UPDATED: Animation Director's Genga Set

[Pixel]

I'd been wanting something like this for some time, but I went back and forth on this particular Sakkan no Genga. I didn't really like the concentric lines around the characters.

Ultimately however, the little girl with pigtails won me over, along with the other sheets in the set.

I tried to decide the best way to do this. Since I was afraid a post for each sheet would clutter the board, I decided to go with one long post instead,

I do have some questions about the individual sheets. I will include them at the bottom of the post.

_________________________________________________________________________


Azumanga Daioh
Animation Director's Genga Set (FURUTA Makoto)
Episode 25/Cut #7 - "Onwards, Entrance Exams"
Front: Chiyo, Middle: Yomi, Back [Upper]-Right: Unidentified Girl/Female High School Student (B)?


Final Production Shot first, with Primary Genga directly below it.
Runtime Location (Approx): 00:01:36:05 (From Start of Opening Credits)



The cut prior to this one shows Tomo looking around the classroom, making it safe to assume that this cut is is drawn from her perspective.

At the time I acquired this sketch, this was the only Animation Director's Genga I could find for sale with Chiyo in it. According to my research, the Animation Director (or "sakkan") for this episode is FURUTA Makoto.

Sadly, Chiyo's back is turned to the camera.

It is interesting to see the loosely sketched girl in the back and to the right. Maybe Mr. Furuta wanted to make sure to show the spatial relationship between her and the other two girls? It looks like "Female (B)" is written to her right, with the B circled. I'm guessing this is short for "Female/Girl High School Student B"? This seems to be a standard method of listing unnamed characters in the credits roll.

There are numerous annotations on this sheet. Most of them do not look comprehensible to me. The one at the top, to the left of the episode number is most curious.

_________________________________________________________________________


Pink Sheet w/Note



Before going further, it should be taken into consideration that some of the girls in Azumanga Daioh are called by "nicknames". This is why KASUGA Ayumu is generally referred to as "Osaka"-her hometown. (In the manga, we find that she is actually from Wakayama. Nonetheless, Tomo sticks her with the nickname "Osaka".) Even the teachers use these nicknames. The reason for mentioning the nicknames will be explained shortly.

The pink sheet is from a production perspective, perhaps the most noteworthy piece in the set. Yomi's pose and attitude are very different from the primary genga, while Chiyo is barely even visible at all. I'm thinking the sketch was drawn by a key animator, and the sakkan must not have been not particularly pleased with it. To the left of the sketch is a rather lengthy note. I have tried to translate it, but between my less-than-stellar Japanese (major understatement), and the quick-handed script, I could be way off.


A better view of the note.




I added the red arrows to point out a character I was suprised to see. I'm sure the kanji below is the one written out rather hurriedly in the note.





The Kun reading in orange is the one intended. While it is typically a common noun, it is being used here as a proper name - "Koyomi", from which of course her nickname is derived.

When a girl in Azumanga Daioh has a nickname, it is highly unusual to see or hear her formal given name used in the anime series.

More to the point, this is the only piece where I've definitely seen this kanji appear in production notes. In all other cases where I could read the notes clearly, her nickname is used instead.

It is interesting to note that Chiyo-chan is written out in hiragana. As far as I know, Chiyo has no kanji officially associated with her given name, although I'm inclined to think her name comes from Japan's national anthem.

With that out of the way, here is how I read the note. I don't claim this to be 100% correct. In fact, I would greatly appreciate another pair of eyes to go over the note on the sheet, and correct me where I'm mistaken.

Mr Furuta's note, in Japanese

ちよちゃんが一方的教えているのではなく。
暦が教えてもら、ているので。暦も
キョーミと示しているポーズで。

教科書

Romanized Japanese

Chiyo-chan ga ippouteki oshiete-iru no de wa naku.
Koyomi ga oshiete-mora, teiru node. Koyomi mo
KYOOMI to shimeshite-iru POOZU de.

kyoukasho

My English Translation Attempt

Chiyo is not doing this on her own.
Koyomi is getting her help as a favor. This being the case,
her pose should reflect keen interest in Chiyo's assistance.

Textbook (My Note: below the open book on the table, to the left of Chiyo's elbow)

The Animation Director seems to be trying to impress upon his intended audience that Yomi simply is not showing enough interest in either her schoolwork, or Chiyo's help. I get the impression he is pointing out how disrespectful this is to Chiyo, as well as the general issue of apparent indifference.

About the word in katakana, romanized as KYOOMI. I've translated that word as "keen interest", however, it is normally written in kanji. It is strange to see it here in katakana. The kanji form would more accurately be romanized as "kyoumi" instead.

_________________________________________________________________________


Mint Green Sheet - Just what the Sakkan ordered!



Chiyo is nowhere to be found on this sheet. Yomi, however, is an orders-of-magnitude improvement over the sketch on the pink sheet. This almost looks like the start of a douga. It looks like her arms were drawn a bit sloppy, then fixed without much further attention to the errant lines.

Comparing this sheet with the pink one is quite fascinating.

