What is the difference between "weakness" and "harvest" "Princess Mononoke" that exist in "The Deer King Yuna and the Promised Journey"?

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"The Deer King Yuna and the Promised Journey" (c) 2021 "The Deer King" Production Committee

Creators who have been involved with Hayao Miyazaki, such as Hideaki Anno, Mamoru Hosoda, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuki Momose, and Goro Miyazaki, are active as directors of feature-length animated films. All the content of the movies they make is more or less influenced by Miyazaki's work. "The Deer King Yuna and the Promised Journey" released this time is also one of them, and Masashi Ando, ​​who became the first director's work, was one of them. [Photo] The depiction reminiscent of "Princess Mononoke" is also Speaking of Masashi Ando, ​​who is demonstrating his skills in animation works in various studios, mainly in drawing and character design, and has made great achievements in the Japanese animation industry. It's an animator. Mainly in the 90's, he played a major role in Studio Ghibli under Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. In "Spirited Away" released in 2001, he worked as an animation director and character designer, creating a realistic heroine image that was not seen in Studio Ghibli so far, and greatly contributed to winning the Academy Award for the work. ing. "The Deer King Yuna and the Promised Journey," co-directed by Ando and Masayuki Miyaji, was a fantasy work based on Nahoko Uehashi's novel, but Ando is also the center of the drawing. The content was strongly reminiscent of the active "Princess Mononoke" (1997). No, rather than being similar, looking at the themes, visuals, and characters that I designed myself, I can only think that I am conscious of "Princess Mononoke" in various respects. It is well known among the industry and anime fans that Ando participated in "Princess Mononoke". In other words, it seems that Director Ando had the intention of creating his own "Princess Mononoke" and competing with Hayao Miyazaki from the director's point of view. "Princess Mononoke" is a blockbuster that has become a social phenomenon, with long lines forming in front of movie theaters nationwide in the summer of 1997. At that time, Studio Ghibli's work, especially Hayao Miyazaki's work, had become a national presence, and a large-scale promotion announced the enormous effort and grand theme of the work. As a result, a large number of spectators rushed to the movie theater. It may be terrible to compare this work with such a monster-class movie as it is. However, if you don't compare on the same stage, it's certainly rude. The production studio for this work is "Production IG", which Ando has been in charge of drawing for "Ghost in the Shell" (2004) and the TV anime "Haikyu !!". He has worked on a wide range of genres, including the production of director Mamoru Oshii, one of Hayao Miyazaki's rivals, and is known for his craftsmanship and high-quality work. This work includes Tetsuya Nishio and Kazuchika Kise, who are veterans of "Production IG", Hiroyuki Okiura, Toshiyuki Inoue, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Hiroko Minowa, Kenichi Yoshida, Kenichi Konishi, etc. who have worked with Ando. Experienced drawing specialists who cooperated in "Princess" and other works gathered. For that reason, this work has become a content that allows you to enjoy drawing techniques that have never been seen in recent years. By adding the "heavy feeling" that has been regarded as the merit of "Production IG" to the nostalgic elements such as the dynamic deer that reminds us of the yuckle of "Princess Mononoke", a more sophisticated image expression can be obtained from "Princess Mononoke". There is also a part that can be seen. What is particularly striking is the fact that the characters with a realistic balance that are close to the proportions of real human beings are made to perform complicated acts like live-action works. It is extremely difficult to express various movements of tall characters with few deformation elements in an animated work without failure. Compared to this, for example, "Ufotable"'s "Kimetsu no Yaiba" can be said to be a contrasting style. Here, we are trying to expand the expression of the original to the limit by expressing the realistic space expression and scale feeling by using dynamic camera work using CG and many effects. Furthermore, except for serious scenes, the design changes in various ways, including the character's head and body. On the other hand, this work does not rely on such production and deformation as much as possible, and challenges the difficult attempt of "having a screen" with a simple and robust drawing, and achieves it. The director's sticky will in this "drawing" is overwhelming. Isao Takahata, the director of the works for which Ando was in charge of the original drawings in "Heisei Tanuki Battle Pom Poko" (1994) and "My Neighbors Yamada-kun" (1999), is just an animation, and such a seemingly modest life. He has made efforts to express the depiction carefully and has raised the rank of Japanese animation works. Director Ando may have resulted in the aesthetic attempt of this work by partially absorbing Takahata's philosophy. In this work, with such an approach, the hero Van who lost his family, the interaction with the young girl Yuna who lost his parents, and the journey and battle with Hossar who studies the mysterious infectious disease are the human beings. I will draw against the background of power struggles and the mystery of nature. Although it is similar to "Princess Mononoke" as a whole, the theme of the long original is well organized and reflected in the size of the movie. In addition, the element of infectious disease that appears in the work overlaps with the current situation of Korona-ka, which causes an unexpected "weight" to occur in the work. And it is also good that a bitter middle-aged man is playing an active part as the main character, which is rare for Japanese animation works. Similar to the character design of "Spirited Away", the place where Yuna is not drawn as a beautiful girl image that is common in Japanese animation works is probably unique to Ando.

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