Black Rock Shooter, Trigger, Imaishi Hiroyuki

So, as promised, here’s my first new post. Be warned, this one might be a little over-informative. I’ve also changed the layout because something in the other layout changed and made it more difficult to read.

So one of the few shows I have been watching and enjoying this season is Black Rock Shooter. I have to admit, I’m one of the many out there who was swept up in the hype frenzy of BRS around the time the first OVA came out. But I also have to admit I’m not one of the many who were subsequently disappointed when the OVA didn’t meet their monumental expectations. It wasn’t all it could have been, but I enjoyed it. This series might have me in the same position.

While I haven’t exactly been running polls on this or anything, it seems to me that this new Black Rock Shooter also has had a divided response among fans. It expands upon the high-school drama side of things from the OVA that some people seem to detest, but gives it a more melodramatic and dark flavour. Me? I’m lapping it up! I don’t know why people can’t seem to get behind the high-school part of Black Rock Shooter. Some fans just wanted a monotonous, grim and dialogue-free action fest I guess. Although I feel that it’s much too fast paced in this series (a symptom of only having 8 episodes to work with), I’m still a sucker for melodrama. Especially when it’s so well presented.

Not everyone agrees with me on this, but I’m enjoying the animation work on BRS. Raito-kun at Ani no Miyako clearly isn’t liking the anime from a technical (or any other) perspective. He also discusses the state of Ordet, which is an interesting read. Let’s put the 3DCG work aside for the moment. Certainly, purely in terms of the 2D animation, it hasn’t offered anything particularly great. To my memory there hasn’t really been any charismatic character animation, or anything technically impressive. But, personally, I’m fond of the storyboard and layout work on most of the episodes. Subtlety isn’t one of its flavours, but the way this series is framed keeps the visuals feeling fresh and engaging at every turn and serves to give the emotional moments a real kick. Episode 4 stood out for me in this department.

But, and I didn’t think I would ever say this, the highlights are the CG battle sequences. The reason I can say that about BRS is because of the work of Hiroyuki Imaishi.
 

Imaishi at the brand new Studio Trigger

 
You should know Imaishi as the director of Gurren Lagann and Panty & Stocking. After being an impressive animator at Gainax since Evangelion, he recently left and started his own new studio (or rather joined Masahiko Otsuka and Kazuya Masumoto in starting it): Studio Trigger. Check out the very cool-looking official website. It’s interesting that his departure coincides with the commercial failure of Panty & Stocking. I definitely get the feeling that, even despite his role as a premier director, Imaishi’s creative instincts were somewhat curtailed at Gainax (and money probably had a part to play too). He also took Yoshinori Yoh with him, definitely one of GAINAX’s most valuable assets as an animator.

Masahiko Otsuka, co-founder and the director, describes the motivations for starting it in this translated interview, and also confirms that they are already working on an original animation project (I can’t wait to see it previewed!). There’s an implication that they could do more Panty & Stocking if they liked (just like Khara did with Evangelion). But it’s clear that Studio Trigger was formed to create original and ambitious works, as well as in response to what the founders see as a shift in the industry’s approach to creating animation. I’m not too sure what they are getting at with that last part, but it should become clear in their future works.
 

Imaishi's illustration to celebrate their work on IM@S 17

 
So far, the studio has done an episode of Idol M@ster (17), sub-contracted from A-1 Pictures (yet more GAINAX – or Ex-GAINAX influence on that anime!). Sushio, who was also a member of Gainax until relatively recently (he’s now freelance) was animation director on that episode too. And now Imaishi has also cooperated with Ordet, who are actually an affiliated company now, on Black Rock Shooter in an unexpected capacity: as CG Battle Director.

Unlike in the original OVA, the other-world battles are done entirely in CG (except for 2D effect animation), even the characters themselves. You might notice Imaishi is also co-credited with storyboard and direction in episodes. What this clearly means is that he explicitly directed and storyboarded the CG battle sequences – he had control of them. The staff of BRS seem to be pretty discretely split between the real-world and imaginary world content.

What’s the result of this unusual involvement from Imaishi? Well, I find myself enjoying those action scenes a lot, when I’m normally totally opposed to CG for animating anything other than mecha (and even then give me 2D any day please). If you look at Strike Witches and the new Last Exile, the use of CG for the characters is really awkward – it sticks out immediately, looks ugly and doesn’t move the same way as the rest of the animation. When I heard this I was curious to see what Imaishi could bring to the table when his background is clearly in 2D-animation, and a very “anime” kind of animation at that.

