#jun shishido

[valkaryah]

The Princess and the Pilot (とある飛空士への追憶)

[stuff-diary]

Attack on Titan: The Final Chapter

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2023

Attack on Titan: The Final Chapter (2023, Japan)

Directors: Yuichiro Hayashi & Tokio Igarashi

Writer: Hiroshi Seko (based on the manga by Hajime Isayama)

Mini-review:

God, I don't even know how to begin this review. Attack on Titan has been part of my life for so long, and I find it hard to accept that it's finally over. Overall, I'm very satisfied with this final episode. It gave us show-stopping action, it gave us drama, it gave us a powerful anti-war message. Like this show has always done. In some ways, the mixture of cynicism and hopefulness that permeates this final act reminds me of Evangelion, and I mean that in the best possible way. Tbh, now that I've finally seen it, I can't understand why people have hated it so much ever since it was first published. How else could it have ended, after all the twists and turns the story took? I think Isayama did the best he could, and MAPPA took things to the next level with some of the best animation they've ever produced. This final chapter gave me a lot of food for thought, and I'm pretty sure it will stay in my mind for a long time, just like this world and its characters.

[otakutale]

Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 3 Visual Revealed

https://wp.me/p4jiOt-dcr

The official website of the anime adaptation of Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) has revealed a brand new visual…

[silvadour]

Attack on Titan S04E30 - Act 2 - "A Long Dream" Episode Director(s): Yuichiro Hayashi (林 祐一郎) & Tokio Igarashi (五十嵐 季旺) Chief Episode Director: Jun Shishido (宍戸 淳) Screenplay: Hiroshi Seko (瀬古 浩司) Key animator: Arifumi Imai (今井 有文) Storyboarder(s): Arifumi Imai (今井 有文) & Yuichiro Hayashi (林 祐一郎)

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #700

Animestyle 2017/05, Staff's round-table discussion

Yuri!!! on ICE was supported by teamwork, trials, errors and 'love'

Oguro: You all did very good job on Yuri!!! That one cour was really a miracle. When I saw the first episode I thought that surely, it'd be impossible to have so many skating scenes every week, but actually there was more and more skating scenes every week - it shocked me.

All: (laugh)

Hiramatsu: Everyone was thinking the same thing. That even if there were going to be figure skating scenes in the show, surely no longer than 5 minutes or so. After all, it's an anime, so we will cut those scenes short in a nice form. That's what I thought, when I heard about the project, but when we started, It turned out that they were going to show everything. I was surprised.

Tatenaka: They were really serious about the show.

Hiramatsu: I underestimated them. There was also another design for a costume ready, but in the end, we decided not to change the design.

Ito: We didn't have enough time in the schedule to do that!

Hiramatsu: Because even if it's just changing the character's clothes, it's still a lot of work.

Oguro: So there was a plan to change the costume, but not the movements, is that right?

Hiramatsu: Yes, yes. But even if it's just the clothes that change, you have to redraw everything.

Tatenaka: In the end, the number of frames that would need to be redrawn would be the same as when drawing everything from zero.

Ito: If we decided to do something like that, the Animation Director would correct a few frames and the film would be re-made.

[Notes: A very interesting cross-talk between staff members: Hiramatsu-san (character design & animation director), Ito Noriko-san (assistant animation director), Tatenaka Junpei-san (animator of skating scenes) and Shishido Jun-san (episode director/storyboards).

The costume they talk about is, I believe, Yuuri's Eros costume, which from what I've heard was supposed to be changed mid-season to his own 'proper' costume from the one that we see and that was designed with teenage Victor in mind per Sagiri Yuuko's interviews. (I think that everyone assumed that it's the design that we see on the cover of soundtrack CD, but I'm not sure it was confirmed).]

[cloudynyxx]

Interview of Death Parade Staff - Key Animators

The Appeal of Key Animation and the Joy of Animation Supervision Animator Roundtable Discussion

Shōsuke Ishibashi / 石橋 翔祐 [Key Animator] Takashi Kojima / 小島 崇史 [Key Animator] Ryōta Azuma / 東 亮太 [Animation Director / Key Animator] Izumi Murakami / 村上 泉 [Prop Design / Key Animator] — Please tell us about a memorable scene from "Death Parade" that you participated in

