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The Team Behind DAN DA DAN’s Bombastic Fun: Dandadan Production Notes #01
After the broadcast of Dandadan’s first episode, it’s time to explore the team behind this work: not just the personnel and their creative choices, but the easily misunderstood…
The Grounded Worldview Of The Losing Heroines: Makeine Production Notes
Too Many Losing Heroines! / Makeine’s cheeky romcom antics hide a dramatic edge, a mix that its promising rookie director calls a bright, cheerful nostalgia. To convey this…
From Nichijou to CITY: Kyoto Animation’s Gentle Touch Adapting Keiichi Arawi’s Madness
Back in 2011, Nichijou was an ambitious, bombastic, yet also thoughtful experiment to match the unique style of Keiichi Arawi’s with Kyoto Animation’s equally distinctive—and in some ways…
Animating The Stage And The Passion Behind It: Oshi no Ko S2 Production Notes
Oshi no Ko S2 has had to navigate tricky waters to be able to animate a stage play with the type of authenticity that the source material didn’t…
Monogatari’s Past, Present, And Future: Director Midori Yoshizawa And The Synergistic Storytelling In Off & Monster Season
Series director Midori Yoshizawa has ushered in a new era of visual creativity in the Monogatari series that synergizes with its themes of time, identity, and creation. And…
Gimai Seikatsu: An Eclectic Mix Of Avant-garde And Ordinary To Rise Above Limitations
TV anime productions are often severely limited, so how do you rise from that to make something not simply good but genuinely extraordinary? Gimai Seikatsu and rookie director…
![Featured image for Kimi no Iro / The Colors Within: Naoko Yamada’s Love Spins Round and Round [Annecy 2024]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240621/1718979929.86005.125683.jpg)
Kimi no Iro / The Colors Within: Naoko Yamada’s Love Spins Round and Round [Annecy 2024]
Naoko Yamada’s new film Kimi no Iro / The Colors Within is gorgeous, highly entertaining on the surface, but as densely packed as ever. Through colors, light, faith,…
K-ON!, The Colors Within, A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird
![Featured image for Kimi no Iro / The Colors Within: A Polychrome Prayer For Art [Annecy 2024]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240621/1718979930.86006.125684.jpg)
Kimi no Iro / The Colors Within: A Polychrome Prayer For Art [Annecy 2024]
Naoko Yamada’s recent film draws from its relationship with nature, art and the creative process, spiritual imagery, and very specific choices of instruments for its teenage band—all of…
![Featured image for Bakeneko Anzu-chan / Ghost Cat Anzu: Gorgeous Eclectic Co-Production, Parenthood, And A Funny Cat [Annecy 2024]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240616/1718562329.85787.125393.jpg)
Bakeneko Anzu-chan / Ghost Cat Anzu: Gorgeous Eclectic Co-Production, Parenthood, And A Funny Cat [Annecy 2024]
10 years ago, a project began moving. Now, the result is one of the greatest directors of dry Japanese cinema teaming up with a rising star in animation…
![Featured image for Look Back: An Exceptional Production To Embrace The Paradox Of The Artist [Annecy 2024]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240613/1718276129.85626.125135.jpg)
Look Back: An Exceptional Production To Embrace The Paradox Of The Artist [Annecy 2024]
Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Look Back presents the creative process as inherently isolating and frustrating, yet inevitable and a means of connection. Now, its stunning film engages with those ideas…
Hibike! Euphonium S3 Production Notes #01-08: Approaching The Culmination Of TV Anime’s Most Ambitious Acting Effort
Season 3 of Hibike! Euphonium has been a masterful exercise in building up dread out of the mundane, with just as uncanny of a combination of storytelling efficiency…
学園アイドルマスターの描写理念について
今の時代において学園アイドルマスターの立ち位置とその描写理念について、少しの間だけ語らせて下さい。
Kaiba, Kyousougiga, Kyousougiga, Jinsei - Life Consulting, The Idol Master
Adapting to the Modern Age – The Philosophy Behind Gakuen iDOLM@STER’s Visual Identity
Gakuen iDOLM@STER is shaping up to be an interesting new venture for a multitude of reasons, but especially its incorporation of trendy indie artists. As we enter a possible new…
New Recipes At Studio Trigger: Dungeon Meshi Production Notes 01-03
Dungeon Meshi’s anime is the product of the shifting tides at studio Trigger, of a long relationship between the involved parties and the source material, and of a…
Sakugabooru Animation Awards 2023
It’s time for a last look at 2023 with the Sakugabooru Animation Awards. We’ve gathered directors, animators, designers, producers, and passionate fans to share their favorite, most res…
Eureka Seven, Magical Destroyers, My Happy Marriage, One Piece, OVERTAKE!
