I want to talk more about animation, so I have started a new column, Manga Miscellany; a series of posts dedicated to an assortment of manga and anime work. It features short profiles of filmmakers, series, features and techniques. These won’t be in any particular order, and are partly inspired by the work I did recently on Manga Impact! Take a look. My hope is you will certainly know some but not all. Its more celebration than investigation, if you know what I mean.

APPLESEED
Deunan Knute is the brainchild of mangaka Shirow Masumune, and the female protagonist of Appleseed, a franchise which now spans several films, games, and television series. She fights on behalf of the the dictator Athena, alongside her cyborg companion Briareus, in defence of a great utopian metropolis. All is not as it seems however, as slowly the suicide rate begins to rise — people aren’t happy in their carefully constructed city, and religious and political terrorist factions have emerged to rail against the status quo. As trouble erupts so Deunan and her allies are there to quash it.

Appleseed lays out many of the themes and modes of characterisation that Shirow would later explore more fully in his canonical manga Ghost in the Shell (1989; 1991). It establishes a complex framework in which distinctions between good and bad are progressively blurred. The pro-human independence terrorists are lead by a cyborg, and the dictator acts benevolently; this topsy turvy logic to the world is much like the state of emergency and constant terror refined by Shirow in Black Magic M-66 (1983; 1985; 1987).

In recent years Aramaki Shinji has directed a new Appleseed movie (2004), which utilises full computer generated characters to retell the story of Deunan and Briareus. Particularly noteworthy is the experimental visual treatment, which sits somewhere between an anime aesthetic and full computer generated imagery in the style of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001). The final outcome is not wholly successful, since the different styles produce differing expectations, but it is a noteworthy experiment nonetheless.

DOOMED MEGALOPOLIS/ TEITO MONOGATARI
Rintaro’s four-part OVA Doomed Megalopolis played a central role in the wave of anime imported to the UK and Europe in the 1990s. It was distinguished by its high production quality and mature and complex narrative. The series’ incredible special effects sequences highlighted to early animation audiences the potential for anime to challenge and subvert assumptions about anime as an economic, simplified and cartoony form. Shifting black forms transform from viscous blobs to crows and back; magical combat is delivered with nerve-shredding pace and intensity; Doomed Megalopolis is a highlight in the otherwise patchy quality of early anime exports.

The malevolent spirit Yasunori Kato has emerged to spread his shadow over the city of Tokyo. In the wake of modernisation, this demon from antiquity threatens to derail the progress of city officials. Embroiled in a complex spiritual struggle with the Onmyoji priest Yamumasa Hirai, Kato seeks to resurrect and appease the spirit of Taira no Masakado, and ancient demigod that rests under the city.

A mysterious woman emerges from the ensemble cast to challenge the tyranny of Kato, after Hirai is defeated. The priestess Keiko Meiko emerges to challenge and subvert the black magic of Kato. She has been summoned by Masakado, the very spirit Kato had attempted to control. In their penultimate struggle, the forces of darkness and light neutralise one another, and Keiko, as the spirit of mercy, finally ends Kato’s reign of terror.

GETSUMEN TO HEIKI MIINA
Miina juggles two lives as a high school student and television presenter. Her clumsy and distracted demeanour are only skin deep, as she proves herself to be a hugely capable and ambitious young woman. As a sportscaster she has become something of a sensation. The televised sports of planet earth have become a hugely desirable commodity among the races of the cosmos. Alien races scrabble to see the latest human sports spectacle; yes, sports are earth’s singlemost important and unique contribution to the universe and its culture.

So when alien rabbits from outer space begin to attack the earth through a series of outlandish public spectacles, including the kidnapping and substitution of famous baseball players, Miina is called in to respond. Through a secret moon base, she is afforded technological super powers to combat the rabbit threat. A transformation sequence ensues that recalls the memorable costume changes of Go Nagai’s Cutey Honey (1973) and magical girl anime like Clamp’s CardCaptor Sakura (1996).

