Hello. I brought the sample you asked for.
Thank you. You’re always such a big help.
By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.
Why is the team name “Insect”?
Well, part of it is because we’re insect-people, of course.
But I’ve loved insects since I was a kid.
When I was little, my dream was to become an insect scientist and live in an insect house.
Now, the “insect” part is gone, and I just work on “houses.”
Oh, I see.
So that’s the reason.
Actually, that’s not the whole story.
The diversity of insects is truly astonishing — it’s said that 50% to 80% of all plant and animal species on Earth are insects.
They are amazingly adapted to their environments and play a vital role in the planet’s ecosystems.
And their skeletal structures are both strong and beautiful. It felt like the perfect fit for what we’re trying to do.
Also, the environmental simulation plugin I use features characters named Ladybug, Honeybee, Butterfly, and Dragonfly — all insects. That may have influenced me too.
And this is a bit of a secret, but I remembered what Mr. Matick (*1), who drew our characters, once said: “Insect pride creates a decentralized society.”
That phrase became the final push for choosing the name “Insect.”
I see.
Well, since that’s how we came to exist, maybe it was a good thing.
Oh, but I just realized — the spelling is “insect,” not “insects.” Is that okay?
That was something I debated.
(For Japanese people) I thought “insects” would be hard to read and the meaning might not come across well, so I unified everything under “insect.”
(Although, in the story, our team of five insect-people is actually called “insects.” Sorry for the confusion…)
Also, ants are sometimes called “ecosystem engineering organisms” (*2), because their role in ecosystems is actually similar to that of humans.
I wrote more about the concept of “Insect” on the About Insect page, so please check it out.
Let’s start something new.
That thought had been on my mind for a while, and I was vaguely wondering what name would be good. Then, while driving, the word “Insect” suddenly came to me.
Maybe I was still attached to the idea of insects, or maybe it was because the phrase “Insect pride creates a decentralized society,” which I saw at Mr. Otera’s solo exhibition at Kirishima Art Forest in 2018 and in some web articles, had stuck with me all this time.
It all suddenly connected with our concept.
From that moment, I knew I wanted to ask Mr. Otera to do the illustrations, and so the Insect characters were born.
Oh, are you not a fan of insects?
Don’t worry — the name “Insect” is based purely on environmental themes. We’re not suggesting living with actual insects.
Besides, I only like the ones with up to six legs. Anything with more legs than that… not so much.