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yeah the Rhythm Heaven fixation is back

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We're Makin' Weird Science

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE WEIRDO SCIENTIST 🎉🎉🎉

Version without the birthday stuff lol

My freak

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Shigeyasu Yamauchi | Director and/or Episode Director

Digimon 02 Movie: The Golden Digimentals (2000) Ojamajo Doremi Naisho (2004) Episode 4 Casshern Sins (2008) Episode 1-24 Mawaru Penguindrum (2011) Episode 18 Happiness Charge Precure (2014) Episode 32

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having erection is low key kinda sexual

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the king picked the guy with skull shoulderpads for the court magician job, which is exciting

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good. After.noon

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get high with your buddy

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Rambling about both first eps for the Nube reboot and the original series. I miss Kaizawa.

Now I'm not exactly the biggest Nube fan, nothing against the show itself but I've only watched one episode of the original, but I've always had a soft spot for horror aimed at kids. So when the Nube reboot was first announced, I was mostly over it. Another reboot in the ouroboros of nostalgia we seem to be trapped in these days, but at the same time... I was a little curious. Even if they couldn't get Yukio Kaizawa (the original series director) again the skill ceiling at Toei is pretty damn high. There's tons of great directors at the studio who excel at crafting a delightfully wicked atmosphere while still making it accessible for kids.

And then I found out it wasn't even being animated at Toei. Woo.

What little excitement I had went away and went back to pretending that it doesn't exist. I did check the premier ep out of curiosity, aside from some real great action, it was perfectly functional. That's the problem.

Hell Teacher Nube #1 (2025)

Storyboard: Yasuyuki Ooishi (Director)

Episode Director: Teru Ishii

Animation Directors: Eriko Itou, Sakurako Sagano, Atsuko Takahashi

Action Animation Director: Takahiro Kagami (Co-Action Director)

Chief Animation Director: Yuu Yoshiyama (Character Designer/ Co-Action Director)

There's a great attempt at crafting an eerie atmosphere straight out the gate, but it's unfortunately limited to just this segment. The second it ends we go back to, and stay with, a very cut and dry view of the world. The opening teases that there's this underlying tension and danger just waiting to jump out at and blindside you at any second... Wish the rest of the episode kept that same vibe.

Just frustratingly straightforward. Each of these screenshots have a different mood but they're presented so similarly. The bottom two are supposed to be from a more intense moment but the staging is flat as hell and lacks gravitas.

Even Nube's introduction feels painfully cut and dry! There's an attempt at build-up but the middling direction kills the potential excitement and anticipation. The lights fade, and the fog comes in... but then it just ends with an anticlimactic pan up to his face. Looking no different from how he usually does.

Things do get better during the fight at the end, thanks to Yuu Yoshiyama and Takahiro Kagami both being amazing animators who specialize in intense drawings and overwhelming motion. Their presence injects the show with some much needed adrenaline and specificity.

One really great fight doesn't make for a great episode though. I'm sure they'll continue to deliver in the future, but for a show like Nube I'm not really fully here for that.

So Nube 2025 is shaping up to be yet another forgettable reboot riding on the wave everything getting a revival of some sort these days. But enough of that! Now lets talk about one of my favorite anime directors!

Hell Teacher Nube #01 (1996)

Storyboard/Episode Direction: Yukio Kaizawa (Series Director)

Animation Director: Masami Suda

You can immediately tell that Kaizawa already has a specific worldview in mind for the series. The Nube reboot merely teased the idea of an innocent world with something sinister beneath the surface-- meanwhile Kaizawa fully intends to deliver on that promise! The episode comes out swinging, a simple soccer game feels eerie and off-kilter through the use of harsh shadows and distorted backgrounds.. Feels like a dark cloud is looming overhead-- quite literally in this case! We immediately establish a sense of danger and dread early on and that's what Kaizawa spends the entire episode playing with.

We can even see Nube ominously watching over them, either shrouded in shadows or his face obscured. Creating proper build-up for his arrival later in the ep! Hell, he actually seems like a cool creepy dude here.

Even outside the soccer game when can still feel that eerie touch on the most minor of moments. Just this cut of two kids running but their faces also being obscured also goes a long way in maintaining that sinister atmosphere.

And then there's Nube's introduction:

Yeah jumpscares are usually the lamest way to get a quick scare out of someone. Here though it works because this is the only usage of it throughout the entire ep, and also I wasn't expecting anything like that in the show period! Made me jump outta my seat when I first saw it and it did keep me on my toes well after it appeared too. Really demands your attention, and further feeds into the idea of Nube having this threatening and ominous presence. We still haven't seen his face for the first time either.

When we do, it's strong well-drawn close up against a shadowed background. The reboot goes for a similar approach though with worse execution. After all that build-up we finally diffuse the tension in the funniest way possible. Nube lights himself on fire and makes an expression scarier than any Yokai in the show.

Now that's how you make an entrance!

And in that one moment you already know what Nube's character is all about. Serious one second and a bumbling fool the next, and also extends to the atmosphere of the show too. Playfully sinister and delightfully wicked. The ideal tone for horror aimed at kids.

Love how Kaizawa takes familiar looking places for kids and warps them into something unrecognizable through the usage of colors alone. It's only the middle of the day and yet the school itself is trapped in an eternal darkness. There isn't anything sinister lurking beneath the surface anymore-- it's fully making itself known. And it's intending to drag you down with it.

Even the big fight at the end sticks with that same approach. Much less heavy on the action animation, due to the studio's economic nature, Kaizawa instead focuses on maintaining the eerie atmosphere throughout. Once again, making for a more memorable first impression.

Now obviously I'm not trying to say "New thing BAD, old thing GOOD" when it comes to talking about older media, I feel others place too much value in nostalgia instead of skill and talent. I'm not trying to say the original series is better due to the "old-school vibes," or anything like that-- it's just that someone like Kaizawa was the perfect person for the job. His work always oozes eeriness and dread, while still remaining playful and inviting. Dunno much about Yasuyuki Ooishi but he for sure wasn't the right guy for the job. Along with many other issues that plague modern anime-- just compare the credits! The original series has Kaizawa directing and storyboarding his episode alongside one AD allowing for fully realized premier. While Nube 2025 has a different SB/ED and three other ADs alongside Yoshiyama and Kagami. A director without much of a compelling personal voice combined with decentralized production just leads to a bland pile of mush. Then again that's most anime these days.

Also things can be so much worse. In fact Nube's credits for ep 1 are pretty healthy compared to most stuff airing now. For example, Dandadan consistently has much higher AD counts, you could argue on the sake of ambition but even the more lowkey eps can have ADs counts up in the double digits!

Anyways. I should really watch more of the original series. First episode was fun. Hopefully this motivates you to watch it too. And more Kaizawa shows too, of course.

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today's haul

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Palestinians are stronger than any marine

(Sharing their other link because they have a regularly updated account that they use like a normal person, everyone be normal about this please)

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duster kinda fruity ngl

yeah he is a bit fruity. do you want an apple?

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its so joever duster im sorry. its so over

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Kumadust domestic au angst

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i don't know about anyone else, but i LOVEEE the zombie scene in the osohe graveyard. it's very creepy :-]