Let’s dedicate a final look at Maidragon‘s second season and its role in KyoAni’s gradual rebuild—the why and how they made a beautiful show with a smaller team than it takes to animate an average episode of anime nowadays.

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Yes, I know, we owed one last look at Maidragon S after its broadcast ended last month. After the introductory episodes we already covered, most of this second season was dedicated to the shifting character dynamics. The changes in the family with the explosive arrival of Ilulu obviously come to mind, but there’s also the surprising emotional core of this show: Tohru and Elma’s relationship, finally explored in full over the course of the season. Even characters who hadn’t been active agents like Kanna got a bit of an opportunity to expand their relationships in episodes like the fan-favorite Maidragon S #10.

Having this iterative theme to give the entire series cohesion under the idea of “What if these characters continued to exist in this world, meeting new people and learning new things” was quite helpful, as Maidragon S is a bit too fragmented otherwise. This is understandable giving how the title was hit with the tragic loss of multiple main staffers at different points in its creation, but I believe the material they were given this time wasn’t smooth sailings either; perhaps with higher highs, but not as consistently pleasant as the first season’s cozy ride.

That is of course inseparable from the execution, which is an aspect where I can hardly fault the studio’s members. In a way, it’s not a big surprise that the animation was arguably even better; it’s a bit of a KyoAni tradition for sequels to have more poignant animation than their predecessors, they have the exact same team growing more familiar with the characters whose souls they have to animate. In the months leading to the broadcast, staff members also wrote on the studio’s blog about their ideas to make the animation inherently enjoyable to look at, which definitely paid off in the end.

Direction-wise, I believe that the people who had to step up to the plate did so with confidence, despite knowing that Yasuhiro Takemoto‘s shoes are impossible to fill. The aforementioned Kanna-centric episode #10, the warmest in content and delivery, was storyboarded and directed by Taichi Ogawa—someone called to start captaining projects now that the studio is in need of new creative leaders. It’s also encouraging that no one seemed to even notice that the equally beloved episode #09, with the show’s greatest high in the resolution to Tohru and Elma’s arc, was the very first one that Osaka native Minoru Ota directed and boarded on his own. With so much loss, every successful promotion at the studio feels like a great accomplishment.

And that takes us to the final point I wanted to make regarding this series. As deeply charming that I found Maidragon S to be, I believe that the show’s legacy will be in the necessary role it played in beginning the reconstruction of KyoAni’s one-of-a-kind pipeline. And to do that, first I have to explain one simple thing: how does KyoAni make anime?

If you’re thinking that they do it just like everyone else, you wouldn’t be wrong: none of their tech nor roles are fundamentally different after all. And yet, not only is it common to see industry folks mention that they’d also love to create anime in reduced groups like KyoAni’s, but also wondering out loud how the hell they manage to do that. Mind you, we’re talking about people who are already aware of the biggest strength of the studio, the one they themselves always allude to in documentaries and interviews: in-house teamwork. As also seen on the likes of ufotable, the efficiency and synergy you have in a team where everyone is at hands’ reach is simply incomparable to the nightmare of layered outsourcingOutsourcing: The process of subcontracting part of the work to other studios. Partial outsourcing is very common for tasks like key animation, coloring, backgrounds and the likes, but most TV anime also has instances of full outsourcing (グロス) where an episode is entirely handled by a different studio. that anime has become.

That’s the not-so-secret on a conceptual level, but again, what intrigues animators in particular is how they manage to organize their workload in such small groups without sacrificing any bit of quality. Their system built on animation units is something that we’ve been alluding to on this site for years, and that has also been brought up by those who’ve worked there. In short, the studio creates small groups—just a bit over a handful of members—that tend to stick together across multiple productions, until there’s enough of a break in their calendar that they have the time to reorganize according to the upcoming projects’ needs. Those units contain a director, an animation supervisor or two, just a few animators who are often on the younger side, and then one leader. That last figure is a veteran member who will keep track of the other animator’s work, assist them as much as possible, and call other unit leaders in case they feel like the schedule will catch up to them otherwise.

