Art of Sakuga

November 26, 2015 12:51 PM

The term sakuga (作画) refers to a series of well-drawn movements in animation found in both western and Japanese animated shows.

The main appeal of good sakuga would be the individuality of the skilled animators in a medium that restricts experimentation due to budget or overall presentation. Especially during key frame animation is where they would have the most freedom of expression and convey different messages to the audience.

However, many times the original animator are not listed in credits or freelancers until now. Sakugabooru is a site/gallery created by sakuga fans dedicated in tracking and crediting impressive animations by their creators, type, and original series. Some of my favorite examples would be Sword of The Stranger (2009), The Legend of Korra (2012), Pinnochio (1940) and Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001) . Although their work is only shown in a few cuts it's very recognizable when seen on tv. If you're interested in sakuga they have open membership and guidelines how to submit HQ clips for curation.

Although there's a jpn wiki dedicated to sakuga there are a few irregularly updated english blogs which notable animators, studios, and shows. Also, Youtube is a great source of MAD videos which showcase individual animators style and work. Also, here's a presentation on sakuga from a convention which goes over the history and production of anime.

Then if you're curious about the making of anime there's a in-depth description of the process which begins with production, storyboarding, layouts, and finally animation. After that in the simplest terms actual animation process is broken down into the roles of Key animation Genga (原画), Animation Director (作画監督), in-betweener Animators Douga (動画), and lastly compositing "filming". Not to forget the series Shirobako gives a great insider look into the anime industry.

Frequently saguga is done by Japanese key frame animators in anime but recently there are a few foreigners did join the animation scene. Some example would be Balh JD from Austria and how he ended up working for studio Bones . Then Thomas Romain, a French animator, who worked on a number of original and anime works in his career.

posted by chrono_rabbit (9 comments total)

Hmm. So: I just recently went to see "Hotel Transylvania 2", knowing when I went into it that the story was terrible and fragmented, but that there would be some amazing bits of animation. Including a fight scene that comes out of nowhere in the plot, and makes a lot more sense when you realize that it's pretty much just all the fight gags director Genndy Tartakovsky wanted to use in the canceled "Popeye" feature he was trying to make happen, thrown into the end of this film about Universal monster caricatures. There were a lot of gorgeous scenes in it, which the part of me that wanted to have a career in animation loved to watch.

Is this the Western equivalent of "saguka"? Watching animation and reveling in the gorgeous handling of a single scene, no matter what the quality of the rest of the work around it? Enjoying that "Illusion of Life"?

When I was hanging out at Spümcø, and we'd watch old WB shorts and try to pick out, single-frame analyze, and revel in the wild, hyperkinetic scenes we were pretty sure were animated by Rod Scribner, were we being "saguka" fans?

Is the appeal of the wild camera motions, fluid motion, and distortions found in anything Peter Chung touches the appeal of "saguka"?

Because really, that's a lot of what made me ever want to be an animator in the first place. A gorgeous scene, masterfully handled. We don't really have a single word for it in Western animation that I can think of offhand, but the appreciation of it is definitely there.
posted by egypturnash at 2:23 PM on November 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

Man, those Sword of the Stranger and Pinnochio ones are seriously impressive.

My favorite is the seashell birds scene from Mushishi [S02E02]. Not just because of the quality of the animation, but because how everything in that scene, from the timing of the use of sakuga to the composition of movement to the music, comes together so purposefully in service of its meaning: a lifting of a weight, a release. Although just 10 seconds, it's one of the best scenes from one of the best episodes of one of the best TV shows I've ever seen.
posted by procrastinator at 2:35 PM on November 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

Seconding the recommendation for "Shirobako". It's an anime TV series, but it's also a slice-of-life office/work drama specifically about the production of anime. It's rife with professional in-jokes (various characters are apparently based, to greater and lesser degrees , on real people in the industry) but knowing them isn't necessary to enjoying the show... thought I suspect having at least a little familiarity with Japanese culture and anime tropes will be necessary.

The dilemma of balancing perfectionism with the ongoing need to get-shit-done is universal to adults, and I've never seen anything that portrays that dilemma so well.
posted by ardgedee at 3:35 PM on November 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

Few resources are as in-depth on the anime process, sakuga and beyond, as B Ettinger's Anipages.
posted by progosk at 6:27 PM on November 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I stumbled across /r/AnimeShortFilms recently, and have been meaning to grind through all the links.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:16 PM on November 26, 2015

Thirding the recommendation for Shirobako. A great series in its own right, but it shines in providing some insight into what actually goes into making an anime. And for anybody who has ever worked on a big project, the various problems and challenges that crop up are remarkably familiar.
posted by MartinWisse at 10:42 PM on November 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

Moribito was pretty good at demonstrating it without skimping too hard on the high quality backgrounds.

But personally, I'm a sucker for the weird 'partly cloudy sky turns blue' quick shots.
posted by pwnguin at 1:25 AM on November 27, 2015

I really want to dig into this post but something makes me uneasy about browsing a -booru site at work... It will have to wait until later.

A favorite bit of animation that always draws my attention is Dipper in the Gravity Falls opening, done by James Baxter.
posted by Gordafarin at 1:34 AM on November 27, 2015

<333

Went looking for Naruto, wasn't disappointed. I even found the clip I was looking for, on page 14 of 31 (!!!).
posted by subdee at 7:18 PM on November 29, 2015