Shaft was founded as a yūgen-gaisha on September 1, 1975, by ex-Mushi Production employee Hiroshi Wakao.[3][4] Much of the company's early work was sub-contracting work for larger animation studios,[5] which includes credits to cel painting and color coordination work, such as with Brave Raideen (1975–76),[6] and occasionally credits as an assistant production studio for projects including Pierrot's Urusei Yatsura: Only You (1983).[7] A large portion of the company's early painting work was contracted under Sunrise productions.
1984–2004: Move to animation production
In 1984, Shaft was sub-contracted by studio Zuiyo to animate the Elves of the Forest television series, marking the company's first project as a primary animation studio.[h] Not until 1987, however, with the release of the Yume kara, Samenaioriginal video animation (OVA),[9] did the studio release its first wholly-original production. In the same year, the studio produced the first episode of the Taiman Blues: Naoto Shimizu-hen OVA series.[10]
For the next several years, the company returned to sub-contracting work based on animation production services rather than its painting services, such as with the Mushi Production film Ushiro no Shoumen Daare (1991).[11] In 1995, the studio moved to producing full-length series, starting with Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger.[12] By this time, several directors and animators had joined the studio, such as Toshimasa Suzuki and Kenji Yasuda; however, one of the most important series in the company's early history was an outsourcing contract they took on in 1996: Legend of Crystania: The Chaos Ring, which began the studio's relationship with director Ryūtarō Nakamura and studio Triangle Staff.[13] The second episode of the OVA series was outsourced to Shaft, and both Nakamura and Triangle Staff's president (Yoshimi Asari) visited Shaft while delivering the episode's storyboard.[13]Mitsutoshi Kubota, a studio color designer turned production manager at the time, met with the two,[13] and from then they would collaborate on several more projects together, such as Shaft producing an episode of Nakamura and Triangle Staff's Kino's Journey television series,[13] and Nakamura later directing a television series and Kino's Journey film at the studio.[13]
In 1998, Radix produced a 26-episode adaptation of Kia Asamiya's manga Silent Möbius; and although produced as a Radix production, Shaft was contracted as an outsourcing company for the entire series, and according to Kubota served as the production site for the series (rather than Radix).[14] Shaft was also responsible for selecting the staff, and chief director Hideki Tonokatsu worked from the studio.[14]Nobuyuki Takeuchi left Studio Giants in the early 90s, and Shaft offered him a seat at the studio as a freelancing animator; and for Silent Möbius, he took on the role of "animation director" (not referring to the correction of drawings).[14] Kubota felt that Takeuchi would eventually play a central role in Shaft's works succeeding the series, and he eventually became an integral part of many of the productions made with Shinbo.[14]
Shaft entered co-operations with studios Gainax and TNK around 2000. The first of the productions under these co-operations was Mahoromatic (2001) and its sequel Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful (2002–03), both with Gainax and under the direction of Hiroyuki Yamaga.[15] 2002 was also the release of the studio's production with TNK, G-On Riders.[16] In 2003 and 2004, the studio produced an adaptation of the visual novel Popotan,[17] and later This Ugly yet Beautiful World, an original series co-produced with Gainax and director Shouji Saeki.[15] The development of This Ugly yet Beautiful World began when members of Mahoromatic said that they wanted to do another work with the team, which included both the voice actors and staff members.[18] While searching for scriptwriting and directing staff to work on the project, Saeki and Gainax producer Hiroki Satou mentioned that it would involve much of the Mahoromatic staff to those they invited, such as director Shin Itagaki and writer Sumio Uetake.[19]
2004–2017: Kubota and Team Shinbo era
In 2004, Wakao was succeeded as Shaft's representative director by Kubota, though he remained a chairman on the studio's board.[3] After watching The SoulTaker (2001) and Le Portrait de Petit Cossette (2004), both works directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, Kubota decided that he wanted to work with Shinbo to create a uniquely identifiable brand for the studio.[20] In October 2004, the studio animated its first production with Shinbo as director, Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase,[21] and he began serving as an executive director and mentor to the studio's staff.[5]
Shaft's final co-production with Gainax came in 2005 with He Is My Master.[22] The same year saw the first animated production under the influence of "Team Shinbo", a director trio consisting of Shinbo, Shin Oonuma, and Tatsuya Oishi, who played a vital role in the studio's early stylistic decisions.[5][23] Shinbo had invited both Oonuma and Oishi to direct episodes under him having seen their work under him on previous projects outside of Shaft.[24] The next two years also saw the release of the REC (2006) and Kino's Journey: Country of Illness -For You- (2007),[25][26] the aforementioned series directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura,[13] which would be the last series produced by Shaft not to feature any involvement by Shinbo for more than a decade.