Azuma: I have mainly worked on PD Takuya's works, which is how I got involved in Death Parade. I was given the opportunity to be the animation director for episode six, which was a very unique episode. To be honest, I didn't have much experience as an animation director, so key cuts were handled by Kojima-san, Ishibashi-san, Murakami-san, and other skilled animators and artists, who made the important scenes more appealing. Especially Ishibashi-san. His cuts were the first to get delivered, and they had an enormous number of keyframes where Mayu was moving ecstatically with very detailed acting. It was completely different from the keyframes I usually draw, so I was shocked to see how he handled it. It had a positive influence on me. Murakami: I think Ishibashi-san created Mayu's character. Ishibashi: No, that's not it. Since I participated in episode six first, Mayu was the first character I animated. I was like, "Huh? Decim hasn’t shown up yet," (laughs). I worked on episode 4 afterwards. Murakami: When I joined, Ishibashi-san's rough animation was already complete, so I watched the footage and thought, "Mayu is a girl who moves like this," and I understood what to do. Also, Episode Director Shishido was the type to entrust a lot to the animators. Kojima: Yes, Shishido [Jun]-san's storyboards are very easy to visualize in motion. Speaking of memorable things, in Death Parade, there were many scenes where the space was constructed in 3D, right? Ishibashi: Yeah, that's right. The first scene I worked on was in front of the bar counter in Viginti in episode six. It was challenging because it was not originally constructed in 3D. But then when I started working on other episodes, I realized that this [3D layout] was easy. Kojima: Working with 3D layouts means you don't have to draw backgrounds [laughs], which is convenient, but I also worried that neglecting to draw them might make my skills in that area rusty, so I had some doubts about whether it was the right approach. Ishibashi: I understand that. But drawing so many kokeshi dolls was tough... Murakami: Oh, I'm sorry. It's my fault that there were so many kokeshi dolls. When I was asked by Tachikawa-san (series composer and director) to design a Japanese-style bar, I thought it would be nice to have lots of kokeshi dolls lined up like bottles of alcohol, so I drew the image board with that in mind...

— PD Takuya and Kurita-san mentioned that Kojima-san broadened the range of character acting in Death Parade.

Kojima: Is that so? That's great to hear. In the first episode we worked on around 55 cuts, and during the meeting, either Director Tachikawa or Director Shishido-san requested that I present the acting with all the intensity of someone emotionally breaking down in tears at a press conference. So, I watched some videos for reference and drew accordingly. When it came to the ninth episode, I was initially consulted about the air hockey scen, but wanting to try something new, I asked to work on the scene where Shimada's sister is assaulted instead. Ishibashi: I thought you were definitely going to choose hockey, so I was like, "Oh, this is it?” (laughs). The cut with the light glinting on the knife,  the acting was so skillful there that we left it untouched and just let it run as it was. Kojima: (laughs) Well, I can't help but feel like I've been doing nothing but pitiful scenes most of the time. Also, the skating scene in episode eleven was very difficult. Ishibashi: That scene was mainly handled by Murakami-san, right? I also participated a bit, like drawing the childhood skating scenes. Kojima: I was allowed to draw the start of the skating scene. I did about 4 cuts in that area. Murakami: As for me…I am filled with a feeling of wanting to fix it… Ishibashi: No, you did really well. You had quite a number of cuts, right?Murakami: The number of cuts was around twelve. With everyone's help, we managed to complete it somehow. We had assistance from the 2nd key animation team as well.

— It seems that episode eleven had one of the stricter schedules among all the episodes. Ishibashi: Indeed, I was worried about whether we could really broadcast the episode or not, but the atmosphere in the studio wasn’t tense at all, and I felt very good. It was more like, "Can we do it?" rather than "Oh no, oh no!" (laughs). In the end, we managed to complete it (laughs). Murakami: While drawing, I kept thinking, "I can't believe this is going to air in a week," "unbelievable." Ishibashi: I think it was because Kurita-san, PD Takuya, and desk clerk Nakatani (Satoshi) were people who had such a reassuring presence. When I heard laughter coming from their corner, I thought, "As long as Tachikawa-san is laughing, it will still be OK.” — Who was the easiest character to draw? Azuma: The dark-haired woman was relatively easy to draw, but Decim was quite challenging to get right. Kurita-san's designs are characterized by having their mouths positioned lower on their jaws, but when I started drawing, I unconsciously kept placing the mouth too high… Kojima: All the main characters were difficult. Decim especially was a total struggle for me. Personally, I might not be good with characters who lack expressions. I found it enjoyable to draw characters with expressive faces or those in despair. Ishibashi: I found the dark-haired woman somewhat difficult to draw, but Decim was relatively easier for me. With guest characters, there was some flexibility in altering their faces, which might have been influenced by Kojima-kun's work in episode 1, where he broadened the scope of the acting. Murakami: I had already given up on trying to make them look on-model (laughs). Kurita-san's characters, when drawn by him, are very beautiful, but if you don't draw them well, the balance gets messed up. It's beyond me... (laughs). Also, in episode six, drawing Memine the cat was challenging. Azuma: But you were the one who could draw the cat the best. It was really helpful while working as an animation director. Murakami: Really? I didn't know what to do, so I started with a lot of cat sketches. Ishibashi: In episode six, Murakami-san drew great facial expressions in the live scene in the C part. Especially when everyone was like, "Yay!" (laughs). Speaking of what left an impression on me, in episode nine where I was the animation director, Hiromi Ishigami-san, Ryoma Ebata-san, Tetsuya Masuda-san, and Akitsugu Hisagi-san participated as key animators, and it was really enjoyable. Ishigami-san is my senior, but it had been about 7 years since I last saw her original drawings, and I was again impressed by how good she is. Ebata-san's presentation of Tatsumi smoking a cigarette and putting it out with his foot had a very good sense of perspective. Ebata-san was also in charge of the part during the ending theme, where the emotions were conveyed amazingly even without any dialogue. And Masuda-san also did a lot of keyframes. I personally like Masuda-san's drawings, so I got excited whenever I received his keyframes... But even though I'm talking so familiarly, I don't actually know Masuda-san at all (laughs).

