Anime meme: Day 23
Sep. 11th, 2010 23:58![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancing_moonAnime you think had the best, or most intriguing art
Oh, this is an interesting question! I am mainly a manga reader (old shoujo manga is the best, really) but there's been plenty of well-animated stuff to enjoy through the years. But what is the best, how does one even measure that?
An aquiantance of mine who really knows amazing amounts of anime showed us Kamichu! which for him was an example of the overwhelmingly good animation. It's full of life, I agree, every lock of hair moves, every leaf rustles in the wind and every skirt flutters as if alive. But does that make it intriguing to my eyes? Not really; alas, this kind of well done but realistic animation doesn't interest me all that much. While I can definitely enjoy Satoshi Kon's movies from a story perspectiv, and I do find his Paprika a color-sparkling feast for the eyes, it's not the kind of anime that best captures my attention. But I don't really know what kind I like the best either...
Gankutsuou aka The Count of Monte Cristo (in spaaaace) had an interesting layering effect, but it was a bit too busy for me to really stick with it. Studio Ghibli has lovely old-fashioned hand animation and despite what Miyazaki feels, I think they use computer effects extremely well in most films too. A move like Princess Mononoke are just so beautiful it's eerie. Revolutionary Girl Utena still holds up, imo, as a great use of limited animation - but that is still only a trick to hide a lack of money and time, and there's just too many bloody repeated scenes in Utena for it to ever win any "pure animation" awards from me.
What Makoto Shinkai can do on a shoestring budget and a comp is damn impressive in itself, even though I don't really like his plotines (Voices of a Distant Star etc). The character design and glowing details in Umineko no naku koro ni was compelling and in several scenes hauntingly beautiful. Alas, the animation fails in key scenes to keep up with the ideas thrown out so that too falls a bit short.
When it comes to intriguing design, I think the short film Kakurenbo is one of the most remarkable. A short horror story about children playing in an abandoned city, where trolls hunt them, it has excellent lightning effects and a very convincing, mood-building design.
But for the overall prettiest, most gripping anime art? I think I'll have to go with Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi aka Spirited Away. It's not my favorite Ghibli movie, that honor goes to Porco Rosso, but it is definitely one of the most visually rich.
Oh, this is an interesting question! I am mainly a manga reader (old shoujo manga is the best, really) but there's been plenty of well-animated stuff to enjoy through the years. But what is the best, how does one even measure that?
An aquiantance of mine who really knows amazing amounts of anime showed us Kamichu! which for him was an example of the overwhelmingly good animation. It's full of life, I agree, every lock of hair moves, every leaf rustles in the wind and every skirt flutters as if alive. But does that make it intriguing to my eyes? Not really; alas, this kind of well done but realistic animation doesn't interest me all that much. While I can definitely enjoy Satoshi Kon's movies from a story perspectiv, and I do find his Paprika a color-sparkling feast for the eyes, it's not the kind of anime that best captures my attention. But I don't really know what kind I like the best either...
Gankutsuou aka The Count of Monte Cristo (in spaaaace) had an interesting layering effect, but it was a bit too busy for me to really stick with it. Studio Ghibli has lovely old-fashioned hand animation and despite what Miyazaki feels, I think they use computer effects extremely well in most films too. A move like Princess Mononoke are just so beautiful it's eerie. Revolutionary Girl Utena still holds up, imo, as a great use of limited animation - but that is still only a trick to hide a lack of money and time, and there's just too many bloody repeated scenes in Utena for it to ever win any "pure animation" awards from me.
What Makoto Shinkai can do on a shoestring budget and a comp is damn impressive in itself, even though I don't really like his plotines (Voices of a Distant Star etc). The character design and glowing details in Umineko no naku koro ni was compelling and in several scenes hauntingly beautiful. Alas, the animation fails in key scenes to keep up with the ideas thrown out so that too falls a bit short.
When it comes to intriguing design, I think the short film Kakurenbo is one of the most remarkable. A short horror story about children playing in an abandoned city, where trolls hunt them, it has excellent lightning effects and a very convincing, mood-building design.
But for the overall prettiest, most gripping anime art? I think I'll have to go with Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi aka Spirited Away. It's not my favorite Ghibli movie, that honor goes to Porco Rosso, but it is definitely one of the most visually rich.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-12 02:36 (UTC)Agree on the rest too (at least the ones taht I've seen). And Kamichu! just made me feel as if they were all made of boiled spaghetti. And possibly living underwater.
I think a lot of anime is tricky when it comes to the animation; it both is and isn't the point. Much of what defines the style comes from a need to cut costs and limit the animation, but at the same time it's one of the things that has evolved it to an art form in itself.
Anyway, to mention something I watched recently; the animation in the very new Kuroshitsuji II is absolutely stunning (at least in the beginning). Too bad the story is absolute crap.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-14 11:30 (UTC)Exactly! This also makes it a bit unfair to compare a big-budget production such as Ghibli movies to a tv-series. Even if they're both the best in their fields, they will have (must have) worked in very different directions to become any good.
But I like animation that fools you into thinking that more is happening than it is. When it's too much talking heads and swirling backgrounds, so that you notice the budget constrictions, then it's bad. When you can get swept away and only realize later that, hey, they really cheated here - that's the good stuff
I promise I'll watch some of K2 a bit later, if only to enjoy the pretty ;) But don't have the time now -_-
no subject
Date: 2010-09-17 23:29 (UTC)Tell me about it. Been watching One Piece a lot lately, and parts of it is really badly animated (like most long shônen anime). OTOH, the story is brilliant.
I promise I'll watch some of K2 a bit later, if only to enjoy the pretty ;) But don't have the time now -_-
The first episode is rather good, actually, it's further ahead things veer off into awfulness. Oh, and in the second episode nothing whatsoever happens.