“An athlete making anime?” You might think that, and it’s true that I don’t necessarily need to do everything myself. However, looking at the current trends in IP (Intellectual Property), I couldn't stop thinking about how to make athletes—who are already powerful IPs—more widely accepted by the public. As someone who tries everything once, I decided to try making an anime from scratch!
It’s a bit of a long article, but please take about 5 minutes to read it.
Before I introduce the process, let me make one announcement! Although I am an active basketball player, I also run a sports-focused live streaming platform called Fantrance! Athletes talk about their own performances after games, so it's full of stories you can't hear anywhere else! Please check it out!
https://x.com/evelyn_mawuli/status/2056934583288094730
How I Made the Anime
To get straight to the point, even though I have no experience as an animator, I was able to make it relatively easily because I use AI tools regularly. Whether it takes a long time depends on how much you care about quality.
I finished it in about an hour and a half, so I think it's worth a try even for busy athletes as a trial.
*Actually, a few days later... I had to do some incredibly difficult revision work and ended up sitting in front of the computer for an insane amount of time... but I'll write about that experience on Note later, haha.
I should mention beforehand that for those who make AI anime regularly, my method might seem inefficient, but please bear with me as I did it my own way.
Now, I’d like to talk about the main topic: how to make AI animation and the idea of "Can athletes become IPs?" Since many people in the sports world might be hearing these tool names for the first time or know them but don't use them, I will explain the tools again.
1. First, write the image in a memo or input it into an AI tool by voice
Imagine an animation of about one minute in your head and write it down in a memo. Rough notes like "It starts with this scene, moves like this here, and ends like this" are fine. I think storyboards are usually necessary, but maybe it's okay if you can't draw them now. Text memos or voice are sufficient. The important thing here isn't writing well, but putting everything you "want to show" into words.
2. Have Claude Code think of the prompts
Claude Code is a tool that allows you to use Anthropic's AI assistant "Claude" from your own PC. It's originally for programming, but in my experience, it's the best and most emotional at creating text! I threw the memo from step 1 into Claude Code and asked: "I want to make an anime using Seedance with this image, so please think of prompts for each scene."
Here’s a key point. The video generation AI I used this time, "Seedance," can do text-to-video, but if you generate video based on an image, the accuracy improves dramatically without the face changing even when the scene changes.
In other words, you need a "source image" before the video. So, I had Claude Code think of prompts for creating those source images (which I created with Gemini) along with the video prompts. You don't need to write prompts from scratch; let the AI do it.
*I also tried a tool called Higgsfield, which creates images, videos, and audio all in one platform, but it didn't suit me. Please let me know if there's a good way to use it.
3. Create your own image variations with Gemini
Gemini is Google's AI, and it can also generate images. I prepared a photo of myself and put that photo plus the prompts from step 2 into Gemini to generate variations: front view, back view, side view, running, and various expressions.
In short, I had the AI create a "setting material collection" for myself as a character. I think this corresponds to the character design process in anime production.
4. Generate scenes one by one with Seedance
Finally, it's time for video. When you put the images generated in step 3 and the animation prompts from step 2 into Seedance as a set, those images start to move. I set each generation to 5-8 seconds and built the scenes one by one. A tip here is to attach the photo or video from the end of the previous video as a reference in Seedance to avoid the problem of scenes not connecting! For audio, I included instructions in the prompt to auto-generate it within Seedance.
*Lip-syncing is still difficult.
5. Connect everything with CapCut
CapCut is a free video editing app. Those who use TikTok might be familiar with it! CapCut also partners with Gemini and has similar AI video editing tools, so I think video editing is becoming easier.
Since I do video editing regularly and don't find it painful, I did all the transitions and captions myself.
Connect the scenes made in step 4 here, add sound, and it's finished.
To summarize, the flow is: Memo → Claude Code → Gemini → Seedance → CapCut. I didn't use a single special professional skill.
The video is complete!
Honestly, the time spent waiting for the AI's response is longer, haha.
If you're even slightly interested after reading this, please save it and try creating your own animation!
Now for the main topic: Can athletes become IPs?
While making this animation, I was constantly thinking: "Could using AI accelerate the transformation of athletes into IPs?"
Athletes definitely live slightly unusual lives. They live while constantly facing tension, pressure, and stress, and the story of overcoming those things happens many times in their careers.
I believe those stories are very encouraging for people who are not athletes.
In fact, the stories of Shohei Ohtani or Rui Hachimura would be dismissed as "No way, that's too perfect!" if they were fiction, but they are actually happening in reality. That's why the real experiences and games of players move people's hearts.
This is already a magnificent IP.
And I believe that the means of conveying an athlete's story and experience aren't limited to game footage and documentaries. I think they can be developed in various forms like animation and manga.
