foreWARD's 2017 Pilot

Started in 2016, the animatic for foreWARD’s first episode was completed mid-2017. Now, it's fairly out of date, as some changes will be taking place in the final version. Most notably:

• A stronger cold open that shows a glimpse of the past with Kusari, as well as a short scene of Mitsuki’s morning routine, will be added to ease into the setting of Chuushu proper.

• The floorplan for the setting has finally been developed, so this will actually change a few structural things and set pieces in the lobby. We'll be making adjustments where necessary to better reflect the actual layout of the scenes.

• Okuda’s letter will be changed to a voicemail. In the first few drafts, we weren’t 100% sure on how far along technology had advanced, so there weren’t any cell phones until we were deep into production. To stay on task, we left the letter as-is since Okuda’s a bit old-fashioned anyway, but we’re definitely changing it for the final version.

• The finale to the fight with the Ayakashi is being altered for clarity. The purpose of Zeiryo’s blessing doesn’t read, as Okuda is 100% responsible for the Ayakashi’s death. Zeiryo is merely blessing its spirit so it may pass on into the afterlife.

• Finally, some re-recording is unfortunately necessary for the above scenes, as well as some dialogue alteration, re-casting, and so forth.