PROTAGONIST OF THE ISLAND NAKAMA

An ambitious creative venture merges Japanese animation with immersive commerce...

"I haven't done anything but eat sleep breath and dream anime for the past 6 months," Neil Protagonist tells me, and I believe him.  Neil's an accomplished particle effects artist, both in real life, where he's worked for a couple renowned computer game studios, and in Second Life, where he's brought his particular wizardry with smoke and fire to numerous projects, including the famed handguns of Francis Chung.  But I hadn't heard from him for near a year, and a couple weeks ago, when he was ready to unveil the project he'd devoted so much time to in the interim, I found out why.

The adorable Kawaii Ku neighborhood "based on things like Di Gi Charat"

Nakama (direct portal here) is not just a tribute to Japanese animation, because it's an island that includes several sub-genres of the form, transitioning from one to another in a way that's jarring, delightful, and elegantly evocative, with multiple video billboards that fit the theme of each district (or ku) and ambient sound effects that establish a vividness of presence.  (Somehow, despite the in-your-face coolness of a gutted building where an exposed power line casts sparks, or a bustling commercial district that instantly reminded me of a Katamari Damacy level, my favorite spot was, more modestly, a sun-drenched swimming pool where you can sit and listen to the crickets and the passing train.)

To get a sense of it, take this quick airborne tour through Kawaii Ku, several city blocks of cuteness, right into the futurist wasteland of Ayashii Ku:

                                                           (Musical accompaniment by Torley)

But just as fascinating from another perspective is the commercial model that Neil designed for Nakama.  A look at that, and more of Protagonist's running commentary on Nakama, after the break.

The train into Ayashii Ku, "future dystopian, seedy kind of anime, like Akira, Burst Angel, etc."

"I never much cared for the mall look in Second Life," Neil explains, referring to the way almost all content is sold in SL.  "I wanted a place that was not boxes on walls for each and everything. I thought it would be better to let people wander around and grab what they liked." 

So while Nakama's main purpose is a homage to anime, on the business side, "I wanted to make something more like a sim-wide interactive store," he says.

"[E]verything here is for sale.  The buildings, the street, the lamps, you name it."  So while there are some stores in the traditional sense, Neil Protagonist's idea is to literally sell the experience itself-- piecemeal, or in copies of whole neighborhoods and districts that are also tributes to several styles of Japanese animation.

Nakama storeowner Zyrra Falcone

"The dollar signs you see around the sim allow you to purchase the building that is behind it," he explains. "I reserved that for buildings that couldnt be linked.  But if you hover your mouse over one of the BIG buildings it will give you the Buy icon.  I'm trying to make use of that one-click [purchase] thingy."

Bird's eye of the Tonari Ku district, "The slice-of-life anime like Azumanga Dioh and Fruits Basket"

A swing set for watching a video billboard-- or to try before buying a copy for your own land

There's also a Hokenjidai Ku zone, Neil notes, "based on things like Samurai Champloo, Ninja Scroll, etc., anything taking place in the feudal era."

"And the Hentai Ku..?"

He laughs.  "Nope, not here. I don't care for hentai, it's often quite nasty and degrading.  Ecchi, on the other hand," he adds smirking, "you will find an abundance of."

Nakama comes after four months of research and development, then after a real life move with his wife, legendary fashion designer Nephilaine Protagonist, then six months of painstaking, full-time creation.  (In the meantime, the couple kept their family afloat through sales of Nephilaine's clothes and Neil's effects/building content.)

"I like anime," Neil tells me. "I wanted to make a place where people who like anime (or don't) can come and hang out and talk with others..."  Still, what's revolutionary to me about Nakama is the bold attempt to transcend the conventional store and vending machine model, and instead, sell an entire immersive environment-- in this case, an Asian film genre, though it's easy to see how that framework could be applied to other genres, whole cultures, or even entire geographic regions.

"This is the test case for other future sims," he says. "If this does well, then the premise behind it is valid."

Update, 7/9:  Replaced old SLURL with better port helpfully provided by Ryan Linden.

Comments

[Torley Linden]

I certainly hope this premise of valid!

When I started my Second Life, one YUGE gaping hole was a lack of anime--specifically, not the absolute absence of it, but rather, how hard it was to find. I'd come across rare creators who sold their wares in sandboxes (as they weren't supposed to), and scattered shops across the land. One of the best was AetherStyle, commandeered by Aestival Cohen who made a rather fascinating appearance as a Totoro as Hamlet blogged in http://secondlife.blogs.com/nwn/2004/11/red_staters_mee_1.html

I love, LOVE the business model that THE WHOLE CITY IS FOR SALE! I hope parts from Nakama will be transplanted, like space seeds, and remixed into a variety of new forms.

All too often, I see popular stuff that's bought, but not modified in the slightest. Which is fine if you don't wanna, but I always think you can push more out of it. It's like forcing a vampire underwater in holy water, and then he burns, and then he rapidly adapts and learns to drink and enjoy it. Exact same thing here.

Hentai? Well, I did see a tentacle monster named "Daisy", as Launa Fauna so gracefully explained to me. Picture by Marianne McCann here:

http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/pic.aspx?id=83292