| The
Story |
The story is based in a hybrid
Chinese bistro and Japanese sushibar Restaurant
inside a local casino similiar to that of Las
Vegas. It is known that one of the reasons why
everyone gets angry at Masago is because the
customers lose their money from gambling!
In Masago, the employees deal
with troublesome customers and experience the
everyday life of working inside of a restaurant.
Working in a restaurant isn't only about the
hassles of serving tables or troublesome customers,
but it is also about the friendships and bonds
that are made while working in a dead end job.
Occasionally the main characters collectively
stave off boredom and adulthood with their antics.
The main characters also share they're personal
stories outside of the restaurant business and
into their lives such as money problems, family
drama, and also relationships.
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| The
Beginning |
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In the early episodes of Masago I wrote random
stories about how idiotic customers can get and
how they always want things "their"
way for a low price. They want to be treated like
kings for fewer than ten bucks. The first episode
I wanted to make the customer look extremely villainess
and deceiving. So I went and drew a guy that looked
like Hitler. In later episodes, taken from my
own personal experiences other ideas were concocted.
Testosterone filled employees, celebrity customers,
and other antics.
New characters were shaped and formed in Masago
in the beginning. One was a sexual deviant, one
was big and strong man, another was a innocent
naive little girl, a MILF, and over tempered female
manager. Characters like these just came about
from daily life from people I've met in high school,
college and work.
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| Romance
- The love triangle |
After creating random stories of Masago I thought
it might be good to start being more consistent
with the storyline. To create a timeline of
some sort and tell a story. When working at
a restaurant or any kind of place for that matter
there are lots of stories to tell and a lot
of “things” can happen like friendship,
childish antics, and love. I started off with
Jak because well Jak is a slight representation
of myself and I wanted him to end up with a
pretty girl. Jen would be the definite choice
because they are around the same age and have
a history together from the past. Rie was also
a choice to be Jak’s girl because she
seemed like the mother figure that wanted to
care and love Jak.
The love triangle idea came up from my own
personal experience of course. It wasn’t
100% accurate or anything but ideas here and
there came into play in this love triangle story.
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| Locked
In |
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I’m sure many people have seen similar
stories like these in television shows or movies
where people get stuck and locked in a small confined
room or freezer. From those ideas I thought it
would be funny if Jimmy and Jak got stuck inside
the freezer and Jak had a killer date with Jen.
I also thought it would be perfect to show the
romantic side of Jennifer and how much she is
in love with Jak.
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| Winter
Special |
The Masago winter special was
a bit risky to create because I would tell a story
that involved outside of the restaurant and a
big “what if” story line. Like most
winter specials this one came from “A Christmas
Carol” but except a grumpy old man I used
Marlo. Telling the tale of a Marlo that has become
mean and corrupt that is confronted by three ghosts
to help her change her ways. I thought it would
the perfect time to show off the main characters
in different environments and outfits to change
up the pace.
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| Now
Hiring |
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After almost two years of Masago I thought it
would be a good time to hire new cast members
in to the fray as new characters attempt to apply
for Masago. The one thing I find interesting is
how hard it is to create new characters when you
already have an established cast of seven and
you want to add more to make things more interesting.
Right now it’s pretty balanced but I thought
it would be a fun idea to see how the Masago gang
would react to new employees after having been
working together for a long time.
Like other workplaces it can be tough being
the new guy adjusting to the old staff that’s
been together for so long.
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| Van
Halen |
Masago has had a lot of busy times
and I thought it would be cool to show off how
Masago can function as a team and attempt to take
on a huge concert like Van Halen. I got the idea
for Van Halen because I thought Van Halen was
a big enough band for a huge concert since they
have a good fan base. Other bands came to my mind
like Journey, My Chemical Romance, The Killers,
and Panic! At the disco. I’m an old fashioned
guy so I thought it would be more entertaining
to use an older band than a current one especially
a band that keeps separating and reuniting with
different lead singers and band mates all the
time. Van Halen was very universal known across
the globe so it was the perfect choice.
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Creating
the Van Halen story was already tough in my part
drawing and creating large crowds was a big hassle
but I wanted to show off the Masago team actually
working together and showing their roles when it
comes time to being busy. For the first time you
get to see the gang working together as a team. |
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