#Maeda Seiji

[ashitakaxsan]

Happy Anniversary, "Angel Beats!":)

On April 3, 2010 the airing of the original anime series "Angel Beats!"🎉Can we believe it's been 14 years since this emotional rollercoaster first aired?

Below:Yuzuri as he hugs Kanade

Through its blend of comedy, tragedy, and supernatural elements, Angel Beats touched on themes of life, death, friendship, and redemption in ways that still resonate with us today. Let's celebrate the unforgettable characters, thought-provoking storylines, and the powerful messages that continue to inspire us. Here's to Yuri, Otonashi, Kanade, and the rest of the SSS - thank you for the memories! 💫

Below: Our Great Yuri(with the magenta hair)and Kanade

Cheers to: The Creator Maeda Jun, Director Kishi Seiji, Producers Horikawa Kenji, Maruyama Hiro, Toba Yōsuke

[rockbellart]

[aihoshiino]

Episode 3 Rewatch: "Manga Based TV Drama"

YEAH WE'RE BACK ON THESE AGAIN!!! As much fun as the liveblog format was, I found it was actually getting in the way of me *doing* the liveblog (it could take multiple hours for me to watch and queue up One Single Episode) so I've decided to return to a format a bit more like my chapter reviews just in the desperate hopes of getting these actually done before season 2 airs. In the immortal words of Brian H oobh i got plany off time. But let's get to it real quick anyway!!!

I have a really soft spot in my heart for episode 3 in particular because it was the first episode I actually anticipated watching after I got into the show - episodes 1 & 2 were already out when I fully contracted brainworms so episode 3 was the first one I had to actually wait for. A lot of the cuts from it are like carved into my brain because I watched that episode preview so many times while waiting for it to air lol…

I've said this before but the anime's take on her really is what turned me into an active Kana Enjoyer. Megumi Han's delightful performance and her character acting an animation all combine to make it really hard not to be endeared to her. Her excitement at being reunited with Aqua is really cute, too - I remember Han saying that she was specifically told not to play Kana as a girl meeting an old crush but as someone excitedly reuniting with an old friend and I think that's particularly sweet. The AQKN dynamic at its heart is kind of just two lonely kids who don't have a lot of other connections that aren't couched in transactional utility creating a space together where they can just exist without any ulterior motives.

gotanda's words being visualized as literally skewering kana is so fucking funny too. bro killed her. you really can't blame her for biting back during dinner later lol

Kana's putting on a pretty positive face about it, but knowing how deeply alone and abanoned she feels by her parents, it's hard to not feel really sad about this scene. She's chipper about it but this is the first hint towards Kana's current honestly kind of dire circumstances we'll see get expanded on all the way to the end of the anime.

Aqua's refusal to let Kana see his old acting is also really interesting to me. Intentionally or not, it feels like it's sewing the seeds for some stuff in Tokyo Blade; Aqua respects Kana's acting and Kana herself as a professional to the degree that he doesn't want to 'lose' to her in that sense. Or rather, he'd be embarrassed to have someone he respects seeing him stumble like that - a little like Ruby's freakout in episode 1 over the idea of Ai, specifically, seeing her be bad at dancing.

Aqua trying to play it cool and then immediately nerding out when Kana mentions Sweet Today is so so so so soooooooo cute. I love it when that side of his personality pokes out…

KABURAGI NAMEDROP JUMPSCARE!!!!! i made the same face, aqua... I won't go into my Kaburagi Villain Propaganda here, but it really is so deeply suspicious that Kaburashi was on her oldest, most private phone…

KANA'S LITTLE 'I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE' MOMENT………. AQUMELT REAL AFTER ALL…. (NOT CLICKBAIT)

ruby's lain brand milk vexes and haunts me

Aqua's quietly pained, guilty expression when Ruby misreads his intentions for becoming an actor is so good, as is his cold internal dismissal of Ai's wish… it's funny to see him insisting he's not doing this for Ai's sake when really, everything Aqua does comes back to his mom.

Man, though. What even is there to say about the Sweet Today bits lmao. Holy shit. Particular shout out to Melt's seiyuu, Seiji Maeda, for making his in-character acting so authentically awkward and clunky without it coming off as overwrought or like he himself was giving a bad performance. That's suuuuuch a delicate thread to weave but he does it exceptionally well.

