a special thanks to the amazing people who have been supporting the project on Patreon, and as a little gift to celebrate the holiday season, I have uploaded a short scene that will be featuring in later cuts of the Millennium Exile demo reel.
I’m pretty proud of how this has turned out, so if you are a Patron, be on the lookout for this exclusive locked post! :)

And with that we call it a year….2018 done and dusted (well, almost).
To each and every single one of you, I want to wish you a happy holiday season.
Regardless of what you celebrate, if anything at all….the world is extremely busy this time of year, so I hope you all have a great time hanging out with family and friends. Don’t forget to eat some good food, play some fun games and watch some amazing Anime!

To all the artists who have worked with me and contributed this year to the project, I want to thank you all so much - you have all been an absolute pleasure!

Stay safe, and I’ll be seeing you all in 2019!

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill
Kelsey Ellis

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Coyen Olsen
Shaun Ivanku
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen
David Haynes
Dru Parker
Rachael Hajje (New member)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan (Deferred for XMAS)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

James Salhani (Deferred for XMAS)
Halassy Hunor
Edward Tremenheere

November 29, 2018

Okie Dokie, here we are again :)
In the last blog, I mentioned that I would start doing fortnightly releases… at least until things picked up after the holiday season.

There are a few things to talk about in this issue so lets jump into it!

A Weeaboo’s tale by Ty Hanson

Over the past 2 weeks, the Millennium Exile Patreon page has had some more new additions to the family - as well as another heavy hitter!
Please join me in welcoming: Dru Parker, David Haynes, Kelsey Ellis and Edward Tremenheere to the Millennium Exile Patreon family! :)

All of you are so very loved and appreciated, thanks again to everyone who is involved in supporting the project :D

These new additions also brought with them a celebration, as the MillEx Patreon page hit a massive milestone…. it’s second goal in less 3 months of activity! :O

WOO-HOO! It’s time to celebrate!
This is simply amazing, and I really do have the best fans in the world…however the celebration was short-lived as we soon lost a member, which put us back under the bar.

Regardless, I want to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of your, regardless of the level of contribution. Iv’e said it before, but every like, share and comment means just as much. While money pays for the artwork, word of mouth helps the project travel…to reach new places and a more people.

Thanks again :)

This time of the year can be extremely difficult for professional artists, as the companies they work for often try to squeeze as much ‘last minute"‘ artwork from them before 2018 comes to an end.
This results in something of a rather chaotic few weeks, so development on the MillEx art has slowed somewhat….at least for now ;)

Introducing Ventris Island!
A tropical utopia secretly hiding Pulse Headquarters and home to the GRAVE organisation!

Located South of Fel- Bara, Ventris is invisible to the human eye, due to a special field that has been cast over it, camouflaging Ventris with the surrounding waters of the South Cobalt Ocean.
Knowledge of Ventris, and the clandestine base operating from within it are known to seldom few, with its very existence a matter of global security.

****
This image was thanks to the amazing Jordan Grimmer Art with some edits done by yours truly :)

Pictured below is a current work in progress from Hary, for the Millennium Exile Artbook.
This is Julia, a Nexus Sentinel and total bad-ass…more of her to come :)
(You can actually see her in a recently released image of the Nexus crew from Elmer)

Aaaaand what post wouldnt be complete without an IQ40 (Elmer) WIP? :P
This scene is still in development and follows on from the previous images released on an injured Vincent leaning up against the wall.

I will save the info on this piece for the official release of the artwork so stay tuned!

So this happened…..
Recently a good friend of mine Tyler went for a trip to Japan. So being the nutcase he is - the man started stashing Millennium Exile cards all over the country. XD
Ahhh Tyler, this meant a lot, but it also entertained me to no end watching all the different places you stashed these bad boys :P
Thanks again brother!

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill
Kelsey Ellis (New Member)

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun Ivanku
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen
David Haynes (New Member)
Dru Parker (New Member)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

James Salhani
Halassy Hunor
Edward Tremenheere (New member)

Post Supanova

November 14, 2018

Oh my goodness am I tired lol..
With so much going on, a brother can’t find enough hours in the day to rest!

Thanks again for stopping by the weekly blog, this week we take a look at the MillEx panel at the Supanova Brisbane convention, some more new artwork from our resident demo reel artists Elmer Damaso, and the passing of a legend.

So let’s jump into things…

This past weekend, Australia’s largest pop culture and gaming expo, Supanova was here in Brisbane Australia…and boy oh boy, was it an experience! :)

So, about two weeks ago, I was on my personal Facebook account, when I noticed one of my friends (who is a journalist) had one of her articles featured in a magazine.
Offering my heartfelt congratulations, she then responded soon after with:
”Thanks, and congratulations on your panel at Supanova!”

Um…what?

Thoroughly confused, I responded by informing her that I was not attending Supanova as a panelist, though I was planning to go as a shopper.
”Well, you’re listed in their scheduling booklet”, she replied.
It was at this point that I began to smell burning rubber, as the wheels inside my head were slipping all over the place trying to make sense of the comment.
As I downloaded their scheduling PDF, my eyebrows almost flew off my head only to find my name printed right there:
“Ty Hanson - Western Culture in Japanese Industry”.

I mean, sure I applied for this panel some time ago, however I had heard nothing back.
I even keep a regular eye on all the spam and trash folders in my email accounts, but alas - there was no reply.
Turns out, not only was I booked to perform a panel at Australia’s largest and most popular pop culture expo, but I was informed of this with less than 2 weeks notice to prepare.

But it didn’t end there…no, no.

I was also scheduled to present said panel on the Sunday at 4pm in one of their major conference rooms, on the second level of the Brisbane Entertainment Center….booked alongside some MASSIVE talent and events all of which would also be running panels in the rooms adjacent.

Needless to say, I was screwed.

This was my very first time on a legitimate stage, microphone in hand and under the bright lights of such an impressive set-up.
Now I’m not a guy who normally experiences what people call “nervousness”, usually I just take most things in stride and “go with the flow”.
This time however, my stomach felt as though it was upside-down, I couldn’t catch my own thoughts and my hands were shaking.

Yeah, I was packing it…..

Mere moments before going up on stage, I was suddenly introduced to a man who informed me that he would be MC’ing for the panel, and would be conducting things in an interview styled format.
I decided that now was not the time for nerves….there was work that needed to be done, I’m THE representative for Millennium Exile and for better of worse, I was all in.

I honestly thought I was going to crash and burn in a spectacular fashion….so why not live-stream it!?!

I won’t bore you with the play-by-play of how the panel turned out, in-fact, you can watch the live streamed video up on the Millennium Exile Facebook page, link below:

https://www.facebook.com/MillenniumExile/videos/vb.261589910580784/2172543459626746/?type=3&theater

Despite all the adversities that had been working against me prior, the panel turned out pretty good. Numbers were always going to be lower than I’d like…mainly because I’m not a big enough name yet to be deserving of such a grand stage - competing with the likes of the Cosplay Competition and headliner: John Barrowman.

Although I would love to be, I’m just not there yet.