Gridman Universe Production Retrospective: By Fans, For Fans
Gridman is a series where creators and fans are not separate entities, but rather intertwined and constantly co-evolving groups. We’re due a retrospective about the production of its…
The Weight Of Hayao Miyazaki And Ghibli – The Boy And The Heron / How Do You Live?
Hayao Miyazaki’s storytelling is built upon the dreamlike, empowering physics of the animation that builds his worlds. This offers a fascinating contrast with his latest film The Boy…
Porco Rosso, Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron, The Wind Rises, Future Boy Conan
Creators Rebelling Against The Odds: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Production Notes 1-13
At its absolute best, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is a focused effort to fully realize its directors’ ideas, from the grandest action to the least perceptible details. But…
Crafting A Tangible, Aging World – Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Production Notes 01-04
Frieren is, at its best, a story tightly written about time; its passage, how different people perceive it, and the tangible marks it leaves in the world and…
The Brilliance And Darkness of Zom 100 Bucket List Of The Dead – Production Notes 01
The first episode of Zom 100 is one hell of a showcase of inventive, fresh, and very bombastic animation and direction, all packaged together with clear intent. It’s…
Can You Assemble A High Profile Anime Studio Out Of Nowhere? – The History Of Cygames Pictures And Uma Musume ROAD TO THE TOP’s Fierce Animation
In an industry like anime where almost everything comes down to personal relationships, is it possible to quickly assemble an entirely new high-profile studio? Cygames Pictures have found…
The Low Profile Brilliance Of Kotomi Deai, Or How Became A Protegee Of Legendary Directors Became Skip And Loafer’s Inconspicuous Director
Skip and Loafer is as pleasant as anime gets. Its director is Kotomi Deai, and this is how she went from being a fan of Shinichiro Watanabe, to…
Michiko & Hatchin, Natsume's Book of Friends, Samurai Champloo, Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings, Silver Spoon
Introduction to Oshi no Ko’s Team: Maximizing Impact Through An Adaptation
Oshi no Ko’s massive, worldwide impact with its first episode is no fluke. Its team is led by savvy, inventive, and sometimes kinda superhuman individuals who tweaked and…
Kyoto Animation’s Ever-Evolving In-House Culture, The Growth Of A New Animation Storyteller, And Tsurune: The Linking Shot
Kyoto Animation’s rebuilding process is allowing the most self-sufficient anime studio to foster in-house production in new ways, all while raising new generations of storytellers in animatio…
Sakugabooru Animation Awards 2022
It’s time for a final look at the greatest animated works of 2022. We’ve gathered commercial and independent animators, directors, designers, writers, musicians, and everything in betwe…
Revue Starlight, Suzume, The Deer King, Vampire in the Garden, Bleach
Bocchi the Rock! Complete Production Notes And Final Impressions
Bocchi the Rock has been a wonderful mix of ridiculous comedy and compelling character growth. Now that it’s over, though with hopes to return, let’s take a final…
Bocchi the Rock! – The More Outrageous The Comedy Animation, The More Compelling The Loneliness And Growth
Bocchi the Rock is an outrageous comedy bursting with the bombastic creativity of its young team, and at the same time, it’s also a genuinely compelling coming-of-age story…
The Two Chainsaw Mans – CSM Production Notes 01-03
Tatsuki Fujimoto’s storytelling is spontaneous, anarchic genius, so how should one adapt Chainsaw Man into anime? Its team committed to a vision that has made two takes on…
On-Gaku Our Sound: The Reckless 7 Years Hand-Drawn
10 years ago, director Kenji Iwaisawa absentmindedly agreed to create a movie about a group of school delinquents absentmindedly becoming musicians. The result of its long production process…
Tomohiro Furukawa, Revue Starlight The Movie, And The Legacy Of Experience-Centric Anime
Tomohiro Furukawa draws from the philosophy and methods of living legends like Mamoru Oshii, Hideaki Anno, and his mentor Kunihiko Ikuhara. He reconstructs their teaching and his influences…
Revue Starlight: The Movie, Sarazanmai, Yurikuma Arashi, Penguindrum, Revue Starlight
Spy x Family And The Messy History, Dynamics, And Intent Of Anime Co-productions
It’s no secret that Spy x Family is a co-production between Studio WIT and CloverWorks, but what’s the backstory behind that deal, what does it involve, and what…
The Meteoric Ascent of Megumi Ishitani, Toei Animation’s New Heir
Five years ago, we highlighted a woman who had yet to direct a single episode of anime as one of the most promising young creators in the entire…
