Yashahime Director Claims Webtoons Are More Compatible With Anime Storyboard Structure

Anime director Masakazu Hishida, known for his work in Yashahime, InuYasha, Ensemble Star!, recently gave an interview to Mantan Web talking about the currently airing anime adaptation of Taejun Pak and Kim Junghyun’s Viral Hit webtoon.

Hishida, who is currently helming the series, shared insights into the adaptation process of webtoons into anime series in the interview, where he emphasized the unique compatibility between the storytelling of webtoon with that of anime storyboard structures.

While this might not always be the case with other webtoon to anime adaptations, Hishida felt that unlike traditional manga, which often relies on double-page spreads, the one-way scrolling of webtoon is more compatible with anime storyboard structures.

He then went on to back the statement with an example and also highlighted the seamless flow and continuity of storytelling facilitated by this format, likening it to the passage of time in animated sequences.

“It’s completely different from traditional manga. Webtoons are read by scrolling down one way, so it’s difficult to skip back and forth between panels. The paneling for this anime adaptation is completely different from how you would panel a traditional manga. I’m not sure if this is the case for other webtoon adaptations, but I felt that the one-way scrolling nature of webtoons is actually more compatible with anime’s storyboard structure. In traditional manga, sometimes the imaginary line is crossed. For example, a character might be facing right, but in the next panel, they’re facing left. This doesn’t happen in webtoons. In traditional manga, the reader’s eye line is constantly changing, zigzagging, or even jumping, but that’s not the case here. The panels are well-connected, and there are even panels with only text, but you can still read it smoothly by scrolling down. It’s similar to how time flows in anime. The original work of ‘Kenka Dokugaku’ is divided into story, storyboards, and drawing, and I couldn’t help but think that the people involved in the anime adaptation must have been involved in the original work as well, because the compatibility is so high.“

Masakazu Hishida is a Japanese anime director, who is known for directing Ensemble Stars!, Yashahime, among others. He is is also credited as an episode director in InuYasha and Kekkaishi anime, while he has handled episode storyboards for Ouran Highschool Host Club, Natsume Yuujinchou and others.

Viral Hit anime started airing on April 11, 2024.

The series is produced by Okuruto Noboru and directed by Masakazu Hishida, with Toshiya Ono writing series scripts, Satomi Miyazaki designing the characters, Yutaka Yamada composing the music.

The opening theme song is “Wild Boy”, performed by MA55IVE THE RAMPAGE, while the ending theme song is “Viral Hack”, performed by Crab Kani Club.

Source: Mantan Web