Finally, a spotlight on Toshihiro Hirano, the most underrated Artmic character artist compared to Sonoda, Urushihara, & Masami Obari.

The people that work in Japanese animation are a unique breed. They seem to live in a constant state of mental exhaustion, and even physical sickness due to the extreme close deadlines, and bully tactics of company heads. It makes you wonder why, and how, they are able to do it for so many years. Not to mention having to deal with the almost impossible standards of the otaku class that will criticize, even to the point of death threats, the most minor inconsistency, idea, character design, or story arch that they don't like. These guys just seem to live in a state of misery. Despite all of this, they still make great entertainment, especially from my western view point. Could you imagine what they could create if they just had some time, and space to do it, and not have such a ridiculous fan base that can't seem to be satisfied? Great effort with this video again, MercuryFalcon. I really enjoyed it!

@channelwithout

2 жыл бұрын

They could do with being paid better as well.

@zarrg5611

2 жыл бұрын

It is hard to imagine their existence. Part of me wonders at the work ethic and lack of angst, but ultimately it is very much like slavery and probably would be better on every level if it were not for the psychopathic industry.

@KhayJayArt

2 жыл бұрын

Every animator around the world goes through this. Idk why anine fans think this is exclusive to Japan.

@therealnmg

2 жыл бұрын

@@KhayJayArt Romanticization by weebs.

@frankjaeger2565

2 жыл бұрын

@@KhayJayArt the work conditions and salary of Japanese animators are indeed worse than those of their Western counterparts, that is a fact.

There's something really funny about Hirano saying he could no longer draw manly men for Gatchaman Fighter, then over 3 decades the biggest thing he'd be working on in a while would be Baki. Obviously director and animator are very different jobs, but still, there's some silly irony in that. Really great video btw.

@JLCL01

2 жыл бұрын

The Baki manga had some interesting designs, especially for male characters. Some of them kind of look feminine in terms of their lips so I wonder if that's kind of a blessing. lol I'm not disrespecting Baki, I read a few chapters and it's pretty cool. That and from what a co-worker talked about, it's pretty crazy.

Thank God for this man's aeathetic preferences. For me, that very 80's anime look (both when it comes to characters and mecha) is the coolest anime has ever looked, and it's a style I've personally been trying to master these last few years.

The world needs more guys like Toshihiro Hirano who makes beautiful gals, great horror stories and badass mecha in their anime's. Same with Kenichi Sonoda. Great video as always Mercury.

@ZZtheDark

2 жыл бұрын

Also, Hirano's works is how I met ma boi here. Without him, I woulda never had an amazing brother like this dude.

@emmetfeely7760

2 жыл бұрын

​@@ZZtheDark Swap Majestic Prince for Iczer-1 + Iczelion and interactions with Hikaru, Umi and Fuu from Rayearth and have Nova and possibly Rune God Regalia as a secret unit.

@DaimosZ

2 жыл бұрын

@@ZZtheDark same here bro

@emmetfeely7760

2 жыл бұрын

@@ZZtheDark (Re-Edited) Sorry I mean to say Swap Majestic Prince in SRW 30th for Iczer-1 + Iczelion and have Iczer-1, Iczer-2, Iczer-3, Atros (If conditions to having her spare from dying are made), Nagisa Kai/Iczelion, Nami Shiina/Iczelion Black, Kiiro Iijima/Iczelion Gold and Kawai Kawai/Iczelion Silver to have interactions with Hikaru, Umi and Fuu from Rayearth and have Nova and possibly Rune God Regalia as a secret unit.

@PrekiFromPoland

7 ай бұрын

Kenichi Sonoda loves guns, cars, and action.

Hirano's resume is basically all over the map, ranging from mainstream hits like Rayearth, cult OVA hits like Izcer 1 and Vampire Princess Miyu and hit Netflix anime like Baki.

Leiji Matsumoto has actually commented on Emeraldas' color discrepancy, saying that mineral processing can change the color of an emerald. But also, maybe he just got confused. "Emeraldas is even simpler. She's a space pirate with a bright, flame-like passion. Usually, an emerald is green, but I heard some of them are red. I heard that depending on the processing of the mineral, not all of them turn out blue or green. So I thought how wonderful it would be if there were a red emerald., That's how she was named. Her name couldn't be "Ruby," because it wouldn't be interesting. A Ruby is gentler, softer. It had to be an emerald, though it's supposed to be red, and some may say it's strange. But the luster and the hardness has to be that of an emerald or I can't convince myself. Also-I’Il have to tell this as a joke-but I must confess... I thought emeralds were red, when I was a child. I didn't think they were green from the name alone. I never saw one. That's another reason. So, I'm left with the idea that it has to be a red emerald and nothing else." galaxyexpress.fandom.com/wiki/Riding_the_Rails_with_Legendary_Leiji:_The_Definitive_Interview

I owe Hirano everything from his Mecha to his beautiful woman! To this day, I still carry his gumption of art and will never look back! Thank you for this amazing coverage and HAPPY Thanksgiving!!!

