The fact that everything Saito touched recently turned into gold makes me worried about a sequel to Frieren because he might get other projects that he wants to work on over Frieren,which would either delay or change the entire production in s2. As much as I love seeing this man’s vision in different series,I feel in love so deeply with Frieren that I want it over everything else

@prajnadeva

3 ай бұрын

Aniplex and Sony and Yamaha is pulling him to direct Bocchi season 2, I am sure.

@carlpagunsan8287

3 ай бұрын

Season 2 is slated next winter they said. Or maybe in next year. El Dorado arc needs some cooking to be done, and the manga is under some new plotlines.

@aditxd1

3 ай бұрын

@@carlpagunsan8287 while i'm sure toho would not let frieren end in just 1 season. I don't think the series is ready for another 2 years or so. and i'm sure saitou will do bocchi the rock first before frieren. so no, the anime is not even in production yet. not even the most reliable leaker know when/if the season 2 will come

@aditxd1

3 ай бұрын

@@carlpagunsan8287 but I know it will happened. no anime that was produce by toho did not get season 2 when it's this big

@onesmileybaldy8303

3 ай бұрын

@@carlpagunsan8287 source? “My source is that I made it the f*** up”

Being a great director is one thing, but making back to back AOTY worthy show is just incredible.

The current frieren team is miracle. . . and the bad part about miracle is. It hardly happen twice. AAA i'm scared.

@Chowderchefu

2 ай бұрын

I think they can pull it off again, Frieren is popular enough to warrant it ! I

@riwho7936

2 ай бұрын

​@@Chowderchefuhes will back on bocchi

@Chowderchefu

2 ай бұрын

@riwho7936 That's fine, frieren can come afterwards, just like the video states Frieren was in pre production once boichi was wrapping up. Could be the same thing here with s2

@danielhu6485

2 ай бұрын

@@Chowderchefu That sounds incredibly stressful, however; I'm not sure if he'd be able to continue that longterm.

@DaveyRugh

2 ай бұрын

Considering the director wanted to make an anime of it after only reading the first chapter, I'm not too concerned.

I have never learned about directors before for anime, so this is very interesting. Saito is incredibly skilled, and I know there's tons of others like him out there. I can only wish he, and all the other animators and directors will one day get fair pay and not get insanely overworked so they quit early.

@SlartiMarvinbartfast

3 ай бұрын

Not all anime studios are run by greedy execs (although most sadly are) who overwork their staff. The main (but not the only) exception is Kyoto Animation who treat their staff very well (and boy does it show in their amazing productions). Speaking of KyoAni, I see that season 3 of the wonderful Sound! Euphonium starts in April 7th.

@Raidanzoup

3 ай бұрын

@@SlartiMarvinbartfast Speaking of KyoAni, I recommend people listen to Japanimation Station's podcast episodes about the studio. Lots of interesting info in there like KyoAni basically helping Production I.G. come into existence several years before KyoAni stepped out into the forefront of TV anime.

Sonny boy mentioned 😭, bro it is my personal favorite and I knew as soon as frieren started that saito would absolutely cook

@aditxd1

3 ай бұрын

episode 8 was absolutely magical. when i saw that episode for the first time, I know that episode was different even before I know who saitou is. after watching him do bocchi the rock too, I know he's gonna be the next big thing in the industry. and yep, here we are now

@alechall7082

3 ай бұрын

Sonny Boy is my all-time favorite anime. Thats coming from someone who just got back from seeing The End of Evangelion in a theater.

@chubbysolaireeaterofpussy3192

2 ай бұрын

Sonny boy is so goated its legit just the best

Thank you for spotlighting Saito! I am so amazed how much I love both Bocchi and Frieren and one of the things that really stood out to me is the direction. I rarely ever mention (or even notice) great direction but they really stand out with Frieren. Sooo damn good.