— So you've only seen his keyframes.

Ishibashi: That's right. So when I came to the studio for the animation meetings, I wanted to meet him... I was saying "Masuda-san, Masuda-san" so much that they thought we were old acquaintances, but no one told me "Masuda-san is here" (laughs). I was shocked (laughs). Azuma: As an animation director, it makes me happy when I receive wonderful keyframe drawings. This time, there were a lot of good people of a similar age as me who participated, and I was glad that I was able to get a lot of inspiration from them. Kojima: As for what left an impression... Well, due to certain circumstances, I didn't work inside the building, so I feel like there's a bit of a difference in atmosphere here (laughs). But if I had been working inside, it would have been a bit more enjoyable, so it's a bit disappointing (laughs). Ishibashi: Kojima-kun and I have worked together at a different company before so I was looking forward to working together again, but when I heard that you wouldn't be joining the company, I was a little disappointed. Kojima: Since I didn't have many opportunities to meet people this time, I'll try my best to work in the studio next time (laughs). Ishibashi: (laughs) Speaking of disappointments... Personally, I wish I could have seen more of Kurita-san's keyframes. Like in the first episode, the scene where Decim pulls out the thread. Or in part C of episode three, when Chiyuki does that flourish at the end. Every time I thought, "Who did this!?", it turned out to be mostly Kurita-san (laughs). Kurita-san always talks as if he hasn't done anything, but I thought that was unfair. Murakami: He did mention he wanted to do keyframes. Ishibashi: When someone is that skilled, of course they would want to do keyframes. As an animation supervisor, you're in a supportive role, helping with the difficult parts and making sure the characters are on-model, so the keyframes are more exciting. Kojima: But as a Chief Animation Supervisor, Mr. Kurita, was able to make corrections in a way that preserved the good points of the person in charge of the original drawings, and I think this is one of the reasons why I enjoyed working on this project.

— Murakami-san, is there any particular scene that left an impression on you?

Murakami: Working on the figure skating scenes was really fun, but bowling was also really enjoyable. My previous project [Ace of Diamond] also had sports-related elements. Sports movements are different from everyday actions; they're very straightforward. For example, if you're "throwing a ball," you're solely focused on the act of throwing. That aspect makes your work very focused and exciting. During the bowling scenes, I consciously tried to convey the weight of the ball. However, the fun part is from drawing to the rough animation. When you’re in it, you think, "This might work," but when it comes together as a finished visual, you end up reflecting, "It's not as good as I hoped," right? Ishibashi, isn't that how all animators feel? [Ishibashi laughs]. The linetest is probably the most intense emotionally (laughs). There's no color or anything decided, so your imagination can run wild.

— It seems like the animators had quite a bit of freedom in their drawings, from what I've heard.