This whole episode was just me going 'HOLY SHIT!' at each reveal to where this guy worked on and what studio influenced another. The moment I heard 'Studio Trigger' I nearly hit the ceiling and went back to the older examples and realized that yup, a lot of the movements looked familiar. I love finding out stuff like this. And again, I love your commercials. The reference to Saki Sanobashi was GOLD.

Hirano's characters designs are just BEAUTIFUL. Especially the characters' lips

I really need to watch the Ninja robot dub now. That was certified gold.

@ZZtheDark

2 жыл бұрын

DiscoTek has the series released along with the dub. Order now. ;)

Well. Since it’s thanksgiving today in America, I think we can all agree we’re thankful for Toshihiro Hirano. Megazone 23 is legit my favorite anime of all time. So I owe a large part of my own style and projects to this man. Excellent retrospective/documentary, MercuryFalcon! Really enjoy your content.

10:36 "... to the point where it became almost impossible for him to draw manly men." Hirohiko Araki: Man, I can relate!

Iczer-3 deserves more love, despite the hastily-put-together look, I bought each of the individual Japan Laserdisc episodes as they released. The main character is adorable, as is Cosmos Pink Shock.

Hey, uh, the KZread algorithm sent me here after a Kenny Lauderdale video. Gotta say, this is a great rundown of such a prolific animator and art director in the mecha genre. Great job, and you got yourself a new sub!👍🏾

Tokusatsu has became one of my favorite genres ever since I watched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on Fox Kids back in my childhood, until I started getting into the Kamen Rider and Ultraman franchises along with the Metal Hero series. Now, I am getting into the nostalgia of mecha anime from the 1970’s and 80’s, my personal favorite is Mazinger Z.

I absolutely love Megazone OVA 1, Vampire Princess Miyu OVAs, and even Iczer-1 to an extent. And even though the Rayearth series isn't for me, it's extremely important, and visually still holds up. Great video, thoroughly enjoyed it.

26:52 The story I heard is that they lost the negative for episode 3 of Dangaioh, which made an HD transfer impossible.

@reflexstudio2181

2 жыл бұрын

That's what I heard too. Episode 3 is in fact on the Blu-ray; however, it is an upscale whereas episodes 1 and 2 are HD transfers from the original film.

18:12 Flat Earth: The Anime 19:39 TETSUO! 22:07 This all sounds like a YTP! I confess, whenever I think anime style I'm probably thinking about this guy.

@dzulk9

Жыл бұрын

Ah u saw Tetsuo too 😂

"Enduring shame because the average attendee was about... 8 years old..." LMAO yeah I would've been that way too

The Dai Mazinger project is one of Toshiki Hirano’s cancelled pet projects.

@astrothewolfman

2 жыл бұрын

Toshiki Hirano thank you! It's like people cannot even be bothered to use wikipedia, anymore.

His work defined the Aesthetic look of 80's Anime during the OVA Boom. It's great this video brought more attention to his contributions.

Wow! Back in the 90's my friends and I would do the mail order subtitled VHS tape anime share. It's amazing to see how many of our favourite anime of the time is Toshihiro Hirano's work! Going to send this video around to all my fellow anime university friends for a blast from the past. I love your channel! Thank you! Think I'll watch Iczer One again, if I can find it.

Any localization dub where the voice actors have fun with the script is a winner in my book.

lmao props to the sponsor bit, also I fucking love Macross. Cool to hear the story behind one of the key producers.

the level of research in this videos its incredible

"Jenny, you have to take your finger off the button or he can't answer back." OMG my sides. I NEED to see this dub. Holy shit, it's been 10 minutes and my stomach hurts lol

Your videos are great, so full of information and with great detail. Thank you for preserving the hidden history of the best era of anime.

As an animator who loves anime i find your documentaries enlightening.

