#but the term manga has evolved into a universal term for graphic novel/ comic book/ actual manga
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Neta: training day, training day we're all here for training day. How are we all doing today?
Antho: it is 7:30 in the morning
Neta: yehhhh sorry about that but I have to train everyone and teach them how to close and open my store. So unfortunately for you...Antho. You also have to learn how to open.
Anto: *huff*
Neta: great! The mall is closed. It opens around 10:00 but we have to get here around 7:00. The first thing that I or mahi does is count money, fill the registers. While you guys have to unpack inventory, unload inventory from the trucks annnnd clean up the store. So that means folding shirts, picking up miscellaneous items. Make it look nice and presentable.
Vinny: what do we do first?
Neta: so what we usually do first is to fill the registers. So let's just go to the back here where the money machine is.......It's also my office so if you need anything feel free to come back here. The managers are in charge of withdrawing the money. You guys are responsible for depositing the money....so we usually get $100 worth of 20s for each register $50 worth of 5s, 10s we usually get $30 worth and and another $100 worth of 1s
Fugue: is that the amount we have to do every time?
Neta: this is usually the amount we put in but it can also change depending on how busy it is or how slow it is. So you know if you guys ever become a manager just go with your hunch and how much money you need the day.
Neta: All right so we got the money. Put them in the registers. Safety rule you can never deposit or withdraw the money by yourself. You have to have someone with you at all times just in case something happens.
Anto: like what?
Neta: well a lot can happen
Vinny: I knew this guy who used to stay in the store until closing and when employees were taking the register to the back. He'd push them and snatch the register and run out the door.
Anto: I'm assuming that person was you
Vinny: actually it was my babysitter. He used to watch me and my sister's all the time, he was a nice guy
Neta: ok let's change the subject so after we put in the registers. We go back to the back, the second door to the left next to my office is receiving I also call it storage and you can call it whatever you want.
Naomi: this is a lot bigger than I expected
Neta: yeah it is. We keep boxes back here. New releases, old releases, limited releases
Fugue: what happens when it get overcrowded?
Neta: usually when it gets overcrowded we have a big sale. So we don't do this every morning but this morning we had a truck today. So we go over here......... Lift up this door and you can see the cargo entrance.... It's only a few boxes.
Antho: and you expected to unpack all this?
Neta: No, you have to unload and then unpack.... And their specific ones that you can unpack and then the rest you can leave in the back. Looking at the labels you only need to unpack the 15 and keep the 20 in the back....ok... I'm going to split you guys into groups Vinny and I are going to stay back here to unload fougu you can unpack the items.
Vinny: great this is going to be easy.
Fugue: do you provide a box cutter?
Neta: yep I got a whole desk full in my office just to pick one out. Everything with a blue label we open up immediately. Anything with an orange label we don't open until the set date on it.
Vinny: what about the pink label?
Neta: those we don't open up until next month Those are splat fest tees.
Antho: splatfest tees??? So if we open those boxes we know which splat fest is going to be next
Neta: yeah totally... You also get an automatic termination and blacklisted not only from all the stores in the mall but also around the city. So.............you want to play some stupid games and win some stupid prizes? I'm serious like I'm not even allowed to open it I had to sign a waiver and everything
Antho: that sucks
Neta: yeah I know.....ok....you and Miss Naomi..... you're just going to have to pick up the store You know clean it up. Fold shirts. Organize everything... We do have a system. Everything with the green tag has to be folded. Everything with a red tag is hung up on the rack. Everything with a purple tag is hung up in the front of the store. Any questions?
Antho: I have a question
Neta: what's your question?
Antho: what happened to your ear?
Neta:.............................................................. Do you have any questions regarding your job?
Naomi: is there the proper way we have to fold the shirts
Neta: Great question. we fold them into rectangles so it's small and it gives us space for more shirts. So fold two times on each end....... and you put it together and.......here we go! Make sure that the band or logo is visible. And for the hanging clothes he puts the smallest in the front and largest in the back. ..... Anything else?