Ishibashi: When we were asked to "do this part," there were many areas where we had a lot of freedom. It might have been a bit challenging, but it allowed animators to expand their creativity. Kojima: It was easy for me too. I really enjoyed the work. Azuma: Especially with guest characters, since they only appear in that particular episode, I think they were given a lot of freedom to draw. Mayu in episode six, for example, was a character where we were told we could go all out with the comedic, exaggerated expressions, so there was a lot of freedom. Ishibashi: Mayu's face when she's hit with wind from below was really something (laughs). Murakami: Yes, there were many cuts where we could do whatever we wanted with the acting. Ishibashi: When we were asked to "do this part," there were many areas where we had a lot of freedom. It might have been a bit challenging, but it allowed animators to expand their creativity. Kojima: It was easy for me too. I really enjoyed the work. Azuma: Especially with guest characters, since they only appear in that particular episode, I think they were given a lot of freedom to draw. Mayu in episode six, for example, was a character where we were told we could go all out with the comedic, exaggerated expressions, so there was a lot of freedom. Ishibashi: Mayu's face when she's hit with wind from below was really something (laughs). Murakami: Yes, there were many cuts where we could do whatever we wanted with the acting.

—  Looking back on the series, were there any episodes that left a deep impression on you?

Kojima: I like episodes eight and nine. They're a bit gut-wrenching, but there's something about the feeling of hopelessness that I appreciate. You don't see stories like that often. Ishibashi: I'm quite sensitive, so watching sad stories makes me sad too. I prefer more gentle endings, like in episode three. Also, the farewell between Chiyuki and Decim in episode twelve, that scene made me cry a lot (laughs). Murakami: When I saw episode twelve, I thought, "I was doing a ‘good story’ anime" (laughs). This series had different vibes for each episode, which was interesting, but episode six had a really good balance... The story was wild, and so was the animation. It was a lot of fun to watch. However, just before it aired, I started worrying, "Did we go too far?" "Is it going to be okay?" Even Shishido-san, who storyboarded it, was worried. Azuma: Is that so? I thought episode six was interesting from the moment I started working on it (laughs). So, I wasn't worried at all. I was like, "It's definitely going to be fun! Watch it!" Ishibashi: Actually, what made me wonder if it would be okay was the opening. When I first saw the storyboard, I thought, "Huh? Is this really for Death Parade?" (laughs). Azuma: Yes, that's right. When I heard the song, I was so excited that I thought, "Oh! (laughs). [Murakami laughs] Overall, this project was challenging, but it was also enjoyable.

━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━┅━

NOTE: I am not fluent in Japanese! I translated this with the help of a language partner. However, as neither of us are fluent in one another's native tongue, there may be errors in the translation. I typically don't share things I translate in my free time, but since no one has tackled these interviews in nearly 10 years, I figured it was nice to put these out there for folks who may be interested.

[popgeek]

After much waiting, you can finally get the Attack on Titan season 4 part 3 review here. Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 3 is an action and supernatural show set to end the long conflict as Eren and his allies take on Mikasa and the Survey Cops. One of the biggest anime series of 2023, Attack on Titan season 4, part 3, is directed by Yuichiro Hayashi, with Jun Shishido serving as the chief director of the show, replacing Tetsuro Asaki and Masashi Koizuka, respectively. Once again, studio MAPPA took the hat to animate the Japanese manga. The production studio has been behind various successful anime, including the Future Devil Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen. So, now without waiting any further, let’s quickly see what Eren Yeager is up to now. You can click here to get reviews of all seasons of Attack on Titan here. 

[byneddiedingo]

Joe Shishido in A Colt Is My Passport (Takashi Nomura, 1967) Cast: Joe Shishido, Jerry Fujio, Chitose Kobayashi, Ryotaro Suji, Kanjuro Arashi, Shoki Fukae, Eimei Esumi, Jun Hongo, Akio Miyabe, Toyoko Takechi, Takamaru Sasaki, Asao Uchida, Zeko Nakamura, Kojiro Kusanagi, Zenji Yamada. Screenplay: Hideichi Nagahara, Nobuo Yamada, based on a novel by Shenji Fujiwara. Cinematography: Shigeyoshi Mine. Production design: Toshiyuki Matsui. Film editing: Akira Suzuki. Music: Harumi Ibe. I didn't see any Colts in A Colt Is My Passport, but there are several rifles, pistols, and shotguns, some dynamite, and the protagonist carries a Beretta, so I suspect the title is a bit of poetic license designed to make the Japanese gangster into the equivalent of the gunfighter of the American Wild West. Harumi Ibe's music score, with its guitar, harmonica, and whistler evoking Ennio Morricone's scores for Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns, seems designed for the same effect. But why court comparisons? The Japanese gangster movie is its own well-defined genre, and Joe Shishido is its superstar. In A Colt Is My Passport he's Shuji, a hit man hired to off a crooked businessman, which he does with cool efficiency. Unfortunately, the guys who hired him immediately turn against Shuji, so he's soon on the run, along with his sidekick, Shun, played by the Anglo-Japanese actor and singer Jerry Fujio. (Fujio even gets to croon a ballad at one point in the movie, slowing down the otherwise non-stop action.) The movie is filled with James Bond-like gadgets and car chases: At one point, Shuji and Sun find themselves kidnapped and thrown into the back seat of a car that they have had rigged with an extra braking system, apparently just in case they find themselves in such a predicament. Engaging the brake causes the car to skid, throwing the bad guys into the windshield and knocking them out. And so it goes until Shun is captured and beaten to a pulp, whereupon Shuji bargains with the bad guys, giving himself up to them so Shun and the pretty motel waitress Mina (Chitose Kobayashi), who has helped them, can escape. Apparently the bad guys trust Shuji enough that he has time to work on a way of defeating them: He rigs up some booby traps for the showdown they have arranged on a landfill, and the movie ends with Shuji staggering away from the carnage. It's all great fun in that peculiarly heartless and mindless way that such thrillers have.

