I saw Taliesin ask Savin about creating a thread just for his answers, and I though 'Hey, it makes sense, and it doesn't seem to break any rules, there's no real reason to ask permission.'
So, here ya go!
Q&A with Savin Part One:
How did you come up with all these different characters, different creatures?
Simple: 6 years of development…
It sounds long, but that gave me and the rest of the team the time to try different things and change them if they didn’t feel right after a while. It would be too long to describe all the various stages the project went through here (Oban Racers/Molly Star-Racer and finally Oban Star-Racers), but we are working on an artbook right now and it may give me a chance to address at least some aspects of that process in details.
What was it like working with the cast of the English dub of OSR?
I had a great time working with them (in Vancouver). It was a talented bunch and we took the time to get things right, which I hope shows on the voice track.
Of course I probably enjoyed working on the original French voices even more, as this was the first version to be used as reference for the following dubs, and also because I chose to work with fresh new talents who had done little or no voice recordings before (like Gabrielle Jeru, Molly’s French voice). I wanted to do things a little differently, as often on this show, and I got just the kind of excitement and energy I was looking for in that young cast.
If you could be one of the characters from OSR which would it be?
Funny question! And one hard to answer…
I guess I put a little bit of me in all of the characters so it would be hard to single one out. If I’m not completely sure I’d chose to be Molly, she certainly is the character I’d most wish to meet in real life and be able to call a friend (and I sort of did actually once, but that’s another story…).
Do you think that there will be another series?
Though I already burned quite a few years of my life on Oban, I’m still very much in love with the characters. So it’s quite possible that I’ll extend my journey on that mysterious planet for a little while longer...
Whatever I decide one thing is certain: a new Oban series will be quite different from this one. I wouldn’t want to repeat myself, especially regarding the racing element, which I believe we have been exploiting to the full in the first two cycles.
Do you approve of fanfiction?
I think fan-fiction is a wonderful way for fans to be creative about a series they enjoyed.
I hope to read some your stories on this forum very soon!
Q and A with Savin Part Two:
Is the mystery man in Episode 1 related to Jordan?
Yes, both characters are closely related.
I’ve given a lot of thoughts about what to reveal or not reveal about this character when I was writing the series. All I will add for now is that I may have some further plans in store for that "mysterious man"...
Why did you decide to make your main character a girl?
For one thing I wanted to get as far away as possible from the usual western super-heroes/Gi-Joe male warriors we too commonly find in western action adventures series (in my opinion at least).
I wanted Oban’s main character to have to fight hard to win - not to rely on some handy super powers - and leave that character room enough to grow through out the series. I also wanted that character to be courageous without ever becoming aggressive. Having a girl heroine helped a lot to achieve that, I think. Molly never shies away from an important challenge, but she never enjoys danger/fighting for the sake of it. She’s not a little soldier.
Another reason behind that choice was that it really interested me to work on a daughter/father relationship. It can get surprisingly conflictual and emotional, and I don’t think I’ve seen it in another show before.
Is there going to be another season to Oban or another series in the Oban universe with different characters, or do you plan to make another original series not related to Oban?
Now that I just finished the production of Oban, I have started working on several new projects and ideas. Some are related to Oban, some are not.
It’s a little too soon to present them here now, but be sure I’ll let you know in due time.
Do you plan on releasing any OSR related merchandise in the near future?
I know fans have been requesting OSR merchandising regularly on this forum and via emails. I heard the call and am doing my best to make a first series of products available to you all quickly :
- The art book in progress,
- A nice video game for mobile phones is in the works, which should be released at the beginning of next year,
- A first series of T-shirts is in production, which I hope to make available online on this site in just a few short weeks.
- Negotiations with a record label for the release of one and maybe several Oban OST CDs at the beginning of next year are underway (these CDs would be on sale in France/Belgium/Switzerland to start with, but should also be available for purchase online, including in our upcoming online shop).
I am also in contact with potential partners for an OSR manga adaptation and for a series of OSR collectible figurines, but this kind of deal take time so don't expect anything too soon.
Our partner Jetix Europe, with teams much larger than ours, is also working on a number of other product lines. Things seems to be moving ahead nicely and we’ll keep you all updated as soon as these become available.
How did you come up with the idea for this show?
It’s a rather long story and one probably a little too long to sum up here – answer may have to wait until the art book comes out.
Q and A with Savin Part Three:
How did you come up with Prince Aikka?
I created Molly, Jordan and Aikka as a triangle, all of them very different and at the same time very complementary.
Molly is the explosive and instinctive one. Jordan is more humane and down to Earth. Aikka is a sort of “super-ego”, larger than life and trained to rule and fight, but also lonely and a little haughty some times. The Prince needs someone to bring him down to Earth, so to speak, and someone he can call a friend. That’s what he’ll find in Molly and Jordan.
Some of the inspiration of his character probably comes from Tolkien’s Elves, and from Anne MacCaffrey’s dragon-riders. But we tried both in terms of design and story to really give the Nourasians a world of their own. They are very chivalrous and close to nature and to their mount, but there is also something very Asian, very samurai-like in them.
When Aikka is talking to his fencing master, he says that if he becomes Avatar, Nourasia would have no heir. Does that mean that Aikka has no siblings?
I drew up a pretty clear family tree of the Nourasian ruling family during the development of the series. Let’s just say for now Aikka has no siblings - or at least that no one else is available to replace him.
He is the sole heir of the throne and that’s a lot of weight to carry on one’s shoulders…
Can you tell us more about the monkey/lion things?
I refer to them in my scripts as the “Drudgers”, though this is never mentioned in any dialogues.
The “Drudgers” are the peaceful inhabitants of Oban. They are very closely connected to it both physically and spiritually.
(Spoiler for episode 19) - They take care of Oban and are the ones in charge of building a temple for every planet that “the Mother Planet” creates from its womb.
The Drudgers were created by the first rulers of Oban (see episodes 22 and later), but that was millions of years ago and their appearance changed with time.
I wished I could have spent a little more time with the our mysterious “monkey/lion” friends, revealing more about their living habits and their origin but there was a lot of elements to fit in the episodes of Cycle 2 already.
A few of the people in the forum have noticed moments that are reminiscent of Miyazaki's work. Is there any truth to this?
Miyazaki is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Japanese director and manga artist of all times. Like many others, his work had a lot of impact on me and it was certainly one of the forces that drove me to create Oban and try to make it stand out from the usual western productions.
Even in his most epic pictures, Miyazaki always manages to instill his characters with powerful and simple emotions and he always shows a lot of love for them. My aspirations are exactly the same.
Is there anything you regret with how the show turned out in either production or actual show?
There are of course moments when I would have wanted to go further in the emotional side of the show, and also a lot of things I would have wanted to have more screen time to develop. But on the whole the finished series is exactly what I wanted it to be - a show primarily aimed at kids, yet with enough layers and depth to move them and also to touch and reach a much broader audience of anime fans.
Production wise we went through a lot hard-times, but in the end were able to take a lot more time to polish the show and able to retain a lot more artistic control than most western artist can usually just dream of. And I’m even mentioning the fantastic experience of working and living with our Japan partners and colleagues.
So I guess the answer is: no, I have no regrets. I’m very happy with the way the show turned out.
How did you choose to work with Yoko Kanno and Taku Iwasaki, and how did you proceed with the recordings?
Yoko Kanno is my cult composer and has been since she wrote the music for Macross Plus. She’s a big star and is extremely busy but I kept pressing hard to get her involved and finally managed, very luckily so, to convince her and her producer, Mr. Ota, to create the series’ beautiful opening and closing tracks.
As for Taku Iwasaki, I was already familiar with his work through the soundtracks of two OAVs I had really enjoyed: Rurouni Kenshin and Read or Die and his work on the series Whitchhunter Robin. I was impressed by the large range of his talent, which goes from classic orchestrations all the way to electro sounds and techno. It corresponded exactly to what we were looking for Oban Star-Racers, to the way the project had grown in richness and in depth since the Molly Star-Racer pilot film. Mr. Ota contacted him for us and convinced him to join the series.
To order the BGM music, Thomas Romain and I had long discussions beforehand about the tone and style of music we felt would best fit each sequences. We then briefed Mr Iwasaki very precisely before giving him free rein to express himself with as little further interference on our part as possible. We were never disappointed by his compositions - to say the least. I think they belong to his very best work.
Recording wise, my company Sav! The World spent quite a lot more money than originally planned. Iwasaki used and directed for the BGM a full orchestra of 40 musiciens, as well as on some tracks: choirs, electric guitars (by Tsuneo Imahori of Cowboy Bebop fame) and ethnic instruments (such as baglama and bouzouki on the Aikka Theme).
It was pricey but also “priceless”. These sessions, as well as those we did for the opening and closing with Mis Kanno were absolutely magic and are among my best memories of the production.
You mentioned before you were contemplating working on a new series or feature film based on the world of Oban. Do you have any news?
I am pleased to see how passionate some of you are about seeing more of Oban on the forum and via emails.
Since mid November, when I answered a similar question, I have not moved ahead as much as I would have wanted to due to various promotional and business activities (including the production of animated TV ads by STW) which have slowed me down a bit. Nevertheless the development of the next steps Oban could take in the future continues. I still haven’t decided which form this will take (sequel, prequel, feature film) but am playing with ideas and plan to present to partners and investors a fresh project soon. This will be an important step as you can imagine for a future Oban creation.
In all cases, these projects would be connected to at least one central character of Oban Star-Racers and will shed more light on the universe of Oban as a whole.
I will also try to push the envelope a little further in terms of character-development and storytelling.
To sum up, I can’t guarantee what will happen and when it will happen just yet, but be sure that we’re working on keeping the world of Oban alive!
Along with the merchandising you’re working on, would you consider adding plushies?
With our partners, we are currently trying to convince large toy companies to produce Oban merchandise. If any of these talks go forward there will be plushies, no doubt.
In the meantime, we’ll be opening next week our own little “Oban fan shop” with a selection of cool t-shirts to start with and soon the first volume of the Oban soundtrack amongst other things.
For that webshop, I’d like to create limited editions and exclusive Oban products. I was thinking more of collectible figurines but why not plushies too. This will depend for a part on our workload and for the rest on how bad you want to get them
Do you have any plans to visit conventions?
Last year I attended four conventions that had organized Oban conferences and/or screenings and exhibitions: the London Expo 2006 in the UK and in France the 7th Japan Expo, Epitanime 2006 and the 3rd Fete de l’Animation of Lille.
If any other conventions becomes interested in organizing an Oban event, I’ll do my best to attend if my schedule allows. I always enjoy discussing the series face to face with the fans.
Do you check the forums to see what we discuss and the fanfictions and fanarts?
I check the forum regularly, yes.
It’s great to be able to see how you all react to the story and to the characters, episode after episode, and exciting to see if you felt as I hoped you would at a particular time in the series.
Also love to check the new fanarts and fanfics. There’s a lot of talent out there. Keep up the good work!
Q and A with Savin Part Four:
A lot of interesting questions but I also have a very busy schedule right now (!) Here’s already a first batch of answers. I'll try to answer more soon - Savin
Which character would you say you are most like?
