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  • My favourite anime studio, this is a discussion that I see a lot, and it's quite an interesting

  • one because for me, most studios don't have much of an identity.

  • I look at some of the bigger establishments and find it hard to find links between their

  • works.

  • A lot of studios don't even feature the same staff.

  • Yet, people attach a kind of identity to them.

  • Look at A1 Pictures as an example, if we have a look at 4 of their recent projects over

  • the last year, there isn't one repeat director, in fact, very few of the roles have recurring

  • positions.

  • This isn't a bad thing for each individual series, they don't necessarily drop in quality

  • because of this but it means the studios lack identity.

  • And because of this, I find it hard to comment about 'anime studios'.

  • Which is a shame because much like following a sports team or band, it's fun to find

  • a collective group of individuals to support and enjoy.

  • People that you can identify with, on a personal level.

  • I mean, imagine if your favourite sports team played a whole new team every week, you'd

  • find it much harder to support them.

  • I just find that it's quite hard to do this with anime studio's, but this lack of identity

  • isn't the case for every studio, sometimes you find a group that you really connect with,

  • a studio that you can enjoy every time their make something.

  • When I was first getting into anime, that didn't happen for me, I never really found

  • a studio that i could confidently saythat's my favourite”, but recently a studio has

  • popped up that has filled that gap.

  • And to understand this studio, we have to go all the way back to where two creators

  • began working together: Masaaki Yuasa and Eunyoung Choi.

  • One of the industry's more talented pairings.

  • They first worked together at Madhouse with Kemonozume in 2006, Yuasa would be the director

  • of the project and Choi would work as an animation director and as an animator.

  • While Yuasa had been working in the industry for a considerable time at this point, this

  • was very early in Choi's career, and this period became quite formative for her.

  • To work on such an unorthodox project so early in a career is a real test, and she done some

  • fantastic work on the show.

  • Yuasa then went on to complete a trilogy of shows at Madhouse, with Choi working on all

  • 3.

  • The aforementioned Kemonozume, then Kaiba in 2008 and The Tatami Galaxy in 2010.

  • Three crucial shows that would basically give the pairing their reputation in the industry

  • as some of the most creative practitioners.

  • Choi's style was molded by her work with Yuasa during this period and the two formed

  • an important stylistic pairing.

  • Yuasa and Choi's artistic visions fitted well with each other and they would continue

  • working together.

  • Future projects would include titles such as Ping Pong and their episode in Space Dandy.

  • Over this time they have formed a very unique, recognisable style.

  • And it's all due to them working together again, and again.

  • Yuasa has a fantastic way of making the most out of his small teams, Choi being a perfect

  • example of who he likes to work with.

  • Let's have a look into Choi's work, because she's definitely one of the most underrated

  • individuals in the industry at the moment.

  • Like I said, her style fits very closely to Yuasa's and not only in the way it looks

  • but in the way she can work with resources.

  • She prioritises elements like colour and the movement of shapes, almost all of her scenes

  • have very bold colour choices and interesting compositions.

  • I've noticed that Choi likes to play with perspective in her shots, normally having

  • characters or objects cover a lot of distance.

  • This focus on exciting but simple animation is why she's perfect for working with Yuasa,

  • and is no doubt the reason he continues to work with Choi.

  • Yuasa and Choi's creativity is undoubtable and everything they've worked on together

  • has been fantastic, but the nature of their less commercial work means that they have

  • a hard time getting funding.

  • Madhouse's prosperity and willingness to give them a platform was an incredibly unique

  • situation.

  • Almost everything Yuasa has worked on has come from his unique creativity, producers

  • and other creators go out their way to have him involved in projects, but this approach

  • isn't one that attracts much funding, to be honest, we're very lucky to have had what

  • we've had so far.

  • But with the growing market in niche audiences and in Yuasa's fan base, the pair were able

  • to overcome this monetary hurdle and found their own studio: Science SARU.

  • Yuasa and Choi needed resources to create their projects, finding studio that are willing

  • to take such creative risks with every project is near impossible.

  • Ping Pong, for example, was notorious for it's struggles to come to fruition.

  • Science SARU is their gateway to showcasing more of their amazing work, giving them freedom

  • and creative control.

  • And they've already done some amazing work, showing what can be possible.

  • Let's look into what they've done at the studio so far and how that's evolved from

  • their earlier work.

  • One of their first pieces of work, and personally one of my favourite examples of their style

  • is 'Food Chain', an episode the studio created for the TV series Adventure Time.

  • The team done everything from storyboards to animation, to even singing the opening

  • theme.

  • Again, Yuasa and his team used their skills in utilising simple shapes to create expressive

  • and exciting motion.

  • Using lots of dynamic perspectives and wonderful background art.

  • For example the way in which the camera moves seamlessly between a 2D and 3D plane is great,

  • achieved by the lack of boundaries the team put on their visuals.

  • They can switch between a detailed painted background to an animated block colour background

  • very easily because they build this sense of, animation being a part of the world.

