#i like the mogami arc art direction

[nothingbizzare]

Look at yourself

[recentanimenews]

Studio Bones Celebrates 21 Years of Excellence!

I watched plenty of anime as a child—Pokémon, Digimon Tamers, Crush Gear Turbo. But much of it I absorbed passively, because my friends were watching it or it was airing on Toonami or because it was based on a video game I loved. I happily consumed all cartoons equally regardless of quality, chronology or origin. Then one day I discovered the manga series Fullmetal Alchemist, which was just then being published in English. After blazing through volumes of the comic, I discovered the Fullmetal Alchemist anime which aired in 2003.

  Just like that, I was hooked. Something in the anime adaptation spoke to me as a teenager: the plaintive choirs of the song “Brothers,” the sadness infecting Ed and Al's rollicking adventures. In the Philippines I sought the series out on Animax and implored by friends (confused by anime) to do the same. Later, in the United States, I would record overnight episodes on my parents's TiVo and watch them on Saturday afternoons with microwaved pizza in hand. To this day I have never seen the whole thing, and there are many other anime series I would rank above it. But in retrospect, the first Fullmetal Alchemist series is the first I understood and loved as an anime, rather than as a cartoon. It was my gateway.

  Then in college, I made a friend who had a similar experience with anime—but not with Fullmetal Alchemist. No, her turning point was Scrapped Princess, another animated fantasy series from 2003. Like Fullmetal Alchemist, Scrapped Princess combined an elaborate fantasy world packed with nested secrets, a constant sense of high adventure, and surprising darkness. Scrapped Princess's heroine, the bratty but well-meaning princess Pacifica, was hunted by her world as an instrument of its destruction; the medieval world she traversed with her friends was a cover-up for its true science-fictional origins. Just like I cried when Colonel Hughes met his end in Fullmetal Alchemist, my friend cried when Pacifica's love interest Fulle sacrifices his life to ensure her safety. And as Fullmetal Alchemist ends with a shocking twist that punches through the rules of its setting, Scrapped Princess wraps its fantasy narrative with robot dragons dueling in space.

  You probably know someone just like me, or just like her. Perhaps the series that turned them into anime fans was the recent Shounen Jump megahit My Hero Academia. Perhaps it was the spooky creatures and slick animation of Soul Eater. Or maybe it was Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which in 2009 tackled the full story of the original manga to excellent results. If you're an anime fan like me and you've been following along, you can probably guess the twist here. All of the shows mentioned so far were produced by Bones!

    Today, the famous studio Bones turns 21 years old! Founded in 1998 by Masahiko Minami, Hiroshi Osaka and Toshihiro Kawamoto—all veterans of the legendary mecha animation studio Sunrise—the studio has been releasing both adaptations of popular material and original series all this time. Much has changed in these 21 years: Gainax has fragmented into fiefdoms, Madhouse lost its famous producer, Masao Maruyama, and more anime is being produced than ever before, at a rate that threatens the health and sanity of those creating it. As chaos ravages the industry, Bones has been a rock. It's continued to produce series with ambitious worlds and settings, whether that be the skewed New York fantasia of Blood Blockade Battlefront or the political commentary of Un-Go. It has done so with consistently solid animation quality; famously, Bones chose to split My Hero Academia up into multiple seasons of material separated by breaks, rather than risk a production collapse in the strain of continuous release. If some have blasted Bones for often prioritizing that consistency over more flexible, visually experimental art... well, Bones also produced Space Dandy, which features some of the weirdest individual episodes of the past decade.

Bones has also consistently provided a venue for talented animators and directors to flex their muscles over these twenty-one years. Masahiro Ando directed one of the best action films in the history of the medium with Sword of the Stranger, but was also invited back to direct the eccentric Shakespearean action series Blast of Tempest and the endearing romance Snow White with the Red Hair. Takuya Igarashi set the stage for soon-to-be-legendary action sequences in Soul Eater and Star Driver, and even now is working with his favorite collaborators on pumping out seasons of fan-favorite series Bungo Stray Dogs. Star animator Yoshimichi Kameda rose to fame knocking scenes out of the park in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, most famously where Roy Mustang roasts Lust to a crisp. And of course you have Yutaka Nakamura, who some have claimed to be the most popular and influential action animator currently working today. Nakamura's work reaches across the studio's entire filmography, from the well-choreographed fisticuffs in Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door to multi-level sword on sword combat in Sword of the Stranger, to his current outrageous fights in Concrete Revolutio and My Hero Academia.

