Ichirou Itano

Ichirou Itano is a Japanese director producer animator and mechanical designer. He has worked in a number of science fiction anime series especially mechathemed ones. Director of works such as Angel Cophttps://anilist.co/anime/1351/ Battle Royal High Schoolhttps://anilist.co/anime/3625/ Gantzhttps://anilist.co/anime/384/ and more. Itano is best known among anime fans for a style of action scene that he developed usually nicknamed Itano Circus by fans it refers to a highly stylized and acrobatic method of depicting aerial combat and dogfights in many anime. The production in Space Runaway Ideonhttps://anilist.co/anime/930/ became a hot topic in the anime industry and it came to be called this by comparing the brisk movement of mechanics to the air acrobatics of the circus. The technique became more famous when Itano used it for the dogfights depicted in The Super Dimension Fortress Macrosshttps://anilist.co/anime/1088/ anime TV series in 1982. Its characterized by detailed fluid shading of the mecha the closerange acrobatic moves the dueling fighters make in combat as well as twisting contrails left by fighters and missiles. It is also commonly used in specific reference to an attack where a mecha or spaceship launches a large swarm of guided missiles with meticulously animated spiraling smoke trails and erratic trajectories and its target is repeatedly dodging those missiles at a high speed. According to him Hideaki Annohttps://anilist.co/staff/100111/ Masami Gotouhttps://anilist.co/staff/129865/ and Yasushi Murakihttps://anilist.co/staff/105090/ are the only animators to have fully mastered Itano Circus.