10 years ago, Toei Animation released Nijiiro Hotaru: Rainbow Fireflies, the stunning culmination of a lengthy production to honor the iconic works of their past and the power of traditional animation altogether. A decade later, the loss of projects like this threatens the studio’s future.
Five years ago, we highlighted a woman who had yet to direct a single episode of anime as one of the most promising young creators in the entire industry. Today, she’s the mastermind behind the most celebrated moments of TV anime—this is Megumi Ishitani, who might genuinely be too good for her job.
Mamoru Hosoda and Takayuki Hirao, Pompo the Cinephile and One Piece Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island: two of the most brilliant anime filmmakers used their personal misfortunes to fuel very entertaining movies, processing their darker feelings through lively animation.
Our surprise for today is an exclusive interview with Yuki Hayashi – once Toei Animation’s ace, and now a highly regarded freelance animator. He talked about his lengthy experience at the studio, what pushed him to pursue animation, his working relationship with the one and only Rie Matsumoto, future plans, and a whole lot more!
Mamoru Hosoda’s theatrical career started 20 years ago with the Digimon Adventure short film, so this is a good opportunity to celebrate this unusual production and the evolution of one of anime’s most sincere storytellers. Enjoy!
Reiko Okuyama’s a legend in the anime industry for her artistic achievements and as an icon at the forefront of the fight for women’s rights in this industry. Now that her name’s entering the public discourse again, though, we have to address an uncomfortable topic: gender discrimination within the anime industry is far from over.
We’re back to highlight another rising anime star, perhaps one of the most exciting ones we’ve tackled. Someone whose talent, ambition, and unwillingness to back down has allowed him to shine as animator, supervisor, and even immediately make a splash in directorial duties after giving them a try. There’s no ceiling for Koudai Watanabe’s potential!
Toei Animation has started implementing new measures to improve the hellish working schedules of anime staff, but as it turns out, their half-hearted implementation has actually hurt employees more than it’s helped them. Let this serve as a bitter reminder that the problems with this industry should be addressed at their source.
It’s no exaggeration to say that outsourcing studios keep anime alive, and yet fans are still mostly unaware of their integral role in the production of their favorite shows. The disappearance of Studio Wanpack, the biggest company of this kind, serves as an opportunity to explain just how important they were, and also what’s been happening to the many animators who worked for them.
We often highlight interesting animators and directors who just irrupted into anime and are finding success at a young age, but some times we have to focus on the struggle of less fortunate individuals instead. At a time where anime needs the help of new creators more than ever, the working conditions for youngsters who want to join the industry have grown to be so poor that we’re stuck with very high attrition rates and miserable standards. It’s important that…