This week the fifteenth episode of “Sousou no Frieren (Frieren:
Beyond Journey's) was broadcast End)”, which continued Frieren, Fern, Stark
and Sein's journey to the northern end of the world. One scene in particular
from this episode immediately caught the eye, showing a dance between
Stark and Fern, who had to learn etiquette as part of a noble's assignment .
It is common for scenes involving a large amount of
precise and detailed movements to be realized with the help of CGI,
creating a sequence of movements to which only the models are attached Of the
characters. The interesting thing, however, is that this complicated
dance scene did not use that resource, but was done completely by hand.
This was confirmed Keiichirou Saitou, project director:
- «I thank MYOUN for taking care of the entire dance scene with the storyboards, and the other trusted people who were in charge of this scene that only consists of two panels in the original manga. Also, all the dance moves were hand-drawn by the animators, there is no use of CGI».
In response, MYOUN himself shared a fragment of the
scene from the storyboards, confirming that all the movements were done by
hand:
The director continued explaining about the scene, revealing
that all the dance steps were planned with the help of a dance academy in Japan,
considering that the original scene in the manga only has two panels:
- «Many thanks also to the Tatsuro Otake Dance Academy for their help in choreographing the dance scenes. It was exciting to see the flow of the scene on the ground and build the dance choreography with demonstrations. Thanks also to Evan Call for the beautiful music in this scene».
And if you're wondering how this scene occurs within the original manga, you'll be impressed to know that it barely takes up two panels of Chapter 32, so Madhouse's work in creating a long scene with so little source material is definitely spectacular.
It is evident that “Sousou no Frieren (Frieren: Beyond
Journey's End)” continues to be one of the greatest productions of the year
2023, something that is demonstrated by the fact that, unlike other series that
have reached the first historical position from MyAnimeList and they lost it in
a matter of hours, this series has maintained the first position for weeks. And
of course, this whole dance revelation did not pass without comments:
- «Easily
one of the best sequences of the year. Sousou no Frieren has been bringing
some of the most beautiful moments to watch and experience since its first
minute. Congratulations to Madhouse for such a spectacular project».
- «This
was incredibly beautiful to see. Such elegance cannot go unnoticed so
easily. The music was amazing too. My fanatic heart did nothing but scream
at this scene. I've always wanted to see it animated ever since I read the
original manga, and I must say that I'm not disappointed in the slightest».
- «Keep
in mind that in the original manga this scene was only two panels, it's
incredible what Madhouse can do when inspired».
- «Rotoscopy?
CGI? Madhouse doesn't know those things, and always has the best animators
to bring the simplest manga scenes to life».
- «MYOUN's
work is incredible, high quality drawings with perfect execution, steps
with an adequate rhythm and a perfect tandem between the couple. It is an
impressive work executed to perfection».
- «The
whole dance scene in the most recent episode of Sousou no Frieren was done
by hand, I can't believe it».
- «When
I was watching this scene I thought: “Wow, what a beautiful couple dance.”
I also thought about how many hours and knowledge it must have taken to
draw and animate it, especially since they didn't want to resort to CGI».
- «It's
incredible, I think that everything the director of Bocchi the Rock! From
now on he will receive nothing but applause. The guy is a directing
genius, pulling scenes like that out of simple panels of a manga. And, of
course, the animators he is in charge of are not far behind in terms of
merit ».
- «What?
Are you telling me none of that was CGI? It's impressive!».
- «The
movements were so smooth that I also thought it was CGI. It's amazing how
detailed each episode of this anime is».
- «The
dance scene was spectacular, I don't dispute it, but I also think that the
musicians' movements were synchronized with the reality of the symphony. I
think they even started to draw them watching a real musician perform the
same piece».
Fuente: Otakomu