I’ve put a little of myself in all of the main characters, especially Molly, Aikka and Jordan, so in terms of similarity I don’t think anyone really stands out. But if you really want to know, people who’ve seen me have often say “Rick”, and people who have worked with me have often complained I was “Don Wei”
If you do make a second season, would it be a little more 'grown-up' so to say, or on the same level as the first season?
I wouldn’t want to lose the younger fans, but I would certainly aim at pushing the barriers a little further in terms of character development and emotions.
*** spoiler for episodes 22-26**** - If Maya had the choice would she want to be brought back to life?
As I was writing the series it soon became clear that choosing to bring someone back to life was not the answer to Molly’s problems. People die, some young some old – that’s unfortunate and sometimes very unfair but that’s a fact of life. Molly would not have completed her quest if her mother suddenly returned. Molly’s quest is for a large part about learning to accept the tragic events in her past and, without forgetting them, learning to grow past them. At least this is one of the messages I tried to put forward.
Still want to know if Stan and Koji are related to one another.
That’s an interesting idea that I often saw mentioned on the forums, but I didn’t write the series with this in mind. Stan and Koji are two very close friends / co-workers and have been working closely together under the leadership of their mentor Miguel most of their lives. If they are indeed almost like two brothers, or a "couple" of sorts, they are not directly blood related.
One question that I would love to answered is: How did the idea for the planet Oban come about as well as the idea for its origins and purpose?
***spoilers for episode 19*** - I always like science fiction worlds that offer their own alternative view on the creation of the universe. For OSR I came up with Oban, a giant living planet located at the very center of the Galaxy, that “gave birth” to all the other planets in the Galaxy. A giant living planet was an idea I already had for a feature film another French company wanted me to write, but that never went forward.
I was wondering what the official English spellings are of several words/names in the series?
Here you go:
- Nourasian
- Crogs
- Canaletto
- Alwas
- Satis
- Sul
You mentioned attending conventions in France and the UK. If it were possible, would you attend conventions in the US?
I don’t believe any US conventions contacted me yet but if my planning allows I’d love to attend, yes, definitely.
Does Nourasia have arranged marriages? Would Aikka have to be married to become king? Does he have a girlfriend/wife back on Nourasia?
The Nourasian society is a traditional one, reminiscent in may ways of feudal Japanese society. Arranged marriages exist and Aikka may have been presented to a young Nourasian princess of the court before coming to Oban. More on this if we produce a sequel series or comic
How and why did the Nourasians become allied with the Crogs?
One cannot always choose ones allies.
The Crogs have a very powerful and expansionist army. Nourasians on the contrary, no matter how powerful they may be individually, are a much smaller force than their neighbours: they did not extend much beyond their home planet and they also never relied heavily on technology.
They know they probably wouldn’t have the upper hand in a full out war with the Crogs, and have also learned not to trust the humans too much in the past…
Why did Satis always help Eva when she was down?
*** spoiler for episodes 22-26*** Beeing the Avatar, Satis cannot not get actively involved in the selection of his successor. But he felt early on that this young human hwas different, that she had what it takes to replace him – a special aura, a determination and a freshness of heart not unlike his, 10.000 years ago. That’s why he sometimes turn up, when least expected, to give her small word of encouragement.
Do you have a username for the Oban Star Racer forums?
I read the forums regularly but did not register on the site on purpose.
What are Aikka's parent's names?
The ruling King and Queen of Nourasia are King Lao and Queen Nori .
Aikka’s dad mentioned that the Crogs had landed in the Holy City, and were going to save them… A: Holy City? B: Save them from what?
A - The Holy City of Dol is the capital city of Nourasia, the very heart of the Kingdom. Normally no foreigner is allowed inside. When Aikka hears that the Crogs have landed in the Dol, he immediately understands something terrible must has happened.
B - The Crogs, like others before them, often pretend to rescue the planets they invade. They did the same with Byrus, the home planet of Rush.
What's the deal with Eva/Molly's hair? Did she dye it that way, or did it change into that color as she grew older?
She dyed it that way. Molly’s a tough cookie and has quite a bit to be rebellious about. Hence the dyed hair, the tatoos and the pierced hear. I choose not to focus on the hows and the whens in the series because the broadcasters are extremely conservative about these things (tattoos and piercings are usually strictly forbidden in children programming in the US) and because I preferred to fight them on other more central elements of the story.
The Creator's answers
Moderators: Nanashi, hellcreep, MasterOfThePen, Haibane-Akari
20 posts
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The Creator's answers
by Star Fata » Sat Feb 03, 2007 1:11 pm
(\_/)
(o.o)
(><)
This is a Crog bunny. Copy Crog bunny into your signature to help it on it's way to world dominion.
-----
Jordeva, Jolly, Mordan, Jeva, PartnerShipping.... Whatever you call it, it’s love!
x 
(o.o)
(><)
This is a Crog bunny. Copy Crog bunny into your signature to help it on it's way to world dominion.
-----
Jordeva, Jolly, Mordan, Jeva, PartnerShipping.... Whatever you call it, it’s love!
x -
Star Fata - Posts: 384
- Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:04 pm
- Location: Scotland
by obangirl2006 » Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:37 pm
I'll help out with the Episode One Mystery Man. 
If you look carefully enough at the helmet he's wearing it says Wildes. That's Jordan's last name, of course. I'm glad he answered some of our questions, and maybe we'll get more news about season two later one.
If you look carefully enough at the helmet he's wearing it says Wildes. That's Jordan's last name, of course. I'm glad he answered some of our questions, and maybe we'll get more news about season two later one.Every girl deserves a Prince Charming!
-
obangirl2006 - Posts: 743
- Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:00 pm
by MasterOfThePen » Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:06 pm
Q and A with Savin Part Five:
I'm not sure when I'll have time to write next, but here's another long series of answers for the fans which I just completed. Hope they'll enjoy them.
Best,
Savin
Did we see the same group of drudgers in all the episodes?
The Drudgers are – probably – the descendents of creatures created by the Creators hundreds of thousands of years ago, before the battle of the Temple of The Heart took place.
There are different tribes living in each of the vast regions of Oban. They have also evolved slightly differently in each of these regions and you may spot small differences in size and shape between these tribes.
When you thought up the words to Prince Aikka's spells, did you use words you made up on your own or did you use words from another language?
I made the language up but there is a real logic in the words he uses for each different type of spells. I also had a pretty good idea on how Nourasian sounded like and often had the actors playing Aikka redo the spells until they sounded like real native Nourasian.
*** spoiler for episodes 22 to 26*** - Why only every 10,000 years? In the grand scheme of things, 10k years is hardly half a blink of a cosmic eye. There has to have been a LOT of Avatars by now since the galaxy was created by the Creators. It kinda seems like too much energy is being put into replacing them when it might be easier to keep each one "in office" a bit longer.
Looks at what happens to some presidents after just 4 years in office.
10,000 years is a long way to go and it was enough to turn Canaletto into a mad devil.
Savin, could you put up a timeline to mark details that we didn't know?
Here are a few dates from my personal writing notes:
2055-2056 - The Crogs put the human defences and will to the test through a series of small battles throughout the human colonies.
2057 - The Crogs, though very far from their own planet, send a squadron of cruisers against the Earth. The human troops put up a fierce resistance. In the middle of the battle, the Avatar suddenly appears to announce the beginning of the Truce for the Great Oban Race.
2060’s and 2070’s - The powers of the President of the Earth Assembly are considerably strengthened. The Coalition’s top priorities are now to reinforce its defence forces and to create a rapid deployment force to prevent a possible return of the Crog army.
2065 - Jordan is born.
2067 - Molly is born.
2072 - The first friendly Star-racer meetings between humans and extraterrestrial competitors take place on Earth. The human champion, Maya (Molly’s mother), has a tragic accident during the finals, while facing a mysterious alien adversary: Spirit.
2076 - Don Wei meets Rick.
2077 - Don Wei unexpectedly comes back in the limelight. Rick, his young protégé, wins all his races and slowly reaches the top rankings.
2078, 2079, 2080 - For three consecutive years Rick ends up first of the Earth Star-racer Championship.
2081 - Rick leaves Don Wei’s team. For the first time in four years he does not win the Championship.
2082 - Molly, who hasn’t seen her father for ten years, decides to run away from her school to try and find him…
Did you actually come up with the figures and scientific facts by studying, or was it just made up? (Say, the hyperdrive works better by clustering them)
Although this is a work of fiction, we put a lot of thoughts on the way each ship worked whether it be Earth technology or Alien technology. Stanislas, our mecha designer drew a number of engine maps that we never actually sow in the series but which I hope to include in the artbook.
Is the similarity between the love triangle of Carton/Lucie Minette/Charles Darnay and the triangle of Eva/Jordan/Aikka intentional?
I remember seeing Jack Conway's movie version of A Tale of Two Cities in China, out of all places and liking it a lot. But any possible similarities with the characters of Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay and Lucie are unintentional.
This is something that's been bothering me for a while, is Aikka's fencing master ever given a name? I mean, practically everywhere I look he's called Canaan, but yet after watching and re-watching, and re-watching the episodes again, I can't seem to find a name anywhere.
I never gave him a name but I’d be happy to use this suggestion from the fans. Let’s all call him Canaan from now on.
We wish to know if Savin has ever been on our OSR fansite.
There are quite a few out there now, but I try to visit them when I have a chance. If poster is referring specifically to the “Frenzied Like Fangirls”, yes I’ve been there.
How did you make the wonderful sound of the Arrow, I,II and III, Crog Trident, G'Dar, etc.?
I hired an old film-school friend of mine for all the sound post production: Jerome Wiciak. Jerome has become over the years a very successful sound designer and sound mixer for major French movie productions such as Asterix et Cleopatre. Oban was his first time working for television and he really treated Oban like any other feature film he’s worked on before, with passion and a lot of hard work. Jerome created all the sounds you hear on Oban from scratch and he mixed the episodes with around 100 tracks and 12 alone for the different engine sounds of the Whizzing Arrow (!). That is something totally unheard of for TV and something you really need the 5.1 DVD version to fully appreciate all the details and richness.
Where does Molly have tattoos?
The markings on Molly’s face are tattoos, though not your typical early XXI st century ones.
The “black stripe” around her neck is indeed a chocker necklace.
Is the headband that Aikka wears firmly "secured" to his head?
The shape of Aikka’s magical “head band” perfectly matches the shape of his head and you may have also noticed that the Prince's three short pony tails fit right through the jewel, holding it even tighter on his head.
How long has Jordan been in the military?
Jordan went to the Space Academy very early on, probably around 13 or 14, and at the beginning of Oban he is 17.
I'm not satisfied with the answer you gave for "If Maya had a chose would she be brought back?"
I think answer was implied. The series was written in such a way that this question never needs to be asked. Remember: “No one, not even the Avatar, should ever tamper with the kingdom of the dead."
I'm not sure when I'll have time to write next, but here's another long series of answers for the fans which I just completed. Hope they'll enjoy them.