In 2009, Shinbo and Oishi directed Bakemonogatari, which was later characterized as a hallmark of the studio's unique aesthetics. It gained a cult-like following among fans in both Japan and the West for its narrative and "visually striking" animation and artistic qualities.[27][28][29]Polygon named it as the series that "pushed studio Shaft into the spotlight",[30] and the series was chosen as the "best anime series of 2009" by the Tokyo Anime Award Festival in 2017.[31] Following Bakemonogatari, the studio produced yet another critical and financial hit two years later with Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Madoka Magica is regarded by several publications and critics as one of the greatest anime productions of all time,[32][33][34] and the series' financial and critical success spawned a franchise consisting of several films, television series, and games produced in part or in whole by Shaft. Along with the Monogatari series, Madoka Magica is considered to be one of the most financially successful anime products in Japan, with both series maintaining the highest average sales of DVDs, Blu-Rays, and re-releases in Japan.[35] In 2012, the studio returned to animating the Monogatari series with Nisemonogatari, albeit with director Tomoyuki Itamura in place of Oishi.[36] Itamura and Shinbo produced a subsequent Monogatari season every year up until Zoku Owarimonogatari (2018), which is the only Monogatari season to feature Shinbo as the sole director.[37]
English logo used from 2010–2017
The early-to-mid 2010s brought more changes to the studio's creative staff and the studio itself. For one, 2015 was the year Shaft reorganized from a yūgen-gaisha to a kabushiki-gaisha.[3] Several directors also ended up leaving around this time, such as Kenichi Ishikura after serving as assistant director on Mahō Sensei Negima! Anime Final in 2011, Shinichi Omata around 2012, and Naoyuki Tatsuwa after he directed Gourmet Girl Graffiti in 2015. A number of other notable directors were brought into the studio around this time, however, such as directors Yuki Yase, Kenjirou Okada, Hajime Ootani, and Midori Yoshizawa. Tatsuya Oishi disappeared from the public spotlight in the early 2010s after he began production on the Kizumonogatari film trilogy, which was released in 2016 and 2017.[38] Shaft's animation work on the trilogy has been praised as being uniquely experimental with 2D and CG effects, which some reviewers described as not always mixing well, but has nonetheless been called "gorgeous."[38][39][40]
In the late 2010s, a number of other creative staff left the studio. Yuki Yase left after directing The Beheading Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense Bearer (2016–17),[41] taking animation producer Kousuke Matsunaga with him to work on Fire Force at David Production (as well as CG director Shinya Takano and at-the-time production assistants Reo Honjouya and Hisashi Sugawara); Tomoyuki Itamura, who had directed the rest of the Monogatari series after Oishi's commitment to Kizumonogatari, left after the production of Owarimonogatari II (2017);[42] Izumi Takizawa, a color designer with the studio since the late 90s, followed Itamura.[43]
2017–present: Post-Team Shinbo
In 2017, directors Kenjirou Okada and Nobuyuki Takeuchi directed their debuts as series/film directors with March Comes In like a Lion (2016–18) and Fireworks (2017),[44][45] but the following year experienced a hiatus from the animation industry. The film version of Zoku Owarimonogatari was the studio's only original, non-continuing release that year, and its televised release was the studio's only main project the following year. The studio was, however, outsourced to for an episode of Tezuka Productions' adaptation of The Quintessential Quintuplets (2019).[46] The entirety of the episode was produced at Shaft, with Midori Yoshizawa as episode director and a majority of the Shaft production team working on the episode, including the studio's colorists, animators, and photographers (the episode is also the only episode to feature a separate photography director, that being Shaft's Rei Egami). One version of the story that led to Shaft's involvement with the work was that TBS producer Junichirou Tanaka met CEO Kubota at a dinner party once and had asked on his knees for Shaft's help in producing the first half of the series' 11th episode, but during conversation Kubota noted that he knew of the issues with the production and decided that Shaft would be capable of producing the entire episode.[46] Alternatively, in another interview, Tanaka said that Tezuka Productions hadn't received enough time to produce the series, so he tried phoning a number of production companies and eventually landed on Shaft (who animated Hidamari Sketch, another TBS-produced anime) and Kubota accepted the offer to contribute key animation only for the A-part (first half) of the episode.[47] Later, Tanaka asked Kubota if Shaft could produce the entire episode, and since the two companies had history, and Kubota was on friendly terms with producer Hiroshi Oosawa form Tezuka Productions, Shaft eventually agreed to produce the entire episode.[47] Series director Satoshi Kuwabara drew the episode's storyboards but left the production of the episode entirely up to Yoshizawa and Shaft.[46]
