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Direction/composite mismatches and how they affect some projects

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Mar 11, 3:06 AM
#1

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Jun 2022
1549
As some of the MAL users may know my obsession towards direction and overall behind the curtain of "anime", myself after reading too many sakugablog posts at 2 am😅.


There is very important topic, I would like to dive deep in to because of how certain departments may affect adaptation presentation and even other otherwise great excecuted departments in certain adaptations as well.

Let's start what is "composite":

"Composite", may be thought of it as live action acting phase to final image, however in "anime" it is refering to an shadowing, lighting, post process effects e.g depth of field, bloom etc.

In which features the same overlaping name with "photography"

"Photography
Photography (撮影, Satsuei): The marriage of elements produced by different departments into a finished picture, involving filtering to make it more harmonious. A name inherited from the past, when cameras were actually used during this process."

https://blog.sakugabooru.com/glossary/photography/

As it shows, it requires all departments to be in harmony to make the project look very good.


Now regarding the main topic:

As composite is another heart and soul of the project defining the series look and atmoshpere, it is very important to do this correctly especially in terms of how written sources e.g manga are translated to filmmaking medium by properly representing what was stated in the written text and what happened inside the panel as the manga is black and white medium in which readers are filling the gaps in their brain, however in animation it is very different case and animation as filmmaking medium must show this literally.


Like for example, if there is a scene stated in written text regarding "tense atmosphere" many are imagining more hasrher collor palletes like white, red and how it bounces of the enviroment to make it impact.

Examples of great composite (which most "anime" do this very well):

One piece episode 1015;


Jujutsu kaisen season 3 episode 1;



Rebuild evangelion 3.0+1.0;



Now, how poorly mismatched directorial/composite choices affecting certain adaptations;

After these examples can be seen how very important composite and overall every other departments are required to harmonize to make the project look very good, however there are certain anime adaptations I would like to speak about regarding certain misconetpions of these and provide concrete examples.

Such as for example poor composite may make otherwise great key animation end up painfully bad, which one piece post timeskip pre whole cake Island arc long struggled with, having not enough punch to make the scenes click because of poor composite and aside some well done composite in this era which usually was done by episode directors such as Aya Komaki who could in whole cake Island turn relatively plain rare one piece chapter in to musical number with great composite, Ryota Nakamura, etc before that wano composite overhaul done by Tatsyuya Nagamine (rest in peace) one piece anime post timeskip pre wci struggled a lot which made great key animation end up painfully bad even when the direction was splendind as well.


Another example is regarded by the community "infamous" opm s3, because even when the key animation was very good in some scenes great somewhat as well. The poor composite mismatches mad the great key animation look very bad, and even when the schedule would be great. The project such as season 3 cour 1 would be still mismatched due to poor direction mishandling in which even when s3 cour 2 based on the release date slated for 2027 will be night and day difference as it ought to be them started production in december 2025 and again it is slated in 2027 so the quality will be without a doubt better. It will still make great key animation look painfully bad due to potentially poor direction as well.


Verdict:

As it can be seen, all departments are as equally important as key animation to be in harmony to make the project look very good because if there will be one department detached or two, then entire departments won't be harmonized and as the result of it the quality will be very inconsistent as well.


So what do you think of this, and what are your examples of poorly mismatched directorial and composite choices based on the "anime" watched?
jacobPOLMar 11, 3:09 AM
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Mar 11, 3:27 AM
#2

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Oct 2010
22799
worst directed anime ever is chainsaw man and anything made by mappa, all are a bunch of incompetent fools
Mar 11, 9:50 AM
#3

Offline
Feb 2016
17440
Ikuhara was not a good fit for Sailor Moon. While I think he did well directing R, the movie makes it clear how heavily his style clashes with Takeuchi's.
その目だれの目?
Mar 11, 10:12 AM
#4

Offline
Sep 2025
283
Kyoto Animation has been one of the best at the whole composite technique. It's really fun to watch those short making videos they put out during the airing of Hibike! Euphonium 3: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTNhweghpLi0csmKCsoOuN1AaSe_9yr7M

Also this from Liz to Aoi Tori


Don't Worry,
Everything Is
gonna Happy ♡
Mar 11, 11:14 AM
#5

Offline
Jun 2022
1549
Reply to SapioGalion
Kyoto Animation has been one of the best at the whole composite technique. It's really fun to watch those short making videos they put out during the airing of Hibike! Euphonium 3: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTNhweghpLi0csmKCsoOuN1AaSe_9yr7M

Also this from Liz to Aoi Tori


@SapioGalion True, and overall many things surrounding "anime" how makes them incredible is that composite which adds that punch it needs within the scenes, another direction/composite prowess project is "Burn the witch" how it perfectly captured the magical beauty of reverse london, especially how the light was bouncing off from street lanterns complemententing the scenery even more as well which then 'casue of that enviromental bounce casted shadows on characters and props very accurately, it is really impressive.

