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Interview: Akiyuki Simbo


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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:26 am Reply with quote
Fencedude5609 wrote:
Kougeru wrote:
How is his name actually pronounced?


シンボ
しんび

Like that.


シンボウ
しんぼう
新房

(I used IPA in this post; I hope that it renders correctly)

Kana might be more phonemic than English spelling, but it’s still no more of a phonetic transcription system. Written language is still an abstract representation of speech. The director’s name is no more pronounced in kana than any of ours are in Latin letters.

I’m not an expert in Japanese phonology, but going by what I can suss out of the Wikipedia article on Japanese phonology and filter through my admittedly creaky memories of phonology classes, it’s probably something like [ɕimboː]. (SAMPA s\imbo:] The first sound is a voiceless alveopalatal fricative; which is something like the sound English speakers pronounce for <sh>. The Japanese nasal is homorganic, meaning that it assimilates to the point of articulation of the consonant it precedes. Which is to say that since [b] is articulated with the lips, the nasal becomes so to, thus [m] (there should be a marker indicating the the [m] is syllabic, but that doesn't seem to display properly).

The underlying phoneme is probably /s/, but Japanese has a phonological rule that /s/ becomes /ɕ/ before an /i/. (I always here the vowel in these contexts as lax, but nothing I’ve found on short noticed indicates that this happens, so pfui) As alluded to above, Hepburn Romanization renders this sequence as <shi> because that represents the closest approximation of its actual pronunciation in Japanese, but Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki render it as <si>, which represents the underlying phonology of Japanese. The phonemic versus phonetic distinction is tricky to get despite being fairly simple once understood, but Hepburn is a little like if we wrote English <pan> as <ph>, with the <h> encoding the aspiration of initial consonant, the doubling of the vowel indicating how vowels are lengthened before voiced consonants and the tildes indicating how vowels are nasalized before nasal consonants. That represents how the word is actually pronounced in most English dialects, but that information is unnecessary for English speakers because the processes that apply those sounds happen automatically. (To illustrate from the Japanese side, if you listen to many Japanese speakers trying to speak English, the word sit often gets rendered unfortunately as shit because they automatically apply the /s/ -> /ɕ/ before /i/ rule)

(This, of course, represents a generative phonology perspective; I'll be damned if I know what optimality theory would say)


Last edited by Surrender Artist on Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:27 pm; edited 5 times in total
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maaya



Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 976
PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:34 am Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
True, but to me the only "correct" one is the one that "sounds" correct. How is his name actually pronounced?


Well, if it were that easy, people wouldn't be discussing it so much Smile From those commonly used the spelling "Shimbō" is the closest.

Quote:

[n] (before t, d, ch, j, ts, n, r and z )
[m] (before m, p and b )
(...)


Simbo really looks like Simba ... or Limbo ... but if that's what he prefers.

Quote:
Rather than it being about “life,” I focused on the part of life when we shine brightest, “adolescence.” I drew everything up with “adolescence” in mind,


Oh, that seems to be a very common mind-set for people involved with animes ... and actually it's kind of sad. Adolescence is just the beginning and a very brief period of your life. Lots of people "shine brighter" or at least just as bright during adulthood. The anime medium kind of lacks this way of thinking ... as if your life ends with high school graduation ...
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:07 pm Reply with quote
"we pay close attention to the quality early on in a project"

If I was being uncharitable I could say that explains why they tend to fall apart towards the end...
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:47 pm Reply with quote
Sometimes, people in limbo just need an intervention. Laughing


Fronzel wrote:
Quote:
[...]so please re-watch the box set with the original novel also in hand!

Isn't this dangerously close to saying the anime doesn't stand on its own?


That's like saying people watch The Walking Dead TV series with the comic books on hand! Smile


maaya wrote:

Quote:
Rather than it being about “life,” I focused on the part of life when we shine brightest, “adolescence.” I drew everything up with “adolescence” in mind,


Oh, that seems to be a very common mind-set for people involved with animes ... and actually it's kind of sad. Adolescence is just the beginning and a very brief period of your life. Lots of people "shine brighter" or at least just as bright during adulthood. The anime medium kind of lacks this way of thinking ... as if your life ends with high school graduation ...


