Maison Ikkoku #39, animated by Atsuko Nakajima and a merry team of Ghibli-related animators (Shinji Otsuka, Masâki Endô, Katsuya Kondô), is a little jewel: full of these simple, small and mundane movements, but always executed with a remarkable ease and sense for detail
@thaliarchus The motion wasn't great either, but the mecha drawings were pretty enough to make it alright for me. Could have used more inspired character designs and a more suitable art style for them though, it feels very restrained and full of concessions to some pretty lame conventions.
@thaliarchus I actually found the storyboarding for the mecha battles pretty engaging, some consistently good use of composite images and it was frenetic without being hard to follow for me. The mecha designs are also wonderful. It's more so the writing and digital effects work that was rough
@thaliarchus @MatteoWatz @tajox The old guys will buy every obscure old robot model you make though. Moderoid gave us an A.R.I.E.L model of all things - which is awesome because A.R.I.E.L rules, but their consumer base is aging and may not have replacements.
@thaliarchus @MatteoWatz @tajox That's my belief. I was looking for the screenshot of the Japanese boy saying "robots is old fashioned". Card games and video games beat out robot toys and models in Japan for kids. Ironically you get more 2d mecha animation from Cardfight Vanguard than most mecha shows now.
@thaliarchus @MatteoWatz @tajox If your idea of technological progress goes from " we make bigger warships" to "we make smaller computers" then maybe the whole giant robot thing just seems less interesting? Though some swear that interest in mecha is not the issue - in terms of global consumer interest.
In the late 70s and early 80s, the anime industry used to have an organized baseball league (source: Masakazu Higuchi)
The teams/players mentioned were as follows (apparently the league had over 200 members but only ~60 were listed). (1/10)
@MatteoWatz @tajox Basically, straight forward fluidly and being as solid and on model as possible is easily achieved by CGI. But if your focus is on dense and expressive effects, impactful modulated timing, and very complex layouts then CGI is hardly an advantage, and may even be a hindrance.
@MatteoWatz @tajox I think some of it must be a failure of the last generation of mecha shows qua their mecha scenes to capture the imagination of the newer generation of animators. I also think that where mecha animation went in the 90s involved prioritizing things that are better achieved by CGI.
@Stockfootage_M@PracticalMecha He took out those three Titans at the colony while Kamille was off with Rosamia and Fa, took out a good 3rd of Haman's troops with the Mega Launcher at Gryps, and saved Kamille from Jerid a few times, but I think that's about it save the odd grunt. MCs get all the named kills.
Suda also animated the OP. It seems like he loosened up on some of his more laborious tendencies. It's less like he is approaching western animation and more like he is happily making anime. Though admittedly this impression is influenced by the designs, which are circumstantial.
From episode #01 of Cat Ninden Teyandee. Masami Suda was Sakkan on this episode. I liked the syrup-like smoke and dust clouds, and tricky perspectives on some of the cuts of dragon near the end, which is probably where Suda's corrections would show up if he touched this scene up.
@faunagrotesque From what I've heard Tomino is the only person who had small parts left alone in their storyboards by Miyazaki and Takahata, instead of just throwing the whole boards out. I think his storyboarding abilities are top tiered. Especially during the shows with Kogawa and his students