Continuing with highlighting some of KyoAni’s most interesting subcontract work, I’ll discuss one of their collaborations with Gonzo as well as their work on the Tsutomu Mizushima x Shin-Ei Doga series ‘Haré+Guu’.
♦ Samurai Girl Real Bout High School #7
Storyboard: Shinichi Watanabe
Episode Director: Noriyuki Kitanohara
Assistant Ep. Director: Yutaka Yamamoto
Animation Director: Ichirou Miyoshi (Yoshiji Kigami)
Key Animation: Ichirou Miyoshi, Noriyuki Kitanohara, Hiroyuki Takahashi, Tomoe Aratani, Kazumi Ikeda, Shigeki Satou
KyoAni was in charge of episode 7 of this Gonzo series and they did almost everything from the key animation down to the photography work. The storyboard was done by Shinichi Watanabe (Nabeshin), though. Nabeshin’s involvement is pretty much obvious once you see the over-the-top gags, but I guess there are a lot of them in the other episodes, too. KyoAni certainly chose the perfect duo for this episode since Yoshiji Kigami (animation director) and Noriyuki Kitanohara (episode director) are great when it comes to overdone comedy. They even animated many parts on their own. You rarely see the kind of daring layout and animation work they displayed here in KyoAni’s more recent work, but now and then it shimmers through even in their newer anime. Like the ‘top down layout’ or those warped-perspective shots from the ground.
Particularly Taichi Ishidate’s directorial style inherited some of the wildness shown in this episode (like the posing of the characters), he’s a pupil of Kigami after all. Chiyoko Ueno, who was inbetweener on this episode, seems to have absorbed the bold approach of this episode as well. Her style today certainly shares some traits with the one Kigami displayed here in this episode. Speaking of Kigami, he probably animated the parts around the cooking contest (some cuts might be Kitanohara’s work, though). The shots of the audience are pure Kigami, this is pretty much his style once he has no character designs as basis:
One striking thing in the hallway scene at the beginning is that the characters’ hands and fingers are quite active which isn’t the case in the rest of the episode, so it’s certainly the animator who brought this about. It’s probably Tomoe Aratani’s part, who kind of passed this consciousness of hands and fingers in the acting on to Yukiko Horiguchi. Besides this scene, most of the animation is nothing to speak of even though some nice cuts are spread throughout the episode. It’s rather the framing/layout work that stands out in this episode. Once you watch this episode, it’s pretty much obvious that KyoAni didn’t have much time to work on it. There are a lot of stills and such so don’t expect anything outstanding animation-wise, but if you’re curious about KyoAni’s development as anime studio and how their approach changed over time, this is a good point to start.
♦ Haré+Guu
If I had to name the anime out of KyoAni’s subcontract era which had most impact on their current style, I would doubtlessly say Haré+Guu. The influence of Tsutomu Mizushima and Shin-Ei Doga runs very deep throughout all of KyoAni’s newer work, particularly in the more comedy-oriented ones. Just pay attention to the staging, the acting and the compositions in KyoAni’s anime, these things still display a lot of traits that you would usually expect from Mizushima or Shin-Ei Doga. KyoAni did a lot of work on all of the three Haré+Guu series (TV series, Deluxe and Final) so it’s not really surprising. While Yasuhiro Takemoto and Yutaka Yamamoto (Yamakan) directed the KyoAni episodes on all three series, Kazumi Ikeda and Mitsuyoshi Yoneda supervised the animation. Here’s a list of KyoAni’s episodes and the corresponding staff (ED = Episode Director / SB: Storyboard / AD: Animation Director):
Haré+Guu (TV)
Episode 8 (ED/SB: Yutaka Yamamoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)
Episode 14 (ED/SB: Yasuhiro Takemoto, AD: Mitsuyoshi Yoneda)
Episode 20 (ED/SB: Yutaka Yamamoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)
Episode 24 (ED/SB: Yasuhiro Takemoto, AD: Mitsuyoshi Yoneda)Haré+Guu Deluxe (OVA)
Episode 2 (ED/SB: Yasuhiro Takemoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)
Episode 3 (ED/SB: Yutaka Yamamoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)
Episode 5 (ED/SB: Yasuhiro Takemoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)
Episode 9 (ED/SB: Yutaka Yamamoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)
Episode 10 (ED/SB: Yutaka Yamamoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)Haré+Guu FINAL (OVA)
Episode 7 (ED/SB: Yutaka Yamamoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)
Episode 8 (ED/SB: Yutaka Yamamoto, AD: Kazumi Ikeda)
Episode 13 (ED/SB: Yasuhiro Takemoto, AD: Mitsuyoshi Yoneda)
Episode 14 (ED/SB: Yasuhiro Takemoto, AD: Mitsuyoshi Yoneda)
KyoAni’s episodes on these shows are usually among the best, right up there with Mizushima’s. In particular, check out episode 5 (“illusion V”) and episode 9 (“illusion IX”) of Haré+Guu Deluxe. There are few animators on each episode but it still moves a lot, just like you are used to from KyoAni. These collaborations with Shin-Ei Doga and Mizushima certainly played an important role in shaping their own style into what it is today, i.e. making the characters move a lot and putting emphasis on the animated acting. Many of the typical compositions you can find in Haré+Guu (and in other Tsutomu Mizushima and Shin-Ei Doga works as well) have become an integral part of KyoAni’s very own approach to staging. Some examples of where you can notice the influence can be seen below (it’s not about the content itself, but about the technique):
And by the way, there has been speculation that the idea of doing an ending dance for Haruhi (Hare Hare Yukai) goes back to the ending of Haré+Guu Deluxe. Tsutomu Mizushima seems to like endings with silly dancing, he did a similar ending for Kemeko Deluxe as well after all.
Ani no Miyako 
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