Have you seen the classic Japanese anime such as Totoro, Hidden Girl, Summer Wars, Evangelion, and Akira? They are all from the hands of japan's famous animation masters, Xiaobian helps you to introduce 7 god-level masters who cannot be missed, take advantage of the current home epidemic prevention period, know more about their creative stories, and make up the representative works!
▋ Hayao Miyazaki: A representative director of Japanese film history who was shortlisted for the world's top 100 influential people
"The important things, most of them are troublesome" is a famous quote of Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki, who even though he felt troublesome, produced a number of gripping classic animations, and in 2005 was selected by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. After graduating from University, Miyazaki entered Toei Animation as an animator, and was deeply moved by the long-form animation "Snow Queen", and made up his lifelong wish to become an animator. In 1985, together with animation director Takahata, Toshio Toshio Suzuki, editor of Tokuma Shoten, and President Yasuaki Tokuma, he founded Studio Ghibli, and the studio's first animated film was Castle in the Sky in 1986.
Totoro
In Miyazaki's animated films, you can see a lot of advocating nature and peaceful and anti-war ideas, exploring the relationship between humans and humans, nature, science and technology, Miyazaki himself said that he did not like the dichotomy of good and evil, so the works presented are always full of humanity, and both artistic and entertaining, suitable for both adults and children. Miyazaki has launched many masterpieces, from the box office point of view, the top ten highest-grossing lists in the history of Japanese cinema include "Hidden Girl", "Magical Princess" and "Hall's Moving Castle", which are applauded and sold.
Castle in the Sky
Hall's Moving Castle
Hayao Miyazaki (Miyazaki Hayao)
・ Born: January 5, 1941
・Representative works: "Valley of the Wind", "Castle in the Sky", "Totoro", "Witch House Rush", "Magical Princess", "Hidden Girl", "Wind Rise"
▋Imatoshi: A realistic style that goes straight to the human heart
Imatoshi was very interested in anime works as a student, especially liked Katsuyo Otomo's "Children's Dreams", and when he was studying at Musashino Art University, he won the 1984 Weekly Young Magazine Chiba Tetsuya Award for Outstanding Newcomer Awards, and debuted as a professional manga artist the following year. Toshi Imamoto can be said to be the "Fan Victory Group" because he served as the manga assistant of "idol" Katsuyo Otomo, and in 1990, he was responsible for the art setting, original drawing, and composition of Otomo's animated film "Old Man Z". Imatoshi also collaborated with Oshii in manga and animation production, accumulating a full range of experience, and released his animation directorial debut "Blue Fear" in 1997.
"Blue Fear" describes a female idol ready to transform into an actor, but with the opposition and inner hesitation of the people around her, a series of murders began around her, and the plot wandered between imagination and reality, and also became imatoshi's most recognizable style, and successively launched wonderful works such as "Millennium Actress" in 2001, "Tokyo Godfather" in 2003, "Delusional Agent" in 2004, "Inception" in 2006 and "Good Morning" in 2007. More delicately show the themes of time, psychology, dreams and so on.
Unfortunately, he died of advanced pancreatic cancer in 2010 at the age of 46, and the news of his death was very shocking to the news of his death, and the "Dream Machine" that he was still working on at the time was also discontinued.
Imatoshi
・Born: October 12, 1963, Passed away on August 24, 2010 (age 46).
・Representative works: "Blue Fear", "Millennium Actress", "Tokyo Godfather", "Inception Detective"
▋Hosoda Mori: A new generation of animation masters who are warm and light and full of affection
Many animation masters found their dreams when they were students, and Hosoda Mori was the same, who used a thousand pieces of paper to draw a one-minute long short air combat video in his junior year, and when he was a freshman in high school, he was offered a job offer from Toei Animation, but he gave up because of his studies. Later, he entered Toei Animation in 1991, and in 2005, he was promoted to director, directing the first animated feature film "One Piece Festival Baron and Mysterious Island", which achieved a box office success of 1.2 billion yen, and later turned to the animation company MADHOUSE, and in 2006 launched the masterpiece "Jump It!" "Time Maiden" and 2009's "Summer Battle" were well received.