Directors Who Shine In Spite Of The Anime Industry – 86 Eighty Six and Toshimasa Ishii
Toshimasa Ishii’s direction on 86: Eighty Six elevated a war drama with a keen political outlook, but despite his team’s many successes, they always faced an uphill battle…
Animating Modern Nostalgia – Ranking of Kings / Ousama Ranking Production Notes
Many works nowadays try to manufacture skin-deep nostalgia, but by naturally evoking it, Ousama Ranking can afford to combine that authentic old-school flavor with many innovative modern techniques…
The Recipe For An Impossible Animation Team – Princess Connect Re:Dive Season 2 Production Notes
Princess Connect Re:Dive Season 2 #04 is without a doubt one of the most jaw-dropping action spectacles in recent TV anime, while remaining every bit as charming as…
From Dennou Coil To The Orbital Children: Mitsuo Iso, Animating The Future
Nearly 15 years since the cult hit Dennou Coil, its spiritual successor The Orbital Children has just been released. This is the story of how and why they…
Sakugabooru Animation Awards 2021
Our yearly animation awards have once again gathered animators, directors, producers, writers, translators, fans, and everything in between to pick the greatest contributions to anime and the world…
Selection Project, Sonny Boy, VLAD LOVE, Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop, Revue Starlight
The Complicated Relationship Between Anime Production Schedules, Working Conditions, Quality, And Exploitation
Anime’s production schedules, the wellbeing of its creators, and the quality of their work are deeply interconnected. It’s a complex balance fraught with misunderstandings, and even lie…
Ranking of Kings / Ousama Ranking – Production Notes 01-03
Despite being a directorial debut for Yosuke Hatta, the cohesive clarity of Ousama Ranking makes it a masterclass in adaptation already. And so it’s time to explore the…
Fall 2021 Anime Overview
The Fall 2021 anime season is frontloaded with a few truly exceptional creative efforts, then chockful of titles with interesting teams having to brawl with this industry’s circumstances.…
The Heike Story, Lupin III, SAKUGAN, Selection Project, Blue Period
A Masterclass In Illustrating A Singular Worldview: Sonny Boy And Shingo Natsume
Sonny Boy is an anomaly in commercial media, let alone as a TV anime: a fascinating creator given a blank cheque that he cashed in to explore his…
Naoko Yamada’s Departure From Kyoto Animation And Science Saru’s Painful Reinvention: End Of An Era, Start Of An Era?
KyoAni’s most renowned director Naoko Yamada left the studio she had dedicated her entire career to and is now directing Heike Monogatari at Science Saru—a studio in the…
The Road To Stone Ocean: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Directorial Retrospective
The upcoming Stone Ocean adaptation marks the return of one of the most brilliant Jojo directors, so there has been no better time for a long retrospective of…
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Focused Excellence And The State Of 2D Mecha Anime
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway is shaping up to be an excellent film trilogy, a collective effort by creators who approach realism from their own angle coupled with stellar…
SSSS.DYNAZENON – Production Notes 11-12 And Final Impressions
We’re due a final in-depth look at SSSS.Dynazenon: the creators who stood out in the last stages, the fascinating answers to some seemingly unanswered riddles, and what to…
86: Eighty Six – Production Notes 04-11 And Final Impressions
A teaser for 86: Eighty Six’s second cours dropped today, so let’s look back at this surprisingly daring show—a stunning showcase of a beginner director’s vision, technical skill,…
SSSS.DYNAZENON – Production Notes 10
SSSS.Dynazenon #10 was an explosive showcase of young creative energy drawing the audience in and out of a stunning illusion, and at the same time, proof of how…
SSSS.DYNAZENON – Production Notes 05-09
The time has come for another deep dive on SSSS.Dynazenon’s production: a mix of unique in-house Trigger talent and outside help, working in conjunction to create a show…
Spring 2021 Anime Overview And The State Of The Anime Industry
It’s time to go over the many interesting offerings in the Spring 2021 anime season to talk about their creative teams, the themes they’re touching on, and their…
86 EIGHTY-SIX, Backflip!!, Pretty Boy Detective Club, Godzilla Singular Point, Megalobox
Kizumonogatari Staff Interview: Director Tatsuya Oishi
The final translation to celebrate Kizumonogatari’s 5th anniversary is with none other than director Tatsuya Oishi: his feelings after wrapping up such a monumental production, the reasoning …