Renato

I don't know why, but this sentence put a really big grin on my face.

No, it's not...

I loved the one where Misa lobs the papers straight at Hikaru's face and then meekly goes "oh, sorry, I seem to have dropped my stuff..." with Hikaru going, "WTF? You chucked them directly at me, man..." Stupid, but funny. (And that's not even the punchline!) In other news, Ichiro Itano's D.A.S.T. is disbanding? Damn.

Yeah, I don't care about the reason, all I know is that the loose-joint issue for the DXs is a real one, and it's the main factor in my decision against buying this new YF-29. It certainly looks pretty accurate to the cartoon, though perhaps the wings should be higher in Battroid. Either way, these toys have a two-month lifetime on average, my VF-27 is a mess, my VF-25G has been stored away for a year now, and I don't feel like gambling any more cash on them, especially since Yamato is raising their prices for stuff coming at around the same time. In a way I'm glad that this valk personally looks quite unappealing, as I won't feel disappointed missing out on the toy that way.

I imagine these designs already put a lot of people off. The steep price is probably meant to offset that. I certainly don't see the newer releases stacked as plentifully as they were back in the early 2000's, so it's a safe bet that even production numbers have dwindled as it is. Add to that the usual "ugh a valk with a face!" reaction and you're looking at a mark-up, even without all the extra gimmicks they added. Oh, and apparently Kawamori took one look at the opening cockpit hatch for Battroid and said, "wow, you can add 4000 yen to the price just for that, bwahahaha!" I guess they took that to heart..?

Macross Ace magazine informed us of a Mikimoto exhibition in Roppongi, on the day that it finished. Thanks a lot, guys. http://www.academyhills.com/library/book/entrance/tqe2it00000eembe.html According to the mag and some other sources, the last day was supposed to be the 31t of March, but the Roppongi Library's official page (above) states that it was on Sunday. I really wanted to see those sketches.

I really like the Fighter mode VF-1D, as well as the Blackaces Super VF-1J. I still have to finish reading the "Cross Talk" with Yoshiyuki Takani, though. Two of my favourite illustrators, together at last.

The Yamato "launch arm" stand saved two of my Valkyries during the huge earthquake two weeks ago, they were the only things left standing on my shelves, when everything else either toppled over or dove off onto the ground. I think they were really good investments.

I missed it at first, but apparently the Sound Booster will cost 8610 yen! With no signs of light-and-sound gimmicks, that's steep...

Macross Ace states the official price as 23,100 yen. Out in May, with the Sound Booster coming in July, price TBA.

OK, I fixed the last and most important line, for some reason a portion was omitted. It makes sense now. Thanks for all the comments, I'm glad I am able to make pieces like these reach a wider audience, or rather, readership. And this is from issue 7 of GREAT MECHANICS DX, a magazine all about giant robots and the people who make them. This particular one was published in December 2008, so Frontier had just finished its TV run, just to give people an idea of the time frame. By the way, the writer, Keisuke Hirota, is like the last lone survivor of the anime journalism crowd -- very few people know the industry inside and out now like he does. Unfortunately, he no longer works for Great Mechanics, but don't despair, his name appears in lots of places, sometimes where you least expect them. For example, he wrote most of the stuff in the packaging for the Aquarion Chogokin toy, etc.

Wow. Between this, Thundercats and Transformers, etc., they're remaking everything these days (except Robotech, lol). I wonder how long until remakes of Rude-Dog & the Dweebs and Denver the Last Dinosaur come along.

