To put it bluntly, I wasn’t particularly satisfied with the first two ‘Anime no Chikara‘ series as the first one (So-ra-no-wo-to) was technically well-made yet didn’t make any mentionable effort to break out of generic anime patterns and the currently airing ‘Senkou no Night Raid’ is extremely dry and a bore to watch despite its interesting setting. So I am earnestly hoping that, as the saying goes, “The third time’s the charm” and A-1 Pictures will finally present something worthy of the projects’ ambitious name. Considering the staff of the third attempt – “Occult Academy” – it has at least a solid grounding and starting point with some really talented people in key positions. First, there’s director Tomohiko Ito who has an impressive record of works for all that he’s never directed a series or movie before. Recently I had an ‘aha moment’ when I found out that Tokiichi Kagurazaka is his pen name as suddenly everything began to make sense. I had always wondered who was behind the laid-back feeling and Hosoda-like elaborate framing of ‘Michiko to Hatchin’ #4, so it makes perfect sense that Tomohiko Ito had been in charge since he was the assistant director of “Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo” and “Summer Wars”.
More recently, Ito directed/storyboarded Kobato! #5 which also made quite an impression on me. While the script was pretty cliche (a more or less typical shoujo-ish slice-of-life story), he managed to achieve a dramatic intensity unlike any other episode I saw. The arrangement of the screen was again quite reminiscent of Mamoru Hosoda, i.e. studied and intuitive scene compositions with a strong underlying feeling of realism.
He was also the assistant director of one of the more prominent Madhouse shows of recent years – Death Note – and directed a bunch of episodes himself. Originally, he started out as setting producer on X (TV) and later moved on to directing episodes of Monster. I couldn’t find a complete list of his work neither in the English nor Japanese web, so I gathered following information from various sources:
♦ MONSTER (2003-2004): Storyboard #43 #56 #71, Ep. Director #43 #56, Ep. Director Assistant #23
♦ Blood+ (2005-2006): Storyboard #2 #14 #34 #46 (synonym: Tokiichi Kagurazaka)
♦ Legend of Mahjong: Akagi (2005-2006): Storyboard #5 #21, Ep. Director #1 #5
♦ Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (2006): Assistant Director
♦ Cluster Edge OVA (2006): Storyboard #3 (synonym: Tokiichi Kagurazaka)
♦ Saiunkoku Monogatari (2006-2007): Storyboard #17
♦ Death Note (2006-2007): Assistant Director, Script #26, Storyboard ED2 #14 #26 #35, Ep. Director ED2 #2 #7 #14 #23 #26 #29 #35
♦ Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro (2007-2008): Assistant Director, Storyboard ED1 #24, Ep. Director ED1 #24
♦ Kurozuka (2008): Storyboard #3, Ep. Director #3
♦ Persona -trinity soul- (2008): Storyboard #23 (synonym: Tokiichi Kagurazaka)
♦ Kannagi! (2008): Storyboard #11 (synonym: Tokiichi Kagurazaka)
♦ Michiko to Hatchin (2008-2009): Storyboard #4 #12 #19, Ep. Director #4 #12 (synonym: Tokiichi Kagurazaka)
♦ Stitch! ~Itazura Alien no Daibōken~ (2009-): Director OP1
♦ Kobato. (2009-2010): Storyboard #5 #17, Ep. Director #5
♦ So-ra-no-wo-to (2010): Storyboard #4 (synonym: Tokiichi Kagurazaka)
♦ Summer Wars (2009): Assistant Director
♦ Occult Academy (2010): Director
As far as other staff of Occult Academy is concerned, I find it quite reassuring that award-winning veteran director and animator Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Blood Movie, Roujin Z, Pop Chaser, etc.) is involved in planning activities. I would be incredibly glad if we saw him doing other work as well (such as storyboarding or key animation), especially because he’s almost disappeared into thin air since his last two jobs as director (Ragnarok Online Opening Movie in 2002 and the “Easy Breeze” Fluximation short in 2005). Other than that, the only work on anime he has done since 2002 was some key animation on Osamu Kobayashi‘s Someday’s Dreamers (2008) and on the Burst Angel OVA (2007).
I’m also thrilled that super-talented animator Takahiro Chiba of Kamichu! fame serves as the character designer and chief animation director, so quality should be good. I find it particularly interesting, though, that Xebec is helping out with the animation production. Xebec has its share of talented animators and directors (such as Mori Kai, Akio Takami and Yuuko Sera), it’s just hard to notice due to the horrible source material and content of their shows. Hopefully, some of them get the chance to show their skills here.
On the script side of things, Seishi Minakami is the supervisor, who did the series composition for shows like ‘To Aru Kagaku no Railgun’ and ‘Birdy the Mighty Decode:02’ in the past. There was some information floating around in the Japanese web assumedly from Ito‘s appearance on a radio show. The genre is reportedly “occult comedy” and Ito said that it was difficult to combine those elements and that he had a hard time with his directorial debut project, yet they had the ambitious goal of overwhelming male anime fans (and it contained themes which would resonate with 25-35 years-olds). Furthermore, the heroine is a ‘tsun’ character of ‘hyper-degree class’. You know, ‘tsun’ as in ‘tsundere’ but without the ‘dere’ side. Anyway, Occult Academy promises to be a refreshing genre mixture so let’s hope that July comes quickly!