Getsumen To Heiki Miina can be considered part of the tradition of surreal and satirical comedy that is core to contemporary anime. In builds on the traditions of Urusei Yatsura (1978; 1981; 1985) and Project A-ko (1986) Alongside series such as Keroro Gunsou (1999; 2004). The series subverts the tropes of the magical girl anime and conflates it with the high velocity action of Super Sentai (Power Rangers) aesthetics, parodying the worlds evoked by Sailor Moon and Project A-ko. The latter is recalled with spectacular effect during the combat set pieces that characterise each episode. The series actually began as fictitious series within the live action television show Densha Otoko (2005-present), though the anime differs in storyline and art style from its live-action namesake. The image of the superpowered bunny girl recalls the protagonist of Gainax’s breakthrough 8mm film sequence Daicon IV (1983), and this in turn betrays the Otaku references that figure strongly in the world of Getsumen To Heiki Miina.

JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE
From the imagination of Hirohiko Araki, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is a tour de force through a surreal world which on the surface resembles Hara Tetsuo’s Fist of the North Star (1893-1988), but is much more in keeping with the surreal alternative manga of Junji Ito or even, in its deliberate absurdity, Shuntaro Kago. The story follows the successive generations of the Joestar family in their long-running feud with the malevolent Dio, aristocrat turned vampire. Imagine Twin Peaks on steroids, and you have some approximation of the Jojo’s experience.

Jojo’s Bizarre adventure is Shonen Magazine’s second longest running manga series. It is organised into various cycles or parts which take place in a variety of timeframes, with different characters taking centre stage. We begin in the 1880s, then move to the 1930s, then to the 1980s, and then finally to the 1990s. In each instance, a member of the Joestar lineage faces off against Dio or one of his many malevolent companions.

The intensely surreal premise and serial narrative of Jojo’s often overshadows any discussion of its art and animation. In the OVA anime series (1993; 2001) incredibly simple plot components contrast to finely animated and ingenious action sequences which exhibit some very fine keyframe animation and shot construction. If its effects animation, Jojo’s is second to none, and the final conflict between Dio and Jotaro Joestar in the final episode of the prequel demonstrates moments of anime action direction at its finest.

KAZUNORI ITO
Kazunori Ito is best known for his work as a screenwriter and script editor on several high profile feature films, manga adaptations and television serials. His contributions place him at the centre of developments in anime from the mid-eighties onward. He is a member of Headgear, a collective of five manga artists and writers, including director Oshii Mamoru and character designer Takada Akemi.

He came to prominence in 1986 with adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi’s domestic melodrama Maison Ikkoku and the ’suburban space-opera’ Urusei Yatsura. Ito is also the creator of the .Hack (“dot-hack”) franchise, which employs manga, anime, videogame, tv and costume media. The franchise is anticipates many of the themes of contemporary cyber-crime anime such as Iso Mitsuo’s Denno Coil (2007) and Shirow Masamune’s Real Drive (2008), and is unique in its audacious use of mixed multimedia platforms.

Ito is perhaps best known for his work as screenwriter for director Oshii Mamoru. The two have been longtime collaborators, working together on the prominent mecha movie Patlabor: The Movie (1989) and its sequel. In 1995 the pair collaborated in the adaptation of Shirow Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell (1995), certainly Oshii’s best known work and one of the defining anime works of the nineties. Ito’s signature intellectualism and wit added a new take on the Ghost in the Shell characters, and has inspired the new generation of conscientious and psychological works indicative of millenial anime.

LA BLUE GIRL
La Blue Girl by Maeda Toshio is best known for its erotic horror visuals. Like many of his other works, including most notably Urotsukidoji (“Legend of the Overfiend”, 1986; 1987-1995), La Blue Girl features ‘tentacle rape’ scenes, the invention of which Maeda would likely claim as his. Public opinion about such explicit sex anime have often overshadowed what is an extremely successful franchise.