Imaishi has over-come all of this. Not only are the action scenes great because his storyboards are as awesome as ever, with plenty of cool angles and interesting action shots, but he has bought a 2D limited animation approach to the CG sequences. Limited animation refers to animating at lower that full-framerate and is the style that classically defines the anime medium since TV-anime came about. Anime uses it to good effect by making the framerate dynamic – fast at key moments that need an impact and more choppy in others. Imaishi is known for using limited animation in the Yoshinori Kanada vein – with a focus on cool poses and drawings and varying the framerate a lot.
 

Imaishi's Storyboards looking as crazy as usual!

 
This is reflected in the CG battle scenes here, which, at some points, have a very purposefully dynamic framerate to create the same interesting kind of moment that you would see in a Gurren Lagann action scene, for example. Limiting the framerate of CG in anime definitely isn’t new. Of course, there’s no limit to the framerate you can animate CG as, but when it’s left at full-framerate it not only looks more unnatural, it does not fit alongside traditional 2D animation, with its limited frames. Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex very effectively animated the Tachikomas at a limited framerate so that they would blend in with the 2D ‘cels’. But it’s taken a step further here and done very well.

It’d be nice if I could upload a clip to illustrate this, but I can’t think of a good place to put videos these days.

Perhaps the biggest thing is he adds to these sequences is a lot of well-blended 2D effects. With smoke, fragments of dust, lighting effects and other grit flying across the scene, the CG doesn’t feel too clean and the shots are much more exciting to watch. I’m really impressed by these sequences.

Imaishi handled them for episodes 1-4, and I guess he bought on the other person who would handle the next couple (at least): GAINAX animator Amemiya Akira.
 

Akira Amemiya (left), Sushio (right)

 
Funnily enough, Akira is one of the main animators at GAINAX that people are keenly watching in the void that Imaishi left behind. He is best known for his mecha work, and he was one of the top animators who worked on Gurren Lagann ( and recently Gundam Age). He was also called in on both Idol M@ster (which was overrun with Gainax and Ex-Gainax staff at some points!) and Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai to handle their mecha parody segments.

Like Imaishi his animation is very much in the Kanada School class, with the style of his effects and frivilous cool ‘poses’ that are awesome to watch. That should be pretty clear in this MAD of some of his work.

 

He has done a lot of work both as a key animator and as an animation director, and I think it won’t be long until we see him take on more of a director’s role. In many ways, his involvement in BRS is a step towards that. His credits so far are:

Storyboard/Assistant Director: 5,6
Layout: 1,5
Key Animation: 6 (CG-Part)

 

Episode 5

Episode 6

 
So he storyboarded and directed the CG battle scenes in 5 and 6 (and it looks like Imaishi got him to draw some layouts for him in episode 1 too). His work carries on what Imaishi started without dropping the ball at all. His storyboards/layouts create really exciting action sequences here, and the CG is handled in the same way, by approaching it more as a style of 2D animation.

Black Rock Shooter is an interesting step in a new way of looking at CG, which lends BRS’s fight sequences a kind of gravitas that I would not have expected from CG in a TV-anime. Of course, CG can never replace 2D animation. The kinds of interesting distortions, movements and linework that can come from a charismatic animator with a pencil in hand can’t be replicated. But perhaps there is a place for it.

But, all this aside, I also think it’s enjoyable in its own right, even if it’s a bit quick to turn its characters into psychopaths. Luckily, believably isn’t one of my make-or-break criteria for anime (or I wouldn’t be watching much!).

 

Screencaps taken from this tumblr.

 

 

Animator MAD + Discussion: Yoshihara Tatsuya

 

Bio

Yoshihara Tatsuya (Yoshihara Tatsuya) is a prolific and highly recognised young animator involved in the TV-anime industry today. He entered the industry at the age of 21, and his first job seems to have been on Shugo Chara (2008). With an in-betweener credit for episode 30 under his belt, it wasn’t long before he had the opportunity to do key animation for episodes 47 and 70. By the end of that year and into the next he was doing lots of key animation work on a number of series and his work was starting to be noticed on anime like Nyankoi, and Saki. 2010 was a big year for him – he worked on over 20 different anime and his parts were interesting from a sakuga fan’s perspective. That year he worked on the Nanoha movie, and was also instrumental in Bushiroad’s Weiss Schwarz anime second season, debuting as animation director for 2 of the episodes. His next animation director position would also be for a Bushiroad anime – Milky Holmes episode 6.