This was however, an amazing experience that I loved every moment of.
I learned a great deal, and this really gave me the goal of reaching great new heights - deserving of such a stage in the future….a future in which I can fill every seat :)

I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all who attended the panel in support of both myself and the project, to the fans for your passion and to my family for being there for me.

I love you all guys and sooner or later, I WILL do you proud, by turning Millennium Exile into the Anime I owe it to you to become.

More new artwork from our resident demo reel artist: Elmer Damaso - aka IQ40.
This guy turns out the artwork so fast, I actually speak with him more than most of my family and friends hahahaha.

As you can see however, his hard work and talent speaks for itself!

Mere days before the convention, I awoke at 4am to an email notifying me of the project’s newest Patreon member: “Halassy Hunor.”
His extremely generous support woke me up so quickly, it was as though I had suddenly purged all the sleep from my body - like a demon being exorcised by a combination of cocaine and holy water.
”THE POWER OF PATREON COMPELS YOU!”

I honestly had to get up and go to the gym to work off the excess energy…..oh and I played some Pokemon Go in the parking lot :P

Speaking of which, is anyone else freaking excited for the new Swtich games?
“I know I am!”
…..now, to find the time to play them.

With no more conventions this year, and the holiday season just around the corner…I expect any major announcements regarding the project will be minimal.
I will continue to keep you all updated, however moving forward - I’ll probably start doing these blogs every 2 weeks until things pick back up in the new year :)

In some much sadder news, the great Stanley Lieber, (more affectionately known as Stan Lee) passed away yesterday at the age of 95.

While news of his passing has been in every major news outlet in the last 24 hours, I thought it best to pay respect to the man who not only changed the creative world, but also enriched the lives of many with his creations.

Rest In Piece Mr Lee, you will be forever immortalized through your work and in our hearts.

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun Ivanku
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

James Salhani
Halassy Hunor (new member)

Okay, ima go sleep now…BYEEEE!!!

Discord Community!

November 7, 2018

Due to an absolute HECTIC week, both behind and ahead of me, this weeks blog is a short one.
Never-the-less, there is some really cool stuff to read about, so lets jump right into it!

So it is my GREAT pleasure to announce Millennium Exile's affiliation with the worlds largest Anime Discord server - Anime Base!

They currently have over 85k members from around the world, and have a variety of chat channels regarding all things Anime and Manga :)

I am now a member of their staff, and a representative for the channel, so if you like to hang out with your nerd out...click the logo below for more details!

For those of you attending…or if you missed last weeks blog, I will be hosting a panel at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo this coming Sunday at 4pm.
I will be discussing being a western creator, however I just might be showing off a little more of the Millennium Exile demo reel.

So, if you aren’t yet a member of the MillEx Patreon and you want to see a cut - pop on by and say hello :)

It’s fast approaching Christmas time, so we can expect things with the project to slow down as far as the press and media outlets are concerned - but that doesn’t mean I wont have awesome artwork to share with you all! :D

Below is a WIP of IQ40’s latest still for the Demo reel in which we see a few of the terrifying members of Nexus assembled.
This piece will actually be completed any time now, so keep an eye out on the MillEx Facebook and Instagram pages for the release!

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Shaun Ivanku
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

James Salhani

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October 31, 2018

That’s right, as many of you may have seen via on the socials, I’ll be making an appearance at Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Brisbane.
On Sunday the 11th of November, yours truly will be making an appearance on stage in the Seminars section at 4pm!

I only found out that I was presenting through a friend congratulating me on Facebook. Confused by this, I looked in the Supanova schedule and there I was “Ty Hanson presenting Western Creators in Japanese Industries”. I contacted the content coordinator for the expo, and it looks like none of their emails made their way to my inbox…..Bizarre.

I only have a short amount of notice - but it would mean a lot to me for anyone who can attend :)

Check out their website for more information:
https://www.supanova.com.au/events/brisbane-2018/about/

Alrighty it’s just about that time…time for our first live hangout!
Because the project hit it’s first major goal on Facebook, I’ll be doing live hangouts on the first weekend of every month.
The hangout will be in Discord and will run for anywhere between 30-60 mins.

Day: Saturday - 3rd of Novemeber

Time: 7:30pm AEST

Invites to the server will be sent through DM’s on the Patreon website in the next few days. This will give you plenty of time to get access to the channel in advance :)

I think I may have killed Hary with the Patreon Exclusive piece…
Make sure you show poor Hary some love for all the hard work he put into this image, by becoming a member of the family and checking it out. The image is available to ALL TIERS and starts for as little as $2. There’s all sorts of other bonus and rewards and every little bit counts.

https://www.patreon.com/millenniumexile/posts

IQ40 has been drawing like a madman on the group Nexus shot for the Demo Reel. In this we see Malik, Velad, Chrono, The Black Witch, and a never before released character…Julia; as they gather around a beaten Vincent Clyne.

This is the very first artwork of Nexus members all together so be sure to show this image some love on all the socials and tell us who your favorite is :)

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun Ivanku
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

James Salhani

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My Anime Room

October 24, 2018

Alrighty ladies and gentlemen….it’s been a quiet couple of weeks on the MillEx front - however and that doesn’t mean we don’t have any news…things have still been moving behind the scenes, but more of that later :)

To start things off this week, I thought I would give you all a little tour of my Anime room.
Some of you who know me personally, may have been to my house and seen this for yourself, but for the many of you who haven’t - allow me to give you a little tour!

Below are two videos: The first, being a basic tour of the room, and the second, showing you the lighting components in the room after dark.
These videos are on my personal channel, which contains mostly just dumb stuff (like gameplay videos etc). Also these are around a year old, so there has been a few updates (mainly nendoroids), as well as some tech….but I find this to still cover the bulk of what the room encompasses in it’s current state.

Enjoy :)

IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!!!
In case you haven’t seen yet, the Millennium Exile Appreciation Exclusive Artwork (say that three times fast) is now completed. I shared the news last night on all the major socials, but the image itself is for Patreons only as a way of saying thanks.

I’ve shown some teasers in previous blogs on which give you an idea of the general layout, however the final result is mind-blowing!!!!

This picture is also offered as a free 1920x1080 wallpaper download, regardless of tier…so if you would like to access this image - as well as other exclusive content (like the current Demo Reel), feel free to hit the Patreon button at the bottom of the site :)

I have written a little exert as something of a companion piece to the image, so if you would like to have a read - I’ll leave a link to the text below.

Dancing with the Devil

I’m currently in mid-celebration mode at the moment, as I have concluded yet another scene / sequence for the demo reel in which Vincent is introduced and inducted into GRAVE. The scene runs for a total of 5 images (all of which I have shared on the major socials), and features a VERY prominant and undisclosed voice actor, featuring as Mai.
This would have typically taken 5 months to complete however with IQ40 now on the team, we managed to move through this segment from start to finish in just 4 weeks!

This has allowed Hary to take more time doing his awesome work on the art-book, and now that he has finished with the Patreon Special, he has resumed work on the character releases as of this week :D

I’ll be sure to keep you all in the loop regarding any WIP’s on Hary’s end, but below you can see the next scene from IQ40 for an upcoming Demo Reel segment.

