{"rewrite":{"id":"r_39f947f5c23f861abe4eb4c6","clusterId":"c_5b756906af79cecf72377d86","slug":"yamazaki-s-invisible-vfx-roots-run-through-always-sunset-on-third-street","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Yamazaki's Invisible VFX Roots Run Through Always: Sunset on Third Street","summary":"Cinema Today notes that Always: Sunset on Third Street, airing on Nippon TV's Friday Roadshow, carried VFX by Shirogumi, the studio behind Godzilla Minus One. The film has no monster action; its effects are the CG Tokyo Tower assembled across the story, vanished cityscapes like Ueno Station and Nihonbashi, and digital control of sunset light, sky, and locomotive steam, mixed with physical miniatures of Showa-era cars and trams.","whyItMatters":"The effects work the article identifies as the origin of Yamazaki's method is the opposite of the destruction spectacle Godzilla Minus One is known for: invisible compositing and miniature-and-CG hybrids built to disappear into a period drama.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eThe film\u0026#39;s largest effects job is Tokyo Tower, assembled in CG across the story from design drawings and period photographs. Around it, Shirogumi rebuilt streets that no longer exist: Ueno Station, Nihonbashi, and the city seen from above Third Street.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe candy shop and Suzuki Auto were built as open sets, with the spreading mid-Showa 30s cityscape composited behind them. For cars and trams the team shot physical miniatures and fused them with CG backgrounds, an approach the article credits with avoiding the sterile look of full CG.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Always: Sunset on Third Street has no monster to hide behind. Takashi Yamazaki's effects there are the CG Tokyo Tower and the erased city, work Shirogumi would later bring to Godzilla Minus One.","twitterPost":"Always: Sunset on Third Street has no monster. Takashi Yamazaki's VFX work there is the CG Tokyo Tower and the vanished city.","threadsPost":"Always: Sunset on Third Street is where Takashi Yamazaki's effects work is hardest to notice. Shirogumi built the CG Tokyo Tower and the vanished city there, years before the same studio handled Godzilla Minus One.","newsletterBlurb":"Always: Sunset on Third Street aired on Nippon TV's Friday Roadshow, and its effects house was Shirogumi, the studio behind Godzilla Minus One. The film's VFX is a CG Tokyo Tower assembled across the story, lost cityscapes like Ueno Station, and physical miniatures of Showa-era cars and trams fused with CG. It is the quiet counterpart to the destruction work Yamazaki is known for.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Cinema Today\",\"url\":\"https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0157561\",\"title\":\"Godzilla Minus One Director Takashi Yamazaki's Roots: The \\\"Invisible VFX\\\" Hidden in Always: Sunset on Third Street\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4675,"outputTokens":633,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1792711331,"createdAt":"2026-10-22T23:16:40.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-22T23:21:06.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-22T23:21:06.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_5b756906af79cecf72377d86","canonicalTitle":"『ゴジラ-1.0』山崎貴の原点！『ALWAYS 三丁目の夕日』に隠された“見えないVFX”とは","representativeArticleId":"a_e0df5efe2994645b0cc7bed4","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":false,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Godzilla Minus One\",\"ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"Takashi Yamazaki\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"anime\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-22T22:20:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-23T12:02:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T12:08:36.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Cinema Today","url":"https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0157550","title":"『ALWAYS　三丁目の夕日』堀北真希の六ちゃん、原作は男性だった"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Godzilla Minus One","ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street"],"studios":[],"people":["Takashi Yamazaki"],"type":"news","domain":"anime","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}