We’re back with our regular feature exploring the most fascinating opening and ending sequences of the anime season that has just begun; their thematic strengths, the staff that produced them, all those neat pieces of insight you hopefully will appreciate. Let’s go!
Since people enjoyed the quick look at the data last time, let’s once again wrap up a season of anime by tracking how many animators it took to finish every series and how each project tackled its workload.
Please enjoy this piece on the new series by Kazuya Tsurumaki, Evangelion‘s assistant director and the mind behind FLCL – titles that I promise I’m not just namedropping to catch your attention, but that are very relevant to his new work.
Masaaki Yuasa is without a doubt one of anime’s most unique voices; someone worthy of the endless praise he receives as an inventive director, but also a bit of an unsung hero as an actual animator. His particular brand of expressionism and relentless pursuit of love in unexpected corners make him a personal favorite of mine. So here’s the story of his new studio, and how tools can get in the way of the artist even if they’re not intrinsically…
Photos of Kyoto Animation’s new building have been surfacing as it was being built, thanks to very dedicated fans. It seems like there’s quite a lot of confusion about this development even within the Japanese fandom though, so let’s explore KyoAni’s studios and their specific purposes!
Let’s have a serious talk about the appreciation of art based off this season’s most profound and rich title. Kemono Friends, of course.
This long feature on Precure as a franchise comes to an end with an extensive look at its production. I hope you’re ready for some magical girl animation history.
As of late I’ve been talking about mainstream and family anime properties that don’t get all that much attention in the west. One of the few franchises that does have a bit of a fanbase is Precure, the everlasting kids show. Most fans don’t have much of an interest in a show openly aimed at young girls, but its sincere positivity and the fact that it’s one of the last strongholds for magical girls have made it gain a bit…
On the first part of this essay I addressed some common misconceptions about anime widely enjoyed by general audiences; first regarding misguided attitudes like mainstream acceptance being related to excellence and artistic intent, but also important facts like the existence of huge family series invisible in online discourse. And perhaps more relevant to people’s interest, a sample of latenight shows that managed to reach non-anime fans, which proved that the assumed biases against common aesthetics and premises are massively exaggerated…
Mainstream popularity is often looked down upon by snobby fans who deem themselves more refined than the masses, but anime’s peculiarities have caused the similarly ridiculous opposite thoughts to flourish; latenight titles have rightfully earned the scorn of many fans, and the subsequent demonization of otaku properties made the idea of anime not aimed at those niches sound inherently better. A very questionable train of thought, made even worse by the fact that most people don’t really know which titles…