Animator Spotlight: China

All gifs in order:
The Idolm@​ster: Cinderella Girls (2015)
Ooya-san wa Shinshuki (2016)
Dimension W (2016)
Occultic;Nine (2016)
Eromanga Sensei (2017)
Slow Start (2018)
Encouragement of the Climb Season 3 Episode 2 (2018)
Encouragement of the Climb Season 3 Episode 10 (2018)
Mob Psycho 100 (2019) AD by Itsuki Tsuchigami and Hakuyu Go
Just Call it Love (2020) AD by Moaang
Wonder Egg Priority (2021)
Fate/Grand Order Camelot Wandering; Agateram (2021)
Sonny Boy (2021)
Detaramena Sekai no Melodrama (2023) Layout only, KA by Masami Mori
The Apothecary Diaries (2023)
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (2024)

Happy Belated Birthday to China born February 23rd, 1996. I was very reluctant to cover this animator, and it’s not due to the somewhat mysterious aperture of the direction they take their art in, but more so a serious lack of work that has not been identified or confirmed. That is somewhat beside the point, but it’s important to note that I will be guessing some of their cuts so take everything with a grain of salt. China is an animator I am surprised made it as far as they did, by doing a lot with a little. Being a part of a cadre of webgen animators like Moaang, the two heavily operate in the guise of subtle gestural animation. You’re not going to find any broad sweeping realistic animation that takes you by surprise, rather it is framing and rawness in their drawings that brings everything together. China’s come to prominence was born out of impressive work on several A-1 Pictures titles in the mid-late 2010s, with Eromanga Sensei being a defining part of his journey along with now star action animator Nakaya Onsen. From there China became a nearly exclusive character animator, lending his eye for subtle character moments with some of the best animation equivalent directors in the industry, joining the likes of Tatsuya Yoshihara, Takahito Sakazume and Shun Enokido, Kai Ikarashi from Trigger, Keiichiro Saitou, Shouta Umehara and his affiliates, Takashi Kojima, and even Shingo Yamashita in his OP’s. China has also lent his hand to directing music videos showing off his characteristic trait of using older animation tactics and aspect ratios to give an authentically vintage feel to his style that is heavily inspired by Yuusuke Matsuo and Naoko Yamada (whom he has both worked with). The master of subtlety, China.

So starting off very early in their career, China was a bright, newcomer coming onto shows like YuriYuri and Encouragement of the Climb being a proficient aficionado in quieter scenes. This is unconfirmed but it looks like his second KA involvement on Climb S2 got him some recognition by animation director Kazuaki Shimada from the series.

From there it was all Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls, giving China the opportunity to work with his idol Yuusuke Matsuo.

Matsuo being an early staple of A-1 Pictures works was there to really push China, and on Episode 11 we see a style, congruent with rougher digital works of the time, but finesse of a seasoned veteran. With smart storyboarding focusing on accessories, there is a unique sense of dimensionality to the characters. Though China often likes to animate on 3s and 4s, often layouting every frame himself, the liveliness of the cuts aren’t lost, and the characterization is very palpable. Episode 19 sees China slightly simplifying mouth movements into short lines that he often favors, and even in the simplest scene is doing little embellishments of sakuga wizardry. Episode 24’s first cut is probably the most significant example of China’s digital animation being noticeable. Notice the slightly rough and distorted outlines of hair, even little strands, unnaturally appearing. His line work is also noticeably thin, like stick figures. There is no breaking of the lines, just a solid uniformity throughout them. Nakaya Onsen, was a natural friend to China on these episodes and their short bond would quickly move them up the ranks.

That same year China was also able to land a role on Yatterman Night working with workhorse troubadour Tatsuya Yoshihara, doing a brief action scene that put him in the radar of Yoshihara’s students Shun Enokido and Takahito Sakazume.

In winter of 2016, China was working on two slice of life shows that both operated under TV shorts, the first was Ooya-san wa Shinshuki directed by famed freak guy Yuuki Ogawa. 2 Minute shorts with China doing a solo KA of Episode 3. China’s comedy acting is almost stop motion like, with how jittery and shaky the characters are throughout the episode. There are even some sparing moments of realism, like this hand cut, which is another great example of China’s line breaking. The second show was Mahou Shoujo Nante Mouiidesukara, reuniting him with Climb AD Kazuaki Shimada who was present for this as series character designer. China’s solo KA Episode 7 had some interesting overlap with his Shinshuki episode as he experimented once again with hand multiples, but differentiated that cut by showing off pretty decent liquid effects.

