The Art & Appreciation of Akiyuki Shinbo

[Taufiq91]

I've decided to start a thread on Akiyuki Shinbo and his works as an anime director throughout the years. He has been evolving since the 90's as an anime director and i've decided to see on how the works of his past influenced his modern work.

People say that their favourite anime directors are people like Hideaki Anno, Mamoru Oshii, Shinchiro Watanabe, etc......

but these directors don't connect with me unlike Akiyuki Shinbo.

Sure, Watanabe is "cool" and Anno is "deep", but i'm not into "cool" or "deep". instead, i want my anime to have a style that can transcend various genres and still feel fresh.

And Akiyuki Shinbo does that well.

This is a man who's basically Wes Anderson, Michel Gondry, Chris Morris, Chris Cunningham and Christopher Nolan wrapped into one sushi. He's basically the Gen Y's answers to great anime legends mentioned above.

His ability to go from Slice of life (Hidamari, SoreMachi) to comedy (Bakemonogatari, Arakawa) to deconstruction (Madoka) proved that he has an amazing range of genres and i think his interaction with animators like Ko Yoshinari and Hideyuki Morioka has also helped both the direction and the animation of the animes they're in.

I'm gonna take a look back at his early to recent few works he did, from hsi early days to his current gigs. I'm not gonna cover all of his animes, but i'm gonna cover the most prominent ones he did:

This man started off doing mediocre low-key animes and OVAs. He also did some really good openings for animes like Saber Marionette J:

Now, you can see how his style in the OP is similar to his later works in Nanoha and SHAFT. It's pretty much directed and edited like the opening of a SHAFT anime. It looks just like it!

When he did SoulTaker in 2001, that's where his directing style became noticeable. In the opening, it looks like a combination of the first 5 minutes of Madoka with the OP for Elfen Lied. it looks really nice:

But the most noticeable aspect of Shinbo's work which became a standard in his future works is Nanoha. Look at this scene. Camera work, editing and Ko Yoshinari's detailed animation worked so well together that it's no wonder how he got his gig at SHAFT:

One of his first early works on SHAFT was Negima!? And Negima was interesting because he basically takes a shounen manga and turn it into something different for a change, and the first 10 minutes of episode 1 is definitely a proof of that:

notice the detailed hair movements, the shaky cam and in the fourth minute, you'll notice the use of switching between a close up of negi and shots of buildings around him. Very interesting use of camera work right there, but not as noticeable as his next work i'm gonna talk about:

His most noticeable work was Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, the anime that made SHAFT what it is today.

the entire 3 series was basically Shinbo using every single knowledge of anime direction and use it to the fullest, from it's various multi-layered and themed OPs:

to this 2 minutes scene which uses 50 and more storyboard drawings:

This is where Shinbo's trademarks of multi-coloured shots, text walls, film noir lighting and fast-editing became prominent after SZS.

While in the making of Bakemonogatari, Shinbo's use of various directing styles became more and more obvious when he decided to use techniques from 70's and 80's animes like Doraemon, Lupin 3 and Urusei Yatsura. Examples are shown in these two scenes:

Notice the use of gag responses by Araragi and the use of multi-coloured shots (especially in the first video). And the use of gag comedy manga reaction shots in the second shots is just...wow.

His most popular anime of recently was Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. We all know how great it is. We've seen how good it is and we all love it.

But just look at this scene:

Look at how well-directed this scene is. And the fact that everything except the background was entirely in black makes for a simplicity in its direction, and makes it easier to notice details such as the colours seen between the lines of the characters. Also, the background is just amazing and the use of Shinbo's direction with the animation from Yukihiro Miyamoto, tomoaki kado and Buriki is just perfectly done.

This is as far as i can go for this thread. There's alot of things about Shinbo that interests me alot and i love his "art" as a director. His ability to use every skill out there along with brilliant animation from his fellow colleagues makes him an anime director with a touch of brilliance. He uses what he learned from his early days to his full advantage and his ability to use his skills on alot of genres out there is just amazing. Truly a great contemporary in the anime industry.

[Vexx]

Um... Tsukuyomi Moon Phase? Pani Poni Dash? Frankly I prefer his earlier period... before I got the feeling his ego ran rampant over source material. In recent works he seems to have gotten more restrained, subtle again and gotten better at *supplementing* the story (bakemonogatari, yes ... still digesting madoka no opinion yet)

[Ahiru77]

Not untill SZS that SHAFT turned big ?! That's awfully late.....