[moodscreencaps]

banana fish episode 9 “save me the waltz” (2018) dir. jun shishido

[soodimilani]

Attack on Titan (2013 - present)

- Kenny Ackerman: Everyone I’ve met was all the same. Drinking, women, worshiping God, even family, The King, dreams, children, power… Everyone had to be drunk on something to keep pushing on. Everyone was a slave to something.

[valkaryah]

The Princess and the Pilot (とある飛空士への追憶)

[stuff-diary]

Attack On Titan (Final Season, Part 3.1)

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2023

Attack on Titan (Final Season, Part 3.1, 2023, Japan)

Directors: Yuichiro Hayashi, Ryota Aikei & Tokio Igarashi

Writer: Hiroshi Seko

Mini-review:

Let me start this review by saying they really should not have split the final episode in two. It just feels like the build up keeps coming and coming, and then it cuts off right in the middle, leaving the viewer deflated. It would have made so much more sense to make the final part of the story as a two hour movie.

Anyway, it's been almost 10 years (💀) since I first started this show and I'm actually pretty excited to find out how it ends, even though that won't happen until this fall. I know this show has been crazy controversial for a long a time, but it keeps delivering its clearly anti-war message in a way that I find incredibly powerful. I must admit I got a bit lost during some of the more expository scenes (I guess I'll have to rewatch the whole show before the final final episode airs), but there were also some showstopping sequences that left me almost speechless. Let's hope the last episode lives up to all the hype.

[otakutale]

Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 3 2nd Cour Slated for Fall/Autumn 2023

https://wp.me/p4jiOt-dfs

Following the broadcast of the first part of the final season of the anime adaptation of Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan (Shingeki…

#shingeki #AttackOnTitan #ShingekiNoKyojin #進撃の巨人

[snknews]

Shingeki no Kyojin Season 4: Premiere Countdown Illustrations

7 Days | Gabi, Falco, Udo, & Zofia, by Akita Manabu 6 Days | Connie & Sasha by Yabuta Shuuhei 5 Days | Gabi, Falco, Udo, & Zofia by Suenaga Junko 4 Days | Titan by Shishido Jun 3 Days | Gabi by Tannawa Yusuke 2 Days | Zeke by Niinuma Daisuke 1 Day | Reiner by Kishi Tomohiro Broadcast Day | Soldiers by Hayashi Yuuichirou

See Also: SnK Season 1 End Cards || SnK Season 2 Post-Episode Illustrations || SnK Season 3 Post-Episode Illustrations

Related News: Collections || MAPPA || Photos: Official Art || Season 4 || Staff

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #749

Febri vol. 40, Hiramatsu Tadashi's interview

Part 12.

-- Do you think that for Director Yamamoto it was a matter of 'it will be a victory or defeat'?

Hiramatsu: I think it was. I heard her saying 'I want to make Yuri!!! into an anime that nobody has ever seen before' from the start. And I think it was very important for the project that MAPPA's Otsuka Manabu understood the Director's intentions. When we were working on episode 2. and 3. to show them during pre-screening event, I thought that 'if the whole production will be like that, it's going to be a terrible one'.

-- What do you mean by 'terrible'?

Hiramatsu: That we wouldn't be physically able to produce the show. We had several months to work on episode 1, but after that more and more was required from us, so when we were working on episode 3., I was afraid that everything would simply physically collapse, to tell the truth. What's more, in episode 5. the number of characters increased, and then continued to increase after that, right? I was worried if everything would really be alright. But in such a dire situation, Otsuka-san, and Shishido Jun-san, and office staff member, Kogawa Takahiro-kun showed enormous determination, so the staff at the studio also didn't waver. 'If you decided to do this, then we also won't give up' - that's how we felt.