For all her faults, Yomi is very serious about her studies, especially at school. The sketch in pink looks like an amused bystander watching a little girl play. If the previously discussed note is indeed the Animation Director's complaint, I don't blame him one bit. When it comes to personality, the unidentified girl in the back right of the main genga looks more like Yomi than the character in the pink sketch.

The mint green on the other hand, is almost totally opposite. The sketch on this sheet is Yomi through-and-through, right on the money. Obviously this Animation Director took the personality of the characters very seriously.

_________________________________________________________________________


This was sold as a three piece set. Imagine my surprise when upon opening the package, I saw a fourth sheet peeking out of the stack of goodies.

White Sheet - Photocopy of Background Sketch.



This is the first background-only sketch I can recall seeing for this anime. It is only a photocopy though.

_________________________________________________________________________


List of Questions

What is the purpose of all the concentric lines around the characters in the yellow genga?
Is there any way to tell what the notes on the Primary Genga mean?
Have I understood this entire exchange correctly?
Is the pink sheet a key animator's error, with the note being correction from the Animation Director?
Is the mint green sheet the Animation Director taking it upon himself to show the key animator exactly what he wants, or is it the key animator submitting his own revision for approval?

The expression "Koyomi mo KYOOMI" in the note, could this be a sort of in-joke between animators? My understanding is that Japanese people love puns, though I wouldn't expect them to play such games with romanization.

[sensei]

What is the purpose of all the concentric lines around the characters in the yellow genga?

That indicates that this is a first-level sketch rather than a clean-up of a previous sketch. It's normal for the artist to begin with a simple rendering of the characters' head, body, limbs, etc. as oval shapes. Then the animator refines these shapes with hair, eyes, mouth, clothing, etc. I'll often see these "egg" shapes mostly erased on the paper under first-level sketches like these.

Is there any way to tell what the notes on the Primary Genga mean?

Not easily. I'd guess these are mostly polite notes. It's common to see "Yoroshiko onegaishimasu" on these, which can have lots of meanings but here signifies "Is this what you want here?" as said by the animator to a supervisor.

Have I understood this entire exchange correctly?

It looks similar to other exchanges for which I've gotten translations.

Is the pink sheet a key animator's error, with the note being correction from the Animation Director?

It's telling that the yellow-paper sketch, even though it is the roughest, also shows the same pose and same intensity as the final image. So I'd say the pink-sheet sketch is likely to have been executed first, and the note on the pink sheet explains why the yellow-sheet sketch is preferable. Who did what? You'd need more paper from the series to say for sure, but I'd say that the yellow and the green sketch are most likely done by the same artist (Makoto Furuta, as the auction title says, who was animation director for this episode). My experience with J. C. Staff is that the pink sheet is likely to come from the episode director. These personages would have some experience in animation but would not be known for their drawing abilities.

Is the mint green sheet the Animation Director taking it upon himself to show the key animator exactly what he wants, or is it the key animator submitting his own revision for approval?

The key animator would work on white paper, and his/her effort would be in the form of a genga. My guess is that this is Furuta's genga shuusei, that is, his revision of the key animator's work, which would then form the basis of the douga and hence the final image you see on the screen. A good way to confirm this is to "flicker" this image with the screen grab. If I'm right, they should be essentially identical.

If they are quite different, then it's possible that it's a pre-genga revision of the very rough yellow sheet, which then would go through yet another stage of revision in the genga stage before it was finalized at the douga stage. In that case (based on my J. C. Staff observation) the artist could be Furuta's supervisor, the general animation director of the series, Takashi Wada. One thing that potentially supports this guess is that I can see that all these sketches were once stapled together, a common practice for the first stage of animation. Especially with J. C. Staff sketch packs, I often find the gengas, genga shuuseis, and dougas loose, while the pre-genga sketches are in a separate bunch stapled together.

A lot of this is guesswork, but getting familiar with the way individual animators write on the sketches (e.g., the different ways they circle the keyframe numbers) can help make your guesses more likely to be correct. I think you're going about it the right way, though, and asking the right questions.

[Pixel]

That indicates that this is a first-level sketch rather than a clean-up of a previous sketch. It's normal for the artist to begin with a simple rendering of the characters' head, body, limbs, etc. as oval shapes. Then the animator refines these shapes with hair, eyes, mouth, clothing, etc. I'll often see these "egg" shapes mostly erased on the paper under first-level sketches like these.

It's telling that the yellow-paper sketch, even though it is the roughest, also shows the same pose and same intensity as the final image. So I'd say the pink-sheet sketch is likely to have been executed first, and the note on the pink sheet explains why the yellow-sheet sketch is preferable.

In other words, the note on the pink paper is not necessary directed at the artist who drew the sketch, rather it was to be passed on possibly to a key animator so that they understood what was desired by Mr. Furuta?

Do I have the earliest stages of production for this scene post-storyboarding here?

Not easily. I'd guess these are mostly polite notes. It's common to see "Yoroshiko onegaishimasu" on these, which can have lots of meanings but here signifies "Is this what you want here?" as said by the animator to a supervisor.

