littleharlock
03-22-2006, 04:43 AM
Okay, don't know how wether it's a good idea to start a discussion thread for (a set of) movies, but judging by the R2 Orgy thread (http://forums.animeondvd.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=1299604&page=1&view=c ollapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1) I noticed that this is a release that several people here picked up (i.e. Gatts, tseniv, slerch, Aiia IIRC) so after having watched (and in case of XXXHOLiC re-watched ^_^) the movies I thought to start a discussion thread on them to share some thoughts about them.
Gekijôban XXXHOLiC ~ Manatsu no Yoru no Yume
It may be minor nitpick but watching this movie, I somehow miss the days of Cel based animation. Don't get me wrong it all looks decent and high budget (which was sort of given, with the fame CLAMP managed to gather for their works) and Production I.G definitely is a studio that can handle CG pretty well...yet at times I got the feeling that it just looks "too fine". The digital animation of the characters looked good and fluid yet it felt out of place and not very well matching with the decent background art (if I saw that correctly the ending credits list studios like Artland (http://www.artland.co.jp/) being involved as well). Don't know how to put it so that it makes sense, but the shadows on the character bodies sometimes felt not fitting for the background ^_^"
The CG usage itself is another element in regards of animation that distracted me a bit. I mean it's fitting CG animation (not as out of the place like some GONZO works IMO) yet at times it felt like I.G was trying to "show off" their skills of high quality CG animation during the movie. For example I would have prefered <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>more character shots during the later half of the movie when Watanuki and Dômeki were rushing through the halls of the mansion instead of the camera showing them rushing from "their point of view".</span>
The character designs themself looked top-notch and I think character designer Kazuchika Kise did a fairly well job in adapting the designs faithful to how CLAMP created them for the manga. That said the character designs in XXXHOLiC may not suit everyone's taste...as certain proportions of the bodies are brought out a bit too much some may think (i.e. the hands, legs or necks are drawn rather "long"). Personally I love this different style that CLAMP used for XXXHOLiC and I think the staff did use this for some hilarious moments during the movie as well (i.e. <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Watanuki making his way to the toilet ^_^</span>).
That said I think the biggest strength of Manatsu no Yoru no Yume were the characters. The main plot isn't bad and the mansion sure was a great idea to present a mystery story suiting for XXXHOLiC, yet characters like Dômeki, Watanuki and Yûko made this a good movie (though I could complain that the movie didn't <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>give Yûko the deserved focus in the middle part^_^"</span>). That said I think it's necessary stating that the major reason why the characters managed to get my full attention during these 60 min. is thanks to the Seiyuu. I think the cast for this movie was very well selected and I can't think of a single character where I thought the voice wasn't matching (especially Yûko, Dômeki, Watanuki and Himawari-chan all have been voiced just like I "imagined they would sound like").
The Music was IMO for the majority very subtle yet Tsuneyoshi Saito created a fitting soundtrack for the story.
The way this movie <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>links to the following Tsubasa Chronicle theatrical feature was nice, yet the idea of linking both felt a bit like CLAMP crossover madness of the manga needs to be included into this feature as well</span>.
The DVD presentation itself was rather neat as well...yet I decided to leave the strap and clear file unpacked (knowing myself I probably would loose it pretty soon once opened ^_^"). DVD extras...well aside from the teaser/trailer and spot collection I haven't watched much yet /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif
Overall after this adaption of Production I.G I'm very much looking forward to the upcoming TV anime adaption this spring.
Gekijôban Tsubasa Chronicle ~ Torikago no Kuni no Himegimi
The second "part" of this CLAMP theatrical project is the theatrical feature for Tsubasa Chronicle. I never bothered much with the TV adaption by Bee-Train and admitted I am not the biggest fan of the manga (nice art, but IMO fluff compared to the greatness the XXXHOLiC manga is *but that's just my opinion*). So you could say I didn't watch this with high expectations (heck I bought this movie for completion sake *and because Amazon.jp listed the Premium Edition for it with -22% ^_^"*). In the end it was a very pleasant surprise. Within these 35 minutes a solid action packed story has been told. The animation treatment that Production I.G gave this feature was neat as well. In fact it IMO didn't include as many "distrating elements" which I somewhat minded in the XXXHOLic movie (but maybe that's because the designs temself were more based on shiny/bright colors than the darker designs of XXXHOLiC?). Surprisingly director Itsuro Kawaski & staff managed to tell the story within 35 min. without giving the audience a "rushed feeling" (or at least I didn't get that impression). What I found really neat was <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>that they included a flashback for the beginning of the journey for Syaoran, Sakura, Fai and Kurogane at the opening minutes of the movie</span>. For those having watched the first season of the TV series and the movie...was that newly animated footage or did they re-use the scene from the TV series?
Voice acting was good as well...especially Maaya Sakamoto as Tomoyo Hime was one of the highlights IMO. Music by Yuki Kajiura was of course quite good as well (though if I "heard" that correctly *please correct me if I'm wrong there* several pieces of BGM from the TV series have been re-used in the movie as well...even though that doesn't mean the music is any less good though ^_^).