@aditxd1

3 ай бұрын

tbh, the specific direction in all episode of frieren you can thank the episode director rather than saito. just like it mentioned in the video, saitou is the type of director that let the individual episode director fully direct the episode rather then meddling it and ruined the vision of the episode director. for example, daiki harashina is the one directing episode 23 where there is ubel fight scene. he's the one who came up with many creative angle and creative directing on that episode. saito job was just to approve that vision and keep every idea that the episode director came up with still stay true to the series blood (his vision/the director vision) though saitou himself are a really really talented episode director. just like what he do in sonny boy episode 8 (many regarded this episode as one of the best anime episode of all time). and he also solo direct episode 1, 11 and some part of episode 21 and episode 26 (this episode director was the director of heavenly dellusion. but saitou was one the story board artist in this episode beside 2 other name). so yeah, my point is what makes saitou amazing is not how he direct every episode, rather how he set the tone of every series he touch and let the other director goes wild. that's why many of his co worker that was working in bocchi the rock came back to do frieren too. everyone want to work with him

Can we talk about the direction and artistic vision of this video too? Superb. You're the only anime KZreadr I enjoy these days. God bless all the amazing artists who make animation a transcendent experience.

Amazing video, once I found out that Keiichiro Saito directed Bocchi as well I was sold on Freiren before I knew what the story was about. Loved the presentation and editing on this video!!

@ObesityStupidity

2 ай бұрын

This video made me realize that two of my favourites animes are made by the same director. I guess I have to remember this name to look forward for more of his works)

No wonder Bocchi The Rock was the unexpected anime of 2022... Usually the theme is an automatic pass to many of us but it defied and became popular enough to be nominated and even won an award (thru popularity by Churchyroll) Bocchi is a popular character that many likes. And to think many of the GOAT staff come together to make Frieren is a great boon which we could easily feel their passion to it. From a single manga panel expanded to a long scene of action, details so defined that it was a shock to know they even considered it animating, and also the arrangement they used to enhance the scene. This is a love letter they made to us as well to the Mangaka whom they share some resonance. I expect Frieren to top the next anime awards next year and become a series as memorable as Iseyama's AoT.

@Kougeru

2 ай бұрын

Why would a girl band anime be an automatic pass? Basically every girl band anime has been amazing because of passion for the topic from the creators.

@carlpagunsan8287

2 ай бұрын

@@Kougeru we already have K-ON and some titles with girl band end up not doing much to match K-ON until Bocchi came.

The direction and production value of this informative KZread video is probably among the best I've seen in the anime category - you're not a shabby creative yourself! I'm very happy you mentioned Ishii Toshimasa - his 86 is one of my favorite anime series if not the favorite, and his episodes in Nier and Erased are also among the most enjoyable in those series. He hasn't had much work lately - hopefully he is working on something big!

Episode 25 featured Frieren vs. Frieren in a magic battle, but the standout scene was Serie reminiscing about young Flamme and holding her hand. That's the director in a nutshell, I guess.

I mean, this guy is responsible for my 2 most favorite Anime of the past 2 years with both Bocchi and Frieren. Both, as different as they seem at first, manage to grap me on a deep emotional level that I've very rarely experienced. Make me connect with characters far beyond other fictional work. I'm no Manga reader, but I've heard people talk about both shows, that they succeeded in bringing an already great, but limited or smaller source material to absolutely new heights with the show. And I think this can't be coincidence, this guy is really good.

@pacificnebula4899

2 ай бұрын

Hearing that Keiichirô Saitô (director for Bocchi) and Evan Call (OST designer for my favorite anime Violet Evergarden) instantly made me watch this anime. And this show did NOT disappoint and I agree with everything you said.

this is such a good video. love learning about anime directors, it really makes the anime industry feel more fleshed out and easy to digest, and as someone who is very interested in Asian & Japanese culture this sort of content is just so, so awesome to me

Sonny Boy mentioned!!!! I had no idea this person had directed episode 8. I watched Sonny Boy when it was airing and that episode felt like a movie, it was a special day.

Appreciate the Naoko Yamada nod, her work is stellar. Easily my favorite anime director.

Good video! Nice insight into the distinction between a director's work as a showrunner and their work on an individual episode

Brilliantly scripted video with insane editing from OtakuBox. Yall crushed this!

@OtakuBox

3 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@TheMickellPickell

2 ай бұрын

Awesome work! 🙏@@OtakuBox

Well that KZread video itself is a piece of art, congrats!

