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‹ Friday, January 21, 2005 ›
Rumour has it that Tadashi Hiramatsu and Mamoru Hosoda are involved in the upcoming Genius Party, in addition to maybe Satoshi Kon and definitely Masaaki Yuasa. (I wish they'd change that embarrassing title.) It's curious how many of my favorite figures seem to gravitate towards 4°C. Hiramatsu is a real surprise. This will be his directing (kantoku) debut. He was talking about moving towards directing in that interview, but I didn't expect to see something so soon. Similarly, a year ago I read a piece by Hosoda commenting on Animatrix, which together with his appearance at a panel for Mind Game seems kind of a lead-in to this development. If Yasuhiro Aoki and maybe Furuya Shogo take part as well, I'll be happy as a pig in mud.
Word further has it that the film is inspired by or based on the works of Yasutaka Tsutsui. Yasutaka Tsutsui was one of the main writers of what the Japanese called "alternative sci-fi" around the 70s. Blending social satire with science and anything else that came to mind, Tsutsui is one of the few Japanese writers I've read for whom the word "genius" really seems like the bon mot - not a great writer in the literary sense, but a great explorer of ideas via the written word. About five years ago I discovered his books and devoured everything I could. I was in the UK at the time, and I'd make trips to London just to buy bagfulls of his books at 50p/pop. Another writer of this ilk is Shin'ichi Hoshi, the Japanese king of the short-short, whom Studio 4°C just turned to for a recent omnibus-format TV series. The anime industry has been rather thin on ideas of late; these writers offer some good ideas to help shake up tired anime thinking.
After more than a month of recapping, Tweeny Witches started up again today, with ten eps till the end, to commemorate which here's an anal list.
| Storyboard | Director | Animation Director | |
| 01 | Ashino/Aoki | Yoshiharu Ashino | ← |
| 02 | → | Yasuhiro Aoki | ← |
| 03 | → | Masahiko Kubo | ← |
| 04 | → | Yasuyuki Shimizu | ← |
| 05 | → | Toru Yoshida | ← |
| 06 | Yasuhiro Aoki | Daisuke Nakayama | Ken'ichi Yamaguchi |
| 07 | → | Yoshiharu Ashino | Kazuya Nomura |
| 08 | → | Yasuhiro Aoki | ← |
| 09 | → | Yasuyuki Shimizu | ← |
| 10 | → | Shogo Furuya | Hideki Sekiguchi |
| 11 | → | Masahiko Kubo | Kazuya Nomura |
| 12 | Sunao Katabuchi | Toru Yoshida | ← |
| 13 | → | Shogo Furuya | Ken'ichi Yamaguchi |
| 14 | → | Yasuhiro Aoki | ← |
| 15 | → | Toru Yoshida | ← |
| 16 | → | Yoshiharu Ashino | Hideki Sekiguchi |
| 17 | Yasuyuki Shimizu | Hirozaku Sueyoshi | ← |
| 18 | Yasuhiro Aoki | Toru Yoshida | ← |
| 19 | Toru Yoshida | Yoshiharu Ashino | Akira Tamura |
| 20 | → | Yasuhiro Aoki | ← |
| 21 | → | Shogo Furuya | ← |
| 22 | → | Hiroaki Ando | Kazuya Nomura |
| 23 | → | Chie Uratani | ← |
| 24 | Yoshiharu Ashino | Ken'ichi Yamaguchi | ← |
| 25 | → | Toru Yoshida | ← |
| 26 | → | Yasuhiro Aoki | ← |
| 27 | → | Shogo Furuya | ← |
| 28 | → | Hiroaki Ando | Kazuya Nomura |
| 29 | Yoshiharu Ashino | Hirokazu Sueyoshi | Akira Tamura |
| 30 | → | Chie Uratani | ← |
| 31 | Yoshiharu Ashino | Yumi Chiba | ← |
| 32 | → | Yasuhiro Aoki | ← |
| 33 | → | Shogo Furuya | ← |
| 34 | Yoshiharu Ashino | Toru Yoshida | ← |
| 35 | → | Yasuyuki Shimizu | ← |
| 36 | Yoshiharu Ashino | Yasuyuki Shimizu | ← |