The rest of 2016 was huge for China, as he was able to get a series of connections throughout the industry. His first being on Flip Flappers with director Kiyotaka Oshiyama and AD and CD Takashi Kojima. He participated in several episodes, being a calming animator, showing off his zest for hand sakuga, and handling a brief portion of quiet moments. The second show he did in the fall was Long Riders directed by Yoshihara. His opening episode was very much at the behest of following the character models staying close to the norm. Then we get Episode 3, being chiefly important as China’s directorial debut, with the first half of animation going closer to Tokiemon Futsuzawa’s style


then deviating to China’s minimal line style.



The scenes shaded in the trees are emblematic of China’s favoritism of doing a lot with a little. The sparse usage of shadows with the characters being covered by the beams of sun through the trees is a very shrewd approach bordering on kagenashi. Onsen enjoys the brief spotlight he has, but a crucial addition to this episode and long time friend going forward is Masami Mori aka SOTY. Mori will become an essential part to the development thriving with China, Moaang, and others within that friend group

On the same day as Long Riders, another show concurrently aired called Occultic Nine, with Tomoaki Takase helming the shows CAD and AD on Episode 1.

Takase himself had been a highly venerable AD, showing off his character acting chops on essential slice of life episodes like Yozakura Quartet: Hana No Uta Episode 12, and the team he had assembled for Nine’s debut episode was young and sharp with Ryosuke Nishii, and Keisuke Kobayashi being the new young talents at A-1 Pictures. China was the one Takase heaped the most praise onto calling him a genius for these cuts, and even animating more than just that. China usually doesn’t work with this much detail in his initial genga, as its crucial to get the layouts right for expressive motion that gets out a lot of personality.

You can already see how uneven and janky a lot of the lines in China’s layouts are, but instead of Takase smoothing out the lines, and motions he embraces the roughness adding to the charm of the scene.

Another interesting scene that went somewhat under the radar for China was Dimension W, this quick scene being the most action forward his work ever looked

Then we get to 2017, starting the year off strong with a show that skyrocketed China’s talents, Eromanga Sensei

Created by Tsukasa Fushimi, the mind behind Oreimo, and directed by Ryouhei Takeshita (infamously known prior for his work on Monthly Girls Nozaki Kun and assistant director on New Game), to say the final product was controversial would be an understatement. The story revolves around a young girl who’s brother is an erotic mangaka, and he finds out his illustrator who lives under a pen name is actually his younger shut in sister, making everything all the more weird. With a broad range of connections by Takeshita at A-1 Pictures and abroad he was able to bring on an incredibly talented team. Kenji Sawada, and Keisuke Kobayashi served as primary animators with Kobayashi especially smearing the screen in lifelike character acting talent. The two freelance leads comprised of China and Onsen. For China his first responsibility was to direct the OP.

In a world filled with flashy OPs, containing dissolves, sakuga, and heavy compositing, China opts for none of that and his conservative approach easily explains the character dynamic of the show. The storyboards by Takeshita mirror the central conflict of the series, showing maybe the two leads are not so different. The most memorable part of the OP is a quick dance number by Onsen which has been memed somewhat after its release. It’s a super quick cut but the personality is pervaded so well.

For the remainder of the series China had to compete with a bulk of heavy hitting artists, and he easily held his own. His first scene is way more dynamic than anything he had done prior with overtly silly character acting that revels in panic. Episode 5 is one of his longest scenes ever, featuring some scenes on 1s that are more so for comedic effect. China then works later closely in tandem with Takeshita’s boards on Episode 11, in which China provides a solid tapestry of everyday things happening around the protagonist’s area, like street cats hanging out in an alley, or kids playing football in a park (with animation that looks very inspired by Taichi Ishidate). Even though he maintains a more low-key persona in the show not reaching the heights of a Kobayashi this show got Onsen and China even more outside notice from freelancing piers.

From here on out we get a majority of shows that mostly have indiscernible or hard to identify animation by China. The first coming on Fate/Apocrypha which is where Onsen and China’s paths would split, as he’d privy more into becoming a focused and original action animator first on Sakazume’s Episode 4. China also delved into some action, but the end result was less than flattering, as his pen couldn’t keep up with the dynamism of the scene, making it look somewhat janky and stiff. He began to participate in shows like Princess Principal, Gamers, and Devilman Crybaby

By 2018, China had become more so of a full blown creative rather than animator, and would begin to helm more of his directorial presence on Encouragement of the Climb Season 3.
In a show consisting of spurts of high quality animation, this season was known for having several solo KA episodes. The legendary Norio Matsumoto solo animated Episode 5, Yuusuke Matsuo for Episode 4, and on Episode 2 China storyboarded, directed, and solo animated his episode. Episode 2 completely lines up with China as the whole episode has his sketchy penmanship.