Best,
Savin
Did we see the same group of drudgers in all the episodes?
The Drudgers are – probably – the descendents of creatures created by the Creators hundreds of thousands of years ago, before the battle of the Temple of The Heart took place.
There are different tribes living in each of the vast regions of Oban. They have also evolved slightly differently in each of these regions and you may spot small differences in size and shape between these tribes.
When you thought up the words to Prince Aikka's spells, did you use words you made up on your own or did you use words from another language?
I made the language up but there is a real logic in the words he uses for each different type of spells. I also had a pretty good idea on how Nourasian sounded like and often had the actors playing Aikka redo the spells until they sounded like real native Nourasian.
*** spoiler for episodes 22 to 26*** - Why only every 10,000 years? In the grand scheme of things, 10k years is hardly half a blink of a cosmic eye. There has to have been a LOT of Avatars by now since the galaxy was created by the Creators. It kinda seems like too much energy is being put into replacing them when it might be easier to keep each one "in office" a bit longer.
Looks at what happens to some presidents after just 4 years in office.
10,000 years is a long way to go and it was enough to turn Canaletto into a mad devil.
Savin, could you put up a timeline to mark details that we didn't know?
Here are a few dates from my personal writing notes:
2055-2056 - The Crogs put the human defences and will to the test through a series of small battles throughout the human colonies.
2057 - The Crogs, though very far from their own planet, send a squadron of cruisers against the Earth. The human troops put up a fierce resistance. In the middle of the battle, the Avatar suddenly appears to announce the beginning of the Truce for the Great Oban Race.
2060’s and 2070’s - The powers of the President of the Earth Assembly are considerably strengthened. The Coalition’s top priorities are now to reinforce its defence forces and to create a rapid deployment force to prevent a possible return of the Crog army.
2065 - Jordan is born.
2067 - Molly is born.
2072 - The first friendly Star-racer meetings between humans and extraterrestrial competitors take place on Earth. The human champion, Maya (Molly’s mother), has a tragic accident during the finals, while facing a mysterious alien adversary: Spirit.
2076 - Don Wei meets Rick.
2077 - Don Wei unexpectedly comes back in the limelight. Rick, his young protégé, wins all his races and slowly reaches the top rankings.
2078, 2079, 2080 - For three consecutive years Rick ends up first of the Earth Star-racer Championship.
2081 - Rick leaves Don Wei’s team. For the first time in four years he does not win the Championship.
2082 - Molly, who hasn’t seen her father for ten years, decides to run away from her school to try and find him…
Did you actually come up with the figures and scientific facts by studying, or was it just made up? (Say, the hyperdrive works better by clustering them)
Although this is a work of fiction, we put a lot of thoughts on the way each ship worked whether it be Earth technology or Alien technology. Stanislas, our mecha designer drew a number of engine maps that we never actually sow in the series but which I hope to include in the artbook.
Is the similarity between the love triangle of Carton/Lucie Minette/Charles Darnay and the triangle of Eva/Jordan/Aikka intentional?
I remember seeing Jack Conway's movie version of A Tale of Two Cities in China, out of all places and liking it a lot. But any possible similarities with the characters of Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay and Lucie are unintentional.
This is something that's been bothering me for a while, is Aikka's fencing master ever given a name? I mean, practically everywhere I look he's called Canaan, but yet after watching and re-watching, and re-watching the episodes again, I can't seem to find a name anywhere.
I never gave him a name but I’d be happy to use this suggestion from the fans. Let’s all call him Canaan from now on.
We wish to know if Savin has ever been on our OSR fansite.
There are quite a few out there now, but I try to visit them when I have a chance. If poster is referring specifically to the “Frenzied Like Fangirls”, yes I’ve been there.
How did you make the wonderful sound of the Arrow, I,II and III, Crog Trident, G'Dar, etc.?
I hired an old film-school friend of mine for all the sound post production: Jerome Wiciak. Jerome has become over the years a very successful sound designer and sound mixer for major French movie productions such as Asterix et Cleopatre. Oban was his first time working for television and he really treated Oban like any other feature film he’s worked on before, with passion and a lot of hard work. Jerome created all the sounds you hear on Oban from scratch and he mixed the episodes with around 100 tracks and 12 alone for the different engine sounds of the Whizzing Arrow (!). That is something totally unheard of for TV and something you really need the 5.1 DVD version to fully appreciate all the details and richness.
Where does Molly have tattoos?
The markings on Molly’s face are tattoos, though not your typical early XXI st century ones.
The “black stripe” around her neck is indeed a chocker necklace.
Is the headband that Aikka wears firmly "secured" to his head?
The shape of Aikka’s magical “head band” perfectly matches the shape of his head and you may have also noticed that the Prince's three short pony tails fit right through the jewel, holding it even tighter on his head.
How long has Jordan been in the military?
Jordan went to the Space Academy very early on, probably around 13 or 14, and at the beginning of Oban he is 17.
I'm not satisfied with the answer you gave for "If Maya had a chose would she be brought back?"
I think answer was implied. The series was written in such a way that this question never needs to be asked. Remember: “No one, not even the Avatar, should ever tamper with the kingdom of the dead."
-
MasterOfThePen - Posts: 1511
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 3:32 am
- Location: Florida, USA
by Star Fata » Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:59 pm
Here's the latest bunch.
Q and A with Savin Part Six:
Hi everyone,
I’m impressed by the volume and quality of the questions this time around too. Here are the answers to all the ones I could fit in my schedule.
Thanks to all for your continued support and interrest in Oban.
Savin
Kross' scar is still a mystery. How did he get it?
During the invasion of Byrus, Rush’s home planet.
Why Don Wei didn't associate Molly with Maya after seeing her facial tattoos?
Thanks to the development of new inks and equipment, facial tattoos became something of an underground trend during the second half of the XXIst century. It started around the time when Maya became a racer. If these tattoos have become less frequent in 2082, they are not a rarity and not something Don Wei would take a special notice of.
*** Spoiler for episode 13****
What happens to Rick when he returns to Earth?
Those are hard time for Rick. His illness prevents him from racing, yet racing is pretty much the only thing he knows about. The former champion will take on several odd jobs before finding his new path. Something I hope we’ll have the chance to explore in one way or another in the near future.
Did you originally start out with Toros but decided to add in Kross? How did Kross originate?
At the beginning of the writing process there was only one Crog racer (seen in the Molly Star-Racers trailer). *** Spoiler for episode 13**** But once I decided that Molly would beat him at the end of the first cycle, it became clear Toros would have to be replaced by a new tougher Crog racer in the second cycle. It was needed to restore credibility to the Crogs' threat.
Also, for those who wondered, Kross and Toros are not directly related.
What is with Jordan's hair? Did he bleach it on one side?
Yes, it’s bleached. Though he likes to play the tough-guy, our friend Jordan is quite fashionable. ***Spoilers for episodes 17-18*** You may remember for instance the sequence where he meticulously combs his hair in episode 18 and the cute slippers he wears at the end of episode 17
Where is Jordan’s family? What was his motivation for joining the Earth Team? Does he have a specific reason for hating the Crogs? What does the J. in “William J. Wilde” stands for?
Jordan joined the space academy to escape from an obtrusive mother and more importantly to follow in his relative William J. Wilde’s footsteps.
William J. Wilde was the explorer who first made contact with the Crogs. That discovery nearly cost him his life, but also resulted in more troubles for him on his return to Earth. That’s something that Jordan is not ready to forgive.
The “J.” in William’s name stands for “Jordan”. Jordan was named after him.
Tell us more about the Earth Coalition and its political role in the context of the series. How many planets has Earth colonized (or conquered) at this time? Is President McMullen the leader of the entire Earth or just the leader of a specific country?
- A lot of planets have been discovered but few proved hospitable. At the time of the series, about a dozen planetary systems have been colonized, with another dozen more outposts created on other strategic or rich in resources planets.
- President McMullen is the leader of the entire Earth Coalition, which includes of course Earth but also all its other colonies.
- The Earth Coalition is not a major player in the Galaxy as far as the balance of power is concerned. However humans have been expanding rapidly and have profited a lot from the recent exchanges of goods and technologies with their mostly peaceful alien neighbours. This has become a source of irritation and concern for the Crogs, especially as the galaxy contains relatively few well developed and organized military forces.
What are the four little white marks on Jordan's face, just below where his nose should be? The starting of a moustache?
They are just freckles
In episode 23, we saw a scene, which showed what appeared to be a Crog senate. Since it is called the Crog Imperium, does that mean that the Crogs are an empire or exactly what kind of government structure do they have in terms of the other political structures we see in Oban, such as the Nourasians have a monarchy, etc?
The Crogs are a military empire. They are organised in warrior tribes and the leaders of each of the major tribes seat in a sort of senate, the “Crog Gathering”.
Decisions in that Gathering of leaders are taken through fierce debates in which the reputation of each speaker and the size of his tribe of origin play a vital role.
If the Crogs do not have one ruling family, single leaders throughout their bloody history have regularly emerged from the ranks of the Gathering and managed to impose their views on the others tribes - at least for a while.
Out of curiousity, would it be possible for a Nourasian and a Human to have kids?
There never was an opportunity before, so it's hard to tell. The two species are close enough to make it possible, theoretically speaking at least, but the differences in the organisms of the Humans and Nourasians may well result in unexpected side effects.
Just out of curiosity; fr.wikipedia.org says you did some supporting voice acting yourself in the French version, is that right? If so then would you like to do some more voice acting in your future work?
I directed the French cast and also supervised the English recordings but my voice acting in the series was not planned ahead. There were a few parts that I wasn’t happy with in terms of casting and I just decided to give it a try myself.
I’m not ashamed of the result – actually no one in my own team managed to recognise my voice in any of these parts – but it was also difficult for me to do as I had all the pressure of the production on my shoulders and found it hard to clear my head and concentrate fully on my acting. I’m not sure if I’ll do it again in the future.
For the record, I recorded two short lines in the English version too. One was a bit of a private joke, and another was a line I added at the last moment. They’re easier to spot than the French ones, so may be you’ll guess where they are…
Can you speak English? (Sorry if that sounds rude....)
Having written all the 26 scripts in English, I guess I must
Were the Crogs modeled after one of the European (America colonized too, for that matter) countries and how they came in to 'civilize' the native people (Africa, the Pacific Rim, ect.) in the 1800's?
There’s a bit of that and a bit of more recent “imperialism” too. You may remember Kross (or was it Toros?) quoting a well known Earth politician: “You’re either with us, or against us!”
What exactly IS Paradice? Is she a robot, like Ondai? Or is she a cyborg (organic creature with mechanical parts grafted onto her body)?
Paradise is not a robot but a naughty spoiled genius of a child. Her people have very high IQs and have developed very sophisticated technologies. That makes them, and her most of all quite haughty and over-confident.
What were your favorite TV shows when you were a kid?
Like a lot of other French kids I discovered anime on national television at the end of the seventies - and it swept me off my feet!
My favorite shows were: Future Boy Conan, Grendizer (aka Goldorak), Captain Harlock and Candy Candy. It's the memories of these shows and of the emotions they gave me that got me working on Oban.
