Super Animation Catalogue 2.0

[JazzMazz]

What would you guys say is top 3 best storyboarded and directed in Super?

Eh, I would say episode 6,71 and 75 are probably some of the better storyboarded episodes.

Episode 6 was a masterpiece. It was the first episode of super that I genuinely enjoyed.

I would say those three episodes are among the best storyboarded in the franchise. Does anyone have better or equaivalently well storyboared episodes from OG,Z and GT. I know there are a couple, I think episode 16 of GT had a fabulous storyboard by Takahiro Imamura.

[Saikyo no Senshi]

I haven't watched the original series for a while, but I do remember some of the good ones from Z. Yama'uchi's work is something I don't forget. DBZ #95, #232 and #279 to name a few was pretty damn solid.

The action set pieces he created in #232 and #279 was fantastic and it was translated well by good animators. Studio Cockpit led by Masunaga and his team which included none other than Iwane and some more talented people did great on #279.

Yama'uchi's trademark is slow motion mixed with pure hand-to-hand combat and cool choreography. Often times nice angles as well that helps in making the fight look even cooler. You can see it in #232. The fight between Son Gokuu and Vegeta. He is a great director and storyboard artist. One of the best in the industry imo. Watch Casshern Sins to see what he is truly capable of.

Sorry, for going slightly off-topic. Nishio Daisuke also did good stuff. But, I don't remember which episodes other than #179. JulieYBM might know more about his work.

[Mazingerdestro]

I have to admit that rewatching the latest episodes is quite enjoyable.
I can't say that I really enjoy the filter but all the episodes have little details that make them look unique.
By far in this match the most enjoyable fight was Buu's. Better animation, better designs, better expressions etc....and the worse was Goku's. Of course by worse I don't mean bad but compare to these 3, it's the weakest.
I don't know if the production is declining or they reached their limit with the third fight but Buu's fight compare to Goku's is day an night. Goku's fight storyboard looks and feels simpler and boring. Buu's is so lively.
It is nice to see that they can produce these kind of episodes.

Why they chose to make a fourth episode based on fighting?

I hope that they could create a balance between episodes. Instead of fight-fight-fight. Maybe make a fighting heavy episode and spend the in-between episodes providing plot exposition? Seriously, Toyotaro has to go beyond the anime and provide them with reference material. Toyotaro feels like he can provide a nice balance between action and exposition

[JazzMazz]

I would say that Gohan vs Lavender was the best of the three. Though I really liked the Buu fight, I only think it got really good after Basil transformed, before that, everything was mostly just serviceable, with only one or two instances of interesting animation.

After Basil transformed, though the majority was pretty conservative, there was a lot of great character acting and interesting movement. Ironically enough the majority of the interesting character acting came from Basil, instead of the more rubbery Buu. I would definitely consider this part of the fight better than the majority of #80, even though I think episode 80 was generally better.

Episode 80, though obviously rushed, had pretty much non-stop movement throughout the fight, and for the most part it was pretty well done, with everyone producing solid and decently polished or corrected work for the episode, and maintaining a really good quality across both halves.

Goku vs Bergamo was pretty meh in comparison to the previous episodes. The animation was less interesting on the whole, with only a handful of moments being really solid(the beginning of the fight and the final blast battle at the end), in comparison to entire halves or both halves being really well done.

[Ajay]

Pretty much 100% agree with that assessment, JazzMazz. The Boo fight was solid and more consistent, but definitely not a touch on the Gohan episode. It might have been patchwork, but the amount of animation and the overall direction of the fight came across far better to me.

What would you guys say is top 3 best storyboarded and directed in Super?

First up, and definitely my #1, is Kohei Hatano's Episode 38. He's one of my favourite directors on Super and his performance here is a wonderful demonstration of that. He managed to introduce genuine tension into the U6 Tournament! The storyboard is very competent, too: lots of very cool angles. It obviously helps that you have talents like Tate, Inaba, and Tsuji's corrections here to help realise it properly. Such a fantastic episode.

Owning the board might make me a little biased, but I still think it's fantastic: Episode 16. So many interesting angles and fun character moments. It's the full package, from its board to its direction and its wonderful character art. It's still one of my favourite episodes of Super.

