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A want ad led Hiroyuki Kitakubo to an animation career. Twenty years
ago, when a studio advertised for part-time animators, Kitakubo answered
the ad and got a job. "Since then I've been suffering in Hell,' Kitakubo
joked at Anime Expo on Sunday. That want ad drew him into the anime industry,
and eventually led to directing work on Battle Royal High School, Golden
Boy, Robot Carnival and Black Magic M-66. Kitakubo has established himself
as one of the top directors in the competitive Japanese industry. He won't
name a favorite among his films, saying "Painting a piece of film or animation
is like having children. If you had three children, would you point to
one and say that's the best child?" |
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Kitakubo's first anime directing job came on the film that most all
anime fans have seen, but no one admits they've seen, the Pop Chaser episode
from the Cream Lemon series. "It didn't fit me very well," he said about
the sex show. While Kitakubo has nothing against anime with attractive
women, he prefers to stay away from porn nowadays. |
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Kitakubo has had a hand in all of the animation based on Masamune Shirow's
Ghost in the Shell. He worked on the animation for the feature film, and
directed the animated sequences in the Sony Playstation game based on the
movie. "I like (film) animation work a lot more," Kitakubo said. "In a
game, the main focus is on the game and not the animation. There are only
a few games that can use animation effectively." |
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Kitakubo has been fortunate enough to work in person with the reclusive
Shirow. "He is somebody I really look up to and respect," said Kitakubo.
"Working alongside him is good training and I learn a lot. For all of those
people who question whether the unseen Shirow really exists - and think
that pseudonym actually belongs to a group of artists and writers - Kitakubo
replies, "Whenever I meet him there's only one of him." |
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Most anime is created by the time-honored pencil, cel, ink-and-paint
method, but computers are working their way into the industry. In saying
he welcomes the change, Kitakubo seems to infer that some in the anime
industry don't want to see the arrival of computer animation: "In my mind,
there is no conflict between the use of the computer and traditional cel
animation. I think of the computer as just a different kind of pencil,"
he said. "Animation is not produced by our arms from the elbow down, it
comes from our heads. The extension at the end of our arms could be a pen
or a pencil - or a mouse." |
