How much value do you put into visual direction?
'bout tree fiddy
>>136169017
When will you stop making this thread?
>>136169017
Tree fiddy.
>>136169017
>How much value do you put into visual direction?
More than PA Works.
It matters a lot because most anime has completely uninteresting visual direction. Anime has had to build up shortcuts to hide the limited animation so so many anime looks pretty much the same. That's part of why studios like KyoAni are great. They can experiment more with camera angles because they can actually animate them. Otherwise you get the super limited stuff like old Shaft which is only good in occasional doses.
That’s the premise Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (lit. The Lover’s Suicide of Mid-Showa Rakugo) begins with. Currently, only the first OAD has been released, with a second coming in August, after which the TV anime series is set to begin. Shinichi Omata (alias Mamoru Hatakeyama) holds the directorial position for both works. It’ll be the third work of which he’s taken a directorship, after Rozen Maiden — Zurückspulen and Sankarea. From the first OAD alone, it looks promising.
Rakugo Shinjuu noticeably departs, both in aesthetic and narrative detail, from the material one might expect from a manga adaptation. Over the course of its forty-three minute running time, the narrative complexifies in dramatic bounds. Yakumo accepts Kyouji as his apprentice, granting him the nickname Youtarou (“dim-witted man”), only for the latter to find out that the master has no intention of passing on his craft; he plans instead on taking the art with him to the grave in a “lover’s suicide”. Konatsu, a young lady in Yakumo’s care after the death of her father—another rakugo performer—and who wants desperately to practice the male-dominated art, accuses Yakumo of “killing” her father. Youtarou and Konatsu form a teacher-student relationship as the latter reluctantly agrees to teach the apprentice what she learned from her father. And one of Youtarou’s old yakuza pals (the same one he took the blow for) comes around to try and rope him back into crime. Some number of developments later, the episode reaches its climax with Youtarou’s first successful performance: “Dekigokoro” (passing fancy).
>>136169499
It presents all of this with a kind of subdued, almost unnoticeable deliberateness. Shots rarely take on dramatic angles, the majority of them are medium shots with characters blocked into the center of the shot. Jarring contrasts, abstractions and juxtapositions are exclusively reserved for Yakumo’s performances, and even they’re rather tame. The OAD’s depiction of the rakugo stage is clean and symmetrical, free of any heavy shadows or major points of visual attention save for the actor.
But this unpretentiousness serves a purpose. It separates the world of the performance—characterized in Yakumo’s performances by stark contrasts, in the comic material by simple archetypes, and in other performances like these by simple lighting—from the messier real world, which is marked with heavy, dramatic shadows and high degrees of visual clutter.
>>136169552
Equally impressively, the camerawork accentuates both Youtarou’s and Yakumo’s performative strengths. When Youtarou tries to practice Yakumo’s “Shinigami” routine, Konatsu walks in and tells him, “The shinigami persona doesn’t fit you. That kind of dark Death personality only works because the old man does it.” (A statement which, satisfyingly, is also informed by Konatsu’s intense dislike of Yakumo.) Accordingly, Yakumo’s performance constantly draws attention to his frail frame, with his thin hands and aged, sexy eyes. The camera acts differently for Youtarou during his (twelve minute long!) “Dekigokoro” routine: his silly, expressive face is constantly in view, and as he warms up to his routine, the camera begins to take on more dynamic angles.
Thematically, perhaps it’s too early to speak. There are ideas, in their nascent stages, here and there. The influence of one’s life on their art—Youtarou picks the “Dekigokoro” story because it involves an ineffective thief, reminding him of his own time as a petty gangster. There’s the idea of the “right role”—Konatsu’s comment about Youtarou’s “Shinigami”; Konatsu’s inability to break into rakugo because she’s a woman. It just remains to be seen whether these seeds, and a couple of unmentioned others, sprout into anything worthwhile.
>>136169017
sauce
>>136169343
What's that from?
>>136169404
KyoAni is so hard on the nose.
It's boring fast food direction.
>>136169017
>I posted it again, mom!
>>136169627
Hunter x Hunter 1999, episode 45.
>>136169017
I was missing you
are you ok bot-kun?
can you please make a hibike one of those?
http://wavemotioncannon.com/2016/01/08/why-over-sixty-years-of-animation-history-still-remains-obscure/
>>136169761
tl;dr
>>136169644
>It's boring fast food direction.
what does this retardation mean?
>>136169826
what did he mean by this?
The recent KyoAni anime were so little child discovers Adobe After Effects.
Ufotable has the same problem.
>>136170014
t. neet who knows everything
Thank you Based Kyoto
Kizu got quite the impressive reaction for its visuals.
https://youtu.be/iy7VtOKR2kQ
So we can all agree that this was the best scene in the movie?
