David Lynch and the Joy of Obsessing Over Anime Directors

The sad passing of David Lynch last week was quite a shock, as he was a director I’d followed all my adult life. It got me thinking about how much fun it is to find a director whose work you love to follow over many decades. Let’s explore this topic, including the top anime directors worth obsessing over, in this blog post!

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Farewell, David Lynch

It’s sad when a creator you’ve followed for years passes away. I’d been a fan of David Lynch for decades. Having him suddenly gone from the world is a big shock. His passing made me reflect on how special it is to have a unique director (or any kind of creator) who can have a multi-decade conversation with us through their ever-evolving works. I loved the extreme quirkiness that David Lynch brought to all his projects, which required multiple viewings to begin to understand them.

Twin Peaks was a smash hit here in Japan, available to rent on VHS. It was so popular that Coca-Cola commissioned four TV commercials in which Dale Cooper solved a mystery while drinking Georgia canned coffee, which you can watch here. Twin Peaks was even responsible for me starting J-List. At the time, Coca-Cola vending machines had posters of Coop holding a can of Georgia Coffee on the outsides of the machines. I quickly learned that Twin Peaks fans on USENET would be happy to buy these from me if I, ah, liberated them. This was how I discovered the joy of selling fun things from Japan through the Internet.

(Twin Peaks was created by two men, David Lynch and Mark Frost, with each man contributing different story elements. While Twin Peaks: The Return gives us a satisfying “Bizarro World” conclusion to the series by Lynch, I recommend fans check out Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier audiobook. It was entirely created by Mark Frost and gives his “final view” on the world and characters of the series. Because the audiobook features several actors from the series reprising their roles, it adds an air of canon that fans might appreciate.)

The Joy Of Obsessing Over Anime Directors

As an anime fan, it’s great to closely follow our favorite anime directors in the say we might follow works by film directors like David Lynch or Quentin Tarantino. Here are some of my favorites!

Katsuhiro Otomo, the First Anime Director We Knew the Name Of

In the history of anime, it’s hard to overestimate the effect Akira had on the world. It was an incredible spectacle, a story so big that we couldn’t wrap our brains around it. When it exploded onto the scene in 1988, manga artist-turned-anime director Katsuhiro Otomo immediately became one of the most famous Japanese people in the world. While his subsequent works like Steamboy and Freedom didn’t enjoy the same popularity (how could they?), they were enjoyable for fans who obsess over the details the director put into his works.

Mamoru Oshii Elevated Cyberpunk and Japan Around the World

We love anime partly because it’s filled with action and excitement. So why are the slow and methodical films by Mamoru Oshii so compelling?

Oshii made his name in the anime industry with Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer. It still has a cult following today. Then he distinguished himself with Patlabor (especially the second Patlabor film). But it was 1995’s Ghost in the Shell that brought him acclaim from around the world. He took the highly stylized (and sexy) manga by Shirow Masamune and turned it into a complete world filled with bizarre things from the future. The film was a direct influence on The Matrix and even invented “bullet time.”

Carole...Tuesday By Anime Director Shinichiro Watanabe

I Love the Worlds Shinichiro Watanabe Creates for Us

I remember watching Carol & Tuesday. It’s about two young singers trying to make their way in the music industry on a terraformed Mars. The characters were so compelling and the world they lived in so detailed, it seemed that the director must have studied Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe. But of course, Carol & Tuesday was actually created by that amazing anime director. I recommend this series!

What are thirteen anime series that were more popular internationally than in Japan? Read this blog post next!

Makoto Shinkai Created a New Level of Visual Storytelling

If you want a truly magical “anime holy land” experience, visit Shinjuku Gyoen Park on a rainy day. Sit in the covered rest area featured in Makoto Shinkai’s film The Garden of Words. For extra fun, bring some Suntory Rich Malt beer and Ghana chocolate. Eat it in solitude as the rain falls all around you. Actually, you might have trouble finding solitude there because there will likely be several groups of otakus from all around the world, who have also come to visit this hallowed place.

Satoshi Kon Told the Weirdest and Greatest Stories

Satoshi Kon brought us some of the most bizarre and beautiful anime films, including Perfect Blue, Paprika, and Tokyo Godfathers. They were always uncomfortably weird in an awesome way. Which of his works is your favorite?

Yoshiyuki Tomino Taught Us That the Future Might Be Dark

The creator of the “Real Robot” genre has been one of the most influential creators in the industry. He transformed the world of giant robot anime into a place to tell gritty and dark stories. But why did he create Gundam? It wasn’t to single-handedly change the perception of Japanese animation around the world. He did it because he was mad at the Space Battleship Yamato producers for not letting him add his own touches to the storyboards. He wanted to “destroy Yamato.”

How Hideaki Anno Defined Anime for Me

The anime director I follow most closely is Hideaki Anno, who was hired by Hayao Miyazaki to animate the God Warrior sequences in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Anno went on to co-found the influential studio Gainax. He made Aim For The Top: Gunbuster and Evangelion, plus gave us amazing films like Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman. Hideaki Anno loves giant robots, classic tokusatsu monsters, jiggling boobs, and themes of psychology, religion, and existentialism. He also likes to weave ideas from Western science fiction novels into his works to create more compelling stories.

Hayao Miyazaki, Japan’s Most Magical Anime Director

Japan’s premier anime director has been shaping the industry for over sixty years. Like the legendary Leiji Matsumoto, Miyazaki grew up around airplanes. That’s because his father operated an aircraft parts manufacturer during World War II. This lifelong love of aviation is why airplanes and flight play such a central role in his movies. I’ve loved every one of Hayao Miyazaki’s films, from The Castle of Cagliostro to The Wind Rises. What I admire most about his work is the way he weaves his deep love of nature into his stories, making nature itself a character in the story.

Thanks for reading this post about the sad passing of David Lynch, and some anime directors I’ve enjoyed following over the years. Which anime creators do you love to follow closely? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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