After years of having other favorite character designers, I saw the light and realized those others may have one or two designs I love, but it was always Hirano who drew everything exactly the way I liked. There is something just so perfect about his characters. To me, he will always be the greatest character designer ever.

No fucking way; he designed the anime for Magic Knight Rayearth? That was my shit. That was one of the first anime I watched. Fuck dude, that's awesome

25:05- Hirano called it long before it became an issue just not too recently has been brought up. Artists and animators are barely getting g anything so the industry can get the money and credit.

I absolutely love Hirano's work. Iczer-3 is imo one of the most under-rated anime's you'll ever come across. I personally believe Iczer 3 was Masaki Kajishima's inspiration for Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo. For love of God watch Arcane. It's one of the best animated products in the last decade.

5:00 Masumi Kaneda? The lore writer of Japanese G1 Transformers? That's insane.

I have his "Character Works" album in my book collection, right next to Yoshitaka Amano's "Imagine", & Masamune Shirow's "Intron Depot" & "Intron Depot 3: Ballistics". Dangaio was my introduction to OAVs & UNCENSORED, subtitled anime. (Dangaio would also, funny enough, point out just how badly "Space Opera" Science Fiction is, in general. Just like how, in Star Wars & Star Trek, everyone speaks English, EVERYONE in Dangaio speaks Japanese, complete with particular dialects & pronouns.

Thank you for the informative video. I laughed at the part where Hirano sucked at drawing manly men because he got so accustomed to drawing attractive women.

Every sing one of you videos is just pure gold! The research that goes into these is just staggering. Its great to see the back story and people that are involved in the golden age of anime. It really brings the past back to life and gives me a new respect for the people and shows I grew up with. Honestly this is such an amazing channel.

22:00 lmao I dunno about you, but that dialogue is golden

7:22 I would be proud of doing 2nd key with cars, it is super complex job to do. Dont think many people can do this good enough.

Dude,i love your videos Old anime is something that i love Keep it up

Hirano was a gift to Anime. Many of his shows are top tier

Yooo the body horror in Iczer One looks awesome! I'd love to see more anime and OVAs like that. Any suggestions?

@MercuryFalcon

2 жыл бұрын

MD Geist and Genocyber

Thanks for this vid! Also the BEST sponsor read ive ever seen. More people should do that in YT essay world.

22:30 wow... that dialog sounds like something straight out of an abridged series

lot of memories, with Izer 1, 2 and 3.. great Toshihiro Hirano, documentary

He worked in so many stuff everywhere that it shouldn't surprise me, but Rayearth still came as a surprise to me,

Thank you for the work! No-joke amounts of research going on here!

@MercuryFalcon

2 жыл бұрын

Appreciate it.

22:30 I also remember it being in one of the weirder SRW games, were it was rather well integrated, actually... damn, did that LP ever get put in the archive? gotta check.

Good skills and imagination. Haven't detected any in the western world.

Excellent vid as always And it's nice to see good ol' Toshiki Hirano get the spotlight

I never watched Rayearth when I was a kid but it was very popular. Looking back now browsing through anime songs of my childhood...I was surprised,,,Rayearth,,,the animation is OUT OF THIS WORLD! It doesn't even look like a tv anime,,

Finally an ad that tickles my fancy... Soon I hope to start laying my hands on those untranslated treasures by Yutaka Tanaka.

15:47 So they basically performed a Twinkle Nora, Rock Me!

@MercuryFalcon

2 жыл бұрын

Yuriko Yamamoto who voiced Iczer 1 was also the voice of Nora

@BlazeHeartPanther

2 жыл бұрын

@@MercuryFalcon Scary how coincidences like that happen XD

Hirano not finishing any of his mangas in his youth was very... prophetic.

So pumped to watch this later! Love this channel!

@Cyklopz007

2 жыл бұрын

GREAT VID!!!! I gotta track down some of these that slipped past me. What a legend! Thanks for the upload!

I was inspired by his works alot.

I really like 80s sci-fi OVAs and I really like Grappler Baki, I never thought the two would have such a connection.

Dangaioh is one of my all time favorite animes. And Zeorymer was sooooo underrated. This guy is a genius. Imagine if he gave up on anime at a young age....*shudder* So glad you made this vid!

The dude's still firing on all cylinders. Gotta respect that.

Thank you for making these videos about old anime history!

Great work!