Since I had a bit of free time due to this earthquake/tsunami business forcing life to temporarily grind to a halt, I thought I would, as a rare treat, keep one of my promises of translating stuff for this site. It's been a real loooong time since I did this! Anyway, enjoy! EDIT -- Argh. all the formatting is screwed up. Never mind, I'll fix it later, gonna go for a drink now. Interview with Ichiro Itano (Animator, enshutsu-ka) from Great Mechanics DX #7, by Keisuke Hirota, translation by Renato Rivera Rusca “Those that have nothing but money on their minds are the ones ruining animation.” -- Itano-san, you are involved in both anime and tokusatsu [*i]. What do you think of the current trends in project planning? Itano: There’s been a huge increase in people who have money but are clueless about anime and tokusatsu, screwing around with the project plans and designs. For example, in the case of robot toys, they say that heavy-looking robot designs sell well, whereas spindly, weak-looking robots break easily, and don’t sell. It was (Hideaki) Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion that challenged that. Even though they were designs that at, that time, went completely against the notion of robots that “sell well”, the show was good and became a hit, and as a result the toys sold well. In tokusatsu, too, the toy companies generally just design the mecha and planes with toys in mind, while missing the point of the show. I had this confidence, like “In the old days, we used to draw cool versions of Goggs and Zugocks, so we can make any design fly and make it look cool”, so I strongly voiced my opinions to the toy company. As a result, the designs improved significantly. During the 70s anime boom, Heidi, Girl of the Alps was running against Space Battleship Yamato. But you would never hear Heidi say “Calpis tastes better than milk”, right? I think Heidi’s sponsor was proud just to have invested in such a good show. Their philosophy was to invest in a show that is positive for children, and then hope that when the children grow up, they would look back at the show and somehow reciprocate towards the company. Now it’s more like, they invest to “avoid going into the red this season”, and they don’t think twice about copying whatever other show is currently successful.  Itano-san, your most recently directed show, Blassreiter (2008), is totally the opposite, isn’t it? Blassreiter is a project that from the very start I decided to get off the ground with the main condition that I be allowed to do everything my way. I overlooked and cleared the designs, scripts, everything. I didn’t want to face the situation where once everything has been completed and was ready to go, the sponsor would say “this is too horrible, we can’t air this”, so I decided to air the show only on local channels.  You mean because otherwise the content gets censored. On the other hand, the action scenes are really energetic. Itano: Yeah, I really use the “Itano Circus” the way a panda attracts the crowds to a zoo [laughs]. What’s more, since the designs have no involvement from a toy company, we animated everything from heroes in suits, to robots and planes in CG.  So you intended to use the “Itano” name-value from the start? Itano: Of course. After all, it’s the 30th anniversary of the Itano Circus, plus I made it so that the viewers come into the show wanting to see that first, and then also realize that the human drama parts are interesting too. I wanted to show a true experience of “how to live in a world where nothing goes the way you want”. I couldn’t present that kind of theme using anything other than a “dark hero” motif show like Blassreiter. If we’re surrounded by bright, light-hearted anime in the J-Pop flair, then Blassreiter has to go down the Doji Morita, Hako Yamazaki and Miyuki Nakajima road [*ii] (laughs). If there’s no show like that around, then how are people who are depressed supposed to relieve themselves? There are people who can’t be saved just by anime with only panties and boobs in it, you know. That’s why those people with money but no sense should not dictate what content goes into anime and tokusatsu. My days of skipping school and drawing douga at the studio  Itano-san, why were you so wild during your time as an animator in the 80s? That’s because I could get away with doing what I wanted. It didn’t matter what the toy companies said, or let’s say (Yoshiyuki) Tomino-san showed me a deer-like rough design [*1], I always had the freedom to say “yeah, that’s lame”. Even reputable directors would come up to us lowly but passionate workers and ask for advice or leave decisions to us.  How old were you at the time? At the time of the first Gundam, I was about 20. Because I was using so many sakuga frames that you wouldn’t think that this was a show for TV, I got a lot of complaints. I was told by the enshutsu [*iii] that there are always three douga [*iv] frames between any two genga [*v], but I was like, “Who set that system in stone? The number of frames should be different depending on the action!” So we never agreed. Then after the enshutsu guy does the satsudashi [*2], he would go out for a drink, during which I would sneak in and take out the superfluous frames. Then when the rushes came out, Tomino-san would be beaming. -- What particular scene in Gundam was that? The scene in which the “Bit” flies out from the Elmeth. Also near the series finale, when Sayla shoots the Zeon soldiers. If we’re supposed to use three frames anyway, we might as well make it more effective and draw the recoil motion from the gunfire, right? At that time (Yoshikazu) Yasuhiko-san was sick, so it was total chaos. The drawings that the animation director had corrected were being re-corrected by me, a genga guy (laughs). I didn’t graduate from some animation academy, I didn’t even know what a “tap” [*3] meant. I just thought the holes