Antho: hu-
Neta:No great........ Antho come with me for a sec.
Antho: Am I fired already?
Neta: No, you're not fired and just going to need to ask a quick favor. Listen........You can be as mean and rude as you want to be with me. You can't hurt my feelings....* Inhale*....... The customers on the other hand..........unless they deserve it and trust me there are going to be some people who definitely deserve it but for the ones who don't.... please be nice. Okay?
Antho: ......................
Neta: and also be nice to your fellow employees. I know underneath this little meanie personality you have is a nice kind person
Antho: No, there isn't
Neta: Yes there is and I can sense it and you know what goes great with a nice kind person?
Antho: a reality check
Neta: No. Another nice kind person to keep them company........That's why you'll be working with Naomi! Yayyy!!! you two are going to be sharing the same shifts!! You're going to have a shift buddy.
Antho: whaat? Why?
Neta: because..... She's a nice girl. She's really sweet..... and she's also kind of sensitive and I don't think she'll be able to handle some of our.........
Antho: asshole customers?
Neta: yeah ............ Just be there to back her up if needed. You know I don't want anyone making her cry. Can you do that for me? Can you do this one small gesture or are you just incapable of kindness?
Antho: ..........ugh..... fine I'll help her.......... You better pay me extra
Neta: I'll make you an employee of the month.
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Antho:.....................
Naomi:....................
Antho:.......so............ What's your deal?
Naomi: hm?
Antho: why are you working here?
Naomi: oh...uh........um........I just....... wanted to get out of the house....... ...... yeah
Antho: hmm k..................* Inhale* * exhale*.........(Tap ..Tap.)................ So like you live around here?
Naomi: oh yeah.....I-i do It's usually just one train stop......
Antho: hmmmmmm...... I know you said that you weren't allowed to like disclose what manga you used to work on but like
Naomi: I work on "turf war heart break" and " I love princess Nami "
Antho:I think I saw Vivy read one of those...hm... Probably not....... So you got permission to talk about your work and you won't get fired or anything will you?
Naomi: ............ I only said I wasn't allowed to disclose because I was embarrassed...... I didn't know how y'all would react.
Antho: oh.........well.... They're popular books..... So do you write it or draw it or?
Naomi: I just do outlines for the books That's it............
Antho: that's cool....................
Naomi:........................... I actually work on my own stuff when I'm free.
Antho: oh..... So what's your book about
Naomi: well I'm still working on it. I still haven't gotten the plot or the characters. I'm so just writing ideas down. It's nothing. I'm sorry I'm actually just-
Neta: so how's everything up in the front?
Naomi: * gasp* uhhhh....umm
Antho: we're finished
Neta: I can see that the store looks great! Good job you two
Antho: hum
Naomi:. Hmmm thank you
Neta: well it's around 8:00. Everything is unloaded and unpacked. We just need to take it from the back and put it to the front. We'll do this until 9:45
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Neta: We're all done and it's........ Oh it's only 9:30. Usually that takes longer
Fugue: it could be because you have more people here
Neta: yeah, that's true..... Well while we wait, I guess I can teach you guys how to use the register. It's not hard at all let me put it on training mode and-
Warabie: GOOD MORNING!
Seth: hey guy .....
Neta: Good morning ... . Hey Candi.. ..... You look..... You look great babe....... Look at you you're glowing
Candi: uh huh .... yeah.......* Mumbling*
Antho: did she get hit by a bus this morning? Geez
Neta: shh!...
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Neta:ok we're going to learn how to use the register warabie is going to be right here to help you
Warabie: hi guys
Neta: alright so .... Vinny why don't you go first?
Vinny: alright!
Neta: Great! I'm going to be customers and hand you this item right here so can you ring that up for me?
Vinny: ok...... That will be....... $8 cash or card?
