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Summer 2012 Anime |OT3| Where All the Waifus Are Made Up and the Points Don't Matter
- Thread starter Branduil
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Wolf Children (Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki)
Hosoda hasn't directed a lot of movies, but he has directed very different types of movies so far. I feel that this is his most honest and open one so far. It is also his most mature work as a filmmaker and a very interesting take on the material he has decided to tackle.
I don't really feel the need to talk too much about the actual contents of the movie much, because I highly recommend that anyone interested should catch the movie at the earliest opportunity to see for themselves what it has to offer. Instead I would like to talk about the themes of the movie and how the director approached them and executed the story into film.
It's a relatively simple story, and probably the most straightforward one Hosoda has told. It is about a young woman who meets a man who is half-wolf, falls in love with him, and they have two kids. Due to various circumstances, she has to bring them up alone after moving to a quiet countryside. The movie is about motherhood, growing up, and children deciding how they want to live their lives.
How Hosoda approaches this material in an extremely direct way. When compared to some of his previous films like his One Piece movie and Tokikake, the most obvious difference here is that he has chosen to completely do away with the heavy handed use of visual metaphors and complex imagery. In doing so, it lacks of the darker and somber touch of those movies, but in exchange he has achieved his highest level of naturalism yet.
Much of the movie is told with extremely sparse use of dialogue, instead opting to use long montages and subtle interaction sequences driven by nothing more than music and the performances of the character animations. This method of direction reminds me most of classic Disney films, where many key moments don't require any scripted dialogue at all, but are communicated entirely by visuals and sound.
In addition to this there is very little dramatic overtones injected into the narrative, instead choosing to present a more honest and natural tale of how children grow up. Yes, the fantasy element of the wolf motif makes it more interesting, but that is as far as it ever goes.
Instead of relying on the traditional aspects of dramatic conclusions to a typical 3 act structure, the movie never quite telegraphs how far it is into the story, or when the narrative is coming to an end. Yet the pacing is far from disappointing, because it is an apt companion to the theme of life and growing up - in a way it never really ends, and how we tell one chapter of that life can just naturally conclude with major events in our lives which might not affect anyone other than ourselves. Things which hold a special meaning, but not necessarily something which everything was building up to.
I found the music, the direction, the art, and the animation impressive, but no single element overwhelms the others. Instead it is how it all comes together which makes the work feel special, because that is how well thought out the presentation is. Another interesting feeling I was left with is that there weren't really any memorable lines in the movie, but tons of memorable scenes. It feels realistic in a way, because real life is rarely filled with quotable quips.
I'll conclude by saying that if Hosoda's One Piece movie was a sign of an angry younger man trying desperately to have his talent noticed (and that is far from a bad thing), then this movie is a milestone showing the world that he has matured into a bold filmmaker who is now able to also tell a simple and direct story, without applying overly artistic film language, and yet lose none of the beauty and elegance of a great movie.
What makes this achievement all the more meaningful is that by telling a story this way, more people can appreciate the message he wants to share, and the appeal is much more universal. I'm not surprised at all that the movie is doing so well in Japan right now. It provides an experience which appeals to those who watch Ghibli films, but yet it is so far from anything Ghibli would ever produce and hence it offers a unique experience which cannot be found anywhere else.
Hosoda hasn't directed a lot of movies, but he has directed very different types of movies so far. I feel that this is his most honest and open one so far. It is also his most mature work as a filmmaker and a very interesting take on the material he has decided to tackle.
I don't really feel the need to talk too much about the actual contents of the movie much, because I highly recommend that anyone interested should catch the movie at the earliest opportunity to see for themselves what it has to offer. Instead I would like to talk about the themes of the movie and how the director approached them and executed the story into film.
It's a relatively simple story, and probably the most straightforward one Hosoda has told. It is about a young woman who meets a man who is half-wolf, falls in love with him, and they have two kids. Due to various circumstances, she has to bring them up alone after moving to a quiet countryside. The movie is about motherhood, growing up, and children deciding how they want to live their lives.
How Hosoda approaches this material in an extremely direct way. When compared to some of his previous films like his One Piece movie and Tokikake, the most obvious difference here is that he has chosen to completely do away with the heavy handed use of visual metaphors and complex imagery. In doing so, it lacks of the darker and somber touch of those movies, but in exchange he has achieved his highest level of naturalism yet.
