Anime studio responsible for
Munto,
Full Metal Panic! (after the first season),
Suzumiya Haruhi,
Lucky Star,
K-On! and adaptations of three
Key Visual Arts visual novels:
AIR,
Kanon, and
Clannad (although these were all also separately adapted by
Toei Animation). Held to high regard for their usually good animation quality, as well as
almost disturbingly realistic backgrounds and the generous use of little touches to spice up the character animation. They also know how to tug at viewers' heartstrings, and never let go. Their shows tend to be huge commercial successes, with
Suzumiya Haruhi,
Lucky Star, and
K-On! leading the pack so far, and not since
Jerry Bruckheimer and
Michael Bay has there been a production team that is so fond of (and good at) golden sunsets that provoke
Manly Tears in its audience;
though usually for less macho reasons.In 2007, the firing of Yutaka Yamamoto led to lots of people resigning after
Lucky Star's original run and creating another studio called
Ordet. But that's another story.
Kyoto Animation has produced the following TV series:
They have also produced the following feature-length films:
- Munto: Tenjoubito to Akutobito Saigo no Tatakai (April 18, 2009)
- The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (February 6, 2010)
- K-On! (December 3, 2011)
They have also provided artwork for a small handful of video games, including
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters.
Future projects include:
- Chuu-ni Byou Demo Koi ga Shitai!*
Even If I've Got Eight-Grade-itis, I Want to Fall in Love! (
Chuuni-byou refers to a Japanese real-life variant of
I Just Want to Be Special that purports that adolescents wish they could lead fantastic anime-esque lives.)
No, they will unfortunately
not animate the upcoming
Little Busters anime.
For a greater overview of their complete work (they've been around since 1981) see
this entry on ANN.
.
Notable for their tendency to do
Shout Outs and
casting gags to their own series...
- Suzumiya Haruhi had a couple of shout outs to Full Metal Panic! and AIR.
- Lucky Star has innumerable Shout Outs to Haruhi, being the favorite show of the Otaku Surrogate Konata... who is voiced by Aya Hirano, Haruhi's voice actress. Konata uses a Hare Hare Yukai and later Koi no Mikuru Densetsu ringtone, has a big collection of Haruhi merchandise, cosplays as Haruhi at the cafe where she works, and much, much more. After all, "This is advertisement for us, so it's better!"◊ These inside references are anime-only, and are not found anywhere in the manga on which it is based.
- Similarly, Kagami's favourite series happens to be Full Metal Panic!, leading to Shout Outs in that direction as well. (Oddly enough, Tsukasa's favourite series is Keroro Gunsou, which also has its fair share of Shout Outs, despite being a Sunrise show. In the same vein, Konata is a fan of Code Geass, also produced by Sunrise, and they manage a few Shout Outs for it too.)
- Not surprising at all, since Kyoani is affiliated with Sunrise, so it's a Shout Out to their parent company.
- And of course, as pictured, when the girls go on a field trip to Kyoto... well, where does Konata want to visit?
- An interesting example: in AIR: Nayuki, Ayu, and Makoto from Kanon show up with the original voice actors, much like Kyon and Yuki do in Lucky Star... only this was before Kyoani ever animated Kanon. This makes it more of a shout out to the fact that they were both created by Key/Visual Art's.
- CLANNAD had at least two in the first episode - a desaturated opening, à la Haruhi, and a subverted version of a Dating Sim Shot like the ones Kanon was filled with. Mai's sword and Sayuri's magical wand (along with their ribbons) make a brief appearance as theater props, and Sayuri's giant purple anteater makes a star appearance in a crane game. The second season has what could only be Akiko's infamous "special jam".
- Sanae's bread simply tastes bad and is hard to eat. Akiko's ultimate jam blurs your senses. Put them together, and you get knocked out Miyazawa gang members. A WMD indeed, even in the hands of Nagisa.
- Sayuri's anteater can be seen in the Furukawa household after Ushio lives with Sanae and Akio.
- Kyoto Animation has a tendency to animate shows with snarky male leads, like Yukito, Kyon,
Kyuuichi Yuuichi, Tomoya, and Houtarou.
Also known for
incorporating real-life landmarks in their series' backgrounds. For instance,
Haruhi is set in and around Nishinomiya, a small town near Kobe.
Lucky Star is set in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo (the Hiiragis' shrine is based on the actual Washinomiya Shrine and Konata's house is based on creator Kagami Yoshimizu's house in the town of Satte, all have developed
The Red Stapler-type followings by otaku). The school in
K-On is located in Toyosato in the Shiga Prefecture near Kyoto, while most other locations are set in Kyoto itself.
And one more thing they're really famous for: almost all of their shows contain
very catchy Dancing Themes.
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