Super Animation Catalogue 2.0

[kinisking]

We're in for some good stuff today judging from NEP and ootsuka Ken. Who's the actual animation supervisor again?

[Khin]

Who's the actual animation supervisor again?

Its Yukihiro Kitano.The last episode he supervised was episode 24.Other than that,he also supervised episode 1,7,13 and 19.

[Ajay]

I'm a bit apprehensive about tonight, actually.

The motion looked very stiff, with the only benefit being reasonably well-drawn characters.

I'm hoping it's just a case of saving the sakuga surprises for the actual episode like they did with Tate's last week.

Praying that Otsuka's managed to do something great! Really want three episodes of fun stuff in a row.

[JulieYBM]

I don't expect anything good. Ootsuka seemed rushed and unless there are other good animators helping.

[Wezenheim]

Who's the actual animation supervisor again?

Its Yukihiro Kitano.The last episode he supervised was episode 24.Other than that,he also supervised episode 1,7,13 and 19.

He also worked on episode 33 with Toma Seizo.

I feel like tonight's animation might be solid. Nothing extremely amazing, but with any luck maybe we won't get stiff repeat frames. Ootsuka did seem a little strapped for time, but hopefully what he was able to do stands out.

[Sodhi]

I have personally not liked any of kitano's episodes so far. I hope he surprises me and otsuka ken does his thing.Episode does look to be on model but i did not see any noteworthy animation from the preview.

[Psykomatik]

And he also worked on episode 29 with Ishikawa.

[Khin]

I can see this morning's episode like episode 35.Good art but bad animation,but who knows they might surprise us.

[LonelyShadow]

Who do you guys think is the responsible for these two shots?

Spoiler:

The smirks and wrinkles have been out of control for quite a while.

[Ajay]

My guess for the Hit head rotation cut and those particularly detailed drawings towards the end is Jin Inaba.

That's based entirely on him being the only person with a lengthy CV, and previous work on the series.

I could be totally wrong, but nobody else really stood out.

[Sodhi]

Looks like there were only two KA for #39
Yamamuro Tadayoshi, Otsuka Ken.
Edit: Nvm there were more, it got updated.

[Wezenheim]

Looks like there were only two KA for #39
Yamamuro Tadayoshi, Otsuka Ken.

Really? Hm. Didn't think Yamamuro was going to do that much key animation.

This episode was slightly better than I thought it would be in terms of animation! I thought there were some cool little flurries in the beginning and the Super Kaioken and onward looked pretty good.

[Ajay]

Episode 39



Animation Supervisors:
Kitano Yukihiro & Manabe Shuuichiro

Key Animators:
Yamamuro Tadayoshi, Otsuka Ken, Kitano Yukihiro, Koizumi Hiroyuki, Hakamada Yuuji, Nashizawa Takashi, Nobuzane Setsuko, Mura Shuntaro, Hong Beom-seok, Nagaki Tatsuhiro, Tu Yeong-chaek, Tezuka Emi, and Shinryu.

That was alright. Very stiff for a majority of the cuts, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Really impressed by the Kaioken at the end there.

Not surprised to see Yamamuro pop his head up, but very interested to rewatch to pick out Otsuka's cuts.

[Cipher]

That was alright. Very stiff for a majority of the cuts, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. Really impressed by the Kaioken at the end there.

This seems to be what the majority of fans want from Dragon Ball, because it's what its animation has traditionally offered on its good days -- mostly stiff, on-model art, with brief action cuts that manage to imply a sense of speed and power without a whole lot of fluid movement.

But given Super's difficulty in even offering that, this was a welcome return to form. The Kaio-Ken portion at the end reminded me of any of Z's more engaging fights.

[Bullza]

I'm interested to see some HD shots of the SSJB Kaioken form, my stream was freezing a little bit from the sheer power being shown on the screen.

[Ajay]

Updated with the image.

Rewatching the episode, it's pretty clear as day to see what Yamamuro did. He drew keys for the second Kaioken power-up following Goku's initial bout of screaming. He drew the first launch at Hit following that, and then he also drew some keys later on in the middle of Otsuka's Kaioken Blue cut. Otsuka was responsible for pretty much the entire ending sequence fight. He also appeared to do some cuts in the first half, too. In particular, the second bout where the flurry looked exactly like his cut from episode 5. Yamamuro's biggest moment was the actual Kamehameha sequence, which was honestly just fine.

This seems to be what the majority of fans want from Dragon Ball, because it's what its animation has traditionally offered on its good days -- mostly stiff, on-model art, with brief action cuts that manage to imply a sense of speed and power without a whole lot of fluid movement.
But given Super's difficulty in even offering that, this was a welcome return to form. The Kaio-Ken portion at the end reminded me of any of Z's more engaging fights.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that, and can definitely relate to it. I just don't think it was done particularly well outside of a few choice moments. There's "stiff" like Yamamuro's work, and then there's distractingly stiff where the characters' bodies don't really have realistic motion behind them. It's hard to explain; they almost look like cardboard being moved across a background.

But yeah, I don't want to be too harsh. The second half was excellent, and Super finally gave me a good-looking, powerful Kamehameha, even if it was a remake of the Saiyan arc's.

My issue with the episode is that I know these animators can do better. We've seen Ken Otsuka complaining on Twitter about how overworked and rushed he was for this, and that frustrates me more than anything.

To reiterate for everyone, since apparently weekly animation critique gives the impression that I/we don't like the series: it was enjoyable. Just as many other episodes have been. Please don't mistake animation criticism as mindless nitpicking or a representation of our feelings towards the series.

[Wezenheim]

In regards to your Yamamuro screens Ajay, I can't believe I didn't notice them right away when watching the episode! My stream was a little bit laggy, but I can definitely see it. Does anyone else even draw Goku's Super Saiyan Blue hair the same way he does? His noses are pretty recognizable too.

Good to see that Ootsuka got to do something pretty nice after all.

[Sodhi]

Anyone know who drew the hit pic which was shown when the episode started.

[Cipher]

Don't get me wrong, I understand that, and can definitely relate to it. I just don't think it was done particularly well outside of a few choice moments. There's "stiff" like Yamamuro's work, and then there's distractingly stiff where the characters' bodies don't really have realistic motion behind them. It's hard to explain; they almost look like cardboard being moved across a background.

Oh, in no way was I including myself in those fans. You're doing great work in this thread. I was just pleasantly surprised that we got any sense of speed and impact in a non-Tate episode, and that for once it somewhat resembled what an old good-to-average episode would do as far as communicating characters' power.

That said, I only saw the second half of the episode, so the first half may still be subpar even with that goal.

Does anyone else even draw Goku's Super Saiyan Blue hair the same way he does?

I will say this for Yamamuro--I think he's the only one to really make the Super Saiyan Blue hair look good.

[Wezenheim]

Does anyone else even draw Goku's Super Saiyan Blue hair the same way he does?

I will say this for Yamamuro--I think he's the only one to really make the Super Saiyan Blue hair look good.

I think it's the bangs that help add just a bit more to it. I think his SSBlue hair is shaped pretty nicely.