He’s involved in a hell of a lot this season. Key Animation for: DOG DAYS, Seikon no Qwaser II, Hoshizora, Astarotte no Omocha, A-channel and Sket Dance. A good sign is that he’s worked on many OPs (Sket Dance, Astarotte, Seikon no Qwaser II and A-channel!). He also got a more high-profile animation direction job on Sket Dance 8. He’s been quite a successful freelance animator, given how long he’s been around. His success may either lie in being cheap, or in being reliable and able to produce interesting animation under pressure or without too many drawings.

Style

When he did animation direction for that Milky Holmes episode, he described it as being on a really tough schedule. Despite this, he managed to pull off the episode quite well, and (perhaps even as a consequence of having little time) his style was definitely present. His style is really interesting to me because it’s a little hard to place. While he can do good fluid animation with many frames, his sakuga qualities really come from his ability to portray exciting motion with very few frames. And this isn’t just efficient use of varying the frames. Like many other contemporary animators of the Yoshinori Kanada vein, when he draws with few frames he focuses on making each frame count by really nailing interesting poses and drawings. However, unlike Imaishi and Kanada who focus on drawing poses discretely for really awesome looking frames, Tatsuya’s frames all carry a certain consequence. If you looked at each from on its own, it would paint a boring and probably disfigured picture, but that’s because each frame is very conscious of the overall arc of movement that it’s a part of. So with few drawings, he can give a sense of weightiness and momentum. It’s well-suited to TV-animation and you can see why he’ll become more and more sought after.

He’s a follower of both Seiya Numata and Tanaka Hironori, which makes sense. If I had to theorise on any influence, I’d say Seiya Numata’s deformation is there, but rendered the rugged, sharp detail of Hironori. He’s actually been involved with Seiya Numata a lot, on episode 7 of Ichiban Ushiro (for which Numata was animation director) and in Milky Holmes, which Seiya Numata was heavily involved in.

While I’m not a huge fan of his, I appreciate what he can do and how he’s established himself in the industry. I’d be really interested to see what he could do with more time and money.

Sakuga Wiki | Past Posts tagged Tatsuya Yoshihara

Azazel-san Episode 9

After I saw a post on a Japanese blog about this particular episode, which included a whole pile of intriguing screencaps (see below), I felt compelled to watch it! Why? because I’m a bit of a whore for any anime or manga that deal with the otaku culture or psyche, whether it’s parodying it, studying it, or lampooning it! I think the fact that I went and watched the 9th episode of an anime I had not only not seen any of before, but hadn’t even really heard of will attest to my fascination with this particular topic. Anyway, this episode, as you would probably work out by skimming over the screencaps, takes the parody route and kicks around some pretty nasty otaku stereotypes for laughs. It’s actually just a regular comedy series airing this season, produced by Production I.G. This episode introduces the otaku parody element which looks like it might be sticking around for future episodes. The premise is that the heroine of the show, Rinko, needs a classmate’s lecture notes to study for an exam. However, being a nefarious nerd, he uses her request as an opportunity to get her to attend the university’s anime club and cosplay a popular magical girl character. Out of desperation, she obliges and hilarity ensues!

It’s so over-the-top and yet strangely familiar that I think most anime fans can laugh along with it without feeling like its an insult. Unless you actually are as creepy as these people! There’s the fanatical camera-man type, the disturbed cosplayers, the rampant 2channeler, and there was even a sort-of prod for sakuga fans with one of the characters admiring an anime scene with an “ii sakuga desu nee” remark. I had lots of fun with the episode, both for these “in-jokes” as well as the general sense of humour the anime employs.

I noticed Megumi Kouno‘s (well-known up-and-coming Gainax animator) name in the credits, and I pegged her as having animated the part where Rinko hits the otaku guy in the face (and just afterward). I just had a look at her page on the Sakuga Wiki, and they seemed to have guessed the same. It was a cool bit of animation. But the whole show is produced very well! I’ll be watching more of this one, I think!
 