Q and A with Savin Part Six:
Hi everyone,
I’m impressed by the volume and quality of the questions this time around too. Here are the answers to all the ones I could fit in my schedule.
Thanks to all for your continued support and interrest in Oban.
Savin
Kross' scar is still a mystery. How did he get it?
During the invasion of Byrus, Rush’s home planet.
Why Don Wei didn't associate Molly with Maya after seeing her facial tattoos?
Thanks to the development of new inks and equipment, facial tattoos became something of an underground trend during the second half of the XXIst century. It started around the time when Maya became a racer. If these tattoos have become less frequent in 2082, they are not a rarity and not something Don Wei would take a special notice of.
*** Spoiler for episode 13****
What happens to Rick when he returns to Earth?
Those are hard time for Rick. His illness prevents him from racing, yet racing is pretty much the only thing he knows about. The former champion will take on several odd jobs before finding his new path. Something I hope we’ll have the chance to explore in one way or another in the near future.
Did you originally start out with Toros but decided to add in Kross? How did Kross originate?
At the beginning of the writing process there was only one Crog racer (seen in the Molly Star-Racers trailer). *** Spoiler for episode 13**** But once I decided that Molly would beat him at the end of the first cycle, it became clear Toros would have to be replaced by a new tougher Crog racer in the second cycle. It was needed to restore credibility to the Crogs' threat.
Also, for those who wondered, Kross and Toros are not directly related.
What is with Jordan's hair? Did he bleach it on one side?
Yes, it’s bleached. Though he likes to play the tough-guy, our friend Jordan is quite fashionable. ***Spoilers for episodes 17-18*** You may remember for instance the sequence where he meticulously combs his hair in episode 18 and the cute slippers he wears at the end of episode 17
Where is Jordan’s family? What was his motivation for joining the Earth Team? Does he have a specific reason for hating the Crogs? What does the J. in “William J. Wilde” stands for?
Jordan joined the space academy to escape from an obtrusive mother and more importantly to follow in his relative William J. Wilde’s footsteps.
William J. Wilde was the explorer who first made contact with the Crogs. That discovery nearly cost him his life, but also resulted in more troubles for him on his return to Earth. That’s something that Jordan is not ready to forgive.
The “J.” in William’s name stands for “Jordan”. Jordan was named after him.
Tell us more about the Earth Coalition and its political role in the context of the series. How many planets has Earth colonized (or conquered) at this time? Is President McMullen the leader of the entire Earth or just the leader of a specific country?
- A lot of planets have been discovered but few proved hospitable. At the time of the series, about a dozen planetary systems have been colonized, with another dozen more outposts created on other strategic or rich in resources planets.
- President McMullen is the leader of the entire Earth Coalition, which includes of course Earth but also all its other colonies.
- The Earth Coalition is not a major player in the Galaxy as far as the balance of power is concerned. However humans have been expanding rapidly and have profited a lot from the recent exchanges of goods and technologies with their mostly peaceful alien neighbours. This has become a source of irritation and concern for the Crogs, especially as the galaxy contains relatively few well developed and organized military forces.
What are the four little white marks on Jordan's face, just below where his nose should be? The starting of a moustache?
They are just freckles
In episode 23, we saw a scene, which showed what appeared to be a Crog senate. Since it is called the Crog Imperium, does that mean that the Crogs are an empire or exactly what kind of government structure do they have in terms of the other political structures we see in Oban, such as the Nourasians have a monarchy, etc?
The Crogs are a military empire. They are organised in warrior tribes and the leaders of each of the major tribes seat in a sort of senate, the “Crog Gathering”.
Decisions in that Gathering of leaders are taken through fierce debates in which the reputation of each speaker and the size of his tribe of origin play a vital role.
If the Crogs do not have one ruling family, single leaders throughout their bloody history have regularly emerged from the ranks of the Gathering and managed to impose their views on the others tribes - at least for a while.
Out of curiousity, would it be possible for a Nourasian and a Human to have kids?
There never was an opportunity before, so it's hard to tell. The two species are close enough to make it possible, theoretically speaking at least, but the differences in the organisms of the Humans and Nourasians may well result in unexpected side effects.
Just out of curiosity; fr.wikipedia.org says you did some supporting voice acting yourself in the French version, is that right? If so then would you like to do some more voice acting in your future work?
I directed the French cast and also supervised the English recordings but my voice acting in the series was not planned ahead. There were a few parts that I wasn’t happy with in terms of casting and I just decided to give it a try myself.
I’m not ashamed of the result – actually no one in my own team managed to recognise my voice in any of these parts – but it was also difficult for me to do as I had all the pressure of the production on my shoulders and found it hard to clear my head and concentrate fully on my acting. I’m not sure if I’ll do it again in the future.
For the record, I recorded two short lines in the English version too. One was a bit of a private joke, and another was a line I added at the last moment. They’re easier to spot than the French ones, so may be you’ll guess where they are…
Can you speak English? (Sorry if that sounds rude....)
Having written all the 26 scripts in English, I guess I must
Were the Crogs modeled after one of the European (America colonized too, for that matter) countries and how they came in to 'civilize' the native people (Africa, the Pacific Rim, ect.) in the 1800's?
There’s a bit of that and a bit of more recent “imperialism” too. You may remember Kross (or was it Toros?) quoting a well known Earth politician: “You’re either with us, or against us!”
What exactly IS Paradice? Is she a robot, like Ondai? Or is she a cyborg (organic creature with mechanical parts grafted onto her body)?
Paradise is not a robot but a naughty spoiled genius of a child. Her people have very high IQs and have developed very sophisticated technologies. That makes them, and her most of all quite haughty and over-confident.
What were your favorite TV shows when you were a kid?
Like a lot of other French kids I discovered anime on national television at the end of the seventies - and it swept me off my feet!
My favorite shows were: Future Boy Conan, Grendizer (aka Goldorak), Captain Harlock and Candy Candy. It's the memories of these shows and of the emotions they gave me that got me working on Oban.
(\_/)
(o.o)
(><)
This is a Crog bunny. Copy Crog bunny into your signature to help it on it's way to world dominion.
-----
Jordeva, Jolly, Mordan, Jeva, PartnerShipping.... Whatever you call it, it’s love!
x
(o.o)
(><)
This is a Crog bunny. Copy Crog bunny into your signature to help it on it's way to world dominion.
-----
Jordeva, Jolly, Mordan, Jeva, PartnerShipping.... Whatever you call it, it’s love!
x -
Star Fata - Posts: 384
- Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:04 pm
- Location: Scotland
by Michael » Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:40 pm
Why Canaletto organized Oban race 10000 years ago?
The Avatar receives his powers from the pyramid of Power.
Canaletto needed that extra energy to stay in power any longer. So he organized a race as usual at the end of his reign, only to try to steal the new Avatar's powers at the end of the selection.
The Avatar receives his powers from the pyramid of Power.
Canaletto needed that extra energy to stay in power any longer. So he organized a race as usual at the end of his reign, only to try to steal the new Avatar's powers at the end of the selection.
- Michael
- Posts: 2640
- Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:17 pm
- Location: Poland
by MasterOfThePen » Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:01 am
Q and A with Savin Part Seven:
Hi everyone,
Savin sounded pretty busy but he did answer quite a few of the latest questions.
Enjoy!
- What happened to Ning and Skun's homeworld/people?
A natural disaster destroyed planet Inna, forcing its amazon warrior inhabitants to migrate to other worlds, often becoming mercenaries, bounty hunters or body guards.
- What's the deal with Muir's racer?
It’s a separate living organism originating from Muir’s home world.
The relationship with Muir is similar to one of host/parasite. Once inside the flying organism Muir can control all its movements telepathically.
- What is the Crog homeworld called?
Kramm. You will notice Kross using that word in episode 17.
- Does everyone on Nourasia ride beetles, or are the Nourasian Knights the only ones?
There are many strange creatures on Nourasia, some of which can be used for transportation in one way or another. But Giant Beetles are a special case. The relation ship between a rider and his beetle is a very close one, almost symbiotic. It is started at an early age in order to build up gradually a complete respect and trust of one another. None others than the Nourasian Knights manage to achieve this.
- Are those goggles on Eva's head the same ones that Maya wore?
Same type but not her mum’s, which were destroyed in her crash. That type of google is not uncommon among pilots and it is not something that Don Wei would have taken a special notice of when he first sees Molly/Eva.
- How old is Aikka?
Aikka is the same age as Molly in number of years. But one can hardly compare the two: Nourasians age slower than humans, biologically speaking, and the years in Nourasia are also much longer than ours (a result of a slower rotation of Nourasia around its sun).
- How did the Earth become the Earth Colation?
With the advent of sub-light transportation, human colonies soon developed across space. As their population grew, and as they became increasingly strategic for Earth in terms of natural resources, the Earth Coalition was created. If Earth remained the economic and political heart of the whole system, its representatives now sat together with representatives of each of the main colonies in one unified political Assembly.
- Could you show us early drawings of OSR characters?
I’ll save that for the art book which I’m currently working on once again.
- Does Aikka like being Prince?
Aikka is too respectful of his family to even asks himself that question. But deep down, the burden of being a Prince and behaving like one is a little hard to bear sometimes.
- Can his fencing master--Canaan--use magic?
Not everyone can use magic. One requires to have such a gift and also to have gone through a difficult training to develop it.
- Who's Molly Springs?
A popular idol (sexy singer/actress) of the year 2082.
- How heavy is a Whizzing Arrow?
10 tons for WA 1 and 2
14 tons WA 3
- How heavy is G'Dar?
5 tons
- How BIG does G'Dar's species get?
G’dar has reach its full adult size.
- Usually students in boarding schools go home over the summer vacation. So my question is a) is there still such a thing as summer vacation in the future and b) if there is, did Eva stay at the Stern Boarding School over the summer? Or was there some other type of arrangement for her over the summers?
In the summer most kids go back home, but a few, including Eva, stay at Stern because their family asked the school to keep them. No wonder this place really feels like a prison to her.
- When Sul was first described (on the internet and in personality) he was called a "monk" but when Aikka talks about him, he calls him a "magician". Was this changed deliberately or was Sul a magician all along?
Sul lives totally alone and uses mediation as a source of his magical powers. That makes him a bit of a monk in some ways, but calling him a magician is closer to what he really is.
- How did Eva get her tattoos? Did she escape for a little while or made it herself?
She got them during one of her previous escape.
- When you were selecting actors for the English version of OSR, what made you pick the Ocean Group?
We didn’t use the Ocean Group. We used a smaller studio called: Airwaves Sound Design Ltd, which seemed the most motivated for the job.
- Are all Fihls silent like Spirit? (no pun intended xD) If so, how do they communicate with one another?
Yes. All “Phils” are telepaths. They do not use words to communicate.
- When Aikka shoots an arrow in one episode, a ball of light is produced with what appears to be runes or writing on it. Is that the Nourasian language?
This is old Nourasian. A language only used for magic.
- At what age does the royal heir of Nourasia ascend to the throne?