This scene also has one of my all time favourite punch ups from the manga - in the original, Ruby just kind of gets the manga from nowhere and makes the comparisons that way but the anime makes Aqua the one to go get his copy and start silently flipping through it to compare until Ruby snatches it… it really is the perfect teeing up for him to run off and tattle to Kana even though he was pretending he didn't give a shit lol. Dork ass boy.

This talk at the karaoke bar is really good, too. The directing is pretty simply but I feel like the anime producton really shows off just how strong its expression and character acting work is here which does a lot to help along what's otherwise a very static conversation. The contrast in Aqua and Kana's energy is also very fun - Aqua's really still while Kana's very animated.

The manga hasn't really touched on this in a while but the content of the conversation here also starts a thread that I really liked in the early parts of Oshi no Ko about how hard it is to create good art in an environment like the entertainment industry. Tokyo Blade centers this more and is almost explicitly a follow up to Sweet Today's exploration of this idea but the seeds are sewn here, of the necessary compromises that need to be made just to get something out the door and how that can ultimately destroy the final product no matter how many well-meaning and passionate people are doing their absolute best to make something worth engaging with.

i'm also pretty sure this talk is the first time we see aqua smile after episode 1… cute.

The directing also really shines in that little moment at the end where Kana grabs Aqua's hand. In prior cuts, the two are visually separated in that they're both sat apart and there are multiple lines running between them in the background to section them off from each other.

But then just as Kana breeches Aqua's defenses and disarms him, she physically reaches past all these little barriers to finally get into his space. It's subtle but well done.

His wide-eyed slightly stunned face is also really sweet. We see this look on Aqua a lot when it comes to Kana and it always makes me smile a bit. She's excellent at getting under his skin whether she means to or not.

"now my body has caught up with my mental age" says aqua, confirming his mental age is that of a teenager, and mfs are still out here acting like he's a 30 year old man.

Oof, oof and oof. Kana's little speech here already makes me so soft and knowing how it's going to be utterly spat upon in just a moment by Kaburagi's callousness towards her just makes it hurt even more. We continually see reference to this supposed good relationship between Kana and Kaburagi during this episode and so knowing that he's ultimately just another shitty adult taking advantage of her clear desperation… masaya kaburagi when i see you it's on sight

This is also a really fantastic character moment for Aqua, I think. He himself says he's done everything he needed to do on set, so there's no need for him to start shit like he does. It's purely out of respect and fondness for Kana as a person and anger on her behalf as a fellow actor. For as much as Aqua likes to convince himself he's a coldhearted bastard, he really just cannot help himself when it comes to leaping in and helping people. He's a lot like Ai in that once somebody has his heart, he's theirs for good.

i also just have to fucking Scream at this cut of him. it hit me like a fucking TRUCK when this episode dropped. because it doesn't quite look like the equivalent panel of the manga, does it?

But doesn't it feel super familiar, even so? Doesn't it remind you of something? I wonder wh-

OSHI NO KO ANIME STAFF, WHEN I GET YOU!!!!!! (ENRAGED) (POSITIVE)

[ecargmura]

Oshi No Ko Episode 17 Review - Melt's Redemption

This is the power of anime adaptations if given in the right hands. Doga Kobo really took their time and effort to creating an episode that gives both Melt a redemption arc and their studio into the limelight for that spectacular episode. I was so hooked and even shed some tears to see Melt finally getting that redemption he needed. You can say that I melted into the moment too.

Melt’s whole moment is for him to get people to see that he isn’t all looks and that he can take acting seriously! Before he got into acting, Melt was a bit of a conceited guy who knew he was hot and popular, but meeting Aqua and performing in Sweet Today gave him that reality check. It’s not just a battle within himself, but a battle against Sakuya and Yoriko, the two people who underestimated him the most. What I liked is that ever since the Sweet Today arc, Melt has been realizing that acting is serious business and that just because he’s all looks won’t get him anywhere and he won’t survive in the industry. That’s why he worked so hard. Even if he’s not as experienced as the others, he can still have his moment to shine—to have something to engrave into people’s minds. He gains Sakuya and Yoriko’s respect fully and Aqua is proud of him, giving him a genuine smile that he rarely gives others!