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun Ivanku
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

James Salhani

My Top Anime!

October 17, 2018

Okay, this is my all-time favorite top 10 series.
This list excludes shows that are still running, and consist of series that are more than 13 episodes in length.
I’ll list some basic information on the series such as studio, year and run-time…you can click the link provided for a detailed synopsis and further information.

These are all listed from first place to last.

#1 - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:

Studio: Gainax
Year: 2007
Number of episodes: 27
Genre: action, comedy, drama, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6698

#2 - Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood:

Studio: BONES
Year: 2009
Number of episodes: 64
Genre: adventure, comedy, drama, fantasy, thriller

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10216

#3 - Parasyte: The Maxim:

Studio: Madhouse
Year: 2014
Number of episodes: 24
Genre: action, drama, horror, psychological, romance, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=15855

#4 - Death Note:

Studio: Madhouse
Year: 2006
Number of episodes: 37
Genre: drama, mystery, psychological, supernatural, thriller

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6592

#5 - Cowboy Bebop:

Studio: Sunrise
Year: 1998
Number of episodes: 26
Genre: action, drama, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=13

#6 - Wolf’s Rain

Studio: BONES
Year: 2003
Number of episodes: 26
Genre: adventure, drama, fantasy, mystery, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1806

#7 - Fate Stay Night - Unlimited Blade Works (TV)

Studio: Ufotable
Year: 2014
Number of episodes: 27
Genre: action, drama, supernatural

(Season One)
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=15843

(Season Two)
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=16825

#8 - Psycho Pass

Studio: Production I.G
Year: 2012
Number of episodes: 22
Genre: action, psychological, science fiction, thriller

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=14195

#9 - Macross Frontier

Studio: Studio Nue
Year: 2007
Number of episodes: 25
Genre: action, drama, romance, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8586

MV5BOWNhMDMyMDYtNzJlOS00YzhhLWFiMjktYWY1MzMzZGZhOGRjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDYzNTI2ODc@._V1_.jpg

#10 - Samurai Champloo

Studio: Manglobe
Year: 2004
Number of episodes: 26
Genre: action, drama, historical

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2636

This list is much shorter, only consisting of 5 picks from anything 13 episodes or under (OVA’s included).

samurai-x-trust-and-betrayal-rurni-kenshin-meiji-kenkaku-roman-tan-tsuioku-hen.15159.jpg

#1 - Samurai X OVA’s Trust & Betrayal

Studio: Studio DEEN
Year: 1999
Number of episodes: 4
Genre: action, drama, romance, historical

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=210

#2 - The Devil is a Part-Timer

Studio: White Fox
Year: 2013
Number of episodes: 13
Genre: action, comedy, fantasy, romance, slice of life

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=14846

#3 - Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

Studio: Production I.G
Year: 2013
Number of episodes: 13
Genre: adventure, drama, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=14961

#4 - Planet of the Beast King

Studio: BONES
Year: 2006
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: adventure, drama, mystery, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6177

#5 - Death Parade

Studio: Madhouse
Year: 2015
Number of episodes: 12
Genre: drama, mystery, psychological

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=16375

This is another list of 5, but this time consisting of Anime movies :)

MV5BMmM4YjE4MWUtZWFjZS00MDNjLWExOGItOTRhNWQ2NDY4MjU1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc3OTE4Nzk@._V1_.jpg

#1 - Gurren Lagann the Movie 2: The Lights in the Sky are Stars

Studio: Gainax
Year: 2009
Genre: action, comedy, drama, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/gurren-lagann-the-movie/the-lights-in-the-sky-are-stars

#2 - Sword of the Stranger

Studio: BONES
Year: 2007
Genre: action, drama, historical, samurai

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2340

#3 - Summer Wars

Studio: Madhouse
Year: 2009
Genre: action, drama, historical, slice of life.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10544

#4 - Cowboy bebop: The Movie

Studio: Sunrise & BONES
Year: 2001
Genre: action, drama, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=353

#5 - Evangelion 2.22: You Can (not) Redo

Studio: KlockWorx & Khara
Year: 2009
Genre: action, drama, psychological, science fiction

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8421

Well that’s it, my ‘current’ list of my favorite titles.

Some honorable mentiones include:
- Black Lagoon
- Hajime no Ippo
- Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans
- Heroic Age
- Phantom: Requiem of the Phantom
- Origin: Spirits of the Past
- Soul Eater

I hope you found something new to watch, please tell me in the comment what your favorite Anime’s are! :)

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun Ivanku
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

James Salhani

We hit our first GOAL!

October 10, 2018

WE DID IT!

Earlier this week the Millennium Exile project hit it’s very first goal and gained the very first member of the $100 “Hero” Tier.
This means so much, and it wouldn’t have been at all possible without all of YOU!
Hitting this goal allows me to not only hire another artist: IQ40 to take over for the Demo Reel art-work, but it also expedites the projects growth immeasurably.

Having Hary able to focus on the Art-book means that the stills for the Demo Reel can proceed at an amazing rate, for example…in 2 weeks, myself and IQ40 have been able to to cover almost 4 months of content for the reel!
Also, a HUGE thanks goes out to Maddison Taddeucci who donated a very generous amount in a one-off contribution to the project! :D

Now that the first Patreon goal has been reached, I’ll be organizing an online hangout (most likely through Discord). I’ll probably host this sometime in the first weekend of the month, but I’ll leave the particulars like day and time, flexible.
In the hangout, we will be all able to come together, meet new people, make new friends and have a chat.
We can talk about anything…favorite animes, artwork or games….we can even get into some super secret MillEx information regarding unreleased characters :p
Any and all questions are also encouraged.

The next goal is to hit the $500 a month mark….
Obviously this will only speed things up even more, however I am also looking to have the demo scored by a very BIG composer who has worked on some extremely prominent titles in the last few years. Music contributes so very, very much to the overall look and feel to any production - and having such a big name attached would speak volumes to studio executives come time to pitch.

I won’t name drop just yet…as nothings done until it’s done, and I’ll leave that news as a surprise should we hit the mark.

I really want to take this time to express my deepest and most heartfelt gratitude to you all. To all of you who have supported the project via Patreon, YOU GUYS ROCK!
I also want to thank all of you who like, comment, share and read all the posts across the social media platforms. There is value in support from more than just a dollar value and for that I am also very grateful.

Millenium Exile - Zero Scene FINAL webby.png

Earlier this year I was invited to ABC radio station in Brisbane to talk about Anime in Western Culture. I mentioned it in a previous blog for as of Monday 8th of October , the segment went to air…

The final cut ended up being a little more about my personal history with Anime growing up, but you can listen to the entire recording here:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/mad-for-manga/10249100

IQ40 and Hary are drawing like madmen on future artwork…pictured below is an upcoming shot for the Demo :)
(No more “Patreon Special” updates until it’s been completed…but you can expect a final tease before release to the Patrons.)

I’m also looking into more opportunities to get Millennium Exile infront of larger numbers for maximum exposure!

Millenium Exile - Lan and Agito sketch.jpg

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun Ivanku
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

James Salhani (New member)

Design - From Concept to Finished Product!