Much of the movie is told with extremely sparse use of dialogue, instead opting to use long montages and subtle interaction sequences driven by nothing more than music and the performances of the character animations. This method of direction reminds me most of classic Disney films, where many key moments don't require any scripted dialogue at all, but are communicated entirely by visuals and sound.
In addition to this there is very little dramatic overtones injected into the narrative, instead choosing to present a more honest and natural tale of how children grow up. Yes, the fantasy element of the wolf motif makes it more interesting, but that is as far as it ever goes.
Instead of relying on the traditional aspects of dramatic conclusions to a typical 3 act structure, the movie never quite telegraphs how far it is into the story, or when the narrative is coming to an end. Yet the pacing is far from disappointing, because it is an apt companion to the theme of life and growing up - in a way it never really ends, and how we tell one chapter of that life can just naturally conclude with major events in our lives which might not affect anyone other than ourselves. Things which hold a special meaning, but not necessarily something which everything was building up to.
I found the music, the direction, the art, and the animation impressive, but no single element overwhelms the others. Instead it is how it all comes together which makes the work feel special, because that is how well thought out the presentation is. Another interesting feeling I was left with is that there weren't really any memorable lines in the movie, but tons of memorable scenes. It feels realistic in a way, because real life is rarely filled with quotable quips.
I'll conclude by saying that if Hosoda's One Piece movie was a sign of an angry younger man trying desperately to have his talent noticed (and that is far from a bad thing), then this movie is a milestone showing the world that he has matured into a bold filmmaker who is now able to also tell a simple and direct story, without applying overly artistic film language, and yet lose none of the beauty and elegance of a great movie.
What makes this achievement all the more meaningful is that by telling a story this way, more people can appreciate the message he wants to share, and the appeal is much more universal. I'm not surprised at all that the movie is doing so well in Japan right now. It provides an experience which appeals to those who watch Ghibli films, but yet it is so far from anything Ghibli would ever produce and hence it offers a unique experience which cannot be found anywhere else.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
My body is ready for the Hosadapocolypse. Thanks for the impressions duck, sounds like a wonderful example of "less is more" with regards to story-telling. Less telling the audience directly and more showing the audience and letting them watch the story.
R_thanatos
Member
i dunno why everyone is up in arms against CGI but it shouldn't matter when their use is perfectly logical... it's a video game .... why should it be odd ?
i don't get this ...
hosannainexcelsis
Member
Thanks very much for the detailed impressions. I really like the sound of what you're saying; I'm always happy to see films which don't need words to tell their stories.
Sadly, the earliest opportunity to see this seems like it'll be a ways away for me. (Someone please license this in the US already!)
I agree with all of your impressions, and I'm glad you enjoyed the movie. It's really memorable, even a month after I saw it.
Jinrui 9 was a great episode. I need to catch up to E7 AO at some point, but I'm finding it hard to get motivated.
Accel World 21
Watched 1 minute, had a brain seizure, and jumped to the 8 minute 11 second mark instead to continue. This show is kinda unbearable when it's in the real world dealing with Haru's social ineptness or whatever. At leas the game world scenes this week were shounen as fuck. More training! More rules! Oooh yeah! Oh and the real world stuff at the end of the episode was acceptable too... because
Btw, the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 product placement was totally forced, unnatural, extremely obvious, and just dumb. Anyone defending it should probably feel bad. Especially since none of the other arcade machines in the scene stood out like that. I hope Namco paid them big bucks for it, for their sake.
Watched 1 minute, had a brain seizure, and jumped to the 8 minute 11 second mark instead to continue. This show is kinda unbearable when it's in the real world dealing with Haru's social ineptness or whatever. At leas the game world scenes this week were shounen as fuck. More training! More rules! Oooh yeah! Oh and the real world stuff at the end of the episode was acceptable too... because
maid on cyberbike = hawt!
Btw, the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 product placement was totally forced, unnatural, extremely obvious, and just dumb. Anyone defending it should probably feel bad. Especially since none of the other arcade machines in the scene stood out like that. I hope Namco paid them big bucks for it, for their sake.
Somehow Robotics;Notes being picked up by a different studio didn't make it any less ugly.
Every other arcade machine was a parody of another Namco game. I don't really get why they couldn't use the real Namco title if they have Tekken in there.
