The Yoyogi Animation Academy, Japan’s most renowned school for anime and manga artists, recently announced that they are offering a new course, which is completely online.

According to YoAni, this new course is the first of its kind in Japanese anime industry.

The course, which is titled Full Remote School, lets students choose from three specializations in both Anime and Manga verticals, enabling them to be either a director, editor, character designer, a mangaka or even assistants to other manga authors by the end of their course.

A video, which features instructors talking about the appeal of the completely remote course, was also put up on the official website.

YoAni states that even with the transition to online medium, their goal of producing people capable of being pillars of the anime industry in the future, has not changed.

Students can choose between attending live-streams of lessons that are being carried out at the academy or watching through the archives of the same. Lessons that are specifically catered for the online course too will be made available.

Digital means of drawing and submissions, which the academy claims would prepare students enrolled in the course for the future of the industry, will be used. It will also facilitate a smooth system of submitting documents online, according to them.

A weekly progress report, which involves individual students sitting down with their teachers and assessing their performance, is also available in the online course, along with feedbacks from instructors and doubt clearing sessions.

Additionally, a virtual space will allow students to interact with their friends in the course.

Yoyogi Animation, established in 1978, is currently celebrating its 44th year of establishment. The graduates of the academy include some prominent names in the anime industry like character designers Kyoji Asano, Masayoshi Tanaka, director Hideya Takahashi, etc.

Source: Official website of Yoyogi Animation.