Naoko Yamada - At The Entrance To The Universe 

Alternative title for this video: Naoko Yamada - The True Kyoani Best Girl

*Casually mentions that she directed two of the best episodes of After Story* :O

She really gives anime characters that "human" movements, tics and actions, i think she and Miyazaki are genius directors.

Bloody hell, the work that must have gone into this is crazy, I blinked and 20 minuets was over! Great stuff! :-3

great, I just cried...

One day I hope I could meet her just so I can tell that her works are literally changed my life

Amazing work man, truly incredible. Yamada may very well be the greatest director we have right now. I'll be honest, a few years ago I had no idea who she was, but after watching K-On and finding out she helped with the penultimate episodes of After Story, I was completely sold. We definitely don't deserve Yamada's works, but if there's proof about goodness in the world, I think we've found it. :')

THANK FUCKING GOD SHE SURVIVED

I would enjoy you doing a series on the best directors/writers in Anime. It would be nice to know some history.

Holy shit I got goosebumps, I was completely entranced for the entire duration of the video. Even though I havent seen any of the animes mentioned, I got the sense of the passion and emotion present within them. Great job. Also Naoko is low key cute af, top tier irl waifu.

Came back here after learning about the KyoAni fire. My god. I heard that Naoko Yamada survived. Is this true? Does someone know how she is?

Watching this in 2020 cause I just recently came across A silent voice...I haven't been so emotionally touched and so mesmerised by any movie like I have with this movie...and now here I am looking up videos of naoko yamada and anything related to a silent voice.

FUCK YES I LOVE NAOKO YAMADA! someone had to make a video about her and im glad you did it.

An absolutely masterful video production! Thank you for taking me on this journey and introducing me to such a talented individual in the industry.

As someone who has never completed a Yamada work this video fascinates me from just hearing about why you think she is so good. Your passion really comes through in this video something you would be surprised how difficult it is too pull off, considering how effortless you seem to be doing so here.. Excellent video Jack, you've now forced me to sub in the hope for more content like this. Truly spectacular.

amazing video! where did you find the koe no katachi documentary? I'd love to watch it

That intro song just brings tears to my eyes everytime without fail. That movie was such a beautiful masterpiece. God bless this video

I just saw Koe No Katachi in Cinemas last night (I live in New Zealand), And it was absolutely brimming with the beautiful details Yamada puts into her work. The cinematography, the way characters hold themselves, the way the characters act. it's all very human. *Insert minor spoiler warning* There was one scene in particular where a Ishida's "Self-Proclaimed" best friend, dips a French Fry in ketchup and pretends to smoke a cigarette while talking about Friendship, which is just one of those moments I think everyone's had at least once while growing up. Or another scene where a girl sits on the back of Ishida's bike while talking to him, for no reason other than "that's the sort of thing a real person might do". There's also a scene in a Ferris wheel that is literally shot through a camera lens, in which we can't see the characters faces, and the way the fold their arms or cross their legs, perfectly emphasizes their emotions. It was an absolute wonder to watch and easily deserving of all the praise it's received.

not a huge fan of most of her works, but by far the highlight of each one and something i wish more shows had which is her amazing use of camera techniques and visual story telling to elevate the emotions of every moment.

Koe no Katachi...it hurts...must fill in the void (Also...your videos fucking rock...keep it up man!)

People will be talking about this woman centuries from now. I'd die to see a live action of her making... not to say I'd die a thousand times to work with her.

I nearly got a heart attack when you said she was from KyoAni Thankfully she's still with us today Let us also not forget all those who were lost We will remember your work

The way they introduce k-on is like the coolest thing ever done-

Dude the song he played at the beginning from a silent voice nearly put me to tears

That was fantastic. I'm always excited to see big ambitious videos about subjects like Yamada; your respect for her really shines through man.

I knew you where capable of doing stuff like this but man, you just blew me away. Thanks for doing this incredible video for both yours and my favourite director.

i wanted to express a heartfelt thanks for the effort that went into this video. i'm guilty of not memorising things like director names even after ten years of watching anime, so watching this as a kyoani fan and seeing all the pieces come together was amazing. takemoto was my favourite director there and hearing about how yamada worked under him i was able to clearly link aspects of her style back to his influence. thank you for giving us all pause to consider the work behind these stories we love and the people who make them. just wonderful.