I had no idea he worked on that episode of Sonny Boy, it makes complete sense looking back now

TLDR: in an action film piece the most important part isn't action itself, not the big fight, not the intense race, not the clever heist. Those things are very important, true, but not the most important. No, the most important part of the action piece of any kind are things that happen right before said action. Exposition, motivation, stakes, Chekhov's guns, character development. Those are things that will make you sit on the edge of the seat when the action actually takes place. Keiichiro Saito is one of the few directors that not only understand it, but knows how to make it happen. Thus we as an audience should be on the lookout for the projects that he gets involved in.

Healthy production and Madhouse usually don't align together but for Frieren, I'm just glad the did it well in every aspect of the production

@aditxd1

3 ай бұрын

yup. the production of frieren actually far from long since saitou actually only start working on frieren right after he finish bocchi the rock (around september 2022). besides the post production, that meant saitou only have 1 year to produce 28 episode for frieren (he and madhouse also produced MV for yoasobi yuusha). but by some miracle, it's all work in the end because they are very efficient in the directing part. they know they didn't need to go too hard in some part and only goes hard in some episode. and even their outsourced episode are handled by really strong team like in episode 17 (it was outsourced to studio colorido and was handled by team yamahitsuji. the same team who did burn the witch OVA)

So sad Frieren is coming to an end until the next season, who knows when, and the only thing I can think of to take away that pain is maybe Bocchi season 2 is his next project.

I remember seeing something a while back that spoke of anime directing involving more about being a producer and task delegator than live action director's would ever be, which also just calls back to how working in animation is a far more difficult occupation than live action film making at every level of people involved. Being good at animation is simply harder.

13:23 Your description here is one of the most perfect descriptions of Frieren I've ever heard. The fight scenes in Frieren blend so well with the vibe of the anime.

this was a great watch !! keep making videos !!

The editing in this video is insane. Keep up the good work

this is an awesome video!! phenomenal job with the editing and presentation!

What a phenomenal video by PhenomSage

The editing of this video is sooo good.

Hoping that frieren s2 get announced immediately so he and the team can keep working on it without having to disperse to other projects not knowing if they can work on the next season

@aditxd1

3 ай бұрын

unfortunately, I think there's no way he's not working on bocchi the rock season 2 first. BTR is too big to not received season 2. though some said that BTR will not be directed by him but by his co worker in BTR too. but i still think saitou will do BTR 2 before he will do anything

@yogi_gs

2 ай бұрын

Nah i prefer we wait for 1 or 2 years so we can get another 24 more episodes.

@amukbir8777

2 ай бұрын

A lot of shows get ruined by season 2 and all of that rush Madhouse is the type of making masterpieces and then leaving them. For me Frieren right now its just perfect. They should take the years they want. The consistency with animation was what surprised me. Not a single episode had any drop in quality. Even if they dont make a season 2 I dont care. This type of anime are like gold and they need to stay like that. Hopefully they take a few years to plan and get another 28 episodes or something

the editing on this video is goated

I hope he keeps working with Frieren. I love it so much and added so much to the story

I knew you were going to talk about Sonny Boy at some point and I was just waiting for it, but suddenly hearing the intro to "Let There Be Light Again" gave me goosebumps and made me feel so emotional for some reason.

The editing on this video is top notch

Great video and good recommendations, thanks! Keep it up

Really interesting video. Explains the importance of a director for an anime.

Great video, very informative

nice work i love those who appreciate the art of good Directed work

Direction is SUPER unappreciated. One of the things that really bothered me around the Chainsaw Man anime adaptation discourse is the idea that "This is the only way CSM could have been adapted" which is said by a lot of supporters of the CSM anime. Whether you liked Ryu Nakayama's direction or not. The idea that there is and was only a single way to adapt the CSM manga completely spits upon on the hundreds of thousands of individual choices that were made in adaptation. Adapting an anime means deciding on things like character designs (simple enough to animate, while staying true to the source), what scenes/lines to include, what scenes/lines to remove, what scenes/lines to expand, what scenes/lines to rearrange. Lighting, Colors, VA tone, the length of each scene, where to end episodes, usage of CGI, implementation of OST, etc. Direction is the culmination of hundreds of thousand of individual choices. People shouldn't disrespect that.

Amazing video! You just gain a sub, keep up the good works!

que análise absurda!! parabéns pelo vídeo, muito bom mesmo

I mean…. he ALSO did ACCA 13, and not too many people were singing those praises. Or even remember it exists. But sure, if you can pull off Bocchi and then Frieren, I’m’a follow you around forever.

