Earlier in the week both JP and Author made comments regarding the fact that they find it hard to remember the names of TV anime directors. Initially, at least, I was totally with them – trying to think of anime directors, most of those who jumped immediately to mind where movie directors – Miyazaki, Takahata, Kon, Otomo and Oshii sprang to mind immediately.

I’m not really sure if this really strikes me as odd or not. I mean, how many people actually pay attention to directors in Western TV shows? I know some of the writers involved in my favourite shows, but none of the directorial staff. It fairs no better than anime, really.

Adding to that, the lines between staff members are far more blurred when it comes to TV anime production roles than with Western productions. Whilst we generally see the Series Director as being in charge of the general development of the show, it’s not uncommon for the animation director to have just as much, if not more, active a role in production. Then there’s all the episode directors getting involve, different storyboard artists and even different key animators, all of whom an have an effect on the style of a show. I’d imagine that, with far more protracted production periods for shorter running times, it’s far more likely for a movie director to have complete control over their works.

I suppose it explains why most fans (in the English speaking community, at least) tend to discuss shows in terms of studios rather than their production staff – as in Code Geass being a typical Sunrise. With the studio being the same, much of the lower end of the production staff being shared between them. With, as JP said, most directors being nondescript (I mean, would anyone really guess that Strawberry Eggs and Fate/Stay Night shared directors?), it’s not really surprising that most shows are seen as being tainted with the flavour of a studio.

There’s the language disconnect between the anime production staff and English fandom. There’s not really all that much in the way of English publications with a window to the production staff now, whilst in Japan there are a multitude of magazines cover both the popular and the more niche series, not to mention things like DVD audio commentaries and interviews. Japanese fans hear from shows production staff far, far more often than the English speaking world.

When I sit and think about it, though, I can actually think of quite a few TV directors, most of whom either define an entire studios output, or are identifiable enough for their stylistic touch to transcend studios. Akitaro Daichis shows very much have the same feel regardless of it being his studio or his indie work. All of Bee-Trains titles feel pretty much the same thanks of the stylings of Koichi Mashimo. SHAFT are now pretty much defined by the peculiar style of Akiyuki Shinbo, although that is something that’s been honed prior to his work there with the likes of The Soultaker, Petit Cossette, the first series of Nanoha and even some old ero OAVs (not that his actual name is on those). If you were to show someone all of the Gainax shows in a row, I’m pretty sure they’d be able to pick the Hideaki Anno ones out from the rest of them. Goro Taniguchi and Tatsuo Satos directorials still clearly display the same kind of offbeat humour and atmosphere regardless of where they are produced. I’m not even sure if I need to mention the likes of Nabeshin…

Honestly, I don’t really have a point here, and I’m just waffling. To be honest, I’m not really sure if the general unfamiliarity with directorial staff amongst the vocal English fandom largely down to disinterest – outside of posts about how clever the first episode of Haruhi was, or the occasional post at Cinnamon Ass, you rarely see much talk of the production side of things outside of whether the animation is good or bad. To be honest, it’s probably indicative of the vocal part of fandom becoming increasingly character, rather than content, centric – there are a lot of shows floating around with, frankly, awful writing and production which are popular simply because of individual characters in the show. I bet most those reading this can probably name more character designers or seiyuu than they can directors.