What I like is that he’s taking things seriously by taking in his surroundings. He’s listening to Aqua’s advice. He’s listening to his acting instructor’s words on gaining stamina. He was listening to Akane wondering about other characters and this caused him to try and understand his stage play character. He can’t take in everything and expect an instant level up, but he’s doing what he can with his capabilities and it paid off positively. Look at him now compared to his performance in Sweet Today. His line delivery became so good. He’s no longer that cringy actor from the past. Props to his voice actor Seiji Maeda for going above and beyond for this performance too! I am expecting his voice actor to get an influx of roles going forth after putting on that brilliant performance.

It’s not only Melt too, but everyone in this episode showed off their acting from what was shown in the episode and from the voice acting too! Koki Uchiyama shows off that he doesn’t always voice stoic emo boys and can do hot blooded perfectly well. Megumi Han shows off how versatile she is as a voice actress and it applies to Kana too! Yusuke Kobayashi also shows off how different he can sound when Sakuya is acting and his normal self. I feel like this episode was just a harmonious combination of well-animated scenes and well-voiced characters. This is why animation studios and voice actors are so important to elevate a manga adaptation. They’re the ones promoting this story hence why the audience has to be hooked and if things go well, those who basked in that spotlight will get lauded!

I wasn’t the only one who was crying. Mengo, who does the manga art for Oshi no Ko, revealed that they were crying as well! It was clearly a moving episode and it makes me wonder what will Doga Kobo animate for their future works. Were you moved by this episode as I was?

[lyferifaes]

The Story Of Flowing Water characters list

Canon (marked with *) + original characters to not get lost. All names are in Japanese order: family name -> given name

Contains spoilers, obviously! (spoilers to the newest chapters / the most spoilery ones will be under the cut)

~

~Daigo clan~

Tahomaru* — Lord of Ishikawa’s heir; new Lord of Ishikawa

Hyakkimaru* — Lord of Ishikawa’s heir

Daigo Kagemitsu* — previous Lord of Ishikawa, Hyakkimaru and Tahomaru’s father

Nui-no-Kata* — Kagemitsu’s wife, Tahomaru and Hyakkimaru’s mother

Daigo Iemitsu — Kagemitsu’s father, Tahomaru’s grandfather

Daigo Kageshige — Tahomaru’s great-grandfather

-

Yasue Mutsu* and Hyogo* — Tahomaru’s attendants

Umeko — Tahomaru’s wet nurse

Furi — Tahomaru’s maid

-

Maeda Masahiro — chief retainer of the clan; Tahomaru’s counsellor

Masashi — Masahiro’s youngest son 

Setsuna — Masahiro’s daughter

Mizuko — Masahiro’s wife

-

Imagawa Yoshinori — Kagemitsu’s retainer; leader of the coup

Taizo — Yoshinori’s third son

-

Saito Hajime — Commander of Cavalry

Ando Hideaki and Otani Tomoya — Saito’s adopted sons, Maeda Masahiro’s attendants

Shimura — Chief of Guard

Takagi — rearguard commander of the Daigo army

Yusuke — a random minor samurai

Yuichiro “Yusuke’s brother” — a samurai, Sen’s late husband 

Iwamoto Shinichi — a samurai, Furi’s adopted father 

Aunt Shiori — Shinichi’s sister; a cook at Daigo Castle

~

~Awazu clan~

Awazu Toshitsugu / monk Shunji — former Lord of Awazu domain, Nui’s father

Awazu Toshinaga — Toshitsugu’s younger brother, next Lord of Awazu domain

Awazu Takenaga — Toshinaga’s son, Nui’s cousin. Current Lord of Awazu domain

~

~Ikki~

Dororo*   — Dororo

Yahiko, Jiheita, Doushu* — Ikki leaders

Aki — a girl from Nagaimachi village; Dororo’s friend

Seki — a fisherman from Nagaimachi village

~

~Others~

Jukai* — a doctor, Hyakkimaru’s adopted father

Kaname* — Jukai’s apprentice

Biwamaru* — a wandering monk biwahoshi

Yuki* — Dororo’s horse

Sen — a woman in the mountain village

Mamoru and Yukio — Sen’s sons

Inee — Sen’s housemaid

Mai — Sen’s sister

Hina — Furi’s older sister, a ninja of Kurosaki clan

Uncle Goro — a ninja of Kurosaki clan

Asura* — the twelfth demon

Yamaburo* — Daigo’s spy (nameless in canon, so the name is my invention) 

~

!Chapter 12 spoilers!

