#katou hiroyuki

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The Alchemist of Turandot, by Gotou Keisuke and Katou Hiroyuki

[rhade-zapan]

Hiroyuki Katou + Keisuke Gotoh

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[junxyard]

Gradius

[mangacapsaicin]

hiroyuki katou & keisuke gotou’s gyorosu taitei no souon kikai || 加藤龍勇と後藤啓介の『ギョロス大帝の創音機械』

[cavalier-consciousness]

+ illustrations by japanese artist hiroyuki katou

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[y0suho]

Hiroyuki Katou

[hotwaterandmilk]

Just a quick reminder ahead of Comiket 104, the team who brought you the 'Tonde Buurin 20th Anniversary Anthology' doujinshi will be releasing their 'Tonde Buurin 30th Anniversary Anthology' on August 11th 2024.

For those who (like me) will not physically be attending Comiket, you can preorder the 44-page B5 book via Melon Books and Toranoana using your preferred proxy service.

The '20th Anniversary' book was notable for just how many staff members contributed their observations about the production and the 30th Anniversary is no different.

You've got a lot of returning contributors from the last Anniversary book including Ikeda Taeko (original creator), Katou Hiromi (animation character designer), Ishida Akira (voice actor), Shiratori Yuri (voice actor), Hayase Hiroyuki (sound director) and Suzuki Takayoshi (director) to name but a few.

I'm looking forward to receiving my copy because I'm a big fan of these behind-the-scenes staff books. I know Tonde Buurin isn't a hugely popular title, but it's still an interesting magical girl work and I'm keen to see what light this new book will shine on the production 30 years on.

[444lpblue]

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End #1-4 - It was... Perfect

Episode 1 - The Journey's End Screenplay: Tomohiro Suzuki Storyboard: Keiichirou Saitou Episode Director: Ayaka Tsuji Animation Director: Reiko Nagasawa Key Animators: Junko Abe, Shin Ogasawara, Ran Kamezawa, Jun Sekiguchi, Daiki Harashina, Kanata Yanagisawa, Shinichi Yoshikawa, Xujian Li, Odashi, Keisuke Kobayashi, Shinji Ootsuka, Hayato Kakita, Toshiyuki Satou, Ayaka Tsuji, Yoshiko Matsumura, Emi Yamazaki, Kanako Yoshida, Kerorira, Kou Yoshinari

Episode 2 - It Didn't Have to Be Magic... Screenplay: Tomohiro Suzuki Storyboard: Tomoya Kitagawa Episode Director: Tomoya Kitagawa Chief Animation Director: Reiko Nagasawa Animation Director: Ayaka Minoshima Key Animators: Junko Abe, Nobuhide Kariya, Toshiyuki Satou, Harumi Takagi, Daiki Tanaka, Masaho Hori, Yutaka Minowa, Kanata Yanagisawa, Xujian Li, Fuuko Abe, Kyousuke Ootori, Takahito Sakazume, Jura, Yuka Matsumura, Yukiko Watabe, Hayato Kakita, Hiroyuki Kobashi, Jun Sekiguchi, Airi Takahashi, Daiki Harashina, Ayaka Minoshima, Kouta Mori, Shinichi Yoshikawa, Aoi Ootani, Naoki Katou, Sanae Shitaya, Shinya Segawa, Zihan Liu

Episode 3 - Killing Magic Screenplay: Tomohiro Suzuki Storyboard: Daiki Harashina Episode Director: Daiki Harashina Chief Animation Director: Reiko Nagasawa Animation Director: Daiki Harashina Key Animators: Daiki Harashina, Junko Abe, Shin Ogasawara, Mai Toda, Kanata Yanagisawa, Daisuke Shibukawa, Kou Yoshinari, Fei Hung Donghua, Hanwen Ye, Tooru Iwazawa, Honami Takeuchi, Yoshiko Matsumura, Xujian Li, Yukiko Busa, Nonno

Episode 4 - The Land Where Souls Rest Screenplay: Tomohiro Suzuki Storyboard: Yoshiaki Kawajiri Episode Director: Kento Matsui Chief Animation Director: Reiko NagasawaAnimation Director: Ayaka Tsuji Key Animators: Shin Ogasawara, Hiroyuki Kobashi, Toshiyuki Satou, Harumi Takagi, Rie Arakawa, Yuka Koiso, Masahiro Yufune, Pinqiao Hui, Norifumi Kugai, Ayaka Satou, Jun Sekiguchi, Miyuki Inoue, Shuuji Maruyama, Ryuuguu-san, Yenxin Fan

Last week was utter hell, with a new class, a new schedule, and my sleep going out of whack. I'm still trying to readjust, and let me explain why I'm mentioning all of this. Almost nothing would have motivated me to get out of my zone and type this post except for Frieren. Frieren is one of my favorite manga series. If you've talked to me about anime/manga before, you would know this. So, ever since it was announced, it has been one of my most anticipated series. To add to that, Keiichirou Saitou was announced as the director. He's a great example of an upcoming new-gen director who has excelled in everything he's been a part of. From the beautiful and abstract EDs he created for The Executioner and Her Way of Life or Boogiepop, to the mesmerizing, dreamlike episodes he directed for Sonny Boy, and the expressive, now very popular Bocchi the Rock. He was a perfect choice as a director for a series like this, and let me tell you, he delivered fully.