Neta: I'm going to split it
Vinny: ok.. so how do I-
Warabie: so you're going to go to split payment. If they give you cash first you press the cash icon you put in the exact amount that they give you. If they do the card first you go to the card icon and then you put in the exact amount they want to pay. Once the card is approved you take the cash and put it in the register.
Vinny: ok ...... So how much do you want to pay in cash
Neta: I'm going to pay... $4 in cash the rest of my card
Vinny: ok great....... All right, that's something hard to do
Neta: see it's easy. Antho You're up next
Antho: alright...... How can I help you today?.........
Neta: well I like to return this please
Antho:.....k........... I'm assuming you're returning these short shorts because it's not your size.
Warabie: *snort* ha! Hehehe I'm sorry....hehehehe.. that's not funny hehe....*ahem*...... be serious Antho.
Neta:................... Just return it
Antho: I'd love too but I don't know how to do that. So I guess you're stuck with this. If it makes you feel any better, we do have some fishnets and boots that will look great with this. I think you look good in it! you know..... In dim lighting.
Warabie: hehehehehe hehehe....
Neta:.................................
Antho: you might need to shave your legs though
Warabie: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Neta: okay.... okay!!! THAT'S ENOUGH!........ I get it just return it.
Warabie: ok..uh ahhah.haha.. I mean I think you'd look hot in it..
Neta: warabie!
Warabie:.. right! sorry....So you press return.... you scan the receipt and you scan the item and it'll give you an option to put it back on the card or to return it to them in cash. If they don't have a receipt with them, you can press this button right here and tell them to insert their card and you can find their last purchase with the store. When you find it highlight and click return. There's also work when they don't have the tag on it.
Antho: All right, great. Here you go sir. ... Your money went back on your card have a pleasant day
Neta: thank you.... You could have done that without humiliating the custome
Antho: I thought you said I can't hurt your feelings
Neta: you can't, but you might hurt someone else's feelings so let's not do this to an actual customer.
Antho: All right, I won't do that.....to their face
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Neta: All right so that concludes today's training. Tomorrow's training day you guys are going to do that....... .... Well....you're actually going to do that at home...... I just want you guys to watch five short videos. It's just going to talk about safety regulations..... Our tolerance policy...... One safety and one sanitary video and the last one is just going to talk about employee benefits and whatnot.
Vinny: I have a question about benefits?
Neta: shoot
Vinny: so like do you provide the benefits or does the mall itself provide the benefits?
Neta: It's the mall. The mall provides the benefits for everyone who works here, including me.
Vinny: do they cover dental?
Neta: yes ... All the information is in the video
Vinny:... Medical expenses like injuries like a broken arm or stitches
Neta:.......... Yes they provide all that......Yes
Naomi: * whispering whispering*
Vinny: yeah I need that too.......... Gender affirming health care
Nate: actually they do, yeah! You can get more information from the videos..... All right! So I guess we're done for the day. The store opens in 20 minutes so uhhhh you guys are free to head home. Enjoy the rest of your day or you can stay until we open and complete your whole shift up to you.
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Antho: ...*huff*.............hey
Naomi: hm?
Antho: you said you were working on your own book earlier
Naomi: yeah.... it's.... it's still in the development stage tho so. . Yeah
Antho:hmmm what about you puffy you have a hobby or something
Fugue:..... Don't call me that.... If you must know, I enjoy making ceramics
Antho: That's lame. I don't care
Fugue:...... Well then you shouldn't have asked
Antho: I thought you were going to say something interesting
Fugue: well it is interesting if you just let me finish.... I'm actually planning on making my own dish set for my drom room I even made one for my future roommate
Antho: uhhhhh Don't you play video games or some shit like a normal person
Fugue: I do... I'm normal...I ........ I don't have to prove anything to you!
Antho: oh shit! He's actually puffing up! Heheh
Neta: awwww look at them. They're getting along
Candi: uh-hu
Neta: I guess he's making friends in his own way....... Naomi seems to be opening up a little too........ Can't believe I'm going to have a new crew coming next year....... I'm going to miss you guys.