for the “tap” were for hanging up the drawings on those hooks on the walls to make them easier to view. -- So why did you decide to become an animator in the first place? When I was in high school, I went to a shop in Ueno to look for a motorbike. At that time I spotted a recruitment flyer in Ueno station that read “Wanted: TV Manga animators at Studio Musashi”. I went over just to check the place out, and ended up taking the recruiting exam there. But because I had skipped school to go over there, I didn’t want to go back home just yet. So I asked, “Can I just use this desk for a while and draw until I’m satisfied?” and it seems they were impressed by that. And because I was an engineering high school student, I was drawing blueprint layouts, so I could draw mecha fairly well. -- So you were employed straight away? I was told to come after I finished high school. But because I was getting suspended and stuff, I ended up going there as training. At that time, Yuji Moriyama [*4] used to come in in his school uniform. After the second month in Studio Musashi, we started getting douga work for Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love / Arrivederci Yamato (1978) and when we were asked “who wants to do this one?”, only Moriyama and I raised our hands. That’s because there were so many lines to draw in Yamato and it was tough work. Though the pay was cheap, we put so much effort into it that Moriyama and I started being referred to by name, and we started being allowed to do work almost at the genga level. After working freelance, I got a job with a company called Studio Cockpit. Actually, that was the toughest period for me, mentally. This was because I had to do work I had no interest in, just to make a living. It really felt like I was just a cog at Planet Maetel. At that time, NHK was airing Future Boy Conan (1978), and when I saw that, I exclaimed, “This is the kind of anime I want to make!” That set me free from the spell, and just around that time, Mamoru Hamatsu [*5], who had left Studio Musashi just before me, called me up to join him at Sunrise’s Studio 1 where they were producing Gundam.  It was during Gundam that you shifted from douga to genga, correct? Yes. When I worked at Sunrise Studio 1 and I put vernier thrusts on the space fighters or add missiles and stuff nobody told me “that’s no good,” and I was allowed to grow. When I took Yasuhiko-san’s layouts and added details nobody complained. Since I was able to do things the way I wanted when I was younger, now as a director, I like to give the young guys room to do things their way, too. In terms of scripts and designs, I want to create an environment where people can express their individual creativity. What are the ways of nurturing and being nurtured that should be passed along from person to person? Itano: I think the people at around the time of Gundam were “pure” as creators. After reading the script for the Miharu episode, Tomino-san began to cry, and that made Yasuhiko-san cry as well. We at the bottom of the ladder had to be careful, but then after they left, we too burst into tears. I observed all sides of how they worked. When they had sakuga meetings, I would note down all the jargon I didn’t know and would look it up in a book later.  That’s how you studied? Itano: Yes, ever since I was a douga-man. It was a place where emotions, passion and motivation got recycled, in a positive sense. I mean, I was even fixing Space Runaway Ideon’s (1980) (Tomonori) Kogawa-san’s doodles, even though they had nothing to do with the show (laughs).  So that was the work environment you were in (laughs). But in any case, Ideon’s battle scenes were intense. Itano: The scene where the Adigo keeps dodging all the missiles until they finally hit, that was never in the storyboard, nor was it ordered by the enshutsu, I just decided to animate it that way. By around that point Tomino-san was just drawing rough storyboards, saying “Itano-kun will flesh them out in his own way”. I managed to participate just around the time that Tomino-san was breaking the mold for robot shows.  Did Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982) come right after this? Itano: Yes, I was asked by (Shoji) Kawamori. While working on the genga for Crusher Joe (1983), Kawamori was coming into the studio once a week to check over designs with Yasuhiko-san. While Kawamori was being made to do the genga, I was next to him doing clean-up, and he was telling me about the Macross project.  It was from that point on that your name came to be recognized, yes? Itano: Yes, but Yasuhiko-san apparently wanted me to become some almighty illustrator. That intention really rubbed off on me, and so I was able to avoid limiting myself to mecha, and also work as animation director on Fist of the North Star (1985).  Do the young people these days dislike being pressured to have such a sense of balance? Itano: Yeah, they hate it. I just tend to tell them, “If you’re gonna scowl about it, then just get out of the animation business.” That goes for the seisaku shinkou [*6], too: it’s not enough to just be carrying things from one place to another, I tell them, you have to reserve a good douga studio, you have to get on well with your genga people – that’s all part of the job. So that’s how I try to raise the motivation in the production studio.  The young CG staff from Gonzo are involved in Blassreiter, correct? Itano: That’ right. The first thing I said to them was, “Gonzo’s CG staff are the worst!” So I got them pissed on purpose, then I chose the ones that wanted to stay on to work with me even after that, because I wanted to teach them how to work. You mustn’t feel discouraged, even when you’re being kicked and beaten. We were few but exceptionally skilled, like The Seven Samurai.  