The story follows the exploits of Miko Mido, an apprentice ninja and future leader of her clan. Through the power of a special talisman the Miroku clan exert control over a race of bestial demons, the Shikima, and preserve the status quo. However, when thieves steal this talisman, chaos ensues and Miko Mido must subdue by force the sex-crazed ranks of the Shikima. Sex serves a number of mediating functions in the world of La Blue Girl; sex magic enables the movement of characters to and from the world of the Shikima — it also served to make the series on the signature censorship cases of the nineties.

Outside of Japan, La Blue Girl courted controversy for its erotic scenes, and was heavily censored for European and American territories. Most famously, it was banned outright for sale on video in the United Kingdom. Alongwith Urotsukidoji, La Blue Girl’s unapologetic sexuality arrived at a time when anime and manga were first penetrating mainstream markets. Many of the press controversies over the adult nature of anime cite La Blue Girl, and fail to recognise how its quirky humour and visual puns act as foil to the sexual scenarios.

LAMU/ URUSEI YATSURA
Urusei Yatsura (1978; 1983; 1985) plays a crucial role in the development of anime fandom in the West. Beyond the sensationalism of anime erotica and the boy’s club of giant robots, Urusei Yatsura was one of the first franchises to present to audiences a world in which rich Japanese mythology and folklore was presented with an unapologetic a contemporary twist. These exotic details made the tv show, manga and movies a favourite with nascent ‘otaku’ (highly committed fans) who could delight in the obscurity and spectacle of each episode.

The perverted teenager Moroboshi Ataru and space-alien princess Lamu (“Lum”) are the protagonists of Urusei Yatsura, and the image of Lamu was perhaps the definitive icon of Japanese anime, certainly in the West, throughout the 1980s. They meet though a chance encounter in the first episode, as Ataru stumbles across the invading forces of Lamu’s otherworldly empire. Chosen through an apparently ‘random’ computer system, Ataru is challenged to a game of tag against the beautiful bikini-babe Lamu, daughter of the invading King. Though a series of chance exchanges that see Ataru winning the game of tag and ending up betrothed to Lamu, the series charts the surreal relationship between lascivious Ataru, jealous Lamu, and an eccentric mix of ensemble characters.

Aside from introducing a generation of budding anime and manga fans to the complexity and imagination of (albeit caricatured) Japanese mythology, it is important to note the importance of Urusei Yatsura in establishing anime comedy. The loaded pauses, surreal slapstick and comedy of errors that Ataru and Lamu inflict upon one another weave a rich social picture contrary to the ostensibly violent and serious view of anime driven by other franchises. The incredible sensation of fun that exudes from Urusei Yatsura is timeless.

MAEDA MAHIRO
One of the premiere creatives working today in the anime industries, Maeda Mahiro is best known for his work as designer of the Angels in Anno Hideaki’s masterpiece Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996). At the time of release, the sleek organic form and gnostic geometries of the Angel enemies were highly original. Maeda earned his pedigree working as an inbetweener and animators for Studio Ghibi, and later for director Anno Hideaki on Wings of Honneamise (1987).

As a director in his own right Maeda was responsible for Blue Submarine No. 6, an adventure inspired by the tales of Jules Verne, which exhibits Maeda’s trademark inventiveness in character design and animation. Maeda’s character designs combine fleeting curved forms with sharp twists and points. This design aesthetic is uniquely animation orientated, where the addition of motion combines with the quality of the shape and form to create a sensuous overall image.

Maeda’s work reached a large international audience in Quentin Tarantino’s two part martial arts epic Kill Bill (2003). He provided keyframe animation for the animated segments that develop the backstory of assassin O-Ren Ishii. His trademark movement and animation style, with its fluid squash and stretch and intense detail, is also discernable in his contribution to the Animatrix (2003) short film collection.

