Welcome back, you've been missed. Color design is always a fun topic for me, since I have color-vision deficiency. Funny enough that makes me somewhat of an expert at work due to having spent more time learning about how color perception works, and being more aware when "intuitive" color codes in the user interface aren't at all. I'm completely lost when it comes to the aesthetics of color though, so articles like this are a joy to read.
> or how, on clothes with a green-and-blue pattern
Do we have her take on that infamous dress that obsessed the internet for a few weeks? :p
Thank you! Wonderful to hear that the piece was interesting -- honestly, we learned a lot ourselves while digging into Yasuda's story. And not sure whether or not Yasuda ever reacted to the dress, haha. That said, it would've been cool to get her take on it at the time!
The film is available on DVD (although without official subtitles, unfortunately). If you can get your hands on a copy, it's a big step up from the low-quality rips that have been posted online for years!
Another great newsletter! I enjoyed reading about this history a lot. In my first job I worked as a colorist for cereal commercials. It is definitely not easy!
Thanks very much! Great to hear this. And the effort that goes into animation color design tends to be extremely underappreciated, for sure -- it's pretty often one of those elements that viewers don't think about unless it's wrong. Happy we could bring a little more attention to Yasuda's work!
hi! i didnt know that Michiyo Yasuda was a hero of mine…thank you for revealing (again!) why i love animation & its relevance as an art form. Best of luck on the book. I can hardly wait to know more! Thanks for “WOW-ing” me (again and again and again)
Thank you so much for the kind words (and well wishes)! Happy to share a little about Yasuda. We learned a lot ourselves about Ghibli's colors while researching her, and it's really enriched the way we see these films.
It's been on our list to watch for years and, having finally seen it, the film feels really underrated. The team knocked this one out of the park. We enjoyed the director's Have a Nice Day quite a bit, and Art College lives up to it for sure.
Oh this was an absolute delight! There is so much to learn. Any film is truly a construction site of artists and techs each person's role so so essential. I had never thought the story and the person behind Ghibli colors would be so important but of course it is! Thank you animation obsessive!
Welcome back! I wrote my college thesis on color (specifically perception & the concept of basic color categories), making this such a lovely re-kickoff post.
Thanks a ton! Really glad you liked this one. Color is a topic we've been studying lately in several different contexts and we plan to write more before too long.
Thanks a ton! And it was less of a technical limitation than you might guess. Films like Char's Counterattack were really saturated and flashy compared to the projects Yasuda was doing in that era (Only Yesterday, Angel's Egg, etc.), and the projects that took a heavy influence from her approach.
Thank you! It went really well, fortunately. And we, at least, thought the film was great. We're fans of Liu Jian's Have a Nice Day, and even his early feature Piercing I had a lot going for it, so we were hoping he'd live up to his past work with Art College, and we'd say he did.
It's a slow and mundane film about the art world of 1994 China, with plenty of talk about theory and art history and stuff, so people's mileage will vary based on how much interest they have in those subjects. But it's very funny and human and painfully real, and it's a window into an extremely specific moment in time, all of which resonated with us. Before this film, it was an open question whether Liu could handle a non-crime, non-thriller feature, but he really showed his range here. We'll almost certainly be writing something connected to it somehow.
One note. If you do check out the film, be sure to stick around for the after-credits message -- it's pretty important to the story!
Ok great, I enjoyed Have a Nice Day so sounds like I should finally check this out as well. Appreciate the thorough reply and look forward to you writing more on it at some point... Thanks again!
A.O. keeps knocking it out of the part with the Hi-Res screenshots. Color is a big part of Studio Ghibli's formula, and Yasuda was a huge part of their elixir.
Thanks very much! She's hugely underappreciated in the Ghibli story, at least outside the studio. Folks on the inside could see her mastery. Miyazaki himself called Yasuda a "comrade-in-arms" and based one of the lead characters in The Boy in the Heron on her.
It was a fantastic read! Thank you for your hard work, the breaks are definitely always worth the wait. And I’ve been enjoying the Last Word section as well. :)
The mention of choosing "texture" alongside color deeply resonates. Color perception varies for everyone, yet we use various devices and contrasts to evoke shared landscapes and emotions.
It reminded me of a bitter childhood lesson. Obsessed with a specific crimson, I covertly tried using my own blood from an injury as paint. Of course, it turned brown later—a realization that capturing an essence requires a structural approach, not just the raw material.
Every unique experience we live through feeds into the ultimate coloring of the palettes and phrases we shape.
Welcome back, you've been missed. Color design is always a fun topic for me, since I have color-vision deficiency. Funny enough that makes me somewhat of an expert at work due to having spent more time learning about how color perception works, and being more aware when "intuitive" color codes in the user interface aren't at all. I'm completely lost when it comes to the aesthetics of color though, so articles like this are a joy to read.
> or how, on clothes with a green-and-blue pattern
Do we have her take on that infamous dress that obsessed the internet for a few weeks? :p
Thank you! Wonderful to hear that the piece was interesting -- honestly, we learned a lot ourselves while digging into Yasuda's story. And not sure whether or not Yasuda ever reacted to the dress, haha. That said, it would've been cool to get her take on it at the time!
welcome back animation obsessive!
