@Greg:
We know he's a 作画監督 as well as the so-called 'difference' which is why we called him "Anime Director" and not simply "Director" or "Series Director". Also some food for thought, when one comes to understand their roles and their level of involvement, it's actually significantly closer to what we normally would consider a 'Director' in Western animation.
Another role that people not involved with the series seem to understand the importance of is the producer. This is something even I was unaware of until I became officially involved but the producer makes 'major' calls and is intimately involved in the process far more than I ever expected but is always outside the spotlight.
Great interview and great OPPJapan, Greg! (I'm sorry for not replying your PM immediately because of some busy work.:ninja:)
I do think we should thank Mr. Sakurada for his work. Since PH arc, Mr. Sakurada has brung us a lot of changes which make One Piece anime getting better and better. For example, he added a new position called Chief Animation Director since PH arc, and Mr. Hisada (who has been working on OP as an Animation Director since Episode 1 and as the Character Designer since #385) took the role. And what Mr. Sakurada did is more than this. However, when Mr. Shibada (柴田宏明さん) was the producer, he just didn't anything good to OP anime.
Now we have a new SD, Mr. Fukazawa, credited together with Mr. Miyamoto, which means that maybe Mr. Miyamoto will leave One Piece anime. Although the anime didn't have much sources in the past few years (even for the time being) and the show has to go under the one-episode-one-chapter pacing, Mr. Miyamoto has done his best, in spite of there being a lot of things what he cannot change . If Mr. Miyamoto leaves One Piece, I'll miss him.
To tell the truth, I used to complain One Piece anime a lot. However, the more I know the staff's hard-working, the more I feel the respect, not to mention the progress they've made these years.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Yuugi's:
'Producer' as in the 企画 (Planning) role or the フジテレビプロデュサー?
Producer = 企画 (One Piece anime wise) = プロデュサー
We have two producers now:
狩野雄太 Yuta KANO - Fuji TV side
櫻田博之 Hiroyuki SAKURADA - Toei Animation side
Anime Production wise, producer on Toei Animation side plays the role more.