You just dropped a hell of a bomb on me. Man.Depends how new you are to the series. *Sigh*
I won't be able to focus for a couple of hours now.
You just dropped a hell of a bomb on me. Man.Depends how new you are to the series. *Sigh*
You just dropped a hell of a bomb on me. Man.
I won't be able to focus for a couple of hours now.
so the current hxh world ends up being a very small part of the actual world. i was so hyped for this back when it was revealed in the manga. even more hyped when other info got revealed.
It feels so strange... three years have now come to an end.
Just watched the final episode and it was kind of anticlimactic for me. Yes it wraps up conveniently and hints at other future possibilities for the characters, but I can't help but feel disappointed.
Maybe I just built it up for myself too much. Anyways, I greatly enjoyed watching the series as there were a lot of fantastic moments and so many fantastic characters.
Could anybody recommend any more anime that has the feels like hunter x hunter that I might enjoy? My other favorite series is Hajime no Ippo if that helps.
Fans of the currently airing TV adaptation of Hunter x Hunter had a huge surprise in store for them this past year when Takahiko Abiru, one of the main animation directors on the show, started uploading scans of some of the more than 18,000 frames he’s drawn for the show to Twitter.
That’s a heck of a heartfelt gesture from an up-and-coming animator who’s put in time on a number of important and popular productions, including Death Note, Redline, Kaiji Season 2, and Trigun: Badlands Rumble.
We talked with Abiru at Denver's NDK about his work on Paprika, Hunter x Hunter, and the ways in which Twitter has made interacting with fans easier than ever before.
Jason Moses: Something I wanted to clarify before going any further… are you staff at Studio Madhouse, or freelance?
Takahiko Abiru: I’m pretty freelance. I have a desk at Madhouse, but I’m essentially a freelancer.
JM: Ah, okay. I was wondering about that after I saw you mention on Twitter that you knew Satoshi Kon and considered him something of your mentor, and I know you had the opportunity to work as an in-between checker on Paprika… what did you take away from having the chance to work on a huge movie like that?
TA: They had some of the best animators in Japan all under one roof working on that movie, so just having the chance to be there was an incredibly valuable experience. Being able to talk to Satoshi Kon in person was particularly important to me. Having everybody all in one place like that is the kind of thing that’s only achievable at Madhouse.
Satoshi Kon was the kind of person who took care of the people who worked for him. He took people out to eat, and he’d go over and talk to people at their desks in person whenever possible. Hard to imagine it just looking at that scary face of his, but… (laughs)
JM: Let’s talk Hunter x Hunter. You’ve been working on that show for the past 3 years, and you recently started uploading animation cuts to Twitter in the big lead-up to the end of the show’s current run on TV. Can you talk a little bit about your reasons for doing that? What’s the response been like?
TA: It started when I noticed that the animators working on Kill La Kill were uploading stuff to Twitter, and I thought that was great, just was a really cool way to reach out to the fans. Nobody else on the Hunter x Hunter team was doing anything like that, so I decided to give it a shot, and the response so far from the fans has been wonderful. It’s been really inspiring, and it’s given me a motivational boost while working on the show.
JM: Have you gotten any fan responses from outside Japan? Anything that’s surprised you?
TA: I’ve had a bunch of responses from fans who saw my art and tried to redraw what I did in their own style. That’s something I’d never experienced before, so I was really happy to get that kind of reaction. Beyond that, I can’t really speak English, so it was a good educational experience to see English-speaking fans respond by telling me the stuff I’d posted was “Amazing” or “Epic!” (laughs)
JM: Do you plan to keep doing this kind of thing for the rest of the show up until the end? Or on to whatever the next show you’re working on happens to be?
TA: Episode 148 — the final episode of Hunter x Hunter — is coming up soon, so I’ll probably tweet something to commemorate the occasion the same way I did for episode 135 (the end of the Chimera Ant arc). As for what’s coming up after that… the next project I’m working on is based on something that’s not widely recognized in the international market. At least not yet, anyway. I’m going to try to use Twitter to reach out to existing fans and get them to spread the word about it.
JM: Before the currently airing TV adaptation of Hunter x Hunter, there was another adaptation of the property that aired back in the late 90s. Did you look at that at all when beginning work on the currently airing version of the show? What was your philosophy as an animation director when approaching the current adaptation of the show, and how do you think it compares to what they did for the previous version?
TA: I watched the previous adaptation, and something I kept in mind when working on the new version was doing everything I could to make it look superb while also giving it a more modern, current look to it. The previous version came out over a decade ago, and a lot’s changed in that time, so I’m trying to make sure it meets expectations for modern viewers.
JM: For those who don’t know, what does your work on the show as an animation director entail on a day to day basis? Have there been any changes in the process since you started working on the show 3 years ago?
TA: The quality of our work’s definitely changed over the past few years. We’ve gotten better, and a lot of that’s the result of our having 7 animation directors who are all competing against each other to do the best work possible and increase our skills. Of course, the longer I’ve worked on the series, the more I’ve fallen in love with the characters, too.
As for the work itself, there are 7 directors, who basically oversee 7 teams. Each team has 30 key animators working for one animation director, whose job is basically to maintain quality control for the entire team. That means both ensuring consistent quality across the team and working to bring up the overall quality of the team’s work.
We don’t usually have direct contact with the animators on our team. Most of that communication is done through the key animation produced for each scene and cut, where we’ll go in and leave notes or adjust their work directly.
JM: Going back to your earlier comment on how you’ve grown attached to the characters in Hunter x Hunter, are there any characters or story arcs from the show that you feel particularly attached to?