Why use the real thing when you can have 2ch spend hours talking about how awesome the old games were while they pick apart the references?
Chet Rippo
Member
Hypocrisy part 2:
Alright so here's the final image:
Anyways, I promise to stop spamming these drawings in here so often. I'm sure there are more than a few people who find this to be OT, or distracting.
To keep the rest of this post slightly on track, I started watching Usagi Drop and it's pretty awesome!!
This drawing is great, it's cool to see you draw something so different than what you normally do.
Or at least what I've seen anyways...
Hold up, I almost passed right over this. Why are you doing this to yourself?
This doesn't work when we can go watch the preview and see how much less ugly it looks.
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
It's cool to hate on greatness.
And that PV looks terrible. Wish White Fox was doing it.
I have no idea what preview you are finding if you think that.
You don't know how much the source material carried the show. They used same style on Jormungand and its looks awful.
Canis lupus
Member
Prepare yourself for Kira.
Medaka Box - Episode 9-11
Wtf did I just watch. It's like, my brain is on fire right now. I blame you cosmicblizzard! It's just a crazy combination of inane talkie script and totally random shounen action, I don't even know what to make of it. I guess it's pretty entertaining, because you never quite know wtf is going to happen next, but I just kinda wish all the characters would die because they just won't shut the fuck up. I don't know. I think I have brain damage now.
If season 2 is supposed to be more of this shit... maybe I'll watch it... but I'll never be the same person again.
Wtf did I just watch. It's like, my brain is on fire right now. I blame you cosmicblizzard! It's just a crazy combination of inane talkie script and totally random shounen action, I don't even know what to make of it. I guess it's pretty entertaining, because you never quite know wtf is going to happen next, but I just kinda wish all the characters would die because they just won't shut the fuck up. I don't know. I think I have brain damage now.
If season 2 is supposed to be more of this shit... maybe I'll watch it... but I'll never be the same person again.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
Medaka Box - Episode 9-11
Wtf did I just watch. It's like, my brain is on fire right now. I blame you cosmicblizzard! It's just a crazy combination of inane talkie script and totally random shounen action, I don't even know what to make of it. I guess it's pretty entertaining, because you never quite know wtf is going to happen next, but I just kinda wish all the characters would die because they just won't shut the fuck up. I don't know. I think I have brain damage now.
If season 2 is supposed to be more of this shit... maybe I'll watch it... but I'll never be the same person again.
You did realize this was written by NisiOisin before watching it, right?
Although I haven't watched enough of Steins;Gate to really judge it that well (only five or six episodes), I thought it had a tendency to look very oversaturated with either light or darkness. Take the screengrab below (excuse the fact that it's from a PV on Youtube but I thought that was a valid comparison to the Robotics;Notes PV and I don't own Steins;Gate):
Leaving aside the fact that whoever this character is has no mouth, there's so much white in the outdoor scenes in this show. Coupled with the drab background art (understandable, since they're in a cityscape or dark apartments for most of the show?), it makes everything look very bland and washed out. You see no sky - just harsh, artificial "sunlight".
Conversely, whenever the show went indoors, they went absolutely overboard on the shadows so everything looked dark and murky.
Robotics;Notes, on the other hand, makes much more interesting colour choices. Partly this is because of the Tanegashima setting, which allows for a much "brighter" locale - and that seems like it fits better with the story than it might for Steins;Gate. But it means you have all these beautiful blues and reds from the sunlight, nice night time shots in the last PV I watched, etc.
I also prefer the animation character designs for Robotics;Notes. While this is perhaps an unfair example, look at this key visual from the Steins Gate anime:
Not only are the eyes on all the character designs so flat and empty, but the whole image gives off a drab impression. Mayushi is supposed to be a relatively "genki" character in the first few episodes of Steins;Gate but her actions are at odds with the way her character looks (i.e. duuuuull).
Then look at this Robotics;Notes key visual:
There's so much more life in this picture! She's smiling! Her eyes are basically sparkling! The colours are vibrant and attractive! It just appeals to me so much more.
I'm not saying Steins;Gate is as hideous to look at as Chaos;Head was, but I still think Robotics;Notes has a much more appealing look.
R_thanatos
Member
i feel good and i dont even like tekken that much.
Dedication Through Light
Member
Medaka Box - Episode 9-11
If season 2 is supposed to be more of this shit... maybe I'll watch it... but I'll never be the same person again.
