fuckyeahmacross: An SDF-1 sketch by Hideaki Anno, from Macross: Perfect Memory (1983). After a stand
fuckyeahmacross: An SDF-1 sketch by Hideaki Anno, from Macross: Perfect Memory (1983). After a standout debut as lead animator on the Daicon III Opening Animation, Anno was invited to join Noburo Ishiguro’s Artland studio which was then ramping up production on Macross. Fellow Daicon III alumni Takemi Akai and Hiroyuki Yamaga also joined Artland, although Akai didn’t stay around for long and soon returned to Osaka. Yamaga, who was the closest person to a “director” on the Daicon III Opening Animation, helped storyboard the show’s opening and made his directorial debut on episode 9, “Miss Macross.” Faced with a staff shortage, Yamaga began looking for additional staff members to help out at Artland but came up short poking around Tokyo. He called up Akai, who recommended an old classmate, Mahiro Maeda (Evangelion, Kill Bill Vol. 1, The Animatrix). Maeda brought along a friend, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (character designer for Evangelion), who later described his impression of Anno at Artland as the “tall fellow who sometimes [walked] around in his bare feet.” At Artland, Anno’s mechanical animation prowess was readily evident and he was reportedly part of the “Mecha Squad” alongside famed animator Ichiro Itano. Intense almost to a fault, Sadamoto found Anno unapproachable at the studio, citing the fact that he was always talking loudly to himself. Intrigued by his intensity, Sadamoto finally asked Maeda just who that guy was, to which Maeda responded, “That’s Anno. He worked on Daicon III. He loves to draw mecha.” - from BY HIS SIGNATURE YOU’LL KNOW HIM: EARLY ILLUSTRATIONS BY HIDEAKI ANNO, by Sean O’Mara -- source link