Candi: uh-hu
Neta: I mean that doesn't mean I'm not going to visit. Of course I'm going to check up on my old store and see you guys. I can also share shifts between stores but I don't know how it's going to work out. I have to drive 5 hours but you know it's worth it to see you guys I love-
Candi: Neta can you shut the fuck up for like 3 seconds? God.....why are you in such a good mood!?
Neta: well......when my shift ended I was going to taste test wedding cakes with ikkan.....I guess I'm just excited. I'm sorry....... I know you're tired.... You want to go home early?
Candi: no .......*ugh*.......mmmmmmmmmm....... I'm sorry......*crying*...... I'm just so fucking tired..
Neta: oh babe come here.......
Candi: *crying*.... I wanted chocolate waffles this morning..........
Neta: you did? Awww... What happened?
Candi: *crying* and I told Donn to go to the store and and and he bought back blueberries ones!! *Crying*...... I told him I didn't want those! He said that's all they had!!! He's fucking lying!! I know he is he picked up the wrong ones!! My morning was ruined *crying*
Neta: ohhh I'm sorry that happened
Antho: what's wrong with her?
Neta: hush....she's pregnant
Antho: that explains a lot.
Neta:..................... Go home
Candi: and this is one of those rare fucking mornings where I'm not sick..... It was my only decent morning and he fucking ruined it!!!!!! *Crying*..... this sucks... I don't like being pregnant.....*sniff*.... I mean I do. I love it..... I'm making life........ but you know.....*sniff * I just *crying* I'm so tired of sweat pants.....
Neta: ohhhhh*heh* I'm sorry........ You sure you don't want to leave early? You can go cake sampling with me.
Candi:...*sniff*........hmm ...ok .......
Neta: ok...(Peck).... Why don't we leave extra early and we can get you some maternity clothing?
Candi: you mean those stupid moo moos no..... I got enough of those from my mother-in-law.
Neta: we can get you a nice sundress perfect for spring.........huh? Doesn't that sound nice?
Candi: yeah......*snort* ok ....
Neta: ok....
Antho is the new work child that Neta has adopted. But he has to share custody with @fish-at-fish-fish-resort
#I have a very extensive knowledge of retail work#Naomi is trans femme we stan our shy trans girl failure#Vinny is up to your interpretation idk trans femme trans masc nb Vinny is trans regardless#I don't think their location is in Japan#but the term manga has evolved into a universal term for graphic novel/ comic book/ actual manga#Antho is a big meanie!!!#Candi is going through it her first pregnancy wasn't so bad but this one 😬#Donn did not lie they actually did not have chocolate waffles#Antho and Naomi work friends yay#Toguni will appear in the next one I swear
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Kojima Cinema Vol. 5: Tykho Moon and Bande Dessinée
Greetings from Kojima Cinema, But We Missed Out On The Fifth Element
Coincidentally two new movies were released recently by French filmmakers who were inspired by French comic books, so I planned on covering both of them and write about French films and comics (Bande Dessinée), but unfortunately I wasn't unable to attend a screening for The Fifth Element, so I ended up covering only one movie in this issue.
Watching Tykho Moon From Parco Space 3
I saw Tykho Moon at the Parco Space 3 theater. The truth is that this place holds a bitter memory for me. Earlier this year I went to see Death Drive starring Kimika Yoshino and even though it was the last showing of its opening day, somehow I ended up being the only audience. In a theater designed to hold an audience of 200, it was just me! It was just like Cinema Paradiso! I couldn't relaxed thinking about the projectionist and how he was going through the trouble of showing the film just for me and became nervous. I didn't believe my luck when I ended up seeing Tykho Moon on that same theater. The popularity of Enki Bilal, director and writer of Tykho Moon, is alive and well even in Japan.