@vascopires2653

3 ай бұрын

He didnt do acca 13, only directed the OVA

@cthellis

3 ай бұрын

@@vascopires2653 Ah, saw a few things on his ANN page and didn’t look closely enough. Effectively just another Episode Director in this case, then. Probably something worth taking a look at more generally, but I feel harder to look at from the perspective of examining someone’s past, and more “discovering who did episodes you love”. But how easy is that? I just tested, for instance, with a favorite episode of mine, Space Brothers #36. The ANN show page has a lot, but apparently not all and not this episode. Does that mean it was the main director? Lost to time? Just incomplete info? I feel like it would be interesting to go on a hunt from episodes I specifically love.

Excellent video, liked & subbed

Dude directed 2 of my favorite shows lately, Bocchi The Rock and Frieren: Beyond Journeys End are some great shows!

Frieren is so good, they genuinely did such a great job!

Ngl this man is born to cook

For me, to this day, his truly stand out work is Bocchi the rock. The story allowed Saito to truly push the boundaries of animation and scene styles. With Frieren we see a more composed Saito but the brilliance is still shining through.

Thats crazy editing here.

the production of the Frireren anime started probably in the 2020, the main producer ask for the project to the studio and the author after reading just the first chapter. Saito comes from the Shingo Natsume School and shingo natsume also means another name, Yuasa. although I must say that in addition to having had great teachers, he is very genius talented person. Friren is one of that gem that cames form no where like Kill la kill and gurren lagan, just perfect

It was love at first sight when I first saw the PV trailer for Bocchi the Rock, and the fact the he also directed SELECTION Project(which I enjoyed as a show) and now he's name being leveled as the Goat just say's alot and will follow him more of his works in the future

No way he directed that episode of Sonny Boy! What a genius!

i watch it 2 times, so much cool information and sources i like it a lot thanks

Great video ✨

great video

He is also polite and modest, no telling his achievements but always talks about how his staffs made great works. Great works come after directors' personalities.

I love Bocchi the Rock so much dude... When I found out the director for Frieren was the same from Bocchi, I ran immediatly into the anime!

I always like to try to find what anime directors do WITHIN their series -- like Kazuya Nakanishi directing half the episodes of The Eminence in Shadow himself (and also being the action director), or Mamoru Hatakeyama storyboarding something like half the episodes of the shows he's directed. I think it provides a lot of insight into what a director thinks their strengths are, as well as allowing me to see what parts of the show were truly theirs. It also helps a lot in identifying why some shows manage to produce results while others don't. Looking at Eminence again, the actual fight animation is usually sub-par, in terms of actual sakuga. But Nakanishi's sense of timing, framing, and camera work is so good that it makes the fight scenes substantially more impactful than one would expect. (And then, of course, the few times he actually does the animation himself it is phenomenal)

this channel's god damn underrated

Frieren anime are so dame good, its artistic, its bombastic, it has quiet moment make me drop a few tears, it have hype moment makes me excited. Overall I think frieren are special for those quiet moment, it is in those quiet moment elevate the entire story. Great video as always phenom, thank you!

We might as well say that we are actually witnessing History being made.

Dare I say this anime is good... It's crazy it was 9.14 when it is ongoing and now that it finished it is 9.39 right now. For me it is a 10/10, glad to see people agree with me.

When I first saw episode 8 of Sonny Boy I even made an AMV of it because of how much it resonated with me. I didn't knew till now that it was directed by the same guy who later did Bocchi and Frieren, they are upstanding works of art with ton of intention. I was growing tired of most anime but specifically this few shows have renewed my love of it. we'll see great things from this guy and the people he will inspire and platform. Flip Flappers is another (recent?) show I absolutely love and no wonder he also had a hand somewhere in there.

His signature is that "show, not tell" silence scenes, that gives you a sense of dread

Thanks for this video. Now I can see anime from another perspective.

glad im not the only one who noticed, we gotta keep an eye on this guy

@inkreydible

2 ай бұрын

also this was a great well spoken video! just how video essays should be :D

I can really see how they used the elements they've learned from sonny boy to this show, specially in that Frieren clone fight

I was a few episodes into Frieren before I found out it had the same director as Bocchi. For someone able to do such different series & still do it well spoke volumes about their ability & adaptability.