In 2020, Shaft returned to producing full-length series with Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, an adaptation of a spin-off mobile game series based on the studio's Madoka Magica franchise. It was the first series since 2007 not to be directed in part by Akiyuki Shinbo (although he served as an animation supervisor),[48] and was instead chief directed by Doroinu of Gekidan Inu Curry, one of the original series' alternate space designers.[48] Shaft's second and final project of the year, Assault Lily Bouquet, was also the first time since 2007 that Shinbo had not been involved with one of the studio's main projects entirely. Bouquet was instead directed by former Gainax member Shouji Saeki and Shaft member Hajime Ootani.[49]
Shinbo returned to the director's chair in 2021 with his adaptation of Pretty Boy Detective Club, which he co-directed alongside Ootani.[50] The series served as the debut for Shaft's CGI animation division,[51] as well as the Umegumi division.[52] The second season of Magia record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story later that year also debuted the company's background art division, albeit listed under Digital@Shaft, before being given their own department name in the third season of the series in early 2022.[53] The company opened a branch studio in Shizuoka (which is also the first animation studio in Shizuoka Prefecture),[54] with a few of the staff members from the head office moving to the city in order to establish operations and train new staff.[1] Veteran color designer Yasuko Watanabe, who joined the company in 2000, became the branch studio's chief.[1] In 2021, a fourth Madoka Magica film titled Walpurgisnacht: Rising was announced to be in production.[55]
At the end of 2021, and following into 2022, the studio produced a short series based on the Assault Lily franchise entitled Assault Lily Fruits;[56] and in March of that year, completed the Magia Record series with a four-episode finale.[57] In July of that year, the studio produced Luminous Witches and RWBY: Ice Queendom jointly.[58][59] In 2023, a special based on The Quintessential Quintuplets was announced to be produced at the studio. Prior to the release of the 2022 film, the show's producers had no intention of making another anime based on the project; however, they changed their minds upon seeing the positive reception towards the film.[60] The reason to produce the new project at Shaft was mainly due to the popularity of the first season's 11th episode, which Shaft produced as a gross outsource.[61]
2023 saw no new releases from the studio aside from the Quintuplets special. However, while the studio did not produce its own works, it was busy assisting other companies with theirs. Of those, the most notable collaboration happened between Shaft and Bug Films. The studio was producing its first series, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, and Shaft was asked to assist with part of the production of the series at the start of the third episode (and ending with the fifth episode), according to Bug Films CEO Hiroaki Kojima.[62]
Noticeably, Shinbo's involvement at the studio lessened following the turn of the decade. Whereas he had previously been involved in every major production since 2004 (with the exception of their co-productions with Gainax and the two works directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura), various other affiliated directors began to take up the mantle—most notably Miyamoto and Saeki. Animator Kazuya Shiotsuki, who joined just before Shinbo was invited to Shaft, noted that many of the staff from that time period became the "Children of Shinbo" (新房チルドレン)[63] in that his influence extended further than just to the directors, and that the team as a whole (including animators such as himself) were broadly influenced by the values he displayed.[47] With the new generation of staff members joining in the early 2020s, as Shinbo had decreased his overall output, many of the staff at the studio were instead being influenced by Saeki and, according to Shiotsuki, Yasuomi Umetsu, who has been working on a project at the studio for several years.[47]
