Can this be a Tsukasa Hojo original art ???

iceman57 · Post by **iceman57** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:32 pm

I'm the owner of the layout on the left, as you can see there a tremendeously difference with the result.

On the layout, there's love, details on caracters, hands...
On the anime cel, pure crap.

Can this be a Tsukasa Hojo original art ???

ReiTheJelly · Post by **ReiTheJelly** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:49 pm

Layouts are often quite different from the finished product, as it is only meant to give direction to the scene, not detail.

iceman57 · Post by **iceman57** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:07 pm

Sure, but there are drastically different in term of quality, while in other anime the layout and cel are more close. Can this be a master original art ?

cutiebunny · Post by **cutiebunny** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:43 pm

I disagree - I think that, in some anime(and even some episodes), the layouts can be far more detailed than what was actually used in the anime.

For example, a layout from CCS - http://cutiebunny.rubberslug.com/galler ... mID=242726

The layout is very well detailed, especially Yue.

But when you look at the actual scene, it's nowhere near as detailed.

So I think it is plausible that the artwork in question is an original piece of artwork. It would be difficult for someone to make such a piece of artwork without having an intrinsic knowledge of the character, style and without a template to go by.

iceman57 · Post by **iceman57** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:27 am

Yup agreed.
Any other opinion ?

Shampoo · Post by **Shampoo** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 10:18 am

Im not familiar w/ Tsukasa Hojo,
but I can tell you for sure that some of the
character designers and/or concept artists DO sometimes
create layouts and even key gengas for anime
they worked on as an illustrator.

Rick has sold (and has) plenty of Nobuteru Yuki original
gengas/layouts from B.A.Alita and Lodoss Wars.
My husband has a handful of Lain sketches drawn by
ABe himself as well.
And I've also seen hankens sketches drawn by Akemi Takada
for Creamy Mami.
Sometimes they work as consultants for the animes
they designed characters and concept sketches for
to give them ideas of how the layout should look--
others, even work as animators for some episodes
of the anime.

Now in yoru case, as Hojo is a mangaka,
it would depend if he was close to the production of the anime
that was based on his books.
Sometimes they are completely disconnected and have no say,
sometimes they work very very closely with the production staff
(like Soyogo and Artland studios on Mushishi)
SO...
my opinion is-- maybe.
You never know! You could have a Tsukasa original.

iceman57 · Post by **iceman57** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 11:00 am

Shampoo wrote: Now in yoru case, as Hojo is a mangaka,
it would depend if he was close to the production of the anime
that was based on his books.
Sometimes they are completely disconnected and have no say,
sometimes they work very very closely with the production staff
(like Soyogo and Artland studios on Mushishi)
SO...
my opinion is-- maybe.
You never know! You could have a Tsukasa original.

Same analyse here, this layout has something special and is more creative than in the original manga, so I'm really disappointed

I asked a french fan that has connection with the master and on the master webpage, wait and see, any comment appreciable especially about the script notes

Post by **sensei** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:04 pm

Layouts can vary tremendously in quality, depending on the artist and the role they play in the production routine. Some are very nice, like the one you display, while others are no more than crude circles and lines. I've even seen layouts that were images from the storyboard blown up on a photocopy machine and taped to the front of a blank outline sheet.

But if you see a layout for "Heidi, Girl of the Alps," or "3000 Leagues in Search of Mother" (aka "Marco") come up FA on Mandarake, be prepared to bid and bid again with fistfuls of yen. These were done by a young Hayao Miyazaki in an exquisitely detailed style that looked forward to his breakout "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind." (My daughter held a portfolio with some of his layouts from this film in her hand last month when she visited the Museum of Manga in Kyoto last month: what she could see through tears was, as expected, superb in artistic quality.)

I'm reminded of a comment a young freelance director made at Otakon a few years ago. He'd had the experience of storyboarding and laying out several episodes, then being discouraged when, at every stage, his original conception was compromised by sloppy execution and the need to economize and rush to completion. He asked a senior director how to handle this. The wiser hand said (as I recall), yes, studios do this. You can make an episode 100% perfect, and at every step they will make it gradually worse and worse and worse.

The only way to deal with this is (the senpai said) is to make your conception of the show 300% perfect. Then, even after the studio has its way, there's still a chance that the end result will still be 100%

Looks like your layout, whoever did it, was a 300% artist.

Krafty · Post by **Krafty** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:54 am

I don't know the series, is it Cat's Eye? You can look it up on Anime News Network which has a fairly comprehensive list of production staff.....
OK, Tsukasa Hojo doesn't appear in that list so it may not be an original piece by him, more likely the Art director, (Toshiharu Mizutani) or Animation director (Satoshi Hirayama) because of its high quality.
Try to compare some of their drawings, if possible, and it may give some more clues.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclo ... hp?id=1239

My guess is that the drawing you own, Iceman57, is by Toshiharu Mizutani. I say that because he was art director on some other shows I know- like Golgo 13 and Akira and that pencil style looks similar.