Sakuga MAD March Notes

1.

uploaded by animeblue
 

2.

uploaded by mochihan3
 

And here we are again, with two sakuga MADs that cover most of the memorable animation to come out of the anime industry within the past month. Although the recent disaster in Japan has thrown the airdates of many TV anime out of alignment, this month generally encompasses the end of the Winter season! This means that it includes many important, climactic episodes which naturally feature a higher caliber of animation. I was pretty happy with the month gone by, although Tanaka Hironori was noticeably absent (compared with his usual prolific schedule), which may be due to the new FMA movie and/or Precure movie project. There were a number of highlight episodes to enjoy.

Thanks again to mochihan3 and animeblue for their efforts in putting these MADs together. They do a great service to the sakuga fandom. This month I’ve focused on animeblue’s MAD because I think it features a better selection.

⚫ Fractale 8. This episode was storyboarded and directed by Mamoru Kanbe (Elfen Lied director), and, to my mind, was the best episode of the entire series. I’m not actually a big fan of Elfen Lied, but I have to hand it to Kanbe here, this was certainly the Fractale episode with the most cinematic feel and with the most visual impact. The shot with the ‘special’ Nessa pointing to the exit amid the burning wreckage really stayed with me, as did the missile effect animation. Another noteable bit of animation was Nessa’s tantrum, which is featured in this MAD. But probably the coolest part was Nessa arriving in the Temple’s facility and frying the ‘operating room’.

There are some moments of good animation from later episodes too.

⚫ Index 22 featured some excellent animation in the fight scenes..

⚫ The Monster Princess OVA was a real surprise! I haven’t seen it myself, but these clips are really great! The first part in this MAD is fighting the crayfish-like monster in the train, then there’s multiple parts of the fight on top of the train. It’s the train-top fight that really grabbed my eye. The word is that it’s animated by Tatsuya Yoshihara, one of those animators I keep my eye on. The fight between the dude and the blonde girl certainly does fit his style.

⚫ Yumekui 11 featured animation from Yoshihiko Umakoshi, and Hiroshi Tomioka (yet again!). The fight scene looks like it would be Umakoshi, I guess. I haven’t seen the episode yet, myself.

⚫ Kore Zombie 11: The fist fight was really great! It was probably the work of Takahashi Shinya (高橋しんや).

⚫ The fight sequence on the street in Dragon Crisis 10 was done by Hiroshi Tomioka, as was the part from episode 12 (at about 4.50).

⚫ Now we get to Madoka episode 10! The participation of studio GoHands transformed Madoka 10 into a stand-out episode, but much of the best animation came from SHAFT’s two star animators, Genichirou Abe and Imamura Ryo. Imamura is responsible for the school-uniform-themed fight scene in the sky, which is my favourite part of the episode. The way he uses lots of scrawled lines in his action cuts to suggest movement gives him away. Imamura is definitely the best asset SHAFT has in terms of animation. His parts in Bakemonogatari were amazing (Shinobu’s kick attack in 15, and the fights with Subaru in her arc). The part where Madoka was dodging wheels was done by the stellar Hiroshi Ookubo, and was my second favourite bit. For whatever reason, the contributions of other animators weren’t included in this, so I’ll just add:

The part where Homura destroys the drum: Genichirou Abe
The effect animation in the first battle-sequence with a witch: Kenichi Kutsuna (which wasn’t all that impressive)

Interestingly, there were around 40 key animators involves in this episode, which is an awful lot.

⚫ Letter Bee Reverse 25: The awesome effect animation for the attack was done by Ooshiro Tsutomu

⚫ Kimi ni Todoke II 12: The cut where the guy is riding his bike was certainly done by Tadashi Hiramatsu.

Here’s to a season (almost) closed! I’m hoping the next season will bring many more animation delights with it. The next Sakuga MAD we’ll have a lot of OPs and EDs to see! As usual, I welcome any corrections and contributions. I’m especially curious about the first part of the fight scene on the train roof from Monster princess. It certainly doesn’t seem like Tatsuya to me. Maybe I’ll hunt through the credits later.

Sakuga MADs – February 2011 – Notes

1.

uploaded by mochihan3

2.

uploaded by animeblue
 

It’s time to mark the passing of February 2011 with a sakuga MAD or two! When pitted against the former month of January, February doesn’t seem particularly impressive. But this is a middle-of-the-season month, without the lineup of new OPs that the start of a season brings, or the climactic battle sequences that usually accompany its end – I think these months usually have weaker offerings.