Happy 36th Birthday to my favorite director Naoko Yamada!

This made me unreasonably emotional for some reason. Always been a big fan of KyoAni's work and it is in fact Yamada Naoko that brought me into anime. Props to you, liked, faved, and subscribed. Looking forward for more great videos!

Holy shit what a good video and this makes me appreciate all the work they do to make such wonderful anime

I recently read about Tamako Market's episode 9 opening scene and how Yamada was able to tell an entire love story in 77 seconds! Rewatched it many times, and my god that's an amazing scene!

Wow, this might be your best video to date. Amazing work

0:00 i didn't expect this music bro made me cry on his first tone

She is one of my favourite anime directors as well. Thank you for doing this video. Also, Jan Svankmajer ftw.

Having been following Kyoto Animation since 2007 starting with Lucky Star. Watching the studio amaze myself and others every year with its visuals and directing is one of the things I love most about anime and keeps me on my toes with ideas I've never seen before. Hearing that Takemoto, my personal favorite director, helped teach Yamada and seeing their most recent work on Dragon Maid really is neat, fantastic video!

This is just brilliant! Digibro should reconsider his "OK" rating of you videos.

Ever since I heard you gushing over Eupho season 1, I've been frantically trying to watch all their shows. I'm just now making my way through Haruhi. Thank you, Jack! They're now up there with Trigger as one of my favourite anime studios.

Mann as always your reviews are so great, well written script and the matching background song with the current statement youre explaining is so great, man you are my favorite RU-vidr thankyou so much for pouring your time into making these kinds of videos and explaining it to ppl like me I love you very much man and again Thank You

A topic I barely care about... But the video's good enough that I was still entranced the whole time... My twenty minutes... you, sir, have earned my time.

Jesus, man. You gave me chills with this video. Excellent work as always, but this video is undoubtedly your most important one yet. You've given me insight into one of your favorite directors, and one that I only heard the name of but never looked into. After watching this, I've been more than enlightened on Naoko Yamada. I feel like I know who she is and, like you, I eagerly look forward to whatever she is involved in in the coming future. Again, beautifully edited and executed, UtSR. 10/10.

YES! This is just what I wanted, Yamada's so underappreciated and I haven't heard much about her full story prior to this. FANTASTIC video man. I'm so excited to see Koe no Katachi and whatever she gets to direct next.

I fucking love KyoAni and I fucking love when you talk for 10+ minues about his shows, directors, style. This is one of the best videos i´ve seen in a while, great job. Keep doing this kind of stuff.

6 years later, Yamada has blown me away with Violet Evergarden, Liz and the Blue Bird, and Heike Monogatari.

I saw A Silent Voice two nights ago at my local cinema here in the U.K. I thought it was great! :)

Fuck, she’s absurd. She’s done so much, I had no idea she was responsible for my favorite episodes of CLANNAD and Haruhi AS WELL as A Silent Voice.

I am not sure if your name is Jack Johnson but goddamn your scripts are filled with passion! Keep up the good work

Your reviews are just as good as the movies in the review. They properly convey the emotions you want to convey. Keep it up! And someday you might be there with Yamada and Makoto Shinkai. :)

This is easily my favorite anime RU-vid video. I had no idea about her work on the scenes in Clannad After Story and Hibike Euphonium. Great job! Keep it up!

Damn, I love it when you just gush about Kyoani, it's directors, animation, music, everything! Not only can I feel the passion you have for these subjects, but you manage to put my feelings on it into words! It's so fascinating and really interesting! Also, I really need to watch Koe No Katachi. LOVE the manga, but I'm waiting for a way to watch it in full HD since I feel that's how I need to experience it.

honestly, I'm one of those casuals who knows like, none of the behind the scenes stuff about anime besides the obvious ones like Hideaki Anno and Shinkai. But Yamada Naoko is definitely on my radar now. I've watched every one of those shows/movies and I've always attributed those qualities to the over encompassing studio as a whole, but it's incredibly enlightening to see that there was a specific person's influence that I was being so moved by. This is a great video, great points, great quotes, great structure. Keep it up dude!!

