This will be a place for me to post crude machine translations, done through a mix of Google Translate, DeepL, my own very limited knowledge of Japanese and the subject matter, and some additional research here and there. Here's text from "Masaaki Yuasa's Sketchbook for Animation Projects." First, Crayon Shin-chan Movies 1-3. I won't share any images from the artbook itself. This is just his commentary text on the images (and some examples of other works he references).
p.6
Crayon Shin-chan Movie: Action Kamen vs Haigure Maou (1993)
Director - Mitsuru Hongo
Concept art / key animation - Masaaki Yuasa
This first movie was made in the excitement of "hey, now let's try doing a movie!" after the TV series became a hit. Since the TV version is a story about everyday life, we talked about how it would be fun to scale things up and do a big cartoon adventure for the movie. I was in my 20s, when I was at my most energetic. I was invited by the director, Mitsuru Hongo, to draw concept art. Ordinarily this would be done by background art people, but Mr. Hongo was a director who gave his staff a lot of chances, so I decided to try even though I was an animator. They gave it to me. I was asked to think of a spaceship and a climactic action scene, and was told that I could draw anything else that came to mind. At that time, I was overflowing with drawing ideas. I was really happy to be able to participate as a concept artist.
*Haigure Maou's Spaceship*
Haigure Maou's spaceship was supposed to land in Shinjuku, so I went to Shinjuku to reference it. The director, Mr. Hongo, told me "since it's being designed by an animator, I'd like a design that moves" so I added a rotating gimmick to the spaceship. Rotation can be shown with just a single key frame, so it's an easy gimmick for an animator to add. I also added a complicated area under the face, and conceived it as an stage for interesting action rather than practical functionality. The overall look is based on Joan Miro's work, and has a reference to Taro Okamoto's "Tower of the Sun" and the Statue of Liberty on top just for fun.
(above: Joan Miro's work. below: Taro Okamoto's "Tower of the Sun")
p.8
*Inspired by the designs of ancient civilizations*
The doctor's rescue machine was inspired by Chinese ceramics. Ancient civilizations have designs that are vastly different from today's sensibilities, so they make good reference when coming up with unusual shapes. The world of "Crayon Shin-chan" is based on simplicity, so I tried not to mess with it too much.
*Mimiko's Flying Vehicle*
The concept is that something like an anti-gravity wave comes out from the round part.
p.9
*Roll and speed*
I like the idea of Shin-chan rolling in a cage to gain speed. When rolling, even a slow kid can move quickly. I kept drawing sketches using cages until "The Storm Called the Jungle" (2000) but in the end it was never used... (laughs)
p.11
*Cat-shaped electric robot*
This is an idea for a scene in which Shin-chan is chased by a cat-shaped robot. Around this time, I really liked "Sesame Street," so the eyeballs were designed with googly eyes. It wasn't used in the film, but it was a concept that progressed to the storyboard.
p.12
column 1
*Discovering the Pleasure of Animation*
Originally, the climax depicted in the storyboards was a battle moving from top to bottom. In my mind, I thought "at the end of a movie, the action must rise upwards," so when Mr. Hongo asked for my thoughts on the storyboard, I casually replied "it's not very interesting." I just answered without thinking. He asked, "well then, why don't you draw what kind of scene you think would be good?" and so I drew a storyboard. Mr. Hongo used it in the film. The scene was well-received, and it was then that I enjoyed working in animation for the first time. Until then, even when I drew key animation, I always felt like I wasn't able to draw what was required of me, and I was depressed. But when I saw the climbing scene finished, it felt so good! With that opportunity, I began to draw more storyboards [in the "Crayon Shin-chan" TV show], and I started to truly enjoy anime work. In that sense, this scene is a turning point.
p.13
*Climbing Showdown! Action Kamen VS Haigure Maou*
It's a climactic competition to see who can reach the top of the tower the fastest. This was made into a storyboard, and the number on the upper left of the frame is the cut number drawn by Mr. Hongo.
