Takeshi Honda’s The Boy and the Heron – Long Interview
Nicknamed “Master” since his early days in animation, Takeshi Honda is one of anime’s greatest artists. After a brief period at the studio Atelier Giga, he spent most of the 1980s and 1990s at studio Gainax, where he worked on its most iconic productions: Gunbuster,...
The origins and legacy of the webgen, anime’s rock’n’roll – Long interview with Ryo-Timo
In the mid-2000s, a group of three young animators were making waves in the anime industry: Ryo-Timo, Ken’ichi Kutsuna, and Shingo Yamashita. Nicknamed the “web-generation”, they had started as amateur animators on the Web before entering the animation industry, where...
Akihiko Yamashita’s The Boy and the Heron – Long Interview
If any animator could be said to have defined the look of Studio Ghibli films in the last 20 years, it would, without a doubt, be Akihiko Yamashita. First only a key animator on Spirited Away in 2001, he was immediately promoted to animation direction on Howl’s Moving...
![The One Piece anime revolution – Interview with Keiichi Ichikawa, One Piece’s chief animation director [Japan Expo 2023]](https://fullfrontal.moe/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/keiichi_ichikawa-400x250.jpg)
The One Piece anime revolution – Interview with Keiichi Ichikawa, One Piece’s chief animation director [Japan Expo 2023]
In July of this year, two of the most important members of the history of the One Piece anime series were invited to Japan Expo. Eisaku Inoue, an animation director who worked on some of the most memorable episodes ever since the second episode of the series, and...
Anime’s present and future – Interview with Terumi Nishii and Ayano Fukumiya
For some years now, awareness of problems within the Japanese animation industry has been growing, both within Japan and overseas. Things have accelerated since the pandemic, with these topics being addressed increasingly frequently. There are two causes for this: the...
Challenges of creating an anime company – Interview with Misu Yamaneko
During the 2023 edition of the Annecy International Animation Festival, a peculiar person was browsing the MIFA, the business area of the fest. This young girl, who could have easily been mistaken for a cat, was speaking perfect Japanese with every artist, producer,...
![Interview with Shin’ichirô Watanabe [Niigata International Animation Film Festival 2023]](https://fullfrontal.moe/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/DSCF3726-400x250.jpg)
Interview with Shin’ichirô Watanabe [Niigata International Animation Film Festival 2023]
While at the Niigata International Film Festival earlier this year, we had the chance to cross paths with the famous anime director Shin'ichirô Watanabe. This is not the first time we met with him, as one of the very first interviews posted on fullfrontal.moe was an...
Toshiyuki Inoue’s The Boy and the Heron – Long Interview
One of Fullfrontal’s constant endeavors in the last few years has been to gather and share information about Hayao Miyazaki’s next film, The Boy and the Heron, from early information about its production to a review published on the day of its release in Japan. It was...
Studio Bones Quarter Century Anniversary – Interview with Studio Bones president Masahiko Minami
In October 1998, a small team from Sunrise's Studio 2 led by Masahiko Minami decided to quit the studio so they could keep making works together after having created the cult classic Cowboy Bebop. That was the birth of Studio Bones, an animation studio that would get...
Creating anime beyond any boundaries – Gorō Taniguchi Long Interview
Since his directorial debut on a TV series with Infinite Ryvius in 1999, Gorō Taniguchi has always been one of the most original voices in Japanese animation, known for his affection for science-fiction and his over-the-top stories. When we met him in August 2023, it...
![Anime’s new Golden Duo – Interview with Ryôsuke Nakamura and Mieko Hosoi [Japan Tours Festival 2023]](https://fullfrontal.moe/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Nerawareta_gakuen_Psychic_school_wars-400x250.png)
Anime’s new Golden Duo – Interview with Ryôsuke Nakamura and Mieko Hosoi [Japan Tours Festival 2023]
Japan Tours Festival is an event we love to attend each year. There, you can take part in very interesting conferences involving animation industry professionals, such as some regulars like mecha designer Stanislas Brunet, animation producer Séverine Varlette,...
“I was happy to just work with Yuasa” – Satoshi Nakano interview
Satoshi Nakano, aka Washio, has been getting an increasing amount of recognition in the last few years, first for his work as an action animator and then for his character designs on Pokemon: Sun & Moon. Although controversial in some places, his contributions to...