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Old 2007-04-29, 20:39   Link #1701
Strato
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ANN fails at translating names which is a topic in multiple 2ch threads.

Yutaka Yamamoto, also known as Yamakan is responsible for the following:

Director - Lucky Star
Direction - Lucky Star Op dance.
Script/Storyboards/Direction for the karaoke ED sequence.
Direction - Haruhi ED dance. (He's a self-proclaimed Berryz fan, also see Lucky Channel in episode 1 of Lucky Star)
Script/Storyboards/Episode Direction - The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina
Script/Storyboards/Episode Direction - Live A Live
Script for various other Haruhi eps.
Overall series comp for Haruhi.
Storyboards/Episode Direction for the Kanon ep with excessive repetition (Lunch box swapping/endless loop conversation between Kyon/Nayuki)
Storyboards/Episode Direction for Ave Maria and haircut in TSR. Don't remember if those happened in the same episode.
Assistant Director for Munto 2
Storyboards/Episode Direction for the forgotten homework and hot springs Fumoffu eps. There may have been more.
Episode Direction for the Kunizaki saikou Air episode. Maybe another one.
Episode Direction for various Atashinchi and Hare Guu eps.

This was the first time he was actually directing a whole show. It's possible that he wasn't well-equipped to handle the other aspects of being the main director such as scheduling, HR, etc. It's also possible that this is a KyoAni joke since Takemoto/Gotoh were announced to be doing ep 5 since the beginning. Speaking of which, not sure if the shashu in the title for ep 5 combined with Takemoto/Gotoh team is a coincidence or not when they did Sagittarius.
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Old 2007-04-29, 21:43   Link #1702
Telliamed
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I don't think we should write the obituary just yet.

I've liked the directing so far. If only because Lucky Star hasn't resorted to the dreaded lens-flare that has infected so many other KyoAni works. A few people have complained about abrupt scene changes, but I don't mind. A transition would seem gimmicky to me. Like saying, "Okay, the joke just ended. This is when you're supposed to laugh."
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Old 2007-04-29, 22:09   Link #1703
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Gotta love how the blogger says the transition showcases "Kyoto Animation's legendary trait of producing high quality shows".

Okay two problems here, first it's not exactly a legendary trait as they haven't done enough series to firmly establish it as a trait, but far far more importantly the concepts of replacing a director and showcasing a trait of producing high quality show have absolutely nothing in common. If anything its shows a blemish on an otherwise good track record, that says "We've really messed up early on". This is not the kind of announcement you make to say "Hey, we rock!"

Good grief, it's like some people will stop at nothing to find reasons to praise the company, no matter what logic busting reasoning is required to do so. That's my two cents.

Still I'll also throw my hat in on the fake play on the Gurren Lagann hacking theory. I'd like to add that:

6. announcing such an important change in a production team on an obscure part of a site lacks class and is unbecoming of an animation studio. The Gurren Lagann announcement was a public one with Akai writing a formal letter in clear site on the companies website to issue his resignation. One would think Kyoto Animation would do both the fanbase and Yasuhiro the respect of doing the same.

If this turns out to be true I will have lost a bit of respect for Kyoto Animation in terms of them having prestige and class, not nearly as much as if it's the Gainax Joke Scenario though (You can add that to my critique of the Kurogane blog post as well. The style in which the announcement was made would show a lack of respect, not a dedication to high quality and prestige). Time will tell.....

Last edited by Kaioshin Sama; 2007-04-30 at 01:11.
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Old 2007-04-30, 00:23   Link #1704
Telliamed
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Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama View Post
Good grief, it's like some people will stop at nothing to find reasons to praise the company, no matter what logic busting reasoning is required to do so. That's my two cents.
Unless he was speaking tongue-in-cheek. Because, as you know, no one ever misunderstands sarcasm on the internet.

