Masaaki Yuasa, founder of Science SARU, has carved out a unique place in the anime industry. His radical approach prioritizes emotion and movement over realistic anatomy. With works like Mind Game, The Tatami Galaxy, Devilman Crybaby, and Inu-Oh, he has built a psychedelic and fluid style that breaks with traditional narratives. This director doesn't seek to please, but to provoke.
The technique behind the deformation: digital animation without a net 🎨
Yuasa leverages digital animation to achieve an organic fluidity that would be difficult to attain with traditional methods. At Science SARU, he combines tools like Toon Boom Harmony with a streamlined production process, where storyboards are converted directly into final animation. The constant deformations and saturated colors are not mistakes, but calculated decisions to convey emotional states. Movement becomes another character, and the virtual camera moves without physical restrictions, creating sequences that seem improvised but respond to meticulous design.
When drawing well is no longer a requirement 🤯
While other studios break their backs correcting perfect lines, Yuasa throws out a character with a head the size of a car and nobody blinks. In Devilman Crybaby, bodies stretch like gum and blood looks like cheap acrylic paint. But watch out: that apparent visual messiness is more expensive to produce than clean anime. In the end, the director reminds us that movement is expression, not gymnastics. And if you don't like it, you can always go back to watching a slice-of-life with watercolor backgrounds.