There is no age for this. Pretty much like on Earth, a Prince ascends the throne when the King either dies or abdicates.
- How does a planet "qualify" for the Great Race of Oban?
Every intelligent race in the Galaxy is invited to take part in the pre-selections.
- If all the planets in the Great Race were under a truce, why wasn't the Crog team disqualified for attacking the Earth Team before the start of the Great Race?
That attack took place just before the start of the truce. Actually it was because of the sudden beginning of that truce that Earth was spared a crushing defeat.
- If Oban is at the center of the galaxy, how can it have sun(s)? Do they revolve around the planet like the moons or..?
Yes, the sun of Oban revolves around it like a moon.
- For the record, does the Avatar have power over only the galaxy or over the entire universe?
*** Spoiler for episode 22 ***
Only over the Milky Way, as it was all created by Oban.
- Is Savin somehow related to Eiffel-the builder of the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris?
Yes, Gustave Eiffel is my great-great-grand father.
****WARNING! SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 22-26 BELOW!****
- When a person becomes Avatar, does their aging stop or do they continue to age but at a much slower rate?
They continue to age but at a far far slower rate.
- What happens to an Avatar when their power is passed on to their successor? Do they die, or do they pick up where their life left off?
*** Spoiler for episode 24 ***
It depends what planet they come from and what powers they had before becoming Avatar.
Canaletto was already quite powerful before becoming Avatar, whereas Satis had no special powers and came from a people with relatively short lifespans.
- Aside from Don, does Eva have any other still-living family members?
No. This makes Don Wei all the more important for Eva.
Hi everyone,
Savin sounded pretty busy but he did answer quite a few of the latest questions.
Enjoy!
- What happened to Ning and Skun's homeworld/people?
A natural disaster destroyed planet Inna, forcing its amazon warrior inhabitants to migrate to other worlds, often becoming mercenaries, bounty hunters or body guards.
- What's the deal with Muir's racer?
It’s a separate living organism originating from Muir’s home world.
The relationship with Muir is similar to one of host/parasite. Once inside the flying organism Muir can control all its movements telepathically.
- What is the Crog homeworld called?
Kramm. You will notice Kross using that word in episode 17.
- Does everyone on Nourasia ride beetles, or are the Nourasian Knights the only ones?
There are many strange creatures on Nourasia, some of which can be used for transportation in one way or another. But Giant Beetles are a special case. The relation ship between a rider and his beetle is a very close one, almost symbiotic. It is started at an early age in order to build up gradually a complete respect and trust of one another. None others than the Nourasian Knights manage to achieve this.
- Are those goggles on Eva's head the same ones that Maya wore?
Same type but not her mum’s, which were destroyed in her crash. That type of google is not uncommon among pilots and it is not something that Don Wei would have taken a special notice of when he first sees Molly/Eva.
- How old is Aikka?
Aikka is the same age as Molly in number of years. But one can hardly compare the two: Nourasians age slower than humans, biologically speaking, and the years in Nourasia are also much longer than ours (a result of a slower rotation of Nourasia around its sun).
- How did the Earth become the Earth Colation?
With the advent of sub-light transportation, human colonies soon developed across space. As their population grew, and as they became increasingly strategic for Earth in terms of natural resources, the Earth Coalition was created. If Earth remained the economic and political heart of the whole system, its representatives now sat together with representatives of each of the main colonies in one unified political Assembly.
- Could you show us early drawings of OSR characters?
I’ll save that for the art book which I’m currently working on once again.
- Does Aikka like being Prince?
Aikka is too respectful of his family to even asks himself that question. But deep down, the burden of being a Prince and behaving like one is a little hard to bear sometimes.
- Can his fencing master--Canaan--use magic?
Not everyone can use magic. One requires to have such a gift and also to have gone through a difficult training to develop it.
- Who's Molly Springs?
A popular idol (sexy singer/actress) of the year 2082.
- How heavy is a Whizzing Arrow?
10 tons for WA 1 and 2
14 tons WA 3
- How heavy is G'Dar?
5 tons
- How BIG does G'Dar's species get?
G’dar has reach its full adult size.
- Usually students in boarding schools go home over the summer vacation. So my question is a) is there still such a thing as summer vacation in the future and b) if there is, did Eva stay at the Stern Boarding School over the summer? Or was there some other type of arrangement for her over the summers?
In the summer most kids go back home, but a few, including Eva, stay at Stern because their family asked the school to keep them. No wonder this place really feels like a prison to her.
- When Sul was first described (on the internet and in personality) he was called a "monk" but when Aikka talks about him, he calls him a "magician". Was this changed deliberately or was Sul a magician all along?
Sul lives totally alone and uses mediation as a source of his magical powers. That makes him a bit of a monk in some ways, but calling him a magician is closer to what he really is.
- How did Eva get her tattoos? Did she escape for a little while or made it herself?
She got them during one of her previous escape.
- When you were selecting actors for the English version of OSR, what made you pick the Ocean Group?
We didn’t use the Ocean Group. We used a smaller studio called: Airwaves Sound Design Ltd, which seemed the most motivated for the job.
- Are all Fihls silent like Spirit? (no pun intended xD) If so, how do they communicate with one another?
Yes. All “Phils” are telepaths. They do not use words to communicate.
- When Aikka shoots an arrow in one episode, a ball of light is produced with what appears to be runes or writing on it. Is that the Nourasian language?
This is old Nourasian. A language only used for magic.
- At what age does the royal heir of Nourasia ascend to the throne?
There is no age for this. Pretty much like on Earth, a Prince ascends the throne when the King either dies or abdicates.
- How does a planet "qualify" for the Great Race of Oban?
Every intelligent race in the Galaxy is invited to take part in the pre-selections.
- If all the planets in the Great Race were under a truce, why wasn't the Crog team disqualified for attacking the Earth Team before the start of the Great Race?
That attack took place just before the start of the truce. Actually it was because of the sudden beginning of that truce that Earth was spared a crushing defeat.
- If Oban is at the center of the galaxy, how can it have sun(s)? Do they revolve around the planet like the moons or..?
Yes, the sun of Oban revolves around it like a moon.
- For the record, does the Avatar have power over only the galaxy or over the entire universe?
*** Spoiler for episode 22 ***
Only over the Milky Way, as it was all created by Oban.
- Is Savin somehow related to Eiffel-the builder of the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris?
Yes, Gustave Eiffel is my great-great-grand father.
****WARNING! SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 22-26 BELOW!****
- When a person becomes Avatar, does their aging stop or do they continue to age but at a much slower rate?
They continue to age but at a far far slower rate.
- What happens to an Avatar when their power is passed on to their successor? Do they die, or do they pick up where their life left off?
*** Spoiler for episode 24 ***
It depends what planet they come from and what powers they had before becoming Avatar.
Canaletto was already quite powerful before becoming Avatar, whereas Satis had no special powers and came from a people with relatively short lifespans.
- Aside from Don, does Eva have any other still-living family members?
No. This makes Don Wei all the more important for Eva.
-
MasterOfThePen - Posts: 1511
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 3:32 am
- Location: Florida, USA
by Nanashi » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:22 am
Q and A with Savin Part Eight:
- Is Stan named after Stanislas Brunet?
Yes, you’ve got good intel!
Stanislas is the series’ head mecha designer and I thought it only logical to name the mechanic in charge of fixing the Arrow’s engines after him.
- Is Koji named after Koji Morimoto?
Good intel again. We all love Koji Morimoto’s work and this was our small way of honouring this great master as well as giving the Earth-Team a little Japanese touch.
- Is Sul still alive?
**** spoiler for episode 20 ****
Destroying such a powerful being as Sul would have required a lot more energy than Canaletto, then still trapped inside the Flying Temple, could have summoned at the time.
Instead Canaletto played on Sul’s overconfidence to trick him and send him through a transdimensional portal.
Sul is still alive but, at least for the time being, lost in another dimension…
- Who did you voice and in what episode? (It's driving me crazy!!!!)
I voiced a number of characters in the French version but I only did a couple of lines in the English version, so I’m much harder to spot there.
If it can bring you peace, I’ll tell you the most obvious line I did in the English version - unless Jetix cut it during broadcast, you should have spotted an alien extra saying a line in French in episode 9. That was me…
- We all saw that Jordan received a blow on the cheek during the fight he had with Prince Aikka in Episode 9 "Surprising Like Superracer". Did Aikka receive a similar wound, or did he walk away from the fight unharmed?
**** spoiler for episode 14 ****
If you listen carefully you have your answer to that in episode 14.
When Jordan and Aikka meet again on Oban, Aikka provokes the Earth-Team gunner by referring directly to that incident: “By the way, how’s your cheek?” That makes Jordan very angry but he, very unusually so, has nothing to answer back to the Prince…
- What grades did Molly get when she was at Stern?
Molly/Eva usually got very bad grades. It’s not that she was not capable of getting better ones, it’s that she really hated the place and that being a bit of rebellious teen she didn’t get along too well with most teachers…
**** spoiler for episode 21 ****- Is one of the ships we see in Don's memories about Maya when he tells Eva his story a crog racer? I mean the one with the kind of blade below that hits Mayas ship during the race but she wins anyway.
No, there were no Crogs taking part in that competition. Only three races competed in the first Inter-Planetary Championship: Humans, Phils and Clans (short creatures with large mouths you see in episodes 11 and 21). The star-racer that hits Maya’s ship in the sequence you describe is a Clan star-racer.
- In the hopeful OSR Season Two, will Rick reappear?
I cannot confirm a second season yet but one of the reasons why I removed Rick early on was to “save him” for later. If the second season goes ahead, you will hear more of Rick.
- Have you used any of the concepts of the Star Wars Pod Racing as an idea for your Oban Star Racers? And have you used anything from Star Wars just for the idea?
I started working (and copyrighting) Oban in 1997, and the core concept hasn’t changed since.
It was a bit of a shock when I found out after developing the project for almost three years that Lucas - out of all people - had decided to include a race sequence in the Phantom Menace. If “race ships” are a must in a sci-fi race series like Oban, it’s not really an obvious choice for a movie series about Jedi knights and the Force. Actually, I’ll be a little blunt, I still can’t understand today what the pod thing has to do with the Star-Wars universe outside of selling more toys and video games for the franchise.
So to answer the first part of your question: no, Star-Wars Pod Racing had nothing to do with the idea of creating Oban Star-Racers. I also don’t feel more generally speaking that the Star-Wars movies have had any major influence on my work. If I like the movies “Star-Wars” and “The Empire Stikes Back”, I’ve never been a super big Star-Wars fan like some people. Actually I didn’t even see Star-Wars when it first came out in France, back in 1977. My parents had pretty strict ideas about science-fiction and they wouldn’t let me see any. Luckily they also came back late from work and couldn’t prevent me from seeing the classic Japanese anime series that started airing on French TV at around the same time.
As far as my early exposure to Sci-Fi goes, it was “UFO Robot Grendizer” (on air in France in 1978 when I was 8 years old) and “Captain Harlock” (on air in France in 1980 when I was 10) that totally knocked me off my feet!