Why did you shift from hand-drawn animation to CG in the first place? Itano: Firstly, it’s because there are no genga people being raised now. Secondly, because I want to keep a high level of quality within the framework of television. Anime these days has been split up into all these different jobs, right? And since we missed the opportunity to raise new talent, the Japanese animation workers are deteriorating in skill. If all you had was a sakuga [*vi] team who poured their hearts and souls into their drawings, then that would be enough. However, these days if you want to make mecha move on TV, then CG is essential.  Whenever we interview Satelight’s Hiroshi Yagishita-san [*7], he always mentions your name. Itano: Yeah, because he is a pupil of the Itano School. Man, I beat the hell outta that guy (laughs). The quiet, hard-working guy may be pulled up from above to eventually fulfill his potential, but once he reaches a high level he cannot talk back to a director or enshutsu. That’s why I showed Blassreiter to Yagishita-kun, to which he responded that he would work as hard as he could on episode 7 of Macross Frontier. I even gave him a handicap and told him, “Oh, and we’re gonna have robots and fighter jets from episode 12 onwards, just so you know!”  So you were competing, and thus mutually spurring each other on. Itano: Yagishita has been saying he wants to come over and hang out, but he’s been told not to until Macross F is wrapped up. Now they’re working on the Macross F movie, so he’s actually my enemy. So I’ve warned him not to come spy on us (laughs). I think it’s good to just compete with each other to make good shows and have sparring bouts, and as a result, animation as a whole should grow, right? Ideally, I would have wanted the guys in their 30s to stand in front and lead the way, though. When Tomino-san and Yasuhiko-san were in their 30s [*8], I was just a greenhorn. Kinda like Bright on White Base (laughs). I was able to go wild to my heart’s content thanks to those amazing guys at the top. You can’t make a good show just by being hard-working, carefree and talented. Nowadays you don’t have any mold-breakers. And the adults giving the training have dwindled. When you’re young, it’s OK to be misunderstood. Failures are, after all, mere stepping stones to success. Caption 1: The Adigo flees from missiles in Space Runaway Ideon (1980). After dodging missiles left and right, and firing some of its own, it is eventually destroyed. This is the genesis of the Itano Circus, which broke down all preconceptions of mecha action choreography. Caption 2: Max and Millia’s dogfight from episode 18 of Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982). Whilst maintaining an “in-flight” camerawork style, we can spot highlights reflected on the mecha with every shot fired, thus bringing home the “beauty” and “feel-good” quality that has been employed in these scenes. Caption 3: In the Valkyrie’s missile attack scene from Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984), you can see Budweiser and Chu-hai cans mixed in as a half-joke. In Mobile Suit Gundam (1979), too, it was Itano who added robots from other shows into the backgrounds. Caption 4: Itano’s directorial debut feature, Megazone 23 Part II: Please Give Me a Secret (1986). Shogo Yahagi’s outburst on how adults “are all selfish, doing whatever they please for their own personal gain, deceiving people, sometimes even killing” comes across as a reflection of Itano’s own rebellious nature. [Footnotes by the author] *1: Referring to the “Zeong”. Most of the Mobile Suits that appear in the latter half of Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) had their rough designs penned by director Yoshiyuki Tomino. *2: The final checking process of cels and backgrounds before they are sent off to be photographed. In this digital age, this has become a lost stage in production. *3: A tool to ensure that groups of genga, douga, cels or backgrounds remain aligned. *4: A veteran animator, known for his role as Animation Director on Urusei Yatsura (1981). Recently he was animation director on Evangelion 1.0: You are (Not) Alone (2007). *5: At the time he worked on douga, but later he became an enshutsu-ka. Works include Lupin III: Return of Pycal (2002). *6: A general administrative position including duties such as organizing schedules, carrying and ordering douga, etc. It is a job that, while not particularly exciting, is extremely important. *7: Deputy head of the digital department at Satelight Co., Ltd. During Macross Zero (2002), Mr. Itano was credited as Special Technical Director, while Mr. Yagishita was Chief Animator. *6: At the time of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino was 38, and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko was 32 years old. Ichiro Itano Born 1959. After working at Studio Musashi, Studio Cockpit, Studio Be-Bo and Artland, he is now the head of DAST. Credited as genga artist on Mobile Suit Gundam (1979), Space Runaway Ideon (1980), Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982) and many more. He has worked on the CGI and monster designs for the Heisei era Ultra series, beginning with Ultraman Nexus (2004). Directed works include Megazone 23 Part II (1985) [*vii], Gantz (2004) and Blassreiter (2008). Special Technical Director on Linebarrels of Iron (2008). Footnotes by the translator: *i: Tokusatsu: Live-action special-effects shows, like Ultraman and Kamen Rider. *ii: These are all considered “proper” musicians, as opposed to J-pop fluff. *iii: Enshutsu: One of the most essential stages of the animation production process, which determines the overall visual representation of the characters’ performances, or the action of the objects, almost as important as the director’s job. *iv: Douga: An in-between frame. *v: Genga: A keyframe. *vi: sakuga: The actual hand-drawing of frames used in animation. *vii: This is a typographical error by the editor, Megazone 23 Part II came out in 1986, not 85.

