The production of the opening video for the 10th Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends. 

Crazy Raccoon Cup is a gaming tournament organized by the pro-gaming team “Crazy Raccoon” for the purpose of expanding the world of esports. It is an online event that features those active in various fields of work such as pro-gamers, streamers, creators, and talents.

-Imagining a cinematic title sequence for our CG animation-

The participating teams are the protagonists of this show. With that in mind, we used fonts that resemble ancient inscriptions along with subtle text animation. 

However, when it came to sound, we wanted to ensure that all viewers received the same level of impact on any device, so we placed our sound effects and volume on a rather broad sense of plane. Envisioning the exact sound we want in a moment - in a way we might be “lying” to our senses - our goal was to maximize our thoughts in a limited span of time. 

“Our future is one where global warming overwhelms earth. Left no other choice, mankind found themselves in colonies around space. 

As thousands of years pass by in these spaces, voices that advocate of return dies away. As soil and nature became a luxury, I found myself entranced by the story of a beautiful blue planet. When I learned that this was where mankind was born, I couldn’t help but wish to see its true form. 

It wasn’t until college when I learned how unreasonable and reckless that plan was. 

Humanity’s interest in space research was faced towards the stars, the sun. There were no chance of any investments for researches on a ruined planet. 

But I couldn’t give up. With a slimmer of hope I became an investor of those researching this planet.”

“That was 20 years ago. I stand here now with my dream becoming reality. I accompanied the researchers I’ve invested in to the fieldwork of earth. 

But in front of me was no beautiful blue earth, or the green nature I imagined, but a never ending plain of ruin. Desperate, I took another step, then another, hoping for something beyond the horizon, something.

“But a hope, or perhaps you could call it despair, appeared. 

A rather big boulder in the middle of nothing. We couldn’t see it until we neared it, but there was a clear sign of a man-made artifact. 

An unexpected encounter. Descendants of those left behind.”

”These are the words they left when our ancestors ventured out of earth. It is said that they left these words to remind ourselves to protect this environment. 

And those left behind waited. 

Knowing that they’ve been abandoned, they futilely waited for the time to meet again by protecting this earth. 

We must not let their wish die in vain, we must not conclude their stories. Their dreams to our reality, this is a vow to fulfill the promise. 

Humanity will return. This is our vow to those left behind. We must keep moving forward, in search of another colony we fly.”

Nate, Takuan Paradise

Takuan Paradise, NXTERIUM, Nate

Takuan Paradise

Kaoru Miyazaki

Nate

Mameyudoufu

Sakurai

Amatsuki

Iori Shiro

Seedless Watermelon

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The production of the opening video for the 9th Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends.

Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends Vol.10 Main Title

第10回 Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends オープニング映像

The production process of the logo design, screen design, film direction, and BGM used in Crazy Raccoon Cup (CR Cup).

Crazy Raccoon Cup is a gaming tournament organized by the pro-gaming team “Crazy Raccoon” for the purpose of expanding the world of esports. It is an online event that features those active in various fields of work such as pro-gamers, streamers, creators, and talents.

CR Cup prides itself on being one of the most viewed eSports entertainment show in Japan. The total viewership count exceeds 500,000 at times. 

However, even when its viewer count rivaled those of official tournaments, its designs and film direction had undergone virtually no change since its debut. 

As CR Cup marked its monumental 10th tournament for their most popular genre “Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends”, we took this opportunity to rebrand the logo design, screen design, film directions, and its BGMs. 

CR Cup’s new logo design is based off of a rocket motif, placing an importance on a symbolic design that could be used in various social media settings. It is composed of the alphabet “C” and “R” and a triangle to represent a three-person team, embodying the concept of aiming for the top with companionship. 

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The logo and background are made so that the color could be changed to match different game titles and tournaments. By adding a slight variance to color for each tournaments, viewers are able to tell the newest and most current ongoing game through social media headers and icons.

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Its simple and iconic composition allows this logo to be used as an arrow on a transition scene or a decoration part on a screen. 

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For the fonts, we selected one that was elongated vertically to match the logo, giving it an energetic feel. This elongated text is used in various stream screens and social media pictures, effectively becoming a part of CR Cup’s identity. We’ve also added a sub font of Neue Haas Grotesk Display Pro to support readability. 

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In general, we focused on “Visibility, Beauty, Coolness” for our stream screens. By using the elongated font from the logo for captions, we ensured a sense of unity throughout. Additionally, much like the logo, these screens could be used in other game titles by changing its color. In some places, we’ve added in square designs, but these are passed on from the previous CR Cup designs, as they were used frequently in backgrounds. 

We also used 3DCG in backgrounds to create the “seven-colored rainbow prisms”, illustrating the idea of the tournament being one of the biggest in Japan. Using the three-dimensional symbol logos, we dissected it into a glass-like material object. 

In these slide contents, we’ve limited the number of animation curves we used to give a senes of unity, making it very versatile in any situation. I’m 

In the waiting screen BGM, we used music that resembled a trailer of a film, topped with a calm electronic music to stimulate expectations and anxiousness for the tournament. 