I'm pretty firmly in the fake-news camp, until I see evidence otherwise. It's just a matter of whether it's an outside prank, or in-house like Strato says. Although, why the matter hasn't been cleared up by now is a bit odd.
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Old 2007-04-30, 00:39   Link #1705
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Agreed.... this is a bit too flaky to take seriously at the moment (especially during a holiday period).
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Old 2007-04-30, 03:16   Link #1706
Kaioshin Sama
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Back on the topic of multiple viewings now, I have a confession to make. I have watched the final scene of Super Bestial Machine God Dancougar about 20 times now and I've gotta say..... that is the most moving ending I've seen in ages. I can almost see where people are coming from now when it comes to certain scenes.
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Old 2007-04-30, 04:33   Link #1707
Sheba
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I've cried way more at the deaths of Rei, Shuh or Jyuuza in Hokuto no Ken.

And I'll never get over the fact that the animated version of JoJo did not do Iggy's death scene the justice he deserves.

And in more recent memory, I cried like a little girl at the end of Air. Just when I thought I'd never cry at an anime ever again.

Edit: Gungrave's ending is also one that was moving.

Last edited by Sheba; 2007-04-30 at 04:51.
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Old 2007-04-30, 08:02   Link #1708
Kinny Riddle
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DragoonKain3 View Post
Wait wait wait wait...

Just to get this straight, it's Yamamoto Yutaka we're talking about right? Because...
I checked the Japanese wikipedia entry for that kanji, so yes, his name is pronounced Yutaka, not Hiroshi, my bad. Sorry for the confusion. (I blame ANN and the English wikipedia entry for the misleading info. )

Quote:
Yamamoto Hiroshi (credited as director by ANN for Lucky Star) - This is the series director of the almighty Suzumiya Haruhi. I almost choked when I thought it was him being canned/demoted, (mainly because Haruhi as a series was just teh win) because well, what a loss for KyoAni if they ever did that.
Correction. The series director of the "almighty Suzumiya Haruhi" is Ishihara Tatsuya, director of the much fabled/derided (choose latter if you're a cynical Kyo-Ani hater) AIR and Kanon 2006. Yamamoto was in charge of the casting in that series, but not directing.

A golden opportunity for the Kyo-Ani cynics pour their scorn over Kyo-Ani by jumping to conclusions and saying Kyo-Ani has finally "fallen on their sword" when not everything is clear what's going on. I will reserve judgment until about episode 8 to see how much of a difference the new director would make.
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Old 2007-04-30, 10:34   Link #1709
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinny Riddle View Post
I checked the Japanese wikipedia entry for that kanji, so yes, his name is pronounced Yutaka, not Hiroshi, my bad. Sorry for the confusion. (I blame ANN and the English wikipedia entry for the misleading info. )



Correction. The series director of the "almighty Suzumiya Haruhi" is Ishihara Tatsuya, director of the much fabled/derided (choose latter if you're a cynical Kyo-Ani hater) AIR and Kanon 2006. Yamamoto was in charge of the casting in that series, but not directing.

A golden opportunity for the Kyo-Ani cynics pour their scorn over Kyo-Ani by jumping to conclusions and saying Kyo-Ani has finally "fallen on their sword" when not everything is clear what's going on. I will reserve judgment until about episode 8 to see how much of a difference the new director would make.
I for on am glad it's not the worst case scenario. What I meant by temporarily falling on their sword, was that its a minor setback. I am allowed to say they made a mistake in selecting their team and have admitted it aren't I? Still, it is indeed a sad thing to have this happen to the Director so soon and hopefully he gets another shot in the future. My guess the change in director would make is that it will have a placebo effect on the viewership making them think the series has been turned on its head, when really it's still the same show. What it might be is a bit tighter in terms of pacing with the more expeirience Takemoto at the helm.

By the way I'm still allowed on your site aren't I?
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Old 2007-04-30, 10:40   Link #1710
Furudanuki
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This is certainly not the "We are making changes for the benefit of all concerned, everyone is happy about it, Yamamoto is a valued employee, we all love our company and each other, nobody loses face" announcement that is standard issue for Japanese corporations. If this is not a hoax, then Yamamoto must have said or done something that seriously pissed off and/or embarrassed someone high up in the Kyoto Animation food chain. If it had been solely a matter of disappointing performance, then he probably would have been given an opportunity to save face and make his own announcement rather than being slapped down in public.
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Old 2007-04-30, 11:42   Link #1711
Kinny Riddle
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Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama View Post
By the way I'm still allowed on your site aren't I?
I have no idea what you're talking about. What makes you think that?
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Old 2007-04-30, 12:45   Link #1712
Skane
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Exclamation

Well, AnimeNewsNetwork (along with AnimeNewsService and Moonphase) finally put up an article about it, so I suppose that settles the issue of whether it is a hoax or not.

