I was about to start watching Next Passage but after the opening I'm just stuck listening to Lucy Rose now.
Happened to me, too - made getting through the season a bit longer than normal. Still totally worth it - everything is as quality as the opening (I still find myself humming Shiver on quiet, still nights when I'm feeling a little wistful or melancholy).
Could I just interrupt here for a second? CGI in Anime – and I don't mean doing the animations and such on a computer, because most Studios are doing that now. I mean blatantly obvious CGI robots (for example), which have nothing to do with the rest of the art style. This stuff made me drop so many series, but I rarely here anyone complain about this. Am I just to old school?
I think a lot of it has to do if you find the tradeoff worth it or not. (and if the show even bothers actually using the upsides) 3D models does mean that the fight scenes can have way more moving of the camera and more exiting angels leading to more exiting action. Shows like Oban star racers for example would simply have not worked with a TV budget if they where to hand draw the ships racing scenes. (but that show also did hide the CGI decently for the times so you forget it's there if you're not searching for it) Also when the CGI is specifically used on things like advanced tech like robots or otherworldly beings one could argue it kinda fits as a tool to make those things specifically stand out as something that doesn't belong in this world. So there is potential there. But CGI blood can fuck of.
3D models does mean that the fight scenes can have way more moving of the camera and more exiting angels leading to more exiting action. Shows like Oban star racers for example would simply have not worked with a TV budget if they where to hand draw the ships racing scenes. (but that show also did hide the CGI decently for the times so you forget it's there if you're not searching for it)
On the budget I totally agree. It is possible to make impressive scenes with almost no additional cost. But on the other hand I think that it is the job of the director, to make an intense action scene in the limits of the possibility's of 'normal' animation. It reminds my of Tetsuwan Birdy Decode: in the later episodes there where some really cool fast paced action and chase scenes, but the animation dropped to the level of … expressionistic art? It was kind of of putting (for me) and the fans ware divided, in some that said the studio should have spend more money on the animation and some that said it was a stylistic choice of the director – don't know what is true. And later Kill la Kill did this in a similar fashion and everyone loved it
Also when the CGI is specifically used on things like advanced tech like robots or otherworldly beings one could argue it kinda fits as a tool to make those things specifically stand out as something that doesn't belong in this world. So there is potential there. But CGI blood can fuck of.
The otherworldly thing is totally cool and can add to the over all feeling of a show. Advanced technology …. maaaaybe? If it is some artifact of a higher race, that no one understands or even knows what it is made of, or something. But that would be very specific and I rarely see a show, where that would be the necessary. Robots? I really have to disagree there, because that's the thing that spoils so many new mecha anime for me personally. And most of the time it is just laziness of the studio. There were mecha in a ton of anime, before CGI and a lot of the them were good. The whole Robotech franchise had a lot of shows, that were well animated, even though the robots did a lot of complicated stuff sometimes. But nowadays the mecha is 3d animated by default. And of course the rest of the show is made on a computer as well; drawn digitally, a lot of after effects, lighting, movement and so on. But when it comes to that, they mostly try to make it look like its really drawn the olden way. I don't know, maybe it isn't possible to do the same thing for robots, but I kinda doubt it. But, at least for me, a mecha doesn't have to spin around all the time and do backflips and shit (NGE did it and it looked fine … so...). They just should direct the scene in a different way, if they don't have the money – like in every other movie.
Why do people like Konosuba? It seems bad and lame...
First of all, it parodies all the dumbass "trapped in a video game-like fantasy world" thing while at the same time doing it better than most shows so it has that going for it. The characters are really endearing and their quirks are (mostly) used to great comedic effect. They're kind of like characters from It's always Sunny in Philadelphia except instead of alcoholic sociopaths, they're just a bunch of dumb, selfish, lovable assholes. The plot blends really well for a comedy that really doesn't need to to. Fairly often, a bunch of seemingly random or unrelated jokes or character moments will culminate in a perfect storm of bad decisions that leads to the worst possible outcome for the party and watching them get out of the potentially deadly situations is just as hilarious as all the dumb shit that they did to get there in the first place.
Also, the boobs are animated in an unusual, saggy way that I kind of find unappealing but still respect.
Why do people like Konosuba? It seems bad and lame...
First of all, it parodies all the dumbass "trapped in a video game-like fantasy world" thing while at the same time doing it better than most shows so it has that going for it. The characters are really endearing and their quirks are (mostly) used to great comedic effect. They're kind of like characters from It's always Sunny in Philadelphia except instead of alcoholic sociopaths, they're just a bunch of dumb, selfish, lovable assholes. The plot blends really well for a comedy that really doesn't need to to. Fairly often, a bunch of seemingly random or unrelated jokes or character moments will culminate in a perfect storm of bad decisions that leads to the worst possible outcome for the party and watching them get out of the potentially deadly situations is just as hilarious as all the dumb shit that they did to get there in the first place.
Also, the boobs are animated in an unusual, saggy way that I kind of find unappealing but still respect.
KONOSUBA is off-putting to me because it seems spiteful in a way that contradicts its bright and poppy aesthetic. Look at how Aqua describes how Kazuma peed his pants before dying (punctuated with a crotch closeup in harsh lighting). On top of that, show goes out of its way to say that Aqua herself is really stupid and shallow, mentioning it multiple times throughout the show. It seems to actively resent the viewer for watching it in some sort of painfully lame attempt to be funny.
This nasty flavor might have given the show more bite if it was doing anything interesting with it, like Welcome to the NHK or other shows that play on the dark side of otaku fandom. I never got the impression it was interested in engaging with these sort of themes, so the mean-spirited tone feels unnecessary and repellent.
"It parodies all the dumbass "trapped in a video game-like fantasy world" thing while at the same time doing it better than most shows" This just sounds like Konosuba wants to have its cake and eat it too.
"...animated in an unusual, saggy way that I kind of find unappealing but still respect." I did not find the animation charming at all, in fact it drags the show down. Not one single character manages to stay on-model in any shot. I feel bad for crapping on Studio DEEN, but they're a shining example of an overburdened, underperforming studio.
Shepherd of deception Prophet of infection Behold the Xenochrist
Locob0: its been almost a year since word funk went on a indefinate hiatus, i still miss it it was the highlight of my week and it kept me happy
Feb 2, 2020 6:12:02 GMT -6
The Xenochrist: Same
Nov 4, 2020 10:06:17 GMT -6
The Xenochrist: Also, hot damn these forums are dead huh?
Nov 4, 2020 10:06:28 GMT -6
Sailor Miranchu: lives on in my heart
Nov 13, 2020 11:16:31 GMT -6
The Xenochrist: I can dig that
Nov 16, 2020 12:08:08 GMT -6
The Xenochrist: MIRAN!
Jun 4, 2022 15:57:24 GMT -6
The Xenochrist: ilu
Jun 4, 2022 15:57:30 GMT -6
dan via discord: hello i am working on the wiki. i know like, nobody's here, but the discord is active & there's a new feature (not on the server yet, being rolled out still) for forums in discord. so thats cool i think. come hang
Sept 22, 2022 0:23:05 GMT -6
Xeno: Good luck with the wiki though! I wish I could be more helpful but I'm way out of the loop these days
Dec 29, 2022 22:44:20 GMT -6