Kobun Shizuno -
Anime
Convention Personality of the Week - December 23, 2007
In a short time, making a rapid
rise by the standards of the anime industry, Kobun Shizuno has reached
his goal of becoming an anime director. "I went into it (animation
school) hoping that I could be a director right away, but that didn't
happen," Shizuno said. "I became a director a lot quicker than I
expected." the work that has gotten more attention in the U.S. than
anything else Shizuno has worked on was the G.I. Joe Sigma Six series,
something that's likely not seen by anime fans as anime. Shizuno said
that series was important to him because much of the artistic
decisions, such as characters and color schemes, were made by others
who owned the series, but he was still able to put his personal stamp
on the animation ideas - something that is surfacing as he takes more
control of animation projects he directs. Among his recent works in
Japan is the "You are not alone" feature in the Evangelion universe
that he co-directed. "It was very exciting to work on this," Shizuno
said at a New York panel discussion. "It was an incredible experience -
everyone worked 200 percent." Shizuno also directed Cross Climb, the
story of a woman who finds her apparent future in a virtual gaming
world, but learns that this world may have more risks than rewards.
Shizuno sees computer-assisted animation as the major technical
breakthrough of the 21st century, noting that "We can do things that
once were impossible to show on the screen."
In a short time, making a rapid
rise by the standards of the anime industry, Kobun Shizuno has reached
his goal of becoming an anime director. "I went into it (animation
school) hoping that I could be a director right away, but that didn't
happen," Shizuno said. "I became a director a lot quicker than I
expected." the work that has gotten more attention in the U.S. than
anything else Shizuno has worked on was the G.I. Joe Sigma Six series,
something that's likely not seen by anime fans as anime. Shizuno said
that series was important to him because much of the artistic
decisions, such as characters and color schemes, were made by others
who owned the series, but he was still able to put his personal stamp
on the animation ideas - something that is surfacing as he takes more
control of animation projects he directs. Among his recent works in
Japan is the "You are not alone" feature in the Evangelion universe
that he co-directed. "It was very exciting to work on this," Shizuno
said at a New York panel discussion. "It was an incredible experience -
everyone worked 200 percent." Shizuno also directed Cross Climb, the
story of a woman who finds her apparent future in a virtual gaming
world, but learns that this world may have more risks than rewards.
Shizuno sees computer-assisted animation as the major technical
breakthrough of the 21st century, noting that "We can do things that
once were impossible to show on the screen."