In early 2024, a new adaptation of the Monogatari series, specifically the Off and Monster Season series of novels, was announced with much of the series core staff returning and a July release date. Pre-production of the series started in fall of 2022 following the end of Luminous Witches and RWBY: Ice Queendom when Aniplex producer Tatsuya Ishikawa approached the studio about continuing the adaptation.[64] Agreeing, studio president Kubota selected Midori Yoshizawa, who had been directing at Shaft for nearly a decade by that point, as the new series director under Shinbo.[64] The same year, Shaft was announced to be producing an adaptation of HundredBurger's Ninja to Koroshiya no Futarigurashi manga series.[65]
Style
Visual style
Directors Akiyuki Shinbo, Shin Oonuma, and Tatsuya Oishi, who formed "Team Shinbo",[5] are essentially responsible for defining Shaft's production culture and experimental stylistic visuals in the mid-to-late 2000s.[5] They each brought separate stylistic strengths that contributed to the eventual "Shaft style" the studio embraced, despite the fact that neither Oonuma nor Oishi had much prior experience as directors.[5] Oonuma and Oishi's success with the studio is in part due to the "mentorship" system created at Shaft, which was centered around Shinbo.[66] The two former directors would work under Shinbo and the Shaft system as episode directors and storyboard artists until they were promoted to series directors with Shinbo maintaining a supervising role over them.[66] In turn, they, too, could begin mentoring other directors; in particular, Oonuma mentored Yukihiro Miyamoto, Tomoyuki Itamura, and Naoyuki Tatsuwa, and Oishi's influence has been exerted across the Shaft studio as a whole (and most likely Itamura, who took over the Monogatari series from Oishi).[67] Team Shinbo, Miyamoto, and Itamura's styles within Shaft as a whole tend to be more experimental in nature, whereas Tatsuwa was the sole director who took a more grounded approach to the series he was involved with (while still maintaining Shaft's style).[68]
Several techniques that the studio's directors still employ were popularized by Team Shinbo, such as the usage of ostentatious or simple backgrounds and tones, unique editing cuts, flat color contrasts, the insertion of real-world objects into the animated medium, monochromatic color schemes, minimalistic and abstract backgrounds, extreme changes in background art, and sharp color contrasts.[5] which are used to facilitate certain surrealistic narratives and imagery, but despite this, consistently exist through each of the studio's productions.[69] Miyamoto brought to the studio sharp color contrasts and changing color palettes, which Itamura was stylistically influenced by; Itamura himself also created his own style defined by the usage of "chapter breaks" and paper cutouts.[5][70] Tatsuwa, in contrast to the others, maintained series with less visual surrealism, albeit he continued to use several of the stylistic elements from the other directors.[68] One of the studio's most well-known stylistic insertions, the so-called head-tilt, has also been acknowledged by Shinbo as one of the studio's staples.[5][71]
Miyamoto brought to Shaft the art troupe Gekidan Inu Curry in 2008 during (Zoku) Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, and the duo's style greatly influenced the studio's animation style as a whole, which later defined the Madoka Magica franchise that Miyamoto and Shinbo directed two years later.[72]
Narrative style
Shaft's work culture has also influenced the narrative writings of the studio's productions, which have been described as existing "somewhere between comedy and despair",[73] which can be best seen through the works of director Miyamoto, who has headed some of the studio's most depressive series, and also their most comedic.[72] The studio's works oftentimes also include unconventional characters and experimentation within the genre of the series the studio produces, while also diverging from the expectations of the audience.[69]
In-house departments
Following Wakao's retirement in 2004, Kubota decided to restructure the studio's system itself.[35] While the arrival of Shinbo, Oonuma, and Oishi was a part of this restructuring, Kubota also founded Shaft's in-house photography, painting, and visual effects division, which would move the already-existing painting team, in 2004. The division, named Digital@Shaft, made its first appearance on Gakuen Alice episode 4, which was outsourced to Shaft.[74] The new department reorganized certain staff members in the studio and hired new recruits interested in the newly formed photography team, the latter of which includes current chiefs of the department Rei Egami and Takayuki Aizu.[75] Shinichirou Etou, who had been working at the company for three years as a production assistant, was asked to set up the department due to his experience in CG from when he attended Japan Electronics College [ja].[75]
