Author: Rice Cake / Anitama Cover Source: "Night Sakura Quartet ~ Song of Flowers ~"
Main Staff & Cast
Title: "Night Sakura Quartet" (Night Sakura Quartet, Supervised by Sawarasuke)
Year: 2010, 2013
Duration: 13 episodes of Song of Flowers + 3 episodes of Sea of Stars + 3 episodes of Cry of the Moon
Original: Yasuda Ryoto (Yasudaszhito)
Supervisor, Character Design, General Drawing Supervisor: Ryosuke Sawa
Series composition: Ishikawa Gaku
Art Supervisor: Riki Oda
Color design: Satoko Kimura
Photography Supervisor: Masashi Kamiki
Music: Kobayashi Yasuta
Main voice actors: Misato Fukumoto, Hiroki Kaji, Kashita, Miyuki Sawaki
Animation: Son of the Dragon
Playback platform: Bilibili
The anime is based on Yasuda Suzuhito's manga of the same name, The Night Sakura Quartet, which was first animated in 2008, with a difference in setting and original work, and some original developments are added to the second half. In 2013, a new production team was supervised by Sawayoshi, continuing the voice actors of the 08 version and ushering in the second animation of the game. Compared with the 08 version, the 13 version gives the audience a different experience with a new personality. There is no connection between the two versions in terms of plot, and the 13th version is not the second phase of the 08 version of the animation. What will be introduced this week is the version of Sawayoshi as the superintendent.
The story takes place in Sakura-shincho, where humans and yokai live together. There are humans, yokai, and half-demons in Sakura-shin, and although they are different, they all silently guard the balance of the town. Because they can each do it, and only they can do it, to achieve eventual harmony between humans and monsters. A young girl who has been wearing a scarf and has become the mayor of the town at the age of 9, Nanami Kai-an, who has the ability to read minds and has a pair of super cute animal ears, the glasses lady who can materialize speech, the fifty tone leaf, and the passerby-like Bizumi Akiaki. These three beautiful girls and a teenager with unique abilities stepped forward to solve the strange events that occurred in the street, creating a harmonious world for humans and monsters. With this calm town as the stage, a chapter of fantasy and hilarity is about to begin!
Sawara's version of Night Sakura is divided into three parts according to the suffix name. Among them, "Sea of Stars" is an OAD bundled with the manga, which was released in 2010 to tell an episode from the main "Song of Flowers", and in the ninth episode of the main part, it is connected in the form of an OP. And "Cry of the Moon" mentions the story of the two monster children in the film in the form of a fan, and it is also the latest one to be released. So readers can make up the time order in which the works were released, or in the order in which the stories occurred.
The Night Sakura Quartet, run by Sensei Yasuda, is a short story in conjunction with The Tale of the Headless Horseman
Mr. Yasuda, who was in charge of the original manga, was also in charge of the illustration of the popular novel "The Tale of the Headless Horseman", so some characters in the manga will make people feel familiar. The 08 version of the anime is more inclined to the character of the original Yasuda Sensei, depicting a handsome and handsome character under the tough lines. In contrast, it is not difficult to find that the 13th edition has very obvious changes in the human settings. The simple design brings more convenience to the painting and makes the characters look close and cute, and it is Mr. Ryosuke Sawa, who is responsible for the character design of this game. After he finished his work on "Iron Fist Barty", Ze liangfu once again brought a high-quality painting to the audience.
A list of personalities included in the Sea of Stars special
Nowadays, it seems that digital painting is not unusual, and there are also works that have achieved all-digital production. At that time, Sawayoshi was still trying to challenge digital painting to prove the feasibility of digital painting in commercial animation through this work, and the 1st, 6th and 10th episodes of "Song of Flowers" were all-digital painting. The painting software used in this game is flash, but this does not mean that digital painting is flash painting, simply because Sawayoshi himself was used to using flash at that time. Now animation companies like OLM and Toei also use CSP, TVP and other software for digital painting work.