ONE PIECE
After eating the magical devil fruit, aspiring pirate Luffy discovers that he is invincibly tough and strong, with his only achilles heel being that he sinks in water. Monkey D. Luffy is the protagonist of Oda Eichiro’s epic manga One Piece (1997-present), the tale of a rag tag cohort of pirates, who sail the worlds ocean in search of the eponymous mythic treasure, ‘One Piece’.

The serial manga began life as a short one page submission entitled Romance Dawn, and this would later become the title of the series first chapter. Oda began his manga career at a remarkably young age; at 17 he submitted a competition entry to the infamous Tezuka award and achieved second place success. This secured him a place as an assistant to various projects at Shonen Jump magazine, and at age 19 he would get the opportunity to create the aforementioned Romance Dawn. In many respects the precocious narrative of Luffy corresponds to that of his creator Oda, both beginning their adventure aged 17, and quickly moving into a fast paced adult world seeking fame and fortune.

Oda cites Toriyama Akira’s Dragon Ball Z (1984-1995) manga as his main influence, and its clear through the epic storyline, ensemble cast and spectacular battles which carry over into One Piece. The deferral of plot conclusion, where situations are left open ended to allow for the return, resurrection and recombination of characters and ideas is core to the narrative of Dragon Ball Z, and this device is core to how Oda continues to tackle One Piece’s epic story.

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE
Saya is the last of her kind, a vampire turned vampire killer. The monstrous Chiropteran vampires, hulking beasts with a hunger for human blood, stalk a remote US army base. As soon as she arrives, Saya gets to work systematically disassembling them with elegant flourishes of her katana. These bat men heal incredibly quickly; only through substantial blood loss can they be put to death. The dark, gothic mood of the piece and existential themes mark it out as part of the new wave of millenial manga, alongside Ghost in the Shell (1995), that make a claim for new depths in anime characterisation.

Blood the Last Vampire is distinguished by both its incredible achievement in animation and the questions that hang over its production, and in particular its length running at approximately 50 mins. The animation of action sequences featuring Saya and the silent exploits of her enemy are incredible, demonstrating a cinematographic style and attitude to movement quite unique at the time. Also, the use of a tertiary colour palette of greys, browns and oranges conveys the clear influence of Shii Mamoru on the production (Oshii had penned the original concept for the later manga).

Saya inevitably invites comparisons with that other female vampire hunter Buffy, and this is tenable since the film was one of the first anime to be directed and produced entirely in English, with Japanese subtitles. Producers Aniplex and Production I.G. were keen to make a new title which addressed the burgeoning overseas market. The length of Blood, a 50 minute ‘feature’, has been a source of criticism for many commentators; we might however compare it to the classic horror movies of the 1930s by James Whale, such as Frankenstein (1931), which ran at 60 minutes.

MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO
Totoro is perhaps the most enigmatic and iconic of all Miyazaki Hayao’s fantasy characters, and certainly contends for top spot among Japanese animations most infamous creatures. An imaginary recombination of owl and bear, the giant Totoro invites us to reconnect with our collective childhood. Through Sastsuki and Mei, the protagonists of the 1988 feature anime My Neighbour Totoro, we are projected into the forests of postwar Japan with a child’s-eye-view.

My Neighbour Totoro (1988) is certainly one of the most important anime, for the simple reason that it presented to the world a vision that competed with the Disney product on its own terms, but outside of the Holywood model. Through the work of Miyazaki Hayao and the Ghibli studio, anime changed from being in a dialectic with North American animation, in which anime stood for violence and adult themes, to a national film practice that was no longer reliant on comparisons to North America. Through the critical acclaim afforded to My Neighbour Totoro worldwide, public opinion on anime would be changed forever.

My Neighbour Totoro was the first film to demonstrate on a world stage the incredible quality of animation technique and storytelling coming out of the Ghibli studios. The background painting of Oga Kazuo, which took its inspiration from both Western and Japanese painting traditions, combined with the incredible keyframe animation of Miyazaki himself, and the orchestral compositions of Joe Hisaishi. A simple story of courage and imagination, My Neighbour Totoro is the definitive children’s feature anime, and Miyazaki Hayao’s most immediate and direct film to date.