  And this only sums up a small portion of their total output! There's also RahXephon, an ambitious reversioning of Neon Genesis Evangelion that classmates of mine in college would insist was superior to its inspiration. You have the two seasons of Show by Rock!!, one of the most bizarre idol shows of all time that happens to feature some very good CG. Then there's Darker Than Black's cryptic worldbuilding and fantastic soundtrack by Yoko Kanno. Also, there's the spiritual sequel to Scrapped Princess, cult favorite Chaika -The Coffin Princess-. And of course, there's the skewed workplace drama of Hisone and Masotan. Even Bones's deep cuts rival the highlights of other studios.

To me there are two shows that most of all define Bones's past and future. The first is Eureka Seven, a big sloppy love letter to mecha series that pulls in elements from Gundam, Macross and Evangelion into a vast and emotional saga. Its complex and fascinating world, fantastic action, grounded character work and blockbuster sensibilities mark it out as what I would say is the studio's defining work, despite the flaws in its construction. The second is Mob Psycho 100, which stands alone as one of the wildest and most cutting-edge action series of the past several years. Yutaka Nakamura contributed some excellent scenes to the first season, but even he was outdone by the work of countless young and talented animators in season 2! Watching the Mogami arc, you can see the next generation of fantastic artists spreading their wings. The exciting future of a medium being stretched to its breaking point by the forces of commerce. May Bones give them the support they need to survive and thrive in the next twenty-one years.

If you would like to learn more about Bones, I highly recommend following @liborek3 on Twitter, and checking out his articles on Sakugablog (starting with this one!) I would also recommend seeking out Kim Morrissy's article on the studio's history, which heavily cites multiple interviews Bones released on their twentieth anniversary. Happy twenty-first birthday to Bones's many employees and graduates! I'll be waiting patiently in the corner for the third season of Mob Psycho 100.

Are you a fan of Studio Bones? Did they help introduce you to the medium? Do you have a favorite production by them? Let us know in the comments!

---

Adam W is a features writer at Crunchyroll. When he isn't repeatedly listening to the soundtrack for Eureka Seven Ao, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? Follow him on Twitter at: @wendeego

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[mp100ficrec]

Author Highlight Thursday: thejapanesemapletree

Author of A Risk of Going Through a Doorway Is That It May Be Locked Shut Behind You (they drew this cool art for a scene from this one) and the Ships at a Distance Have Every Man's Wish On Board-series.

thejapanesemapletree is a master at character dynamics, whether friends, family or lovers, with genres ranging from fluff to humor to hurt/comfort. Also the one and only source for KamuToku, as well as other minor characters interactions (Kamuro+Ritsu! Reigen+Shinra!!! The Telepathy Club!!).

Their writing style is so, so neat!! Like, really, they got that perfect balance of description - of appearances, similes, of feelings with a more distant view, and direct stream-of-consciousness feelings, - as well as dialogue. It’s soothing, even when the content itself is heartwrenching.

(I also consider their works character studies, because their grasp on the characters is just that good.)

A Risk of Going Through a Doorway Is That It May Be Locked Shut Behind You

Completed. Rated: T. Word Count: 43.309

“"You're always you, and that don't change, and you're always changing, and there's nothing you can do about it." (--Neil Gaiman, 'The Graveyard Book')”

I’ll scream about this fic until the end of dawn. It’s the plotty dad!Reigen fic I didn’t know I wanted. (Also, Mob and Teru meet in gradeschool here, so they’re childhood friends! Dimple playing a prank on Tome! Mogami-Arc Fix-It!! All the Ritsu angst and all the hurt/comfort for everyone)

Its ending also leaves more than half the Claw Arc open, which is hella frustrating, but hey, you read the plotty, finished and well-written part - this fic is a blessed fucking gem.