But in Japan, it pretty much is. Once ya start working, your identity becomes the property of the company you work for, and your life just disappears. No wonder there grown the phenomenon of NEETs and freeters to avoid an ignominious fate. Ever hear of many cool Japanese adults working their age? Very Happy
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stardf29



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 171
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 1:11 am Reply with quote
Quote:
In terms of it being one season, in many cases, a series comes to an end just when everyone starts getting a good grasp of the series, so it is not uncommon for us to think, “We want to continue this!”


I so hope this means they're going to do a second season.
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maaya



Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 976
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 3:28 am Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:
Once ya start working, your identity becomes the property of the company you work for, and your life just disappears. No wonder there grown the phenomenon of NEETs and freeters to avoid an ignominious fate.


It's true that their working schedule is often very hardcore, but it's still not all there is to being an adult in Japan (even less if you're a woman). There are other choices apart from these two extremes of being a company slave or a shut-in, and especially a medium like animes could explore many different aspects of life (f.ex. like Hatarakiman or Space Brothers or even Bunny Drop) or at least offer some other perspective to the viewer apart from the glorification of adolescence and recently the semi-glorification of being a neet / shut-in / otaku. But well, I suppose it all comes down to the niche audience and the fact that many of the anime creators themselves identify with this way of thinking.
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Anime World Order



Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 389
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:43 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Rather than it being about “life,” I focused on the part of life when we shine brightest, “adolescence.”


Quote:
It's not really balancing it out, but we pay close attention to the quality early on in a project. It is crucial to do so in order to get the viewers sucked into that story's world.


Quote:
I really strive to get the fans of the original to think, “This is just like the original,” or “This is even better than the original!” After that is accomplished, I consider it a super success when people who don't know the original start watching the anime.


God. It's rather demoralizing to know that all of these statements which I consider just fundamentally short-sighted came from one of anime's most prolific and [in the relative sense] popular directors. I mean, it explains why I don't really care for most any of the many things he does, but talk about poisoning the well from the get-go.

As a guy over 30, I really don't want to accept that adolescence was the peak of my life. One of the biggest problems I have with so many anime, to the point where I rarely watch series as they air, is that they start off with promise and then fizzle out at the end. And the notion of making an adaptation for the primary benefit of people who already know the source material front to back, even if that comes at the expense of everybody else, is simply not sustainable.

Man. This dude and everyone on board with him have got to be stopped.
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Mikeski



Joined: 24 Sep 2009
Posts: 608
Location: Minneapolis, MN
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:31 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Rather than it being about “life,” I focused on the part of life when we shine brightest, “adolescence.”

It is the part where we change the most. I doubt you'll find someone who'll say they changed more from 32-37 than from 12-17; I know I didn't. (Assuming their 30s didn't include something like "beating cancer" or "recovering from drug addiction", anyway.)

Quote:
It's not really balancing it out, but we pay close attention to the quality early on in a project. It is crucial to do so in order to get the viewers sucked into that story's world.

"Screw the first six episodes, as long as we end big." "Screw the first half of the movie, as long as we end big." ...things never said by successful directors, whether of late-night anime or Hollywood blockbusters.

Quote:
I really strive to get the fans of the original to think, “This is just like the original,” or “This is even better than the original!” After that is accomplished, I consider it a super success when people who don't know the original start watching the anime.

And the ones who don't follow the source material get shouted down by ten thousand angry fans.

Anime World Order wrote:
God. It's rather demoralizing to know that all of these statements which I consider just fundamentally short-sighted came from one of anime's most prolific and [in the relative sense] popular directors. I mean, it explains why I don't really care for most any of the many things he does, but talk about poisoning the well from the get-go.

And if you think these three statements are signs of failure, why are Shaft/Simbo products so "prolific" and "popular"? The fanbase is stupid or brainwashed?

Anime World Order wrote:
As a guy over 30, I really don't want to accept that adolescence was the peak of my life.

If you're in your 30s (as I am...for a very short while more) and you haven't improved on your life since you were 14, you may need some introspection. Anger about the success of others is probably not going to help, though it seems to be in vogue in the USA lately.

Anime World Order wrote:
And the notion of making an adaptation for the primary benefit of people who already know the source material front to back, even if that comes at the expense of everybody else, is simply not sustainable.