| 37 | → | Yasuhiro Aoki | ← |
| 38 | → | Yasuhiro Aoki | ← |
| 39 | Yoshiharu Ashino | Yumi Chiba | ← |
| 40 | → | Yoshiharu Ashino | Kazuya Nomura |
| 絵コンテ | 演出 | 作画監督 | |
| 01 | 芦／青木 | 芦野芳晴 | ← |
| 02 | → | 青木康浩 | ← |
| 03 | → | 久保正彦 | ← |
| 04 | → | 清水保行 | ← |
| 05 | → | 吉田 徹 | ← |
| 06 | 青木康浩 | 中山大輔 | 山口賢一 |
| 07 | → | 芦野芳晴 | 野村和也 |
| 08 | → | 青木康浩 | ← |
| 09 | → | 清水保行 | ← |
| 10 | → | 古屋勝悟 | 関口英樹 |
| 11 | → | 久保正彦 | 野村和也 |
| 12 | 片淵須直 | 吉田 徹 | ← |
| 13 | → | 古屋勝悟 | 山口賢一 |
| 14 | → | 青木康浩 | ← |
| 15 | → | 吉田 徹 | ← |
| 16 | → | 芦野芳晴 | 関口英樹 |
| 17 | 清水保行 | 末吉宏一 | ← |
| 18 | 青木康浩 | 吉田 徹 | ← |
| 19 | 吉田 徹 | 芦野芳晴 | 田村 晃 |
| 20 | → | 青木康浩 | ← |
| 21 | → | 古屋勝悟 | ← |
| 22 | → | 安藤裕章 | 野村和也 |
| 23 | → | 浦谷千恵 | ← |
| 24 | 芦野芳晴 | 山口賢一 | ← |
| 25 | → | 吉田 徹 | ← |
| 26 | → | 青木康浩 | ← |
| 27 | → | 古屋勝悟 | ← |
| 28 | → | 安藤裕章 | 野村和也 |
| 29 | 芦野芳晴 | 末吉宏一 | 田村 晃 |
| 30 | → | 浦谷千恵 | ← |
| 31 | 芦野芳晴 | 千葉ゆみ | ← |
| 32 | → | 青木康浩 | ← |
| 33 | → | 古屋勝悟 | ← |
| 34 | 芦野芳晴 | 吉田 徹 | ← |
| 35 | → | 清水保行 | ← |
| 36 | 芦野芳晴 | 清水保行 | ← |
| 37 | → | 青木康浩 | ← |
| 38 | → | 青木康浩 | ← |
| 39 | 芦野芳晴 | 千葉ゆみ | ← |
| 40 | → | 芦野芳晴 | 野村和也 |
8 comments
Great news for the evolvement of Hiramatsu on genius Party.
There was something about it here :
http://homepage.mac.com/tadashi_01/Site/information.html
So it's for Studio 4c, it's good to know.
There was something about it here :
http://homepage.mac.com/tadashi_01/Site/information.html
So it's for Studio 4c, it's good to know.
01/22/05 @ 00:34
Great list, thanks. And it seems Gankutsuou 13 has Takaaki Wada (also ad and ed) and Yuriko Chiba (is it Chiba? Or Senba?). The good animation is clearly differentiated...
I'm a bit more motivated to go back and find more Tweeny Witches eps, I left off because I couldn't find them as easily...
I'm a bit more motivated to go back and find more Tweeny Witches eps, I left off because I couldn't find them as easily...
01/22/05 @ 18:26
Manuloz:
Isn't it, though? Can't wait to see what he does.
R.P.:
Glad I'm not the only one that likes lists like this. It's really interesting for this series because each episode is so patently different from the next in terms of design, so you get a feel for each person's style.
Yeah, I saw that Takaaki Wada ep. Absolutely right. It stands out wonderfully. Great stuff. All those wildly movemented reactions - like when the judge guy is about to be arrested. Though honestly I preferred his first episode, which had some great parts like where the guy does that funny thing with his tongue. Supposedly Wada's in for at least two more eps, so I guess I'll have to keep watching.
I'm pretty sure it's Chiba Yuriko. Nobody's called Senba. For people not familiar, she's the person who designed Planetes. Don't remember where else I've seen her name...
One thing that disappointed me was that Toshiyuki Inoue did a lot of work in I think the next ep (top of the KA list) but they didn't give him anything that stood out. Misuse of a great animator IMO.
For Tweeny Witches, it might be best to wait until you can watch it all at once, because the story can be massively confusing and goes by real fast if you watch one episode a week. But yeah, I highly recommend you watch the show, when you can. Classic in the making. Particularly Yasuhiro Aoki's episodes. His eps really eclipse everything else. Once you get used to his level, the other episodes seem outright boring in comparison.