Loved his work on Madoka. I would've made the dream scenes a little more scary though and the characters sometimes just stuck out with their blobby faces.


I hope he continues putting the "dark" in cute.

[Soliloquy]

I enjoy his work too. Aside from his earlier works, I guess I have seen most of his works and there's that replay value because all his works are hard to grasp in one viewing. It's too chaotic, random and the frames move too fast with all those references. I really enjoy the unorthodox camera angles. At times, yes he can be a little over the top that interferes with story telling. The only reason I have watched most of his work is because I like slice of life anime. I wonder though, if Akiyuki Shinbo can direct anime in something along the lines of fantasy. It seems all his anime are set in modern life and never enough of preteen characters. Sometimes I have to watch something entirely different from watching all those moe-oriented anime.

I don't enjoy Shinichiro Watanabe's works but at least he's quite versatile working with cool sci-fi to just plain wacky. His anime just doesn't do anything other than telling a decent story.

Originally Posted by Ahiru77

I hope he continues putting the "dark" in cute.

It's not necessarily a recipe for success. Just look at Dance in the Vampire Bund. It had some potential but it didn't make use of it. On the other hand, Hidamari Sketch was amusing and quite charming even without a great story.

[Taufiq91]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Um... Tsukuyomi Moon Phase? Pani Poni Dash?

I haven't seen tuskuyomi and PPD yet, and i'm still watching Negima!?, Arakawa, Hidamari and almost to completing Bakemonogatari.

I'd like to cover his entire career and turn the OT into a full-fledged article.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Eclectic

It's not necessarily a recipe for success. Just look at Dance in the Vampire Bund. It had some potential but it didn't make use of it. On the other hand, Hidamari Sketch was amusing and quite charming even without a great story.

No genre or idea is going to be successful every single time. I'd vouch for dark moe any day of the week, and it has had great successes such as Higurashi. I think it's a great way to make moe more diverse.

I actually liked Dance in the Vampire Bund (an unpopular opinion, I know) too. It got pretty decent towards the latter half. It was by no means great, though, and is one of the weakest shaft shows I've seen. Still pretty good, though.

Tsukuyomi is just lovely as well. Neko mimi mo-do! As far as I can recall, it was the first Shaft/Shinbo show I've seen, and were it not for the outstanding Bakemonogatari, it would still be my favorite to this day.

[Taufiq91]

Alright, thanks to the lovely folks at /a/ and ANN, i've found OPs made by Shinbo during the 80's and 90's:

[solomon]

Sorry dude, but I LOVE Shibo's eccentric art style.

Even on full blast like it was for the first 2 Zetsubou Sensei series and Bakemonogatari.

Simply put he took the limited animation of anime to new hieghts of visual interest within the bounds of tv series in my opinion. Color, layout and all that are used very sharply. Not to mention super awesome timing.

[Ekureiru]

The amount of effort that Shinobu puts into animation can only be analyzed once those moments of pure insanity come out. Like the random visual aspects/angles he incorporated in Bakemonogatari or Pani Poni Dash or Madoka Magica. It's especially interesting to see how he can incorporate changing the art style mid-episode at times.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Count me in as somebody that really just does not find this guy to be good at all. To me in all the shows I've seen by him he seems to have one gimmick and that is to constantly be changing the camera angles regardless of whether it would actually serve to enhance the way a scene plays out or if it just proves distracting to the viewer. I'm among the latter who just find his constant camera angle changes, use of still shots, random bits of text flashing across the screen and posing of his characters in strange ways to be amongst the most distracting and inexplicably pointless things I've ever seen from an anime director.

If he were framing his shots well or using advanced cinematography techniques and if his works actually warranted the use of these constant camera angle changes I'd be praising him, but I really fail to see what it offers in shows like Bakemonogatari for example where the emphasis is on the dialogue and yet the constant flashes of "Red Scene" "Black Scene", and bits of text that I've been told come from the light novel seem to be doing everything to distract the viewers attention from the dialogue at hand. Like Shinbo, here's a tip, if you're going to do a show that focuses primarily on dialogue, make sure that you're doing everything to direct the viewers attention to the dialogue, not the opposite.