Unzen was the best addition to season one, and zenkichi, though the only thing I didnt like how that arc played out was Medaka herself and her motivations, making Unzen seem the one with the better platform.
Yes, I knew what I was getting into, but I trusted cosmicblizzard anyway! He is my shounen master!
Would they have even had to pay for it? Bandai Namco Games are credited as producers on Accel World - surely they could just have mandated it went into the episode? If they're bankrolling the animators they can do pretty much whatever they want I'd guess.
Medaka Box - Episode 9-11
Wtf did I just watch. It's like, my brain is on fire right now. I blame you cosmicblizzard! It's just a crazy combination of inane talkie script and totally random shounen action, I don't even know what to make of it. I guess it's pretty entertaining, because you never quite know wtf is going to happen next, but I just kinda wish all the characters would die because they just won't shut the fuck up. I don't know. I think I have brain damage now.
If season 2 is supposed to be more of this shit... maybe I'll watch it... but I'll never be the same person again.
If that's what the end of S1 did to you I can't wait to see what S2 does to you.
He should be convincing you to watch Gintama!Medaka Box - Episode 9-11
Wtf did I just watch. It's like, my brain is on fire right now. I blame you cosmicblizzard! It's just a crazy combination of inane talkie script and totally random shounen action, I don't even know what to make of it. I guess it's pretty entertaining, because you never quite know wtf is going to happen next, but I just kinda wish all the characters would die because they just won't shut the fuck up. I don't know. I think I have brain damage now.
If season 2 is supposed to be more of this shit... maybe I'll watch it... but I'll never be the same person again.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
I don't mean to single you out as you're not the first person to say it, but this insistence that we can't be trusted to form our own opinions about Steins;Gate really rustles my jimmies.
For me, the aesthetic style of Steins;Gate worked really well with its content. They mixed to create something strikingly distinct. I haven't seen Jormungand, but it's not much of a surprise that a completely different show wouldn't work as well with the same style.
Accel World is being produced by a lot than just Bandai. It's an adaptation of a Dengek novel series, and the home video release is distributed Warner Home Video. It might be animated by Sunrise, but there are so many stakeholders in the production that if Bandai Namco Games wanted to plug something in the show they certainly can't make that decision on their own.
Another interesting point to mention: Even though Sunrise is animating the TV series, the short gag episodes being produced as BD/DVD extras are animated by JC Staff, so clearly Bandai Namco does not hold all the cards here.
Because someone is giving me money
I still prefer Huke's original designs of the Steins;Gate cast than than the character designs of Robotics;Notes. I guess I just like his weird art style a lot but they also had more variety, in my opinion, to the relatively generic schoolboy/schoolgirl character designs.
Judging by the PVs so far, I do think the animation quality for the Robotics;Notes anime is looking better than Steins;Gate. I never really thought S;G was ugly at the time I was watching it either so yeah.
Judging by the PVs so far, I do think the animation quality for the Robotics;Notes anime is looking better than Steins;Gate. I never really thought S;G was ugly at the time I was watching it either so yeah.
ehhh no jormungand art/character design follows the manga, yes those eyelashes and bushy eyebrows are in the manga.
Choosing to Adapt good source material already makes them better then most studios, that play it safe by relying or only doing shallow fanserivice work.
Steins gate wasn't all source material, great scenes like "I failed" don't make themselfs, pulling off something like steins gate is no easy task for any anime studio.
Am not saying there a top class anime studio(ghibli,madhouse and toei) far from it, there animation is average, it's just that they have balls unlike a lot of these other studios(kyoani am looking at you).
PdotMichael
Banned
I don't understand why everyone believe that a Robotics;Notes by White Fox would use the same art style as Steins;Gate.
Steins;Gate - with a Akihabara setting
Robotics;Note - small school in the middle of nowhere
It would be silly to use the same art style. And I think the art style of the anime adapatation was pretty neat but opinions are opinions.
Well, the production budget is obviously higher. Just look at the marketing campaign of Robotics;Notes (iPhone app, events with Robo-One).
Steins;Gate - with a Akihabara setting
Robotics;Note - small school in the middle of nowhere
It would be silly to use the same art style. And I think the art style of the anime adapatation was pretty neat but opinions are opinions.
Well, the production budget is obviously higher. Just look at the marketing campaign of Robotics;Notes (iPhone app, events with Robo-One).
