Edit: If you can’t watch the video, try this one instead. A special on Quick Action Recorder - クイックアクシオンレコーダー used in Akira to view how scenes would look like in motion. This special was included in the special edition of the Akira DVD.It’s interesting to think how before devices like that, in the 60′s till early 80′s, there was no efficient way to preview scenes. Such device made things much better and easier, it was essential in Jin-Roh as Tetsuya Nishio said in this interview. Even though I.G. were against using such devices, as they slow animators down, the one they used in Jin-Roh was Shinji Otsuka’s and still to the date of the interview(2003) that was the only Action Recorder the studio had.Although this device and others(like the Xerograph) had a huge impact on the industry, I find it always sad how scarce the documentation of information regarding them is, even in Japanese.

Alex