Shaft opened a licensing division in 2017 which manages an online shop –Shaft Ten– selling Blu-Rays, production materials, and other merchandise for series the company produces, as well as for managing the licenses of these goods and works.[76] According to division manager Kouji Tanoue, president Kubota and himself intend to grow the division's business capabilities in order to support the studio's ventures and human resource needs.[75]
In August 2020, Shaft posted a recruitment notice for 3DCG animation staff,[77] and the Shaft CGI Animation Room (a division spun-off from Digital@Shaft) debuted in the studio's Pretty Boy Detective Club series the following year.[51] Etou had left the company in 2017, but when he heard that the studio was creating a 3DCG department, he rejoined the studio and intends to make the department a pillar of Shaft productions within 5 to 10 years.[75]Pretty Boy Detective Club also used the name Shaft Umegumi for its opening animation production credit, a humorous title given to director Yasuomi Umetsu and part of his team at the studio who produced the opeing while working on their own project, the then-unannounced Virgin Punk.[78]
In 2021, Digital@Shaft formed a background art team as well.[79] Art director Hisaharu Iijima, a common collaborator of the studio's since 2007, and of Shinbo's since 2004, as well as the CEO and president of his own studio (Ryuubidou) was employed by the studio as a technical advisor for the art department.[75]
Production methods
Beyond the in-house culture the studio emphasizes in its works, Shaft has also emphasized using a common workflow from project to project to ease the transition from production to production.[20] The purpose of such commonality between productions is to allow for consistency and the continuity of Shaft's style between productions.[20] While this system allows for Shaft's style to manifest throughout each of their productions, it also allows for more creative freedoms across all individuals working with the studio, such as Shinbo's philosophy of "mix[ing] participating staffer’s feelings".[80]Madoka Magica screenwriter Gen Urobuchi described the work environment as giving him a level of freedom he'd never had before, and that "I did not think I could have written this screenplay in any other place", and both original character designer Ume Aoki and alternate space designers Gekidan Inu Curry have expressed similar perspectives.[81] Although anime is a collaborative process, the signature style of Shaft can best be attributed to the whole of the studio and its members rather than a single individual, and the artistic freedoms across the entire production line allow for the convergence of different staff members and their ideas to freely explore the medium which they work in.[82] Director Midori Yoshizawa mentioned that during the production of Magia Record, the directors consulted with the animators in the company and expressed the idea that the animators themselves could change the storyboards for action scenes if they could come up with better ideas, and Yoshizawa said that this was because the animators would be able to come up with better fights and effects overall.[83] Character designer and chief animation director Junichirou Taniguchi (from Doga Kobo) also said that he believed it was fine for the characters to appear more stylized (and off-model) during action scenes.[84]
Visual effects chief Hisato Shima stated that other studios commonly have animators and operators specializing in 3D (or certain aspects of the 3D process), but that Shaft artists tend to work in a more broad area and perform several tasks during anime production.[85] Shaft's production pipeline often utilizes materials created during the normal production pipine (that is: layouts, key animation, in-between animation, finishing (painting/coloring), photography, editing) that work as temporary reference points for both 2D and 3D animators, and assist with camera angles, reference points, and other processes.[85] Later in the production, these temporary materials are removed, and the final CG work is added.[85] In order to counteract the issues that come with productions that have a mix of traditional/CG animation in regards to paper and digital canvas sizes, the studio developed a format that would be convenient for both processes by standardizing a 2156 x 1526 pixel screen size for the 3D artists.[85] According to Kenjirou Okada, most studios would process things like tableware through 2D animation; but at Shaft, to guarantee a certain quality as opposed to sometimes distorted shapes, such materials are normally processed with CG instead.[86]