Burn the witch ending song captures it perfectly as well;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHLKcMC6F-4

Edit: I also recommend this very first clip of burn the witch OVA project

And how impressive composite was like how in the tight corridor of the street there was limited light source from the sun which only half of it was covered while everything else was shadow casted added so much immersion as well.
jacobPOLMar 11, 11:20 AM
I am non transfareable license with my own EULA and TOS, as set forth by Back-office support non disclosure agreements.

Non transfareable license may or will include informal feedback loop as per TOS rules, granted by non transfareable license.

You may not read non transfareable licensed threads other than...Voluntary engagement.

I wonder which chromium is the best chromium, I don't know which chromium I like the most as let's see... late win10 and win11 UI's are internet websites wrapped in chromium, steam website wrapped in chromium, spotify site wrapped in chromium, minecraf launcher uses webview 2 and cef which are both chromiums, 99% of browsers are chromium, egs/EA app/ubisoft connect are websites wrapped in chromium, in game overlays are websites wrapped in chromium, PWAs are chromium. So I wonder which I like the most🤔
Mar 11, 2:37 PM
#6

Offline
Sep 2025
283
Reply to jacobPOL
@SapioGalion True, and overall many things surrounding "anime" how makes them incredible is that composite which adds that punch it needs within the scenes, another direction/composite prowess project is "Burn the witch" how it perfectly captured the magical beauty of reverse london, especially how the light was bouncing off from street lanterns complemententing the scenery even more as well which then 'casue of that enviromental bounce casted shadows on characters and props very accurately, it is really impressive.

Burn the witch ending song captures it perfectly as well;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHLKcMC6F-4

Edit: I also recommend this very first clip of burn the witch OVA project

And how impressive composite was like how in the tight corridor of the street there was limited light source from the sun which only half of it was covered while everything else was shadow casted added so much immersion as well.
@jacobPOL
Ooh, yes, the Burn the Witch OVA was really well made! I really loved the lighting, how they did the contrast between light and dark, day and night, etc.

Don't Worry,
Everything Is
gonna Happy ♡
Mar 11, 2:40 PM
#7

Offline
Jun 2022
1549
Reply to SapioGalion
@jacobPOL
Ooh, yes, the Burn the Witch OVA was really well made! I really loved the lighting, how they did the contrast between light and dark, day and night, etc.

@SapioGalion True, I was impressed especially a lot how they captured already impressive day cycle of reversed london but at night, how light from lanters bounced off the streets creating warm orange collor pallete among many other things as well.
I am non transfareable license with my own EULA and TOS, as set forth by Back-office support non disclosure agreements.

Non transfareable license may or will include informal feedback loop as per TOS rules, granted by non transfareable license.

You may not read non transfareable licensed threads other than...Voluntary engagement.

I wonder which chromium is the best chromium, I don't know which chromium I like the most as let's see... late win10 and win11 UI's are internet websites wrapped in chromium, steam website wrapped in chromium, spotify site wrapped in chromium, minecraf launcher uses webview 2 and cef which are both chromiums, 99% of browsers are chromium, egs/EA app/ubisoft connect are websites wrapped in chromium, in game overlays are websites wrapped in chromium, PWAs are chromium. So I wonder which I like the most🤔
6 hours ago
#8
Offline
Apr 2019
538
There are several examples of excellent compositing.
What would be an example of a mismatch between the director’s vision and the compositing?

One clear example is the 2002 Japanese DVD release of «Spirited Away,» which had a color grading that was noticeably reddish (I am unaware of the circumstances regarding overseas editions, as each licensee handles their own releases). Studio Ghibli insisted that this was the intended color scheme and refused to acknowledge any manufacturing defect, but in later versions, the color was tinted to a neutral tone without offering any verbal response to the criticism.
In «Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki,» which depicts the clash between samurai and the Mongol army in the late 13th century, a texture like a coarse paper was applied across the entire screen. The intention was likely to give the impression that the illustrations on an oriental scroll were coming to life, but to viewers, it appeared distracting, which undermined their focus on the screen. I felt as though I were watching through a scene set in everlasting sleety rain.
Other than that, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Can you show me the example of a mismatch more, with images included?