Oh, and another reason you might want to wait is that the TV broadcast is in 4:3 but the series was made in widescreen. The DVDs are already being released, and people report that it's like seeing the show for the first time because, well, you literally are seeing like 30 or 40% of the information for the first time.
Isn't it, though? Can't wait to see what he does.
R.P.:
Glad I'm not the only one that likes lists like this. It's really interesting for this series because each episode is so patently different from the next in terms of design, so you get a feel for each person's style.
Yeah, I saw that Takaaki Wada ep. Absolutely right. It stands out wonderfully. Great stuff. All those wildly movemented reactions - like when the judge guy is about to be arrested. Though honestly I preferred his first episode, which had some great parts like where the guy does that funny thing with his tongue. Supposedly Wada's in for at least two more eps, so I guess I'll have to keep watching.
I'm pretty sure it's Chiba Yuriko. Nobody's called Senba. For people not familiar, she's the person who designed Planetes. Don't remember where else I've seen her name...
One thing that disappointed me was that Toshiyuki Inoue did a lot of work in I think the next ep (top of the KA list) but they didn't give him anything that stood out. Misuse of a great animator IMO.
For Tweeny Witches, it might be best to wait until you can watch it all at once, because the story can be massively confusing and goes by real fast if you watch one episode a week. But yeah, I highly recommend you watch the show, when you can. Classic in the making. Particularly Yasuhiro Aoki's episodes. His eps really eclipse everything else. Once you get used to his level, the other episodes seem outright boring in comparison.
Oh, and another reason you might want to wait is that the TV broadcast is in 4:3 but the series was made in widescreen. The DVDs are already being released, and people report that it's like seeing the show for the first time because, well, you literally are seeing like 30 or 40% of the information for the first time.
01/22/05 @ 18:47
Hm! my bad english ^^'
What I was saying is that i had seen something on the info page of Tempo 1 about an omnibus.
But there is no more info about what it was.
so my line should have been read like that :
"so it was for the studio 4c, good! good!
I'm very happpy for Hiramatsu can't wait to see what he will come up with.
_________
And I have read that Imaishi will be doing the opening sequence for this of Square Enix, Samurai Musashiden 2.
On the Gainax's diary i read that maybe he is doing it all by himself but i'm unsure.
___________
I had a question about Akiman.
he wrote this on hiramatsu BBS :
仕事募集！
はじめましてAKIMANです。
次回のガイナックスのアニメーションのキャラクターデザインを私に任せていただきたく、今回メール差し上げました。
どうでしょう平松さん。
I was wondering what he wanted?
does he want to work on a gainax anime as animator(or something else)?
then thx and continue the good work!!
ps. about Takaaki Wada, what i liked in his first episode was the girl playing piano and the wild expresion of her parent, it was reminescent of Tokyo GodFather.
What I was saying is that i had seen something on the info page of Tempo 1 about an omnibus.
But there is no more info about what it was.
so my line should have been read like that :
"so it was for the studio 4c, good! good!
I'm very happpy for Hiramatsu can't wait to see what he will come up with.
_________
And I have read that Imaishi will be doing the opening sequence for this of Square Enix, Samurai Musashiden 2.
On the Gainax's diary i read that maybe he is doing it all by himself but i'm unsure.
___________
I had a question about Akiman.
he wrote this on hiramatsu BBS :
仕事募集！
はじめましてAKIMANです。
次回のガイナックスのアニメーションのキャラクターデザインを私に任せていただきたく、今回メール差し上げました。
どうでしょう平松さん。
I was wondering what he wanted?
does he want to work on a gainax anime as animator(or something else)?
then thx and continue the good work!!
ps. about Takaaki Wada, what i liked in his first episode was the girl playing piano and the wild expresion of her parent, it was reminescent of Tokyo GodFather.
01/23/05 @ 01:07
Thanks Ben for mentioning the DVD is in widescreen, i love the art and animation but i was always bothered by the layout and composition, never considered the broadcaster would intentionally cut it in 4:3 what a relief (is there any good reason for doing something so horrible ?). I'm holding off a purchase of the subless R2 though, I'm pretty confident a brave smart publisher will license it and maybe even do a good dub, great show for kids too.
01/23/05 @ 06:01
neilworms [Visitor]
Thanks for the update on Genius Party, I thought it was canned because when I tried to access the website for it a couple months ago it wasn't found...
