Pinnacles of Old School Skill?

[GetterBeam]

Thinking back over the years, I've seen a fair amount of anime...despite being largely dependent on the R1 market for access to the shows. For reasons I'll never know, I've come to realize that I am more often impressed with the "look and feel" of shows before everything became full blown digital...which seems to have been from somewhere in the mid 90's-the present.

That said, what are some of the most, in you opinion, expertly rendered moments in the anime of times long since past? Could be something like the most detailed artwork of a certian scene or some mixture of music, sound, and plot device.

For one example, one series I somewhat recently got a chance to see was Combattler V. Classic SR goodness through and through. However, <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>One of the final fights in the series...a fistfight..between the lead pilot and the enemy General Dungele left my jaw perpetually dropped. </span> Somehow, it just struck me as WELL animated, superbly executed, and incredibly awesome....moreso than perhaps every single SR fight in the show...yet it was a freaking SR show.

So yeah, what are the pinnacle moments in everybody's mind where the creators/whoever of the old school anime just seemingly went berserk with quality? Spoiler tags are good too...even if the show is REALLY old.

[sher59]

The one scene that springs to my mind would be Max and Milia's dogfight in episode 18 of Macross. Simply amazing.

[Vicserr]

In Tosho Daimos althought I'll be using the StarBirds Dub names, because the sequence was very intense, I can Imagine how awesome it was in the orig version /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif

<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>As Erica i about to be wed to the the Valerion Emperor, Dynamo and the Earth forces storm Valerion II, Roderick, Erica' brother Kills the Emperor, but his parting gift is that after he dies the citadel's computer plunges the Floating city towards Jupiter's Atmosphere and as the Earth forces fail to breach the computer room defenses, even with Dynamo in truck mode, Roderick makes the ultimate sacrifice to stop the destruction of his ppl</span>

in Mazinger Z the final 2 eps <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>the invasion of Dr. Hell's Island, the Rise of the Mikene Empire, the Destruction of Mazinger Z and the coming of Great Mazinger</span>

the Final ep of Space BattleShip Yamato <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Deslar returns one more time to destroy Yamato with the ship closing in on Earth with the Enviromental Cleaning machine</span>

an there's a lot more, but this one are on the top of my mind at the moment

[vanfanel]

Those mecha scenes scattered throughout Macross TV which were mostly drawn by Ichiro Itano. According to the commentary on the AE release, the guy would take his stuff and disappear for days, only to show up right at the deadline with these amazingly executed sequences. He was so good that his bosses let him get away with the vanishing acts.

Some of those Star Wars ripoff shots where giant spaceships go slowly, slowly past. Even though the perspective is almost always off in those, they get the effect across in a way that a CG ship never will.

[Rando]

Cutie Honey <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Episode 16, where Honey, Seiji, and Danbei go to Monaco. After Honey (well, cowboy Honey) kills off a few Panther Goons, the scene cuts to Spin Claw dancing for the King and his adviser. The whole time she's dancing, "Swan Lake" plays the background. I always liked that scene.</span>

Cutie Honey's finale <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>where Honey enters the Panther Chateau to finally face off with Sister Jill. After being attacked by various illusions (such as giant floating lips ala man ray) she finally reaches Jill (as well as a giant statue in Jill's image). The most bone-chilling organ music starts playing, Jill screams Honey's name in such a bone chilling way, then uses her whip to scatch the silver floret from Honey.</span> My all time favorite scene in Cutie Honey.

(MAJOR SPOILERS)
<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Two more from the last episode. In a last attempt to defeat Jill, Honey creates various jewels to distract her. Jill goes completely crazy over the jewels, jumping around, and drooling. As she does this, Honey uses Honey Beam to destroy the head of a giant statue behind Jill. The statue starts to crumble, and Jill tries to run away, BUT she slips on the jewels and is crushed to death. As she dissolves into a pile of bones, organ music starts playing again, and the Cheateau starts to crumble.

Then, at the very end of the episode...Honey looks up to the sky as images of Panther Zora, and other unknown Panther Claws show up in the sky (while the Panther Claw theme is playing). The music then dies out, Honey's henshin music starts to play, you see the bus Honey and the gang are in "riding over" a checkerboard world, the scene pans up to the sky, and the series closes with a final proud shot of Honey wearing a scarf. Really cool way to close the series.</span>

Devilman: <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Episode 36, where Lala is killed by Demon Madora. Akira finds her slowly burning to death in a graveyard. She tells him how much she loves him, and how she wants him to have happiness. Before she dies she says to Akira, "Aishite iru". Then her body dissolves, and Akira calls her name, running to the spot where she last lied.</span> Really sad, and beautiful scene.