This system has worked like clockwork for many years, and is one of the big reasons why KyoAni productions have been so consistent in averaging only 6~8 key animators per episode; that corresponds to one of those units a week, and then a bit more as there are those occasions where other units tag in to help. Their consistency is such that you can guess the exact credits of an episode weeks in advance once you’ve noticed the patterns, with the caveat that individuals are sometimes shuffled around due to their specific skillset, which is essentially public knowledge when your team is this consistent.

At first glance, Maidragon S appears to follow that same pattern. It took under 7 key animators per episode—including 2nd KA2nd Key Animation (第二原画/第2原画, Daini Genga): This clean-up role makes its appearance when the work of key animators is too rough, unpolished or flat out unfinished. It can range from tidying up to drawing secondary elements that the key animator couldn't afford to draw. as they don’t credit it separately—and a single animation director on top of the chief supervision to produce the most consistently excellent show of its season. How does that compare to its peers, then? Halfway through the Summer season, we tracked the data of all new shows at the time to find out about how many people it takes to animate your average episode of anime nowadays.

The results were horrifying, even more so knowing that they were a pointlessly conservative estimate. While the numbers indicated that it took around 9 animation directors and 33 key animators (including 2nd KA2nd Key Animation (第二原画/第2原画, Daini Genga): This clean-up role makes its appearance when the work of key animators is too rough, unpolished or flat out unfinished. It can range from tidying up to drawing secondary elements that the key animator couldn't afford to draw.), way too many people nowadays are either forgotten or just lumped under a studio name. Incidentally, that’s the reason why didn’t even try to track in-betweeners, as they never get credited on a consistent basis. If you account for the ballooning numbers at the end of a season and the many names that get omitted, we’re looking at easily 40~50 animators a week just to get the keys finished; and productions are structured as pyramids, so you can guess what that means for the in-betweeners. Not only are those averages nearly an order of magnitude off from KyoAni’s data, they even dwarf their totals: between key animationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style. and supervision, only 35 different animators participated in the entirety of Maidragon.

All perfect then, right? By this point, you should know not to trust numbers. It goes without saying that KyoAni’s system works like wonders under regular circumstances, but no such thing has existed in recent years, especially for them. While the numbers remained low, Maidragon S didn’t actually have the smooth staff rotation that characterizes the studio, for the simple reason that the studio was by no means fully operative, or even on the same page in their struggles. Personal circumstances regarding the tragedy, the uneven effects it had on Kyoto versus Osaka staff, and so on led to a more chaotic—by their standards anyway—staff rotation, where some busy people made more appearances than they would have normally done just to cover for their peers, whereas others could barely contribute to it.

In the end, the result was as good as ever, but it’s important to remember that this project was quietly delayed for nearly a year. Had they been incapable of negotiating for a delay—hey, turns out that studios leading the committees is helpful!—even their excellent system might have crashed during the last stages of the production. In retrospect, it’s easy to look back on it and say that they overdid it, as the show was finished months before the broadcast in the end; it sounds crazy that ex-KyoAni members wrapped up their duties before leaving to start work that was broadcast 6 months prior, for what it says about both the schedules at play, but it’s much better to err on the side of caution when you’re in such a delicate position. Maidragon S was a fun series, but having managed this dangerous situation properly might be its greatest legacy in the long run.