Less than I do into art direction
You can't polish a turd.
the fact that we have two (two!) watchable shows this season is a goddamn blessing
had real low hopes for TV this year but we're already off to a great start
>>136169343
did you make that?
do one for the gon / hanzo and killua / illumi fights (28 & 29?), that was another highlight
most of this show was gorgeous but that instance plus the suffering of kurapika is what really sold it for me, definitely an all-time favourite
>>136169761
>>136169598
don't post other people's blogs, if you wanna do that I think reddit's prolly more fitting for you
if you wanna discuss something, then address the points yourself
>>136170348
Learn to type, please.
>>136170378
don't tell me what to do
>>136170182
Kizu Part 1 looks so impressive and it is just the introduction.
A lot.
It can make a boring/crappy show watchable, or it can keep a good show from being truly great.
>>136170182
It's more hype thank anything else.
>>136170453
Then enjoy no one taking you seriously, reddit-kun. You should learn about the site you areshitposting.
>>136170595
> thank anything else
>>136170182
>Animations by Yoh Yoshinari
delicious
>tfw they use BLOOM to hide the lack of detail
>>136169404
This is the exact opposite of how things work though. Having a higher budget allows the director to do whatever they want which means you'll often get generic visual direction. When the creators have budget and other constraints, it challenges them to come up with new and interesting ways to show a scene. Hence why your statement that KyoAni "experiments" and SHAFT doesn't is wrong.
Posting this image in order to not start a KyoAni vs SHAFT war since I like both, but you're dead wrong.
>>136169017
Some.
Those turtle stones are awesome though. Crossed over them a few times.
>>136170849
>>136170779
Are other studios even trying?
>>136170849
>H&C author
>Shinbo himself directing
this has so much potential
>>136170891
>Koe no Katachi anime adaption
>get to relive /a/'s anger at how stupid the MC is
I'll give almost anything that has goodlooking screencaps a shot. I don't do that with much else.
>>136170779
that seems like a load of nonsense in all honesty
we get big budget animated movies directed by the heavy hitters at the same time as small-time short TV series directed by micro-auteurs no one's heard of; I think interesting visuals are almost exclusively a product of the people working on it, rather than the money flowing through it
>>136170849
Looks like shit.
/r/ing a Tatami Galaxy grid
>>136170849
I adore this art style, I'll have to check it out.
>>136171054
That's certainly true. Just trying to say that more money does not equal better. That's like saying Hollywood films are the best because they have the biggest budgets.
>>136170348
>>136170779
You might expect that is the case, and in a sense it is when you, say, compare anime to Western cartoons, but within anime it's actually not. It's usually the cheap/average anime with the most uninteresting visual direction. And you'll even notice in such anime when they have their "sakuga" episodes the visual direction becomes much more creative.
Anime storyboarders are lazy, and generally rely on the same visual tropes that have been used a million times before unless they have a good reason not to or you're dealing with someone really good.
On a shot to shot basis, KyoAni is a lot more experimental. You just don't notice it because you're conflating Shaft having a weird, very distinctive style in general with being creative within that style. They've been doing the same thing for over 10 years now.
>>136170925
>Shinbo himself directing
Don't get your hopes up, there's nothing to actually indicate this.
>>136171173
Yup, I agree. Money obviously influences shit but the mark of a good director is the ability to do good work with whatever he's given.
>>136171190
god that was so cool to watch
>>136171204
>KyoAni is a lot more experimental.
How's Phantom World's direction?
>>136171324
>I will just memetext a phrase I don't like just like a /v/ermin newfag
>>136171347
Bland
>>136170849
>SHAFT stepping out of the comfort zone
Can't wait to see the disaster.
>>136171347
lots of stilted angles, nothing spectacular
it's a pretty show but nothing can save the atrocious writing
which is silly of me to say, since at the same time Grimgar's atrocious writing is plenty saved by the visuals
>>136171347
Directed by Tatsuya Ishihara. KyoAni's trash director.
So it's pretty bland.
>>136171554
Fuck off kViN
>>136169711
Those light shafts
Hnnnng.
>>136170212
Hey what lens would cause that type of bokeh?
>>136171480
Yeah, only stuff like Monogatari and Madoka happened.
>>136171554
chuuni had some nice shots in it, though I haven't yet seen the second season
>>136171593
Yes.
>>136171347
Surprising Disappointing. Should of got Takemoto to direct it.
>>136171347
First episode was decent.
Second was bland.
Here's the preview to the third: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1dnnNN-jNM
Glass no Hana to Kowasu Sekai is coming out this weekend, I believe. Anyone else interested in this?