These MADs together do a pretty good job of covering all the notable bits of animation, but, particularly no. 1, they actually feels a little desperate for scenes at times. As with last month, AnimeBlue’s is less exciting to watch because it’s under-edited, but it’s still good to have both, and he caught a few good parts that the first one missed (such as Tetsuya Nishio’s contribution to Kimi ni Todoke). Another problem with the first one is that there are a number of scenes I feel don’t belong in a sakuga MAD, like the Bakuman, Ochinko and OreImo parts.

⚫ Houkago no Pleiades contributed some really interesting animation, from a crew of less senior Gainax animators. The lack of big names like Sushio, or Yoshinari meant that it is hard to put an animator’s name to specific cuts, but it’s nice to see Gainax has other animators who can carry the burden by themselves. As many remarked in the 4chan sakuga thread, a number of cuts had a bit of a Tanaka Hironori vibe to them, but he was not involved in the episode. Probably the best moment was from Ootsuka Mai Kouno Megumi, who did the final action scene in the fourth episode (including the fireball attack bit).

⚫ The fight sequence from Yumekui Merry was Tanaka Hironori . While it is interesting animation and typically well-executed, it feels somewhat unlike his usual style. The movement is more languid and less purposeful than usual. Someone once described his animation style as ‘ragdoll’ to me, and I think that fits his style. Perhaps he’s evolving as an animator? Thoughts, anyone?

⚫ The Index 2 OP is nice stuff indeed. It also features animation from Ootsuka Mai.

⚫ The Star Driver karaoke scene had a lot of people talking on twitter. It reminded some of Yutaka Nakamura, but it turns out he isn’t credited for that episode. As @raito_kun pointed out, this scene was actually credited seperately, probably because it was done in-house at BONES while the rest of the episode was outsourced. The animators credited are Takahiro Shikama, Takaaki Izumo, Yasuyuki Kai and Shosuke Ishibashi. Of those names, Shikama probably did the best cuts.

⚫ The fight with the horse in Kore Zombie 7 was probably done by Yamashita Toshinori

⚫ Star Driver 19 – The circus/aerial battle was done by Satoshi Mori (confirmed on his twitter) (thanks @raito_kun)

⚫ Dragon Crisis 6 – this fight scene is one of my favourite sequences this month. I’m not watching the show, but this is really good, smooth and detailed work. It could be Hiroshi Tomioka but I’m not so sure its his style (judging by other character battle scenes of his I’ve seen) and I don’t know what other cuts were in the episode. Another guess: it could be Matsutake Tokuyuki, who did the cut from episode 1 that appeared in last MAD. But I’m interested to hear if anyone else knows anything.

⚫ 2. Kimi ni Todoke 6 – probably from god-tier animator, Tetsuya Nishio. The movement of the hair is so crisp and fluid!

⚫ 2. Bleach 309 – This episode drew a lot of attention from Japanese sakuga fans, and it’s pretty clear why: it features some really good effect animation. The part where the monster (sorry I can’t be more specific – I’m not a Bleach reader/watcher) erupts from the man is really good. That part was probably done by Kurita Shinichi (although some thought he may have done the fight sequence that episode). The series of explosions that follow are probably the work of Tanaka Hironori. The very last segment of this MAD is also from that episode, and could have been done by Kudou Masashi.

Please comment, or ask questions!

Masami Gotou Profile + MAD

One of Itano’s ‘three people recognised’ for their talent, Masami Gotou is a famous animator, known mostly for his mecha animation, who hails from the late-eighties. His first known credit was on the 1987 Dirty Pair movie as an in-betweener, and he also did inbetween animation on the Ranma 1/2 TV-anime, but his recognition comes from his status as as one of the more impressive mecha-animators around. This stems from his memorable work as a regular key animator on the Gundam OVAs of the late 80s to early 90s (Mobile Suit SD Gundam Mk IV, Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (movie), and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz ). In particular, his circus scene from Endless Waltz is held up as a highlight example of his work. A the end of the 90s, he was a prominent animator on Turn A Gundam, and was integral to the excellent dogfights in Cowboy Bebop. Unfortunately he took a step back from animation work after burning out from overwork on the Gonzo theatrical anime, Akido. These days he is making a slow comeback, much to the relief of his old fans. Last year he worked on Kuroshitsuji, Break Blade and Kiddy Girl And, and the year before that he contributed to the outstanding Birdy Decode 2.

