Diamond List for January 23, 2008

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, but it's this esoteric sort of lowbrow that tries to pass itself off as highbrow now. Before, it had no illusions about the fact that it was basically taking old cartoons and transforming them into stupid ****. Therein lay its charm. Now it's like, "Tim & Eric Awesome Show? Wtf? And why are there actual comedians on it like it's supposed to be hilarious in an esoteric sort of way where no one gets the joke? This is ******ed."

 

[PhotoJones]

Good to hear. I'm watching the Neon Genesis Evangelion series myself. It's actually a really interesting look at the human condition, in spite of appearing to be an anime about kids in giant robots fighting quasi-religious monsters on the surface.

Uh...I'll take your word for it.

 

[Anubis]

Because i'm bored

Frisky Dingo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8t48SdOQ04&NR=1

Metalocalypse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5QOBzvBO5Q

Lucy Daughter of the Devil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0tSfRsMAU&feature=related

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Uh...I'll take your word for it.

Not all anime sucks once you get past the fact that everyone looks the same. Most of it does, but not all.

 

[PhotoJones]

There are a few rare instances where I'll see an anime and genuinely enjoy it. It's so rare though, that it's not worth my time investigating what other halfway decent animes might be out there.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Not all anime sucks once you get past the fact that everyone looks the same. Most of it does, but not all.

You can say that about anything though.

The last good anime I saw was Afro Samurai.

 

[PhotoJones]

I never did see that. I remember thinking the trailer looked cool, but then I forgot all about it.

 

[moraldeficiency]

If you get a chance check it out, especially the directors cut (more violence/sex) it's actually impressively thought out and clever. I first watched it just for the art (cost one mill an episode to make) but the story really hooked me, and they managed to take some absurd concepts (afro drone, teddy bear samurai) and make them pretty damn cool. Also almost all the charcters manage to do a good job of blurring that good/evil line so you're not sure who you're really rooting for.

 

[PhotoJones]

(cost one mill an episode to make)

I don't believe that.

 

[moraldeficiency]

I don't believe that.

You doubt me?

http://tv.ign.com/articles/752/752802p1.html

"January 2, 2007 - Banking on an unknown creator, Takashi Okazaki, SPIKE TV has decided to take a chance and back this ambitious five-episode anime project. Although it may seem risky to back a show that costs one million dollars per episode, SPIKE has decided that Afro Samurai has what it takes to stand out from the crowd."

 

[PhotoJones]

How the hell does an anime cost that much? Don't they chain those artists to their desks and give them like, a dollar a day?

 

[moraldeficiency]

You'd think so, but if you check it out you'll really be blown away by the images. Incredibly detailed and crisp, the way rain alone looks is pretty breathtaking.

Plus an original score by RZA.

 

[PhotoJones]

You'd think so, but if you check it out you'll really be blown away by the images. Incredibly detailed and crisp, the way rain alone looks is pretty breathtaking.

Plus an original score by RZA.

Yeah, I forgot about RZA's involvment. The thing about animes, though, is that while the images an be as crisp and detailed as anything else out there, the actual animation is usually choppy or non-existent. Like, mouths will move, but faces will not, you know?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'd attribute that to a stylistic difference. There are definite quirks to the style of anime, but anime tends to handle motion as a whole far more fluidly than American animation.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Yeah, I forgot about RZA's involvment. The thing about animes, though, is that while the images an be as crisp and detailed as anything else out there, the actual animation is usually choppy or non-existent. Like, mouths will move, but faces will not, you know?

I know exactely what you mean, and this is why you should check the series out. It's what anime should be. I could have done without the ninja-ninja character (though he did have an important point) but other than that the story was just an amazing ride.

Also Ron Perlman's voice work for Justice was really good (just wish he was seen more)

 

[PhotoJones]

I'd attribute that to a stylistic difference. There are definite quirks to the style of anime, but anime tends to handle motion as a whole far more fluidly than American animation.

That's a joke, right?

I know exactely what you mean, and this is why you should check the series out. It's what anime should be. I could have done without the ninja-ninja character (though he did have an important point) but other than that the story was just an amazing ride.

Also Ron Perlman's voice work for Justice was really good (just wish he was seen more)

Oh, Ron Pearlman's in it? I'll watch it.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Oh, Ron Pearlan's in it? I'll watch it.

A wise choice that you will not regret.

 

[PhotoJones]

Ron Pearlman needs to make a movie with Sam Elliott and Morgan Freeman. They can just across from each other at a table and talk for two hours. I'd watch it everyday.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's a joke, right?

No.

 

[PhotoJones]

No.

How is an anime character's mouth moving, with the rest of their face staying perfectly still more fluid than, say, a Disney character's mouth moving, along with subtle eye movements, facial expressions and whatever else?

 

[moraldeficiency]

botox.

 

[PhotoJones]

All anime characters have mandatory botox injections before being animated.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

How is an anime character's mouth moving, with the rest of their face staying perfectly still more fluid than, say, a Disney character's mouth moving, along with subtle eye movements, facial expressions and whatever else?

It's not. I'm pretty certain I mentioned that that was a stylistic quirk rather than any indication of the fluidity of anime's motion, though. I'm talking about characters running around, fighting, etc. Bodies in motion look better, more fluid, and more dynamic in anime as a whole. The only American TV shows that compare, really, are stuff like JLU and Gargoyles (on its good days) and the 3D-animated cartoons.

That's not a commentary on how Japanese animators are somehow more talented than American ones, mind. It comes down to business. Japan takes animation a lot more seriously than America. They have a lot more people working a lot harder to push the boundaries of the animated medium. Disney's a different story because they sink tons of money into putting forth the highest quality animation possible, and that stuff absolutely looks fantastic, even compared to anime. But those are huge movies that take a lot of money getting made, whereas even the typical, everyday TV animes look almost as good as that over in Japan. Plus, even Disney's pulled back from 2D animation as a whole because it's not as profitable in the American market. If America had the resources that Japan does to spend on animation, I have no doubt that they could create things just as visually fluid as anime. We've proven that with Disney's big-budget movies. The simple fact of the matter, however, is that that just doesn't happen as often in America.

 

[PhotoJones]

I'm not talking TV animation, though. I'm talking animation animation. American TV animation looks just as crappy as Japanese TV animation. But if you compare the big budget, feature length films, American animation (Disney, Fox, Dreamworks, Bluth) is much more fluid than anime. There's no comparison.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I didn't know TV animation magically didn't count as animation, especially since we were actually talking about TV shows before. I agree on movies. American animated movies have more diverse styles and at least equally fluid as Japanese movie animes.

The stylistic uniformity is really what annoys me about most anime, and it's not even that Japanese artists just all draw in that style. It's that the people who pay for the anime are afraid of allowing them to try different styles because they're viewed as not profitable. That homogeneity really hurts anime, in my opinion.