Where do you draw the line in determining whether this failure should truly be attributed solely to the process of the composite?
6 hours ago
#9
Offline
Apr 2019
538
In the anime production pipeline, the final stage is mastering. The stage immediately preceding that is multitrack audio work. Before that comes editing (line editing). Compositing is positioned immediately before editing.
If a schedule bottleneck occurs in the upstream stages, the subsequent stages must absorb the entire delay. If necessary, the compositing team must make up for the lost time within their allotted schedule. When assessing a downgrade in compositing quality, one must consider cases where the cause lies not only in a lack of creative direction but also in time constraints.

After the premiere version is released, revisions may be made for subsequent versions (here it took Studio Ghibli 10 years to do this).
The “mysterious beam of light” that appears as a god's hand of self-censorship for sensual or gory scenes is the job of the compositing department. The specific areas and scope of corrections are determined after a rush screening for producers.
It is not uncommon for work to be sent back to compositing after editing has been completed.
6 hours ago
Offline
Apr 2019
538
Having an in-house compositing team at a studio has both advantages and drawbacks. OP pointed the merit out.

Compositing is a department that has no task in the early stages of a project. While having a dedicated composite department within the studio may facilitate communication, the team members will inevitably be assigned to other production lines when they have downtime, so they cannot focus exclusively on a single project. In this regard, they are no different from an external compositing studio.

Many specialized compositing studios also handle the entire range of digital post-production processes, including editing, in addition to compositing. In such cases, PP staff collaboration improves, and workflows remain consistent. Capital investment is also more efficient, allowing time-consuming computational tasks to be executed quickly using high-performance equipment.

The sakuga department has a large staff but requires minimal capital investment. It operates on a system where expenses are adjusted based on staff turnover. Post-production departments assign only a few staff for a project and depreciate expensive equipment over five years. With a high proportion of fixed costs, they require a highly planned investment policy. Given their financial structures, it is not easy for the two to coexist.

Furthermore, the strategies for allocating resources differ between weekly series and feature-length films. Specialized post-production studios may excel in handling feature-length productions.

It seems that the compositing team involves closer collaboration with the work of layout artists―who handle the preliminary stages of production―than does the core sakuga section. I think that the relationship between the two in this context is similar to that between a photographer taking pictures of the building and an architect drawing floor plans.
6 hours ago
Offline
Apr 2019
538
It is now feasible to combine hundreds of layers and hundreds of thousands of elements within a reasonable timeframe because of improvements in graphics workstations' processing capability.
Promotional campaigns for theatrical anime productions frequently use behind-the-scenes video that highlights the production's enormous scope.
In a sense, this is nothing but the Hollywood style (or even the Cantonese style) applied in live-action movies.

Japanese anime has traditionally focused on achieving unique expressions with limited resources to move audiences. This aligns with an aesthetic that strips away the superfluous. I believe this aesthetic will prove particularly advantageous as we face off against AI-generated imagery, which can be as verbose as the director pleases.
I praise and respect composite artists who can achieve sufficient results with the bare minimum of assets and complexity (and I suspect that such artisans often work with specialized facilities outside integrated anime studios).
6 hours ago

Offline
Jun 2022
1549
Reply to aReviewer
There are several examples of excellent compositing.
What would be an example of a mismatch between the director’s vision and the compositing?

One clear example is the 2002 Japanese DVD release of «Spirited Away,» which had a color grading that was noticeably reddish (I am unaware of the circumstances regarding overseas editions, as each licensee handles their own releases). Studio Ghibli insisted that this was the intended color scheme and refused to acknowledge any manufacturing defect, but in later versions, the color was tinted to a neutral tone without offering any verbal response to the criticism.
In «Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki,» which depicts the clash between samurai and the Mongol army in the late 13th century, a texture like a coarse paper was applied across the entire screen. The intention was likely to give the impression that the illustrations on an oriental scroll were coming to life, but to viewers, it appeared distracting, which undermined their focus on the screen. I felt as though I were watching through a scene set in everlasting sleety rain.
Other than that, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Can you show me the example of a mismatch more, with images included?