[toraonice]

Yuri on Ice BD booklet translation (with Jun Shishido & Yuusuke Tannawa interview) - Volume 4

The full translation of the booklet of vol.4 is finally done... Actually, one of the reasons it took me so long is that I spent most of the time I was home from Thursday to Sunday watching Fuji TV’s live coverage of the World Championships, lol. And I’m glad I did because it was really exciting. It does make a difference to watch it live without knowing the results... I will work on the audio commentary and choreography part in the next few days, and hopefully on other stuff too.

The booklet has 3 parts: 1) Character introduction for Phichit, Chris and Guang-Hong. 2) “Topics”, in other words random curiosities.  3) Interview with chief director Jun Shishido and screen designer Yuusuke Tannawa. Most of you will probably have no idea who they are (and their titles are by no means a good explanation of what their actual role was), but I really recommend reading this interview because it gives more insight on the creation process of YOI and maybe it helps understand how hard it is to animate figure skating. The parts in round brackets are exactly like they are in the original text, it’s not something I added.

***If you wish to share this translation please do it by reblogging or posting a link to it*** 
***Re-translating into other languages is ok but please mention that this post is the source***

He’s going to leave a mark in Thai’s skating history with his blades!

Phichit Chulanont voiced by Kenshou Ono

Profile Date of birth: April 30th, 20 years old Height: 165 cm Blood type: B Thai

Introduction A new hope for Thailand, that didn’t have any skaters who got remarkable results. His popularity is quickly growing also thanks to his spontaneous and pleasant skating style that mirrors his friendly personality. This season he is skating both his short program and free to songs from the movie “The King and the Skater”, which is something he had always dreamed of doing. He is the first Thai skater to have succeeded in a quadruple jump and he also obtained his first Grand Prix victory. He is continuing to rewrite Thai’s figure skating history. He used to train under Celestino in Detroit, but from this season he has moved his base back to Thailand. He loves hamsters and has a lot of them. Posts about them can be seen on his SNS. The lethal weapon made of sex appeal that shines on the ice.

Christophe Giacometti voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto

Profile Date of birth: February 14th, 25 years old Height: 183 cm Blood type: undisclosed Swiss

Introduction 10 years since he moved to the senior class, he is one of the world’s best skaters fighting for the top. Beside his quadruple Lutz and his characteristic sexy moves, he is also praised for his unique and precise spins. As a veteran, he never breaks down too much, but he is a slow starter and tends to not perform at his best in the Grand Prix series, which is held in the first half of the season. Last year he came in 2nd in both the Grand Prix Final and the World Championships. With his long-time rival Nikiforov missing this season, he is one of the candidates to snatch the king’s throne. He is a popular skater who captures the hearts of women all over the world with his passionate and alluring performances that ooze the sex appeal of a grown-up man. He has a cat. To become, one day, China’s hero.

Guang-Hong Ji voiced by Yuutarou Honjou

Profile Date of birth: January 7th, 17 years old Height: 160 cm Blood type: O Chinese

Introduction A growing 17-years-old who moved to the senior class this season. In the Grand Prix’s America tournament he placed 3rd, achieving the amazing feat of standing on the podium on his debut performance. The success rate of his quadruple jumps, which he started training for this season, is also high, and as China’s new ace he is expected to grow further in the second half of the season. He has a shy personality, but at the same time he also uploads many selfies on the SNS. It seems that he also bought a lot of clothes during his training camp in Canada. Together with his friend Chulanont from Thailand and Japan’s Minami, he is called by fans “one of Asia’s 3 cutest skaters”. YURI!!!’s TOPIC

TOPIC 1: Grand Prix Series It consists in a total of 7 tournaments: 6 tournaments held in different countries every year from the end of October to the end of November, and the final that sees the 6 skaters who got the highest scores in the other tournaments as its participants. The 6 tournaments are always held in the same countries (the order may vary), but the location of the final changes every year, and this season it’s Barcelona in Spain. The participants are chosen based on their results in tournaments regulated by ISU (International Skating Union), their world ranking, recommendations by the host country etc.; however, each skater can only participate in a maximum of 2 tournaments. In addition, only up to 3 skaters from the same country can participate in the same category of the same tournament. The period when the skaters’ allocation is announced is somewhat of a festival among skating fans.