I guess I will take this opportunity to state that a lot of shelves in stores around the country are still on the empty side in terms of bottled water, toilet paper, tissues, instant noodles, etc. Although I'm sure this was due to hoarders during the early days, now it seems that a lot of the stock allocated to other parts of the country is being re-distributed to supply the disaster-stricken areas and the shelters therein. Well, in that case I don't really have a problem with that, obviously. In other news, the rolling power outages in Tokyo and the surrounding areas may be reorganized into 25 groups, from the current five. Also, it was announced that there is a possibility they may continue well into summer and winter. Lastly, Mizuho Bank, whose ATM systems broke down last week because they couldn't handle all the simultaneous transactions being made following the quake/tsunami, has announced the service should be online later today. Overall, things are getting better. I hope the temporary housing for the refugees is coming along well, though.

That is, like... nope, I got nuffin'. Poor Iraq. Gets blown up, then forgotten about.

They didn't just get the name wrong. I really, really doubt there are any nuclear power plant in Tokyo! This image here can be used as comparison: http://www.nucleartourist.com/world/japan.htm

Further to the Japan Times article on foreign press getting flak for sensationalizing, I found this database of stupid over-the-top news articles related to the disaster, complete with a "Severity of Offense" rating for each: http://jpquake.wikispaces.com/Journalist+Wall+of+Shame Oh, British tabloids, how lovely to see you again. Also: "Shibuya Eggman"?? Fox News, that pinnacle of journalism, has mistaken a live house for a f*cking nuclear power plant. The mind boggles. Actually, I think Fukuyama played there many years ago, maybe they should check him for radiation.

