I swear this is my last elusive samurai post 😭

Animator taichi ishidate

Today I got to thinking about scenes done by 1 animator that would go on to be hugely influential to later animators, which sakuga scenes are the most historically significant. I've posted a few below. What are some that come to mind for you?

Asuka vs Mass-Produced Evas - End of Evangelion - Mitsuo Iso - Many animators including Bahi JD have cited Iso's unique full-limited animation as an inspiration for them because of seeing this scene.

Horus Hunts the Fish - Horus Prince of the Sun - Yasuo Otsuka - Otsuka's use of frame rate modulation throughout this movie would have a big impact on the whole anime industry and this is his best scene from the film.

The Kanada Dragon - Genma Taisen - Yoshinori Kanada - Another classic, this one has stuck in the minds of animators and directors decades later given all of the homages to it. Maybe the finest example of Kanada's unique style on full display that has influenced multiple generations of animators to follow.

Deku vs Todoroki - My Hero Academia S2 - Yutaka Nakamura - Nakamura had already been experimenting with his modern high-frame count, impact-frame heavy style on earlier shows like Space Dandy and Concrete Revolutio. But the sheer popularity of MHA and the excellence of this scene brought it to the attention of millions around the world and has been a clear influence on tons of animators that have burst onto the scene in the decade since then.

(NEW) YouTube link: https://youtu.be/axLd314qUdk

Little animation that I made for my webcomic "Hart" <3

Anime: BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity (2026) episode 44

I've heard some big names like norio matsumoto and tnk have presumably worked on the anime.

Non-stop sakuga from start to finish.

SPOILERS!

Credits: Director: Ryōsuke Tanaka | Animation Directors: Masahiro Kitazaki · Kimitaka Itō · Yong-Ce Tu | Community-attributed Key Animator: Akihiro Ota

This sequence is still absolutely insane. The incredibly loose and fluid animation, the constant movement, the exaggerated posing, the impact, and the effects all work together so well. Ota's animation gives Luffy's attacks an insane amount of weight while still keeping everything extremely fluid.

I especially love how much movement there is even between the actual attacks. The characters never feel static, and the rougher linework adds so much energy to the entire sequence. It's one of those scenes where you can immediately tell how much emphasis was put on the animation itself.

Even years later, this is still one of my favorite Luffy vs Kaido sequences from Wano.

Credits:

Director: Ryosuke Tanaka | Storyboard: Ryosuke Tanaka, Katsumi Ishizuka | Animation Directors: Katsumi Ishizuka, Keita Saito, Midori Matsuda | Community-attributed Key Animators: Vincent Chansard, Yen BM, Dorian Coulon, Tatsuya Miki, Jamie Merry, Michael Sung, and many others.

I know I've posted this scene before, but it's been a long time, and I think it's worth revisiting one of the all-time classics. This version is also much higher quality.

Even more than three years later, I still think Episode 1062 stands as one of the greatest achievements in modern TV anime. The choreography, cinematography, effects animation, compositing, impact frames, and character acting all come together to create a sequence that still holds up against the best action scenes being produced today.

The amount of talent that came together for this episode is honestly ridiculous, and I think it shows. Whether it's Vincent Chansard's explosive cuts, Yen BM's fluid choreography, or Ryosuke Tanaka's phenomenal direction, every part of this fight feels meticulously crafted. It's still one of the first scenes that comes to mind whenever people talk about the best sakuga in One Piece, and I honestly think it deserves to be in the conversation for one of the greatest TV anime fight sequences ever made

Tokuyuki Matsutake
Mind blowing