>>136171687
only ever been impressed with Hyouka and Disappearance, I wish he'd keep up with that cinematic approach
that said Hyouka can't really be touched, so good on him
>>136169343
wait holy shit, is the 90s version that much better?
>>136171788
Why should I be interested? Shinsekai Yori had shit direction.
>>136171495
>since at the same time Grimgar's atrocious writing is plenty saved by the visuals
You should be watching Grimgar for Nakamura's directing, not for the run of the mill LN plot anyway.
Boku Dake ga Inai Machi has fantastic art direction so far.
>>136171468
>>136171723
Why Reddit loves using this word? There's no lazier definition than that, I bet you don't even know what It means and how to use it.
>>136171788
>Glass no Hana to Kowasu Sekai is coming out this weekend, I believe. Anyone else interested in this?
Definitely. SSY impressed me with how well it did with the atmosphere and dread.
>>136169017
None. I'm blind.
>>136171809
this has the potential for derailing the thread, but "in my opinion" it's miles better
watch it for yourself, the first episode does a great job at setting the atmosphere for the rest
>>136171843
oh, well I disagree. I think he's pretty good, has some interesting stylistic traits (see>>136171897)
>>136171872
oh obviously, but any work is the sum of its qualities; horrible writing (and it was horrible) can really bring things down
holy fuck was it ever pretty though
>>136171809
most anime before the ''computer everything graphic'' era are actualy hand draw and yes they look 100% better....
hate most of these new anime we got each year now with these horrible computer generated graphic....
>>136171809
Visuals-wise? Yes. Story? No
>>136171987
Learn how to type, ape.
>>136171809
90s HxH: Furuhashi
New HxH: Literally who?
ITT: autists talking about shit they don't have a clue while judging it as experts.
>>136172182
I'm qualified in visual arts and film.
>>136172182
nice contribution
>>136171897
>>136172182
most people are just saying they like the way certain things look, not sure anyone's pushing expert opinions itt
>>136172237
It's not worse than copypasting blog posts by bitter pseudointellectuals.
Rakugo and Errased (if you can excuse the relative weakness of episode 1) are the two best directed anime with the most impressive visual storytelling.
It's interesting that both anime going for the closer live-action experience than going full anime like >>136171832 >>136171190
>>136170212 >>136169644 >>136169343
>>136169017.
>>136172308
It's still bad, fuck off you pretentious twat.
>>136171788
>Glass no Hana to Kowasu Sekai
Interesting and ready to be disappointed with the cop-out writing.
I wonder when takemoto's next turn on directing will be?
>>136171897
Hate the choice of music in some scenes in ep 1 but ep 2 and its visual directing was so on point.
>>136171994
We need 35mm level of fidelity already. Come on it's 2016!
>>136172271
Itoh's doing lots of cool shit with bars and fences and the like, obscuring details (like in your webm) or detaching characters from the rest of the scene. That one shot in the second episode where he enters the class for the first time was sweet, made me pause and look at it some more.
>>136172311
I've seen people whine about certain productions not taking advantage of their formal advantages as animation, but I think a naturalistic style is understated. Like, the fact that people can draw pictures and turn that into a realistic portrayal of life is pretty fucking impressive if you ask me.
>>136172423
Yeah, I'm not expecting to be particularly impressed with it but the director's a name I'm certainly watching.
>>136172423
They are hampered by shitty vectorization and software and hardware.
>>136169394
meme approved, except for Uchouten Kazoku
>>136169343
>>136171190
This series will never not be amazing
Rakugo 2's out, still looking gorgeous.
>>136171554
>trash director
>taught yamada everything she knows
>directed the greatest love story of the decade
What a fag.
>>136173992
Honestly didn't expect anything this season to look better than Phantom World. I'm impressed, this is already looking better than last year.
>>136171788
I hear someone said the story is very confuse and have to rewatch couple of times to understand
>>136174683
Dude, this and Erased both are demonstrating a level of quality that's super surprising for TV anime, especially of late.
Should be not-that-bad of a year, there's quite a bit coming out that I'm interested in.
>>136175165
Speaking of first person cinematography, that cut at the end of Gundam Thunderbolt was insanely good. Give it a watch if you ever get the chance.
>>136175165
What's this?
I would post my compilation picture of Ruroken OP/ED art but I lost it.
Instead, just watch them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJGZOELiZFc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba4rEf9XnWo
Look at them photographs.
Also, unrelated to the thread but holy shit, compared to the weak-ass music I had access to in primary school, Ruroken's OPs and EDs felt like goddamn crack. Thanks to whoever decided to leave the original songs for the latin american dub.