Ani no Miyako 
Ito also directed and storyboarded the second ED for Death Note, which is one of my favorites.
If she’s the tsun without the dere, does that mean that she’ll act like a complete beeatch throughout the entire show and not warm up to the lead? Sorry, I try to avoid most of these type of shows, so I’m not really clear on this.
In any case, looks like this will be another show with high production values that I will most likely skip unless I hear wide praise across the board. I think it’s the main promotional poster that’s turning me off.
Michiko to Hatchin is a show that I’m honestly surprised hasn’t been released over in America. Most likely due to some ridiculous licensing fee, since it has “TO BE MARKETED SPECIFICALLY FOR REGION 1” written all over it.
I saw the trailer some time ago and have been anxiously awaiting its premiere ever since. I’m kind of a sucker for occult topics, but all too often they dive into a murky sea of confusing cliches. However, the bits and pieces they give us in the trailer look pretty engaging, so I can overlook a cliche or two. Some cliches just can’t be helped, I guess! (Honestly I think some folks get a bit too worked up over some of them; all works of art have them.)
The short-list of the talents behind Occult Academy is impressive; Ito has worked on some of my favorite shows. Summer Wars especially was so very well done and an improvement over the already-impressive Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. If he can carry forward into a weekly series then it’s rather safe to say that at least the direction will be awesome!
(And I can tell you that just judging from that first group of pics that I will definitely check out Michiko to Hatchin right after I’m done here! The characters and backgrounds look wonderful.)
I already love the character designs of Occult Academy; I’ve been a champion for the apparently little-seen Kamichu! which I enjoyed quite a lot and wouldn’t have guessed that Chiba was behind them both.
Having grown so very weary of seeing endless K-ON! = So-ra-no-wo-to comparisons, I can predict that the same people will be whining about our new heroine’s comparisons to Bakemonogatari’s Hitagi. Just watch LOL
I swear, the concept of Apples/Oranges escapes them completely!
Anyway, thanks for the preview 😀
@braves
Ah, thanks for pointing out. Don’t know how I could forget that ED, watched it just yesterday.
As for Occult Academy’s heroine, I can imagine that she’ll be somewhat like Hitagi Senjougahara of Bakemonogatari, but without ever warming up to the male lead. At least the promo pic gives me the impression that she’ll treat him like a slave…
Michiko to Hatchin has already been licensed over here (German-speaking countries) while it was airing on Japanese TV, so it’s certainly surprising that nobody in the US has picked it up so far. All the more surpring if you consider – as you say – that it feels like a series made for Western audiences.
@Alastor
Michiko to Hatchin is a very well-directed, fun and stylish series with some of the best characters I’ve come arcoss in anime (Hatchin is great!), so definitely worth checking out. Quality has its ups and downs, but for the most part production values are good as well (it was made by manglobe, after all).
And yeah, I can already hear fanboys rant about how Occult Academy’s female lead is a Senjougahara rip-off. Well, some people will never learn, right? 😉
Kanokon? Horrible source material!? I am offended!
I’m well aware that this kind of material resonates with some people, doesn’t make it any better in my eyes, though 😉
I also wrote some words about Occult Gakuin (but in french) some weeks ago and I’m glad to see other people who are looking forward to watching it.
Before my searchings I didn’t really know Ito but I was really impressed when I checked his CV. However thanks for the details about him specially the pen name part since I didn’t notice this.
I’ve also high hopes in the art director Yusuke Takeda of Bamboo studio who’s a veteran in Production I.G works (Gits, Seirei no Moribito, Eden of the East, Kimi ni Todoke). I’ve read that Ito went to Matsushiro and specially to the Mina kami yama lave dome (where Occult Academy stands) : it reminds So-ra-no-wo-to when Mamoru Kanbe went to Cuenca with the staff and specially the art director (Masatoshi Kai). I’m sure they’ll make some nice backgrounds with this place which is historically wealthy (shrines, 2nd World War underground, …).
I’ve nothing to add since you said it on this post but this project is interesting even if the plot is sure confusing not to say it looks like a parody with all these occult stereotypes (Nostradamus, crop circles, ruins, bent spoon, …). Plus I’m curious how is Xebec involved in the production… (first Anime no Chikara project which isn’t completely A-1 Pictures work).
It’s indeed good to see other people looking forward to Occult Academy as it seems to be under the radar of most anime fans, at least that is my impression based on preview posts in forums/blogs. I guess some people will be surprised by its quality since they aren’t familar with the director. If more fans knew that he was the assistant director of Tokikake, Summer Wars and Death Note, many would think quite differently…
Yusuke Takeda doing the art direction is clearly a plus, what would Moribito be without its beautiful art? I hope he works with the same kind of dedication on Occult Academy, though – if the trailer is any indication – that seems to be the case.
[…] by A-1 Pictures/Xebec and directed by promising director Tomohiko Ito. I already wrote a detailed preview of Occult Academy recently, check it out for more information. Medium Expectations […]