I am still baffled by this rather harsh development. The biggest "crime" I could possibly accuse Yamamoto-san of is that his scene transitions were questionable, but that hardly justifies this public smackdown.

The animation quality has been kept consistent, the punchlines had weight, all in all, Lucky Star is hardly a series that is in trouble (unlike one other Spring2007 series where its own producers are all gloom and doom on their own blogs... "The director has fled! Nobody knows what the story is! Doom~! DOOM~!" (although I must admit, I take perverse glee in their plight )).

The way they phrased it, if the news services are to be believed, is that Yamamoto-san did not live up to the studio's standards; but Lucky Star is like, his only chance to take helm and learn the ropes in practice. Yamamoto-san is definitely not going to be allowed to touch CLANNAD, SHnY 2nd Season, or FMP!AVDMC, since it would be suicidal to let a green Director take charge of those "golden goose" projects.

So now that his debut project has been taken away from him, what has he been assigned to now? Episode Director?

Cheers.
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Old 2007-04-30, 12:56   Link #1713
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skane View Post
Well, AnimeNewsNetwork (along with AnimeNewsService and Moonphase) finally put up an article about it, so I suppose that settles the issue of whether it is a hoax or not.

I am still baffled by this rather harsh development. The biggest "crime" I could possibly accuse Yamamoto-san of is that his scene transitions were questionable, but that hardly justifies this public smackdown.

The animation quality has been kept consistent, the punchlines had weight, all in all, Lucky Star is hardly a series that is in trouble (unlike one other Spring2007 series where its own producers are all gloom and doom on their own blogs... "The director has fled! Nobody knows what the story is! Doom~! DOOM~!" (although I must admit, I take perverse glee in their plight )).

The way they phrased it, if the news services are to be believed, is that Yamamoto-san did not live up to the studio's standards; but Lucky Star is like, his only chance to take helm and learn the ropes in practice. Yamamoto-san is definitely not going to be allowed to touch CLANNAD, SHnY 2nd Season, or FMP!AVDMC, since it would be suicidal to let a green Director take charge of those "golden goose" projects.

So now that his debut project has been taken away from him, what has he been assigned to now? Episode Director?

Cheers.
I think the reason that the Kissdum situation is so comical is that they are so open about dramatic about it. God when the staff is all like "He left and stuck us with a concept and zero knowledge in our heads" it sounds the theme of a sitcom episode, where they run around scrambling to "get er' done".

Too answer question, Yamamoto will probably now be in charge of being the official Pizza Taster. Yep definetly the Pizza taster! (I mean seriously, is there any other more blatant way to say "You are the fifth wheel of this organization and you can't even direct a 4koma adapation. Now Go sit in the corner.")

This is kind of funny to me in a way, but not in a sitcom way like Kissdum. More like a "What the hell guys?!" Daily Show segment. There's way way too much production drama this season.
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Old 2007-04-30, 13:10   Link #1714
Vexx
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skane View Post
Well, AnimeNewsNetwork (along with AnimeNewsService and Moonphase) finally put up an article about it, so I suppose that settles the issue of whether it is a hoax or not.

I am still baffled by this rather harsh development. The biggest "crime" I could possibly accuse Yamamoto-san of is that his scene transitions were questionable, but that hardly justifies this public smackdown.

The animation quality has been kept consistent, the punchlines had weight, all in all, Lucky Star is hardly a series that is in trouble (unlike one other Spring2007 series where its own producers are all gloom and doom on their own blogs... "The director has fled! Nobody knows what the story is! Doom~! DOOM~!" (although I must admit, I take perverse glee in their plight )).

The way they phrased it, if the news services are to be believed, is that Yamamoto-san did not live up to the studio's standards; but Lucky Star is like, his only chance to take helm and learn the ropes in practice. Yamamoto-san is definitely not going to be allowed to touch CLANNAD, SHnY 2nd Season, or FMP!AVDMC, since it would be suicidal to let a green Director take charge of those "golden goose" projects.