Just really boggles my mind. I believe there's a saying that goes something like, "Just because you have an idea and can do something doesn't mean you should" and I think Shinbo could stand to learn a lesson or two by applying it.

Originally Posted by Vexx

Um... Tsukuyomi Moon Phase? Pani Poni Dash? Frankly I prefer his earlier period... before I got the feeling his ego ran rampant over source material. In recent works he seems to have gotten more restrained, subtle again and gotten better at *supplementing* the story (bakemonogatari, yes ... still digesting madoka no opinion yet)

Looking at some of these it's amazing to think this is the same person. At this point I think his tendencies have just gotten ridiculous and that he's just doing these sorts of things I mention above because he can. There is such a thing as overdoing it and I think Shinbo may have crossed that line sometime around Zetsubou Sensei judging by Taufiq's breakdown. I'd compare the guy now to a Michael Bay (explosions), Bruckheimer (constant camera angle changes) and J.J Abrams (lens flare) in the overdoing it department, but definitely to Bruckheimer most of all. Gotta disagree with the Bakemonogatari assessment though, there's nothing restrained about he's handling the direction of that one from where I'm sitting. Madoka Magica would be a better example of him finally deciding to dial it back and it's not surprise that it's probably the first show by him that has managed to grab me since...possibly ever.

[Grim_Reaper]

I totally agree with Kaioshin Sama. Shimbo anime is often painful to watch.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Looking at some of these it's amazing to think this is the same person. At this point I think his tendencies have just gotten ridiculous and that he's just doing these sorts of things I mention above because he can. There is such a thing as overdoing it and I think Shinbo may have crossed that line sometime around Zetsubou Sensei judging by Taufiq's breakdown. I'd compare the guy now to a Michael Bay (explosions), Bruckheimer (constant camera angle changes) and J.J Abrams (lens flare) in the overdoing it department, but definitely to Bruckheimer most of all. Gotta disagree with the Bakemonogatari assessment though, there's nothing restrained about he's handling the direction of that one from where I'm sitting. Madoka Magica would be a better example of him finally deciding to dial it back and it's not surprise that it's probably the first show by him that has managed to grab me since...possibly ever.

Vexx isn't talking about Shinbo's execution here, he's talking about his scripting. Bakemonogatari has nothing on the randomness of a few Shinbo shows from a few years back like Negima?! (the Shaft one, not the Xebec one of course) and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei in that department. Granted, it actually kind of worked for SZS, at least in the first season which is the only one I've seen.

As for the text flashes in Bakemonogatari... meh. Stupid decision but I'm willing to let it slide because I absolutely love the aesthetics and atmosphere of the show in general.

I also hold that when at his best (ie. the EF franchise) Shinbo's former "apprentice" Shin Oonuma is perhaps better than Shinbo himself is, but that he's been hamstrung in recent years by subpar source material (ie. BakaTest, C3).

[ahelo]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

"Just because you have an idea and can do something doesn't mean you should"

And that is how parents make their children lose their creativity. Seriously speaking, Shinbo, more or less, shows how you should not constraint your imagination with the way his anime works. And seeing that he has a lot of followers (like me) who just love his anime, it seems that when you have an idea and you can probably pull it off, then you should pull it off.

[Grim_Reaper]

ahelo, I think you should watch Utena - you'll see the roots of Shinbo's "creativity".
Even though the methods are similar, in Utena they are used in a much better way. That's why Utena is creative, while Shinbo's shows aren't.

[0utf0xZer0]

I'll go as far as to agree that Ikuhara is more sensible in his use of stylistic elements, even if I'm not a fan of his heavy use of symbolism. Strongly disagree with the idea that Shinbo isn't creative though.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

I also hold that when at his best (ie. the EF franchise) Shinbo's former "apprentice" Shin Oonuma is perhaps better than Shinbo himself is, but that he's been hamstrung in recent years by subpar source material (ie. BakaTest, C3).

Yeh, what's up with that guy. I raged so hard at C3 because Oonuma was so better than that. Give him the Minori VN "Eden" to adapt imo. Closest resemblance to ef imo.

[zato_1one]

You should watch Le Portrait de petite Cossette. It's one of Shinbo masterpiece, IMO. It's a work of art. A must watch for his fans.

