Ichirō Itano

According to "Sci-Fi anime is interesting―from Gundam to Evangelion―[11]", these are mentioned as follows:

A synonym for Itano Circus born from rocket fireworks. Focusing on missiles, which have been treated as subweapons in conventional mecha anime, Itano made an appeal of "large number of bullets" and "movement of missiles". The missiles take intricate, intertwined tracks and draw three-dimensional, artistic wakes with white smoke. Because of this, it is also called "Natto missile". Even if they are the same missile, the characters are divided into "honor student type" which flies in a straight line to a target, "bright type" which predicts the target's mobility and makes a forehead, and "inferior grade type" which flies in a zigzag pattern to be conspicuous. Besides the maneuvering of the target aircraft to avoid them in an emergency is also a highlight, and in some cases, missiles passing through the screen without heading toward the target is depicted. According to Itano, "The orbit is the most important for a missile" and "Itano Circus if the flow is clear, even with one or two missiles."

Depending on the position of the subject in the shooting camera, the picture is drawn so that it switches to a telephoto lens at a long distance, a standard lens in the middle, and a fisheye lens at the front, giving an impression of the depth and speed of the screen. For example, a missile launched at the back of the screen changes to a wider curved image as it approaches the viewer from a telephoto image. Itano calls it "Angle Animation".

It is camera work moving freely like aerial photography of skydiving. It follows the subject from a subjective point of view, and adds frame-in and frame-out to give a sense of reality. To be more extreme, it can also be defined as the concept of tracking an object with minimal camera work. Since the adoption of 3DCG, this trend has been particularly conspicuous, and the movement of the camera, which is delayed for a moment, is the most remarkable. Therefore, Itano's three-dimensional battle scene is more impressive to viewers. In the 3D shooter games of Macross, he supervises a "variable view" that makes the player's fuselage look like it's being shot with a camera.

Considering the structure of the object to be destroyed, processes such as internal detonation by the hit (for example, a scene in which an enemy ship was destroyed in a Daedalus attack.) and collapse by the shock wave are depicted separately. It is also characterized by numerous explosive lights that flicker from circular to crescent-shaped.

Since his days as an original painter, he has often been depicted as an extreme splatter, such as a character's head flying or head crushing. The scene of Char Aznable shooting Kycilia Zabi at Gundam also obscures what was clearly depicted in the original. Although it was ripped off in TV series, there were quite cruel scenes in movies and OVAs, and in some cases, they were cut entirely in the overseas export version.

At the end of the 1970s, young animators called "Kaneda followers" appeared among anime fans who were fascinated by Yoshinori Kanada's effects scenes and opening animations. Itano, who was also inspired by Kanada, stated, "Itano Circus was born because I wanted to absorb Mr.Kanada's good points and find a way to express myself. I think he has made Itano Circus what it is".[12] Influenced by dynamic perspective and explosion of "Kanada Action", the acrobatic circus technique was analyzed by frame advance on VCRs, which were becoming popular at that time, and inspired younger animators.

This trend has continued since the 2000s, Makoto Shinkai, produced personally Voices of a Distant Star, said, "I watched Macross Plus and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory by frame and referred to the mechanical action." Moreover, as a fan of Itano, Chikashi Kubota, an animator, showed similar works in Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi(ep. 3),[13] Gurren Lagann(ep. 14), and Space Dandy(ep. 23).[14]

Action staging such as missile shooting is common, but Shōji Kawamori said, "Although some animators can draw beautiful and speedy missiles, few can draw "a painful missile" like him."

Besides there is also a theory that people involved in Hollywood movies who saw Itano Circus in the video of Macross: Do You Remember Love? used it as a hint for aerial photography in the movie Top Gun. Neill Blomkamp, an avid fan of Macross, included "Natto missile" in the scene in his film District 9 in which a powered suit fired a missile.[15][16]

As an homage to Itano Circus, digital art collective teamLab Inc. created Crows are chased and the chasing crows are destined to be chased as well, Division in Perspective which is a three-dimensional reproduction of "Deformed Space" drawn in a two-dimensional animation.[17]

According to Itano, only the three animators who have fully mastered Itano Circus are Hideaki Anno, Masami Gotō and Yasushi Muraki.[18] Anno mentioned his name as the first master[19] in the animation world and said, "I was taught an uncompromising creative attitude."[20] "It's hard to get there though I'm trying. I tried to cross, but I can't." ,[21] and Cutie Honey, a live-action film by him, also has a kind of homage. Gotō and Muraki were influenced by Ideon and Macross and drew speedy aerial battles in Cowboy Bebop and Eureka Seven respectively.

Although Itano himself did not participate in the work Macross after the completion of Macross Zero, the creators of Satelight, unknownCASE and Graphinica, who were in charge of Macross Frontier Sayonara no Tsubasa's CG, are disciples who received guidance from him.[22] Regarding Hiroshi Yaghishita (Macross Frontier) and Jō Harada (Basquash!) of Satelight, Itano said, "Harada is conferred first and full mastership of Itano Circus of CG, and Yagishita is the best student among the graduates.[23]"

When he was participating from Ultraman Nexus to Ultraman Mebius, he taught the CGI team of Tsuburaya Productions and influenced later tokusatsu productions.[24] In 2011, he announced the dissolution of the D.A.S.T. which he presided over, saying, "All the people I need to grow have already graduated, so I'm going to do what I like.[25]"