Do you Remember Love? is probably my favorite 80s OVA. I'm glad I watched that first then the tv anime series because the quality on the original was pretty bad lol

Considering this is the same person who worked on a few episodes of Godannar, I can see that he had a hand in some of that Mecha Fan Service that he was well familiar with.

19:39 Are my eyes deceiving me or was that Camille and Fa from Zeta Gundam?

That buyee bit was brilliant, dude.

Toshihiro Hirano is an amazing anime legend and he did a good job. 😀👍

I've always had a soft spot for the later Iczer projects and kind of wish Iczelion had been finished. As much as I love a lot of anime from the OVA era, it was disappointing that so many titles got cancelled early and feel more like pilots.

The hell you talking about. They don't make coins anymore is such a brilliant line XD

10:42 it do in fact be like that.

Hirano is my favorite animator of all time. Most of his works are my top favorites including my #1 favorite anime Dangaio, which is PERFECTION when it comes to super robot anime. I bought that first Dangaio on VHS the week they released it (I think it was just relased as Books Nippan showcased it at their booth at San Diego Comicon along with the 1st volume of Gunbuster (I bought both) and that started a love affair with anime that continues to this day, 32 years later (and into my 50s). To this day, I have yet to see a Robot anime that surpasses Dangaioh

what a banger of a channel you have, great work.

Whoa... He worked on the Vampire Princess Miyu OVA? I love that show so freaking much....

20:00 🤔. I like it already...

I knew this man was on MegaZone 23 just from the intro of this video. I really need to get more into 80's mecha; definitely checking out Ideon now

Megazone and dangaioh were my childhood and i actually like the newer baki, so glad to know he worked on it.

He directed anime adaptation of Devilman Lady in 1998

Oh so that's where those classic anime girl with green hair came from

High quality of information !!!! Many thanks !!!!!

Thank you very much. This is immense work. Very informative and helpful. We really aporiciate it. Looking forward to more video from you kind sir.

Legitimately best ad insert I've seen in a while lol

Great video, but I feel like it's an exaggeration to say that Hirano was responsible for 80s anime style. You said yourself that Megazone 23 was made to resemble Macross to sell better, and I'd say the same goes for a lot of other productions for the time. Macross was the most influential show from the 80s, Megazone boosted its influence on the ova market.

@MercuryFalcon

2 жыл бұрын

I know it’s a clickbaity title because I would have gotten a fraction of the views of it was just “the career of Toshihiro Hirano.” I put a lot of money into these videos and most of the time they don’t make that money back so I make a clockbaity title and people that don’t know any anime from before the year they were born get interested and then maybe I can make a video without going entirely broke

Fascinating

You've convinced me to track down the Tobiekage dub.

I LOVE this era of anime!

I love that 1980s female character design.

Great video, Mercury, very informative. Also, it got me thinking: I love Hirano's 80's style in girls, like most people, but I absolutely despise all faces in Baki (I know I'm quite alone here, it's just a personal opinion), curious how that works. In part, that's why I'm more of a Kengan guy there.

I want more animes with beautiful women and giant robots

I am so glad I found this channel.

LMAO That ad pivot was legit hilarious

Excellente video, votre travail d'ecriture et de montage est très bien fait . Great video .

lol sakisanobashi! nice lost media touch there!

I use Buyee all the time to get rare, hard to find stuff from Japan. Never been disappointed yet.

netflix closed their animation department

@MercuryFalcon

2 жыл бұрын

A fucking shame

@monkerobo

10 ай бұрын

@@MercuryFalconshame indeed though it doesn’t apply to their animes so i think Hirano still has a chance to do a original anime again

The Dangaioh sequel truly was cursed, it was all kinds of horrible, i recall there being gags that reference Evangelion with no rhyme or reason. Just why does it exist. Too bad the original wasn't finished - first i thought how bold of them to end a mecha anime so tragicly but it simply wasn't meant to end just yet.

Man, I remember thinking as a kid that the Voice acting on Ninja Robots was weird but seeing it again after all these years...it's even stranger than I remember!

Awesome video! One thing I thought might be addressed in the video is why he later started going by Toshiki Hirano.

@MercuryFalcon

2 жыл бұрын

It never came up in any of the interviews or articles I had translated though most of them are from 1990 or earlier.

"Joe Joe answer me, answer me Joe" "Jenny you have to take your finger off the button or he cant answer back"

Is Ninja Robots an abridged show?

@adrianchatman5734

2 жыл бұрын

If it isn't, it should be lol.🤣

Loved this!

I *love* Hirano. Kakinouchi too!