Much like his work two years back on Long Riders China greatly simplifies the character designs of the material he’s working with, giving them little shading, excessive details, and opting for his slightly crude digital approach. To an untrained eye, China’s style looks like someone who just picked up drawing, but this is all very much a subtle aesthetic choice. Every scene maintains his super subtle character acting which is prevalent throughout nearly the entire episode. This initial cut of Aoi getting money from an ATM is ripe with crude drawings. The lunch scene is also wonderfully simple thanks to China’s decorating of the scene. The shoe tying scene is perhaps the highlight of the episode, showcasing China when locked in is a competent realist animator even though he’s very conservative with amount of frames.

Later in the season China directed Episode 10, this time bringing on friends to support him. China opted to call in members of Enokido, and Sakazume’s Apocrypha team and other acquaintances within that bubble, and with a more cinematic storyboard drawing power was key. We first get an appearance from Masami Mori lending his hand to lifelike shot composition, and key CAD corrections from Matsuo. Secondary standouts come from Noriyuki Imaoka doing a beautiful short scene. Eri Irei is one of the more underrated of the team, and given her strong knack for drawing shoujo in short spurts she does a lengthy character acting scene. Action ace Ken Yamamoto or Leaf was brought on to depict the surrounding Hanno area in glorious detail. Jin Oyama (a close friend of Kerorira) animated a quick scene. The real standouts come towards the end. Moaang does a killer minute of character acting, Sakazume does a fantastic scene on the bridge, and following him Keiichiro Saito a future prodigy in the direction of popular anime to come, but around this time a standout animator from Shingo Natsume’s camp—the lighting in this scene is great btw. The three final scenes are divided by some of the best on the team. Kai Ikarashi gives an impassioned performance with his exaggerated angles and effects, in a non-horny scene Ryo Imamura does some cutesy character acting, and the final scene is covered by China himself, with him heaping praise onto DP Hiroshi Satou for his contributions to the lighting.

Now we enter a bit of a guessing game as from 2018-2022 will have some very sparse involvement in his non-key projects. Episode 9 of SSSS Gridman was a spellbinding introduction of Kai Ikarashi’s directing power, and thanks to his connections outside of his very own Studio Trigger was able to bring on China, Mori, Leaf, and others onto the episode. Due to his heavy supervision, its hard to make out where China was but my biggest guesses would be here. This could also be China, but its a stretch due to the timing not looking like China whatsoever.

China started making brief appearances on Natsume projects like Boogiepop, and notably in 2019 Mob Psycho Season 2 Episode 5 directed by Hakuyu Go, and supervised with Itsuki Tsuchigami aka Miso

cuts by China at 0:11-18, with AD by Go and Miso
whenever Go brings an animator on an episode they are expected to do the best as his episodes are a gathering of the industry’s best talent to flex their skills within his cinematic devastation.

Two key projects came out of 2019 for China, the first was some stellar direction on an Eromanga Sensei OVA. The OVA’s animation lends its hand to excessive undressing of characters per usual with Takeshita involvement, and also a pretty conservative dance scene somewhat unexpected for China.

The second project was China’s directorial music video debut with the song “それを愛と呼ぶだけ” (‘Just Call it Love’) by Mafumafu

In this nostalgic MV, China and company implement a bittersweet atmosphere with color and art direction reminiscent of early 2000s anime muted sepiatone colors. The entire look is one big collaborative effort. Firstly Moaang’s character designs evoke China’s puddy formlessness while also maintaining that crude starkness that makes his characters so endearing. He also manages to balance a heavy dose of realistic animation with practical surrealism, such as falling from the sky. Yuuki Funagakure’s groundwork for the world is so ethereal, strongly reinforcing the dreamy reality of the world, and following him longtime KyoAni collaborator Sagako Itakura’s background art harkens back to her work on Liz and the Blue Bird laying a canvas for the beautiful and grayed but hopeful skies, buildings, and trees. Lastly, DP Toshitaka Kanda gives this a***ogue esque shade of colors to the world, with one moment oscillating to snapshot moments of wonder, to long shots of cloudy skies, culminating in an over the top ending, of the sun peaking through in the climax.