Heading back a little bit: Morio Hatano's Episode 14 is just unreal. The battle had been in space for a few episodes by this point, yet this was the first time the sense of scale was realised. Even in the movie, as much as I love it, it doesn't feel like this colossal clash of gods above the heavens. This episode realises it wonderfully, and after so many piss poor battles leading up to this, this was a real breath of fresh air.

I've probably forgotten some key episodes, but those are the three that are sticking out in my mind right about now. Honourable mentions go to Episode 35, which was wonderfully boarded, but poorly executed by the animators. It has super creative angles, but again, not well realised. Episode 61 is another highlight. We all know Ken Otsuka for his animation, but he showed his versatility here with a fantastic storyboard. Takao Iwai's not exactly a premium director on Super, but he handled this storyboard well. It's got some real power behind it. Certainly helps that the animators were on-point here, too. The last honourable mention goes to Episode 75. It has the most amazing storyboard and some stunning direction to boot. It totally caught me off guard - I was not expecting something so powerful during a downtime episode. Ryota Nakamura was always solid, but this definitely made me pay far more attention to him.

For all of Super's ups and downs in terms of the animation we get on our screens, its storyboarding has been a real highlight since the very beginning. I remember back before this thread even existed, we were saying it, so it's nice to be at a point now where the motion is doing justice to the boards on a regular basis. Go Super!

[JazzMazz]

Pretty much 100% with that assessment, JazzMazz. The Boo fight was solid and more consistent, but definitely not a touch on the Gohan episode. It might have been patchwork, but the amount of animation and the overall direction of the fight came across far better to me.

What would you guys say is top 3 best storyboarded and directed in Super?

First up, and definitely my #1, is Kohei Hatano's Episode 38. He's one of my favourite directors on Super and his performance here is a wonderful demonstration of that. He managed to introduce genuine tension into the U6 Tournament! The storyboard is very competent, too: lots of very cool angles. It obviously helps that you have talents like Tate, Inaba, and Tsuji's corrections here to help realise it properly. Such a fantastic episode.

Owning the board might make me a little biased, but I still think it's fantastic: Episode 16. So many interesting angles and fun character moments. It's the full package, from its board to its direction and its wonderful character art. It's still one of my favourite episodes of Super.

Heading back a little bit: Morio Hatano's Episode 14 is just unreal. The battle had been in space for a few episodes by this point, yet this was the first time the sense of scale was realised. Even in the movie, as much as I love it, it doesn't feel like this colossal clash of gods above the heavens. This episode realises it wonderfully, and after so many piss poor battles leading up to this, this was a real breath of fresh air.

I've probably forgotten some key episodes, but those are the three that are sticking out in my mind right about now. Honourable mentions go to Episode 35, which was wonderfully boarded, but poorly executed by the animators. It has super creative angles, but again, not well realised. Episode 61 is another highlight. We all know Ken Otsuka for his animation, but he showed his versatility here with a fantastic storyboard. Takao Iwai's not exactly a premium director on Super, but he handled this storyboard well. It's got some real power behind it. Certainly helps that the animators were on-point here, too. The last honourable mention goes to Episode 75. It has the most amazing storyboard and some stunning direction to boot. It totally caught me off guard - I was not expecting something so powerful during a downtime episode. Ryota Nakamura was always solid, but this definitely made me pay far more attention to him.

For all of Super's ups and downs in terms of the animation we get on our screens, its storyboarding has been a real highlight since the very beginning. I remember back before this thread even existed, we were saying it, so it's nice to be at a point now where the motion is doing justice to the boards on a regular basis. Go Super!

Ajay, since you are one of the most knowledgeable people on the topic, what would you say is the best storyboarded episode from Dragonball as a whole?

[Ajay]

Ajay, since you are one of the most knowledgeable people on the topic, what would you say is the best storyboarded episode from Dragonball as a whole?

I'm not really sure, honestly. I haven't watched the series all the way through since early 2013. Back then, I only really had a cursory knowledge of animation - I knew the supervisors and a few key animators, but I wasn't ever really paying attention to storyboarding or direction.

I've gone through episodes here and there to research animators that I care about, but I wouldn't say I know enough on the whole to make any kind of definitive statement like that. I'm planning to go through the series again soon, but until then, I couldn't tell you. Sorry!