Just from a quick glance, you can see how the show looks. Everything is eye-catching, making it almost hard to focus on one particular element because they all just look so good, and no, it's not just the chromatic aberration causing the lack of focus. The various departments responsible for compositing, the background, and the overall color design have done an outstanding job, creating a beautiful and cohesive piece of art. Seeing someone you might consider a less experienced director pulling off such a complete and harmonious experience is incredible. In terms of design, the whole show is aesthetically pleasing. It's not the experimental work you saw in Sonny Boy; it's going in a totally different direction, like a beautiful painting that should be framed on a wall.

It works very well when paired with, you know, how Frieren is as a story. The fantasy world they are in isn't an extremely unique one. You've seen it before; it's fairly typical in that sense. But that's not truly the point. The main focus is showing the day-to-day or year-to-year life of this immortal elf girl, Frieren, and how she views time, how she remembers her past. It's not an incredibly grand adventure, but with the small lens we have on these characters, it feels like a cherished moment, something that should be captured in a photo or painting. It's beautiful in a very simple way. It's not a series made for extremely large moments, I think Frieren has always been focused on a simpler view of life, much like a painting. The smaller details of such a straightforward approach are highlighted so well. The trees in the environment, the squirrels just moving around—there's so much life in each scene. It really all comes together for me like a piece of art.

The consistency lasts through all four episodes, and the staff distribution also seems fairly good, so I expect this to continue throughout the two cours. The pacing itself is perfect. I've really enjoyed how the story has been adapted to animation so far. I believe that nowadays, many anime series have fallen into the pitfalls of adapting things too quickly to capture the interest of newer viewers early on. However, the series composition for Frieren here is excellent.

This writeup might have been shorter than most people were expecting considering how amazing the anime adaptation is and how much I love the source material, but what can really be said about except just praising? I feel like even if you don't like the source material, the anime's execution is almost undeniably good. Additionally, as I said this past week has not been kind to me so my energy is a bit drained, at first I was planning to be more specific in my write up and make points more adhering to the specifics of each episode, but I didn't really have time for that. However, I will do my best to cover every Frieren episode weekly from now on. Make no mistake this is going to be my favorite series from this year.

[flavored-water]

extracted from episode 29 production notes.

By the way, about the unexpected "You think manga is that easy?!" incident...

When folks on the streets as well as trusted teammates have been turned into manga one by one, the Zenkaigers decide to lure the enemy out.

Kaito, suggesting that they should draw some manga manuscripts themselves, gets yelled at by Zox.

His impatience likely stems from the fact that his brothers are in the hands in the enemy.

It's clear to see though, that Zox holds very deep respect for manga, so much so that he would snap at Kaito, who he usually listens to.

For the matter, Zox's passion for manga is a trait that's a follow-up by Komura-san¹, who didn't miss Zox's very well-drawn maple syrup when he borrowed AbareKiller's power in episode 19, which was directed by director Katou².

On top of that, in episode 21, also directed by director Katou, though it's his copy, Zox steals a painting. He probably really enjoys looking at art and doing art himself!

Maybe there are yet more facets of aniki that we still don't know about?!

Next episode is also going to be a surprising Zox case?

He might be getting prissy over the Zenkaigers' lackluster tennis skills...!

We're going full power full force next week as well!

Gaon, hugging Kaito's manuscript carefully when he gets turned into manga...

Never change, buddy.

¹ Komura Junko, head writer of Zenkaiger

² Katou Hiroyuki, directed several episodes of Zenkaiger

[fossilshop]

Hiroyuki Katou, Keisuke Gotoh, Factlily

[superhair]

The Alchemist of Turandot, by Gotou Keisuke and Katou Hiroyuki

[rhade-zapan]

Hiroyuki Katou + Keisuke Gotoh 1988

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[dragon-wisteria]

No one asked but my top 5 tv anime soundtracks of all time (only counting from shows I've seen) are as follows, in no particular order:

Trigun Stampede by Katou Tatsuya

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica by Yuki Kajiura

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn by Hiroyuki Sawano

Tower of God by Kevin Penkin

Land of the Lustrous by Fujisawa Yoshiaki

Honourable mention for Noragami and Bungou Stray Dogs by Taku Iwasaki, which absolutely slap but can't make me cry on command

[wrenala]

The Alchemist of Turandot

Turandot no Renkinjutsushi

Katou Hiroyuki, Gotou Keisuke

[laikagohome]