Wait WHAT, Koe no Katachi got an adaptation? Holy shit, I've still been meaning to catch up on the manga for like 3 or 4 years now

I was thinking about Yamada and his style while having a meal and doing some work. Then I went to RU-vid and this happened. Thanks dude, this made my day.

Naoko Yamada along with Tatsuya Ishihara are tied as my favorite directors of all time as both have unique takes at directing and shot composition which ultimately payoff. I too cannot wait for her next project. Good job as always UTS, don't regret subscribing.

You nailed with the K-ON! part. Playing one of my favorite tracks "Singing" in the background...

Opens with the soundtrack from A Silent Voice. Pauses due to instantaneous sobbing. Your comments on Yamada's work in Koe no Katachi was spot on. I had the pleasure of attending a screening of it for it's theatrical release in the U.K. and it is hands down my new favorite anime movie of all time. It is a shining example of the power of what "show don't tell" carries in visual storytelling, and no one does it better than Yamada. Hope you get to see it soon, and of course, we can all pray that it gets a theatrical release in the US!

For your information, there is no reliable source of Yamada's year of birth despite Google search somehow gives 1984 right now. But now it is official that she entered Kyoto Animation in 2004 after graduating from college, which means she was at least 22 years old in 2004 unless she skipped a grade. Although she is still young for what she achieved in either case.

I just teared up from the memory of K-on alone, it was in all honesty, the only show I've given a 10/10

Thank you brother. His reflections on some anime and now on Naoko Yamada's productions, motivations and history are like a flower that is blooming. Beautiful work that you did with your videos, gratitude.

More and more about Naoko. I love her work and I don't mind watching an hour long video if there was one praising her and her talents

I’d love to see a follow-up that includes Liz and the Blue Bird, a film that takes everything wonderful about her previous works to an entirely new level in service of a barebones story that would have fallen flat in the hands of any other director.

So glad to know Yamada’s works, her implementation of filmmaking technique into anime is what I think made me hooked into watching anime. I’m really looking forward for her future creations

I fell in love with K-On, and I noticed Yamada-san at the live music show of K-On presenting, but at that time I had no Idea that she would affect me so much over the coming years. I loved her style even before I knew it was her behind it and especially KyoAni have been one of my favorite studios the last couple of years. They just keep the good stuff coming! Again when Euphonium aired I thought it was a more grown up version of K-On I was watching, and I loved it. I was thinking at the time that the production team had grown up as well as the characters. I have known for a while about the special nuances and style that both K-On and Euphonium had that made them special and so loved by many, and now I know who to thank for it. :D This video just pointed out the obvious to me that I hadn't taken time to find out for myself yet, that it was Yamada-sans gentle touch that was lying behind several of the series and movies that I loved. The Silent Voice was a fantastic manga, I read it all in one go with tears in my eyes the whole time. It was perfect to give her the job of making it to the screen. She is my new idol in the anime world. I wonder how a collaboration between her and Makoto Shinkai could be? They are great in their own style... What if they were combined? :D Thank you for this wonderful eye opener! :D Your analyses are great, keep them coming! Two thumbs up!!!

This video is incredible, I feel like Naoko Yamada manages to capture the human spirit so well that when I watched Koe no Katachi it felt so human. You did a great job on this video and it must've taken super long, but thank you for uploading this.

she likes patlabor too, nice!! patlabor and silent voice are two of my most loved animes.

The fact that the next movie Naoko Yamada made after this video was published was Liz and the Blue Bird is amazing. Can't wait to know what will be next

I had no idea she was so critical to Clannad and Air's most important moments... alright she is officially up there with Ikuhara and Shinbou as my favorite directors

A bit trivial question but do you get the footage of her from blu-rays? And where do you read her interviews? This video honestly made me start to notice directors' style on each episodes of animés. I think you should turn this into a series.

I think this could be the most beautiful review you ever did, personally. The sentient of the content and materials inside of that 20 minutes video is truly a good job done well.