[desu]

Episode 44 is probably one of the best storyboarded episodes for me, I'll probably will need to check again but for what I can remember it had beautiful backgrounds and a promising story (which sadly got quickly screwed in eps 45 and 46).

[Alee9977]

Episode 44 is probably one of the best storyboarded episodes for me, I'll probably will need to check again but for what I can remember it had beautiful backgrounds and a promising story (which sadly got quickly screwed in eps 45 and 46).

Storyboards are the camera angles, It has almost nothing to do with story or backgrounds.
I loved ep 38 and the different angles, also the episodes with Naotoshi Shida and Ken Otsuka as storyboarders were interesting too.

[desu]

Episode 44 is probably one of the best storyboarded episodes for me, I'll probably will need to check again but for what I can remember it had beautiful backgrounds and a promising story (which sadly got quickly screwed in eps 45 and 46).

Storyboards are the camera angles, It has almost nothing to do with story or backgrounds.
I loved ep 38 and the different angles, also the episodes with Naotoshi Shida and Ken Otsuka as storyboarders were interesting too.

I see, I'm sorry then, I should have searched a bit more before posting lol, then I guess episodes 6, 38 and 75 are the best like you guys said before.

[KameNinja45]

I've been wondering about this for a while so I guess I'll just ask you guys-
What do key animators do as opposed to inbetweeners?

[Saikyo no Senshi]

Storyboards are the camera angles, It has almost nothing to do with story or backgrounds.

Storyboards are not all about camera angles. It is script in visual form. Good storyboarding is getting the point across in the most appealing way possible. Using different angles to convey certain emotion is just one aspect. It falls flat when it fails to be translated well by the animators. A great example would be DBS #35. Those cool angles don't mean a thing in that episode. It's pure waste.

A good storyboard can comprise of anything. It can be full of wild action cuts like Naruto Shippuuden #167 or subtle character acting sequences like in Hibike!Euphonium for example. A good board needs good execution and execution is in the hands of animators.

As for backgrounds, the art department is responsible for it. But, they draw backgrounds based on the layout which key animators draw. A layout is expanding upon the storyboard and is more detailed bringing the ideas of the storyboard to life.

[Ajay]

I've been wondering about this for a while so I guess I'll just ask you guys-
What do key animators do as opposed to inbetweeners?

Kanzenshuu has an entire write-up on the anime production process. You'll find all your answers there.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Incase anyone is interested here are good shots (in my opinion) that I saved of various forms:
SSGSS- (281 images including RF)
Rosé- (86 images, unfortunatly after #56 and 57 there were not many great shots of this form)
Vegetto Blue-(64 images for a 7 minute cameo! Majority from Shida's fantastic cut of course and some great Shimanuki drawn shots too!)

[Nasryyy]

you sir are amazing thanks for all these shots but i have to ask what's that batman shot doing there with SSB shots

[Baggie_Saiyan]

you sir are amazing thanks for all these shots but i have to ask what's that batman shot doing there with SSB shots

Ah good catch! I was just capping some shots of "The Dark Knight" (trailer, DVD screener and cam copies of the film) to compare with the god awful Blu-ray release that WB put out, must have saved in there by accident! (Also a couple of Trunks shots made their way there too it seems.)

[Burast]

Incase anyone is interested here are good shots (in my opinion) that I saved of various forms:
SSGSS- (281 images including RF)
Rosé- (86 images, unfortunatly after #56 and 57 there were not many great shots of this form)
Vegetto Blue-(64 images for a 7 minute cameo! Majority from Shida's fantastic cut of course and some great Shimanuki drawn shots too!)

where you found HQ episodes? the shots looks great.

[Ajay]

where you found HQ episodes? the shots looks great.

CrunchyRoll, Daisuki, and AnimeLab all offer legal 1080p streams of the series.

[KameNinja45]

I've been wondering about this for a while so I guess I'll just ask you guys-
What do key animators do as opposed to inbetweeners?

Kanzenshuu has an entire write-up on the anime production process. You'll find all your answers there.

Thanks!

[JazzMazz]

Just out of curiousity, what were peoples favourite Karasawa scenes which he personally animated. For me, one of my favorite scenes that I felt really demonstrated his effects and timing was his Kamehameha training sequence in episode 44, just really adore the effects here.
[spoiler]Crappy Webm to demonstrate point

[/spoiler]