Thank you, Daniel! We've been working on a lot of new stuff that we're looking forward to putting out.
Where did you find such high quality excerpts from the documentary 'How Princess Mononoke Was Born'?
The film is available on DVD (although without official subtitles, unfortunately). If you can get your hands on a copy, it's a big step up from the low-quality rips that have been posted online for years!
Another great newsletter! I enjoyed reading about this history a lot. In my first job I worked as a colorist for cereal commercials. It is definitely not easy!
Thanks very much! Great to hear this. And the effort that goes into animation color design tends to be extremely underappreciated, for sure -- it's pretty often one of those elements that viewers don't think about unless it's wrong. Happy we could bring a little more attention to Yasuda's work!
hi! i didnt know that Michiyo Yasuda was a hero of mine…thank you for revealing (again!) why i love animation & its relevance as an art form. Best of luck on the book. I can hardly wait to know more! Thanks for “WOW-ing” me (again and again and again)
🌈💚
Thank you so much for the kind words (and well wishes)! Happy to share a little about Yasuda. We learned a lot ourselves about Ghibli's colors while researching her, and it's really enriched the way we see these films.
Art College 1994 - the best.
It's been on our list to watch for years and, having finally seen it, the film feels really underrated. The team knocked this one out of the park. We enjoyed the director's Have a Nice Day quite a bit, and Art College lives up to it for sure.
The collection of grey-blues and orange-browns is exquisite. I love colour anatomy
Oh this was an absolute delight! There is so much to learn. Any film is truly a construction site of artists and techs each person's role so so essential. I had never thought the story and the person behind Ghibli colors would be so important but of course it is! Thank you animation obsessive!
Really glad to read this! Thanks a ton for the kind words. (And, regarding your PS, we are hoping to write something connected to Heroic Times!)
Ps. So glad you saw heroic times. Really looking forward to your journalism on it if you do cover it!
Welcome back! I wrote my college thesis on color (specifically perception & the concept of basic color categories), making this such a lovely re-kickoff post.
Thanks a ton! Really glad you liked this one. Color is a topic we've been studying lately in several different contexts and we plan to write more before too long.
Another wonderful piece.
I'm a fan of those slightly faded looking colours in 1980s and 1990s anime. Castle of Cagliostro, Akira and Nausicaa come to mind.
I know it is probably due to a technical limitation of the time, but I prefer it.
Thanks a ton! And it was less of a technical limitation than you might guess. Films like Char's Counterattack were really saturated and flashy compared to the projects Yasuda was doing in that era (Only Yesterday, Angel's Egg, etc.), and the projects that took a heavy influence from her approach.
Welcome back, hope you had a great break.
How was Art College 1994? Been meaning to watch that for ages, largely thanks to the voice cast (Jia Zhangke, New Pants and Wutiaoren guys...)
Thank you! It went really well, fortunately. And we, at least, thought the film was great. We're fans of Liu Jian's Have a Nice Day, and even his early feature Piercing I had a lot going for it, so we were hoping he'd live up to his past work with Art College, and we'd say he did.
It's a slow and mundane film about the art world of 1994 China, with plenty of talk about theory and art history and stuff, so people's mileage will vary based on how much interest they have in those subjects. But it's very funny and human and painfully real, and it's a window into an extremely specific moment in time, all of which resonated with us. Before this film, it was an open question whether Liu could handle a non-crime, non-thriller feature, but he really showed his range here. We'll almost certainly be writing something connected to it somehow.
One note. If you do check out the film, be sure to stick around for the after-credits message -- it's pretty important to the story!
Ok great, I enjoyed Have a Nice Day so sounds like I should finally check this out as well. Appreciate the thorough reply and look forward to you writing more on it at some point... Thanks again!
Well written and demonstrated, professionally edited, simply the best, thank you ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you so much!
What an amazing woman. I really enjoyed learning about her. Fantastic work on this article.
Thank you so much! This is great to hear. Really glad we could share a little of Yasuda's story -- she was one of the very best.
A.O. keeps knocking it out of the part with the Hi-Res screenshots. Color is a big part of Studio Ghibli's formula, and Yasuda was a huge part of their elixir.
Thanks very much! She's hugely underappreciated in the Ghibli story, at least outside the studio. Folks on the inside could see her mastery. Miyazaki himself called Yasuda a "comrade-in-arms" and based one of the lead characters in The Boy in the Heron on her.
That is awesome. Her talent is outstanding.
Welcome back!
Thank you, AJ! Happy we could come back with a piece on Yasuda -- we've been building up to this one for a long while.
It was a fantastic read! Thank you for your hard work, the breaks are definitely always worth the wait. And I’ve been enjoying the Last Word section as well. :)
Ah, thanks so much! This is really great to know. (And sorry it took a few days to reply -- we got swamped doing the Thursday issue!)
The mention of choosing "texture" alongside color deeply resonates. Color perception varies for everyone, yet we use various devices and contrasts to evoke shared landscapes and emotions.
It reminded me of a bitter childhood lesson. Obsessed with a specific crimson, I covertly tried using my own blood from an injury as paint. Of course, it turned brown later—a realization that capturing an essence requires a structural approach, not just the raw material.
Every unique experience we live through feeds into the ultimate coloring of the palettes and phrases we shape.