TA: My favorite character in the show is Youpi. He works for the King during the Chimera Ant arc, but what I really like about him is that even though he’s a Chimera Ant, as the story progresses he slowly starts to develop human emotions and ends up becoming this really interesting and well-realized character. I also like him for personal reasons. Since I got to do his character design for the current version of the show, I ended up growing really attached to him. (laughs)
JM: Did you have the opportunity to do a lot of character designs for the show this time around? Any you’d like to talk about in particular?
TA: Takahiro Yoshimatsu was in charge of main character design, but since there are so many characters in Hunter x Hunter, he can’t handle it all himself. That means a lot of the other character designs got taken care of by other animator directors, and I jumped at the opportunity whenever it presented itself. All told, I think I did about 30 to 40 character designs. Including sub-characters, of course.
JM: Ah, gotcha. I actually noticed you character designed and submitted a LINE sticker set a few months back. What inspired you to make those?
TA: So there’s a creator stamp section in LINE where people can submit their own sticker sets, and at the time I was thinking about making one, I’d already had an offer from NDK to attend as a guest. I really liked the name “Denver,” which is why I decided to name the characters “Colora” and “Denber.” (laughs) I think the sticker set should be on sale pretty soon.
JM: Anything you’d like to convey to fans of Hunter x Hunter? Any final thoughts on this show you’ve worked on for the past 3 years?
TA: I’d personally like to keep working on the show, but due to circumstances beyond our control (the original comic is on hiatus) we don’t really have a choice in the matter right now. I was able to achieve so many things through Hunter x Hunter, and it was the interaction and communication with fans that kept me going for the whole run. I’d really like to thank all the fans for their support.
I believe they’re going to make more episodes of the show once the original comic starts up again, and I definitely want to be involved with that, particularly if I had the opportunity to do main character design for it. (laughs)
JM: Thank you so much for your time.
TA: Thank you for having me!
Thanks for posting this. I'm glad they enjoyed working on the show as much as we enjoyed watching. And I'm also glad they would love to keep working on it if the circumstances were different. Unfortuneately its Togashi.Interveiw with by one the HxH animation directors Takahiko Abiru
Lost of interesting details
http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/Anime/News1/Takahiko-Abiru-Interview-5942.aspx#.VCIQDvK8xpJ.twitter
At least they aren't making an endless amount of filler to keep it going.So it's on Togashi, even Madhouse admits it.
Do it and then have the biggest blue balls ever. It looks like the beginning of an epic arc (literally, the amount of stuff going on just seems daunting) and we get the return of some favorite characters plus the introduction of new villains.I'm going to go finish off the manga and be depressed now.
I haven't been regularly following the new anime at all (except to lurk this thread), but this...Depends how new you are to the series. *Sigh*
why they used that song
is so awful, They ruined the ending
Never been a big fan of the song, but I liked its use their, if only for nostalgic reasons. Really was like saying goodbye.why they used that song
is so awful, They ruined the ending
like why'd they have to show the palace again, their hands together ;____________;
I haven't been regularly following the new anime at all (except to lurk this thread), but this...
you got me, man. You got me.
Introduced a lot of great characters as well..... Even if some of them aren't alive anymore.Just realized that we didn't see Hisoka at the end there. Thats kind of a shame. Love that guy. ANt Arc was solid mostly) but he sidelined a lot of great characters for it.
Depends how new you are to the series. *Sigh*
Wonderful final episode to the best shounen adaptation in anime history.
Thank you so much, Madhouse. And thank you Togashi for creating and realizing this amazing world.
why they used that song
is so awful, They ruined the ending
Nah this whole arc was a waste. Dude ran out of ideas.
I don't understand. If Togashi is always sick and stuff, why can't he be responsible for at least the story/dialog and have someone else draw it since that's where most of his efforts went? I'm sure someone out there would love to draw this, especially since Togashi isn't known for his artistic ability.
He may not be the most detailed artist out there, but I really enjoy his art style ESPECIALLY when he draws people that have blood lust/have a serious face. He is incredible at it IMO.I'm sure someone out there would love to draw this, especially since Togashi isn't known for his artistic ability.
Yu Yu Hakusho. Same guy made it. Much simpler than HxH but it's one of the best. Watch the dub.
Just realized that we didn't see Hisoka at the end there. Thats kind of a shame. Love that guy. ANt Arc was solid mostly) but he sidelined a lot of great characters for it.
He may not be the most detailed artist out there, but I really enjoy his art style ESPECIALLY when he draws people that have blood lust/have a serious face. He is incredible at it IMO.
Man... it's over. Every show I was watching is going away.
So what was that whole thing with Gotoh?Did the two butlers decide to hide his death just for Killua's sake?
3 years, yet it feels like its been going for longer. Brilliant anime and a fitting ending which wrapped up most things well, whilst teasing a little of what may possibly happen in the future. Overall, HxH has been one of the best animes I've watched and it's sad that its over.
Throughout the anime, the whole range of characters were great. I remember at the start of the series I felt Gon & Leorio would get annoying, but turns out they were far from it (imo). In terms of standout episodes, the "Ant arc" and specifically the final "King and Komugi" episode really stood out for me.
My only slight disappointment is we didn't get to see some more of one of the best villains created in Hisoka..He didn't even get time in the credits scene :*(
If To's health improves and the manga progresses smoothly in the future, I hope that one day, they decide to get back to adapting the series.
Yu Yu Hakusho. Same guy made it. Much simpler than HxH but it's one of the best. Watch the dub.