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Masao Maruyama, 1972: Co-Founder of Madhouse Studios (Maria)

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Masao Maruyama, 1972: Co-Founder of Madhouse Studios (Maria)

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Masao Maruyama was born in Shiogama in 1941. In 1963, he graduated from Hosei University. Two years later, he joined Mushi productions. He’d been introduced to the company by a friend. From there, he became enamoured with the work of Osamu Dezaki, the head of Mushi at the time. In 1972, Maruyama left the animation studio as it was facing financial and copyright issues. He and Dezaki co-founded Madhouse Studios. At Madhouse, Maruyama helped produce and animate hundreds of shows and films, including Paprika (2006), Summer Wars (2009) and Death Note (2006). In 2002, he was the first producer to win the Special Achievement award at the 7th Animation Kobe (Wiki Wand, 2023).

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The Ending Of Death Note Explained (Looper, 2023)

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Madhouse, 2006: Madhouse's Style in Popular Anime 'Death Note' (Maria)

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Madhouse, 2006: Madhouse's Style in Popular Anime 'Death Note' (Maria)

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Madhouse has animated and produced many different films and animes. Because of this, their style as a whole varies a lot from series to series. Death Note is no exception to this. Death Note is one of the most well-known animes in mainstream media. The animation itself, though old, still holds up to this day. The style is definitely something to be worth talking about.

In the anime, human proportions are more accurate to real life than most animes, though the heads are the accuracy strays, as they're quite long. The skikigami characters stand out, due to their proportions, which are comprised of slim torsos, with slim long arms, legs and a highly exaggerated facial expression. Their most notable feautures are their big, protruding eyes and their snake-like noses.

The show is quite dull in terms of colour scheme. The colours are very earthly or muted, and the lighting is usually quite soft, with harsh shading. This makes the few moments where the lighting is colourful and harsh, like the sun setting towards the end of the show, stand out.

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Masao Maruyama, 2011-2016: Founder of MAPPA Studios and M2 (Maria)

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Masao Maruyama, 2011-2016: Founder of MAPPA Studios and M2 (Maria)

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In 2011, Maruyama left Madhouse. He founded Mappa Studios, short for Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association. Mappa has become one of the most popular and technologically advanced studios, known for its gorgeous animations. It had a slow start until 5 years after its original debut through the show Kids on the Slope (2012). At Mappa, Maruyama helped to produce In This Corner of the World (2016).

In 2016, he stepped down as CEO and gave the company to Manabu Otsuka. He then founded M2, a studio that would focus on pre-production (Wiki Wand, 2023).

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'Attack On Titan' Season 4 (Forbes, 2023)

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MAPPA Studios, 2020: MAPPA's Style in Popular Anime 'Attack on Titan' (Maria)

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MAPPA Studios, 2020: MAPPA's Style in Popular Anime 'Attack on Titan' (Maria)

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MAPPA takes on animating various series. One of their most prominent shows is Attack on Titan, which they animated season 4 of. Mappa’s style is quite mature in comparison to the first three seasons. The lighting is harsh to better reflect the mood, the shading is highly detailed, and the linework is loose, and uses a lot of hatchwork.

However, another reason for the style change was the manga itself. The creator Hajime Isayama's style improved so much to the point it was almost unrecognisable from the first three seasons, which sparked outrage with many fans of the anime. Mappa also had V-Sign produce the CGI titans. V-sign’s titans, unlike the CGI characters produced by MADBOX in the previous seasons, aren’t as textured, but they appearance wise they look more intimidating and their proportions look less goofy. Sarantos C. (2021), in regards to V-Sign's magnificent CGI, states that, "It's hard to tell from a screenshot if a Titan is meant to be CGI, as the company combines it with the setting seamlessly."

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Madhouse, 2023: Madhouse's Dedication to Not Using CGI (Maria)

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Madhouse, 2023: Madhouse's Dedication to Not Using CGI (Maria)

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Though Maruyama is no longer tied to Madhouse, the studio has still come a long way and is still a formidable force in the anime industry. Though not quite on par with studios such as Ufotable or MAPPA, Madhouse still produces excellent work. Madhouse still produces anime to this day, but doesn’t release nearly as much anime as they did back then. As of 2024, one of their most recent shows is Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (2023). Even in an episode where the characters are fighting a dragon, most studios would have used A 3D model for the dragon, however Madhouse delivers a flawlessly 2D animated dragon. It goes without saying Madhouse’s dedication to animating in 2D is commendable. "The aesthetics for Frieren are astounding. The attention to detail when it comes to the traditional animation is superb, and the team elects not to lean into CGI options", Snow, J. (2023).