October 1, 2018

Howdy guys and gals of the Internet.

This weeks blog is going to be a special one, in which I give you all a look into my design process for Millennium Exile.
Let’s jump into it!

So…I’m about to show you some REAL embarrassing artwork of mine, but there is a point to it.
Throughout my personal design process, it’s important to remember that not every idea has to be perfect or look great.
Patience is a virtue, and there will be plenty of time for polish later on.

When creating a character, I’ll start by considering a few things first….such as, “Who” my character is, “What is his / her role, “When” will the character be appearing and “Where” the character comes from and currently resides.
By answering these questions, I’m left with a better idea as to “Why” my character needs to exist.

This will help me with my design process such as personality, clothing, race and abilities (if any).

After I’ve stroked my beard in a thoughtful manner-, pondering the bigger questions; it’s time to do some really bad drawing.

Let’s use the Pantheon Armour Genesis as an example.

Firstly, I’ll gather some resources and inspiration.
I’ll go out and grab a bunch of random mecha designs to help give me a good idea of the various shapes, that hold together the greater design.

I’d previously decided that the genesis was going to have a Knight- type design, so I was sure to grab a few Anime-esk knight images to help me get an idea of armor shapes.

Crusader from Artist: Nawol https://www.deviantart.com/nawol/art/crusader-165382252 — Crusader from Artist: Nawol
https://www.deviantart.com/nawol/art/crusader-165382252

Divider Guadian from Artist: Rubendevela https://www.deviantart.com/rubendevela/art/Character-Concept-Divider-317109326 — Divider Guadian from Artist: Rubendevela
https://www.deviantart.com/rubendevela/art/Character-Concept-Divider-317109326

Next:
It’s time to start doing those embarrassing drawing I was telling you about….

I’ll save you the many, many botched sketches that came before this; but needless to say, it’s extremely important to stay loose with your design ideas. This stage is a form of brainstorming of sorts, so keeping those ideas free-form prevents you from spending too much time on an idea that might not work out. Silhouetting is another great way that many artists go about the design process…this is another way of making sure that the form of something works out before getting into all the detail.

After roughing out a few ideas, I chose the one that I felt worked the best.

As you can see below, I’m keeping the shapes SUPER basic and leaving notes for myself. These notes are to help me remember my thoughts throughout the design process. Sure, I might know NOW what I was thinking when I drew that “thing”, but should this design take days, weeks or months….it’s important that I leave these breadcrumbs for myself along the way.

I also started adding some basic colors to my design. Because the Genesis is going to have a Knight motif, I went with the “Hero’s Palette”, focusing primarily on greys.

The “Hero Palette” predominately consists of Red, Blue and Yellow, using White as the base.
I call it the Hero Palette, because if you think to most main character mecha’s, they all sport this particular combination of colors.
For example: Code Geass’s “Lancelot”, The Escaflowne, Broken Blade’s “Delphine “, or even almost every main characters initial Gundam to name a few. All these mainly use whites and greys as their main base color often containing accents from the other colors.

Obviously there are the exceptions, such as Evangelion or Gurren Lagann…but for the purpose of the Genesis, I went with the stereotypical hero’s color scheme.

Now; at this point, most people would continue with the design process through redrawing the basic design, adding more details as they go. However, as I have talented artists drawing for me, it’s important that I know when’s a good time to hand it off.
As I’m the project creator, I’m also in charge of a multitude of other things, such as designs, writing the story, managing the project’s social media platforms and marketing. Because of this, I try not to get too “bogged down” doing everything myself. I’m an okay artist, but I’m not the best…..that’s why I hire other artists to help.

Think of any Hollywood movie, none of that is made by just one person.
Sure, the idea, might have come from a single mind…but that idea is then refined -re-refined and re-re-re-refined dozens of times with the help of other creative influences. A single movie production has directors, story-boarders, scripts writers, actors, a special effects team, stunt doubles, prop teams and composers, just to name a few.

Sure Millennium Exile isn’t some big Hollywood production, but the exact same rules apply none the less.

So off we go to Hary….

Hary (being the mecha god that he is), then takes my rough design and knocks out a quick sketch along with some head ideas (as my current design had no head and I really needed some extra help with it).

In this instance, I felt that the head was way too small for the body, so I took that sketch and started playing with some of the proportions.

Hary takes the revision and draws up another sketch, this time using cleaner lines and some basic shadows.
I then take that, draw over it a little more and add my color palette to it to get one last overall look and feel of the current design.

After Hary and I have a final chat about the design it’s off to the races!

Hary works his magic and eventually comes back to me with his finished product.

During our conversations, we also decided to add Vincent standing atop the Genesis to give us some perspective that this is a pilot driven machine and not a suit of armor.

I take Hary’s final work and add some finishing touches to it….
This can sometimes be touch-ups and re-colors of certain areas, adding special effects and glows.

In this case, I added some vibrancy to the color, drew in an eye to make it appear more active, changed the gem in the horn to green, added some particle effects to the shoulder pads, and boosted the whites of the cape to give it more of an “energy” effect.

After a few minutes spent in Photoshop, VOILA!
The final product that I put out to the world…Ladies and gentlemen, The Pantheon Armour Genesis.

Well, this week was another big one….
I recently uploaded the Millennium Exile Demo Reel 2018 cut to the Internet. I debut it at the Oz Comic-Con convention last week, and I thought it would be a nice little “Thank You” to my Patrons.

That’s right I’m sorry, but the Demo Reel is only available to Patrons who currently reside in Tiers 2 and above.
If you’d like to check it out, feel free to check out the Millennium Exile Patreon page! :D
https://www.patreon.com/millenniumexile

The special Patreon piece is still underway also.
This image will show some unreleased, exclusive content - never before released on the Internet, and will be available ONLY to Patrons of the project, for ALL tiers. :)

Note: As the image is currently entering into the final stages before completion, this will be the LAST preview of the WIP regarding this piece.
Some assets in the below image are placeholders and not necessarily representative of the final product, however the completed image is going to knock your socks off!

A special thanks to Australian Anime and Manga store “Zombster” for requesting that I provide them with more material about the project. They already display my cards, which provide people with all the links to the official website and social media platforms.

Lastly, but certainly not least…..IQ40’s newest Demo Reel artwork is progressing at an insane rate!
I’ll be sure to keep you up to date with all of these stills on social media so stay tuned :)

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun Ivanku
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown
Kylie Keen (New Member)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

If you wish to become a Patron, you will not only be helping the project move forward - but you will also be supporting the talented artists from around the world who also work on the project.
Together we can help make Anime history!

https://www.patreon.com/millenniumexile

Oz Comic Con Convention:

September 27, 2018

I got a fair bit of information to cover this week, so let’s jump straight into it! :)

This weekend just gone, I had the immense opportunity to present myself and the Millennium Exile project to the Oz Comic-Con convention in Brisbane.

But first, I was honored to be a guest on another panel….