In 2012, Hosoda established the "Map Studio", which successively launched works such as "Wolf's Child Rain and Snow", "Monster Child", "Future of the Future" and "Dragon and Freckled Princess" to be released in July 2021, and in 2019, he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature with "Future of the Future", which is also the first time that a non-Ghibli-produced animated feature film has been shortlisted in Japan. Hosoda's works are clean and clear, full of transparency, good at depicting virtual fantasy worlds, and deal with the emotional bonds between people and people, people and beasts, and always bring people a bright and healing mood after watching the movie.
Hosoda's relationship with Studio Ghibli is also a well-known story in the animation industry. It is said that after Graduating from University, Hosoda Mori failed to apply for the Ghibli examination, and Miyazaki wrote to him in a special letter to explain that if he entered Ghibli, "his talents would definitely be exhausted", and he was not allowed to pass out of pity for talent. Later, when Ghibli was in a hurry to produce "The Hidden Girl", Shang asked Hosoda Mori, who was working at Toei at the time, to assist in the production of "Hall's Moving Castle", but it was removed halfway through.
After the change of the main reason, hosoda once said that he was "too conceited to find help" at that time, and this spirit of chewing failure and fighting again later also appeared in the work, so that the audience could feel warmth and courage when watching.
Hosoda Mori
・ Born: September 19, 1967
・Representative work: "Jump! Time Maiden", "Summer Battle", "Wolf's Child Rain and Snow", "Future Future", "Monster's Child"
▋ Oshii Mori: A poisonous tongue director full of personal style
When the manga was going to make an animated version, fans of the original were always both expectant and afraid of being hurt, but the animated version and film version of Rumiko Takahashi's "Fukusei Kid" received wide acclaim, that is, thanks to the skill of director Oshii Mori, because the story did not deviate from the spirit of the original work, Oshii Mori also used his personal style, and the film used a lot of still paintings and inner monologues to increase the artistry of the work. Oshii Mori is not only very personal in the face of the work, but also bold and poisonous in the face of the animation industry and predecessors, such as his "Speak Freely!" Oshii Mori man on the secret of Ghibli", that is, manga talks about his views on Ghibli's works and Miyazaki Hayao.
In addition to the series of works such as "Fuxing Kid" and "Mobile Police", "Ghost in the Shell" can be said to be oshii's masterpiece as synonymous, the first animated film was launched in 1995, the story is set in the future of 2029, the heroine Suiko Kusanagi is a cyborg who belongs to the special intelligence agency "Nine Lessons of Public Security", full-body righteous, with the most advanced military equipment on her body, whether it is combat ability or hacking skills are top-notch, the plot in addition to the progress of the task, the future technology, dystopia, Elements such as the value of existence also have philosophical depictions and are praised by science fiction fans. The film successfully entered the American market, and the sci-fi classic series "Hacker Mission" was also deeply affected by it. Later, the sequel "Ghost in the Shell 2 INNOCENCE", released in 2004, was also directed and written by Oshii Mori.
Mamoru Oshii
・ Born: August 8, 1951
・Representative works: "Fuxing Kid", "Mobile Police", "Ghost in the Shell"
▋ Katsuyo Otomo: The manga era is divided into "before Otomo and after Otomo"
There is a saying in the Japanese manga industry: "Before Otomo, after Otomo", taking Katsuyo Otomo's first collection of works in 1979, "SHORT PEACE", as a watershed, referring to his realistic and meticulous brushstrokes, which resemble camera-like storyboarding, creating a manga narrative method different from that of Osamu Tezuka, the "god of Japanese manga". Akira, serialized from 1983 to 1993, was adapted into a film in 1988 and directed and written by Katsuyo Otomo himself. Known as a "milestone in Japanese animation", the meticulous mirror position and the exploration of human nature, technology, creation and destruction have influenced many animators and directors in the future, and have been called the classic of "cyberpunk" science fiction works.
In response to Akira, Katsuyo Otomo mentioned in a magazine interview in 1998 that "because I like Tokyo, I have always wanted to recount Tokyo's desires in other forms", which is reflected in the movie is the ruins of Tokyo that were corrupted by crime after the explosion and war. Interestingly, there is a scene in the movie depicting the 147 days before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, and when Tokyo decided to win the hosting rights in 2013, this scene of "Akira" was proposed and discussed, and then the 2020 Olympic Games were postponed due to the impact of pneumonia, which really did not work, and "Akira" was once again regarded as a prophetic animation.
