The
airborne adventure Last Exile is one of the anime series that seems to
be destined to become a fan favorite. If it succeeds, one of the
reasons will be the reworking of the original character designs by
Minoru Murao, who also created characters for Submarine 707. Murao had
to create the characters so they blended with Last Exile's impressive
CG effects, but didn't have to worry about the series'
three-dimensional scenes. "In Last Exile, I didn't really have to
consider the fact that there was a lot of CG going into it, but I
figure the CG people had a hard time," said Murao through an
interpreter. Murao didn't say anything about his philosophy toward
character design, but he did discuss his techniques: even with the rise
of computer-assisted animation and drawing tablets, Murao prefers to
draw his characters with old-fashioned pencil and paper.
Animation
always is a group effort, but that idea went a little farther on the
two series mentioned in this story. Murao was the co-designer for both
series, sharing the work with another designer. For Submarine 707, "One
of us did the design for the good buys and the other did it for the bad
guys - I did it for the good guys." So what's the difference between
creating heroes and villains? "I think our individual tastes appear
real strongly in the design. I like simple designs, so the good guys
have simple designs. But the other designer likes more complicated
designs, so you'll see that in his work." Murao actually wanted to be a
character designer, and paid his anime industry dues doing cel "grunt
work" before he got his first chance. Now, Murao is a respected
designer who does so much work that when he has time off, "I just lay
around doing nothing at home."
The
airborne adventure Last Exile is one of the anime series that seems to
be destined to become a fan favorite. If it succeeds, one of the
reasons will be the reworking of the original character designs by
Minoru Murao, who also created characters for Submarine 707. Murao had
to create the characters so they blended with Last Exile's impressive
CG effects, but didn't have to worry about the series'
three-dimensional scenes. "In Last Exile, I didn't really have to
consider the fact that there was a lot of CG going into it, but I
figure the CG people had a hard time," said Murao through an
interpreter. Murao didn't say anything about his philosophy toward
character design, but he did discuss his techniques: even with the rise
of computer-assisted animation and drawing tablets, Murao prefers to
draw his characters with old-fashioned pencil and paper.
Animation
always is a group effort, but that idea went a little farther on the
two series mentioned in this story. Murao was the co-designer for both
series, sharing the work with another designer. For Submarine 707, "One
of us did the design for the good buys and the other did it for the bad
guys - I did it for the good guys." So what's the difference between
creating heroes and villains? "I think our individual tastes appear
real strongly in the design. I like simple designs, so the good guys
have simple designs. But the other designer likes more complicated
designs, so you'll see that in his work." Murao actually wanted to be a
character designer, and paid his anime industry dues doing cel "grunt
work" before he got his first chance. Now, Murao is a respected
designer who does so much work that when he has time off, "I just lay
around doing nothing at home."