Sarah from Star Scribe Works and Will from Righteous Dude Cosplay had me on their “Retro Anime” panel. It was a pretty cool talk, in which we discussed all things Anime pre 2000’s. including Macross, Astro Boy, Sailor Moon and Dragonball to name a few.
We also got to talking about the impact that early Anime had on Western Culture and how it shaped us as fans.

We kicked things off with the debut of the Millennium Exile demo reel playing on a big screen and the volume turned right up! Needless to say, it looked fantastic and it was a huge moment for me to see my project being shown to such a crowd. The funny thing was, that a massive amount of people stopped in their tracks on the convention floor just to watch the footage as it played.

As everyone watched, I stood by, separated from the area and heard people complimenting how interesting it all looked. Now, I’m not sure about you….but that reaction is EXACTLY what I wanted from my demo reel! To have customers and attendee’s stop what they were doing, huddle up and watch the production - that was a really big moment for me.

I even got an applause at the end of it. I looked around at the crowd and people all seemed super happy with what they had seen :)

I only wish I had a photo of the crowd that had gathered at the barrier to watch.

After the demo had finished, Sarah joined me on the panel and began asking me questions about the project and it’s origins. I tried to give as much detail as possible while addressing the audience. Soon afterwards, we gave people a chance to ask their own questions and to my surprise a whole bunch of hands went up!

Turns out a lot of people were interested in the project what I was doing with it.
I was so very happy to answer everyone’s questions. I only wish I had the time to answer everyone’s before we ran out of time -_-

By the end of the panel, I was greeted by a group of audience members - several of which were fans of the project who mentioned they had purchased their tickets JUST to see my panel.
I honestly couldn’t tell you just how moved I was to hear this …..

Several friends were also in attendance to show their support and the whole experience just had me feeling so very grateful and blessed. All in all however, It was a BLAST! I got to pitch the new MillEx Banner that I had shown in previous Social Media posts and it looked GLORIOUS!!!!! More people attended than I was expecting and the reaction from the demo reel was 100% what I needed it to be.

I don’t plan for this to be my last appearance at a convention so lets see what else unfolds moving forwards :)

In a few days time, I'll be uploading the full video of the current Millennium Exile demo reel to the internet. This will be an extended version of the teaser currently available on YouTube which debut this weekend at Oz Comic-Con.

As thanks to those supporting the project, this video will ONLY be available to Patrons of the following tiers:

- Dual Wielding
- Calculated & Dangerous
- Hero
- Divine Intervention

Also, ALL Patrons (no matter what tier), will receive the special Patreon celebration piece currently being worked on.
I was initially going to upload this image to the internet later on, however I think its better as a Patreon only exclusive as a way of giving back.

That means the newest image showing Vincent in his god form will NOT be uploaded to any of the Millennium Exile socials. I will continue to show more of the "Work in Progress" sketches as we go, but the completed version will be going out to Patrons only at this stage.

This is all in addition to the current Tier rewards already in place.
More Patreon exclusive content to come :)

Comission - Vincent looking up CU sketch.jpg

A new artist also joins the project, Mr IQ40!

I have been a HUGE fan of his for several years, and I am extremely excited to announce his participation with the Millennium Exile project as the main artist for the Demo Reel :)

You can check out IQ40 at the following links:

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/iq40mail

Deviantart:
https://www.deviantart.com/iq40

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/elmerdamaso/

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

MillEx FANART Edition!

September 20, 2018

This week’s blog is a simple one:
I’d like to take the time to share some of the amazing artwork many of you in the community, have so lovingly drawn.
The artwork below is 100% fan-art, submitted to me from the awesome and talented men and women who follow the Millennium Exile project. I’ve done my best to provide links and user names for everyone so please feel free to go and show them some love!
Enjoy! :)

This amazing Gilgamesh WIP, by artist Anthony Harris from Anthony Harris Art on Deviantart:
https://www.deviantart.com/anthonyharrisart

This colorful Malik piece was drawn by fan of the project, Daniel.

These next two pieces are of Hunter and drawn by the talented artist: Hexm
Instagram: @hexm

And another Hexm piece - this time of Sho!

The deadly Velad, also drawn by Hexm!

A sketch of Kira by Yokaiartist.
Check out his Instagram page @yokaiartist

And this super dynamic image of Mai from fellow Aussie artist: ochki-art
Instagram: @ochki-art

Work is still being done on the special Patreon piece, however organizing a 2 meter high banner for the project has taken priority this week, as I will be attending the Oz Comic-Con Brisbane convention in just 2 days time!
Speaking of which, this week has been in high gear. With the convention right around the corner, I’m preparing the materials that will be used and displayed, as well as meeting and networking with new people.

I also have another school visit the day before the convention….
It’s a new school that I’ve never attended before, and I will be presenting to year 6 students for an Anime & Character Design workshop!

With all this in the works, I’m also still managing to continue working on the Millennium Exile series plan.
This is a bullet-point, summarized document, indicating and detailing ALL significant events, and plot points throughout the various arcs within the Millennium Exile timeline.

I’m generally writing about 2000-3000 words a day, so considering this document is a “summarized” detail of events, I’m getting through a fair amount of content.
The series plan shows how many episodes are planned out for each story arc, doing this also gives a good indication of exactly how many episodes per season are being planned for.

You can see the front page of the plan below, which shows the main story arcs in bold, with the lesser “mid arc events” in between.

Couple all of the above with being full-time store manager of a computer repair store, family commitments, and the general responsibilities of everyday life - and you have an extremely busy few days for yours truly.

Still though, I wouldn’t have it any other way! :)

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor

Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun
Elizabeth Nagle
Haider Yassine
James Brown (New Member)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

Teaching kids about Anime & Convention Invitation!

September 13, 2018

For those of you who may or may not know, I attend an array of schools around South-East Queensland.

This actually all started around 4 years ago, when a few students (who were fans of Millennium Exile), approached their teachers and told them about me. Soon after, I received an email from a department head from a prestigious Gold Coast High School with a strong emphasis on Japanese culture. I was invited to attend the school as part of their “Japanese Culture Day”, in which I would be one of several guests teaching the children about different facets of the Japanese culture.

My class was of course, about Anime :)

In these presentations, I talked about the history of Anime, the difference between Manga and Anime and production costs.
Furthermore, I would discuss how Japanese Anime differed from “Cartoons” around the world, and the effect that Anime would later have in the West.

I was also asked to talk about Millennium Exile…..after all, this started because kids were fans of my work so they wanted to know about the project. I would educate the kids about how MillEx started, design and story-telling tips and most importantly - how to balance their passions with hard work.

Every time new class would come in and sit down, I would ask them: “What demonstration did you just come from"?”
The students would usually reply either “Sumo” or “Kendo”.
Immediately I would think to myself: “Well how am I going to follow that act?”
I know if I were just running about in a Sumo suit, or playing with wooden swords, I wouldn’t want to settle back down and listen to some white guy talk about cartoons…yet the children LOVED it!
I would often be greeted by several kids from each class, either requesting my signature, or asking questions they had during the demonstration.

It was an amazing experience to say the least and I was extremely moved by their enthusiasm.