p.14
Crayon Shin-Chan Movie: The Hidden Treasure of the Buri Buri Kingdom (1994)
Director - Mitsuru Hongo
Concept art - Masaaki Yuasa
The atmosphere was completely different from the previous film, and the setting was a foreign country. I barely knew how to draw the settings for the previous film, so I started out a little bewildered. But by this point I was starting to understand how things worked and I was more confident, and the amount of sketches increased. At the time I was participating in "The Hakkenden: Shinso" so I could only work on concept art for this movie. Once again, I drew various extra things that ended up getting used along with what was assigned. I was quite exhaustive in my research and checked every single thing that might be useful, such as "Sekai Fushigi Hakken"/ "Discover the World's Mysteries!" [a TBS travel show that began in 1986], photos, and movies. I took interesting ideas from all over and used them in the setting.
p.15
*The Feeling of Drawing a Real Kingdom*
I thought about the Buri-Buri Kingdom as if it really existed, with festivals, flags, portraits of successive kings, etc. I drew such details not because I was told to, but just to amuse myself.
p.16
*Shin-chan shaped keyhole*
In the end, it turns out the silhouettes of Shinnosuke and Prince Sunnokeshi open a secret door. I thought it would be interesting if a human form was the key. I was playing with a lot of these ideas.
p.17
*The butt is also the key...!*
Another idea was that the shape of the key would imprint on Shinnosuke's butt, and his butt becomes the key (laughs).
p.18
*Midpoint trap secret*
I was assigned to think of a trap for the ruins. At first I thought of a big gimmick, like a big door that collapses, but considering the balance of the movie, it's better not to do anything too flashy in the middle. Director Keiichi Hara also said, "in order to make the climax exciting, the set-pieces in the middle shouldn't be too interesting."
p.20
*A close call with a strange pose!*
As you go deeper into the ruins, traps will shoot quickly out of the walls from the left and right. They have human-shaped holes with strange poses on them, and if you do the same pose instantly, you'll be saved in the nick of time. This was my favourite part.
p.21
*Pig nose trap*
If a person enters the wrong side of the trap, they'll get pushed out and fall into the abyss.
*Two keys*
The pig-nose pendants that Shinnosuke and Prince Sunnokeshi have can be combined into a key. It was used in the film as a "combination key" that can activate a trap by fitting it into the nose of the pig relief carvings. The idea of a combination key was greatly influenced by Ryoko Takashina's manga "Bloody Kannon" which I read as a child. Two girls had marks on their arms and if you put them together, you would get the treasure. It was a story I knew well. It was really scary and exciting.
p.22
*Buri Buri Genie vs Black Genie*
This is the climactic action scene. I aimed to create a more spectacular impression than in the previous work, inspired by a big animated kids' movie from overseas with a genie and collapsing ruins [Disney's Aladdin, I assume?]. It was Mr. Hongo's idea to make one hand a snake.
p.24
*Shinnosuke running away from Buri Buri Genie*
I wanted to create an action sequence using water. A scene where the water blows up and saves Shinnosuke so that he doesn't fall.
*Weird Designs Became Fun*
When I first started doing concept art, I really wanted to draw stylish and cool things, and I hated drawing weird dumb things. But around this time, I started to enjoy coming up with strange designs and actions. I came up with special moves such as using dentures as a weapon and ohige jorijori [おひげジョリジョリ "facial hair scraping move"?] that appeared in the TV series.
p.26
*Tower Hanging from the Ceiling*
This idea is that the characters would climb a tower to escape from a monster. I guess this is that same idea again that "the climax should have action moving upward." The towers grow down from the ceiling. The planet Gamilas in Space Battleship Yamato also had a city hanging from the ceiling, and I thought it would be fun to have a design that is the opposite of the natural world.
p.27
*Balloon welcomes you*
I thought it would look great if a colourful balloon appeared in the scene of escaping from the ruins. I happened to see a scene with many balloons floating on TV, and I just felt like drawing it.
p.28
Crayon Shin-chan Movie: Unkokusai's Ambition (1995)
Director - Mitsuru Hongo
Concept art / key animation - Masaaki Yuasa
I think "Unkokusai's Ambition" is a perfect fusion of Mitsuru Hongo's sense of wonder and Keiichi Hara's realistic approach. I had just returned from working on "The Hakkenden" and now "Crayon Shin-chan" was a period drama too. "The Hakkenden" was an educational but difficult job, and now that I was back on "Shin-chan" I wanted to make the most of that experience and have some fun. As this was the third movie, I was able to step up the concept art environments and make it more intense, and I was able to draw it to my satisfaction. I was able to participate fully in this film, and I was also in charge of the first promotional poster.