  • You get a feeling that the animation is more than just something to portray the narrative

  • but a narrative tool in itself.

  • And this is all done with a very impressive level of finesse.

  • The studio's style fits perfectly into the quirky and fun atmosphere of Adventure Time,

  • it's an example of the kind of work that suits Yuasa and his team.

  • It seems they're less bothered about where they're making things and more what they're

  • making.

  • The studio also took on an episode of Space Dandy's second season.

  • I feel like this an example of what the studio can do on a larger production.

  • It contains more of that simple shape-based animation but also a lot of the sketchier

  • hand-drawn style animation we've seen in previous Yuasa projects.

  • A possible preview of what's to come, i'll get to that later in the video.

  • Again, much like Food Chain, there's so much dynamic animation, not necessarily realistic

  • but exciting, the movements of character models and their relationship the backgrounds.

  • I thought they brought the aliens world to life with imaginative object animations was

  • superb.

  • They've also done a number of smaller projects as a studio such as the 2nd opening to Garo

  • The Animation and a number of animation jobs in various Shin-Chan movies.

  • Further showing off the studio's talent and potential.

  • Having looked at everything they've done so far, it's clear to me that there are

  • patterns in what I like about them.

  • It's more than just me liking the shoes.

  • I like the work ethic in the amount of passion behind each production.

  • I like that people like you are so and Choi have such a vast palette of rolls and talents.

  • I think the fact that the individuals of the studio feel like they can stretch their wings

  • and do different roles is great.

  • I feel like when you give people creative freedom, their passion really show, and with

  • passion comes artistic expression.

  • For me, I watch a Science SARU project, not because of what it is, but who it's by.

  • And, i think, that's really important.

  • But, their upcoming works are the ones that will be most important for showcasing what

  • they can do as a studio, and maybe setting a standard for similar establishments.

  • They'll be handling two feature films this year and a Netflix series next year.

  • It will be the busiest time for the studio so far and a potential to see what they can

  • really do.

  • This is more than some commercial studios take on so it will be interesting to see how

  • things go.

  • The first film is 'Night is short, walk on girl' a series connected to the Tatami

  • Galaxy franchise.

  • It's got a lot of the Tatami Galaxy staff returning and will be sticking quite closely

  • to the TV series.

  • And then Lu Over The Wall, a new original film directed by Yuasa, and personally, it

  • might be one of my most anticipated projects from Yuasa and his team.

  • From the trailer it seems the movie fits perfectly into the studio's style while also offering

  • chances to delve into new areas.

  • It looks like a nice mixture of all of Yuasa's previous works, with maybe a more solid art

  • style.

  • I feel like a lot of the elements in this movie will be more grounded compared to their

  • other works, and it will be interesting to see how the studio handles that.

  • I've always wondered how Yuasa and his team would handle something less abstract, I'm

  • very excited.

  • And of course, next year's Devilman, which might stray furthest from what Science SARU

  • have done before.

  • For those that don't know, Devilman was originally a manga series in the 70s that's

  • had a myriad of adaptations from Novels to Anime.

  • Again, stylistically this is a great opportunity for the studio to explore another avenue of

  • visual expression, if they can succeed at this, I feel like they can do anything.

  • What's interesting about this project is that it's going straight onto Netflix, which

  • has been a recurring theme for series and movies over here in the west for a while now,

  • and shows like Stranger Things have been met with fantastic success.

  • It could signify an important development in the distribution of anime.

  • Projects like this mean more niche works can meet a larger audience and not have to fit

  • into a TV or cinema template, there's a lot more room for experimentation.

  • So, Science SARU is obviously prospering in one way or another, this isn't one or two

  • projects getting miracle funding anymore, SARU are very, very busy and they've not

  • lost that unique style of doing things.

  • Yuasa and his team have managed to find a way of bringing their art to life without

  • compromise.

  • This is amazing for them, but is it a sign of things to come for other directors?

  • Will more experimental, smaller studios making feature films and TV series be a viable market?

  • I'd love to think so, and services like Netflix must be the future.

  • When you look at the huge number of Netflix original shows we have in the west, there

  • must be a market for niche art, big enough to fund 10s of shows every year, so why couldn't

  • that translate into anime?

  • We know Yuasa has a large following in the west, a quick look at any of the western database

  • sites proves that, it's all about connecting them with the works of the creators, Netflix

  • and other streaming services could be the answer to that.

  • Could this even be a future for smaller streaming services like Crunchyroll and Funimation?

  • I guess we'll have to wait and find out, be sure to share your thoughts about this

  • in the comments, it's definitely something i'm hugely interested in.

  • But I can safely say Science SARU is without a doubt, my favourite anime studio at the

  • moment.

  • I genuinely feel like I enjoy everything they make and I feel like they have an identity.

  • I feel like i understand the passion and creativity of the studio whenever I watch any of their

  • shows.

  • I'm glad I've found a studio like this too, it brings an extra level of enjoyment

  • to follow their work.

My favourite anime studio, this is a discussion that I see a lot, and it's quite an interesting

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