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12:13:56 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Please welcome director Atsuko Ishizuka
12:14:00 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> (prev works)
12:14:49 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Thank you everyone for coming today.
12:16:07 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Today as you know is easter sunday, and for the first time, i went to church, and being japanese, i wasn't too familiar with the celebration of easter so it felt like a foreign country, but then coming back to the convention center from the church, it felt like coming home
12:16:25 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> (all will be semi-paraphrased)
12:16:53 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> I bought a bit of a promotion video that I would like to show you, but let's start with Q&A while they prep
12:17:15 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: I read that Madhouse is responsible for Trigun, did you work on it? A: Sorry, I wasn't involved.
12:18:58 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: What have your experiences been in the skills you learned and the challenges you faced in moving through the ranks to become a full series director?
12:19:24 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: Everything that i've done has served me well for what I'm doing next
12:19:41 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> But until i was actually employed by an animation company, i had no idea how anime was actually made
12:20:11 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> So I had no idea how storyboards were put together, or any of the specialized vocabulary when i came in (lost)
12:20:47 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> In animation, there are people called scenario writers, storyboard creators, and (lost) and then those who do the original artwork
12:21:11 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> So when I first came into the company, i went around and was introduced one by one to the people there and the work they were doing
12:21:22 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> When I first did a storyboard, i watched the director make one
12:21:40 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> And then I deliberately copied them, and they complained that it was too similar
12:22:13 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: Are there plans for a second season of Sakurasou?
12:22:29 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: That's a hard question to answer...
12:23:10 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> The original work is still continuing, and so there is ongoing development between the characters, and it's something that if the opportunity comes up, I'd like to do it
12:23:16 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> If you buy lots of DVDs, we might be able to make a second season
12:23:37 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: Differences between JC staff (sakurasou) and Madhouse?
12:24:01 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: You know a lot about what's going on
12:24:31 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> It's true that when you switch studios, when you are invovled with different studios, the people you are involved with are different people, and there are differences in how anime is made between studios
12:24:57 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> The thing that i noticed was the most different was the amount of power the people in the digital department had
12:25:09 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> the digital department takes care of finishing and photographing each frame of the anime
12:25:44 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> At madhouse, the animator wield a lot of powr and it seems the animation staff is concentrated and there are a lot of really talented artsts
12:26:05 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> but being involved with jcstaff, it helped me realize what can be accomplished with the digital workflow which they are strong with
12:26:19 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> and compared to madhouse, there are a lot of people who are familiar with the moe aspect and cute girl characters
12:28:09 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: I know you have worked with Asaka Morio. (lost rest) A: Director Asaka is one of the people I think has influenced me a great deal. One thing that I noticed from director Asaka works, the world view....the world that they draw in the storyboarding and the layouts, it's a fixed, stable, settled world...it's as if they have a lot of photographs of a place that actually exists
12:29:06 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> One thing that bowled me over the most when looking at their storyboards, is that their storyboards are similar to shoujo manga, there are scenes filled with flowers and light... (lost rest, about how they had a balance between that and the story)
12:30:02 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Right now, he's working on Chihayafuru2 and i'm not involved in that, but if i had the opportunity, i'd like to jump in, and i'd also like to be involved with his next work
12:30:19 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> (lost)
12:30:46 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: Who is your favorite character in Sakurasou?
12:30:51 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: Nanami Aoyama
12:31:56 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> The truth is when I read the original work, Nanami is the character who stood out to me, and wanted to express that character in the animation, and i wanted to special attention to expressing her, and i think she came out cuter in the animation (paraphsed)
12:32:33 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: What genre/style do you think comes most naturally to you? Which one would you like to challenge again in the future?
12:33:03 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> When considering Sakurasou, that's more of a modern day type animation
12:33:30 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> (lost)
12:33:46 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> If possible, I'd like to show you one of my first short works, Tsuki no Waltz
12:34:18 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> One other thing is that...I helped to make the opening movie for persona 4 the golden
12:34:22 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> and this is an illustration I drew
12:34:57 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> It was really fun drawing the pop type drawings for this, the designs in the bright colors, if i get the chance, i'd like to work on another show that is digital and has that pop style to it
12:35:48 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: One thing I've heard from other directors is that the hard part is the managerial part... for yourself as growing into the director, what kind of management style have you developed and how do you work with the supervisory challenges
12:36:04 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: That's a good question
12:36:51 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> As a female director, i'm somewhat rare, and there are a lot of staffers who are interested in working with me and the direction that i'm going to take
12:38:31 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> For example, a rookie director who is male (would have issues giving instruction to the older animators, but being a woman makes it easier because I can phrase it as a request) (lost rest)
12:38:54 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: I heard you worked on Monster, what did you do and what was it like?
12:39:00 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: That was the first TV show I was involved in after I was hired.
12:39:31 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> When I was first hired, I was hired as part of the production staff, not as an animator
12:40:17 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> So after I was hired at madhouse, I was involved in working on tsuki no waltz shortly after, and the advantage that had is that I was invited to work on the storyboards for Monster
12:41:36 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> And because it was a long series, there was a lot of attention paid to how the flow of the overall plot would be...and i think that's one work where the (togetherness) of the staff came out...and since the series was in gemerany, it was difficult to get materials for the backgrounds
12:42:22 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> When I started getting involved with Monster, the location hunting had already been done, so some of the directors had already been to germany and do it... so I didn't get, but I did correspond with a german advisor
12:42:51 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> unfortunately, the materials that the directors got were not the always the most useful reference materials
12:43:27 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: Any anime that you can talk about that you are working on?
12:44:06 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: I can't tell the titles yet, but I'm working on a light novel based show and 2 manga based shows
12:45:00 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> One of those is a very cool action oriented large scale fantasy, and the other is a slice of life with lots of female characters, and doing two things with completely different genres will be a great challenge for me
12:46:50 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: The anime industry in the US has been struggling and i heard it's similar. Can you speak to the state of the industry?
12:47:01 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: That's something that I'm asked often by Japanese fans as well
12:47:59 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> One aspect that I think is involved is that there are so many anime that are made right now, a huge number, and so many generes that have become specialized and niche titles, so the research for figuring out what people want to watch next is very hard
12:49:14 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> So on the one hand, you have the widening of the genres, so you have room for short experimental works on the web to high quality theatrical works, so they are expanding, but I think there is always going to be a place for T Vanimation, but I might be a bit naive as to my optimism toward these shows
12:49:35 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> Q: What are you personal feelings on moe and do you think it helps or hurts the industry, the abundance of such
12:49:57 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> A: Unfortunately, I don't moe at all, you are asking the wrong person...
12:50:29 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> But on teh other hand, I think moe has attracted a lot of poeple into the fandom, and has come to allow a lot of people to enjoy animation and i think that's a wonderful thing for anime
12:51:17 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> (And now give away of some stuff)
12:51:32 <bay|SC|Ishizuka2> End