- Exactly how long did it take Eva to reach Wei Racing after her 'early graduation' from the Stern Boarding School?
Eva left on the morning after her fifteenth birthday, and she reached Wei Race the next day at noon.
- Does Canaletto have any special reasons to wish to destroy the galaxy and create a new world or is he just evil and thirsty for power or afraid that if he remains master of this galaxy someone might defeat him?
Canaletto may not say it in the most obvious way, but he does describe his reasons in episodes 24 and 26. I suggest you take a second look and hopefully you too will see through Canaletto’s dark motives…
- Do you play guitar hero?
That’s a slightly odd question but I’ll answer it anyway because I do play guitar hero - and I love that game!
**** spoiler for episode 19 **** - How long (in Earth days, weeks, months, years, etc) does it take for a planet seed to grow to readiness inside of Oban?
That would depend on the size of the seed. Some are larger than others just as some suns and planets are larger than others. As a rule of thumb, it usually takes between 50 and 200 Earth years for a “planet seed” to reach full maturity.
Why did you decide to use the word "Avatar" for the title of the master of Oban. Is your decision related to "Avatar: The Last Airbender" since he is also a Planet Master or the word "Avatar" has a special meaning?
I named the Master of The Galaxy in Oban the Avatar in reference to the Hindu god Vishnu. In the ancient Hindu texts, the various incarnations of Vishnu are called “Avatars”. Oban’s Avatar can similarly have many faces, sometimes appearing like a giant and powerful being, at other times “hiding” behind the comical figure of Satis.
As for the Nickelodeon series, we were already quite advanced in production when we heard that a rival series was going to be released before ours - with the name “Avatar” in its title. Just like for the Pod Racers mentioned in a previous answer above, we decided to go ahead as planned and didn’t change anything to our project.
- When you translated the series into different languages, did you change any of the names? (Of characters, things, places, etc.)
Dubbing studios were not allowed to change the series’ character names - unless of course that character name meant something bad or was totally impossible to pronounce in the dubbed language.
Are there any male Inna?
No. But the Innas used to share their planet with another “male only” race.
How did you come up with the names of the different alien races? Write down random names and pull from a hat?
Hard to explain but when I think of a new character or a new race, I usually immediately find out a name for them. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it - it’s as if that name was predestined for them!
Hope you'll find these anwers helpful.
Best to all and thanks for your support,
Savin
- Is Stan named after Stanislas Brunet?
Yes, you’ve got good intel!
Stanislas is the series’ head mecha designer and I thought it only logical to name the mechanic in charge of fixing the Arrow’s engines after him.
- Is Koji named after Koji Morimoto?
Good intel again. We all love Koji Morimoto’s work and this was our small way of honouring this great master as well as giving the Earth-Team a little Japanese touch.
- Is Sul still alive?
**** spoiler for episode 20 ****
Destroying such a powerful being as Sul would have required a lot more energy than Canaletto, then still trapped inside the Flying Temple, could have summoned at the time.
Instead Canaletto played on Sul’s overconfidence to trick him and send him through a transdimensional portal.
Sul is still alive but, at least for the time being, lost in another dimension…
- Who did you voice and in what episode? (It's driving me crazy!!!!)
I voiced a number of characters in the French version but I only did a couple of lines in the English version, so I’m much harder to spot there.
If it can bring you peace, I’ll tell you the most obvious line I did in the English version
- unless Jetix cut it during broadcast, you should have spotted an alien extra saying a line in French in episode 9. That was me…
- We all saw that Jordan received a blow on the cheek during the fight he had with Prince Aikka in Episode 9 "Surprising Like Superracer". Did Aikka receive a similar wound, or did he walk away from the fight unharmed?
**** spoiler for episode 14 ****
If you listen carefully you have your answer to that in episode 14.
When Jordan and Aikka meet again on Oban, Aikka provokes the Earth-Team gunner by referring directly to that incident: “By the way, how’s your cheek?” That makes Jordan very angry but he, very unusually so, has nothing to answer back to the Prince…
- What grades did Molly get when she was at Stern?
Molly/Eva usually got very bad grades. It’s not that she was not capable of getting better ones, it’s that she really hated the place and that being a bit of rebellious teen she didn’t get along too well with most teachers…
**** spoiler for episode 21 ****- Is one of the ships we see in Don's memories about Maya when he tells Eva his story a crog racer? I mean the one with the kind of blade below that hits Mayas ship during the race but she wins anyway.
No, there were no Crogs taking part in that competition. Only three races competed in the first Inter-Planetary Championship: Humans, Phils and Clans (short creatures with large mouths you see in episodes 11 and 21). The star-racer that hits Maya’s ship in the sequence you describe is a Clan star-racer.
- In the hopeful OSR Season Two, will Rick reappear?
I cannot confirm a second season yet but one of the reasons why I removed Rick early on was to “save him” for later. If the second season goes ahead, you will hear more of Rick.
- Have you used any of the concepts of the Star Wars Pod Racing as an idea for your Oban Star Racers? And have you used anything from Star Wars just for the idea?
I started working (and copyrighting) Oban in 1997, and the core concept hasn’t changed since.
It was a bit of a shock when I found out after developing the project for almost three years that Lucas - out of all people - had decided to include a race sequence in the Phantom Menace. If “race ships” are a must in a sci-fi race series like Oban, it’s not really an obvious choice for a movie series about Jedi knights and the Force. Actually, I’ll be a little blunt, I still can’t understand today what the pod thing has to do with the Star-Wars universe outside of selling more toys and video games for the franchise.
So to answer the first part of your question: no, Star-Wars Pod Racing had nothing to do with the idea of creating Oban Star-Racers. I also don’t feel more generally speaking that the Star-Wars movies have had any major influence on my work. If I like the movies “Star-Wars” and “The Empire Stikes Back”, I’ve never been a super big Star-Wars fan like some people. Actually I didn’t even see Star-Wars when it first came out in France, back in 1977. My parents had pretty strict ideas about science-fiction and they wouldn’t let me see any. Luckily they also came back late from work and couldn’t prevent me from seeing the classic Japanese anime series that started airing on French TV at around the same time.
As far as my early exposure to Sci-Fi goes, it was “UFO Robot Grendizer” (on air in France in 1978 when I was 8 years old) and “Captain Harlock” (on air in France in 1980 when I was 10) that totally knocked me off my feet!
- Exactly how long did it take Eva to reach Wei Racing after her 'early graduation' from the Stern Boarding School?
Eva left on the morning after her fifteenth birthday, and she reached Wei Race the next day at noon.
- Does Canaletto have any special reasons to wish to destroy the galaxy and create a new world or is he just evil and thirsty for power or afraid that if he remains master of this galaxy someone might defeat him?
Canaletto may not say it in the most obvious way, but he does describe his reasons in episodes 24 and 26. I suggest you take a second look and hopefully you too will see through Canaletto’s dark motives…
- Do you play guitar hero?
That’s a slightly odd question but I’ll answer it anyway because I do play guitar hero - and I love that game!
**** spoiler for episode 19 **** - How long (in Earth days, weeks, months, years, etc) does it take for a planet seed to grow to readiness inside of Oban?
That would depend on the size of the seed. Some are larger than others just as some suns and planets are larger than others. As a rule of thumb, it usually takes between 50 and 200 Earth years for a “planet seed” to reach full maturity.
Why did you decide to use the word "Avatar" for the title of the master of Oban. Is your decision related to "Avatar: The Last Airbender" since he is also a Planet Master or the word "Avatar" has a special meaning?
I named the Master of The Galaxy in Oban the Avatar in reference to the Hindu god Vishnu. In the ancient Hindu texts, the various incarnations of Vishnu are called “Avatars”. Oban’s Avatar can similarly have many faces, sometimes appearing like a giant and powerful being, at other times “hiding” behind the comical figure of Satis.
As for the Nickelodeon series, we were already quite advanced in production when we heard that a rival series was going to be released before ours - with the name “Avatar” in its title. Just like for the Pod Racers mentioned in a previous answer above, we decided to go ahead as planned and didn’t change anything to our project.
- When you translated the series into different languages, did you change any of the names? (Of characters, things, places, etc.)
Dubbing studios were not allowed to change the series’ character names - unless of course that character name meant something bad or was totally impossible to pronounce in the dubbed language.
Are there any male Inna?
No. But the Innas used to share their planet with another “male only” race.
How did you come up with the names of the different alien races? Write down random names and pull from a hat?
Hard to explain but when I think of a new character or a new race, I usually immediately find out a name for them. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it - it’s as if that name was predestined for them!
Hope you'll find these anwers helpful.
Best to all and thanks for your support,
Savin
-
Nanashi - Posts: 878
- Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 4:22 pm
- Location: Somewhere in the US
by Fanart » Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:34 pm
All the latest answers:
Q and A with Savin Part Nine:
There was a lot of questions again - and good ones too!
I made as large a selection as I could with the time I had available.
Hope you'll find these quick answers interesting.
Savin
What season/month was it when Eva/Molly escaped her boarding school?
Spring.
Are there female Nourasian Knights, or are they a male-only warrior group?
The Nourasian Knighthood is traditionally a male order. But it is not infrequent for outstanding Female warriors to break the mold and be officially accepted among them.
Why did Don and Rick part ways professionally before the events of Oban: Star-Racers?
For Don Wei work is a big escape from his tragic past. He’s a control freak that only thinks of work and victory.
As Rick grew more successful and more confident, Don Wei’s control grew more difficult to bear.
Did you ever think up a leader for the Crog Imperium? If so, is the leader male or female?
Warning! Spoiler for episode 23!
Just as the Crogs are made up of a large number of heterogeneous Clans, the Crog Imperium is not ruled by a single individual but by an Assembly of generals and heads of the Clans.
Regularly however, one leader steps out and takes full control for a while.
The last one, a ruthless dictator, was overthrown just as ruthlessly a little before the Great Race of Oban.
In the series, Kross himself will seize his chance to become the new Supreme Ruler of the Crogs…
What is the time translation between Earth and Nourasia? Is there a specific time translation like x amount of years on Earth equals y amount of years on Nourasia?
The years on Nourasia are not all of the exact same length due to an unusual planetary orbit. Days and nights are also longer than on Earth and Nourasians themselves live much longer than humans do. So it’s hard to make a direct comparison.
Roughly speaking though, I’d say one Nourasian year is equivalent to around two human Earth years.
Are Ning and Skun really sisters like the English dub told us?
The dub is right (actually I wrote the English dub too ). But when Ning and Skun call each other “sis”, it’s a sign of their strong connection and very close ‘complicity’.
It does not mean that they are actual sisters.
When Maya and Don came home from their date, was Eva's babysitter at all related to Koji?
It has been a very interesting connection that I enjoyed reading on the forums but actually no, there is no direct link.
Warning! Spoilers for Episodes 22-26!
After a person becomes the Avatar of Oban, can they have something of a normal life--family, friends, kids, etc.--or are they bound to stay on Oban for the next 10,000 years?
The Avatar can send his “projection” easily across the Galaxy but as his powers originates from Oban - he can only physically leave the planet occasionally.