I've studied Japanese a bit, informally. I was actually thinking about this phrase earlier before I read your post. I didn't know it was used generically like that. I assumed it was always a first meeting kind of thing. I just learned something new about conversational Japanese.

The key animator would work on white paper, and his/her effort would be in the form of a genga. My guess is that this is Furuta's genga shuusei, that is, his revision of the key animator's work, which would then form the basis of the douga and hence the final image you see on the screen. A good way to confirm this is to "flicker" this image with the screen grab. If I'm right, they should be essentially identical.

I was so impressed with the how well the mint green sheet compared to the final production just by looking at each separately, I actually overlaid the shuusei on top of final production. I had to resize the shuusei section a bit, and I added emphasis on the pencil line.

azu_e25c7_result.jpg (368.08 KiB) Viewed 1780 times

Looks pretty close to me.

As an aside, the bangs above Yomi's forehead are a tremendous pain the neck to draw properly. Well, maybe not to an experienced animator, but they add quite a bit of work even for them. All of the other girls' in the core cast have bangs, but they mostly lay flat on their heads.

About Female Student "B"-I notice that she is only barely rendered in the yellow genga, and not present in the other two. I call her an "extra"; I don't think she even has a voice in the episode. Would they have used a separate set of pink and green sketches to work out what she should look like?

One thing I've learned from anime, Japanese schools apparently have hooks on the side of student's desk where students hand their briefcases during the day. Apparently, students will leave them there while they are still in school, but not in class.

The white copy background sketch, was it meant to be circulated in the department responsible for drawing backgrounds?

What is the purpose of the marker scribble? I notice one set was copied, then another applied in color.

[sensei]

In other words, the note on the pink paper is not necessary directed at the artist who drew the sketch, rather it was to be passed on possibly to a key animator so that they understood what was desired by Mr. Furuta?

Do I have the earliest stages of production for this scene post-storyboarding here?

a. Probably so. All of this was useful to the key animator so s/he would be sure to capture the intensity that the AD wanted here.

b. Usually the layout is the earliest stage of production. That's absent in this set, perhaps because the yellow-paper copy replaced that version of the frame.

I actually overlaid the shuusei on top of final production. I had to resize the shuusei section a bit, and I added emphasis on the pencil line. Looks pretty close to me.

Close but not identical. So I'd go with the idea that this is the paradigm that was worked out prior to the gengaman (anime studio's term for "key animator" -- like "ombudsman" it's understood as gender-neutral) got to work. There would be a post-genga shuusei or revision and those are usually partial corrections, and at that point the hairline and arm contours might have been polished.

About Female Student "B"-I notice that she is only barely rendered in the yellow genga, and not present in the other two. I call her an "extra"; I don't think she even has a voice in the episode. Would they have used a separate set of pink and green sketches to work out what she should look like?

I doubt it. Sometimes, though, I'm surprised at the attention "extras" get. But in this case that was probably left to the key animator to visualize.

The white copy background sketch, was it meant to be circulated in the department responsible for drawing backgrounds?

What is the purpose of the marker scribble? I notice one set was copied, then another applied in color.

a. Yes, the original would have gone to the art dept. or to the studio who created the backgrounds. But a copy usually went with the sketches of the characters so the artists would have a clear idea of what the overall scene and perspective would be. Often they have a little symbol (like a 3D arrow) that tells from which direction light is supposed to be coming, so the highlights and shadows would be done correctly.

b. So far as I know, that's to indicate what parts need to be done on animated layers, and, by contrast, what parts will be painted (or digitally created) on the background.

[Pixel]

Close but not identical. So I'd go with the idea that this is the paradigm that was worked out prior to the gengaman (anime studio's term for "key animator" -- like "ombudsman" it's understood as gender-neutral) got to work. There would be a post-genga shuusei or revision and those are usually partial corrections, and at that point the hairline and arm contours might have been polished.

So basically, the higher rungs of episode animation management got together and said something like-

"Okay, we want to show Koyomi really focused on her study (and Chiyo's instruction) in Cut #7."

I couldn't decide if they would use her nickname in the original Japanese, or proper name. Oh well, I like her proper name better. More exotic, and less generic sounding to me.

Anyway, that vision was then filtered through the steps until it reached the key animator.

There is no background in the yellow genga. Does this indicate anything about the likelihood that a layout using this near-final pose existed at some point?

As an aside, I know there are women who work in animation. It tends to be easier to assume that a given animator is a man, without clear evidence to the contrary. Some may see that as sexist, but really it's just simpler that way.

[Pixel]

UPDATE: I think I finally figured out what the scrawled note above Yomi says. It hit me while I was looking at a genga/layout from a completely different series that the first character was likely "su". I think the note is actually "sumimasen" in cursive. It can mean "excuse me", or "I beg your pardon.", or even "Thank you." It looks like this in hiragana-

すみません

In informal speech, it is often simplified to "suimasen". I suspect that it is indeed a message for the sakkan's boss, Chief Animation Director WADA Takashi.