October 3, 2016

By Keisuke Sakamoto, Tsukasa Sumikawa and Kinjyou Tetsuya

 

              Kyoto Animation Culture

Have you ever seen Japanese animation?  The quality of Japanese animation is very high and often admired by people in other countries. What do you think about animation? Perhaps Tokyo is mosy well known for animation culture. Especially, Akihabara is the most famous for Japanese animation. Not only Tokyo, but also Kyoto. is famous for animation culture. We will introduce attraction of Kyoto animation.

 

1 History of the Kyoto Animation Company

Kyoto Animation Company, Ltd. was founded in 1981. Its office is located in Minatoku-Tokyo. This company opend an animation school. Kyoto animation is not it Anime Studio. A husband and wife team of Mr. and Mrs. Yata founded the Kyoto Anime Studio, but only Mr.Yata manages it at the present time. in the 90’s, Kyoto animation designed a package of games. The most successful and famous character which was made by Kyoto Animation is Noroino-One-Piece. this work is made only by the staff of the Kyoto Animation office. In 2005, Kyoto Animation became a brand. In 2006, animation of Suzumiya Haruhi was broadcast. At the same time this animation became the most popular animation in Japan. In 2009, an animated move made K-ON! famous. Because, of his popularity, the musical instrument which a character used in the animated movie got a sales boost and a book series was published.

 

2Kyoto Animation Production

Kyoto Animation made various animation series

1.Noroino-One-Piece

In 1990 Noroino-One-Piece was introduced. This story is horror and the animation consisted of a short story. This animated story was the first product which was made by Kyoto Animation.

2.AIR

In 2005 made AIR. This animation is a love story and it was a trilogy. AIR was originally a computer game. It was made into an anime by Kyoto Animation. There are 12 episodes in all.

3.Suzumiya Haruhi-No-Yuutsu

In 2006, Kyoto Animation created the popular character, Suzumiya Haruhi. This animation is an SF story and Kyoto Animation is very famous since Kyoto Animation’s careful work is widely recognized. Yuutsu means depression in English. This anime is separated into 2-parts. There are 28 episodes of Suzumiya Haruhi-no-yuutsu in all.

4.Raki☆Suta

In 2007, Kyoto Animation created Raki☆Suta. This animation focuses on daily life. Raki☆Suta helped establish otaku culture. There are 24 episodes.

5.CLANNAD

The next Kyoto Animation series is CLANNAD. This animation is impressive. CLANNNAD was originally a computer game like AIR. This anime is separated into 2-parts. There are a total of 44 episodes.

6.K-ON!

In 2009, Kyoto Animation made K-ON!. This animation story about band club. This animation economic effect is 150 million. K-ON! caused a social phenomenon. This animation most sold in Kyoto Animation Company. K-ON! made young people entering band club in Japan. also, K-ON! became a movie. K-ON! is extremely popular with a lot of people even now. This anime is separated into 2-parts. There are 41 episodes in all.

7.Hyouka

In 2012, Kyoto Animation made Hyouka. This animation is based Japanese literature. Hyouka was originally a novel. This anime is separated into 2-parts. There are 22 episodes in all.

8.Free!

In 2003, Kyoto Animation made Free!. This animation story is about a water polo club. all Free!’s characters are handsome. So, Free!’s characters are very popular with young girls who likes animation. This anime became a movies. Free!’s main character is a man who never before appeared in work of Kyoto Animation. This anime is separated into 2-parts. There are 25 episodes in all.

Theseabove animations are representative of Japanese animation.

9.Koe-No-Katachi

This animation movie is going to screen in 2006, in September. This animation movie story is about a girl who was bullied because of her hearing disorder by a malicious boy. This animation wants to tell people about how it is difficult for people to communicate with a handicapped person. The story’s setting is Gifu Prefecture. Koe-No-Katachi is originally a comic. The original piece won the best comic in 2015. Because of this the movie will very interesting. Also, I recommend for people to see this animation movie. There were 7volumes in the original piece.

 

3 Location

Kyoto Animation Corporation’s head office is located in Kowata, Uji City, Kyoto-Prefecture, Japan. A lot of fans of this anime visit this place. Many of them take a photo in front of here with themselves. They have two studios to produce animation. The first one is in the Fushimi area, Kyoto, Kyoto. The second one is in close to the head office in Uji. And under the second studio, there is Kyo-ani shop. Many anime products are sold here. The branch office is located in Akasaka, Minato Ward, Tokyo. A subsidiary is in Chuo Ward, Osaka and named Animation Do. To go to the head office or shop, a person must get on the Keihan Rail-way Uji line and Get off at Kowata Station.

 

4 Jobs at Kyoto Animation

1.Animator

The designer not only paints a picture but is also an entertainer.

Video designer specializes in making a fair copy finely.

2.Digital Painting

Kyoto Animation uses software named RETAS STUDIO Paintman to color or fix pictures.

3.Scene Maker

It is very important for this worker to use poster colors freely. Recently, scene designers must paint a picture, by scanning materials

 

5 Production System

There is no outsourcing production company. All animation, fine arts, photography and production are done by an in-house system. However, the digital effects are outsourced under the close supervision of the staff.

 

6 Recommendation Anime

We’d like to recommend the best three stories of Kyoto Animation.

Third Place, AIR

The reason that we choose it is that it is a moving story and the town scenery is very beautiful. The opening song’s name is Tori-No-Uta. This song is very majestic. The character who we recommend is Misuzu KAMIO because she is very cute.

Second Place, K-ON!

The reason that we choose it as second runner-up is we think that it has funny comedy and a character who makes an impression. The appearance of the character is very pretty. We want to enter a band club when we watch K-ON!. The character which we recommend is Azusa NAKANO. She plays the guitar and she is very serious.

First Place, Hyouka

The reason that we choose it as No.1 is that it is the most mysterious animation of Kyoto Animation.   Hyoka teach us about old Japanese literature. Another reason is that this animation combines comedy and mystery. Our recommended character is Titanda Eru. She likes reading a book. She has a spirit of inquiry to know about people.