He is a veteran animator who worked on JoJo for over a decade.
Summary:
- Shunichi Ishimoto announced leaving studio David Production in his X profile.
- He was heavily involved with JoJo and other anime by the studio.
- We probably won’t get Part 7 anime for a while.
For JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken) fans, the last few years haven’t been good for the anime. From Part 6’s release format completely killing the hype, and to Part 7 adaptation not being announced, the fandom feels starved for another season.
Yet recently, another important piece of news dealt a heavy blow to the fandom. Apparently, Shunichi Ishimoto, a long-time employee of David Production (JoJo’s studio), has left the company and became a freelancer. This is a big deal, as he was a veteran employee who worked on the JoJo adaptation since 2012.
He Announced His Leave on His X Profile
Ishimoto announced his leave in an X (formerly Twitter) post. He also mentioned that “the schedule is full,” indicating the fact that he’s still working on some anime projects, though he didn’t specify what they were for obvious reasons.
How Important Exactly Was He for the JoJo Franchise?
Ishimoto has been involved with the production of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure since the 2012 adaptation by David Production. He’s been a key animator and, starting with Part 3, Stardust Crusaders, an animation director for multiple scenes and episodes.
The iconic scene where Abdul shows his stand to Jotaro was animated by him. And for Part 6, he was actually responsible for adapting the design of the Stands — while he wasn’t the main character designer for the series, his involvement cannot be understated.
It’s not like JoJo was his only work with the studio, though. He was also heavily involved in the recently released Undead Unluck, acting as one of the chief animation directors.
What Does This Mean for the Future of the Anime?
Ishimoto’s departure from the studio can mean a lot of things. Perhaps this is a result of some internal scheduling conflicts at the studio. Perhaps he just thought working as a freelancer would give him more opportunities — we can’t even guess.
What we can guess, though, is the fact that David Production is probably experiencing some issues, even if it’s minor ones. Starting with Part 5, the animation quality took a nosedive (although it was fixed on the BDs), and Part 6 wasn’t very popular as Netflix’s release format killed all the hype.
A lack of success for Undead Unluck doesn’t help. It really looks like we won’t get an announcement for Part 7 for a while — which is sad, because it’s the most acclaimed part when it comes to the JoJo manga.