That being said, I was also extremely concerned. Here I was, the only Australian among Japanese people who were either currently visiting, or now living in Australia - all who were attending the school to teach a different aspect of their culture to the kids.
The school had a very successful exchange program with several teachers, department heads and even principals from the Japanese High Schools attending these visits, and would regularly sit in on my classes.
Thankfully, I was approached by these lovely men and women and thanked graciously for my demonstration. They were moved that their Anime had such a deep effect to people here in the West.

Word eventually got out and soon enough, I began getting invitations from schools all over. From public to private schools, primary to High schools…little old Ty was up there, teaching kids about Anime and Millennium Exile.

I would even arrive at some schools to find my picture up, along with my work printed out on the walls….there was even a drawing of me on one of their whiteboards!

I’m now lucky enough to do this regularly, not enough to be a full-time job of course….but I’m just so grateful for the opportunity to share my passion with these young minds who are all just brimming with excitement and potential.

Look, I’m not going to bore you with more text…..I feel this super professional video better explains the topic at hand:

That’s right! I’m heading to Oz Comic Con to conduct a panel about what it’s like to be a Western Creator trying to break into a predominantly Japanese industry. The convention is just 10 days away, so you can be sure to see photos’ / videos in an upcoming blog! :)

Not much to report on this week, as I have been spending quite a lot of time, preparing fro more school visits and my upcoming convention panel.

Hary is still progressing through, and adding finer details to the special Millennium Exile Patreon piece, so be sure to stay tuned.

Speaking of Patreon…..

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor
Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen
Patrick Lowery
Shaun
Elizabeth Nagle (New member)
Haider Yassine (New member)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan

"Catch-up": Kotaku article and more media coverage!

September 6, 2018

Okie dokie,

So as promised, I'm going to start catching the blog up with the recent events of Millennium Exile. Anything with the "Catch-Up" label in the title, will be something regarding the project from past events.

Well then, lets jump straight into things shall we?

Back in January, Kotaku Australia wrote up an article featuring yours truly!

For those of you who not in the know, Kotaku is an online media outlet that focuses on news about Anime, Gaming and various facets of pop-culture and technology. They have several websites from countries around the world, such as in the U.S, Australia, Japan and U.K.

Needless to say, having such a prominent brand not only recognize what I'm doing- but to write up such a glowing article, made me simply ecstatic to say the least!

A few hours after this article hit the world wide web, I was inundated by emails from various bloggers, journalists, schools and even conventions! :O

Link to the article below:
https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/01/the-aussie-whos-pitching-an-anime-to-netflix-and-japan/

A few weeks later, I was invited to a popular radio station: "ABC radio" here in Brisbane.
I featured in a recorded interview about what it's like being a Western creator for a predominantly Japanese industry. We also covered the Japanese culture, and what effect Anime has had in shaping Japans image in Western society.
It was an amazing experience!

More recently, I was invited to attend a Skype interview with Joel from Anigame - An Australian based Anime and Game blogger / reviewer.
While the article was a lengthy one, it was actually transcripted from the full video-chat.

Article:
http://ani-game.com/talent-talks-episode-1-ty-hanson-the-aussie-making-the-anime-milennium-exile/

Full Video:

I still have several school visits currently booked (more on that in next weeks blog), and an upcoming convention, here in Brisbane.
As the convention in question wants to break the news first, I'm not at liberty to disclose exactly which one it is...however you can be sure to expect a detailed blog sometime by the end of September.

The special Patreon artwork is still in progress, with Hary spending some time fleshing out some finer details of the Diablo blade.
You should definitely look forward to this piece being released, and all Patrons of the Millennium Exile project will receive a rare high resolution download upon it's completion :)

As always, I'd like to thank the following amazing Patrons from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor
Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley
Coyen Olsen (New Member)
Patrick Lowery (New member)
Shaun (New Member)

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson
Ben Karnaghan (New Member)

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Patreon Celebration!

September 1, 2018

Well it's the end of the month, and with it - Millennium Exile's first week on Patreon!

Before I start, I'd like to thank the following amazing people from the bottom of my heart:

Master of Elements (Tier 1)

Daniel Taylor
Jaycen Hill

Dual Wielding (Tier 2)

SnowMew
Tyler Smalley

Calculated & Dangerous (Tier 3)

Graeyson

You guys have already made such a massive difference in supporting this project and I cannot thank you enough. Every dollar not only helps the project, but it also supports the various artists from around the world who work on it.
And it's not only contribution amount that matters, with each name that's attached to this Patreon page - the better the project looks to a studio when it comes time to pitch :)

The project is currently receiving $70 a month from you guys in it's first week being on Patreon and 100% of the proceeds are going towards the Millennium Exile artwork and I'm hoping to eventually have enough to pay for a professional score throughout the Demo Reel. Music can be an extremely powerful tool when used in a production and is something often overlooked.

With such amazing & talented voice actors already attached, it sets the bar quite high to polish this as much as possible!

https://www.patreon.com/millenniumexile

Well as you might have already seen, I am currently working with Hary to bring you guys a very special image...

This image will depict a specific scene from the end of the final fight with Xarus, and shows Vincent in his never before seen God form with his Overdrive Plus (the "Abyss" gauntlet) on one hand, and an unsealed god killer: "The Diablo Blade" in the other!

I plan for this image to be a special promotion piece that I'm going to pass on to all Patrons (in high resolution), as a thanks to those of you currently supporting the project :)
Very rarely do I upload high res artwork, and I'm currently planning more exclusive bonuses to come!

Iv'e just come off the end of a VERY busy few months... having started a new job (in a field that required much of my time to study), doing interviews through various media outlets regarding MillEx, and I've been getting several requests to visit public and private schools to teach children about Anime, Manga and Millennium Exile!
I won't go into to it too much here, as I'll be covering all this in the next few blogs :)

I'm also currently preparing myself to run my very first a panel for a convention. I've been invited to attend as a guest talk about being a western creator in the Anime genre.
More info on that to come in the next few weeks :)

This blog is also getting resurrected - I'm sorry for being so slack!
I have plenty of awesome news to share with you all, so expect more updates here, as well as some previously mentioned ones (for those of you who follow the project on Facebook).

Iv'e been doing quite a lot since I last posted on the website, and it's time I caught you all up to speed!

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Another Magazine Interview, The latest one, and a Near Death Experience.

December 6, 2016

Hi there, everyone....apologies for the lateness of this blog, I was somewhat incapacitated, but I'll go into that a little later.

Another Interview

A Manga serialization magazine from America recently interviewed me regarding the Millennium Exile project...that makes 2 Interviews in as many weeks :)

The magazine is called "Saturday AM" and is an amazing publication in which talented artists from outside of Japan come together to get serialized in hopes of getting their work out into the world.
The magazine really is quite amazing as it sports an array of extremely talented artists with some exceptional stories to tell.

This interview was extremely interesting to say the least as the questions were so well thought through and cleverly written.
It really shows the passion and respect the author must have for Anime and for those attempting to get noticed by the industry.

I'll be sure to link you all to the issue with my Interview however unlike the Gametraders magazine, you will need to purchase a subscription.
$1.99 for a single issue or $5.00 a year for so much content,what a bargain!