Bocchi and Frieren MAAAAAN GOAT Director. He did justice to the mangakas. Bravo !

7:00 "episode 8" There it is again, episode 8!

Bocchi is over the top but in a very specific way. At it's core it's a story about a group of high school girls who play in an amateur band. Their successes are: playing at a small indie club, and playing at a school festival. I don't know what happens later in the manga, but it's probably not about them becoming the greatest rock band on the planet, nobody has any super powers, they need to work service jobs to earn some extra cash, and it's all very very mundane, boring (in the best meaning of the word possible). Where is it over the top? In metaphorical representations of the characters states of mind. It's over the top where it needs to, to help in presenting a mundane story. The same goes for Frieren. She defeated the Demon King, and started an era of peace in the world. She comes across some of the most powerful demons and goes all Satoru Gojo on all of them. That's also over the top, but it's only there to tell a boring, mundane story about how to live a happy life, and to appreciate your loved ones while you still have the chance.

Damnn, did i hear chained echoes sound track?!? Damnnn~ nice choice on soundtrack!

wow i really love the Frieren manga and i was afraid that it will get a lazy adaptation but we have git is perfection as you said thanks to those people who work hard to make it possible , and thank you for sharing these kind of video it make me respect the thing i got more .

This video just makes me miss Naoko Yamada even more. I really hope Kimi No Iro can release asap, but I understand if Science Saru gives more focus for Dandadan

Would be helpful to have a link to Sakuga blog in the description.

Frieren's final episode is next Friday

His ep in Yama no Susume was one of my favorites in that show

The director of this video seems to have the bright future in the youtube industry.

GOAT in the making

This is legit too good stuff

Man I was thinking but not expecting to be mentioned Toshimasa Ishii. His direction alone absolutely CARRIED 86. Last 3 episodes of season 2 are a directional masterclass on the standards of anime at least.

I never think about directing. I only compare anime with manga and is it's close enough I consider it a success. Directors are definitely underappreciated.

Frieren so peak, they really cooked up a 5 star, 15 dish feast. Just beautiful animation with Evan Calls music 😤🔥

Episode 8s truly have most of the gold standard for anime episodes

always watch for his 8th episodes, it will be a legendary title drop

Dude, great video, but where is the orchestera footage is from? I cannot find it! 2:50

do make a best of 2023 video looking forward to it

Yeah, Saito really outdid himself. Definitely my favorite director ever

5:30 Penguindrum appreciation omg omg omg

If you are intrested in directing, there is that one One Piece episode, the one 1015. That was so great.

@PhenomSage

2 ай бұрын

I made a video on it bro, one of my favorite anime episodes of all time 🔥

@dimitri0404

2 ай бұрын

@@PhenomSage srs? I didn't know, I'll watch it now!

8:50 I see what you did there.

i think you should link the sakugabooru article links in the description at the very least otherwise great vid

funny enough I did exactly that a week or so ago and noticed that he worked on wonder egg priority. And I'm not 100% certain, but considering that damn coat animation in episode 8 of frieren (or 9, frogot) and I'm now convinced that he's responsible for that shoe fabric animation I was obsessed with from the karaoke scene in the last episode of wonder egg priority. I haven't been able to confirm that though but these give me such a specific vibe and attention to detail when it comes to how fabric moves and bends that it really makes sense to me that it'd be from the same person.

@kristian70

2 ай бұрын

If you are talking about the part where Stark puts on his coat in ep 9 then thats animated by kouki fujimoto who also directed/storyboarded that episode .

@Laezar1

2 ай бұрын

@@kristian70 Oh so I was half right! I'm glad I wasn't crazy and there was a link between those two moments even if it wasn't the one I thought

Bro I thought you have at least 100k subs but you have only 76k 😢. Bro you have very good editing and this video is also well made. You earned a sub❤

it's not overrated, not underrated, but perfectly rated.

ohh you're the successor of the canipa effect

I gotta say, this is definitely one of the Phenomsage videos in recent memory

8:26 what anime is this? Art style got me interested Bocchi, Sonny Boy, and Frieren it all makes sense for me now

@yuukoto308

2 ай бұрын

It's called "Eizōken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!", really good anime!

SONNY BOY MENTIONED

The action scenes of Frieren being described as elegant is so true.

shin wakabayashi is a great director btw