Suma / Teacher / the warlock — Jukai’s brother

Seiji — a physician, Jukai’s adopted father

Aya — Seiji’s wife, Jukai’s adopted mother

Lord Shiba* — Jukai’s former lord 

Haruko — Jukai’s beloved 

[hadukilina]

💙Nanahoshi Ren (CV. Masahiro Ito)

🤎Yuto Goryo (CV. Hyuga Daisuke)

❤️Wataru Motoba (CV. Seiji Maeda)

💛Shiroishi Banri (CV. Hashimoto Shohei)

💚Kikyo Rio (CV. Morishima Shuta)

[daisukeshimadaworks]

曹楊 Young [ 極光 Northern Lights ] Musicvideo

Cast｜Arisa Nakano、Takako Kiriu Director｜Daisuke Shimada Cinematographer｜RAKUDA Lighting｜Yoshitaka Shimamura Production Designer｜Yuichi Ishida Stylist｜Masayo Morikawa Hair & Make-up｜Yuko Aika Location Cordinator｜Masaki Ohishi 1st Assistant Camera｜Norihiro Kishi 2nd Assistant Camera｜LU CHIEN Data Manager｜Daisuke Odachi Data Manager  Assistnat｜Seiji Uchida Chief Lighting Assistant｜Ryo Maeda Lighting Assistants｜Koji Kubota、Shinnosuke Watanabe、Hiroshi Kondo、Toru Nakayama Production Designer Assistants｜Himawari Matsumoto Stylist Assistants｜Haruka Momoki Transport｜Junichiro、Masao Kutsukake、Kazumi Sato、Misturu Shiba、Mitsuhiko Maruko Colorist｜Haruka Ariga Colorist  Assistant｜Kento Matsuda Online Editor｜Riku Kiyozuka Online Editor  Assistant｜Shusei Fujita MA Engineer｜Yasuhito Izutsu、Takeshi Okada Production Manager｜Wakana Hashimoto、Naoki Miyazawa Producer｜Koji Takayama Production｜TETRAPOT FILMS Coordinator｜TERIO inc. 〘曹楊團隊 Young’s Team〙 化妝師Make-up Artist｜ 簡偉文 Chien Wei Wen @ 美少女工作室 prettycool 髮型師Hair Stylist｜Edmund Lin @ Zoom Hairstyling 造型Stylist｜徐于筑 Norah Hsu @xuuxuustudio 平面側拍Still Photographer｜鄭宇傑 花絮側錄製作 BTS Videographer ｜Chippy Chen

[ultraericthered]

The Day I Became a God and the great Creator Breakdown.

Relating to the subject I just reblogged about.

So, I watched The Day I Became a God back in 2021, after having watched Jun Maeda’s previous anime, Charlotte, earlier that same year. My impressions were that Charlotte had a more interesting concept, better worldbuilding, and a way stronger cast of characters compared to The Day I Became a God, but The Day I Became a God was a marginally better series than Charlotte and the only time so far that Jun Maeda charted out a one cours anime narrative that could actually fit within that one cours. But when all was said and done, neither series held a candle to Clannad/After Story and Angel Beats!. Yoshiyuki Asai just isn’t a director on the level of Tatsuya Ishihara or Seiji Kishi, so he could never curb any of Maeda’s worse tendencies.

Only recently, however, did I learn about the reception The Day I Became a God was given online, especially its final episodes. To put it lightly, it....was not good. I mean, damn. DAMN. I felt that the ending had a good number of holes in it that needed patching up, but it didn’t leave me feeling furious or unsatisfied the way the Charlotte finale did. But the reaction of others, whether they be haters or actually constructive critical thinking people, was a lot harsher than mine. Why was this? And more intriguingly, why was the harshness so great that it led to Jun Maeda vanishing from social media without a trace following the last episode’s airing, with his disappearance lasting into early 2021, leading to much speculation (Was he legit depressed? Was it just immature inability to take criticism? Did his heart failure come back and catch up to him? Did he die of COVID? Did he commit suicide?), and for it to turn out later that he had indeed gotten depressed over the series tanking with so many and even had urges to hang himself, and he’s vowed to never write for another anime again, turning instead to mobile games (to similar results)?