Gametraders magazine Interview

The Interview with Gametraders magazine released and it looks awesome!
I recently posted this on the Millennium Exile Facebook page however I thought I would link it here for anyone who may have missed it.

Click below to read the full article:

A Near Death Experience

A few days ago I was involved in a rather serious car accident. I was driving at 60 kph when a car left it's lane and crossed into mine, causing a near head-on collision.

My car did not have airbags and I hit the steering wheel with such force that I broke the drive shaft, pushing the wheel upwards and into the windscreen.

I was rushed to the hospital with suspected internal bleeding, broken bones and a fractured spine.
Amazingly however and after extensive testing and scans, none of these were present within my body and I was left with severe whiplash, bruising and swelling.
I't been a tough few days to say the least with making call after call, attempting to get back on the road and find the sense of normality I possessed before the accident.

I'm having to get an ultrasound today to check that all my organs are still functioning properly so fingers crossed.

Side Note: I was the Green Car with the Gurren Lagann Signage on it...

Trying to stay in high spirits on a very uncomfortable ride in the ambulance.

Here is the dash-cam footage of the accident.
It was captured by another motorist waiting at the intersection and provided to me.
In an attempt to keep my sense of humor, I made a few edits to keep things light-hearted.

So today I was involved in a very serious car accident. Jokes aside, (in an attempt to lighten the mood of what has been a very bad day); I'm extremely lucky to have walked away from this with minor injuries. Although the other driver was at fault, I really hope she is okay and wish her a speedy recovery.

Well, that's about it for another blog.
Apologies for a lack on content this week however I'm sure many of you will understand given my recent circumstances.

Until next week - Stay Safe on the roads these holidays!

Newest artwork & Anime Figure Photography - Shameless Self Promotion!

November 27, 2016

Another week, another blog.
This week I'll be sharing with you my newest piece for the upcoming demo reel and some of my Anime toy photography.

Shall we?

Newest Artwork:

The newest still from Millennium Exile's upcoming demo reel is out. In this image, we see a group of people walking in a crowded area. This is to illustrate that the Meisters of our story walk among regular people and are in-fact still a normal part of society.

Spot a familiar person? :p

Anime Toy Photography

For those who may not know me all too personally, I am a photographer. Real Estate photography is the means in which I earn my weekly wage , however I absolutely LOVE taking photo's of nature, animals and scenery...but none more so than Toy photography.

Being the Anime fan that I am of course means that Anime collectibles are my predominant focus when I'm behind the camera :)

Please see below for some examples of my work.

Now this certainly isn't all of my work, but more of a few of my highlighted and more popular images.

While I enjoy setting up the studio, firing up the lights and doing some product photography by a standard practice, I also enjoy getting out and setting up the figures for some environment shots. I feel that these shots can often (and if done right) lead to capturing the emotion and characteristics of the subject.

Should you want to see more of my catalog, please feel free to check out my Flickr gallery or swing by Finchzero Photography on IG & Facebook.

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/finchzerophotography/

IG:
finchzero_photography

Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/102896696@N06/

Flirckr is a fantastic source of brilliant photography as it contains hundreds of thousands of groups - all dedicated to specific types and styles of photography including toys!
There is a vast range of amazing talent on this page and can often be a great source of inspiration so I would highly recommend you check it out :)

For me, toy and figure photography is another way of expressing my passion for Anime.
Maybe if you guys are interested, I can do a blog on the toy photography process :)

So tell me, what do you like to do to express your passions?

I hope you enjoyed this weeks little blog.
Until next week, stay frosty and stay safe throughout the holiday season.

MillEx: Artwork updates, Edits & One Less Artist....

November 21, 2016

Howdy all, I hope this week has been good to you :)

My day job has kept me extremely busy (I'm a photographer & running my own business), it's currently summer here in Australia and looking to be one our hottest ones yet!
I was bitten by a dog today which was only a very small laceration however I did have to receive a Tetanus needle just to be safe....my arms feeling pretty sore :(

Anyways enough about me and onto the Millennium Exile stuff:

Working on a project such as this, I am given the awesome chance to work with some amazingly talented artists from around the world, many of whom I befriend on a personal level.
One artist in particular has been working with me on MillEx for a number of years, I will not go into specifics but I loved his art style and he was not only an artist to me but also a dear friend. Unfortunately a few issues arose for this artist on a personal level that eventually began to affect his performances professionally.
After almost 2 years however, these issues could not be mitigated and after lengthy consideration, the decision was made to cease any and all collaboration with him....it's a sad day indeed.
This has been the main reason that Hary has had to pick up some of the slack and start drawing for the demo reel which in turn, takes him away from the awesome character artwork I used to release so often.

Again though - the amazing Hary has decided to step up and continue working where the other artist left off. This will still mean that character artwork will be on hold, however I am currently re-planning the demo reel's final stage to make up for having one less artist.
I am also reaching out to a few other talents around the world in search of someone who may be able to fill in and get Hary back to the character art ASAP.

All in all it's been a fairly hectic and turbulent time :(

Hary completed another piece for the demo reel so this week, I thought I would show the the steps that go into the commission process to show you how a piece evolves along the way :)

The brief should be an explanation of what it is exactly that you would like from the artist. It can be as detailed or simplistic as you want however it will be your responsibility to ensure that you have communicated properly with the artist.
Also, it's sometimes a good idea to allow the artist to flex their creativity...this can often lead to some amazing results!

For this image in particular I did not see it necessary to provide any initial designs for the characters as their specific appearance was somewhat irrelevant. Usually for a character, I would provide a concept design along with the descriptive brief however in this instance, the brief was as follows:

"For this image I would like 8 mages, all dressed in identical (or very similarly styled) robes.
Their faces can be covered as their identities are not overly relevant and should add to the mystery of the piece."
"I would also like them to be casting magic please."

At this point, you should also be requesting a rough draft (or several) in order to ascertain the artists direction before putting in all the hard work.
This helps to shape your expectations as well as improving upon your communication with the artist.
This stage can also prevent him/her from spending enormous amounts of time to possibly produce the wrong results.

Depending on the artist, or if you have specifically requested it, the artist should now be providing you with an idea of the color palette they are using.
This step helps to give both yourself and the artist an idea of the feeling and the vibe this piece will likely give off.
You can always provide this information in the initial brief also however a final approval is usually best.

Don't forget that between these steps that there is always a waiting period. If you know the artist well then you may not feel the need however negotiating a deadline can often be beneficial.
At the end of it all though, you should be presented with an amazing piece of artwork :)

Now you 'may' want to take this up with your artist however I personally enjoy tweaking, editing and putting the final touches on a pieces should I have decided on a creative change.
In this situation I decided to highlight each of the mages a different color to emphasize the different class they each were responsible for making.
I also made lighting& shadow changes and added some extra effects!

Well, that's it from me this week.
I hope you all stay safe and have some amazing fortune ahead of you :)
Until next time Space Cowboys!

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The Death of Anime?

November 13, 2016

Weather it be One Piece, Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul or the classics such as Ninja Scroll and Ghost in the Shell; we love our Anime in one form or another.

