Busy busy busy

Fred has done a lot of good work over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, little of it has been on the visual novel. Once he gets a few of these other projects wrapped up, we should be back on the MTVN work.

Taisiya Truck

If you’ve been tuning in to his Twitch livedraws [http://www.twitch.tv/fredrin], you’ll know the big thing Fred has been working on is a reboot of his old comic “Warmth”. Above you can see Taisiya almost getting run over. This will be part of an upcoming DarkHorse anthology, so Fred is working on a deadline. It looks pretty good so far.

Fred has also been working on MT omake that goes between chapters 11 and 12. He’s doing it in kinetic novel style as an animated gif. A kinetic novel is like a visual novel, but without the branching and choices. This is all in the same “slow animation” approach that we’re using for the visual novel itself.

Mumu and Mami

He been working on a couple of new development sketches. Above you can see the completed sketch of Aoi Mumu, the host of the radio show that Kimiko appeared on in comic 695. You can also see the start of a nice looking sketch of Mami.

Miho Blanket

Fred has also been working on a new Miho blanket to go with the recent Mugi blanket. He’s gone through a couple of iterations on the Miho drawing, but isn’t quite satisfied with it yet. It will take a bit more work, but good news that a Miho blanket is in the works.

Mugi Blankets

And finally, the Mugi blankets arrived at MegaTokyo World Headquarters for those who preordered. Fred has been busy shipping those out to all. If you missed out on the preorder, Fred will likely have another later in the year.

A big thank you to all who bought blankets, calendars, prints, originals, books, and all the other MT related swag that Fred sells. It’s your support that makes MegaTokyo possible.

6 thoughts on “Busy busy busy

  1. shadowrunner23

    wow. nice work fred! i’m looking forward to the warmth reboot, i’ve managed to dig out a few pages of the original (via going back through MT’s arcives and a little work with the wayback machine), and i can’t wait to see what he’s gonna do for this version. ^^ also looking forward to the Omake.

  2. arimareiji

    An open letter, not-so-cleverly disguised as a comment:

    Being sick and unable to work, and having lots of complicated but rational reasons (like being a caretaker for two people, just for a start) why work is difficult and at times impossible, are completely understandable.

    But restarting a side project that (at least as far as I know) doesn’t have anything to do with either the VN or the comic (which makes waiting for the VN much more bearable)… to be honest, is a little bit of a headscratcher. It almost makes me wonder whether even you sometimes have to deal with the same type of subconscious self-sabotage I often have to break out of, but it seems more likely that I’m just projecting. (Seems more likely by far.)

    If you need (or even just want) to delete this, I’ll understand. But while I’m the only one that I’ve seen openly voicing curiosity about the switchover to Warmth, I would imagine there are others “in the walls” (as it were) who are afraid of being condemned by other fans for asking. (^_^);

  3. TheSHAD0W

    Howdy arimareiji!

    I’m going to respond to your letter because it’s pretty much my fault Fred’s working on Warmth. ^_^; I offered to underwrite the project, for a few reasons, including Fred’s desire to work more in analog color, and also to let him publish on a more frequent basis. The first volume of Warmth will be around 30-35 pages, compared to Megatokyo at over a hundred pages. There’s a 9-month delay between producing a work and having it actually appear in the stores. It’s also hoped part of this will be serialized in a periodical put out by Dark Horse.

    Fred’s also been kind of itching about this story over the years, even before Megatokyo. http://megatokyo.com/strip/178 was the first mention in the comic, and he’s revisited it several times. http://fredrin.deviantart.com/art/Saeko-Sendai-Quake-2011-245277775 is a good example.

    I should also mention that Fred’s still actively working on the VN; the work is currently even less visible than usual because we’ve been working on libraries of character images and on details for some of the minigames, and there’s very little art but a lot of writing involved.

    So please don’t worry; Fred will be going back to the Megatokyo comic soon. Also, to help you bear the wait, Fred often streams live while he draws; come watch at http://twitch.tv/fredrin !

  4. cool2brn

    @ The Shadow and Fred

    First let me tell you I’m a wounded service member and i suffer from PTSD in Addition i have 2 children with autism and both my wife and work So i understand both being a caregiver and a recipient of such services. So it really irritates me that You all Crowd funded nearly $300,000 dollars and instead of working on the VN Fred is working on side projects. If you take that kind of money from people you have a responsibility to follow through in a timely manner. It is very simple when you take peoples money they expect results.

    I have followed Megatokyo since its start and have watched for years as it has taken longer and longer for updates. I mean seriously instead of side projects at least update the comic when was the last time that happened. This is not a problem that just started i have watched the same type of procrastination occur you years…

    Its very simple sure work on side projects……. after you have done the work you were already paid to do…

    This is directly from kickstarter’s FAQ
    “Is a creator legally obligated to fulfill the promises of their project?

    Yes. Kickstarter’s Terms of Use require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill. (This is what creators see before they launch.) We crafted these terms to create a legal requirement for creators to follow through on their projects, and to give backers a recourse if they don’t. We hope that backers will consider using this provision only in cases where they feel that a creator has not made a good faith effort to complete the project and fulfill.”

    So by screwing around your at risk for opening yourself up to a possible lawsuit, Just letting you know…

  5. Mr squeaky

    ugh you people and your lawsuits us that all you internet people are good for rage?
    he is doing these side projects because other people want it
    the sooner you can accept that these things take time and its better to put in a few things here and there then to make a looooooooooooooooooooong wait for the release of one thing
    the better it will be for everyone
    i should have you know that by raging out and suing nothing good can come out of it
    so be patient and most of all be calm 🙁

    1. afgncaap

      patience is a virtue that people such as cool2brn seems to be lacking. i also have been following MT since chapter 0 as well. one thing that will always be true in Fred’s case is that an artist should never be pushed. if anyone wants to enjoy the series to its fullest than all of the true MT fans have the right understanding with patience.

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