Devilman's fianle <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Akira's true identity to finally releaved to Miki by Demon God (Yes, he name is God, offensive eh?). Devilman and God start to do battle with some sort of classical music playing (I belive it's Beetoven) They both use the opposite of each other's attack. Like, GOD CUTTER! and DEVIL CUTTER! After throwing various attacks at one another, they both fall to the ground. Miki starts call Akira's name, praying he doesn't die. Devilman gets out, and then finally finishes Demon God.</span>

<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>After the battle, Akira and Miki drive together and talk. Miki goes on accepting what's happended, and Akira thanks Miki for still having faith in him. Akira whispers "I love you" to Miki, and then plays it off like he didn't say it. Really cute scene.</span>

Heh, I maybe I should'nt have gone into such detail? /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

*loves his old school anime*

Skill.. hmmm... I've always loved watching the Macross DYRL movie because of the extreme detail involved in the artwork, particularly the surroundings which look like they came straight off a drafting table. Also liked the painted sky/space backdrops. Those were gorgeous, and sadly, not seen much in modern works.

Think my favorite part of the movie when these (along with the BGM) all come together is during the the fight between Max &amp; Mirya. For some reason, I never get tired of watching that short bit. It just works for me.

I also like watching Grandizer Vs. Great Mazinger. When these two robots go at it, the fight is non-stop, all action and builds to a great climax.

One other thing I like is done by Osamu Dezaki in his films. He likes to do these progressive repeating shots, a technique also not found in modern works. Basically, a fraction of the frame has a given shot, then the next fraction has some extra movement and a closer (or further) perspective, and so on with the next shots. Case in point: in The Professional Golgo 13, there's a bit where he's riding his motorcycle in New York near the last 1/4 of the film, and they do this progreession. It's one of the things that's made me a total Dezaki fanboy. ^^

[iserlohn]

[ QUOTE ]
Darkseid said:
Skill.. hmmm... I've always loved watching the Macross DYRL movie because of the extreme detail involved in the artwork, particularly the surroundings which look like they came straight off a drafting table.

[/ QUOTE ]

Macross DYRL is generally regarded as the epitome of cel animation.

Another title, (less prestigious but still impressive) is Project A-Ko. It's extra impressive to look at not only for the detail and fluidity of the animation, but for the sheer talent of the team, and finding out how many of them went on to major projects later on.

The last race in Cyber Formula GPX is breathtaking in its energy and portrayal, and the animation in general grew with its protagonist (and the ratings).

Heck, most Sunrise titles are shining examples of excellent animation for their time (excluding Gundam shows which end up being done last minute due to corporate meddling).

I can't believe that it took this long to remember to mention the launch sequence from Wings of Honneamise which is jaw droppingly stunning. Even thinking about it gives me shivers. Ditto for the major fight scenes in Gunbuster.

Memories uses wireframe and some early CG elements, but combines them with traditional animation for a stunning effect.

For something more esoteric, Bobby ni Kubitake and Kenji's Spring (aka Spring and Chaos are stunning examples of mixed media in traditional animation, using cel, pencil, watercolours, and (in the latter) CG.

Another example of excruciating detail is Rintaro's X Densha de Ikou OVA, which has a beautiful colour palette and an incredible eye for detail and setting.

Speaking of colour palettes, I think that's really an area where digital ink and paint have hurt. More colours are available now, but we just don't see the same attention to colour choices that we used to.

[bobma]

I think Giant Robo is also a nice example of how good old school animation can get. Right in the opening scene where Dr.Shizuma is fleeing with the attache case, there are some amazing camera pans and zooms going on and everything looks so dynamic and fluid. Other scenes that stuck to my mind would be when <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Koenshaku and Alberto attack the Interpol base, or later when Koenshaku attackt the Greta Garbo.</span> Those scenes in addition with the orchestral soundtrack convey the feeling of energy and raw power really well and are simply a joy to watch.

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iserlohn said:
Another title, (less prestigious but still impressive) is Project A-Ko. It's extra impressive to look at not only for the detail and fluidity of the animation, but for the sheer talent of the team, and finding out how many of them went on to major projects later on.

Heck, most Sunrise titles are shining examples of excellent animation for their time (excluding Gundam shows which end up being done last minute due to corporate meddling).

I can't believe that it took this long to remember to mention the launch sequence from Wings of Honneamise which is jaw droppingly stunning. Even thinking about it gives me shivers.

[/ QUOTE ]

First: yeah, I still watch the Collect. ed. of Project A-ko because of how well the animation was done (and just because it's funny). Definitely agree with you here.

The part about Gundam.... hmmm... I don't understand that one. Just about every Gundam work right up to, say 0083 was very much in line with the animation standards of their times. Hell, I even remember liking the last episode of Gundam Wing for some of its fight sequences. Still remembering some pretty good stuff in Char's Counterattack between Char and Amuro as I type this. Do you disagree here?

Also, I absolutely suck for not thinking of the launch sequence from Wings of Honneamise. That was one of the greatest animated squences ever.

[mrgazpacho]

When Satsuki is running down the road looking for Mei in Totoro, there's a scene where she meets a man and lady on a cart. The point-of-view switches so we can see Satsuki's face, and the lady talking to her (behind the driver) is reflected (and animated slightly) in the side mirror. When my brother and I saw that, we said "Miyazaki's just showing off now" /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif Not eye-bleedingly spectacular, just a master at work.