Thank you for reminding me that I need to watch Koe no Katachi myself and for confirming my suspicion that it would make me cry like a faucet.

Wholesome content about wholesome creators is wholesome and emotional and thoughtful and I appreciate it.

Well, I'm sold. Not only is Yamada a great director (I already knew that), but she's a VERY beautiful woman!

Great video! I've only had a very superficial look at Yammada's work, so this was really nice to see

Fantastic video! You did a wonderful job highlighting Yamada's work.

Great video. I love every single one of Yamada's works, including Tamako Market (which is understated imo, it builds up a lot of themes that flourish in Tamako Love Story). The level of quality between Hibike S1 with Yamada, and Hibike S2 without her is a testament to how much she brings to every work. I'm really excited for her Hibike movie.

You never really get more than a surface area view on directors so seeing this really brings hope for a deeper view on other anime staff

seriously this is some amazing script writing, very organized and really fleshed out videos. amazing writing, keep it up.

unbelievable, you made an analysis of k-on even better than digibro (the k-on pastor himself)

She is INCREDIBLE!!! talk about impressive...whoa.

knew this would be great when it showed up in my feed and it did not disappoint. excellent vid.

Why that ending song, why that universe quote, the feels koe no katachi , k-on, my favorite show and movie, the most emotion I've had in a show or movie, naoko is brilliant

You've encouraged me to watch all of these series because I know what to look for!

Watched all the great (best) anime series/movies mentioned here but never noticed who behind it. It is nice to know who is responsible for the great art as I know to whom I would say thank you very much for the work. お疲れ様でした。大好き。ありがとうございました、山田 尚子 さん。

Wonderful video. It´s really well researched, lovingly put together, and immensely informative.

Absolutely masterful video my man, keep it up!

Just watched this video for the 4th time. It's SO GOOD.

Thank you for this video. Very well done. It makes me want to re-watch all of the Yamada works I've already seen, and makes me want to see just about everything else she has been involved with. After this video, I especially can't wait to see Tamako Market and Tamako Love Story.

Me just casually crying to the opening song and of how much I appreciate her work

What a really fantastic video. Thank you for all your thoughts and insights on Naoko Yamada's production process. I'm surely going to watch other videos of yours.

I haven't seen any of Yamada's work yet, and this video convinced me to fix that as soon as possible. Every part of this video kept you interested, and framing Yamada's life as a narrative itself was the perfect way to convey her rise to the top. Can't wait to see what you do next!

This video was really well done. It seems like you understand what she has been involved in. I'll keep an eye out for her.

It was around midnight when I watched your video, and I loved every minute of it! I instantly shared it in my anime Facebook group because more people needed to see it! On a side note, I'm hooked on the ED for Tamako Market - it's so catchy! Lastly, I was wondering if you know of any videos, papers or credible websites that described flower symbolism? I want to understand as much as I can when I get around to watching Tamako Market, K-On! and A Silent Voice!

That was one of the best videos I've ever seen, absolutely beautiful! Keep up the good work, that was fantastic. BRB setting up Patreon to support you!

All this talk of A Silent Voice makes me really sad no one has picked it up in the US. Maybe someday. Great video dude.

Thank you for another excellent video. Your work is helping me learn to appreciate even more my favorite medium. Keep up the good work because is sure is being a great discovery trip!

WOW shit... Literally every reason why I LOVE animation, BEST GIRL Yamada Sensei! This video is the best!

i have a new respect for naoko yamada and this was a great video.

i love her, she has become my favourite, really looking forward to her next amazing work.

I honestly love this video so much. Every once in a while I always end up coming back to watch it again because it gets me so emotional. K-ON! is my favourite anime series and Koe no Katachi is my favourite movie of all time, but these two and Tamako have gotten me so emotional because of how relatable they have been for me and this video really puts all of that together. This video and your analyses of Koe no Katachi and K-ON! introduced me to your channel and now you're easily one of my favourite RU-vidrs of all time. Thank you.

Today I learned Who is the master mind of all these great works! Thanks! What an amazing video!

remarkable! Now that Yamada has taken to the Universe, I wonder which Galaxies she will take us to next!