His circus scenes are really breathtaking for their movement and complexity, and his work on the Cowboy Bebop movie is really impressive. The fact that he is still occasionally active in TV-anime definitely makes him someone to keep an eye on. I wonder why he hasn’t worked on the new Gundam series/OVAs/movies? I guess it’s just because there’s a new crowd at Sunrise now. His legacy will certainly be his masterful realisation of the Itano circus!

Ikuo Kuwana Animator MAD + Bio

Kuwana Ikuo is a well known animator who has contributed a lot of distinct pieces of animation on a variety of projects, including popular TV-anime (FMA, Panty & Stocking, Wolfs Rain, Denno Coil, Eureka 7) and a number of big theatrical anime (Evangelion, Spriggan and Princess Mononoke). A graduate from Yoyogi Animation Academy, Ikuo’s industry origins are at studio Ghibli, although he didn’t have a lot of influence there. During that time, Ikuo forged a strong friendship with animator Yoshida Kenichi, who also started out at Ghibli, and it’s thought that it was this relationship that got him work on Eureka 7 and Overman King Gainer. It was Ikuo’s work on Eureka 7 that first got him recognition as a good animator, however it was his efforts for Street Fighter Alpha Generations (which he also directed) that elevated him into the limelight.

I really haven’t heard Ikuo mentioned much in the English-speaking fandom (or at all), and I admit I only really just heard of him (the above bio is based on the sakuga wiki). It’s always nice to learn about a new animator. I quite like his style, but I guess I need to watch Street Fighter Alpha Generations to really comment on him. Judging by this MAD, he has a really rough and visceral style, which comes through really well with the effect animation from Gurren Lagann, and works perfectly for the Wolfs Rain part. I’m not sure which studio he is currently affiliated with (or if he’s a freelancer), but he’s done a lot of work for GAINAX recently, so he’s probably with them.

Sakuga MAD January 2011 Notes

1. by Animeblue

Anime in order of appearance (as posted by Animeblue)

1. Dragon Crisis! (ドラゴンクライシス!)
2. Yumekui Merry (夢喰いメリー )
3. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica |(魔法少女まどか★マギカ )
4. Tegami Bachi REVERSE (テガミバチ REVERSE)
5. A Certain Magical Index II (とある魔術の禁書目録（インデックス）Ⅱ)
6. Dragon Crisis! (ドラゴンクライシス!)
7. Certain Magical Index II (とある魔術の禁書目録（インデックス）Ⅱ)
8. NARUTO Shippuden (ナルト 疾風伝)
9. Yumekui Merry (夢喰いメリー )
10. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica |(魔法少女まどか★マギカ )
11. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? ( これはゾンビですか？)
12. NARUTO Shippuden (ナルト 疾風伝)
13. STAR DRIVER Kagayaki no Takuto( STAR DRIVER　輝きのタクト)
14. Yumekui Merry (夢喰いメリー )
15. IS Infinite Stratos ( IS インフィニット・ストラトス)

It’s the end of the month and time to look back on what animation highlights January bought us! So far we’ve had a good start to 2011, and I think the year will have a lot more in store for us (especially with the increased number of movie anime being produced).

⚫ The cuts from the Yumekui Merry OP are really nice. That OP had some great animators involved, including Hironori Tanaka, Hiroshi Tomioka, and Ken Ootsuka. The cut where Merry is sinking into the water is likely done by Hironori Tanaka, the part where the children are running was likely Maru Kanako.

⚫ The Madoka Magica cut that follows was certainly done by Shaft’s star animator, Gen’ichirou Abe. Mami ;_;

⚫ I was surprised to see those Index parts in there.. but that’s mainly because I skipped that episode after becoming bored with that arc’s story and animation. I guess I shouldn’t have. The effect animation is quite good.

⚫ After that is Dragon Crisis. This sequence is really great, and easily better than I expected from Dragon Crisis (mind you the only episode I watched did have a couple of decent moments of animation). I would like to know who did that part. If anyone can tell me or at least tell me which episode it was from, that’d be great!

⚫ After the Naruto bit is Yumekui Merry, episode 2. It’s really funny that although the rest of that episode had pretty bad animation (sorry, that was ep 3 that had poor animation), this one part, which was an anime-parody airing on TV inside the show (a meta anime!), had the standout animation. Actually, that happens fairly frequently. This part was likely done by Hiroshi Tomioka.

⚫ The Kore Zombie OP sequence has some nice fast, fluid animation!