Although the Madoka Magica film trilogy was not Shaft's first work to be released in theaters, it's potentially their first work to be made in a "theatrical production." Animation producer Yasuhiro Okada said that in making the film trilogy, he was conscious of the fact that he had never been involved with a theatrical production and received advice from various people; however, he noted the uniqueness of Shaft's methods in production "Shaft animation", and found that the advice was not useful for Shaft works.[87] For this reason, Okada set up the schedule so that the film was split into five units (A through E), and each one would be worked on in order rather than different parts moving forward at different times.[87] This allowed for the work to prioritize a small, "elite" group of animators not just for the fact that it was a theatrical work, but so that director Yukihiro Miyamoto would ideally be able to see all of their cuts and supervise the work more closely.[87]
According to both Kubota and Shinbo, Shaft's productions as a whole also desire the involvement of the original authors or creators of the source material which they adapt in their productions.[88] Kubota has also emphasized a particular focus on putting full studio effort into each of their works, and not increasing the number of productions purely to satiate demand.[82]
Okitegami Kyouko no Bibouroku x Monogatari (ONA, December 31, 2014) – promotional video for Nisio Isin's Boukyaku Tantei Series, featuring characters from the Monogatari series; directed by Yukihiro Miyamoto.[178]
IRoid: Koi no Yūkō Frontier (ONA, December 14, 2015) – Promotional short for the dating simulator app IRoid by QUICK.[179]
Kakushigoto (ONA, June 14, 2016) – promotional short for the manga by Kōji Kumeta; directed by Yukihiro Miyamoto.[180]
Akuma no Memumemu-chan (ONA, January 22, 2018) – promotional short for the manga by Keitarо̄ Yotsuya; directed by Seiya Numata.[181]
"Ikebukuro PR Animation" (ONA, January 17, 2019) – promotional short for the Ikebukuro district in Tokyo's Toshima ward; directed by Yukio Takatsu.[182]
"Limited Time Fate/EXTRA CCC x Fate/Grand Order Special Event 'Deep Sea Dennou Rakudo SE.RA.PH' Announcement CM" (ONA, May 7, 2017) – promotional short for a crossover event between the Fate/Extra CCC and Fate/Grand Order video games.[183]
"Hungry Days" (ONA, May 21, 2019, September 12, 2019, December 5, 2019, February 7, 2020) – series of four commercials for Nissin's Cup Noodles featuring characters from One Piece; directed by Yūsuke Takase[184][185][186]
Choujuu Giga Gao Road Chocolate Dai 0-dan (ONA, February 20, 2021) – promotional commercial directed by Kiyoyuki Amano.[187]
Taishou Romance (music video, September 16, 2021) – music video for the song by YOASOBI; directed by Yūsuke Takase.[188]
Bakemonogatari (ONA, February 17, 2022) – promotional video for the manga adaptation of Bakemonogatari by Oh! Great; directed by Akiyuki Shinbo.[189]
J:COM x U25 Kankyou wo Kangaeru Project CM (ONA, July 3, 2023) – promotional video for J:COM's environmental awareness "U25 Kankyou wo Kangaeru Project"; directed by Ryou Shimura.[190]
"Baton Concept Movie" (ONA, December 1, 2023) – corporate short film promoting "Baton", an education-focused app; directed by Yūsuke Takase.[191]
Fate/Grand Order Explore Movie 2024 "Wanted" (ONA, August 3, 2024) – promotional short film for the Fate/Grand Order mobile game; directed by Hiroto Nagata.[192]
Gross outsource
Episodes, series, and other projects in which Shaft was not the prime contractor for but subcontracted to for animation services either across the entire series or to produce an episode or part of the work. These do not include minor outsourcing credits such as key animation, in-between animation, or cel-painting. Gross outsourcing is also referred to as "full" outsourcing.[193] The studio was active in gross outsourcing for companies and other studios from the time its animation department was formed in the early 80s up until 2004 when the company switched to almost exclusively contributing only to its own productions. Since 2019, the studio has occasionally worked as a gross outsource company for other studios once again.
^An animation substudio located in Niigata, which is only known to have ever been credited for one episode of a series in 1989.[2]
^Photography, painting, and visual effects division established in 2004. Around 2020, the CG group within Digital@Shaft split, with some staying as part of the Digital@Shaft team and others establishing a new department. In 2021, the division formed a background art team, which also separated into its own department later that year.
^Shaft Ten, the licensing division and online shop operated by the studio, founded in 2017.
^Shaft CGI Animation Room (シャフトCGI Animation Room), a CGI division established circa 2020, and spun-off of Digital@Shaft.
^Shaft Art Section, a background art division separated from Digital@Shaft in 2021.
^Shaft Shizuoka Studio Aoi, a substudio located in Shizuoka founded in 2022.