*It’s night in Japan when the skaters’ allocation is announced *The first 6 tournaments are held in 6 countries over the span of 6 weeks *In every tournament skaters receive points depending on their placement (15 points for the 1st place, 13 points for the 2nd place and so on), and the final ranking decides who will participate in the final

TOPIC 2: Quadruple Jump (*at the moment of the Russia tournament) One of the techniques that decide the game in male figure skating is quadruple jumps. Since the number and type of jumps greatly influences the score, recently it’s common for skaters to include multiple quadruple jumps in their programs. However, according to the rules the same jump can only be repeated a limited number of times, therefore skaters try new types of jumps and train hard to be able to have more quadruple jumps to put in their programs. Currently, 5 types of jumps except for the Axel have been successfully landed in official competitions. The one with the highest score is the Lutz, which top skaters such as Victor, Giacometti and JJ are using in their programs. The quadruple toeloop, which has the lowest score, is successfully used by young skaters such as Kenjirou Minami, Guang-Hong and Phichit too. Yuuri can jump the toeloop and Salchow and is currently training to master Victor’s trademark flip. After the Lutz, the flip is the jump with the highest score.

*Yurio in his junior years getting scolded for jumping a quadruple that was not planned *Seung-gil is the first who successfully landed a quadruple loop *Emil is a jumper that has 4 quadruples in his free *JJ jumps an amazing quadruple Lutz in the second half of his program *Victor uses as his weapons 4 types of quadruples, except for the Axel and loop (in the EX he landed a loop too)

TOPIC 3: Support Item (cheering goods) It often happens to spot flags and banners used as cheering goods in figure skating venues. After a performance flower bouquets and plushes are also thrown into the rink. Banners do not only feature the skater’s name and flag; sometimes they have a message or a portrait of the skater with which people try to show their support, and in some cases they are even made using photographs. Yuuri is often thrown plushes of food. The bouquets and plushes are picked up by children who are learning skating, usually called “flower girls” and “flower boys”.

*JJ’s cheering group, called JJ girls. *Yurio’s hardcore fans are called Yuri angels. *Flags are basic items. Some fans bring different types. *Present snacks from fans for Yuuri who is on a diet? *After popular athletes skate the flower girls and boys have a hard time picking up everything *Sometimes skaters will actually put on the items that are thrown into the rink

TOPIC 4: Kiss & Cry The kiss & cry is where skaters wait for their score after a performance. The name comes from the fact that it’s a place where athletes can experience both happy and sad feelings. Normally the skater and their coach will sit there, but in some cases there might be people from a country’s federation or the choreographer too. In many venues there will be a microphone, therefore skaters can also send messages to their family and fans. If you listen to the broadcast closely you might be able to hear the athlete and coach reviewing the performance or other conversations.

*Sometimes the coach might strike a pose too *It’s also a place where athletes vow to make up for a defeat *”Please support me!” addressed to the viewers *The JJ style gesture in the kiss & cry is a recurrence *Michele’s sister Sara can be seen in the kiss & cry too Chief director / Screen designer Jun Shishido & Yuusuke Tannawa interview

I want to make the gag scenes dynamic. (Shishido) The opening of episode 11 was possible thanks to the viewers’ response. (Tannawa)

Shishido: I’m the chief director, but in fact I did a lot of things. Director Yamamoto was too busy, so she mainly did sound and editing, and then since it’s an original story she focused on the story composition… Tannawa: Shishido-san was like the site supervisor. We would ask things related to the story itself to director Yamamoto, but the one who actually took action and gave directions was Shishido-san. Though in the credits I appear as “screen designer”, the anime’s screen design was created by the director of photography, and my job in this series mainly consisted in creating the footage for PVs, OP etc. and checking the final product before delivery. I started working on the PV at the beginning of 2016. I asked director Yamamoto what kind of layout she had in mind, and decided how to set the visuals of the series. Regarding the contents of the episodes I also discussed with Shishido-san about various topics – for example, “this processing can be done with camerawork, this expression can be recreated with CG” – and shared this information with the involved work groups.