On top of that, his heavy responsibilities and the fact he will outlive almost any living creatures, make it very difficult to keep any kind of normal relationships.
Out of curiosity are you planning on naming any daughters you have Molly or Eva?
Well I’m not against it but I’ll need to consider it more thoughtfully when and if the time comes
Interestingly enough I heard one potential investor that backed down from the series at the last moment did name his daughter Molly.
Warning! Spoilers for Episodes 7!
In episode 7 Treacherous like Toros how can Satis and the Avatar be in the same place (when the Avatar appeared in the sky Satis was dressed as Super racer and Satis is the Avatar)?
The “giant Avatar” is only a magical projection created by the “real Avatar”, Satis.
Are any other alien races we've seen single-sexed like the Inna? Do the Crogs, Phils, Drudgers etc. have females, or can they reproduce some other way?
This is a large and quite technical question, but I’m willing to try to give a complete answer:
- There are female Phils, though they are few and they look rather different from the males.
- The Innas are only female, though technically the male race they often were at war with on their home planet can be thought of as their male counterparts.
- The Drudgers are servants of Oban and reproduce more like plants than anything else.
- The way Crogs reproduce remains a mystery to date. Female Crogs having never been seen, some human scientists have inferred that the Crogs could be born from giant “Crog queens” buried deep inside their home world, like human ants or bees. But that remains only theoretical.
How were all the characters able to understand one another? Was it something the Avatar did?
It’s bound to be the Avatar.
Warning! Spoiler for episodes 23 and later!
Did Satis always look old? Did he win the title as an old man or did he just age?
Satis was already quite old when he won the Prize (see O’s flashback). His new powers only slowed down his aging process during the many years that followed.
If Satis wasn't the Avatar, how long would his normal lifespan be?
Satis’ race is not strong physically but is a very resistant one. His normal life span would have been at least the equivalent of several hundred Earth years.
Why don’t they have noses?
I think I already answered that one earlier.
To sum up, I wanted Oban to have a specific graphic style, one that was not overly realistic and also one that would make the series easily identifiable.
I’m also personally not crazy about noses and especially not about the very small ones anime characters often have when they show their profiles.
That’s why we decided to get rid of noses altogether.
What theory did you use to create OSR? Tolkien's theory of first making a map, then the characters, then the story? Or something completely different?
I didn’t use any specific theory. If I remember well, I first spent a lot of time thinking about the world and all the different alien races that populated it and that I wanted to see “live” the adventure.
Then Eva/Molly came out of that mist and as soon as we had her everything else started to fall right into place / to reorganize itself around her.
Warning! Spoiler for episode 24!
Is O over 10,000 years old? (Referring to the flashback)
Yes. O’s race can live almost indefinitely - if it stays out of arm’s way.
Warning! Spoiler for episodes 22 and after!
How old does Canaletto's race live? Seriously, he's over 10,000 years, he should be dead by now. Is that just a trait of his race or did some 'Avatar power' or something remain in/with him that extended his age?
Canaletto’s race can live for a very long time, but it’s really the magical powers he accumulated before, during, and after his reign as Avatar that gave him such prolonged life and powers.
What was the name of Maya's star-racer?
The day of her crash, Maya was piloting the Cloud II
On that same line, did Rick's star-racer on Earth have a name?
There wasn’t one specific star-racer that Rick piloted from day one. He piloted many different star-racers - and destroyed quite a few during his short career (remember how Miguel complained about the way ships were treated at Wei Race in epi. 1?)
In the hope that one question being asked a lot and frequently... what color are Rick's eyes?
Rick always kept his glasses on so I could never take a good look during the production. My guess is they might be green, but that’s just my guess
I've always wondered this, but how old are Stan and Koji?
They’re in their mid-twenties.
The appendages on Canaletto's back have always reminded me of Spider's legs (Cursed Arachnophobia...) Did you do this on purpose? What was your main inspiration(s) for the physical design of Canaletto?
They are part spider legs, part tormented wings.
Very early designs of Canaleto portrayed him closer to a bird (of bad omen).
A little off topic, I know, but what advice would you have to give to a college-level, aspiring manga/anime artist in terms of 'making it' in the business and also in pushing your characters and stories to the limit of development?
If possible try to find a good school to make connections widen your technique and understand a little better how the professional world works.
Most importantly practice and work work work, and something good is bound to come out of it.
Warning! Spoiler for episodes 24 and after!
By the second to last episode, Earth President McMillan seemed to have come unhinged. By the time the Earth Team returned to their homeworld, was President McMillan still in power or had someone else taken over for him?
The absolute failure of President’s Mac Milan’s plans of war marked the end of this presidency and for a time at least the end of his sanity.
In episode 3, right before their race with Grooor, Jordan pulls out his dog tags and says, "Please, don't let me be cloned." What exactly does he mean by that?
It’s an expression from the year 2082, where human cloning has become possible but only in extreme cases – like death.
It basically means “don’t let me be killed” – and is also much more easy to have broadcasters agree to
In the Molly Star Racer Trailer, I really like Aikka's mask. Was there any story behind that mask, or did it have any plan in your initial design of Oban Star Racers?
I liked the mask too. At the time of the trailer I was thinking of insisting more on Aikka’s darker side and the mask would have been be symbol of that. But when we started actual production, we realized we already had quite a few aggressive looking alien competitors around, and we preferred to drop Aikka’s mask in the end.
What would Eva's life be like if her mother never died?
Probably more simple and happy but also a little more classic and less interesting for the rest of us
She probably wouldn’t have died her air or pierced her ears too (which reminds me of that sequence in the Butterfly Effect when all seems to have finally turned out for the better but where the main character hates the “classic” couple he and his girl friend have become).
In all cases, with such a father and mother, chances are she would still have become a pilot.
Your birthday was recently, correct? Get any birthday presents from your fans?
I got some really cool fanarts, and I also got that sexy doll:
A big thank you to all the fans!
If the Avatar is the protector of our galaxy AKA the Milky Way, then are there other Avatars out there in this vast universe as well, inhabiting other galaxies out there?
Since there are other Galaxies surrounding ours, it surely means there are other Creators at work there. The Avatar however was created specifically and solely in our Galaxy in response to the terrible war that almost totally annihilated the Milky Way’s Creators and their creation.
Why does Ned help Molly in episode 1?
Nobodies cares much about Ned, and Ned doesn’t care much about anyone. He’s as old as the school and almost part of the furniture, a bit of an outcast in his own rights. But he’s also seen a lot of Molly throughout the years, all those times when she came to his desk to check – in vain - if there was any mail from her dad. He slowly grew found of her and offered to help her out when he understood what she was up to.
With which program did you made these 3d drawings? 3Ds Max? AutoCAD? Other 3d program?
It’s no secret: we used Softimage XSI.
Why was Sul racing in Oban if he already had everything he wanted?
Looking for a challenge that may (re-)ignite some surprise and excitement into his existence.
If Sul could manipulate space, time, and destiny then why did he go the way he did?
He’s not the only one who can and his overconfidence lost him in the end…
Q and A with Savin Part Nine:
There was a lot of questions again - and good ones too!
I made as large a selection as I could with the time I had available.
Hope you'll find these quick answers interesting.
Savin
What season/month was it when Eva/Molly escaped her boarding school?
Spring.
Are there female Nourasian Knights, or are they a male-only warrior group?
The Nourasian Knighthood is traditionally a male order. But it is not infrequent for outstanding Female warriors to break the mold and be officially accepted among them.
Why did Don and Rick part ways professionally before the events of Oban: Star-Racers?
For Don Wei work is a big escape from his tragic past. He’s a control freak that only thinks of work and victory.
As Rick grew more successful and more confident, Don Wei’s control grew more difficult to bear.
Did you ever think up a leader for the Crog Imperium? If so, is the leader male or female?
Warning! Spoiler for episode 23!
Just as the Crogs are made up of a large number of heterogeneous Clans, the Crog Imperium is not ruled by a single individual but by an Assembly of generals and heads of the Clans.
Regularly however, one leader steps out and takes full control for a while.
The last one, a ruthless dictator, was overthrown just as ruthlessly a little before the Great Race of Oban.
In the series, Kross himself will seize his chance to become the new Supreme Ruler of the Crogs…
What is the time translation between Earth and Nourasia? Is there a specific time translation like x amount of years on Earth equals y amount of years on Nourasia?
The years on Nourasia are not all of the exact same length due to an unusual planetary orbit. Days and nights are also longer than on Earth and Nourasians themselves live much longer than humans do. So it’s hard to make a direct comparison.
Roughly speaking though, I’d say one Nourasian year is equivalent to around two human Earth years.
Are Ning and Skun really sisters like the English dub told us?
The dub is right (actually I wrote the English dub too
). But when Ning and Skun call each other “sis”, it’s a sign of their strong connection and very close ‘complicity’.
It does not mean that they are actual sisters.
When Maya and Don came home from their date, was Eva's babysitter at all related to Koji?
It has been a very interesting connection that I enjoyed reading on the forums but actually no, there is no direct link.
Warning! Spoilers for Episodes 22-26!
After a person becomes the Avatar of Oban, can they have something of a normal life--family, friends, kids, etc.--or are they bound to stay on Oban for the next 10,000 years?
The Avatar can send his “projection” easily across the Galaxy but as his powers originates from Oban - he can only physically leave the planet occasionally.
On top of that, his heavy responsibilities and the fact he will outlive almost any living creatures, make it very difficult to keep any kind of normal relationships.
Out of curiosity are you planning on naming any daughters you have Molly or Eva?
Well I’m not against it but I’ll need to consider it more thoughtfully when and if the time comes
Interestingly enough I heard one potential investor that backed down from the series at the last moment did name his daughter Molly.
Warning! Spoilers for Episodes 7!
In episode 7 Treacherous like Toros how can Satis and the Avatar be in the same place (when the Avatar appeared in the sky Satis was dressed as Super racer and Satis is the Avatar)?
The “giant Avatar” is only a magical projection created by the “real Avatar”, Satis.
Are any other alien races we've seen single-sexed like the Inna? Do the Crogs, Phils, Drudgers etc. have females, or can they reproduce some other way?
This is a large and quite technical question, but I’m willing to try to give a complete answer:
- There are female Phils, though they are few and they look rather different from the males.
- The Innas are only female, though technically the male race they often were at war with on their home planet can be thought of as their male counterparts.
- The Drudgers are servants of Oban and reproduce more like plants than anything else.
- The way Crogs reproduce remains a mystery to date. Female Crogs having never been seen, some human scientists have inferred that the Crogs could be born from giant “Crog queens” buried deep inside their home world, like human ants or bees. But that remains only theoretical.
How were all the characters able to understand one another? Was it something the Avatar did?
It’s bound to be the Avatar.
Warning! Spoiler for episodes 23 and later!
Did Satis always look old? Did he win the title as an old man or did he just age?
Satis was already quite old when he won the Prize (see O’s flashback). His new powers only slowed down his aging process during the many years that followed.
If Satis wasn't the Avatar, how long would his normal lifespan be?
