I was racking my brains over what to write for this blog entry: it’s too early to give a worthwhile run-down of what’s the best new summer show currently airing and wider-reaching topics such as the state of the industry have been done to death right across the anime blogosphere already. Looking at my own anime collection however, there’s the familiar array of the big name directors (Miyazaki, Kon, Anno, Shinkai, Oshii) and my prized (and slowly expanding!) selection of OSTs; when I talk about my favourite series and movies the names of the directors, studios and occasionally soundtrack composers are the first to come up in discussion. And yet the visual appeal of the animated medium extends beyond the roof it’s drawn under or, indeed, who’s sitting in the metaphorical director’s chair.

I’ve always considered the characters to be what brings pretty much every animated story to life: be it children, adults or talking animals/robots/loaves of bread, the characters and the way they look have a lot to do with whether you enjoy a series or movie. Many iconic faces in hit OAVs from the late 80s and early 90s (Bubblegum Crisis, Riding Bean and Gunsmith Cats) have the input of Kenichi Sonoda in common; Yoshiyuki Sadamoto has been a Studio Gainax stalwart from its inception, lending his distinctive style to many of their flagship titles in addition to the likes of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and .Hack (plus designing an Eric Clapton album cover!!). Yoshitoshi ABe is another one of those names that deserves to be remembered for his own distinctive contribution to some of my favourite anime titles.

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