-Trial and error to create the huge amount of skating scenes.-

T: In figure skating athletes perform while continuously moving around, therefore it was extremely difficult to understand where an athlete was and in what direction he was skating in each frame. In the 1st episode we created a CG model of the skater based on the real choreography footage and had it skate in a rink created with 3DCG, then we followed it with tridimensional camerawork and used that footage as a base for the animation. It was a very elaborate process. However, we realized that it was impossible to continue using this method with the production schedule of a TV series, therefore we switched to a different method where we would create camerawork on a general background map. Also, after episode 5, for certain characters we preceded the creation of the key animation with 3DCG. The final animation is all done by hand, but by having a base to use as a reference it was possible to calculate the available time frame and create the animations accordingly, thus shortening the working time. S: Even if you suddently ask the 3D staff to create figure skating animation, of course they have almost no knowledge of the jumps and techniques. They create the animation based on the reference footage, but they cannot express complex details such as how athletes balance their feet the moment they jump, so for that I and (figure skating animators) Abiko-san and Tatenaka-san adjusted the animation. Among the people working on the series, the only ones who had technical knowledge about figure skating were the 3 of us and director Yamamoto. And it’s not something that you can just explain verbally, so we took on all those jobs ourselves. We checked… everything, probably. Actually, until episode 4 the skating scenes were all created by Abiko-san and Tatenaka-san, so I didn’t need to check them, but from episode 5 the amount of skating scenes became so huge that we asked Tannawa-san and the others whether we could get help from the CG team… I completely trusted Tannawa-san, because I knew that if we explained what to do he would understand what was needed. T: I basically asked what they couldn’t do, and we did all we could to make up for that and reduce their workload. We would never have finished the series otherwise. That’s why for this anime no one ever said “isn’t that your job?”. For every episode, everyone just fought toward completion. S: Everyone took responsibility for their job and worked with extreme care, like no one was going to double-check what they did afterwards. We thought, “if we don’t do our best, this series will not make it to the broadcast, therefore we must all be responsible and work hard”…

-A scene you especially paid attention to.-

S: All the storyboards for the skating scenes were drawn by the director, but I drew them for quite a lot of daily life scenes. I especially like the scene where Yurio gives a pirozhki to Yuuri (in episode 9). I was particularly careful to make Yurio look cute. I wanted to show that, even though normally he is rude (to Yuuri), he actually rather trusts him and they do get along. I also like gag scenes, so I had fun with scenes such as the hug competition at the end of episode 9. Gag scenes do not need to be drawn as neatly as serious scenes, therefore I decided to animate them in a very comical and dynamic way. T: I paid a lot of attention to the opening. The way we changed it in episode 11 to reflect the current story development is something I myself suggested to the director. Actually, only the opening of episode 1 was still incomplete when it was broadcasted. From episode 2 onwards it was always the same footage, but the viewers wrote a lot of comments about it (and were wondering whether it was changing every time). Since everyone was watching it every time without skipping it, we decided to really change it in the end. S: My favorite character is Georgi Popovich! He’s a man who can talk about love seriously. He actually makes a few appearances since the 1st episode. When we were working on episode 1 we only had Kubo-sensei’s character plans and the storyboard saying “a character named Popovich is standing here”. We made him stand out a little because we understood that he would show up in the story later on. And what a character he was, when he was introduced in episode 6! T: He was so striking that I was actually shocked! I like Popovich too. Also, among the programs, I like Yuuri’s FS “Yuri on ICE”. It’s the first song I listened to working for this series, and at that time I used it for the PV without knowing that it was going to be Yuuri’s FS. In the PV Yuuri is skating in Hasetsu with his slender appearance from episode 3 onwards, and (the character designer) Hiramatsu-san commented “it’s a wonderful video, but now we have to make him fat”. I remember thinking “what is he saying??” (LOL).

-The power of the support that reached the studio.-

S: When we were creating the anime we were so busy with the work at hand that we didn’t really realize how much of a response the series was having. However, we received lots of presents, food, goods and letters of support from fans. T: Even items based on the contents of the series, like (retort-packed) borscht. That made us feel that fans were really supporting us because they liked the series, and it boosted our morale. Knowing that there were so many people watching and cheering on us motivated us to our best even it meant working overnight without sleeping. S: The charm of this series is the love of the original creators, director Yamamoto and Kubo-sensei, that you can feel from it. It’s just so strong. T: It also feels like you are touring various countries to follow Yuuri and the others and watch their matches. You can watch it with the eyes of a spectator and think “I didn’t know a lot about this athlete, but now I see how he skates”. I think that another element that allows viewers to really get into the world of the series is how not only the matches but also the skaters’ practice scenes and the back yard are drawn with lots of details. Everything is detailed, even the different shape of each skater’s blades. The director herself is full of very sincere love for figure skating, and that was transmitted to both the staff and the viewers. S: The animation studio had a very nice atmosphere. It’s the first time that I’m working with Tannawa-san, but when I saw his work I realized right away that he was someone I could trust. Trust and unity are something you find in the staff of many series, but for this one it was especially strong.

On a side note, Kubo & Yamamoto went to see the Worlds in Helsinki and are now in St.Petersburg. I am confident it’s tourism but with a spoonful of location hunting... (What a timing, though. I hope none of you or your acquaintances were personally affected by what happened the other day in the subway)