I'm really glad to know that its still going... and the lineup looks killer, even though the name is pretty pretentious I think it might be accurate :P
I'm really glad to know that its still going... and the lineup looks killer, even though the name is pretty pretentious I think it might be accurate :P
01/23/05 @ 10:12
Manuloz:
Your english was fine. I saw what you were referring to. Thanks for pointing it out. Seems he's also got two nameless "features" in planning.
Thanks for the tip about Imaishi. I didn't know that. I'm not in the habit of reading that diary. There's been a lot of work by good animators in game sequences, but it's impossible to find those over here usually, so I never bother to look. Doubt I'll get to see this one either.
I also noticed Yoshinori Kanada, Imaishi's big influence, did the op animated sequence for a game that was included in a recent issue of Young Magazine. I've seen some pics and it looks quite wild.
That Akiman post was a prank by some asshole pretending to be Akiman. Hiramatsu contacted the real Akiman by email and confirmed it. He was supposedly asking to do the character design on the next Gainax animation. As if someone would do that via a BBS.
And about Wada, I also loved that piano bit. So dramatic! I got his Kaleido Star key animation book, and it's great.
hym:
I agree it's best to wait for an R1. The R2s are expensive for what they are. It'll surely come out here one day. The only reason I can think of for them having done that is that it's very unusual to create a television series in widescreen as 4°C has done here. Perhaps they thought kids might turn off the TV if they saw a widescreen. No idea.
neilworms:
Nope, it's still going. Morimoto mentioned it on that episode of Digista, so it's for sure, probably for next summer. But the web site is still gone, mysteriously. I tried to look at it today and I get a Goo cooking website(?!). One thing I'm confused about is that I remembered hearing that this thing was supposed to be open to the public or something? From the look of it, it sounds like it's all being made in-house. (which I'm perfectly content with)
Your english was fine. I saw what you were referring to. Thanks for pointing it out. Seems he's also got two nameless "features" in planning.
Thanks for the tip about Imaishi. I didn't know that. I'm not in the habit of reading that diary. There's been a lot of work by good animators in game sequences, but it's impossible to find those over here usually, so I never bother to look. Doubt I'll get to see this one either.
I also noticed Yoshinori Kanada, Imaishi's big influence, did the op animated sequence for a game that was included in a recent issue of Young Magazine. I've seen some pics and it looks quite wild.
That Akiman post was a prank by some asshole pretending to be Akiman. Hiramatsu contacted the real Akiman by email and confirmed it. He was supposedly asking to do the character design on the next Gainax animation. As if someone would do that via a BBS.
And about Wada, I also loved that piano bit. So dramatic! I got his Kaleido Star key animation book, and it's great.
hym:
I agree it's best to wait for an R1. The R2s are expensive for what they are. It'll surely come out here one day. The only reason I can think of for them having done that is that it's very unusual to create a television series in widescreen as 4°C has done here. Perhaps they thought kids might turn off the TV if they saw a widescreen. No idea.
neilworms:
Nope, it's still going. Morimoto mentioned it on that episode of Digista, so it's for sure, probably for next summer. But the web site is still gone, mysteriously. I tried to look at it today and I get a Goo cooking website(?!). One thing I'm confused about is that I remembered hearing that this thing was supposed to be open to the public or something? From the look of it, it sounds like it's all being made in-house. (which I'm perfectly content with)
01/23/05 @ 11:31
Thx for the reply ^^
Too bad for that Akiman prank, i don't know him as an animator (i read on is HP that he worked on king gainer but never managed to see it).
But his work as illustrator are very impressive, and I was wondering if he is as good as an animator.
____
As for Genius Party, there is that report from Digista.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/digista/review/050122_cafe.html
With Tsuka and Chron (from catsuka forum)we "understood" that there will be 10 shorts, so there still some room for other Directors.
And that the animation work on Yuasa's short as just began.
http://www.catsuka.com/interf/forum/viewtopic.php?t=691&start=420
Too bad for that Akiman prank, i don't know him as an animator (i read on is HP that he worked on king gainer but never managed to see it).
But his work as illustrator are very impressive, and I was wondering if he is as good as an animator.
____
As for Genius Party, there is that report from Digista.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/digista/review/050122_cafe.html
With Tsuka and Chron (from catsuka forum)we "understood" that there will be 10 shorts, so there still some room for other Directors.
And that the animation work on Yuasa's short as just began.
http://www.catsuka.com/interf/forum/viewtopic.php?t=691&start=420
01/23/05 @ 12:15
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