For BGM used in commentary and champion screens, we used a fast tempo of BPM 150. Creating contrast from the calm waiting screen BGM, we wanted to create a moment of exhilaration and nostalgia, referencing typical MMORPG music. 

For our sound effects, we placed great importance on making it hold up to the complex graphics and its momentum. In particular, for the champion screen, we purposefully let the sound crack to create that feeling of refreshment when accomplishing something great. 

Furthermore, by using the same scale note as the BGM, we made sure the music sounded tonal when layered upon each other. 

Nate, Tatsuya Suga

Tsuzu

Sarukimu

Seedless Watermelon, Tensho Fang, Karen Takai

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Crazy Raccoon Cupに使用されるロゴデザイン、画面デザイン、映像演出、BGMを制作。

Crazy Raccoon Cup Rebranding Project

Crazy Raccoon Cup リブランディング

Recently our team has had the opportunity to be involved in a trailer video project for the pro-gaming team “ZETA DIVISION” as sponsored by the credit card company: JCB Corporation. 

The main video portion of this trailer is in live action, but nim took charge of the motion graphics that appeared in between cuts. 

This project’s live action scenes focuses on the joy of shopping using JCB credit cards.

Although ZETA DIVISION’s creatives have an image of “Calm and Cool”, we decided to spotlight the “joyful” aspect of the trailer and worked to incorporate a refined but lively scene. 

We took the three main colors that represent JCB, blue for J, red for C, and green for B, adjusting the saturation on the colors with the lighting to express warmth even with a dark background. 

The trajectory of the lights are expressed in gradation, glowing in bright vivid colors as they fuse together. 

One of our major focus with text animation was making sure it did not interfere with the main visual. We took time to plan the hype in the later half, building up impact through its animation. 

As for the music, we took some piano and guitar samples from the soul genre and placed them on the beat, adding in trumpet phrases to accentuate the joyfulness. This accompanies the vibrant graphics and creates sounds with color in them.
We adjusted the sound effects with Pad-type sounds made from instruments, complementing  the animation by supporting the softness of the gradation. This serves as a bridge between the video and the music.

Takashi Tanaka

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Recently our team has had the opportunity to be involved in a trailer video project for the pro-gaming team “ZETA DIVISION” as sponsored by the credit card company: JCB Corporation. 

ZETA MEETS JCB

The production of the opening video for 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour Challengers Japan Stage 2 - Playoffs Finals. 

This event was an official tournament of the Tactical FPS game VALORANT, hosted by Riot Games. It is the first ever offline tournament with an audience in Japan, and was held in Saitama Super Arena.

For a long time, Japan was not able to win any major titles in the international world of FPS. 

This all changed at the Valorant Champions Tour 2022, held in Iceland, Reykjavik. In the first stage of the tournament, Japan won an impressive 3rd place. This left a great impression, garnering attention from not only players from Japan, but from the world as well. It was the breaking of dawn for eSports in Japan. 

Due to COVID-19, previous Valorant tournaments have been held either online or without an audience. As a result, these players have been fighting their battles with no direct words of encouragement or support from fans, while the fans were only able to watch these heroic moments through a screen. This offline in person tournament was a breaking of dawn for them as well.

We've kept the color centered around green, but to avoid being monotonic, we've added black and white to accentuate the contrast between cuts. 

We've also focused our attention on various details such as the typeface used to show our respect towards the creative aspect of VALORANT and VCT.

To represent the intense back and forth in shooting games, overcoming the battle against covid-19, and finally being able to host an in-person tournament, we added more emphasis to aggressive sounds in the music. 

Mysterious and dark in the beginning, we're expressing the determination and tension through adding pressure and spiritual sounds. Slowly heightening the tension, we let it explode right as the screen transitions into the main section, signalling the opening of the tournament. 

Since it is a tournament selecting the representative of Japan, we've taken chord progressions commonly used in traditional Japanese music. Additionally, we used a sampled sound from a traditional Japanese court music instrument called "Sho" in the bridge to the main section. 

Along with the concept "breaking of dawn", we've focused on "time" as well. In VALORANT, time is an important factor, with each round lasting about 2 intense minutes. When the round begins, both teams try to read each other's next moves. The design of the timer that appears on the screen is based off of Valorant’ in-game timer. 

The videos and commentary used in the beginning are from the tournament "VALORANT Champions Tour 2022 Stage1 Masters Reykjavík" which took place 3 months ago. As the scene progresses, it slowly transitions into what was used in more recent tournaments, representing how we are moving towards the present-day.

These past years, players have been finessing their powers in darkness, determined to take over the world some day. And now, it has been proven that it is possible. A new era emerges with light. Dawn is near, now's the time to show those fangs. From the phrase "uncovering the veils, baring the night", we are expressing the players uncovering the era of solitude and showing their hidden powers to the world. 

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Kaoru Miyazaki, Nate

Nate, Takuan Paradise, NXTERIUM, Sam

Ryota Takaishi

ToMaTo, Seedless Watermelon

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The production of the opening video for 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour Challengers Japan Stage 2 - Playoffs Finals. 

