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kj1980 · 2006-10-14, 06:31

Itano Circus

Itano Ichiro is a genius amongst mecha animators. He is best known for his inventing the Itano Circus which is coined after his name. Many of you have seen such aerial scenes; trailing missiles (or projectiles) dancing in the skies like a circus trapeze.

See example: http://stage6.divx.com/members/62256/videos/2402 (although some of the latter half isn't done by Itano-san, but I guess the person who created this video wanted to show how much he had made an impact in anime)

He noted that he first came up with the idea of such acrobatic aerial combat animation sequences when he ignited rocket fireworks that were tied to his motorcycle's handlebar and saw that "the rockets seemed to be dancing around him" as he rode his bike into the smoke that was ahead of him.

He refined his projectile dogfight scenes and aerial acrobatic sequences as he worked as an animator from Danguard A to Ideon, and then onto the original Gundam. His style became popular when he (well, according to many fans) "perfected it" in the anime Macross. Since then, he would go onto work on Macross Plus, Megazone 23, and the live action Ultraman.

His technique has lived on in various anime throughout the years, surviving the ages of cel-animation and importing such technique into CG animation. Without a doubt, many animators were inspired by this great man, as seen the stage6 video link above shows. The Itano Circus was introduced over twenty five years ago...which still looks spectacular now as it did back then, even when comparing them to much recent homages to his style as portrayed in Eureka 7.

So know you know the term of such animation sequences, remember: all this was due to a single animator who had the bizarre idea of riding his motorcycle through rocket fireworks after igniting them.

2006-10-14, 06:31	Link #49
kj1980 Gomen asobase desuwa! Join Date: Nov 2003 Age: 43	Itano Circus Itano Ichiro is a genius amongst mecha animators. He is best known for his inventing the Itano Circus which is coined after his name. Many of you have seen such aerial scenes; trailing missiles (or projectiles) dancing in the skies like a circus trapeze. See example: http://stage6.divx.com/members/62256/videos/2402 (although some of the latter half isn't done by Itano-san, but I guess the person who created this video wanted to show how much he had made an impact in anime) He noted that he first came up with the idea of such acrobatic aerial combat animation sequences when he ignited rocket fireworks that were tied to his motorcycle's handlebar and saw that "the rockets seemed to be dancing around him" as he rode his bike into the smoke that was ahead of him. He refined his projectile dogfight scenes and aerial acrobatic sequences as he worked as an animator from Danguard A to Ideon, and then onto the original Gundam. His style became popular when he (well, according to many fans) "perfected it" in the anime Macross. Since then, he would go onto work on Macross Plus, Megazone 23, and the live action Ultraman. His technique has lived on in various anime throughout the years, surviving the ages of cel-animation and importing such technique into CG animation. Without a doubt, many animators were inspired by this great man, as seen the stage6 video link above shows. The Itano Circus was introduced over twenty five years ago...which still looks spectacular now as it did back then, even when comparing them to much recent homages to his style as portrayed in Eureka 7. So know you know the term of such animation sequences, remember: all this was due to a single animator who had the bizarre idea of riding his motorcycle through rocket fireworks after igniting them. Last edited by kj1980; 2006-10-14 at 07:12.