Itano Circus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Itano Circus is a term most used by Japanese- and English-speaking anime fans to refer to a highly stylized and acrobatic method of depicting aerial combat and dogfights in many anime, particularly the Macross series.
The term was popularized by the anime The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, but this animation style with its homage to air circuses could be seen in earlier works such as the first Gundam animated works and the Daicon convention videos. This name was not used in the dialogue itself of these animated works. The style of animation was nicknamed after its creator, Ichiro Itano. He was the animation director largely responsible for the mecha combat scenes in the first Macross series, and has also worked on Mobile Suit Gundam, Megazone 23, as well as Macross Plus.
The Itano Circus is defined by the detailed, fluid shading of the mecha, the close-range acrobatic moves the duelling fighters make in combat, as well as twisting contrails left by fighters and missiles. It is also commonly used in specific reference to an attack where a mecha or spaceship launches a large swarm of missiles with meticulously animated spiraling smoke trails and erratic trajectories. This is sometimes called the Macross Missile Massacre by English-speaking fans. Missiles used in an Itano Circus sequence are often smaller than normal missiles and are called Micro-Missiles.