KOBAYASHI OSAMU
Kobayashi Osamu is one of the directors currently residing at Studio 4C, along with Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine No. 6) and Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game). Kobayashi began his career with a series of experimental animations, and this alternative bent continues to be expressed in his more commercial work.

Kobayashi is known for his surreal characterisation and the particular way in which he represents the city. In his short film Table and Fishman (2001), part of the Digital Juice series, a man and woman recount how they were cursed and transformed into a small corner table and Fish-headed man respectively. This storytelling approach reflects the influence of writers like Bruno Shultz and Frans Kafka, who have also influenced animators like Yamamura Koji and Kato Kunio.

Kobayashi has also bridged the gap between anime and videogames design through his work on the Grandia (2000) series and also the random dungeon RPG Evolution (1999) for the SEGA dreamcast. In recent years, he has directed two large anime series for Madhouse studios. One of these is the adaptation of Yazawa Ai’s fashion manga Paradise Kiss (2000-2004; 2005). The idiosyncratic aesthetic of Yazawa (which combines a quality of pretty delicate detailing, with quirky angular characterisation) perfectly compliments the style of Kobayashi.

MASHIMO KOICHI
Mashimo Koichi is best known not for particular anime direction, but for his attitude to the development and ambition of anime directors. After a near fatal accident skiing in the 1980s, Mashimo developed the concept of a atelier studio for animators, or an ‘animation-hospital’, where attending artists could develop a sense of their own aesthetic and style, away from the commerical pressures of the conventional studio environment. His concept has correlations to the Japanese contemporary artists Murakami Takashi’s Geisai college studio. In the 1990s Mashimo outlined the concept for his studio to President of Production I.G. Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, who was entralled by the idea and agreed to fund it immediately. In 1997 Studio Bee Train opened its door, with its original ambition intact, to develop and nurture the work of aspiring anime artists, away from commercial pressures. In 2006, Bee Train chose to go independent.

Mashimo’s work within the Bee Train studio context has been primarily to develop the work of other artists, but as the studios main director, much of its output is helmed by him. His trilogy of films Noir (2001), Madlax (2004) and El Cazador de la Bruja (2007) are collectively known as the “girls with guns” series, and each features strong female protagonists and supporting characters. As such, Mashimo has been critically positioned as one of the leading auteurs within the ‘yuki’ or ‘girls love’ genre, where strong female protagonists and narratives featuring strong emotional interaction between women play a central role.

MIND GAME
Mind Game (2004) is an adaptation of Robin Nishi’s comic of the same name and the brain child of director Yuasa Maasaki. The film was produced at Studio 4C. It tells the story of a reclusive and meek young man, Nishi, who has fallen deeply in love with his childhood companion Myon. He pines after her, but lacks the backbone to actually tell her. It transpires that Myon is dating the local heartthrob Ryo, and the three meet in a local cafe, much to the chagrin of Nishi. In a destined encounter, two local Yakuza thugs arrive at the cafe in search of Myon’s equally meek father. A scuffle ensues and the brawny Ryo is knocked out cold, and Nishi is brutally murdered. Cut to the afterlife, where Nishi negotiates a return to his body and a reversal of time. He returns, to the zero point just before his death, and through a swift buttock manoeuvre grabs the gun and takes out the yakuza. Nishi, Myon and her sister then steal the cadillac of the Yakuza, and go on the run, Nishi high on the adrenaline of dying, beating god, and becoming the hero. A sudden twist of the wheel sees them drive off the edge of the highway into the sea, and at that very moment, a huge whale rises out of the water to swallow down them and their car in one gulp. In the belly of this whale, they meet an old man, and in the process of becoming reconciled to their fate, confront their own personalities and inner demons. On the otherside of this introspection, they collectively decide to escape, proving themselves in their tremendous effort.