^Note: While Shaft is credited for "Production assistance", Zuiyo itself (in 1984) did not have its own animation department, so Shaft is the studio that was outsourced to for main animation work.[8]
^A summary episode of Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden aired on December 15, 2001.[90]
^Two special episodes of Hidamari Sketch aired on October 19, 2007.[94]
^Two special episodes of Hidamari Sketch × 365 aired on October 18, 2009 and October 25, 2009, respectively.[98]
^TV: July 3, 2009 – September 25, 2009 (12 episodes).[103]ONA: November 3, 2009 – June 25, 2010 (3 episodes).[104][105][106]
^Two special episodes of Hidamari Sketch × Hoshimittsu aired on October 24, 2010 and October 31, 2010, respectively.[110]
^Nekomonogatari (White): July 7, 2013 – August 4, 2013 (5 episodes). Kabukimonogatari: August 18, 2013 – September 8, 2013 (4 episodes). Otorimonogatari: September 22, 2013 – October 13, 2013 (4 episodes). Onimonogatari: October 27, 2013 – November 17, 2013 (4 episodes). Koimonogatari: November 24, 2013 – December 29, 2013 (6 episodes).
^ abcDoroinu credited as "Gekidan Inu Curry (Doroinu)"
^Doroinu was chosen to direct the project due to his deep involvement with the game; however, as Doroinu was inexperienced in directing television animation, Yukihiro Miyamoto acted as his assistant director.[135] Furthermore, this first season of the series was split into groups that would be handled by either Miyamoto, Kenjirou Okada, or Midori Yoshizawa acting as series directors for their given episodes.[135]
^A special episode of Luminous Witches was released on December 23, 2020.[137]
^Opening directed by Seiya Numata, with cutscenes directed by Ayumu Uwano and Ken Sanuma.
^Credited as Animation Production (アニメーション製作) for respective episodes. However, Studio Toriumi produced most of the episodes, and neither Shaft nor Toriumi were primary contractors for the work.
^Miyamoto may have acted as a freelance director for much of his time with Shaft, but Megami Magazine referred to him and directors Kouji Matsumura and Midori Yoshizawa as "directors belonging to Shaft" (シャフト所属の演出家) in a 2023 interview.[202]
^Yamamura worked for Studio Pastoral between 2004~2012 and was oftentimes contracted for work by Shaft. Following his departure, he worked exclusively with Shaft, though his unemployment during the time period is ambiguous. In 2020, he and animator Genichirou Abe participated on Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister! (2023) listed as members of "(Shaft)", and his Twitter account briefly mentioned his affiliation with the company.[206]
^ abcdefgCredited as Chief Episode Director (チーフ演出.)
Works cited
Suzuki, Akito; Harada, Nobukatsu; Kirikata, Runta (2004). この醜くも美しい世界公式ビジュアルブック [This Ugly Yet Beautiful World Official Visual Book] (in Japanese). Media Works. ISBN978-4840229050.
Maeda, Hisashi; Hiraiwa, Shinsuke (2007). アニメ新表現宣言！新房監督作品の奥にアニメ表現の最先端を見た！ [Declaration of a New Expression for Anime! I saw the Cutting Edge of Anime Expression in Director Shinbo's Work!] (in Japanese). Tamon Creative. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
Kizawa, Yukito; Takayama, Atsushi; Saitou, Fusano, eds. (2014). 劇場版魔法やまどかマギカ[新編]叛逆の物語公式ガイドブック only you. [Movie Version Puella Magi Madoka Magica [New Edition] Story of Rebellion Official Guidebook only you.]. Houbunsha. ISBN978-4832244290.
Maeda, Hisashi; Nakagami, Yoshikatsu; Kawabata, Takeshi; Nishitani, Nanako (2020). マギアレコード 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ外伝 TVアニメ公式ガイドブック 1巻 [Magia Record Puella Magi Madoka Magica TV Anime Official Guidebook Volume 1] (in Japanese). Houbunsha. ISBN978-4832272019.
