Create a Magical Garden

Anime Supernova

Anime Supernova showcases the brightest stars exploding onto Japan's animation scene!

This time, we're featuring Ryo-timo, a creator pursuing new forms of animation that transcend the boundaries between hand-drawn art and 3DCG.

The freelance animation director produces works with mystical worldviews that feature the texture of hand-drawn art with 3D depth.

I find space and time to be
the most fascinating parts of creation.

I'm currently working on different ways
to portray those things.

Create comforting,
miniature garden-like works

Let's look at the three elements of Ryo-timo's artistry.

The first is, "Let hand-drawn characters play in 3DCG worlds."

Ryo-timo has loved to draw ever since he was a child.

You could always find him drawing cartoons in his notebook whenever he had free time.

After working for a video game company, he became a hand-drawn animator, and was involved in numerous animated films.

The charm of hand-drawn animation
is how it conveys the animator's feelings.

Passion and emotion
comes directly through the hand.

In his early 30s, Ryo-timo decided to take on a new challenge.

He wanted to take the characters he made, and make them move in his own original world.

I grew conscious about making the characters
feel like they were real.

I wanted to be able to watch the characters
in the same way we observe animals.

Ryo-timo decided to use 3DCG to create the different settings of the work.

This way, he can have his characters move freely in the world he created.

With 3D, you can see inside
and outside the space.

Plus, you can go wherever you want
in that space.

It fulfills the human desire to explore.

Ryo-timo also came up with a method of combining 3DCG with the hand-drawn art he had spent years refining.

He made full use of 3DCG software to turn hand-drawn backgrounds into three-dimensional objects.

Ryo-timo researched different methods of making hand-drawn art three-dimensional.

He successfully found a way to retain the hand-drawn feel of the images, while using 3DCG's complete freedom of expression.

The range of expression
is so wide now.

Separating 2D and 3D
is just a conventional idea.

Combine methods
to expand the range of expression

This ambitious work by Ryo-timo merges 2D and 3D expression.

The second aspect of Ryo-timo's artistry is "Visualize the feeling of music."

In 2020, Ryo-timo was approached to direct his first music video.

It was a track by the popular artist Eve.

The chorus of the song was so exhilarating.

I wanted to express it
like running through a moment.

Ryo-timo came up with the idea of a camera speeding across a snowfield.

To solidify his vision, he used an AR app on his smartphone that lets users draw pictures in a 3D space.

He drew trees in a snowfield, then let his smartphone camera run through the scene.

Basically, he scouted for locations inside of his smartphone.

I wanted the camera
to move throughout the background.

It gave me a sense of
running through the space.

Using the images in his head as a reference, Ryo-timo built the snowfield set in 3DCG.

He moved the camera quickly to increase the sense of speed.

And he also layered smoke-like snow effects to add more atmosphere.

This is how Ryo-timo was able to give the scene a sense of speediness.

Even a small bit of energy
can push us forward.

This song expresses that positive message.

I wanted to create imagery
that could bring back childhood energy.

The music video tells the story of a young man recovering his soul.

In this world of white
What color will we be?

In the moments given to me
I've steered this ship as best I can

"Still incomplete, still incomplete"

"So many things I don't know
Drowning in my ego"

"I was already aware, already aware"

"Accelerating body temperature
depicts my agitation"

"I just don't want it to end like this"

"Let's start our fleeting story"

"Dreaming of a white sea
Words just aren't enough"

"From the tips of my heated fingers
I began to melt your heart"

"If this is a dream,
please don't wake me up"

"We did a lot of stupid things
But we still had a good time"

"Even if this moment never comes again"

"It will never disappear"

The third aspect of Ryo-timo's artistry is "create a new animation production system."

For his latest work, "night world", Ryo-timo took on a new production style.

The story depicts the emotional struggles that women face as they grow into adults.

The theme song is performed by Aimer.

In most cases, more than 100 staff members would be needed to produce a 30-minute animation.

A small staff of about 30 people, including scriptwriters, art directors, and animators, worked together to complete this 27-minute piece.

I'm building a new production structure
so smaller teams can create what they want.

In order to share the direction of the work and maintain its high quality,

Ryo-timo used digital tools to explain his vision to a limited number of elite staff members.

He shared 3DCG guide visuals and explanations with his entire staff.

Animators would then create the animation based on Ryo-timo's guides.

The 3DCG animation I made
was just a simple and bland creation,

but the animators were able to add
some amazing performances.

They made sure the emotion came out strong,
and all I had to do was say, "Thank you."

The target for this work was women from their late teens to 30s.

Ryo-timo aimed to create hand-drawn, rustic visuals, rather than a 3DCG look, to fit the target audience's taste.

I spent a lot of time consulting with art staff
about using flat objects.

I gave them a 3D layout
and they came back with flat drawings.

We went from there.

The staff took Ryo-timo's guide images and came up with the idea of placing flat backgrounds in a 3DCG space.

In this way, the work would both feel like a picture book wh,ile maintaining a three-dimensional look.

I was so pleased with every cut.

I couldn't stop saying,
"This is way more than I expected!"

Continue to explore
animation production systems

Torn apart by the death of her dog, a young girl wanders into the mysterious night world.

What a splendid midnight.

Hello. Pleased to meet you at this late hour.
My name is Yoru.

Beautiful place, is it not?

This is the night world.

The realm of the darkest,
most beautiful time during earth's rotation and your heart.

However...
the stars are ever so few tonight.

There are hardly any left.

The dark, dark night
exists for you.

It hurts. It hurts so much.

I don't want to be alone.

Very well.

He was scared of the dark,
but he looks happy.

He's here with me.

This is the realm of your heart.

Choco will always be inside of it.

Your tears will become the
stars that light the night.

Ryo-timo currently streams and distributes 3DCG technical courses online.

His focus is on training young creators.

Ryo-timo

What are you aiming for as a creator?

I want to open the production process up
more and more.

Make it so that anyone can easily make
an original animation.

And on new projects, they can also be
a network of creators I can call on.

Creation that feels like playing