Chainsaw Man’s third episode gained a lot of hype and not just from manga fans excited to see how such an intense battle would be adapted. Early rumors got fans hyped to see how Tanaka, nicknamed TNK, would wow audiences, serving as Episode Director, storyboard artist, and Animation Director. It was only two years ago that TNK did storyboards, episode directing, animation directing, and key animation himself, on Jujutsu Kaisen #13, a fan-favorite episode that concluded the first half of the season. For many, it was just another awe-inspiring episode from a series already going strong, but to those following TNK’s career, it was a long-time coming.
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The Mainstream Master of Flash
Expressionism is defined as artwork that doesn’t necessarily show objective reality but instead tries to express emotions that objects and things elicit in people. Within animation, this can mean a number of things, but in particular, it can refer to the works of surrealist animators like Masaaki Yuasa or the larger-than-life elements of someone like Hiroyuki Imaishi.
Anime often depicts things that look detailed and real but in a heightened world where absurd things happen. It’s understood that they aren’t real, but the audience still processes the meaning. Even within a scene’s own context, visual metaphors show the audience something that isn’t really happening in the scene, but what those images say about the characters and their feelings is real.
TNK is interesting to analyze because while they might not have gotten the same fanfare as Yutaka Nakamura or Bahi JD, they’ve had a hand in a lot of mainstream anime. It’s arguably his most defining trait: spreading diverse, expressive, and high-quality animation across the industry. He doesn’t seem to be type-cast or tied down to a particular style. Looking at compilations of their work created by fans, they seem like a jack-of-all-trades.
In that sense, some might consider his work to be less impressive than other contemporary animators whose names have been tossed around a lot. On the contrary, the competency with which TNK has spread his style through the industry isn’t merely limited to a plethora of decent cuts. His involvement can elevate an episode in its entirety.
A Rise To Prominence
Around the late 2010s, specifically around 2018 and later, he noticeably started being credited more in a directing capacity. This is where you see occasional episodes where he is storyboarding, episode directing, and animation directing: the TNK trifecta. Episode 8 of Azur Lane is a solid example of this.
He even brought his expressionist style to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5, and Jojo isn’t a series normally praised for its sakuga, favoring a moving manga direction. Despite that reputation, TNK’s involvement in Jojo resulted in some of Part 5’s most memorable and gorgeous scenes.
As stated at the beginning, he soon took on Jujutsu Kaisen’s 13th episode with another trifecta, in addition to contributing his own animation throughout not only that episode, but three others across the first season. It was only natural that he’d be appointed as an Animation Director on Jujutsu Kaisen 0 only a year later.
The Styles of Hironori Tanaka
Avid followers of Tanaka’s work weren’t surprised at all by his involvement in Chainsaw Man. His recent work, namely on Jujutsu Kaisen and Jojo, has been particularly brutal and likes to focus on the human form in graphic detail. These episodes have lots of striking character expressions and violence so effectively framed that it’s weirdly pretty.
When talented directors dominate an episode, it can be easy to find little signatures of theirs throughout an episode. Sometimes the whole episode becomes so distinct it sticks out from every other episode. TNK once again pulled a trifecta in Chainsaw Man #3, though it feels quite consistent with the rest of the episodes, likely because he was reined in.
Looking at Chainsaw Man #3 or JJK #13, it’s evident in the faces, be it the shading or the slightest characteristic asymmetry. TNK will forever be an iconic animator for their reluctance to create any shot that feels boring and without some expressionistic spectacle to it. In the end, their greatest gift to the industry may be their directing.
Everyone has their own ideas of what makes animation good or bad and when there are animators whose specialties and styles are well-defined, it can be easy to disregard those who don’t pop out. Tanaka’s work is varied and seen in countless mainstream anime, but it is also ripe with passion and seldom guilty of playing it safe.
Episode 3 of Chainsaw Man was quite spectacular and bodes well for the series going further if the rotating showcase of talent ahead has anything like the passion Hironori Tanaka brought. Here’s hoping that this is just the beginning of more stellar episodes from this well-rounded director in the years to come.
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