I'm one of the oddball anime fans who doesn't read light novels or manga, nor play the games the shows are based on. I haven't watched anything that left me so lost that I felt I needed the source material to make sense of things, so I think you're tilting at windmills here. Simbo didn't say "people must have read the source material in order to like the show, or they failed". He said "people who read the source material must like the show, or I failed."

Anime World Order wrote:
Man. This dude and everyone on board with him have got to be stopped.

Because success is horrible? I can understand people not liking the rather-distinctive Shaft/Simbo style (de gustibus non est disputandum), but the quotes above aren't signs of things that are wrong with the industry overall, nor with Simbo's work specifically...
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:44 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
If you're in your 30s (as I am...for a very short while more) and you haven't improved on your life since you were 14, you may need some introspection. Anger about the success of others is probably not going to help, though it seems to be in vogue in the USA lately.

Oh stop it,the irony is killing me.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:55 pm Reply with quote
Mikeski wrote:
why are Shaft/Simbo products so "prolific" and "popular"? The fanbase is stupid or brainwashed?

With how well the Nisemonogatari anime sold, I have to assume so.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:00 pm Reply with quote
Akiyuki Simbo wrote:
Rather than it being about “life,” I focused on the part of life when we shine brightest, “adolescence.”


This is one of the most depressing and hatefully misanthropic sentences that I have ever read.
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relentlessflame



Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 188
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:55 pm Reply with quote
Anime World Order wrote:
One of the biggest problems I have with so many anime, to the point where I rarely watch series as they air, is that they start off with promise and then fizzle out at the end.

Keep in mind that the context for this was how to ensure consistency and quality when working with many animation companies. So by working intensely with companies at the beginning of the project to set the tone for how things should look (i.e. establishing a strong standard), it helps keep a consistent level of quality visually throughout the show (because the other companies know what they're shooting for).

This is not about the quality of the story or the premise or whatever else, which -- as he goes on to say -- is trying to be faithful to the original work.

Anime World Order wrote:
And the notion of making an adaptation for the primary benefit of people who already know the source material front to back, even if that comes at the expense of everybody else, is simply not sustainable.

I don't think he implied this was to the exclusion or "at the expense" of everyone else. In fact, there is no reason at all that you'd have to read the books to enjoy or follow this particular show. But people were attracted to the original work for a reason, and if you can play on that same merit, chances are you'll find an audience the same way the source did. This doesn't come at the expense of creating a good anime in its own right, obviously.

And again, the context of the quote was talking about choosing what scenes to leave in and which to take out from the original source, and he's just pointing out that additional scenes were added on the Blu-Ray/DVD, so people familiar with the books can compare. He's not saying that you need to have novel in hand to enjoy the show.


This is basically take quotes out of context, apply spin generously, and conclude it's evil and "must be stopped" (which you believed coming into it anyway).
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Mikeski



Joined: 24 Sep 2009
Posts: 608
Location: Minneapolis, MN
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 5:17 pm Reply with quote
Surrender Artist wrote:
Akiyuki Simbo wrote:
Rather than it being about “life,” I focused on the part of life when we shine brightest, “adolescence.”

This is one of the most depressing and hatefully misanthropic sentences that I have ever read.

Considering the source, I'd just say it's one of the more lolicon sentences that I have ever read. Wink
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
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Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 5:33 pm Reply with quote
Surrender Artist wrote:
Akiyuki Simbo wrote:
Rather than it being about “life,” I focused on the part of life when we shine brightest, “adolescence.”


This is one of the most depressing and hatefully misanthropic sentences that I have ever read.


From what I understand this is an extremely common belief among Japanese people. As a culture they are fairly obsessed with youth.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 5:57 pm Reply with quote
When in actuality, medically and psychologically we are at our dullest as the brain of the child de-rigs itself to the bear minimum of comprehension that it can barely focus on learning and development whilst it is being re-rigged for becoming an adult. This process can and does cause either an autistic like reaction of reclusion or outside rejection, or a raging storm of confused and mixed emotions with daily mood swings. Also the worship of youth, though almost religious there, is not solely restricted to the Japanese. It's a global enterprise worth biliions in cosmetics of one sort, or another.
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