Started Mamotte Shugogetten the other day after finishing Fun Fun Pharmacy. Needed more of my Kaizawa fix + this was the project he started to work on right when Fun Fun was winding down. Certainly not expecting anything here to reach the same heights as his previous project, but I'm always down for his uniquely eerie touch-- and it is here in smaller doses!
Always crafting scenes with an underlying tension to them even if the mood rarely calls for it. That's what makes his work so damn cool.
Or taking that same tension or playing it up for the sake of a gag! Filtered through Kaizawa's ominous lens, Shao's disconnect from modern culture has her seeing school gates as prison bars and dissections as full-on executions!
Next two episodes don't carry that same energy unfortunately. While neither of them have Kaizawa explicitly credited I was hoping his worldview for the show would feel more holistic and all encompassing. Instead it's just straightforward harem romcom hijinks-- with the gimmick being his love interests are Chinese spirits who fight over him while destroying everything in their path. So that's fun.
With my expectations reigned in episode 4 sorta creeped up on me. Still no Kaizawa in sight, but Konosuke Uda stepped up to the plate instead, crafting an interesting little episode.
While the whole show is about the clash between the magical and the mundane and the literal explosive outcomes that come from it-- Uda finds a calming middle ground. The episode comes out swinging with the love interests blowing up the classroom not even three minutes into the episode! And the aftermath? The students casually cleaning up the mess.
Love how he boarded this scene with the mob characters taking center stage, a thoughtful choice that made the setting feel lived in for the first time. Toei is infamously known having incredibly harsh sheet limits-- as in every episode should have a limited amount of drawings-- but I respect having the most animated part of the episode going towards towards a mundane scene, making the setting feel tangible.
The newfound tangibility of the setting is brought out by the sound design, swapping out the usual BGM for a more diegetic approach: the drips from a faucet or the waves calmly crashing on the shore. A light pleasant touch.
It's also consistently well drawn too. The most appealing take on the characters by far: Great looking close-ups...
And still great animation too! Though in a more understated way, it's hard to describe but this cut feels subtly lavish. Even if it isn't the most flashy or eye-catching, it's still a treat to look at. The volume as Shoko drags Shao away is so good..
While the episode was produced at Toei, the animation was outsourced to Dogakobo (Key Animation/Inbetweens). Was a jumpscare seeing Juinichiro Taniguchi in the credits, best known for being the Character Design for Madoka post-tv series. And a young Takashi Mukouda credited for inbetweens! One of my all time favorite artists and a wonderfully weird animator! They've still got a ways off before exploding into the animation powerhouse they became in the early 10s. But it's nice to see that the seeds were always there.
There's also just alot of fun "organic weirdness" that I love with these kinds of settings. Shao casually flying around on her dragon in the middle of a connivence store, or using her spirit to help clear traffic... but stacking them on top each other like it's a game. And while it turns some heads and pisses people off-- they treat it all like some minor annoyance at the end of the day. That what makes it fun.
Some random chick's riding around on her dragon again? Just another Tuesday.
This was a nice treat. Crafting such a pleasant atmosphere in a show that's typically comedy first. If Kaizawa can't do his usual thing here, I'd like the show to retain this tone instead-- or at least something close to it. I'm somewhat familiar with Uda: Watched and enjoyed Majin Bone, love Rainbow Fireflies-- though I understand that's a special case-- and.. that's pretty much it! Can't say I'm in a hurry to check out any of his contemporary stuff given he's trapped in the Mappa mines. But I'm looking forward to discovering and learning more about him. And watching more of the show too, of course.
Still on my Tokikake kick right now. Stumbled upon the official staff blog that was used to drum up hype for the movie. Tons of cool stuff there including an interview with the Art Director Nizo Yamamoto, with an added focus on the other BG painters as well. For some this was their first job straight out of University! Imagine your earliest work on anime was where Hosoda was at his coolest!
I was feeling nostalgic for a very specific era of CN, looking at bumps and shit, so I reached to one of the lead designers for the project and he was kind enough to let me interview him. Was a very fun convo. Bumpers are cool...
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