2022 VCT Stage2 - Challengers JAPAN Playoff Finals Main Title

2022 VCT Stage2 - Challengers JAPAN Playoff Finals オープニング映像

The production of the opening video for the 9th Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends. 

Crazy Raccoon Cup is a gaming tournament organized by the pro-gaming team “Crazy Raccoon” for the purpose of expanding the world of esports. It is an online event that features those active in various fields of work such as pro-gamers, streamers, creators, and talents. 

This video is created with the fans in mind. Incorporating sounds and visuals from the previous tournament streams, viewers are able to re-experience the impact through this video.

With a film trailer as a motif in mind, we’ve added a narration speaking matter-of-factly in order to provoke anticipation in viewers. 

For Kanji we used Gothic font, Minchotai Font for Kana. By using a highly bold font, we’ve strived to enforce strength in the words like a message from a manga. 

We’ve kept the colors simple with red, white, and black, but we made sure it did not get repetitive or boring by looking out for the colors in the letters and background in each scene. 

Each participating team has a designated hashtag on Twitter, and with each memorable scene came a lot of comments from the viewers. Our idea was to display the exact wording posted on Social Media as a text. 

As CR cup is an online event, it relies on comments and social media to create its hype. Viewers’ “words” become the “cheers and support”, so we’ve composed it into a visual along with the players’ voices. 

We’ve created a catch-phrase constructed with a narration where a third-party person was looking back on the previous tournament, as a way to express the viewers’ perspective. When watching a skilled gamer, there will be plays where it feels like you are looking at the future. One of the scenes that captivated many was when a player proceeded to become a champion after declaring victory. Their certainty about victory led them to a future of triumph.  

Moreover, the tournament streams were on a few-minute delay, so it could be said that the participants were living in the future world from the viewers.

We’ve added a riddle under a link in the video to attract people to come back to re-watch it. 

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Mintoll

Hayanari Daijima, riki, Kenshiro, Hamaryo, REiKA, Daityan, ToMaTo, mikko, Sahara, CR staff, CRCUP viewers

crcup9-ogimage

第9回 Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legendsに使用されるオープニング映像を制作。

Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends Vol.9 Main Title

第9回 Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends オープニング映像

The production of nim Creative Studio logo animation. 

The name “nim” gives off an impression of “Simple”, “Neutral”, and “Minimalistic”. From there, it envisions itself as “a collection able to adapt and transform into anything”. This is the origin of how the logo design became based on “Simple” “Neutral” and “Minimalistic” traits.  

The logo is characterized by the transformed rectangular shapes of 5 objects, deriving from taking the space between each of the letters within “nim” as a motif. 

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Each of these is an individual shape, but through changing perspectives, they form a completely new shape. “nim” is a representation of a collection of unique individuals. 

Besides the logo mark itself, we’ve also produced a design with English letters in consideration of its readability. 
Once society is able to instantly recognize “nim” through the gaps, that would be the day when  “nim” had been discovered by the world.

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People are always looking for what they have never seen before. We open new doors in hopes to come across a design that touches our hearts. 

Mimicking the motion of opening a door with layers of divine and majestic sounds, this represents the expectation of something new will occur. The synthetic sound created by an analog synthesizer will resonate with anyone’s heart. 

By making sure the logo’s entrance and formation are in tune mathematically, this design is able to connect the geometrical design and organic sound. 

The transforming motion of these 5 rectangular shapes expresses nim’s flexibility. 

By changing the logo’s color or music composition, this design is able to complement various content formats.

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Nim Logo

nim Logo Animation

nim ロゴアニメーション

The production of the opening video for the 8th Crazy Raccoon Cup Apex Legends. 

Crazy Raccoon Cup is a gaming tournament organized by the pro-gaming team “Crazy Raccoon” for the purpose of expanding the world of esports. It is an online event that features those active in various fields such as pro-gamers, streamers, creators, and talents. 

We’ve re-created the event theme song “KIEN” to match the video to enhance the appeal of this production.

The video is completely built on the remixed song, and by using 3DCG as the base, we are presenting a cinematic-like experience. Furthermore, by combining 2D graphic design, we are able to create something much more memorable. 

We’ve taken inspiration from the “Acid Graphic” style that’s been gaining attention lately to complement the song’s radical and unconventional image. 
By translating the lyrics into English and Chinese, we’ve added more variety to the typography on the screen.

We are using the Legends played by the previous tournament’s champions breaking out from a stone-petrified state as a way to illustrate the strong determination of wanting to reach a greater height. 

CREATING A WIND THAT LIFTS YOU UP AND BEYOND

Drama doesn’t happen just from imagination. It’s created through the commitment to triumph in victory. 
There’s a lyric in the song about “leaving it to the wind”, implying to let fate run its course. In other words, leaving it to luck. However, if the one creating the wind is yourself, then whether or not the drama happens is up to you. 

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*Portions of the materials used in this work are trademarks and/or copyrighted works of Electronic Arts Inc.