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Answerman - The Hard Life of an Anime Director


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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7580
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:22 pm Reply with quote
Now that you mention it, I have a picture of Mamoru Hosoda smoking:



I've a vague memory of something similar for Morio Asaka too.
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Sheleigha



Joined: 09 May 2008
Posts: 1671
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:43 pm Reply with quote
I'm glad that they are finally being more strict with smoking in countries like Japan. I used to see old 'making of' videos, and yeah there were ashtrays all over the studio! Recently CyberConnect 2 showed that they now have a designated indoor 'smoking room', which is still several years behind most of North America, but an improvement...
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 5:05 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
It seems like nearly every new study coming out says the same things: the keys to a long, healthy life are a good diet, not smoking, not drinking to excess, and getting lots of exercise and a decent amount of sleep.


There's also being not constantly stressed out, which combined with the above also factors into mangaka deaths and constant illness. Not a month or two goes by that we don't hear about someone being on sick leave or even hospitalized. I've always felt that the Japanese diet and the need to walk so much in the cities was the only thing preventing massive heart attacks and cancer rates considering how overworked and overstressed the Japanese can be.
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heavyweather



Joined: 29 Aug 2008
Posts: 97
Location: Fargo, ND
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 5:24 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
South Korea has probably made the strongest push for American releases of its trademark shows (and ADV, Central Park Media and Manga Video have all tried their hand at releasing them), but despite a huge government-sponsored trade show presence, none have made a signfiicant impact.


I remember when Sky Blue was released theatrically here, and it did get a pretty big push - I saw a fairly positive review in Entertainment Weekly, and wanted to check it out. I don't think it ever got a DVD release here, oddly enough.


Quote:
Outside of Asia, France produces a few interesting feature films every year, and those occasionally get picked up, dubbed and released in the US by GKids.


GKids has been doing some great stuff with international animated films. They also released Chico and Rita from Spain, and The Secret of Kells from Ireland, both of which are great films.
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EireformContinent



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 977
Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land)
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 6:40 pm Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
I've always felt that the Japanese diet and the need to walk so much in the cities was the only thing preventing massive heart attacks and cancer rates considering how overworked and overstressed the Japanese can be.


Actually Japanese diet isn't the best when it comes to cancer prevention- high amount of salt and seafood contaminated with everything you can find in the sea. They have a developed and sophisticated prevention program but since it's build around regular check-ups I can image that stressed and overworked people delay it until it's too late.
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Shiroi Hane
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Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7580
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 6:53 pm Reply with quote
Sheleigha wrote:
Recently CyberConnect 2 showed that they now have a designated indoor 'smoking room', which is still several years behind most of North America, but an improvement...

Interestingly, one of the .hack novels commented on how Tokuoka of the fictional CyberConnect smoked so much in his office (despite this being illegal in the near-future settings) that they had to regularly replace his monitor.
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insert name here



Joined: 27 Jul 2011
Posts: 84
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:09 pm Reply with quote
Its a bit easy to judge people for choosing to smoke, but I could see it being the drug of choice for animators and mangaka. In such a labor intensive, high pressure creative industry it would make sense that people would prefer a drug that has the weird combination of relaxation and stimulation (not to mention ready availability) that cigarettes provide. More broadly though, the sad truth is that if you're getting paid for something, no matter what you're doing, you're probably being exploited. It's as true for the creative industry as it is for hard forms of commodity production.
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MetalUpa1014



Joined: 24 Aug 2013
Posts: 283
Location: USA
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:28 pm Reply with quote
The Chinese animated film Uproar in Heaven was really good. It's based off the classic epic Journey to the West which in turn was the inspiration for more well known anime like Dragon Ball. It may be from the 1960s, but the animation is still very charming and the soundtrack is heavily inspired by Beijing Opera productions. I highly recommend it for all fans of animation.
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ly000001



Joined: 30 Apr 2010
Posts: 73
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:51 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Satoshi Kon, for example, died of pancreatic cancer, which isn't very common in people as young as he was (he died at 46) but smoking is considered a major risk factor.

I cringe now when I watch the DVD extras for his films and see him sitting there casually holding a cigarette Sad
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2633
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:52 pm Reply with quote
Not a director or even an animator but Seki Tomokazu always says that smoking is what gave him his voice. But whenever he says it I get really sad thinking how he is putting himself at risk. Sad
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vanfanel



Joined: 26 Dec 2008
Posts: 1242
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:58 pm Reply with quote
EireformContinent wrote:
They have a developed and sophisticated prevention program but since it's build around regular check-ups I can image that stressed and overworked people delay it until it's too late.


I don't know if this applies to freelancers, but if you're a regular employee in Japan, you can't delay it; they come to your workplace in these mobile clinics-on-wheels and force you to take certain tests every year. It's illegal to refuse; you could be fired and also fined into oblivion if you don't do as you're told. Your medical data goes to the government and is also shared with your employer.
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vanfanel



Joined: 26 Dec 2008
Posts: 1242
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:00 pm Reply with quote
Shiroi Hane wrote:
Now that you mention it, I have a picture of Mamoru Hosoda smoking


IIRC, he smokes all through his interview on the R2 DVD of "Digimon: Our War Game." That's an extra I'm predicting we'll never, ever see stateside.

Not sure I ever saw a photo of Dezaki without a cigarette in his hand.
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Shiroi Hane
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Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7580
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 11:10 pm Reply with quote
vanfanel wrote:
EireformContinent wrote:
They have a developed and sophisticated prevention program but since it's build around regular check-ups I can image that stressed and overworked people delay it until it's too late.

I don't know if this applies to freelancers, but if you're a regular employee in Japan, you can't delay it; they come to your workplace in these mobile clinics-on-wheels and force you to take certain tests every year. It's illegal to refuse; you could be fired and also fined into oblivion if you don't do as you're told. Your medical data goes to the government and is also shared with your employer.

Danny Choo often documents his disturbingly thorough annual checkup:
http://www.dannychoo.com/en/post/25689/Japan+Health+Care.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/en/post/1703/A+Day+in+Tokyo+5.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/en/post/1483/Health+Care+in+Japan.html

vanfanel wrote:
IIRC, he smokes all through his interview on the R2 DVD of "Digimon: Our War Game."

That picture actually is from an interview in the Digimon Movie Book.
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reanimator





PostPosted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 11:29 pm Reply with quote
Shiroi Hane wrote:
Now that you mention it, I have a picture of Mamoru Hosoda smoking:



I've a vague memory of something similar for Morio Asaka too.


Nice book. And out of print?
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Tenchi



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 4469
Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer.
PostPosted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 1:52 am Reply with quote
My in-person, up close memory of Satoshi Kon was of him drawing a sketch of Mima from Perfect Blue for a fan at the world premiere of Millennium Actress at FantAsia in Montreal in 2001 and the thing I remember most, which was amusing in a way but eventually unfortunate for his health, was that he was smoking while he was drawing but his hands were full so he couldn't flick away the ash and was just letting it burn so by the time he'd finished the drawing, the cigarette was mostly ash that somehow stayed together and was kind of drooping down like an elephant's trunk.

I still find that memory amusing, sorry.
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