From what I’ve gathered, this is what happened here: Jun Maeda was really, really, really taken in by what he came up with for The Day I Became a God. He’s a very naturally sentimental, emotionally sensitive and painstakingly sincere person who also happens to have had struggles with his mental health, which explains a lot about his melodramatic works and his early success with them, and he sincerely felt that the story and emotional core of this third anime of his was so moving and so powerful that it would put many of his earlier, most well-known tearjerkers to shame. He was passionate about his work on this show and eager to get it out there. And this reached the point of something I’d not even noticed at first about that final episode but now cannot unsee it - the big emotional climax of the show is almost a shot-for-shot copycat of what was probably the biggest tearjerker moment in the Clannad After Story anime.

But when that finale aired, there was a mass rejection of what was depicted. Most viewers were not taken in by the big tearjerker finish, as far too many got stuck on all the problems with the writing of this storyline, the unfortunate implications and ableist narrative tropes that were being pushed, and the sheer cheap shot of emotional manipulation using a mentally handicapped child. This clearly caught Maeda off guard and wounded him emotionally and psychologically, to think that the vision he’d thought was so beautiful and heartfelt was seen as absolute garbage by so many people on social media.

So what was Maeda’s big mistake here? I mean, aside from engagement with social media to start with? It’s not what his personal feelings towards this work were, he’s got the right to think and feel what he does; it’s that he publicly broadcast those personal feelings in advance. Before the anime was set to premiere, Maeda stated that this was to be “the most heartbreaking anime of all time.” Not just HIS most heartbreaking work, THE most heartbreaking anime, and that it’s something he actively strived for. When you make such a bold claim, you will naturally raise expectations for the project you’re hyping up, and if you cannot deliver on making the project live up to that hype, people will naturally feel let down, even outraged like they’d been misled. And that’s exactly what ended up happening. Maeda did not know how to respond to it, so for a while, he didn’t.

That’s how this little 12 episode anime ended up being Jun Maeda’s downfall, and it’s ironically a much sadder story than the story that’s told in the anime itself. It was a tragedy of human error all around.

[marenhoshifonia]

I can't stop laughing after I saw this

[leenaevilin]

[Announcement] 舞台「ROAD59 -新時代任侠特区-」摩天楼ヨザクラ抗争(butai road59 -shinjidai jinkyou tokku- matenrou yozakura kousou)

the Blu-ray will be released on September 22nd, 2021☆ ☆ ☆

[kaydeedc]

07-01-21

Happy Birthday, Maeda Seiji!

He is the seiyuu of Sachertorte and Croissant (Food Fantasy).

He also voiced Yamabuki Shou (Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara)!

Looking forward to more of his roles~

[leenaevilin-stage-market]

[Video] 舞台「ROAD59 -新時代任侠特区-」(butai road59 -shinjidai jinkyou tokku-)

the Blu-ray will be released on April 14th, 2021☆ ☆ ☆

☆ Blu-ray         ♪ Amazon ☆ Blu-ray         ♪ CD Japan

[kie-kois]

hi i love ogajin with all my heart

[galileosunshine]

「Steady Goes!」ARGONAVIS 0-1st Live Video (Maeda Seiji vocals ver.)

Watch the full version of Argonavis' first original song performed at their first live!!!

[fakerustyfeed]

Low Poly Art of Seiji Maeda from ROAD59

Image source: https://twitter.com/seiji_maeda000/status/1352964940735205383

[kazarinn]

Digimon Adventure LAST EVOLUTION Kizuna movie pamphlet interviews

I’ve finally translated all of the cast and staff interviews from the official LAST EVOLUTION Kizuna movie pamphlet! I highly recommend them as a read for anyone interested in the creative background and process behind the movie, so please do check it out if you’re interested!

Since these were sold directly at the theatrical screenings, do be warned that there are major spoilers!

Mayu Matsuoka (Voice actress for Menoa Belllucci)

Natsuki Hanae and Chika Sakamoto (Voice actors for Taichi Yagami and Agumon)

Other voice cast members

Creator group talk (Director Tomohisa Taguchi, chief animation director Seiji Tachikawa, unit directors Kazuki Oohashi and Shinichirou Ueda, and key animator Takuya Miyahara)

Akatsuki Yamatoya (Scriptwriter)

Harumi Fuuki (BGM composer)

Ayumi Miyazaki and AiM (Music artists)

Yousuke Kinoshita (Producer)