![]() And so, when their schedules aligned, he approached Natsume with a proposal to make… anything at all. He had made a name for himself at Bandai Visual, which he leveraged into a position as chief producer and manager at Shochiku after he transferred companies in 2017 which is to say, the kind of job that allows you to get away with a passion project or two. Veteran producer Motoki Mukaichi met Natsume for the first time during the preambles of Space Dandy, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he fell for him at first sight. ![]() That is the norm, but Sonny Boy is anything but normal, hence why its backstory is quite different. It could be a specific title to adapt, one current trend they want to ride, a type of narrative they think could be a hit, or if they’re feeling terribly generous towards the arts, perhaps one idea that they genuinely believe would be interesting if handled by that team. When it comes to titles pitched by a producer to a creator-which is to say most of them-the former will tend to have a precise goal in mind. ![]() It’s one interesting development after the other when it comes to Natsume.Įven in this tightly packed, fascinating career, a single project stands out from the rest the exceptional within the exceptional, something he deemed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. By directing a Tatami Galaxy sequel, he’ll be returning to the series that featured his first televised episode as director and storyboarder, having taken over arguably his number one mentor in Masaaki Yuasa. Next year, Natsume will face yet another new challenge by succeeding a critically acclaimed director. Although people tend to forget that, the first project Natsume led was actually the first OVA for Hori-san to Miyamura-kun, an indie effort that presented an austere world of two a fascinating contrast with the lavishly presented ensemble cast narrative of Horimiya’s eventual TV series. We’ve seen him coordinate the production of a wildly imaginative anthology series in Space Dandy, which he directed alongside Shinichiro Watanabe, a mentor he still turns to nowadays when it comes to musical choices. He would reappear every year or two to jump from the pleasantly understated political thriller ACCA: 13 to attempting to tackle the off-kilter, atmospheric action of Boogiepop and Others. While Natsume is still best known for the action blockbuster that was One-Punch Man’s first season, he never allowed that to pigeonhole him. This isn’t to say that he hasn’t earned his position, of course, but the range of registers and formats that he has been able to tackle as a director with less than a decade of experience heading projects is by all means extraordinary. Shingo Natsume is a lucky director, and we’re just as fortunate of an audience that he is. Sonny Boy is an anomaly in commercial media, let alone as a TV anime: a fascinating creator given a blank cheque that he cashed in to explore his philosophical views, mixing cultural touchstones and personal musings into a unique sci-fi story, and tweaking animation production norms to illustrate a singular worldview with unmatched cohesion.
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