Katsuyo Otomo
・ Born: April 14, 1954
・Representative works: "Akira", "Steam Boy", "Bug Master" (live-action film)
▋ Hideaki Anno: Father of Evangelion
The drum rhythm of "bang, bang, bang, bang" with Ming Dynasty subtitles on a black background is almost equivalent to Hideaki Anno's signature technique, and "Evangelion", which he calls "life" and "life itself", is naturally a work that must be seen when getting to know this master.
Evangelion depicts the future of Tokyo after the Cataclysm, in which the male protagonist Shinji Tsurugi travels to the mysterious organization NERV at the direction of his father, only to be forced to pilot a large biological weapon ,EVA', to fight against the mysterious enemy "Apostle". In addition to the smooth and gorgeous mecha battle scenes to attract the audience's attention, the story also adds many religious symbols and psychoanalysis, and also spends a lot of time to explain the protagonists' confusion about their own responsibilities and the value of existence, Hideaki Anno's works show abstract depictions that integrate postmodernism and human psychology, the plot rhythm abruptly stops blank, and the unique style deeply attracts fans.
The animated TELEVISION version of Evangelion was broadcast from October 1995 to March 1996, with a total of 26 episodes, but due to the controversy and dissatisfaction, the movie "Evangelion Theater Edition: Dead and New Life" released in March 1997 contained new content from the TV essential version, and "Evangelion Theater Edition: THE END OF EVANGELION", which was released in July of the same year, continued the content of the previous work and rewrote the last two episodes of the TV version. After that, three new theatrical series were released in 2007, 2009 and 2012, including "Prologue", "Broken", and "Q", and finally "New Evangelion Theater Edition: The End" in March 2021, which ended a series of works. Every time the series is launched, it has always aroused a lot of discussion, and Evangelion has been hailed as one of the most successful and prestigious Japanese animations of our time.
Hideaki Anno
・ Born: May 22, 1960
・Representative works: "20,000 Miles Under the Sea", "Evangelion", "Seesaw for Men and Women"
▋Makoto Shinkai: The god of the background of the painting
Speaking of Makoto Shinkai, we must mention his picturesque, delicately carved background design, each work has a beautiful background, making the worldview more profound and charming. When the new generation of directors was in junior high school, he was deeply moved by watching Studio Ghibli's "Castle in the Sky", joined the video game company after graduating from college, and also produced animation independently, and successively won many short film awards, after becoming a freelance worker, the 25-minute digital animation "Voice of the Stars" launched in 2002 was all handled by him from the director, screenwriter, painting to editor, and also won the recognition of the Excellence Award of the First New Century Tokyo International Animation Exposition, and launched the first feature work "The Other Side of the Clouds" in 2004. The Promised Place" also won the Animated Film Award at the 59th Daily Film Awards.
Makoto Shinkai, who studied in the Faculty of Literature in college, mentioned in many interviews that he was deeply influenced by Haruki Murakami, and his works often use romantic brushstrokes to tell the themes of universe, distance and time, coupled with the background blessing of meticulous depiction, when viewing Makoto Shinkai's works, you can also have a healing atmosphere like enjoying the beautiful scenery during travel. In 2007, "Five Centimeters per Second", which is connected by three short stories, and in 2013, "The Garden of Words and Leaves", which is embellished with verses from the classical Japanese literature "Manyoji", can feel the literary temperament of Makoto Shinkai's works, as well as the depiction of Traditional Japanese Culture and Symbols. 2016's "Your Name" pushed him to the peak, and the film exceeded 10 billion yen in 28 days of release, and is currently ranked 5th in the history of Japanese cinema. 2019's "Weather Child" also sold well, with 100% of the girls who will make the weather clear and the teenagers who accompany her as the main story axis, and also sold more than 14 billion yen at the box office.
Makoto Shinkai
・ Born: February 9, 1973
・Representative works: "5 centimeters per second", "The Garden of Leaves", "Your Name", "Weather Child"
The life anecdotes and representative works of the masters are really not three words and two words can be finished, the above introduction is already a simplified version, it is recommended that you go directly to see the classic works, and the understanding of the masters will be more in-depth! In the future, Xiaobian will also help you introduce more wonderful and beautiful animations, and also ask readers to continue to lock yo.
Seven "Masters of Japanese Animation" who created legends: Hayao Miyazaki, Hideaki Anno, Mori Hosoda, Katsuyo Otomo... A review of the classics! | Tesco! Japan