Well, what if I were to tell you that the anime industry was going to die?, or even more baffling, that we may be experiencing the death of it right now?

Back in 2015 Hideaki Anno, creator of the renowned Neon Genesis Evangelion, was interviewed by Russian journalists from RIA Novosti. He explained that “Japanese animation is in decline", and that “It has already peaked", going on to prophecise that we will likely see a resurgence...a rebirth if you will (pun intended) however that it's "only a matter of time" before we witness the death of Anime.

Anno goes on to explain that we will likely see this death and rebirth throughout the Anime industry within the next 5 years, and that “Japan will no longer be the center of world animation”.

Anime has never been more popular throughout the western world as it is today.
When my generation grew up, we watched shows such as Astroboy, Macross and Dragonball. However we only identified them as 'cartoons' back then, with very little knowledge of the titles origins.
Many children today however are growing up with the likes of One Piece, Bleach and Naruto just to name a few; but what's more is that they understand that it's an Anime...and that Anime comes from Japan. They can identify and differentiate Anime through it's varied styles and story from that of say; 'Ben 10'. Most youth can even surprise you with detailed knowledge of the directors and studios in which these titles were made.
On average, the children of the 90's through to now, have a much more coherent understanding of what Anime is compared to the children of the 70's and 80's.

That's large in part because the industry has been around for a long time and has carved out a name for itself and become more established.
It's a simple notion really, the longer something stay's relevant and popular, the easier it is to be identified by the general public.

But, does that rise in popularity mean Anime is capable of dying? I believe so.

Anime took the world by storm by expressing that 'cartoons' don't have to be just for children. We saw this in titles such as The Guyver, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll, Street Fighter The Animated movie, First of the North Star and so on. However once that message had been successfully relayed, what next? Well, the Anime industry began producing extremely original content, shows that were dark and gritty, light hearted, yet meaningful, comedic yet so very serious. These stories manifested themselves within titles such as Anno's Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Agento Soma, Samurai Champloo, Full Metal Alchemist etc.

But do you ever wonder why there is inherently more shows now containing panty shots and half naked high-school girls with physic defying breasts bouncing around the place as there was in Anime 15 years ago?

Unfortunately we just don't see that same level of originality, passion or thoughtfulness behind works coming out today,
Very few shows are being created with the love and passion they deserve because at the end of the day, regardless of where your heart lies it's still a business and needs to make money.

Being that episodes can just be downloaded off the Internet or streamed via online services, DVD and Bluray sales are at an all time low. Thus, many studio's feel it necessary to really push stories that can sell a lot of other merchandise in order to get a return on the money it cost to develop the show. (Model kits are basically the reason why we will never see the Gundam franchise go out of business any time soon)
This eventually pigeon holes and restrains the creative processes and reduces a studio's vision to that of just making money however they can.

This also usually takes the form of the 'sex sells' mentality, thus the overly saturated seasons of fan service Anime we get bombarded by.
I mean, sure, there has always been fan service and nudity in Anime, don't get me wrong.
But my point is that it wasn't always so ridiculous, nor was it everywhere like it is today.

Working conditions are also to blame, with extreme levels of stress being placed upon animators, unreasonably long working hours and financial instabilities.
One anonymous ex-employee of an Anime studio went on to share his experience with the world that "There are many who suffer from mental stress mainly caused by lack of money." and that "The income of an employee is small with the annual income of a first year earning a little over 2,000,000 yen."
That's roughly $24,000 AUD or $18,000 USD per annum for working 12 - 14 hour days.

Given all of these factors and many more, it becomes very apparent that the Anime industry in it's current form is not sustainable, giving much more credibility (or rather educating us more so) to Anno's claims.

To surmise, I personally believe that the "best of Anime" is behind us...all the great titles that were made with love and passion have all been made, leaving those responsible exhausted, stressed and underwhelmed due to the toll the industry has had on them.
That's not to say that 'all' Anime are shallow and failing.
We still see a very high caliber of quality and love coming from studios like Ufotable, Production I.G, BONES and Madhouse, but unfortunately those titles are few and far between, with the shallow 'cash cowing' and 'sex sells' mentality fast becoming the norm within the industry.

I can only hope that as I endeavour to take Millennium Exile to Japan for Anime adaptation, that Anno's prediction of a "rebirth" is accurate.
My wish is to break down the borders and boundaries set by conventional methods so that love, respect and hard work can allow for creations within the industries we love.

That being said however, it's not like we can all just keep the industry alive through sheer force of will, please...if you are passionate about Anime, then please support it by purchasing official merchandise, especially the DVD and Bluray releases.
I can understand that you may not all have much money, but it's not about the individual putting in hundreds of thousands of dollars each week, but more the individual giving what they can to support the industry they love.
While there is nothing legally wrong with have a steaming service subscription, please also consider giving back a bit more whenever you can and from official distributors. A little from each fan goes a long way, however piracy and bootleg's hurt the very backbone of the industry we claim to love so much.

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Blog

Rising of the Shield Hero:

The Promised Neverland:

Mob Psycho 100 2:

Dororo:

#1 - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:

#2 - Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood:

#3 - Parasyte: The Maxim:

#4 - Death Note:

#5 - Cowboy Bebop:

#6 - Wolf’s Rain

#7 - Fate Stay Night - Unlimited Blade Works (TV)

#8 - Psycho Pass

#9 - Macross Frontier

#10 - Samurai Champloo

#1 - Samurai X OVA’s Trust & Betrayal

#2 - The Devil is a Part-Timer

#3 - Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

#4 - Planet of the Beast King

#5 - Death Parade

#1 - Gurren Lagann the Movie 2: The Lights in the Sky are Stars

#2 - Sword of the Stranger

#3 - Summer Wars

#4 - Cowboy bebop: The Movie

#5 - Evangelion 2.22: You Can (not) Redo

Hi there, everyone....apologies for the lateness of this blog, I was somewhat incapacitated, but I'll go into that a little later.

Another Interview

Gametraders magazine Interview

A Near Death Experience

Well, that's about it for another blog. Apologies for a lack on content this week however I'm sure many of you will understand given my recent circumstances.Until next week - Stay Safe on the roads these holidays!

Another week, another blog.This week I'll be sharing with you my newest piece for the upcoming demo reel and some of my Anime toy photography.Shall we?

Newest Artwork:

Anime Toy Photography

I hope you enjoyed this weeks little blog.Until next week, stay frosty and stay safe throughout the holiday season.

Well, that's it from me this week. I hope you all stay safe and have some amazing fortune ahead of you :) Until next time Space Cowboys!

Email:

Well, that's about it for another blog.
Apologies for a lack on content this week however I'm sure many of you will understand given my recent circumstances.

Until next week - Stay Safe on the roads these holidays!

Another week, another blog.
This week I'll be sharing with you my newest piece for the upcoming demo reel and some of my Anime toy photography.

Shall we?

I hope you enjoyed this weeks little blog.
Until next week, stay frosty and stay safe throughout the holiday season.

Well, that's it from me this week.
I hope you all stay safe and have some amazing fortune ahead of you :)
Until next time Space Cowboys!