Where do you draw the line in determining whether this failure should truly be attributed solely to the process of the composite?
@aReviewer
Can you show me the example of a mismatch more, with images included?


Sure, because composite is the most important factor determining quality of the anime which requires full departemental harmonization

Here are examples: my hero academia season 6 which suffered from it the most due to TV tokyo's 17 30 jst primetime slot making it very limiting what staff could do with composite

Spoiler tag: mha s6 spoilers, one piece, hunter x hunter



Though, some anime sometimes weaponized dry composite such as toei piece pre wano whole cake island to it's advantage so to capture surrealism of the island and one of the isolatated characters as well, and there were good composite episodes post timeskip pre wano, like Aya Komaki and Ryota Nakamura episodes for example, but this was through sheer brute forcing of composite which still had limitations to largely absent compositing team as well



Where do you draw the line in determining whether this failure should truly be attributed solely to the process of the composite?


Composite, is truly the final determining factor of anime's quality because the staff are elite as them survived the worst aka geidai exams which only 0.1% passes per year, and every department matters basically being essentially the battle for deperamental harmonization because if one department will be detached let's say key animation which has no understanding of body language, body weight nor timing in favor of eye candy smears aka western sakuga bubble's self taught freellancers which thankfully this era of early to mid 2010s non hitotsubashi group anime (which hitotsubashi group and it's partenered studios never abandoned such fundamentals) has been over, transitioning in favor of in house formally trained staff with stable wage system and formally trained freelancers as well.

I apologize for my, long ahh post😅
I am non transfareable license with my own EULA and TOS, as set forth by Back-office support non disclosure agreements.

Non transfareable license may or will include informal feedback loop as per TOS rules, granted by non transfareable license.

You may not read non transfareable licensed threads other than...Voluntary engagement.

I wonder which chromium is the best chromium, I don't know which chromium I like the most as let's see... late win10 and win11 UI's are internet websites wrapped in chromium, steam website wrapped in chromium, spotify site wrapped in chromium, minecraf launcher uses webview 2 and cef which are both chromiums, 99% of browsers are chromium, egs/EA app/ubisoft connect are websites wrapped in chromium, in game overlays are websites wrapped in chromium, PWAs are chromium. So I wonder which I like the most🤔
6 hours ago

Offline
Jun 2022
1549
Reply to aReviewer
Having an in-house compositing team at a studio has both advantages and drawbacks. OP pointed the merit out.

Compositing is a department that has no task in the early stages of a project. While having a dedicated composite department within the studio may facilitate communication, the team members will inevitably be assigned to other production lines when they have downtime, so they cannot focus exclusively on a single project. In this regard, they are no different from an external compositing studio.

Many specialized compositing studios also handle the entire range of digital post-production processes, including editing, in addition to compositing. In such cases, PP staff collaboration improves, and workflows remain consistent. Capital investment is also more efficient, allowing time-consuming computational tasks to be executed quickly using high-performance equipment.

The sakuga department has a large staff but requires minimal capital investment. It operates on a system where expenses are adjusted based on staff turnover. Post-production departments assign only a few staff for a project and depreciate expensive equipment over five years. With a high proportion of fixed costs, they require a highly planned investment policy. Given their financial structures, it is not easy for the two to coexist.

Furthermore, the strategies for allocating resources differ between weekly series and feature-length films. Specialized post-production studios may excel in handling feature-length productions.

It seems that the compositing team involves closer collaboration with the work of layout artists―who handle the preliminary stages of production―than does the core sakuga section. I think that the relationship between the two in this context is similar to that between a photographer taking pictures of the building and an architect drawing floor plans.
@aReviewer
The sakuga department has a large staff but requires minimal capital investment. It operates on a system where expenses are adjusted based on staff turnover. Post-production departments assign only a few staff for a project and depreciate expensive equipment over five years. With a high proportion of fixed costs, they require a highly planned investment policy. Given their financial structures, it is not easy for the two to coexist.


'Sakuga' word has been long apropiated by western places to refer to particularly good animation, which is largely false as animation medium is an filmmaking medium which what is refered to is simply eye candy smears by the western sakuga online cirles, which is not how the anime production work as afformentioned previously, it is battle of depertamental harmonization because if one department is detached, then entire project collapses or heavily undermines otherwise excellent anime.