Ships at a Distance Have Every Man's Wish On Board

The ongoing KamuToku-series of not always related pieces, some of which focuses on the aftermath of other parties involved in the Clean-Up Arc. 

Wine and Flowers

gen!KamuToku. Completed. Rated: G. Word Count: 629.

““All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.” (--Zora Neale Hurston, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’)”

A much needed fic of Toku caring for Kamuro’s wounds, in- and external<3

Masses of religious imagery, calm down there, golden trash boy.

Vision of Roses and Pear Blossoms

A company piece to the first. Completed. Rated: G. Word Count: 623.

““She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was.” (--Zora Neale Hurston, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’)”

Tokugawa calls Ritsu out this time! (Boy, do I love how young and bitter they write Ritsu.)

Again, religious imagery. Ritsu also has issues.

Rose-Colored Horizons

KamuToku. Completed. Rated: G. Word Count: 621.

““When God had made The Man, he made him out of stuff that sung all the time and glittered all over. Some angels got jealous and chopped him into millions of pieces, but still he glittered and hummed. So they beat him down to nothing but sparks but each little spark had a shine and a song. So they covered each one over with mud. And the lonesomeness in the sparks make them hunt for one another.” (--Zora Neale Hurston, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’)”

Kamuro monologues about his feelings for Tokugawa as they kiss while watching TV. Nautical Imagery joins the religious one and the latter isn’t as prominent anymore.

Flower Poetry

KamuToku. Completed. Rated: G. Word Count: 1312.

““It was not death she feared. It was misunderstanding.” (--Zora Neale Hurston, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’)”

Tokugawa gets more or less helpful love advice from his siblings and gives Kamuro a gift. 

Here’s my favourite quote: ‘Maybe they would not have a wedding celebration of flowers and wine, or fit the roles that Haruna wanted them to, but it was not about that or her. It was about them, and what they had now, and if that was only chocolate, then so be it.’

Water Lilies

Onigawara Tenga/Mariko. Completed. Rated: G. Word Count: 1587.

““Some people could look at a mud puddle and see an ocean with ships.” (--Zora Neale Hurston, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’)”

In which Mariko (Tenga’s childhood friend) reminisces and apologizes. Can’t say I share the author’s fondness of the ship, but it’s nice to see such a minor character developed, not to mention how cute flustered Tenga is!

Stovetop Poppies

KamuToku. Completed. Rated: G. Word Count: 933.

““Whut is it dat keeps uh man from gettin’ burnt on uh red-hot stove—caution or nature?”

(--Zora Neale Hurtson, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’)”

They cuddle! Tokugawa confirmed as having a pet. This is the piece with the least amount of imagery as of yet,

[recentanimenews]

INTERVIEW: Mob Psycho’s Director is Changing Hearts and Getting in Trouble with the President of BONES

Editor's Note: This is a republication of a feature by Cayla Coats that originally appeared on Crunchyroll News on 3/30/19.

***

  Mob Psycho 100 isn’t really like any other anime. The art style and animation strike a perfect balance between strangeness and beauty and the writing and characters, seemingly simple at first glance, contain a deeply held message of kindness and personal growth. Tying all of this together is the series director–the person behind the scenes who brings every aspect of production together to bring Mob’s adventures to life.

We recently had the honor of getting to talk with Yuzuru Tachikawa, the director of the Mob Psycho 100 anime. As the second season of this extraordinary series draws to a close, we are proud to publish this interview with one of the most exciting creative voices working in anime today.

Crunchyroll: What is it like to work with ONE on a project? What sort of direction did ONE give you for this season?

Yuzuru Tachikawa: We had ONE sit in on our script meetings and proceeded writing the script while discussing opinions back and forth with him. ONE was worried about various things from the original (such as the name of the Telepathy Club) and said he wanted to change some things, but I think those are the things that make Mob Psycho what it is, so we left them as they are in the original.

  CR: Mob Psycho 100 has always had impressive animation, but this season has gone even further. How does your team maintain such a consistent, good quality of animation?

