For Otakon 2023, Studio Trigger president Masahiko Otsuka decided bring along two skilled but essentially unknown young animators from the Trigger Fukuoka satellite: Shunpei Gunyasu and Tatsuya Saitou. Otsuka has “big plans” for the digital branch, now hard at work on Dungeon Meshi. What are these new animators like, and how’s it going down down in Kyuushuu?
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Veteran Shaft animator Kazuya Shiotsuki, freelance screenwriter Keiichirou Ouchi, and TBS producer Junichirou Tanaka came to Washington DC for Otakon last week – July 2023. Otakon was kind enough to arrange for me to sit down and talk with them alongside an interpreter to compensate for my questionable listening comprehension, and they were in turn kind enough to accept.
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Makoto Yukimura’s manga are no strangers to inspired adaptations—Vinland Saga included. This is the story of its team, the challenges they’ve faced, and the recipe they concocted to weather the storm known as TV anime.
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Naruto vs. Sasuke is much more than just a cool fight with exceptional animation. It calls back to simpler times: a reminder at the end of the series why we fell in love with it at the start. This is Hiroyuki Yamashita’s vision, and how he brought it to life.
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The second episode of Tengoku Daimakyou (Heavenly Delusion) maintained the up-tempo pace of the first while ushering in a pair of director debuts of its own, one of which can be found in its absolutely stunning opening sequence.
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Tengoku Daimaykou wasted no time showing off its incredible background art, sophisticated photography, and ominous music. There is much more to the show’s initial success than just these elements though, which makes it worth exploring in greater depth!
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From humble beginnings on the beloved Moomin to the big screen under Satoshi Kon, there was one whose drawings carried an unparalleled sense of individuality. In his infinite idiosyncrasy, Yasunori Miyazawa is possibly the most unique animator to have ever graced anime.
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As a wave of digitalization was ushered into the industry, one director in particular channeled his passion for creating into a mastery of new technology that resulted in his implementing of it in genuinely groundbreaking ways. This is Toshiyuki Tsuru’s Rock Lee vs. Gaara.
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Do It Yourself!! was an undeniable passion project. While that in and of itself isn’t rare, few anime are capable of channeling that creative spirit into the final result as this show regularly did, giving all the more reason to take a closer look!
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BLEACH: Thousand Year Blood War #06 is a monumental episode for the franchise. Historically one that valued consistency over idiosyncrasy, under Hiroyuki Yamashita’s supervision, the material takes on a completely new life of its own.
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