Shingo Yamashita is an incredibly accomplished artist, key animator and animation director, who has lent his considerable skills and indomitable good nature to hugely popular series like Baccano!, Macross Frontier, Naruto: Shippuden, Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, Gatchaman Crowds, Gurren Lagannand Twin Star Exorcists—just to name a few. On September 1st, I was fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to sit down with and interview.
Several other eager journalists and myself sat down to interview with Yamashita San, with the help of a translator to ask questions about his prolific career. It was impossible not to notice that the artist was exceptionally good natured, with a relaxed smile and an effortless laugh that we heard early and often during the interview. It was abundantly clear that this was a man who enjoys what he does and the life that he lives.
Yamashita San smiled genuinely and laughed easily throughout the interview process. When I asked him about some of his major influences and inspirations, he was eager to give credit to some of his idols, “…Norio Matsumoto, Mitsuo Iso and Osamu Tanabe—and I’ll just limit it to three because I won’t stop.”
When asked about a reaction to his work that surprised him, Yamashita San had a clear and ready answer, “the company I work for just released the opening sequence for a game called Blade Smash and that reaction was quite well, I was surprised that it was excellent.”
The most notable of Yamashita San’s accomplishments—at least in the United States, is his work on Naruto: Shippuden, specifically his work on the Naruto Vs. Pain fight. When asked about that work, specifically, Yamashita San answered “one day, Taka Kun came up to me and said ‘are you still interested in working on Naruto?’ …and we were telling him, ‘yeah’ you know, ‘we’re definitely interested,’ and we were telling him ‘we’d loveto work on some scene that’s sort of a gag, but also serious but it’s really hard to tell whichever it is. And that’s how that scene came out.”
Yamashita San also had strong feelings about the growing market of anime influenced animations from nations other than Japan. “Castlevania!” Yamashita San was quick to suggest when asked about American series he enjoyed.
As for China, Yamashita San even indicated that he believes that China is surging ahead of Japan in animation, citing a show that roughly translates as “Monster School” which Yamashita San is presently enjoying.
Shingo Yamashita is a man who finds enjoyment in many things and doesn’t take himself too seriously—even demonstrating a silly dance for emphasis when telling some of his favorite stories. It was an honor and a privilege to interview with him and I look forward to enjoying more of his exceptional artwork in the future.