Shinbo truly has the skill. He has very good sense of humor. SZS is probably my most favorite gag anime. He also capable of directing touching scene like in last episode of SoreMachi and Bakemonogatari ep.12 or heavy drama like in Madoka. I respect him as a hard working man who never stop to believe in his style. I'm glad that his works are finally recognized by the majority.

[ahelo]

Originally Posted by Grim_Reaper

ahelo, I think you should watch Utena - you'll see the roots of Shinbo's "creativity".
Even though the methods are similar, in Utena they are used in a much better way. That's why Utena is creative, while Shinbo's shows aren't.

Well I did and I loved it. Of course Ikuhara has more grasp on symbolisms than Shinbo in the way his anime work; especially in Revolutionary Girl Utena where almost everything about it is his work. There's meaning to every part of his artsy-fartsy-ness; heck Mawaru Penguindrum follows the same root (albeit without the formulatic approach)

In contrast Shinbo works on showing you how he imagines the story. He shows you how he sees it, with his completely unconventional animation, distracting split second texts, and even unthinkable backgrounds. Weirdly enough when you mesh everything together, for a lot of us it works perfectly.

So in my perspective, while Ikuhara is a genius when it comes to manipulating symbolisms, Shinbo is a drug. You just can't get enough of him (except sequels).

Also I disagree completely that Shinbo has less creativity. The fact that he pulls of those stints in a way that it works show just how great he is.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ahelo

And that is how parents make their children lose their creativity. Seriously speaking, Shinbo, more or less, shows how you should not constraint your imagination with the way his anime works. And seeing that he has a lot of followers (like me) who just love his anime, it seems that when you have an idea and you can probably pull it off, then you should pull it off.

I'd go with that UNTIL you start wreaking havoc on why people liked the source material or you start misleading people about the sort of stuff that is in the source material. Unconstrained creativity occasionally leads to great things but it more often leads to trainwrecks. Self-discipline means knowing when your ego needs a check.

I like Shinbo... he's really creative in emergency situations, some of my favorite series were directed by him ... but I also dislike it when he seems to assume he's more important than the work he's adapting.

[thirdlc]

Originally Posted by Taufiq91

His most noticeable work was Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, the anime that made SHAFT what it is today.

the entire 3 series was basically Shinbo using every single knowledge of anime direction and use it to the fullest, from it's various multi-layered and themed OPs:

Oishi Tatsuya directed the three OPs. Shinbo had no involvement in them at all.

to this 2 minutes scene which uses 50 and more storyboard drawings:

That's originally Oishi's idea. He wanted to produce episodes like OPs and has put it into practice since Hidamari Sketch ep 2.

multi-coloured shots

From what we can see in Pani Poni Dash OPs Oishi directed, it's originally Oishi.

text walls

Oishi is in charge of all practical work of text.

fast-editing

As said above, Oishi. Shinbo learned Oishi's style by SZS.

While in the making of Bakemonogatari, Shinbo's use of various directing styles became more and more obvious when he decided to use techniques from 70's and 80's animes like Doraemon, Lupin 3 and Urusei Yatsura. Examples are shown in these two scenes:

Notice the use of gag responses by Araragi and the use of multi-coloured shots (especially in the first video). And the use of gag comedy manga reaction shots in the second shots is just...wow.

Oishi did it without asking Shinbo. Bakemonogatari's schedule was so tight he was allowed to do so. Oishi says in Bakemonogatari he did what Shinbo would never do.

Originally Posted by Vexx

Um... Tsukuyomi Moon Phase? Pani Poni Dash? Frankly I prefer his earlier period... before I got the feeling his ego ran rampant over source material. In recent works he seems to have gotten more restrained, subtle again and gotten better at *supplementing* the story (bakemonogatari, yes ... still digesting madoka no opinion yet)

So, you like the one that Shinbo was busy with Nanoha and has less involvement in, and the one that Shinbo had the least involvement in among all the series he directed so far. PPD is of Oonuma and Oota's taste. Shinbo says PPD is his favorite and finds it the most Shaft-ish.

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

*skips all*

Now you'd know what I'm going to say, and I guess I don't have to, right? You got the wrong person.

Oishi is being hidden behind Shindo and few people know what Oishi has done. Most of the Shinbo/Shaft style that people recognize today is actually what Oishi has created.

Here, those who hate Shinbo, bash Oishi instead! Huh?