*Kuroko Ninja - Early*
At first, they had masks like Niwaka Senpei [a famous Hakata confectionery with a humourous mask package].
*Kuroko Ninja - Improved*
The movie is set in the world of authentic period drama, but I wanted to give the enemies extreme looks and unusual physical abilities. I like the illustrator Yutaka Murakami's drawings, so I incorporated them into the characters' movements. The masks were designed by Hongo.
p.29
*Poster - rough*
The characters are silhouetted to give the impression of the cartoon-film posters I saw as a kid, where they were shown in silhouette before they were revealed. They still do this today.
p.30
*Sengoku period costume design*
I also had the opportunity to design the costumes for this film. I had studied period drama clothing for The Hakkenden, so I was quite particular about it. Shinnosuke can become a period drama character just by adding a triangle to his head (laughs).
p.31
*A twist on the armor*
I thought the armour I was drawing here looked Western, so I adjusted it a bit to look more Japanese in the poster (p. 029) and in the film. I just added horizontal lines to the shoulder pads, but somehow when you add lines, it makes it look Japanese.
p.32
*Dress according to character*
The clothes were designed based on hearing each character's description. Matatabi Nekonoshin was described as a 'single-minded swordsman', so I made him a cool dresser.
p.33
*Fluttering hair in a single line*
I remember that Ogin was designated as a 'karakuri doll' from the very beginning. The method of making the hair flutter/flow in a single line is a technique I learnt from "The Hakkenden".
p.34
*Design with a gimmick*
Since Matatabi Nekonoshin was a slender swordsman, I also thought of the opposite, a rugged, burly type. The difference in their styles is obvious through their silhouettes. I drew a lot of attempts because I didn't have any particularly strong single idea. I guess I was a little lost. Rather than just focusing on a generally appealing design, I wanted to create a design with some kind of gimmick or trick.
p.36
*Little Unkokusai*
Unkokusai's initial design. I thought it would be interesting if the figure as seen in silhouette was different from the size of the person himself. So to make the silhouette look as big as possible, I made the hat extra-long. It was Hongo's idea to put Unkokusai in a robot. I think Hongo decided the content of the storyboards based on who the animator would be.
p.37
*Design for action*
I designed this helmet for a gag where the hook would get caught. This kind of specific design intention is pointless unless it's actually used in a scene (laughs). But I thought that a design without a gimmick would be boring, and as an animator I thought that kind of idea was important.
p.38
*Start with the big picture*
I would draw while visiting parks or gardens, and doing research. I was told to design a distinctive, eye-catching castle. I was actually thinking about the overall image of Inuyama Castle and other buildings in Nagoya, and I thought that when seen from a distance, maybe there should be another tall building in addition to the castle tower at the top. After that, I thought about the different kuruwa/ sections one by one. It's easier to set up a large environment if you first think of the whole picture and then draw each part, but it takes some courage to make that kind of big bold decision right at the beginning.
p.39
*Like climbing a castle*
I proceeded to design the setting with the image of gradually climbing up to the keep, starting from the entrance of the castle. I guess I was still thinking "manga movies need upward movement" (laughs). Bruce Lee's "Game of Death" is like that, and so are a lot of films. Maybe I read somewhere in a book that you should do it that way.
p.43
Column 2
*Incorporate discoveries*
It was very interesting when I researched castles. Castles in the Sengoku period were built with an emphasis on functionality, rather than beauty. For example, the holes in the walls get narrower in width towards the outside. That's to prevent enemy shells from getting in, so there's a practical reason for the design. I was impressed by that kind of functional beauty. When you do research, you discover things like, "wow, so this is how it was done back then!" I wanted to incorporate that into the setting. But our castle setting didn't need to be this detailed, so Mr. Hara, the director, told me later that I didn't need to go this far (laughs). But since I drew it, he didn't want to waste it and used it in the film.