In the end the theatrical feature for Tsubasa Chronicle turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me...yet it didn't motivate me enough to give the manga another chance nor the TV anime ^_^
So, anyone of those who bought the DVD for the movies have some thoughts to share? Looking forward to read some more thoughts.
so far
yours
littleharlock
Gekijôban XXXHOLiC ~ Manatsu no Yoru no Yume
It may be minor nitpick but watching this movie, I somehow miss the days of Cel based animation. Don't get me wrong it all looks decent and high budget (which was sort of given, with the fame CLAMP managed to gather for their works) and Production I.G definitely is a studio that can handle CG pretty well...yet at times I got the feeling that it just looks "too fine". The digital animation of the characters looked good and fluid yet it felt out of place and not very well matching with the decent background art (if I saw that correctly the ending credits list studios like Artland (http://www.artland.co.jp/) being involved as well). Don't know how to put it so that it makes sense, but the shadows on the character bodies sometimes felt not fitting for the background ^_^"
The CG usage itself is another element in regards of animation that distracted me a bit. I mean it's fitting CG animation (not as out of the place like some GONZO works IMO) yet at times it felt like I.G was trying to "show off" their skills of high quality CG animation during the movie. For example I would have prefered <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>more character shots during the later half of the movie when Watanuki and Dômeki were rushing through the halls of the mansion instead of the camera showing them rushing from "their point of view".</span>
The character designs themself looked top-notch and I think character designer Kazuchika Kise did a fairly well job in adapting the designs faithful to how CLAMP created them for the manga. That said the character designs in XXXHOLiC may not suit everyone's taste...as certain proportions of the bodies are brought out a bit too much some may think (i.e. the hands, legs or necks are drawn rather "long"). Personally I love this different style that CLAMP used for XXXHOLiC and I think the staff did use this for some hilarious moments during the movie as well (i.e. <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Watanuki making his way to the toilet ^_^</span>).
That said I think the biggest strength of Manatsu no Yoru no Yume were the characters. The main plot isn't bad and the mansion sure was a great idea to present a mystery story suiting for XXXHOLiC, yet characters like Dômeki, Watanuki and Yûko made this a good movie (though I could complain that the movie didn't <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>give Yûko the deserved focus in the middle part^_^"</span>). That said I think it's necessary stating that the major reason why the characters managed to get my full attention during these 60 min. is thanks to the Seiyuu. I think the cast for this movie was very well selected and I can't think of a single character where I thought the voice wasn't matching (especially Yûko, Dômeki, Watanuki and Himawari-chan all have been voiced just like I "imagined they would sound like").
The Music was IMO for the majority very subtle yet Tsuneyoshi Saito created a fitting soundtrack for the story.
The way this movie <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>links to the following Tsubasa Chronicle theatrical feature was nice, yet the idea of linking both felt a bit like CLAMP crossover madness of the manga needs to be included into this feature as well</span>.
The DVD presentation itself was rather neat as well...yet I decided to leave the strap and clear file unpacked (knowing myself I probably would loose it pretty soon once opened ^_^"). DVD extras...well aside from the teaser/trailer and spot collection I haven't watched much yet /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif
Overall after this adaption of Production I.G I'm very much looking forward to the upcoming TV anime adaption this spring.
Gekijôban Tsubasa Chronicle ~ Torikago no Kuni no Himegimi
The second "part" of this CLAMP theatrical project is the theatrical feature for Tsubasa Chronicle. I never bothered much with the TV adaption by Bee-Train and admitted I am not the biggest fan of the manga (nice art, but IMO fluff compared to the greatness the XXXHOLiC manga is *but that's just my opinion*). So you could say I didn't watch this with high expectations (heck I bought this movie for completion sake *and because Amazon.jp listed the Premium Edition for it with -22% ^_^"*). In the end it was a very pleasant surprise. Within these 35 minutes a solid action packed story has been told. The animation treatment that Production I.G gave this feature was neat as well. In fact it IMO didn't include as many "distrating elements" which I somewhat minded in the XXXHOLic movie (but maybe that's because the designs temself were more based on shiny/bright colors than the darker designs of XXXHOLiC?). Surprisingly director Itsuro Kawaski & staff managed to tell the story within 35 min. without giving the audience a "rushed feeling" (or at least I didn't get that impression). What I found really neat was <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>that they included a flashback for the beginning of the journey for Syaoran, Sakura, Fai and Kurogane at the opening minutes of the movie</span>. For those having watched the first season of the TV series and the movie...was that newly animated footage or did they re-use the scene from the TV series?
Voice acting was good as well...especially Maaya Sakamoto as Tomoyo Hime was one of the highlights IMO. Music by Yuki Kajiura was of course quite good as well (though if I "heard" that correctly *please correct me if I'm wrong there* several pieces of BGM from the TV series have been re-used in the movie as well...even though that doesn't mean the music is any less good though ^_^).
In the end the theatrical feature for Tsubasa Chronicle turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me...yet it didn't motivate me enough to give the manga another chance nor the TV anime ^_^
So, anyone of those who bought the DVD for the movies have some thoughts to share? Looking forward to read some more thoughts.
so far
yours
littleharlock