It's probably not enough.
Canis lupus
Member
Steins;Gate was so amazing that I didn't even pay attention to trivial things like oversaturation.
duckroll said:I just kinda wish all the characters would die because they just won't shut the fuck up. I don't know. I think I have brain damage now.
If season 2 is supposed to be more of this shit... maybe I'll watch it... but I'll never be the same person again.
The Nisioisin experience, condensed.
Steins; Gate is a interaction-driven story between very likable cast, and most of the time they just chatting in one room. So despite the lack of quality and effort in visual from production team, the show can still captivate the viewer. Even its original chara design still have its charm when translated to the anime. I see nothing that White Fox add by themselves for the anime. I give them prop they making Kurisu and Suzuha looks nicer than their VN's sprite though.
I do agree Robotics; Notes chara design is rather boring despite its anime chara designer already doing good job, the original design is just boring.
Canis lupus
Member
Steins;gate > tgtltt anytime
Nope. But it is money.
Basileus777
Member
The actual science fiction is like the least interesting part of tgtltt. It's kind of an apples to oranges comparison.
Massive amounts of kickass!
Danke
Yep. In the end I already see that I want to change, and stuff that bothers me. That happens with every drawing though - only took me a couple of hours put it together but it was fun to do.
cosmicblizzard
Banned
Medaka Box - Episode 9-11
Wtf did I just watch. It's like, my brain is on fire right now. I blame you cosmicblizzard! It's just a crazy combination of inane talkie script and totally random shounen action, I don't even know what to make of it. I guess it's pretty entertaining, because you never quite know wtf is going to happen next, but I just kinda wish all the characters would die because they just won't shut the fuck up. I don't know. I think I have brain damage now.
If season 2 is supposed to be more of this shit... maybe I'll watch it... but I'll never be the same person again.
I never said you would like it! Just that it was crazy and a sharp contrast to everything prior to it.
Edit: As for season 2, it's just crazier with about the same amount of talking. I think more in 1 or 2 fights.
cosmicblizzard
Banned
Casshern Robot Hunter (1993) 1
I keep putting off Sins and possibly the original series but as I'm wont to do, I still want a taste of a property so figured I'd start on this. First of a four episode OVA, I really liked how it starts. The first 2/3 of the episode is spent building up Casshern himself as some sort of legend on both sides of the human/robot war. He appears now and then but never really does much and disappears as quickly as he came so he's given a phantom-like quality. Of course this changes in the last third where he gets down to business and starts crushing some evil robots!
I keep putting off Sins and possibly the original series but as I'm wont to do, I still want a taste of a property so figured I'd start on this. First of a four episode OVA, I really liked how it starts. The first 2/3 of the episode is spent building up Casshern himself as some sort of legend on both sides of the human/robot war. He appears now and then but never really does much and disappears as quickly as he came so he's given a phantom-like quality. Of course this changes in the last third where he gets down to business and starts crushing some evil robots!
Liked this guy's design.
Something about the palette in this shot stood out to me. Probably the pink visor contrasted against the rest.
Her costume choice (and damsel in distress role after her action girl shenanigans fail) was probably the low point of the first episode.
Casshern and Friender doing what they do best.
Finished Code Geass. Not my cup of tea. I did like some aspects of it, the setting was interesting as was the protagonists development. I disliked the art, characters weren't really that interesting, the plot sounded good from the start but kinda falled apart when the more outlandish stuff were introduced. It wasn't all bad, I did like some of the stuff that was going but inbetween there was so much material that I just could get into and hampered my interest.
Are there any good horror animes that are not hentai? I'm looking show with more then 10 episodes.
Are there any good horror animes that are not hentai? I'm looking show with more then 10 episodes.
Kokoro Connect 9
Good episode and episode 10 looks like it will bring the drama.
Good episode and episode 10 looks like it will bring the drama.
Aoki finally does something. He fixes Yui after having a moment with Taichi. A great scene when the 4 (Taichi, Yui, Aoki and Iori) unleash their desire in the club room. Heartseed threatens Inaba by saying he will mess with someone she deeply cares about.
cosmicblizzard
Banned
You might like Shiki. It's really damn creepy for the first few episodes.
Maybe Higurashi no Naku koro ni as well.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Blood-C is pretty horrifying. Only 12 episodes, though.
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