A Historical Sci-Fi That's Not Futuristic
Tykho Moon does not employ any trendy CGI and special effects (perhaps with the sole exception of the lunar surface scene at the end). It's a historical sci-fi closer to the likes of Alphaville by Jean-Luc Goddard, the Ultraseven episode "Nightmare of the Fourth Planet" by Akio Jissoji, The Element of Crime by Lars von Trier, and Solaris by Andrei Tarkovsky. More than just being a low-budget sci-fi film, it's an allegory that takes the form of sci-fi to highlight a certain theme. Perhaps it might be seen as a fresh breath of air to an audience that's fed up with sci-fi movies that over-rely on CGI and special effects.
A Movie That is Bilal-like, yet un-Bilal-like
Tykho Moon is a movie that very much like Bilal, but also unlike him. The rich colors that stands out inside a colorless ruins... The desolated city, the multilayer shadows, a world with a sense of helplessness, the quirky characters, the oppressed citizens, and so on... This is exactly what Bilal is as a French graphic novel author. On the other hand, I get the impression that the direction and camera work is quite different. The long takes and flow of utilizing pauses between scenes are additions to his unique style as a film director. You can see it as recording a movie as a different means.
Characters Straight From A BD
What surprised me about the actors in the movie was that they strongly resembled the characters from the original French graphic novel, to the point that it seems as if they came out directly from it. Perhaps Bilal, as a person who uses the faces of his actors as canvasses, or rather as part of the scenery or props, to express his own imagination, has full knowledge of people's faces. Johan Leysen and Marie Laforet in particular strongly resembled the original characters, that I was convinced that they were given special makeup!
My Encounter with Enki Bilal
Just like Moebius and his work on Alien, I first got to know about Enki Bilal through a movie. It was a B-movie I saw by chance when I was a student titled The Keep, directed by Michael Mann. I went to see another movie, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, and they were being shown together as a double feature. Bilal was responsible for designing the monster in The Keep. Afterward, I would encounter his name again Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose and it was only after I've joined the company that I started to read Bilal's own graphic novels.
About Bande Dessinée
Bande Dessinee, or BD for short, is the French term for comic books. The pricing, binding, user base and type of content are all very different from their American counterparts. Whereas American comics have a strong sense of characters, French BDs have a strong sense of storytelling and authorship. Dark and cynical at times, they have enough content to be appreciated by adults. They're not aimed at kids, but are the closest thing to art in terms of print entertainment. They're in a position similar that animation and gekiga [a dramatic sub-genre of manga] has in Japan.
Aiming for a BD in the Game industry
For one of the advertisements for Metal Gear Solid, we came up with the tagline "a 3DGC Bande Dessinee". It's not just because we love French graphic novels and we're trying to recreate their dark universes (not the light colors of something like Moebius, but a chaotic world with a more Eastern European depth) with emphasis on shading with Metal Gear Solid. There's another reason.
The Reason to Call It a 3D Bande Dessinée
In France, BDs are clearly a rank above the realm of comics in the status of entertainment (they're even referred to as the nth art or something like that) [Kojima is likely referring to BDs being the ninth art]. The same could be said about manga in Japan. Before the war, they were just four-panel strips and satires. It was none other than the great Osamu Tezuka, who evolved manga into a storytelling reading material. The story manga would evolve into its present form as the gekiga, with a more social aspect added by titles such as Kamui Den by Sampei Shirato. Manga has already become grown-up entertainment that has reached a cultural level. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for videogames.
From Playthings to BD
My hope is to elevate gaming into the next step of entertainment and not just be mere toys. Not tools to waste time, but digital interactive media. I aim for the sort-of game where its worldview, story, characters, themes and reality are not just there to have fun while forgetting the time, but also to use your moment of enjoyment to add feedback into your life in a positive way. That's the hope I packed into the tagline "3DCGBD".
Source
Game Hihyо̄ Vol. 17 (November 1997)
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