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Notes on Leviathan at Otakon 2024
Director Christophe Ferreira, Qubic Pictures producers Justin Leach and Katrina Minnett, Orange producers Yoshihiro Watanabe and Kiyotaka Waki, novelist Scott Westerfeld, and vocalist Diana Garnett came to Otakon…
Sonny Boy’s visual identity – creative freedom as a way to convey the artistic intent
Anime, just like pretty much any other creative medium nowadays, is heavily commercialised, hence a lot of the decision making is done by the producers and not by…
Podcast_Unknown.mp4 Episode 1: Toniko Pantoja
Welcome to the start of our new animation podcast! We’re kicking things off with an interview with Toniko Pantoja! Animator and storyboard artist at studios like Netflix and…
My Hero Academia Production Notes – Season 7 Staff Overview, OP12/ED12 & #139
The sixth season of My Hero Academia‘s anime adaptation was a Herculean effort; adapting some of the manga’s most demanding content, and succeeding with flying colors. A rebound…
The artist_unknown OPfest: Spring 2024
Spring has passed, but sakuga remains. Let's talk about the animation in the anime OPs and EDs of spring 2024.
The artist_unknown OPfest: Winter 2024
Welcome to a new column on this blog where we take advantage of the piecewise format to finally produce blogging that embodies the true spirit of the unknown…
One Piece, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Brave Bang Bravern!, Bucchigiri, Idea
Trying to Bridge the Gap between US and JPN Productions: An Interview with Will Feng
Join us as we interview Will Feng! An animation producer affiliated with Studio Trigger; he produced their video game openings (Shantae, Indivisible, Omega Strikers) along with scouting out…
BLEACH: Thousand Year Blood War Cour 2 (#14-26) Production Impressions: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Disclaimer: This post is meant to be an unbiased and critical review of the production of a series I have an extremely large vested interest in. If you…
Yuuji Yanase and Takaharu Ozaki at Otakon 2023
Otakon 2023 was host to many guests, and I did my best to cover all the anime production related ones. Here's all the stuff I heard and saw…
Orange Roundtable at Otakon 2023
Producer Yoshihiro Watanabe of the studio Orange hosted a roundtable at Otakon 2023 with CG Director Shingo Kiyomiya and CG Producer Kiyotaka Waki.
Trigger Fukuoka’s New Generation: Shunpei Gunyasu, Takuya Saitou, and President Masahiko Otsuka at Otakon 2023
Studio Trigger president Masahiko Otsuka has "big plans" for the all-digital Trigger Fukuoka branch, now hard at work on Dungeon Meshi. Artist Unknown covers their presence at Otakon…
Interview with Quintessential Quintuplets TV Special Staff at Otakon 2023
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…
Vinland Saga Retrospective: Weathering the Storm Known as TV Anime
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…
Tengoku Daimakyou (Heavenly Delusion): Episodes #01, #02 & OP
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…
Animator Spotlight: Yasunori Miyazawa
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…
NARUTO #48: Crafting an Ideal Platform for a Digital Revolution
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…
In Defense of the 2011 Adaptation of Hunter x Hunter
Hunter x Hunter recently made its long awaited return to JUMP serialization. As such, there's no better time than the present to look back on its pair of…
A Peek into the Future: Interview with Rising Talent Ryo Shimura
It’s impossible to talk about Shaft these days without bringing up the mass exodus of talent and the reshuffling of roles to compensate– as we covered in lengthy…
Animator Spotlight: Pomu Rainpuff
Character animation has long been considered a weakness of web animators, but there is no proof more conclusive that the world has changed than the greatest, most important…
Animator Spotlight: Hiroyuki Yamashita & Boruto: Naruto the Movie (Part 3 of 5)
Part 1 | Part 2 | < > | Part 4 | Part 5 Kishimoto: After I finished watching The Last: Naruto the Movie [Jump Festa Event, December…
Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Naruto, The Last: Naruto the Movie
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0: Deho Gallery and Tatsuya Kushida’s post-apocalyptic Eden
Let's dive into the staff working under Tatsuya Kushida at Deho Gallery and why their contributions to the final Evangelion were so meaningful.
Animator Spotlight: Hiroyuki Yamashita (Part 2 of 5)
Our second part focuses on a pair of promotions for Hiroyuki Yamashita, examining his style and exploring the way in which he would shape the Naruto series from…
Bakuten!! #03 – Production Notes
Storyboard/Episode DirectorYoshiyuki FujiwaraChief Animation DirectorYuka ShibataAnimation DirectorMiki Muto, Naho KozonoAction SupervisionFumiaki Kouta Key AnimationShino Kuzuhara, Miki Muto, Susumu Matsunaga, Yoshiyuki Fujiwara, Miyako Yatsu, Naho KozonoKeiichi Ishikura, Nana Fujiki,…
Bakuten!! #02 – Production Notes
Storyboard/Episode DirectorSeishiro NagayaChief Animation DirectorAya NakanishiAnimation DirectorAya Nakanishi, Shogo MatsumotoAction SupervisionFumiaki KoutaKey AnimationAika Kawasaki, Shuto Enomoto, Shino Tsuzurahara, Takuya Yoshihara, Ayumu Ikeda, Toumitsu Ina, Shou Ochiai, Yui Kinoshita,…
Monster Strike MV: Narrating a story through visuals alone.
