Hey folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be exploring a film that falls a touch outside our usual wheelhouse, but which nonetheless seems like an absolutely essential viewing. Today we’ll be watching Joy in Motion, a documentary about the impeachable animation legend Yasuo Otsuka. Otsuka was a crucial figure right from the beginning of anime’s film history, making key contributions to the early films of Toei Doga, and championing a style of animated unreality that would go on to influence countless future animators.
Along with making iconic contributions to early films like Saiyuki and The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon, Otsuka would also prove to be an essential mentor to the next generation of animators. He served as animation director on Isao Takahata’s landmark film debut Horus, Prince of the Sun, and also worked on early Hayao Miyazaki productions like Lupin III and Future Boy Conan, nurturing two talents who’d come to define prestige anime film productions. His credits stretch across a literal half-century, and his influence even further; rather than inspiring specific individual techniques, it might be more accurately said that Otsuka’s style helped define what cinematic anime would look like in a general sense. Anime would not be what it is without Otsuka, and I’m eager to hear the man himself drop some knowledge on us all. Let’s get to it!