Here's where TEPCO is putting up their frequent press releases. http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/f1-np/press_f1/2010/2010-j.html They give brief progress reports on the situation over at the power plant. Yes, the last one did show that greyish smoke was spotted coming out of reactor 3 this afternoon, but apparently it's dying down. Also, the workers are at the time of the report taking refuge "indoors" -- I would say "evacuated" sounds a little too extreme. Oh, and can we change the thread sub-title from 8.9 to 9.0? Yeah, it was THAT big.

They just yesterday found a 16 year-old boy and his 80-year-old grandmother on day 9 after the quake/tsunami, and it seems they were fine, albeit fairly dehydrated. They had been having lunch in the kitchen when disaster struck and survived thanks to a small space that was created in the rubble, and fed off some yoghurt that was lying around. There has been quite a number of these miraculous survivor stories, I'm sure there's many more trapped who are awaiting rescue, so let's hope they get it soon. In other news, the British Embassy is handing out iodine tablets as a precautionary measure in Tokyo, Niigata and Sendai. I phoned them and told them that I was out of town and coming back to Tokyo on Thursday, but since the distribution period is only until Tuesday, could I just pick mine up at the Embassy later in the week. I was told no, because they don't know if there'll be any left by then. Then I said, OK, well, I've got my passport here, maybe if I just give you my details you can write them down and I'll put in a reservation... but they weren't having any of it. "First come, first served, sorry!" What the hell. To be honest, it's not that important and I'm not really that worried because it's just a precaution for an absolute worst-case scenario which is extremely unlikely, but, jeez. Thanks for reminding me why I left, Britain.

Same here, although I was thinking that the search function had been totally useless ever since a couple of board upgrades ago.

Nice find, Kresphy! The animation looks better than I remember it.

RIP Mr Kakoi. I'm not sure if I had ever heard his name before, but apparently he was at the Artland studio during the 80s where the original Macross, Megazone 23, Orguss, Legend of Galactic Heroes and countless other classics were made. Artland is also very close to my house and I visit there every so often. I will offer my condolences to Mr. Ishiguro, who still runs things there, as soon as I get back to Tokyo next week. If you all so wish, I will pass on any warm messages you guys here have, since I am sure the guys at Artland will be pleased to hear that the international community is grieving their loss as well as remembering the works he gave to us.

R.I.P. Mr. Kakoi. Was this posted before? I think it's for kids to understand the news.

Thanks Eugimon, Sketchley and all the guys providing info and news. I was up to date until yesterday morning, but since the move my understanding of developments is a little patchy now. The no.4 reactor that was supposed to be under maintenance and not in use is the main worry now, I believe, because of the exposed spent fuel rods. On a lighter note, I spoke to Gubaba and also Save on the phone earlier today just to see how they were coping, and all things considered, they are fine. I'm glad to hear that they are both mentally fine. I also wanted to phone Tochiro but I realized that I don't have his number! Just sent him an email and he's OK, too. Tokyo apparently is functioning as well as could be expected considering the circumstances, from what I hear. I heard shocking a sentence spoken by Save that I have never heard in my life before: "Akiba is normal." Got a bit laugh out of that. Everyone, stay safe!

Hey all, this is Renato, currently in Aichi prefecture, just arrived last night. It seems panic is exacerbating the situation in Tokyo. The infrastructure was totally screwed a few days ago, I think things are returning to normal slowly, such as the trains but with the power outages and supply shortages I decided it be best to escape the chaos and go west. Just in case I had my re-entry permit extended, since it was due to expire in the first week of April. Reports say that radiation is negligible in the Kanto region, but who knows. I had half a mind to go to the UK, but after evaluating the circumstances, I decided to stay and just watch over the situation over the next few days. My nerves have calmed considerably since yesterday but I do have concerns. I'm waiting for that moment when we can say "well, the worst is over", but I haven't felt it yet. At least I managed to get drunk with my in-laws last night and got the first good night's sleep in several days.