*Red Castle Tower*
The keep/ castle tower was based on the Azuchi Castle built by Oda Nobunaga. Azuchi Castle was the first castle where a keep was built, and is said to have had a novel design, painted red. The plot had a scene where the castle would start to move, so I drew it with the idea that the castle tower would become the head when it moves.
p.44
*Hatching Fusuma Picture*
I had an idea of a luxurious painting drawn on a fusuma (sliding rectangular wall/door panels). As you go deeper and deeper into the room, the picture on the bran changes from a chrysalis to a butterfly. I also used this gag in "Nanchatte Vampiyan".
*Assassins Lurking Under the Floor*
There's a passageway under the floor, and an assassin below stabs through with a spear. This is a trick that was used in actual castles, and I just drew it because I thought it made sense.
p.45
*Tono-sama's toilet has feathers*
When I was reading the material, it said "Tono-sama's poo was dropped on soft feathers because it wasn't dirty," so I thought I'd try to incorporate that. I thought it would be funny for Shin-chan to find the feathers and play with them, or stick his head out of the toilet while breaking in.
p.46
*Drawing from real life experiences*
I painted this picture while recalling a visit to my grandparents' house in the countryside. I remember walking through a shrine at night and being startled when a statue suddenly appeared in the darkness, and how the tadpoles hatched all at once and the pond turned black. When it's something you've experienced yourself, you can understand it emotionally.
p.47
*Frog Shin-chan*
This was drawn by request, and I think it was specified that his face should be the butt. At the time, I still wanted to draw cool stuff, so this kind of goofy gag design was probably not my forte.
p.48
*Fubukimaru Sees Hallucinations*
Fubukimaru hallucinates that he is seeing his mother due to the effect of the smoke. The scene is a bit suspenseful, as Ogin is sneaking up behind him and Fubukimaru realizes just in time. It's not used in the film, but it must have been an idea I liked, because I drew it with the cuts in mind.
p.49
*Sengoku-Era Rocket Punch*
I came up with the idea of a rocket punch that flies from the wrist for Ogin's special move. In "Mazinger Z," for example, the rocket punch flies from the elbow, but I thought it would be interesting to have it come off the wrist. Since there were no jet engines in those days, we set it up so that once it flew, a string attached would pull it back to its original position.
p.50
*Various time machines*
The design they eventually picked is the iron-array dumbbell-style design in the lower right corner. It's sort of an homage to the white round spaceship in "2001: A Space Odyssey." They said "it's hard to tell the front from the back," so in the film, it got fins. I regretted that a little, so in "Mind Game" (2004) I used a iron-array dumbbell-shaped ship once again. I was also thinking of other time machines, such as birds or high heels, that I thought children would find funny. At the time, I often looked at picture books by a Czech author named Květa Pacovská to get ideas.
(Květa Pacovská's work)
p.51
*Time warp*
I tried to avoid making it look like "Doraemon" as much as possible. The arrows represent the hands of a clock. Speaking of arrows, in the swimming pool episode of the "Crayon Shin-chan" TV show, I drew an arrow on the original drawing to indicate the movement of the waves, and then in the broadcast I saw the arrows animated, flowing over the waves. (laughs) When I saw that, I realized symbols can sometimes fit naturally into animation.
p.52
*Sengoku Airship*
The idea was to have a warship from the Sengoku period floating like an airship. This wasn't used in the film, but I like this kind of big gag. I often try to do cartoony moves like running up a falling cannonball.
p.53
*Adult Shin-chan*
I only have a vague memory of this, but I seem to recall that I was instructed to draw masks with the kanji "big" painted on them. It was a "cool but uncool design." I think the loincloth figure was chosen because it was probably the least cool (laughs).
p.54
*Weird alternate world*
In the end, I had to start working on key animation so many of the designs were created in a rush at the very last minute. I was trying to design ridiculous, extravagant costumes in the spur of the moment. But after the film was completed, people often mention this part and I always think I should have drawn it more carefully...
p.56
Piloting Kuntam Robo
The picture above is the concept art for the scene where Shin-chan controls Kuntam Robo with the power of his imagination. The helmet that reads Shin-chan's thoughts, the cockpit inside Kuntam Robo and the strange things popping out of Kuntam Robo's arms. I drew this when it became necessary, after the storyboard was already made.
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