By doing so:
- We can sustain the value of the player (creating a relationship with fans that doesn't depend solely on competitive results).
- Even after they are no longer players, their stories can remain in people's memories.
- It can create opportunities for players to be discovered through new routes.
I believe these things can be realized through animation. A competitive career is finite, but the story lives on.
Examples of Active Players in Anime and Manga
There are already examples of active athletes becoming anime or manga.
For Naomi Osaka, a manga titled "Unrivaled NAOMI Tenkaichi," featuring a character inspired by her, was serialized in Kodansha's shojo manga magazine "Nakayoshi." Her sister, Mari Osaka, was involved in supervision, and Naomi herself said, "A childhood dream came true." It's truly an "athlete-originated" project.
Furthermore, "Hana Kuma," the media company she launched with LeBron James' SpringHill, has raised funds with an eye toward expanding into anime and manga formats, not just documentaries. In fact, they have announced the development of an anime series where she serves as a voice actress and executive producer.
Cristiano Ronaldo also launched "Striker Force 7," a character IP where a hero modeled after himself is active across anime and comics. The world's best footballer reaches children not as a live-action person, but as an anime character. This is also a form of "athlete IP-ization."
Turning yourself into a character while still active and delivering your story to the world outside of competition—whether it succeeds or not is one thing, but the world's top athletes are already proving it.
Why Netflix is Overflowing with Sports Documentaries
Another thing that supports this trend is Netflix. Now, when you open Netflix, it's overflowing with sports documentaries, to the point where I personally want to watch them but can't keep up.
Starting with F1's "Formula 1: Drive to Survive," there's basketball's "Starting 5" and the NFL's "Quarterback."
Personally, I was captivated by the story focused on the 2000 French national team, "Les Bleus: Une Autre Histoire de France," because it was so real and felt like something I couldn't ignore.
Why are so many sports documentaries being made?
The answer is because they realized that the human drama of athletes creates fans of the sport itself.
The numbers prove it.
In the case of "Formula 1: Drive to Survive":
- According to Nielsen analysis, more than 360,000 people started watching F1 races for the first time because of this show.
- The average number of F1 viewers in the US in 2021 was 946,000 per race, a 41% increase from 2019.
- Attendance at the US Grand Prix grew from about 185,000 in 2018 to 400,000 in 2021.
In other words, people who had never watched a single second of a race became fans of the sport through the entry point of the drivers' struggles and human relationships.
People don't become fans because of the rules of the sport, but because they realize athletes are human too, yet they face difficulties with superhuman mentalities. They become fans through these stories.
This is what Netflix's numbers have proven.
The Democratization of Turning Your Story into Content
Perhaps because of this influence, every sport and league is starting to make documentaries.
I'll say it again: "An athlete's story becomes an IP."
And AI will democratize this trend all at once.
The examples so far have something in common. Netflix documentaries, Ms. Osaka's manga serialization, and Ronaldo's anime were projects realized only because they are the top of the top in the world. They only happened because of huge production budgets and professional teams.
But what I realized this time is that if you use AI, an individual athlete can turn their story into content even without a production team.
I was able to make a one-minute animation with a memo, prompts, and a few tools. A while ago, I would have had to find someone who could make animations on a freelance service, negotiate, and revise... this was impossible just a few years ago.
Something that used to take an incredible amount of man-hours can now be made quickly at a quality an individual can be satisfied with.
the option to "turn your story into content," which was only allowed for the top 1% of athletes, is opening up to all athletes.
That's why I think it would be incredibly interesting if more athletes themselves—or the team staff, PR, and leagues around them—used AI well to create interesting content and take on various challenges!
*Of course, there are various risks!
It's a waste to let an athlete's story end only inside the stadium!
Anyway, let's try making something with AI!
I hope this serves as a first step and is helpful!
As a tech-athlete, I, Evelyn, tried making it myself first.
I touch AI almost every day like this, so if there are any athletes or sports-related people interested in technology, let's talk!
Conversely, if you have any consultations like "Can we do something like this?", I'm all ears! 🙋🏽♂️
Back Dooor Inc. aims to expand not only within Japan but also overseas in the near future.
Wonderful players exist all over the world, and there are the best fans there.
Because sports is a universal content, the market is large, and I believe there is significance in expanding.
To that end, we will focus on hiring engineers to create products, sales positions, and talent to promote business globally.
If you want to compete in the market size and the utility of treating sports as a business, which is starting to be recognized in Japan, now is the best timing.
- I want to utilize my experience in sports.
- I want to give back to the sports industry.
- I am interested in sports business.
If you are such a person, please contact Back Dooor Inc.!
That was the second AI struggle report from tech-athlete Evelyn Mawuli!
First report:
The story of how an active basketball player, even without being an engineer, could automatically analyze game footage with AI
