@image1 is an ABSOLUTE CHARACTER LOCK — face, body, hair, costume, materials and colours are taken from it exactly, with no drift or reinterpretation in any shot. @image2 is the location lock for architecture, lighting and geography. @image3 is the storyboard and is to be followed EXACTLY, matching shot order, framing and pose. At the opening frame, @image1 is the primary visual reference. [STYLE BLOCK — PAINTERLY AESTHETIC] Cinematic 2.5D animation in a fully painterly render where figures and surroundings resemble gouache concept art in motion. Bold, visible directional brushstrokes and thick impasto ridges sit on fabric, water and architecture, and they persist frame to frame as painted handling rather than resolving into clean digital surfaces. Forms are sculpted by light and shadow, never bounded by outlines; edges are scumbled and broken where planes meet. Blocks of colour interweave with hard-edged light and shadow shapes; the finish is matte, soft cinematic volumetric lighting permeates the scene, and depth of field is extremely shallow. This is by no means flat 2D cartoon art: absolutely no thick black outlines or contours, no cel-shading, no flat banded shadows, no ink line-art, no comic, manga, anime or webtoon style, no vector fills, no smooth airbrushed gradients, no glossy CGI rendering, no Unreal Engine style, no photorealism, no plastic-looking surfaces. [PALETTE LOCK] Environment tones: Abyss Blue (#0B1320), Moonlight Gray (#E0E5EC). Accent VFX colours: Neon Orange (#FF5500), Bright Yellow (#FFD700). [CINEMATIC FILM GRAMMAR] Elliptical bokeh; horizontal lens flares. 180° shutter angle for cinematic motion blur. Aperture by shot size: T1.8 close-up, T2.8 medium, T4.0 wide. Soft key light from the upper left; shadows rendered as clean, hard-edged solid shapes without sheen or specular highlights. No ray-traced reflections, no photorealistic physical materials. [MOTION PRINCIPLES & VFX PHYSICS] Heavy physical presence combined with a 2.5D stepped-frame animation feel at 24fps. Cloth and hair move with exaggerated inertial lag and follow-through. Blade trails and environmental destruction are not standard 3D glowing particles — they are thick, bright orange and yellow gouache paint. Energy trails are splashed across 3D space as hard-edged brushstrokes. Water splashes are flat, irregular teal geometric shapes with no soft gradients. During high-speed movement the silhouette generates gouache-style smear frames and colour-offset glitch effects. Rain reads as short, slanted white linear brushstrokes. [SHOT CONTINUITY] Strictly maintain momentum and energy-trail continuity across every cut. The brushstroke trail of light from the blade in one shot continues to dissipate into the first frame of the next. integrated_multimodal_description: [Shot 1] Extreme wide push-in, T4.0, stabilized. They stand in ankle-deep floodwater as the camera slowly pushes in. Wind drives the rain sideways and their outer robe billows violently backward, forming a striking silhouette. One hand grips the hilt and slowly draws the blade; a dazzling orange glow spills from the gap in the scabbard, its hard-edged light slicing across the shadows on their garments. [Shot 2] Cut to a medium tracking shot, side profile, T2.8, handheld with a slight organic breathing shake. They burst into a forward sprint, legs kicking against the water, the spray beneath their feet exploding into countless flat teal geometric colour blocks. The katana comes fully clear of the scabbard, the blade trailing a three-metre neon-orange gouache brushstroke. At speed the background blurs into horizontal streaks of blue paint. They drop their centre of gravity and raise the katana overhead, loading a downward slash. [Shot 3] Cut to a low-angle upward shot, T2.8. They leap high into the air, eclipsing the large moon disc, body fully extended in mid-air, and swing the katana through a massive crescent-shaped arc. The blade unleashes a huge crescent energy wave of bold bright-orange and yellow blocks, its edges rough dry-brush strokes that tear through the curtain of rain. [Shot 4] Cut to an over-the-shoulder angle, T1.8, extremely shallow depth of field. The orange energy wave blasts forward and cleaves the water's surface ahead. They land heavily, with intense camera shake on impact; a ring-shaped shockwave of gouache-like water radiates outward and splashes resembling shattered blocks of colour fly toward the frame edges and slide down the screen. [Shot 5] Cut to a full-body frontal shot, T4.0, eye-level, flattened perspective. It is over. They settle into a relaxed contrapposto stance with their weight on one leg, twirl the katana and sheathe it with a crisp click. The blade's glow vanishes instantly and the image returns to a soft matte texture. They hold a cool, level gaze toward the lens as the space falls silent, leaving only a few solitary flat splashes of water-colour drifting slowly through the air. overall_soundscape: Shot 1 — extremely low, oppressive ambient thunder and the white noise of a downpour striking water, low-frequency enhanced. Shot 2 — an extremely sharp metallic ring of the katana leaving the scabbard, with a stylized swoosh like thick paper tearing, under the low-frequency impact of exploding water. Shot 3 — a massive roaring burst of energy with a synth bass drop; the blade through air is voiced with the spatial quality of roaring flame. Shot 4 — a deafening heavy impact (Foley: heavy wooden clogs striking wet flagstones) and water exploding outward with intense spatial reverb. Shot 5 — an incredibly crisp, sharp sheathing click; all background ambience cuts off abruptly at that moment, leaving perfect silence. non_diegetic_music: 115 BPM. An epic battle score blending traditional Japanese shamisen plucking with modern cyberpunk synthesizers. The tempo accelerates through the opening two shots, taiko percussion growing denser, until a massive bass drop lands on the airborne slash. The music cuts off instantly on the sheathing click, leaving only a lingering, drawn-out echo.