Bringing Samurai Pirates to life – An Interview with Ken Yoshida, President of Picona Creative Studio [JETRO x Kickstarter Initiative]
Picona Creative Studio is an anime studio focused on 3DCG animation. Known in the industry for using cell-like 3DCG, they have worked on a wide range of popular anime series, such as Aikatsu! or Chainsaw Man. Currently, the studio is holding a crowdfunding campaign...
Supporting independent anime projects – a JETRO initiative
This week, five independent anime studios have launched crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter. While crowdfunding campaigns have already taken place to help finance anime productions, this campaign, in particular, is a bit special. Indeed, it is part of an initiative...
What lies behind the Majora’s Mask? – Interview with Takaya Imamura
Despite their 30 years of career at Nintendo, Takaya Imamura isn't as well known as you could expect seeing their resume. They were the character designer of iconic series such as Star Fox, F-Zero, and even the Zelda series. They designed characters such as Fox,...
From Psiconautas to Unicorn Wars, the world of Alberto Vàzquez – 19th Carrefour du Cinéma d’animation
Alberto Vàzquez is a Spanish filmmaker and comic book artist who is currently releasing their second animation feature film Unicorn Wars - this Spanish and French co-production, released in October in Spain, will release on December 28th in France and 2023 in the USA....
[Made in Asia 2022] Interview with Shin’ya Ohira
Shin’ya Ohira needs no introduction: with his immediately recognizable style, which emphasizes irregular linework and deformation, he is one of the most unique animators in the world. But Ohira’s style and career do not just amount to the deformations he is famous for...
[Japan Expo 2022] Interview with Mamoru Yokota
At this year's Paris Japan Expo, alongside Character Designer and animator Junichi Hayama, came his friend and colleague, Mr. Mamoru Yokota. Mr. Yokota is a well-established and respected artist both as an animator and an illustrator. In the early 2000s, he also...
[Japan Expo 2022] Interview with Junichi Hayama
If you are a regular reader of our website, you have probably noticed our interest, or one could call a borderline obsession, surrounding a particular animator group known for their striking designs and contributions to many Toei Animation series, and whose origins...
2000 Lightyears into Sonny Boy – Interview with Shingo Natsume
Shingo Natsume is one of the greatest anime directors of today's generation. Having moved from the video game to the animation industry in the early 2000s, he became associated with Studio Madhouse following his first collaboration with Masaaki Yuasa on The Tatami...
Healing the anime industry – The production of Healer Girl, Halloween Pajama and the role of JAniCA – Interview with Yasuhiro Irie
With the release of the original anime series Healer Girl, we reached out to the director of the series, Mr. Yasuhiro Irie, to talk about his new show. It was also an excellent opportunity to talk about the advancement of his independently made Halloween Pajama anime...
The legacy of Monsieur Onion on Battle Heroine Drawings – Interview with Character Designer Hisashi Kagawa
Although very busy with his work as an animation director on the anime Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, Mr. Kagawa was kind enough to give us some of his time and talk about his career. Mr. Hisashi Kagawa is part of a group of animators who entered the industry in...
Toshiyuki Inoue discusses three decades of Mitsuo Iso – Interview
Toshiyuki Inoue is one of the most important animators in Japan. Nicknamed "the perfect animator" for his proficiency, ability, and range of expression going from cartoony deformation to absolute photorealism, Inoue is a legendary artist. Beginning his career in 1982,...
From Daicon IV to Mad Max – Interview with Mahiro Maeda [Archive, July 2016]
While I was looking through some files, I stumbled upon the audio to this interview I did five years ago, in 2016, and realized I had never released it. Mahiro Maeda had come to France to promote Studio Khara's 10th anniversary, and as such, I and a few other peers,...