Moaang's character designs here are stunning

China afterwards kept on with guest moments appearing on another MV with Kiyotaka Oshiyama, doing some of his first KA on a Shouta Umehara show with Wonder Egg Priority, and appearing again on another Gridman series Dynazenon back with Ikarashi on direction, I can only guess this scene is him. In mid 2021, China also assisted with some of the animation on a prolonged fight scene in Paladin Agateram directed by Kazuto Arai, along with younger freelancers like Yen BM, Vercreek, and supervision from Miso, China manages to keep up with the pace of the scene doing some running KA and drawing more intensive effects animation around 0:12-0:21.

After a minor appearance on Sonny Boy with Natsume, China finally got to work with another one of his heroes, Naoko Yamada on Heike Monogatari

In her first post-KyoAni series, Yamada comes out of the gates swinging with a strong team, under the production umbrella of Science Saru studio. With minimal character designs by Takashi Kojima, writing by Reiko Yoshida, photography by Kazuto Izumida, color design by Satoshi Kon collaborator Satoshi Hashimoto, and music by Ping Pong mastermind Kensuke Ushio the show was the ideal climate for creatives to thrive. Given China’s obvious talent for atmospheric and practical boards past this point it was only right he was given an episode, and was granted that privilege for 3.




Storyboards, and AD all primarily handled by China with his trusty companions Moaang and Noriyuki Imaoka supporting extra AD, with Kojima’s lingering figure present throughout the whole show. The animation is phenomenal from front to back as expected from this tight nit group, but the real surprise is the storyboards which feel more cinematic than China has ever gone for. His artistry feels pushed to the brink here, and in the flashback scenes (potentially animated by Keiichiro Saito) proves the power of strong boards. Imaoka’s AD on the episode is noticeable throughout the episode, especially in Moaang’s scene

China the following year went on to guest KA on two high tier episodes, the first being Akebi’s Sailor Uniform joining Megumi Kouno’s team on Episode 7. This episode was directed by Moaang and has at least three pages of animation on sakugabooru. Again a testament to Moaang’s connections showing off a young Myoun and experimental animators like Ren Onodera. Again very unsure what China did, but I’ll guess this scene. Another was Takahito Sakazume’s action opus episode of Princess Connect Re:Dive bringing on the biggest heavy hitters in the industry. Unknown what China did, but I believe he did some cuts in the golem sequence.

Following other projects, China returned to the Climb series on their most recent season, Next Summit

Both China and Keiichiro Saito were tasked of taking up the mantle of Episode 7, Saito directing the first half 7a, and China doing the second half 7b. Saito’s first half is very strong with a team managing some soft and touching character acting. Standouts like Hidehiko Sawada, Kerorira, and Kanada animator Takeshi Maenami take up the first half, while the summit scenes near the end are a joint pairing of Saito and freelancer phenom Toshiyuki Sato.

China’s 7b section compared to Saito’s are immediately noticeable by the change in line work. The light weight palatalized shift in animation direction lets the animators have more looseness in their work than usually intended. China is pretty much able to assemble his same team from Episode 2 of Season 3 with the exception of a few newcomers. Ryo Imamura, Masami Mori, and Noriyuki Imaoka return, along with Kai Ikarashi who once again steals the show by lambasting in modified character designs and his Masaaki Yuasa-esque style of comedy.

Afterwards from 2022-23, China had small roles involved in two Saito shows, one being Bocchi The Rock and the other being the fantastical Frieren, showing up first on the initial OP, then way later on the final episode.

I believe this is only the second time China drew an explosion.

Akiko Takase's layouts on top, China's on the bottom.

Toho Animation recently had celebrated their ten year anniversary as of last year, and China had a huge request to animate a music video for Creephyp’s song “でたらめな世界のメロドラマ” (‘Detaramena Sekai no Melodrama’)

China manages to once again reassemble few members of his “Just Call it Love” team and this time opts for a completely different creative direction. Instead of opting for the muted grey color palettes of 2000s anime’s, China channels the 80s going for a vintage, cel shaded romanticism, and character designs somewhat inspired by the likes of a Takashi Nakamura- but maybe more suggestive of his most obscure works. China finagles this aesthetic to work with his modern digital animation to suggest the present, while also keeping his foot in the past. The character designs (unknown if it was China, Moaang, or Imaoka) feel even more reduced in detail than “Just Call it Love” giving a puddy marshmallow like texture to every element of their being. The boards here are per usual, stark and entrancing.




I feel like the direction from the compositing trio of AJ, Toshitaka Handa, and Akira Hashigami pull just as much weight as the animation department, if not more. Only 7 KA’s were credited with Mori credited for the brilliant dance sequence near the start.
newer animator ddsang also got final scene on the MV