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Episode 03

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue.: Noriyuki Kitanohara, Takuya Yamamura, Haruka Fujita
Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Noriyuki Kitanohara
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Kazumi Ikeda

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Hiroshi Karata, Rie Sezaki, Kayo Hikiyama, Seiya Kumano, Saeko Fujita, Yuki Yokoyama, Momoka Yoshizaki

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Episode 04

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue.: Tatsuya Ishihara
Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Shinpei Sawa
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can)., Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Miku Kadowaki

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Chiharu Kuroda, Saeko Fujita, Aoi Matsumoto, Yuki Yokoyama, Yusuke Miyahara, Mariko Takahashi

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Episode 05

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue., Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Noriyuki Kitanohara
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Yuki Tsunoda

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Rie Sezaki, Sae Sawada, Tomomi Sato, Chika Kamo, Mei Isai, Kengo Narimatsu

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Episode 06

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue.: Tatsuya Ishihara
Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Takuya Yamamura
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Kazumi Ikeda

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Yurika Ono, Momoka Yoshizaki, Tamami Tokuyama, Kakeru Isokawa, Aya Hikita, Ryouhei Muta, Maiko Hado

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Episode 07

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue.: Takuya Yamamura, Noriyuki Kitanohara
Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Minoru Ota
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Yuki Tsunoda

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Kunihiro Hane, Maiko Hado, Mei Isai, Kakeru Isokawa, Yoshinori Urata, Kyohei Ando, Chika Kamo

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Episode 08

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue., Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Shinpei Sawa
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Mariko Takahashi, Miku Kadowaki

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Ryouhei Muta, Sae Sawada, Tomomi Sato, Yusuke Miyahara, Taira Yamaguchi, Chiharu Kuroda, Aoi Matsumoto, Mariko Takahashi

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Episode 09

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue., Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Minoru Ota
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Kohei Okamura

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Tatsuya Sato, Ryo Miyagi, Yurika Ono, Tamami Tokuyama, Aya Hikita

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Episode 10

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue., Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Taichi Ogawa
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Kayo Hikiyama, Seiya Kumano

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Yoshinori Urata, Taira Yamaguchi, Aoi Matsumoto, Chika Kamo, Kengo Narimatsu, Tatsuya Sato, Kohei Okamura, Kayo Hikiyama, Seiya Kumano

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Episode 11

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue., Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Noriyuki Kitanohara
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Kazumi Ikeda

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Hiroshi Karata, Rie Sezaki, Yuki Yokoyama, Momoka Yoshizaki, Ryo Miyagi, Nami Kumasaki

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Episode 12

StoryboardStoryboard (絵コンテ, ekonte): The blueprints of animation. A series of usually simple drawings serving as anime's visual script, drawn on special sheets with fields for the animation cut number, notes for the staff and the matching lines of dialogue.: Takuya Yamamura, Tatsuya Ishihara
Episode DirectionEpisode Direction (演出, enshutsu): A creative but also coordinative task, as it entails supervising the many departments and artists involved in the production of an episode – approving animation layouts alongside the Animation Director, overseeing the work of the photography team, the art department, CG staff... The role also exists in movies, refering to the individuals similarly in charge of segments of the film.: Tatsuya Ishihara
Chief Animation DirectorChief Animation Director (総作画監督, Sou Sakuga Kantoku): Often an overall credit that tends to be in the hands of the character designer, though as of late messy projects with multiple Chief ADs have increased in number; moreso than the regular animation directors, their job is to ensure the characters look like they're supposed to. Consistency is their goal, which they will enforce as much as they want (and can).: Nobuaki Maruki
Animation DirectionAnimation Direction (作画監督, sakuga kantoku): The artists supervising the quality and consistency of the animation itself. They might correct cuts that deviate from the designs too much if they see it fit, but their job is mostly to ensure the motion is up to par while not looking too rough. Plenty of specialized Animation Direction roles exist – mecha, effects, creatures, all focused in one particular recurring element.: Yuki Tsunoda

Key AnimationKey Animation (原画, genga): These artists draw the pivotal moments within the animation, basically defining the motion without actually completing the cut. The anime industry is known for allowing these individual artists lots of room to express their own style.: Taichi Ishidate, Maiko Hado, Kyohei Ando, Mei Isai, Kakeru Isokawa, Kunihiro Hane, Minoru Ota, Yurika Ono

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