Maidragon is back. KyoAni is back—in more ways than one, having given free rein to the next generations of creators trained under the studio’s unstoppable mentorship system. All these efforts shared a rallying cry that the studio altogether has adopted after their tragedy: inspiration for the future.
Everyone knows what outsourcing means on a basic level, but at the same time, few get how it works in anime—so here’s a summary of this practice’s historical context, the logistics at play, and the impact on the creative process of the cause and cure of many anime industry problems.
Today we bring you this translated interview with SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon‘s director Akira Amemiya, talking about how each series came to be, the intent behind their unique direction, and how they ended up being studio Trigger’s best managed projects.
Studio Tonton’s excellent Naruto homage stands toe to toe with professional work, but don’t let its quality fool you: it was actually made by a group full of young artists and fans with no experience whatsoever in animation. We interviewed its producer Blou to find out how that’s even possible, and he explained their learning experience and struggles mastering the Japanese animation pipeline, shared resources for aspiring artists who need to grasp it, and talked about how this indie experience…
SSSS.Dynazenon is an already fascinating follow-up to 2018’s Gridman, an equally evocative love letter to tokusatsu and mecha titles that wears its Anno influences in its sleeves, while also being in conversation with its predecessor. Let’s see how the project came to be, the way they derived the show’s themes and focus from the creator’s passions of youth, and also its fortunate production.
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 production circumstances—with a lengthy talk about the increasingly more polarized state of the anime industry.
SK8 The Infinity and Wonder Egg Priority are two original passion projects, both also being high-profile productions that have been in the works for a long time. Despite being exactly what anime needs on paper, they have crashed to the point where only extreme crunch might allow them to make it to the goal by the intended date. Understanding their distinct issues will help you grasp the nuance of TV anime’s structural problems.
Tomomi Mochizuki’s seamless, all-encompassing approach to animated storytelling made him one of anime’s most brilliant directors in the 80s and 90s, setting him on a path he’s still walking through nowadays. Time for a primer on this terrific yet overlooked director!
Enjoy this deep dive into the unusual Winter 2021 anime season: let’s talk about its extraordinary concentration of brilliant creators and robust teams capable of supporting their ideas, but also the huge yet uneven impact of the pandemic, widening the already existing inequality rifts in the industry.
We’ve yet again gathered a team of fans from all over the world, as well as animators, directors, and indie creators to share their favorite works and creators in the world of animation according to various categories—2020 might have been a year to forget in many ways, but the least we can do is try to preserve some sweet memories. Enjoy the sakugabooru / Sakuga Blog Animation Awards 2020!