Hello, my name is Sara Yano.
I am an illustrator from Japan, and I specialize in drawing food and lifestyle scenes.
I love spending time at home.
This blog usually posts manga, but
I have secretly been working on an independent animated film called “Drinking Sweet Water,” which is now complete and ready for release.
I also wrote about the process of completing the anime, so
I hope you enjoy it along with the anime itself (^^)
↓The main story is available at the bottom of this page! If you want to see it right away, you can jump to it from the table of contents.↓
It’s a short 3-minute anime, so feel free to check it out!
▼30-second trailer▼
▼Making▼
1：It all started with a cat and a handmade picture book.
The first time I drew Tabin the cat and Kamomile the duck was in
my self-published picture book “To Drink Sweet Water” (created around 2015), which was painted with acrylic paints.
At that time, I had only been working for a few years… I am not a very skilled person, so
I had a lot of worries, I didn’t have much peace of mind, and I often felt depressed about my lack of efficiency. (My colleagues helped me a lot.)
Around that time, what helped ease my mind was
Tabin, a gentle kitten who had just arrived at my parents’ house.
(He is now an elderly cat, but he is still in good health.)
Tabin, the kitten, repeatedly tested his courage by dashing under the feet of the confused resident dog (an elderly Labrador).
As I watched this free-spirited scene,
I thought, “I want to recreate the feelings I had as a child in a picture book.”
“Let’s make Tabin the main character.”
2：The relationship between his friend Kamomile and cat Tabin
Kamomile the duck, Tabin’s friend, is anxious, prone to worry and easily exhausted.
This reflects my personality…
I still have many worries that never seem to go away.
But the people and things that are important to me are a source of emotional support.
From now on, I think I will continue to deal with the worries that arise every day
by taking walks and making detours to refresh my mind
(both physically and in terms of my hobbies).
Furthermore, perhaps it is because of this personality that I enjoy fantasy and creativity.
In that case, maybe my temperament isn’t so bad after all. (Although I do want to avoid causing too much trouble for others…)
That’s the sentiment I put into this work.
I hope it reaches someone who feels the same way.
I did the bookbinding myself or had it done by a bookbinder.
Although it was rough, I was satisfied that I was able to complete it and show it to people.
3：Transitioning to digital illustration and studying animation production
Then, after a while… With the advent of the iPad and Apple Pencil, I also switched to digital illustration,
and around 2020, I began to teach myself animation production.
4：Independent animated adaptation of the picture book “To Drink Sweet Water”
Then, in 2023, I decided to make an independent animated short based on the picture book “To Drink Sweet Water.”
I remade the illustrations digitally using a software called Procreate,
and then created a cutout animation using a video production software called After Effects.
I also do the voices myself.
I hesitated a little, but I thought, “If I think of it as reading a picture book aloud, I might be able to do it…”
I recorded the voices and edited them in Premiere Pro for each character.
(The laughter is my daughter’s voice.)
It took about half a year to make. I managed to finish it somehow.
(If I had focused on the details, it would have taken forever to finish, so I guess you could say I drew the line there.)
I hope as many people as possible will see it and enjoy it.
*Please note that there are some differences in the settings from the manga currently published on the blog. We apologize for any inconvenience.
▼Click here for the main story▼
It’s a short anime that lasts about 3-4 minutes, so feel free to check it out. We recommend watching it with the sound on.
▼The materials we used are listed below. Thank you very much!▼
Sound effects (+ people’s voices)：効果音ラボ
BGM：250music
「Dog-walking」Motoaki Kato、
「Sweet memories」「Dream of Last Night (ver.1)」末原康志、
「Peach Electro Beat」sleepwalker、
「meeting place」Sally
Contents
Contents
“To Drink Sweet Water” [Independent Animation]
It is a short film lasting 3-4 minutes.
update notification
I will notify you when I make a new post.
*You will receive both the Japanese and English versions. Thank you for your understanding.
↓🔔Push notifications: Receive update notifications
What are push notifications?
・🔔When this site publishes a new post,
push notifications are an automatic feature that delivers updates via your browser to any PC or smartphone
where you have granted permission to receive notifications.
・🚫📲No app installation is required.
・🕒You can receive notifications even if you do not have the site open.
・💻📱You will only receive notifications on devices (PC, smartphone, etc.) where you have given permission.
Notifications will not appear on other devices or equipment where permission has not been granted
↑Press to register. No input required.↑
Press again to cancel. You can also cancel by tapping the bell icon at the bottom of the screen.
If pressing the above button does not cause any change to the button:
Or if you press the 🔔 bell icon at the bottom of the screen
and see messages such as
“Unblock notifications” or “Notifications are blocked”:
For Android smartphones:
- Tap the menu icon (︙) at the top right of the screen
- Go to “Settings” > “Site settings” > “Notifications”
- Find this site and change the setting to “Allow”
- Reload the page 🔄
- Then tap the subscribe button again
For PC:
- Click the icon on the left side of the URL (address bar).
- Look for “Notifications” (🔔).
- If it is set to “Block,”
change it to “Allow.”
If it is not blocked, proceed to the next step. - Reload the page (🔄).
- Please press the registration button above again.
*For iPhone and iPad users: The notification registration button above is not available. Please try the following steps to receive website update notifications.
- Open this page in Safari.
- Tap the “Share” button (square with an upward arrow) at the bottom of the screen.
- Select “Add to Home Screen.”
You will receive push notifications when you open the site from the icon added to the home screen.
🔕Unsubscribe: On iPhone and iPad, you can unsubscribe by going to “Settings” → “Notifications.”
↓🔔We will also notify you on social media when the site is updated.
SNS, etc.
Registration and following are always welcome!
About Comments and feedback💬
・You are welcome!🙏
We may respond to your questions in the article, so please feel free to ask. (Please note that we may introduce your comments.)
・Comments on social media are also welcome!🙏
We would appreciate it if you could tag your posts with “#Tabintail” or the account name below.
@tabin-s.com：Bluesky
@tabin_kurashi：X・Instagram
About replying to comments
It is difficult for me to respond at the moment, but I am carefully reading all of your comments. Thank you very much!