Once you've decided on how to use digital painting, you should consider the artist. In September 2012, Sawayoshi held a public lecture on flash animation, and also recruited people who were interested in flash painting to participate in the work of "Night Sakura". Considering that the newcomers have no painting experience, most of the veterans are reluctant to use flash work, and finally compromised and decided to achieve the goal of digitizing the original part of the painting. In order to guide the newcomers, the superintendent also invited Kiyogo Yamashita and Tatsuro Kawano, two original painters who were familiar with digital painting.
Of the many times in this game that uses digital painting entirely, the first episode is the most time-consuming. Because you need to educate newcomers from scratch the rules in commercial animation, such as how many original pictures are needed for this shot, how far the background in the layout needs to be drawn, and so on. It took nearly 7 months, and there were more than 100 calories of retake, which exhausted Yamashita and Kawano, who was the first episode performer at the time. However, after the tragic experience of the first episode, the sixth episode went very smoothly, and it only took one-third of the first episode.
The plot of the sixth episode coincides with the play part of "Song of Flowers", and Mr. Teraoka's impactful storyboard increases the difficulty of imaging, requiring a large number of paintings to achieve. Kawano recalled that the sixth episode reached the number of 10,000 paintings, such as the part where the heroine used the dragon gun, which required a very large number of pictures, and the painters were very hard. But in terms of results, the hard work was worth it. After getting the finished product, Kodansha people called to praise the excellent quality of the episode, and Sawayoshi was more certain of the feasibility of future digital painting in commercial animation.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that Kiyogo Yamashita performed the tenth episode as a storyboard, and it was also Yamashita's first time to be responsible for a full episode length storyboard performance. Mentioning Yamashita naturally thinks of the drama part, but in the tenth episode, it is more of a daily plot, and you can see Yamashita's various ideas about the performance. In this episode, the daily acting skills are focused on, and the depiction of some small actions is natural and delicate, and the emotional expression of the characters in this episode and the control of the atmosphere are very unique. Kawano said that Yamashita spent a lot of effort in that episode, and even the instructions that the voice actor needed to breathe were noted in the storyboard.
In addition, in terms of painting, Yamashita was also responsible for a play part that lasted more than a minute in "Sea of Stars", showing the clip of Yanye using various weapons against the colossus, which made people addicted. (The story of Kiyogo Yamashita can also be read in the "Anitama Yamashita Kiyogo Interview" series) In addition, there are 12 episodes of Matsumoto Kensei and Takase Tomoaki two big hands responsible for the original painting is also impressive, in the process of making up the process remember to leave the ending staff table, can get surprises and surprises. (15 minutes to feel the coolness of "Night Sakura" painting)
Traditional paper painting and digital painting have their own advantages, if digital painting can show the situation that "such a picture can only be done well by digital painting", I believe that many people will also have a real change in digital painting. However, because of the characteristics of digital painting that can be previewed in real time, some people who come into contact with digital painting, no matter what they draw, are always satisfied with the state of "moving". In this process, creators will gradually accumulate their own painting methods and styles.
But in commercial animation, because it is necessary to consider both the character-type problem and the dynamic implementation, it is a big problem for those who simply meet the "movement". If painting according to one's own style is to reflect "artistry", and to unify the painting handle according to the human design is "commercial", then for the newcomer, it is the two sides of contradiction and opposition. In fact, mature works are both, and how creators can balance artistry and commerciality in commercial animation is a big problem in itself.
Mr. Sawaru believes that he did not overemphasize dynamics in the process of digital painting. It is not that the implementation of dynamic performance painting can ignore the requirements of the role-based aspect, the two need to be combined. Today, Ze Liangfu continues to advance on the road of digital painting, exploring various software and giving lectures on digital painting. In last year's "Kado of the Right Solution", he also paid attention to the relationship between the digital process and the construction period. How to complete the work within the specified time and to what extent, this is another question.
In addition to painting, he also has the charm of the characters with very different personalities in the works and the relaxed atmosphere of Sakura-shincho. Even readers who have seen this work at that time may wish to appreciate it again with their current eyes, and they will have an unexpected experience.
<h5>[References].</h5>
Animestyle005 digital painting and its possibilities
CGWORLD vol.224 The latest trends in digital painting
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Original: m.anitama.cn/article/704f83ca21aa3eeb?utm_source=toutiao