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Figure 1: Photo of Cai Haoyu (Fandom, n.d.)	                                                   Reference: Fandom. (n.d.). Cai Haoyu. Mihoyo Wiki. https://mihoyo.fandom.com/wiki/Cai_Haoyu
                    

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Caleb - Cai Haoyu, CEO of Mihoyo - 2011 (Practitioner)

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Caleb - Cai Haoyu, CEO of Mihoyo - 2011 (Practitioner)

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Cai Haoyu was born in 1987 in Jinan, China and first attended Baliqiao Primary School, exposing himself to computers at a young age as his parents, Cai Zhili and Lu Zizhen, taught computer science at Jinan Jiaotong Vocational School (Fandom, n.d.). The school later became Shanghai Jiao Tong University where Haoyu then attended in 2005, graduating with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Computer Science. Along with his university classmates, Liu Wei and Luo Huhao, they founded the studio MiHoYo in 2011. During the early days of MiHoYo, Cai was responsible for overseeing product direction, art and technology. “A voice actress for MiHoYo, Lin Su, would describe Cai as strict when supervising recording sessions'' (Fandom, n.d.)

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Figure 2: Screenshot of 3D Anime Style from Honkai Impact 3rd (Harris, 2018)                                                                       Reference: Harris, I. (2018, May 2). Hack and slash: The making of MIHOYO's Honkai Impact 3rd. Pocket Gamer.biz. Retrieved February 28, 2024, from https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/interview/68023/the-making-of-mihoyos-honkai-impact-3rd/

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Caleb - 3D in Anime, Honkai Impact 3rd - 2016 (Style)

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Caleb - 3D in Anime, Honkai Impact 3rd - 2016 (Style)

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In 2016, MiHoYo released a game called Honkai Impact 3rd, sparking the first game made from MiHoYo to incorporate 3D CGI in an anime style while also combining classic 2D Anime within the game’s cutscenes. As stated by Mihoyo president, Forrest Wei Liu in an interview, “We took inspiration from some classic action console games, such as Bayonetta and Devil May Cry” (Harris, 2018). Using anime-style graphics, Mihoyo managed to interpret the initial artist’s impression and keep the game’s anime style while using 3D technology and rendering to update the 2D sprites from previous Honkai games. Forrest Wei Liu states, “We wanted Honkai Impact 3rd to be visually [impactful], as a way to attract Anime fans” (Harris, 2018).

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Figure 3: Photo of Yu-Peng Chen (IMDB, n.d.)                                Reference: IMDB. (n.d.). Yu-peng Chen - Biography. IMDb. Retrieved February 28, 2024, from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5485251/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

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Caleb - Yu-Peng Chen, Composer for HOYO-Mix - 2019 (Practitioner)

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Caleb - Yu-Peng Chen, Composer for HOYO-Mix - 2019 (Practitioner)

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Yu-peng Chen, known as Zhiyi Chen, is a film composer, music producer and music director based in Shanghai China, composing music pieces for Mihoyo’s game, Genshin Impact, such as Relaxation in Liyue and Moon in One’s Cup. Chen was born in Changsha, Hunan Province, China in 1984. In 2002, Chen was admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and graduated with an honours degree. During his studies, Chen received professional training in both music production and composition from renowned musicians like An Dong. In 2020, Chen joined Mihoyo’s music department, HOYO-Mix, as the music producer for Genshin Impact. After 3 years of working with Mihoyo, Chen decided to leave HOYO-Mix to pursue his own personal interests. “[Zhiyi Chen] is one of the most versatile and respected composers currently working in the industry, Zhiyi Chen's career spans over fifteen years.” (IMDB, n.d.)

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Figure 4: Screenshot of Genshin’s large-scale environment (Tabari, 2020)      Reference: Tabari, M. (2020, October 3). Genshin Impact is the best free to play RPG out there. Laptop Mag. Retrieved February 28, 2024, from https://www.laptopmag.com/features/genshin-impact-best-free-to-play-game

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Caleb - Genshin Impact's Custom Game Engine - 2020 (Technology)

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Caleb - Genshin Impact's Custom Game Engine - 2020 (Technology)

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In 2020, Mihoyo released the next mainstream and popular game, Genshin Impact, which expands upon a new world with open world features and a whole host of new gameplay opportunities. One of the key features that makes Gensin stand out for Mihoyo is their custom game engine, sparking new technological opportunities for Mihoyo. “The custom game engine offers unparalleled fidelity and performance on a wide range of devices” (Dave, 2023). The engine was designed to provide seamless integration with different gaming platforms such as Playstation, PC, and Mobile devices, allowing players of these different devices to have an identical experience. Another feature of this custom engine is that it successfully handles large scale environments without sacrificing performance and graphics.

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Figure 5: Display of AI character facial expressions and behaviour (Magbanua, 2023)                                                      Reference: Magbanua, L. (2023, May 2). Honkai: Star Rail Dev Reveals How It Used AI to Help Make the Game. Game Rant. Retrieved March 3, 2024, from https://gamerant.com/honkai-star-rail-used-ai-how/

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Caleb - AI Techniques of Honkai: Star Rail Characters 2023 (Technology)

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Caleb - AI Techniques of Honkai: Star Rail Characters 2023 (Technology)

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In 2023, Mihoyo released yet another game called Honkai: Star Rail. Unlike the previous titles, Mihoyo used AI technology to help develop the game, specifically using AI techniques for the characters’ facial expressions and behavioural patterns. “The team's goal was likely leaning towards enhancing the players' already immersive experience within the game, providing more seamless and smooth interactions with the different personalities…” (Magbanua, 2023). Despite the controversy around AI technology taking over, Mihoyo has ensured their community that there is still a lot that AI cannot touch on.