Yasuko Watanabe (color designer)
Yasuko Watanabe 渡辺 康子 | |
|---|---|
| Born | Akita Prefecture, Japan[1] |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation(s) | Color designer, colorist |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Employer | Shaft (2000–present) |
| Known for | Monogatari series (2014–) March Comes In like a Lion |
Yasuko Watanabe (Japanese: 渡辺康子, Hepburn: Watanabe Yasuko) is a Japanese color designer and colorist.
Early life
[edit]Watanabe was part of her high school's anime research club when she found a particular interest in the use of colors in anime and decided to get a job as a colorist in the industry.[2] After graduating high school, she went to Yoyogi Animation Academy and graduated in 2000.[2]
Career
[edit]She joined Shaft the year as a cel-colorist (analog) and digital colorist.[1] Much of her early work consisted of doing the coloring for outsources given to Shaft, before gradually shifting into in-house production as Shaft itself shifted to in-house production. In 2004, Shaft split its digital coloring and compositing teams into their own department, Digital@Shaft, which Watanabe became a part of. Her first work as a color designer was also an outsource, however: Shattered Angels, which was produced by studio TNK, contacted Shaft for color design work, and both she and her senior (Hitoshi Hibino) did the color designs for the show. It wasn't until seven years later, in 2014, that she made her debut as a color designer in-house at Shaft with Hanamonogatari (with Hibino).[3] The following year, she made her debut as solo color designer on Gourmet Girl Graffiti.[4]
In 2022, Shaft opened a new studio in Shizuoka Prefecture with the hopes of expanding the company's production capacity outside of Tokyo.[5] In order to set up operations and train new staff, several members of the main Tokyo branch would need to transfer to Shizuoka to perform these duties.[1] Shaft's CEO, Mitsutoshi Kubota, offered Watanabe the opportunity and, despite having never lived in Shizuoka Prefecture, she agreed to the transfer and became a studio chief.[1]
Works
[edit]This is an incomplete list.
Teleivison series
[edit]| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | Color designer | Other role(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Shattered Angels | Tetsuya Yanagisawa | TNK | Yes | No | |
| 2014 | Hanamonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura |
Shaft | Yes | [3] | |
| 2015 | Gourmet Girl Graffiti | Akiyuk Shinbo Naoyuki Tatsuwa |
Shaft | Yes | [4] | |
| Nisekoi: | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto |
Shaft | Yes | [6] | ||
| Owarimonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura |
Shaft | Yes | [7] | ||
| 2016–2017 | March Comes In like a Lion | Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada |
Shaft | Yes | [8] | |
| 2017 | Owarimonogatari II | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura |
Shaft | Yes | [9] | |
| 2017–2018 | March Comes In like a Lion 2nd Season | Akiyuki Shinbo Kenjirou Okada |
Shaft | Yes | [10] | |
| 2019 | Zoku Owarimonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo | Shaft | Yes | ||
| 2021 | Pretty Boy Detective Club | Akiyuki Shinbo Hajime Ootani |
Shaft | Yes | [11] |
OVAs/ONAs
[edit]| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio | Color designer | Other role(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Koyomimonogatari | Akiyuki Shinbo Tomoyuki Itamura |
Shaft | Yes | [12] | |
| Nisekoi: | Akiyuki Shinbo Yukihiro Miyamoto |
Shaft | Yes | |||
| 2016–2017 | The Beheading Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense Bearer | Akiyuki Shinbo Yuki Yase |
Shaft | Yes | [13] | |
| 2019 | Ikebukuro | Yukio Takatsu | Shaft | Yes | [14] | |
| 2021–2022 | Assault Lily Fruits | Shouji Saeki | Shaft | Yes |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d 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. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ a b Shaft Shizuoka Studio Aoi display, part of the Mirai Innovation Design Exhibit (ミライイノベーションデザイン展) at the Shizuoka City Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Center (静岡市文化・クリエイティブ産業振興センター). October 12, 2024, to November 10, 2024.
- ^ a b 花物語 [Hanamonogatari]. Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ a b 幸腹グラフィティ [Gourmet Girl Graffiti]. Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ @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.
- ^ ニセコイ: [Nisekoi:]. Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ 終物語 [Owarimonogatari]. Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ ３月のライオン [March Comes In like a Lion]. Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ "Owarimonogatari II". Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ "March Comes In like a Lion 2nd Season". Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (March 13, 2021). "Pretty Boy Detective Club TV Anime Reveals New Promo Video, More Staff, More Cast". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ 暦物語 [Koyomimonogatari]. Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ クビキリサイクル 青色サヴァンと戯言遣い [The Beheading Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense Bearer]. Shaft (in Japanese). Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ 豊島区×アニメイト「池袋PRアニメ」【完成フルバージョン】 [Toshima Ward x Animate "Ikebukuro PR Anime" (Completed Full Version)]. YouTube. Toshima City Official Toshima Nanamaru Channel. January 16, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
Further reading
[edit]External links
[edit]- Yasuko Watanabe at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Yasuko Watanabe at IMDb