Mind Game is dinstinguished by its shifting visual style, which could be effectively described as a ‘collage’ aesthetic. Photographic elements intermingle with traditional anime methods and direct animation; keyframed sequences combine with straight ahead animation — the net effect is a constantly shifting and emotionally resonant world of subjective views and twisting bodies. This shift of aesthetic marries with the changing narrative expectations that emerge in the adaptation of Robin Nishi’s original manga. A more avant-garde directorial approach was needed to best explore the surreal world it portrays and this is what Yuasa delivers. In that respect Mind Game foreshadows the treatment seen in the later Tekkonkinkreet (2006) feature adaptation by Michael Arias of Matsumoto Taiyo’s original manga.

SHIROW MASAMUNE
Shirow Masamune is the nom-de-plume of the acclaimed mangaka Ota Masunori. He is responsible for conceiving of Ghost in the Shell (1989; 1991), one of the most important manga and anime releases of the 1990s, and an internationally recognised masterpiece in science fiction storytelling. Be began his career by writing and illustrating the doujinshi Black Magic M-66, which raised the profile of Shirow and led to the development of Appleseed (1985-1989). Later he developed the world and storyline of Dominion Tank Police (1985), and then Ghost in the Shell.

Across all of Shirow’s work is the recurring image of the action heroine, to the extent that each resembles the other, athletic and deadly, with short hair and a serious demeanour. Much like Oshii Mamoru’s recurring plotlines (Oshii would direct the internationally acclaimed movie of Ghost in the Shell) Shirow’s heroines comprise a collective singular achetypal heroine. Through his erotic work, Shirow constrasts the serious and technological with the organic and sensuous. relationship between Shirow and his work could be compared to the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, the sculptor who falls in love with his work, an artificial woman. This comparison is not lost on Shirow, and he seems to retell the story in each of his narratives, articulating the love between characters in the terms of the statue and its maker. Briareus and Deunan in Appleseed, as cyborg man and human woman, similarly explore the impossibility of such relationships. The physical gulf between machine and man/maker becomes and existential one in Ghost in the Shell, as the focus shifts on the life of the statue/robot/woman, major Motoko Kusanagi, and the effort of those around her to understand and appreciate her.

Shirow’s interest in myth is reflected in an work released in the same year as Ghost in the Shell, the punk rock fantasy Orion (1991). A heady mix of fantasy and science fiction, Orion gives perhaps the best indication of Shirow’s process and imagination, as it sets out complex scientific and mythological themes and references, creating a world of information and excess through which focal characters must carve a heroic path. Perculiar side and footnotes expand on concepts outlined in the main panels, giving overviews of subjects and disparate as particle physics and Shinto mythology. Shirow is in love with information, and this is perhaps the key to his success, since this explicit quality in his work resonates so strongly with the investigative drives of anime and manga fandom.

MEGAZONE 23
Like Truman Burbank, the protagonist of The Truman Show (1998), Yahagi Shogo is caught up in a world that doesn’t exist in a real sense, but instead as a simulation, maintained to passify and control the population. Oblivious to this great conspiracy, our hero comes across a cutting-edge new motorcycle, the ‘Bahamut’, and is immediately assailed by shadowy agents. Escaping, he begins to realise that this is so ordinary bike, and that its futuristic technologies have the potential to unpick the carefully constructed fabric of virtual reality that has been constructed by an unseen conspiracy of forces. The story continues apace as we follow Yahagi as he flees from various assailants while at the same time coming to understand the potential of his vehicle, which can transform into a mechanical warrior. Armed with his machine, the star-crossed hero is thrust into the heart of the conspiracy, meeting virtual idols, steroid pumped soldiers and clone armies.