Today I attempt to dissect the Monster Strike MV directed by Daiki Harashina and animated by the Fukushi team at studio Madhouse.
Keiichiro Watanabe: Jujutsu Kaisen #02
Most of the time I do this kind of analysis on twitter because aside from reaching a larger audience much faster, I also feel less of a need…
Exclusive Interview with Yuu Yoshiyama: Impact frames as surprise boxes?!
Even before their discovery and subsequent artistic recognition within the sakuga community with Star Twinkle Precure, @Agresiel and I got really excited by an aggressive and quite nostalgic…
The key staff of Fire Force season 1
Director side Yuki Yase I won’t talk too much about Yase for two reasons: he’s somehow the director we covered the most on the website but also he’s…
Winter Production Recap #2: ID: Invaded and Atsushi Ikariya
ID Invaded is a fascinating project in many ways, starting with the way it came to exist! Around 2012-2013, Ei Aoki started planning an original show featuring a…
Winter Production Recap #1: Haikyuu!! To The Top and Sachiko Fukuda
Haikyuu!! returned with a new season and with many aces of the franchise gone, there was some legitimate doubt about the quality of this new season. However thanks…
Attack on Titan: omni-directional mobility animation Art Book -Arifumi Imai 1″ Release Commemorative Talk & Autograph Session
This is the transcription of a short but really interesting and light Arifumi Imai talk written by Ynkl, a well-known Japanese sakuga fan always present in these kind…
Pushing through the limits: Yoshihiro Kanno and SAO War of Underworld
SAO: WoU was a production full of surprises and great artists but one of them stood out for the quality and quantity of his works throughout the arc:…
Haikyuu!! Season 4: Preview
Director: Masako Sato (佐藤雅子)Assistant Director: Mariko Ishikawa (石川真理子)Character Designer: Takahiro Kishida (岸田隆宏)Chief Animation Director: Yuu Kobayashi (小林祐)Action Animation Director: Hideki Takahashi (高橋英樹) I recently had the pleasure of…
Boruto Year in Review & Animator Spotlight: Kana Ito
Kana Ito is the Boruto series' brightest animation star over this past year, delivering time and again whether it be expressive acting or strong action. Her latest outing…
Sakuga Week in Review #8: Dec. 02, 2019 – Dec. 08, 2019
Some fancy footwork in SAO:A, the short but sweet return of franchise ace Hiroyuki Yamashita on Boruto, and a guest appearance in Psycho Pass from a bonafide legend…
Sakuga Week in Review #7: Nov. 25, 2019 – Dec. 01, 2019
Today we aim to uncover the mystery and/or magic of Kazuhiro Miwa's absurd output on Fire Force, an Azur Lane episode which sparked controversy (none of which is…
Sakuga Week in Review #5: Nov. 11, 2019 – Nov. 17, 2019
My Hero Academia #68Key Animation: Sakiko Uda (宇田早輝子) Geth: While it’s not necessarily a competition, one would have to imagine the sign of a job well done if…
Sakuga Week in Review #3: 07/10/19-13/10/19
Fire Fist Ace, a high octane goblin smack-down, EVE MV's continuing to kick ass, and many more scenes highlight the last week in animation. Let's take a closer…
The creators of Fate/Grand Order Babylonia I: Toshifumi Akai
The newest offering of the Fate franchise has begun and this time we’re surely in for something special. When it comes to anime, Fate can be pretty hit…
Edge2 Concept Magic Creator’s Talk: Kiyotaka Oshiyama and Shingo Adachi in conversation
HiMyNameIsChair: When you think of Studio Xebec, your mind likely wanders to a number of things: A vast catalogue of ecchi titles ala Love To Ru and Keijo,…
The Road Less Traveled: A look into creative backgrounds found amongst anime industry directors.
A dive into the many different production backgrounds, as well as how those roles may aid (or detract) from the esteemed position at the top!
Yama no Susume Third Season #10: China’s warm emotional theater
China is an artist that we in the sakuga community have learned to know very well for some time now. After all, he broke several records as the…
Sakuga Week in Review #2: 08/07/19-14/07/19
Horny henshins, Blender-based CGI and the start of the ever historic Pokemon League all headline the last week in animation. Let's take a closer look at some recent…
Fire Force #02 – When Delusions of Heroism Collide with Reality
Let’s dive right into the second episode of Fire Force, discuss those individuals responsible and investigate all the places where the anime has (thus far) soared high above…
Fire Force #01: Breaking the Mold of Shonen Manga Adaptations
The first episode of Fire Force made gigantic waves in the community, becoming the center of many discussions this past week with the quality of the animation at…