YT: We have members from season one still, and then animators who watched season one and wanted to participate, as well. I think this time around, a lot of our animators in their 20s are shining. Japanese animation can involve a lot of lines and be a lot of work, but there is a lot of freedom working on Mob Psycho, and it’s easy to work with us, so we have a lot of animators having fun at work. The action parts are more intense than the original manga and have been brought to life. We even got called into the president of BONES’ office because our fight scenes were so intense (lol).

  CR: On the topic of animation, it seems like this season has had a big focus on depicting the subtle emotions of the characters through their facial animation. Was this a big priority?

YT: There are a lot of emotional episodes in season two, so it was an important point to visually depict how characters were feeling. Action is important, but showing how characters feel is just as key. We can’t draw them just on a whim like in action scenes. They [the animators] had to get real close to draw these scenes, so they were a bit difficult for the staff.

  CR: Mob and Reigen have both grown a lot in the second season. Since Mob is such an expressionless character (besides his bishonen moment in Episode 5), was it hard to depict his emotional growth?

YT: It’s difficult. From a wide angle, it might look like he was smirking. We were always concerned with fine details like that. If he lets his expressions show too much, we’d lose what makes Mob who he is. At the end of this series, he completely becomes the protagonist. Please look forward to it.

  CR: Reigen has become a very popular character with Western fans, many of them saying that they have a crush on him! Were you expecting Reigen to become viewed as a handsome, cool character in the West?

YT: No, we weren’t (lol). He was a bit more mysterious in season one, but we see a lot more of who Reigen is in season two, so I think he’ll become even more appealing. It was a lot of fun depicting him facing himself and learning how to move forward.

  CR: Like the epic fight scenes in the Mogami arc, the second season of Mob Psycho 100 has had much more intense and serious aspects, yet it still manages to keep its silliness and charm.

How did you and your team balance darker plots like the Keiji Mogami possession episodes with the more lighthearted aspects of the series?

YT: That’s one of the best things about the original series, so we worked hard to maintain that. There are some parts we cut from serious scenes because they might get a little overpowering, but we’ve tried our best not to cut any comedy scenes. We keep that in mind for the music, too.

  CR: At the end of episode 5, after the evil spirit leaves Minori, there is a sequence where her facial expressions are meticulously animated and show a range of emotions from faking a smile to breaking down and crying to giving a genuine smile. How much attention was given to this scene in particular?

YT: She was originally the type of character who would attack others in order to protect herself. When she encounters Mob, that starts to change. The theme of season two is “change.” We are depicting those changes through drawings. We wanted to bring the fact that her emotions were changing in real time to life.

  CR: Even though most of the arcs this season have lasted about two episodes, it feels as if they all contain as much impact as a full series and leave fans feeling satisfied. How difficult was it to plan these short arcs and give them fulfilling conclusions?

YT: The manga was composed as a weekly serial, so we had to change the composition in the anime episode to make sure we matched the pacing and feel of the original. As long as we decide what we’re going to focus on, it’s not too difficult, but I also don’t like cutting things. As long as we have the time, we are fighting with the pacing in the anime.

  CR: Last but not least, do you have any message to the fans overseas?

YT: We are aware that the fanbase overseas is growing. Thank you all very much. We are concentrating on depicting Mob Psycho 100 as a story about youth and moving hearts rather than a story about psychic abilities, and we think that theme’s pretty universal. We want to continue making something where we don’t forget to be ourselves and we can still find amusing. The second half of the series is going to get intense, so I hope everyone will continue looking forward to it and supporting the series.

---

You can watch the series here.

  ---

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[recentanimenews]

INTERVIEW: Mob Psycho's Director is Changing Hearts and Getting in Trouble with the President of BONES

Mob Psycho 100 isn’t really like any other anime. The art style and animation strike a perfect balance between strangeness and beauty and the writing and characters, seemingly simple at first glance, contain a deeply held message of kindness and personal growth. Tying all of this together is the series director–the person behind the scenes who brings every aspect of production together to bring Mob’s adventures to life.

We recently had the honor of getting to talk with Yuzuru Tachikawa, the director of the Mob Psycho 100 anime. As the second season of this extraordinary series draws to a close, we are proud to publish this interview with one of the most exciting creative voices working in anime today.

