One thing I noticed with how episode 7 had a bunch of people on the storyboard (or more specifically, had 4 storyboard assistants) is that the episode's main storyboard artist is Yoshihiro Miyajima (the show's director) and more specifically Miyajima's other storyboard credits on the show (with the exception of the EDs) are also not solo efforts; episode 1 is straight up the only episode with more than one (non-assistant) storyboard artists (the other being character designer/chief animation director Naoki Takeda) and both OPs also have storyboard assistants (and also no episodes other than what I've gone over have storyboard assistants).
I looked into his storyboarding credits on previous shows to see if this is a common thing for him and it's not really the case, most of his storyboard credits are standard solo boards.
Yeah many of the episodes have split roles between multiple people, most often with 2-4 animation directors doing different sections, but that one was definitely an outlier in that regard, probably because Miyajima has a lot of other stuff to do!
Okay, I got curious since you share you wrote 3000 words for your next video. On average, how many words does it take you to write for a ten-minute video analysis?
uhh like 2000ish usually, so it's not massively longer or anything, I was being a bit middle-of-the-night-dramatic :)
Uh oh this week's Dungeon Meshi fucking GOT me I wrote 3000 words today what have I done if Jesus is real can he come edit this video for me does he know Premiere
Hello mr swamp. I’ve been enjoying watching your dungeon meshi analysis videos every week! It’s really nice seeing the animation-specific details you point out, like the framerate and composition of shots, and how they convey information and emotion and lead the eye. (And also nice to hear the little bits that you enjoyed yourself.) It’s also kind of you to point out manga and anime differences, because that is also interesting to see (and I can’t remember shit so I wouldn’t be able to pick those out). In your summer time render video, you mention tatami galaxy, which is honestly one of my favorite shows partly because of how stylized it is. I was wondering if you would ever do some analysis of its animation? It doesn’t have to be a whole video! I just think it would be cool to know your thoughts and some interesting animation facts about it. (Also, thanks for introducing me to summer time render, really loved it.)
The Tatami Galaxy and Ping Pong are two of my favorites, so I definitely want to talk about those two at some point, it's just a matter of figuring out what the angle is to do them justice!
Does this shot from Dungeon Meshi episode 16 remind you of anything?
...Maybe this shot from episode 11?
Well it should, because it was Animated by the same guy, Atsushi Yoneda! (米田 温) (Probably. He was credited for a key frame a few seconds later, and it looks very similar, so I'm fairly confident it's his work.)
While breaking down the animation in Dungeon Meshi, I naturally tend to focus a lot on key animators Kai Iakarashi and Ichigo Kanno because of their highly recognizable and stylized motion that has defined the series,
But while Yoneda's work is less immediately recognizable (and less ubiquitous), I also appreciate his penchant for realism. Laios's face, which just a second ago was approachably cartoony, is now uncomfortably detailed - his nose and eyes become real, human and volumetric instead of simplified indications, and his teeth suddenly become individual teeth instead of just a line.
Just as the snappy, exaggerated movements and simplified shapes work well to heighten the energy in the most frantic moments, this more straightforward movement and grounded, realistic detail often brings it all back down to earth and contextualizes whatever crazy decision was just made in the real human experience that comes as a consequence of it: diving through a goop wall (with your mouth open for some reason), launching yourself off a cooking pot towards the face of an angry dragon, or even getting voluntarily engulfed in tentacles. (He also seems to be the go-to tentacle guy for the series so far) Yoneda is always there to show the reality right after the split-second decision.
And that contrast between realism and stylization is sort of a theme throughout this episode, from the Ushi-Oni depicted in a different style to the rest of the world, to this scene where Shuro's realistic stare of disbelief clashes with the cartoonish reverse-shot of Laios cheerfully explaining why he was eating a brick. I get into all that in more detail in this video where I broke down the entire episode, so if you found this interesting, consider checking it out!