Shinji Aramaki is not just any name in Japanese animation. This mecha designer and 3DCG pioneer decided that hand-drawn robots were no longer enough and set out to give them real volume. His vision, which blends the realism of video games with the narrative of anime, has produced works like Appleseed or the reboot of Harlock. A guy who doesn't settle for flatness.
When cyberpunk meets the render engine 🖥️
Aramaki doesn't just place 3D models on screen. His method seeks to give every panel of a mecha weight and reflect light as in real life, but without losing the essence of anime. In Blade Runner: Black Lotus, for example, he applied motion capture and advanced texturing techniques so that characters moved fluidly, while the background maintained that dirty, rainy aesthetic of classic cyberpunk. The result is a hybrid between a live-action film and a cult series, where technical details matter as much as the story.
The man who made Harlock stop smoking in 2D 🚀
Watching the 2013 Harlock was like discovering your grandfather has bought an electric motorcycle. The design was still the same space pirate as always, but suddenly his cape had fabric texture and his ship looked like it came from a luxury dealership. Aramaki managed to make 2D purists complain while the rest of the audience wondered why they hadn't done this before. Sure, the eye patch is still digital, but no one complains about that.