"Sakuga
Sakuga (作画): Technically drawing pictures but more specifically animation. Western fans have long since appropriated the word to refer to instances of particularly good animation, in the same way that a subset of Japanese fans do. Pretty integral to our sites’ brand."

Source:

https://blog.sakugabooru.com/glossary/sakuga/
I am non transfareable license with my own EULA and TOS, as set forth by Back-office support non disclosure agreements.

Non transfareable license may or will include informal feedback loop as per TOS rules, granted by non transfareable license.

You may not read non transfareable licensed threads other than...Voluntary engagement.

I wonder which chromium is the best chromium, I don't know which chromium I like the most as let's see... late win10 and win11 UI's are internet websites wrapped in chromium, steam website wrapped in chromium, spotify site wrapped in chromium, minecraf launcher uses webview 2 and cef which are both chromiums, 99% of browsers are chromium, egs/EA app/ubisoft connect are websites wrapped in chromium, in game overlays are websites wrapped in chromium, PWAs are chromium. So I wonder which I like the most🤔
5 hours ago

Offline
Jun 2022
1549
Reply to aReviewer
It is now feasible to combine hundreds of layers and hundreds of thousands of elements within a reasonable timeframe because of improvements in graphics workstations' processing capability.
Promotional campaigns for theatrical anime productions frequently use behind-the-scenes video that highlights the production's enormous scope.
In a sense, this is nothing but the Hollywood style (or even the Cantonese style) applied in live-action movies.

Japanese anime has traditionally focused on achieving unique expressions with limited resources to move audiences. This aligns with an aesthetic that strips away the superfluous. I believe this aesthetic will prove particularly advantageous as we face off against AI-generated imagery, which can be as verbose as the director pleases.
I praise and respect composite artists who can achieve sufficient results with the bare minimum of assets and complexity (and I suspect that such artisans often work with specialized facilities outside integrated anime studios).
@aReviewer The animation industry, does not care about 'generative AI content" because, as mentioned above, it requires proper understanding of body language, weight and timing to match the scene mood via composite, never be too fast nor too slow aka matching editing process, so on and so forth.

Which, requires full departamental harmonization to make the project very good however if project has one or worse even more departments detached then the project collapses as well.
I am non transfareable license with my own EULA and TOS, as set forth by Back-office support non disclosure agreements.

Non transfareable license may or will include informal feedback loop as per TOS rules, granted by non transfareable license.

You may not read non transfareable licensed threads other than...Voluntary engagement.

I wonder which chromium is the best chromium, I don't know which chromium I like the most as let's see... late win10 and win11 UI's are internet websites wrapped in chromium, steam website wrapped in chromium, spotify site wrapped in chromium, minecraf launcher uses webview 2 and cef which are both chromiums, 99% of browsers are chromium, egs/EA app/ubisoft connect are websites wrapped in chromium, in game overlays are websites wrapped in chromium, PWAs are chromium. So I wonder which I like the most🤔
3 hours ago

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Jul 2013
15414
I am not an expert at anime, I don't understand the specific details of anime production TBH.
i am streaming all of my anime for viewing......
2 hours ago

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Jun 2022
1549
Reply to DesuMaiden
I am not an expert at anime, I don't understand the specific details of anime production TBH.
@DesuMaiden I recommend these resources if interested in anime production behind the scenes:

Sakugablog;

Which has staff interview very often, glosary on anime behind the scenes etc

https://blog.sakugabooru.com/


https://blog.sakugabooru.com/glossary/

Anime News Network;

Which has staff interviews very often as well, able to track every departamental staff of who did what etc as well

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/
I am non transfareable license with my own EULA and TOS, as set forth by Back-office support non disclosure agreements.

Non transfareable license may or will include informal feedback loop as per TOS rules, granted by non transfareable license.

You may not read non transfareable licensed threads other than...Voluntary engagement.

I wonder which chromium is the best chromium, I don't know which chromium I like the most as let's see... late win10 and win11 UI's are internet websites wrapped in chromium, steam website wrapped in chromium, spotify site wrapped in chromium, minecraf launcher uses webview 2 and cef which are both chromiums, 99% of browsers are chromium, egs/EA app/ubisoft connect are websites wrapped in chromium, in game overlays are websites wrapped in chromium, PWAs are chromium. So I wonder which I like the most🤔

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