Satis’ race is not strong physically but is a very resistant one. His normal life span would have been at least the equivalent of several hundred Earth years.
Why don’t they have noses?
I think I already answered that one earlier.
To sum up, I wanted Oban to have a specific graphic style, one that was not overly realistic and also one that would make the series easily identifiable.
I’m also personally not crazy about noses and especially not about the very small ones anime characters often have when they show their profiles.
That’s why we decided to get rid of noses altogether.
What theory did you use to create OSR? Tolkien's theory of first making a map, then the characters, then the story? Or something completely different?
I didn’t use any specific theory. If I remember well, I first spent a lot of time thinking about the world and all the different alien races that populated it and that I wanted to see “live” the adventure.
Then Eva/Molly came out of that mist and as soon as we had her everything else started to fall right into place / to reorganize itself around her.
Warning! Spoiler for episode 24!
Is O over 10,000 years old? (Referring to the flashback)
Yes. O’s race can live almost indefinitely - if it stays out of arm’s way.
Warning! Spoiler for episodes 22 and after!
How old does Canaletto's race live? Seriously, he's over 10,000 years, he should be dead by now. Is that just a trait of his race or did some 'Avatar power' or something remain in/with him that extended his age?
Canaletto’s race can live for a very long time, but it’s really the magical powers he accumulated before, during, and after his reign as Avatar that gave him such prolonged life and powers.
What was the name of Maya's star-racer?
The day of her crash, Maya was piloting the Cloud II
On that same line, did Rick's star-racer on Earth have a name?
There wasn’t one specific star-racer that Rick piloted from day one. He piloted many different star-racers - and destroyed quite a few during his short career (remember how Miguel complained about the way ships were treated at Wei Race in epi. 1?)
In the hope that one question being asked a lot and frequently... what color are Rick's eyes?
Rick always kept his glasses on so I could never take a good look during the production. My guess is they might be green, but that’s just my guess
I've always wondered this, but how old are Stan and Koji?
They’re in their mid-twenties.
The appendages on Canaletto's back have always reminded me of Spider's legs (Cursed Arachnophobia...) Did you do this on purpose? What was your main inspiration(s) for the physical design of Canaletto?
They are part spider legs, part tormented wings.
Very early designs of Canaleto portrayed him closer to a bird (of bad omen).
A little off topic, I know, but what advice would you have to give to a college-level, aspiring manga/anime artist in terms of 'making it' in the business and also in pushing your characters and stories to the limit of development?
If possible try to find a good school to make connections widen your technique and understand a little better how the professional world works.
Most importantly practice and work work work, and something good is bound to come out of it.
Warning! Spoiler for episodes 24 and after!
By the second to last episode, Earth President McMillan seemed to have come unhinged. By the time the Earth Team returned to their homeworld, was President McMillan still in power or had someone else taken over for him?
The absolute failure of President’s Mac Milan’s plans of war marked the end of this presidency and for a time at least the end of his sanity.
In episode 3, right before their race with Grooor, Jordan pulls out his dog tags and says, "Please, don't let me be cloned." What exactly does he mean by that?
It’s an expression from the year 2082, where human cloning has become possible but only in extreme cases – like death.
It basically means “don’t let me be killed” – and is also much more easy to have broadcasters agree to
In the Molly Star Racer Trailer, I really like Aikka's mask. Was there any story behind that mask, or did it have any plan in your initial design of Oban Star Racers?
I liked the mask too. At the time of the trailer I was thinking of insisting more on Aikka’s darker side and the mask would have been be symbol of that. But when we started actual production, we realized we already had quite a few aggressive looking alien competitors around, and we preferred to drop Aikka’s mask in the end.
What would Eva's life be like if her mother never died?
Probably more simple and happy but also a little more classic and less interesting for the rest of us
She probably wouldn’t have died her air or pierced her ears too (which reminds me of that sequence in the Butterfly Effect when all seems to have finally turned out for the better but where the main character hates the “classic” couple he and his girl friend have become).
In all cases, with such a father and mother, chances are she would still have become a pilot.
Your birthday was recently, correct? Get any birthday presents from your fans?
I got some really cool fanarts, and I also got that sexy doll:
A big thank you to all the fans!
If the Avatar is the protector of our galaxy AKA the Milky Way, then are there other Avatars out there in this vast universe as well, inhabiting other galaxies out there?
Since there are other Galaxies surrounding ours, it surely means there are other Creators at work there. The Avatar however was created specifically and solely in our Galaxy in response to the terrible war that almost totally annihilated the Milky Way’s Creators and their creation.
Why does Ned help Molly in episode 1?
Nobodies cares much about Ned, and Ned doesn’t care much about anyone. He’s as old as the school and almost part of the furniture, a bit of an outcast in his own rights. But he’s also seen a lot of Molly throughout the years, all those times when she came to his desk to check – in vain - if there was any mail from her dad. He slowly grew found of her and offered to help her out when he understood what she was up to.
With which program did you made these 3d drawings? 3Ds Max? AutoCAD? Other 3d program?
It’s no secret: we used Softimage XSI.
Why was Sul racing in Oban if he already had everything he wanted?
Looking for a challenge that may (re-)ignite some surprise and excitement into his existence.
If Sul could manipulate space, time, and destiny then why did he go the way he did?
He’s not the only one who can and his overconfidence lost him in the end…
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by Kung Fu Action Jesus » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:48 pm
What was the name of Maya's star-racer?
The day of her crash, Maya was piloting the Cloud II
NICE!!!
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by Taliesin » Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:18 pm
Erm guys? I thought that this thread was only for the answers the great uber-super-cool genius Savin Yeatman-Eiffel kindly sends us via Fanart. 
Am I wrong?
Am I wrong? Villains don’t cry. Heroes do. Why? Because villains’ hearts are full of what they have gained, and heroes’ hearts are full of what they have lost.
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- Location: Beyond time and space...watching the Great Race of Oban via a single drop of rain...
by Fanart » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:41 pm
Yes, let's keep this thread for the answers only.
Post your comments on the answers on this thread instead:
http://www.obanstarracers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=163
Thanks
As for the latest questions I hope I can get some more answered this month.
Fanart
Post your comments on the answers on this thread instead:
http://www.obanstarracers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=163
Thanks
As for the latest questions I hope I can get some more answered this month.
Fanart
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Fanart - Site Admin
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Part Ten!
by Fanart » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:22 am
Q and A with Savin Part Ten:
Was Canaan (the Fencing Master) Aikka's teacher in knighthood or does he have an actual teacher, kinda like a master? If so, is this master male or female?
Canaan, a former general, has been in charge of Aikka since the prince left the royal palace to become a man (he did so at age 7, as is customary in the Nourasian Court).
There has been other teachers at times, but Canaan is the one that has been the longest with Aikka. He’s the one closest to him, and almost like a second father.
Did Lord Furter's team return to their homeworld at the end of the last episode or did they choose to remain behind?
**** Spoilers for episodes 24 to 26 ****
The sailors also returned to their home planet, but without Lord Furter. The mad captain doesn't seem to have survived the crash of his galleon and, as you may have noticed, is nowhere to be seen in episode 26.
Was Molly the only racer planted in the race by Canaletto? It seemed there were other racers who might have delayed their "coronation" as Avatar for one reason or another.
Canaletto didn’t need anyone else but her. The threads of destiny were very clear about what her reactions would be, and he knew perfectly well how to get to her in the end.
Did Canaletto "fix" the previous race 10,000 years ago so Satis (a relatively weak lifeform) would win?
Not that time, no, but it is in part because he considered Satis weaker and less worthy than him that he refused to hand him the Avatar crown.
What would everyone else had wanted as their wish had they won?
You have direct answers or clues in the series. Try to figure out each team’s secret wishes by yourself, and I’ll be happy to confirm or correct after that.
How long will the Human/Crog war go on and when it will end?
****spoiler for episode 26****
At the end of the series the war has ended, abruptly. Yet it could easily start again, unless the new Avatar can do something about it….
Does Lord Furter have a brother named Frank?
The reference to Frank Furter, of Rocky Horror Picture Show fame (one of my favourite movies by the way) is not a coincidence. The first version of this character was already quite humorous but he was taller and rather effeminate looking. The design changed but the name stayed.
Does Molly had any friends at the boarding school?
Because she doesn't really fit in, she doesn't have much friends outside of Ned, the old school janitor.
Was William Wilde the first explorer to leave the solar system, or only one of the first?
Not the first, but the one who probably made the most important discovery of the 21st century: an alien trading post on a far away planet.
That amazing discovery will bring incredible new technologies to Earth but will also make the Crogs aware of our existence…
Thanks to all for your continued support and interrest in the series.
If you feel, as some wrote, that Oban is not as widely known as it ought to be, you're very welcome to help spread the word around!
Was Canaan (the Fencing Master) Aikka's teacher in knighthood or does he have an actual teacher, kinda like a master? If so, is this master male or female?
Canaan, a former general, has been in charge of Aikka since the prince left the royal palace to become a man (he did so at age 7, as is customary in the Nourasian Court).
There has been other teachers at times, but Canaan is the one that has been the longest with Aikka. He’s the one closest to him, and almost like a second father.
Did Lord Furter's team return to their homeworld at the end of the last episode or did they choose to remain behind?
**** Spoilers for episodes 24 to 26 ****
The sailors also returned to their home planet, but without Lord Furter. The mad captain doesn't seem to have survived the crash of his galleon and, as you may have noticed, is nowhere to be seen in episode 26.
Was Molly the only racer planted in the race by Canaletto? It seemed there were other racers who might have delayed their "coronation" as Avatar for one reason or another.
Canaletto didn’t need anyone else but her. The threads of destiny were very clear about what her reactions would be, and he knew perfectly well how to get to her in the end.
Did Canaletto "fix" the previous race 10,000 years ago so Satis (a relatively weak lifeform) would win?
Not that time, no, but it is in part because he considered Satis weaker and less worthy than him that he refused to hand him the Avatar crown.
What would everyone else had wanted as their wish had they won?
You have direct answers or clues in the series. Try to figure out each team’s secret wishes by yourself, and I’ll be happy to confirm or correct after that.
How long will the Human/Crog war go on and when it will end?
****spoiler for episode 26****
At the end of the series the war has ended, abruptly. Yet it could easily start again, unless the new Avatar can do something about it….
Does Lord Furter have a brother named Frank?
The reference to Frank Furter, of Rocky Horror Picture Show fame (one of my favourite movies by the way) is not a coincidence. The first version of this character was already quite humorous but he was taller and rather effeminate looking. The design changed but the name stayed.
Does Molly had any friends at the boarding school?
Because she doesn't really fit in, she doesn't have much friends outside of Ned, the old school janitor.
Was William Wilde the first explorer to leave the solar system, or only one of the first?
Not the first, but the one who probably made the most important discovery of the 21st century: an alien trading post on a far away planet.
That amazing discovery will bring incredible new technologies to Earth but will also make the Crogs aware of our existence…
Thanks to all for your continued support and interrest in the series.
If you feel, as some wrote, that Oban is not as widely known as it ought to be, you're very welcome to help spread the word around!
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