References
^ abcde首都圏集中型のアニメ業界に変革を。その第一歩は静岡市から(株式会社シャフト) [Reforming the Anime Industry Concentrated in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. The first step is Shizuoka City (Shaft)] (in Japanese). December 23, 2022. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
^Idol Densetsu Eriko (in Japanese). Event occurs at ending credits; episode 7. 動画 - 新潟シャフト [In-between animation - Niigata Shaft]
^ abc会社概要 [Company Profile]. Shaft (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ abcdefgh中村隆太郎監督の作品をこれからも楽しんでいきたいという思いが詰まった「プレイバック中村隆太郎」レポート ["Playback Ryūtarō Nakamura", a Report Filled with the Desire to Continue to Enjoy the Work of Director Ryūtarō Nakamura]. Gigazine (in Japanese). September 16, 2016. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
^ ab"「続・終物語」公式サイト". Zoku Owarimonogatari Official Site (in Japanese). Kodansha/Aniplex/Shaft. Archived from the original on May 4, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
^ abcdINTERVIEW アニメに無駄なシーンは一切ない。『五等分の花嫁』制作陣が明かす伏線回収のヒミツ [INTERVIEW There Are no Useless Scenes in Anime: The Production Team of The Quintessential Quintuplets Reveals the Secret of Collective Foreshadowing]. Livedoor News (in Japanese). January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
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^ abThe ending credits list Shaft CGI Animation Room (シャフトCGI Animation Room) for the series' 3DCG Work (3DCG制作).
^The ending credits list Shaft Umegumi (シャフト梅組) for Work (制作) for the series' opening credits animation.
^The ending credits list SHAFT Artsection as one of the background art teams on the series.
^@shaft_official (June 10, 2022). 【お知らせ】静岡に新スタジオをオープン致しました！ [[Notice] We have opened a new studio in Shizuoka!] (Tweet). Retrieved June 10, 2022 – via Twitter.
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^ abcd『マギレコ』で解説する「シャフト流3DCG活用法」―手描き＋デジタルでさらなるクォリティーアップへ【あにつく2021オンライン】 [Explained in "MagiReco", "How to Use 3DCG the Shaft Way" - Further Quality Improvement Using Hand-Drawn and Digital Techniques (Anitsuke-2021 Online)]. AnimeAnime (in Japanese). October 24, 2021. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
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^西尾維新最新作『掟上今日子の備忘録』×〈物語〉シリーズ コラボＣＭ第二弾 [Nisio Isin's Latest Work "Okitegami Kyouko no Bibouroku" x Monogatari Series Collaboration CM 2nd] (in Japanese). December 31, 2014. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
^IRroid 恋の有効フロンティア PV 30秒.ver [IRoid: Koi no Yūkō Frontier PV 30 Second Ver.] (in Japanese). December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
^"久米田康治×シャフトで「かくしごと」PV制作！神谷浩史＆安済知佳が出演" [Kōji Kumeta x Shaft "Kakushigoto" PV Production! Featuring Hiroshi Kamiya & Chika Anzai]. Natalie. June 17, 2016. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
^新発売の『超獣戯牙ガオロードチョコ』のTVCMが明日から全国放送開始！監督はカヤックの天野清之が担当。 [The TV CM of the newly released "Super Beast Gi Fang Gao Road Chocolate" will start broadcasting nationwide tomorrow! The director is Kiyoyuki Amano of [Omoshiro Houjin Kayac]]. PR Times. February 19, 2021. Archived from the original on February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
^shonenmagazine official (February 17, 2022). 漫画『化物語』シャフト制作特別PV [Manga "Bakemonogatari" Special Shaft Production PV]. YouTube. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
^ ab"Megami Magazine November 2023". Megami Magazine (in Japanese). Gakken. September 29, 2023. 『五等分の花嫁』メインスタッフ座談会 ["The Quintessential Quintuplets∽" Main Staff Roundtable]. ASINB0CJ5TSXRS.
^15年振りのタッグが魅せる、日本アニメの表現力――『RWBY 氷雪帝国』鈴木利正（監督）＆冲方丁（シリーズ構成・脚本）対談（前編） [The First Team-Up in 15 Years Brings us the Power of Expression of Japanese Animation - "RWBY: Ice Queendom" Talk with Toshimasa Suzuki (Director) and Tow Ubukata (Series Composition/Screenplay) (Part 1)] (in Japanese). Interviewed by Hidekuni Shida. July 11, 2022. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