In subsequent series and additional parts, the story scales up further and further, away from the city streets and into the corporate headquarters and remote penthouses of the metropolis. The narrative tackles apocalyptic themes of civil unrest and environmental destruction, which maintaining the pretense of the false world, duped citizens trope. In these respects, Megazone 23 (1985; 1986; 1989) has been compared to The Matrix trilogy (1999; 2003; 2003), which directly references the earlier work. The conceptualisation of a highly evolved technological culture ’staging’ an earlier everyday culture within a virtual reality is explored in both works. Yahagi Shogo, with he reluctant heroism and impassive nature, certainly recalls the performance of Keanu Reeves as Neo, and the shifting territories of the matrix films parallel the various locations of the classic Megazone 23.

TSUJI MASAKI
Tsuji Masaki is a script writer, scenarist and mystery writer for the anime industry. Born in 1932 in Nagoya, he has been writing actively for over forty years. He is perhaps best known for his subtle comedies, domestic dramas and mystery stories. Prolific in the 1960s and 1970s, he worked for a number of different companies, including Toei Animation, Mushi Animation and Tokyo Movie Shinsha.

It will come as no surprise, given his sensitive ability to convey subtle emotional dramas through the outright slapstick, that he worked on anime adaptation of the work of Rumiko Takashi’s work, most notably Urusei Yatsura. Tsuji also worked on many of the anime adaptations of Tezuka Osamu’s work, always remaining true to the source material, but also where possible incorporating some of his own trademark flair and feel for comedy and suspense.

In 2007 Tsuji Masaki received the special acheivement prize at the Japan Media Arts Plaza for his lifelong work in animation scriptwriting. On receiving the award he remarked that, “It is nice to live long, isn’t it? Neither money nor glory were in my mind. Just because I liked animation, I went on writing frantically thinking just, if only I could create even slightly more amusing ones.”

YAMASHITA IKUTO
Yamashita Ikuto is reknown for his contribution to mecha design, the giant fighting robots that signal so clearly and uniquely the world of Japanese anime. He is the mecha designer for many Studio Gainax works, including Gunbuster (1988) and Nadia: Secret of Blue Water (1990-1992) but most importantly the landmark television anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996).

Yamashita’s mecha designs in Neon Genesis Evangelion employ a complex sensuous shape that sticks closely to human physical anatomy, while at the same time reflecting cutting edge technologies, car design, and even the anatomy of great lizards and dinosaurs. In this respect, Yamashita shifts away from the ‘kabuto’ styling of blocky, ‘armoured samurai’ inspired mecha as seen in series like Tetsujin 28-Go (1956-1966).

Maeda Mahiro’s angel designs in Neon Genesis Evangelion are the perfect counterpoint to Yamashita’s mecha. Both are sensuous and elegant but also deadly, reflecting the murderous beauty of forms in nature, but also futuristic technologies and alien science. These two creative visions combine uniquely with the conceptual framework of Hideaki Anno to create one of the most memorable and important anime of the past 20 years.

MAASAKI YUASA
Maasaki Yuasa is without doubt one of the most exciting and original anime directors to emerge in recent years. The presence within a production is immediately felt; the unruly and eccentric visual style that he brings is worlds apart from the standardised anime aesthetic we are all so familiar with. His design is entirely about the virtues of animation; fluid, plasmatic forms stretch and twist, the emphasis is constantly on the movement. When he does arrive at a moment of stillness, the composition is never sedate, he shows the subject from a highly original angle, emphasising through such positions an inner aspect of the character or scene.

Through films like Mind Game (2004), and his tv anime series Kemonozume (2006) and Kaiba (2008), Maasaki has established himself as one of the leading figures in contemporary anime direction. The perculiariity of his style allows him to broach new subject matter, and to satirically reflect on the conventions of established anime. In Kemonozume he collapses romance saga conventions with Shonen swords and sorcery themes to explore themes of masculinity and pride; in Kaiba he explores cute commodification through Tezuka inspired characters caught up in a dark trade in body parts. Maasaki Yuasa bridges the gap between the independent filmaking of Kato Kunio and Yamamura Koji, and the impact of his work is creating space for new practitioners to work in the otherwise highly standard anime industry.