⚫ As for Star Driver, episode 15 featured some nice animation. I translated the findings of the 2ch sakuga thread and posted them on the 4chan sakuga thread, but I’ll repeat them here. In the first part of this MAD, the first missile circus was Shingo Fujii , and the second part was Yasushi Muraki . The mecha fight that follows is Hiroshi Tomioka (he’s been busy this month!). Funny that Hironori Tanaka’s charge in the second half of the battle wasn’t included, I quite liked it, despite some dodgy smoke animation at one point.

⚫ The Yumekui fight sequence from episode 1, which I really enjoyed, was done by Yoshihiko Umakoshi, famous for his work on Mushishi, Heartcatch Precure and Doremi. He may not be my favourite animator from a technical point of view, but I think this guy has a good creative streak. By the way, episode 3 of Yumekui Merry featured animation from Sayo Aoi, who I’ve been interested in since her episode of Ookami-san (the pool episode). I don’t see a sakuga wiki page for her.. I wonder why she doesn’t have one 0.0.

⚫ I find it interesting that the Infinite Stratos segments were included, given that their technical achievements are mainly in the field of CG. But I guess there are a few glimpses of decent effect animation..

⚫ This MAD is missing animation from the recent Heartcatch Precure episodes, which were sakuga highlights of the month. Also, I felt like Fractale should have had a presence. But it’s generally pretty well done, and you can’t expect one person to be able to cover all anime!
 

There was also another MAD this month (although not as well done and inclusive):

2. by mochihan3

Takeshi Honda MAD + Discussion/Profile

Takeshi Honda is undoubtedly one of the most legendary animators in the anime industry. His name carries considerable weight amongst sakuga fans and in the industry. This was shown to be the case a couple of years ago, when a man pretending to be Honda himself to score art jobs at a university was tracked down by Studio Khara and had to resign. Honda was born in 1968, and has had a long, successful career as an animator and designer since 1987. He originally worked for the short-lived Studio Atelier Giga (1987-1988), which also produced famous animator Keiji Gotoh. His first known credit is with them as in-between animation for Relic Armor Legaciam (1987). He is best known however, as being one of the founding members of the venerated Studio Gainax and worked there from the age of 22. Like any good Gainax member, he had dropped out of college (Tokyo Design Academy).

While working on the Bubblegum Crisis OVA series (1987-1991), episode 8 to be specific, Kishida Takahiru, who was the animation director for that episode coined his enduring nickname of ‘Master’ (Shishou). Later, Takashi Murakami referred to him as “end-of-the-century prodigy animator” (Seikimatsu Tensai Animator) in a newspaper article, a title which stuck among fans. He worked on many great projects such as Stoshi Kon’s Millenium Actress, Jin-Roh, and note-worthy TV anime such as Denno Coil. He’s worked on classic Gainax stuff such as Otaku no Video (as animation director), Gunbuster and Neon Genesis Evangelion. In the West he is probably best known for his contributions to Evangelion, the climax of which was his seminal work on the End of Evangelion. He continues to work at studio Khara (which was formed by Hideaki Anno in 2006), on the new Evangelion films as a designer and animation director (again, handling mecha animation).

I find it interesting that he’s become a mecha specialist working on Evangelion given that he originally became known in Bubbglegum Crisis for his ability to animate girls running and jiggling breasts. That’s what Kishida Takahiru recognised him for, anyway! It’s just an example of his versatility, which sits alongside creativity as one of his greatest assets!

Gen’ichirou Abe MAD

Gen’ichirou Abe is a prominent animator in today’s TV-anime industry. Just recently, he contributed some good work for Madoka Magica, which you can see in this MAD. He is a member of SHAFT, who rely on his skills for their most important animation sequences. He came to the fore working on the TV-anime Negima!? after he did the really interesting sequence of Negi making provisional contracts with all the girls as they’re falling through the sky (also in this MAD). Since then his abilities have been put to great use, and this MAD showcases some of his great technical and artistic achievements. My favourite sequence is the Naruto part, followed by the Soredemo bit. He can employ a range of styles, but is detectable for his rough, detailed linework (on effects and characters) and the lines of contortions he draws on moving bodies (wrinkles in clothes). He also has a distinctive way of drawing hair.

Sadly, his bit in the Negima!? Summer OVA (the skydiving OP) isn’t included, and neither are his parts from Bakemonogatari. There are many missing examples of his animation, which actually makes this a pretty bad MAD (it’s also under-edited). But Gen’ichirou Abe is good!