Crunchyroll: What is it like to work with ONE on a project? What sort of direction did ONE give you for this season?

Yuzuru Tachikawa: We had ONE sit in on our script meetings and proceeded writing the script while discussing opinions back and forth with him. ONE was worried about various things from the original (such as the name of the Telepathy Club) and said he wanted to change some things, but I think those are the things that make Mob Psycho what it is, so we left them as they are in the original.

  CR: Mob Psycho 100 has always had impressive animation, but this season has gone even further. How does your team maintain such a consistent, good quality of animation?

YT: We have members from season one still, and then animators who watched season one and wanted to participate, as well. I think this time around, a lot of our animators in their 20s are shining. Japanese animation can involve a lot of lines and be a lot of work, but there is a lot of freedom working on Mob Psycho, and it’s easy to work with us, so we have a lot of animators having fun at work. The action parts are more intense than the original manga and have been brought to life. We even got called into the president of BONES’ office because our fight scenes were so intense (lol).

  CR: On the topic of animation, it seems like this season has had a big focus on depicting the subtle emotions of the characters through their facial animation. Was this a big priority?

YT: There are a lot of emotional episodes in season two, so it was an important point to visually depict how characters were feeling. Action is important, but showing how characters feel is just as key. We can’t draw them just on a whim like in action scenes. They [the animators] had to get real close to draw these scenes, so they were a bit difficult for the staff.

  CR: Mob and Reigen have both grown a lot in the second season. Since Mob is such an expressionless character (besides his bishonen moment in Episode 5), was it hard to depict his emotional growth?

YT: It’s difficult. From a wide angle, it might look like he was smirking. We were always concerned with fine details like that. If he lets his expressions show too much, we’d lose what makes Mob who he is. At the end of this series, he completely becomes the protagonist. Please look forward to it.

  CR: Reigen has become a very popular character with Western fans, many of them saying that they have a crush on him! Were you expecting Reigen to become viewed as a handsome, cool character in the West?

YT: No, we weren’t (lol). He was a bit more mysterious in season one, but we see a lot more of who Reigen is in season two, so I think he’ll become even more appealing. It was a lot of fun depicting him facing himself and learning how to move forward.

  CR: Like the epic fight scenes in the Mogami arc, the second season of Mob Psycho 100 has had much more intense and serious aspects, yet it still manages to keep its silliness and charm.

How did you and your team balance darker plots like the Keiji Mogami possession episodes with the more lighthearted aspects of the series?

YT: That’s one of the best things about the original series, so we worked hard to maintain that. There are some parts we cut from serious scenes because they might get a little overpowering, but we’ve tried our best not to cut any comedy scenes. We keep that in mind for the music, too.

  CR: At the end of episode 5, after the evil spirit leaves Minori, there is a sequence where her facial expressions are meticulously animated and show a range of emotions from faking a smile to breaking down and crying to giving a genuine smile. How much attention was given to this scene in particular?

YT: She was originally the type of character who would attack others in order to protect herself. When she encounters Mob, that starts to change. The theme of season two is “change.” We are depicting those changes through drawings. We wanted to bring the fact that her emotions were changing in real time to life.

  CR: Even though most of the arcs this season have lasted about two episodes, it feels as if they all contain as much impact as a full series and leave fans feeling satisfied. How difficult was it to plan these short arcs and give them fulfilling conclusions?

YT: The manga was composed as a weekly serial, so we had to change the composition in the anime episode to make sure we matched the pacing and feel of the original. As long as we decide what we’re going to focus on, it’s not too difficult, but I also don’t like cutting things. As long as we have the time, we are fighting with the pacing in the anime.

  CR: Last but not least, do you have any message to the fans overseas?

YT: We are aware that the fanbase overseas is growing. Thank you all very much. We are concentrating on depicting Mob Psycho 100 as a story about youth and moving hearts rather than a story about psychic abilities, and we think that theme’s pretty universal. We want to continue making something where we don’t forget to be ourselves and we can still find amusing. The second half of the series is going to get intense, so I hope everyone will continue looking forward to it and supporting the series.

---

The finale of Mob Psycho 100 season two airs this Monday. You can watch the series here.

  ---

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com