So now that his debut project has been taken away from him, what has he been assigned to now? Episode Director?

Cheers.
Allowing for kj1980's translation/interpretation (which is more "amiable")... it is still pretty odd and makes me wonder what high bar was set for this series. Like Skane says.... it is a pretty pure presentation of the manga material for the most part.... the Lucky Channel segment (original material) seems to be very well received (even though personally I'd rather see more Lucky*Star source material)... they must have expected some knock'em'dead level of buzz that I find an unrealistic expectation.
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Old 2007-04-30, 13:34   Link #1715
Kaioshin Sama
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Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
Allowing for kj1980's translation/interpretation (which is more "amiable")... it is still pretty odd and makes me wonder what high bar was set for this series. Like Skane says.... it is a pretty pure presentation of the manga material for the most part.... the Lucky Channel segment (original material) seems to be very well received (even though personally I'd rather see more Lucky*Star source material)... they must have expected some knock'em'dead level of buzz that I find an unrealistic expectation.
Maybe they are feeling pressure from their more unreasonable fans who expect every series to reach the popularity of Suzumiya Haruhi. There is an upside and a downside to having a close relationship with your fans. On the upside you are ensured to a least strike a chord with the audience, but on the downside you are very limited in how you approach things, and they will always demand more and more out of you. Thus, what you have is a situation where you will always succeed, but it will never be good enough, kind of like a boy trying to please a father with strict standards by presenting him a report card with a grade for B+ work and him saying "Why didnt' you get an A, I want A material?".

I too would like to see them do more Lucky Star source material. To me the Lucky Channel segment is a weak point that I might as well skip over in favour of the ending segment. It's starting to look very much like a one trick pony where Akira and Tanuguchi do their Cute Girl/Angry Girl routine and maybe talk about the characters briefly. It was amusing the first time in its highlighting that idols probably aren't as loveable in private as they are in public (Except maybe Aya Hirano who seems like the genuine article), but by episode 3 its gotten old for me.
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Old 2007-04-30, 15:16   Link #1716
rg4619
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Quote:
So now that his debut project has been taken away from him, what has he been assigned to now? Episode Director?
Given the way KyoAni worded and posted that message (assuming that it's genuine), I'd assume that he's no longer with the studio, although you never know.
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Old 2007-04-30, 15:35   Link #1717
Samatarou
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If it's true he's left the company this opens up another possible interpretation:
"I'm leaving for a better job next week."
"In that case we're sacking you this week! And your work sucked anyhow!"
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Old 2007-04-30, 15:44   Link #1718
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If it's true he's left the company this opens up another possible interpretation:
"I'm leaving for a better job next week."
"In that case we're sacking you this week! And your work sucked anyhow!"
I almost hope that's the case - otherwise, such a brutal public dismissal seems a good way to kill the man's career. Regardless of the facts behind it, presumably the rest of the industry are taking note and coming to the same conclusion as us: that whatever he did to anger the KyoAni Gods, it must have been pretty extreme.

Hmm, maybe his version of ep5 joked about the original Haruhi manga being better than the anime.
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Old 2007-04-30, 15:58   Link #1719
justsomeguy
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I find it hard to believe this bit of news. Since when have the Japanese been so blunt in dismissing an employee, instead of trying to save face for everybody? Nevermind that there has been absolutely nothing wrong with Lucky Star. The first ep was a bit rough, but the later ones were much better.
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Old 2007-04-30, 16:00   Link #1720
Samatarou
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As to the question of whether there has been any weakness in episode direction, the only criticisms I can think of about how Lucky Star is put together are firstly, the abrupt scene changes which make it hard to tell that a new conversation is starting: I would prefer a fadeout, even a 1 second transition—fade to black then fade back in again—would suffice to punctuate the scenes, but instead we get these sudden jumps and you're not quite sure for a few seconds whether this is still the same conversation or a new one.

Secondly, compared to, say, Haruhi, there are fewer interesting camera angles and compositions. It is very rare that we see anything other than (1) head and shoulders shots or (2) top half of the figures. More visual variety would be good, full length shots, distance shots, odd angles etc. I think the variety may be increasing but a quick review of episode 3 reveals that those two compositions account for at least 90% of all shots.
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