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Basquash Director Shin Itagaki Reportedly Replaced (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
Katsuzo Hirata, the chief animator of the Basquash! robot basketball anime series, has written on his personal website's bulletin board system on Wednesday that Basquash!'s main director, Shin Itagaki (Black Cat, Devil May Cry), is no longer working on the project. Hirata adds that he thinks an announcement will be made soon and that another director has suddenly replaced Itagaki, although he does not specify who the replacement is. Hirata reports that the staff has been reorganized and that he himself is off the project as of May. Hirata was the character designer of Cosplay Complex, G-On Riders, and Hand Maid May.
As of Wednesday, both Itagaki and Hirata are still listed in the credits of the anime's website, although another director Eiichi Sato (Engage Planet Kiss Dum, Fortune Quest L, Slayers Next), is now listed as a series director along with Itagaki. (The anime's official page on the website of the MBS television station still lists Itagaki as the only series director.)
Satelight executive director and anime creator Shōji Kawamori (Macross, Escaflowne, Aquarion) and French animation creator Thomas Romain (Oban Star-Racers, Aria the Natural) collaborated on the creation of this unorthodox, joint French/Japanese anime production. It premiered on Japanese television in April.
Image © Shōji Kawamori, Thomas Romain/Satelight/Basquash! Production Committee, MBS
Update: More background information added.
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