Meet the NEW Director of the Chainsaw Man Anime

Summary

• Tatsuya Yoshihara to direct Chainsaw Man movie: Reze Arc in 2025, replacing the previous director, Ryu Nakayama.
• Though critically acclaimed, Season 1 sparked discourse regarding the art direction, notably the realism and color design.
• Yoshihara brings a versatile visual style and experience from Black Clover to elevate the Chainsaw Man adaptation.

In what’s become something of a pattern, a popular MAPPA adaptation has had the unenviable task of scouting a new director who can match or even surpass what has come before. However, similar to what happened with Jujutsu Kaisen, the team behind Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc seems to have found a worthy successor in the director of Black Clover.

Based on the manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Chainsaw Man follows Denji, a young man whose body merges with a devil, giving him the power to fight his way to a better life. The first season premiered in Fall 2022, directed by Ryu Nakayama, who previously worked on the music video for “Raison d’etre” by Eve, as well as Jujutsu Kaisen and Sword Art Online.

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Putting Chainsaw Man’s Anime In Context

Tatsuya Yoshihara is the new director of Chainsaw Man and for a lot of reasons, that is exciting news, particularly to anyone familiar with his career. For hardcore fans of Fujimoto’s manga, however, the creative direction behind adaptations of his work hinges on a lot more than a promising resume. For all the praise that Chainsaw Man’s first season received, there was considerable discourse about the style with which Nakayama and his team adapted the story.

See, Fujimoto loves cinema and the anime is nothing if not receptive to that fact, with the opening being one big homage to a slew of classic films. Furthermore, there was an emphasis on realism in the overall presentation (i.e. character acting/designs) meant to evoke film. Unfortunately, not everyone was pleased with exactly how the anime went about its realist style, mostly finding fault in the muted visual tone that lacked a certain vibrancy compared to the source material.

Look Back Demonstrated What Could Have Been

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Chainsaw Man was the first series by Fujimoto to receive an anime adaptation, but in the time since, fans have been graced with another. Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s powerful adaptation of Look Back received even higher praise, and its raw, intentionally “messy” artwork captured the manga’s look brilliantly. Some fans saw in its style what Chainsaw Man’s anime was missing.

None of this is meant to lambast Nakayama. He had a strong vision for what Chainsaw Man would look like in animation and admirably endeavored to draw upon the author’s inspirations in pursuit of that vision. As a result, Season 1 looked good… it just didn’t look quite right to a vocal contingent of manga fans and after Look Back, the standard has already been raised. With this in mind, here is what Yoshihara looks to be bringing to the table for the sequel.

The Career of Tatsuya Yoshihara

As alluded to at the beginning, Yoshihara’s biggest contribution to the cultural lexicon as of yet is Black Clover, Studio Pierrot’s adaptation of the fantasy shōnen series by Yuki Tabata. To be exact, he directed the series until Episode 152, after which he became chief director. Ayataka Tanemura has been the director ever since, including the 2023 film, Sword of the Wizard King.

Yoshihara has been active since the late 2000s when he made his debut on Katekyou Hitman Reborn. He would go on to animate for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Spice and Wolf, and Seikon no Qwaser, among a wide variety of projects. He began to blossom as an episode/animation director in the early 2010s on shows like SKET Dance, BlazBlue: Alter Memory, and Barakamon before his directorial debut in 2015 with Yatterman Night. He has also directed Monster Musume, Long Riders, and this year’s Wistoria: Wand and Sword.

Yoshihara’s Versatile Visual Style

Even in his earliest cuts from shows like Reborn, Yoshihara’s work stands out through character acting, effects work, and perspective. When getting to know famous animators, it’s easy to focus on the ones whose specialties are incredibly pronounced, like, for instance, Yutaka Nakamura’s early action choreography or the effects work of his later career. What makes Yoshihara’s work so appealing is the blend of various disciplines, all bolstered by strong digital effects.

When watching fight scenes from Black Clover, I’m often just as struck by the perspective of shots as I am by the choreography and effects work. That isn’t to say his character acting is slacking by any stretch of the imagination. Many of his cuts from SKET Dance are brimming with personality, and his work has only become more pronounced/ambitious in recent years. Look at any of his cuts from Wistoria to see some criminally smooth character animation.

His Previous Work on Chainsaw Man

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Similar to how Shota Goshozono worked on Jujutsu Kaisen before becoming the series director in Season 2, Yoshihara has always been a big part of the Chainsaw Man anime. He storyboarded and directed episodes 4 and 10 of Season 1, provided key animation in other episodes, and as an animation director, he was in charge of “action direction” across the board. In terms of fights, fans should expect comparable quality to season 1, which bodes well.

Regardless of potential gripes with the visual style, the action of Chainsaw Man is hard not to love, and carries many of the signature qualities seen in Yoshihara’s animation. Just looking at the episodes he directed, Denji vs the Leech Devil or Denji and Power vs Kishibe excel in camera work, ambitious perspectives, and unhinged character animation.

Looking at the newly released trailer for the film (for the hundredth time probably), the visceral chaos of the action feels very reminiscent of the tempo in the Leech Devil fight. And yet, perhaps in response to the aforementioned criticisms, the artwork feels different. The realist style of Season 1 has been scaled back and the colors seem to pop a bit more – especially contrasted against the night sky or the gray buildings.

Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc has a lot to live up to but of all the people who could have replaced Nakayama, Tatsuya Yoshihara is a solid choice that should put any potential worries to rest. Between his previous experience with the franchise, his expansive resume beyond it, and the command of the audience’s attention demonstrated therein, this film is in good hands.

Chainsaw Man is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

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Chainsaw Man

AnimationActionHorror

Release Date

October 11, 2022

Seasons

1

Studio

MAPPA

Based On

Manga

Creator

Tatsuki Fujimoto

Number of Episodes

12

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu
, Crunchyroll

Expand

Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime