strawberryshortcake
07-12-2008, 08:59 PM
Pardon the lengthy post. (Curiosity post regarding vintage anime's production cost.)
( First of all, I have to say that I do enjoy both old and new generation anime, but I find more "comfort" looking at old school anime. And I actually didn't start watching anime until about 4 years ago. )
Does anyone have a general idea about the production cost of old versus new generation anime? Is anime more profitable in present day or the past?
Simply from an visual artistic stance, the production cost just seems higher for old school anime. The amount of animated movements seen in vintage anime seems to overpower those found in new school anime.
New school anime seems to cut corners, heavily. Reliance on high still frame count, low character body movements, recycled images, lack of microscopic details, comparatively simple designs, all just screams "we need to be cheap[er] to save cost" if we want to put out 26 plus episode series. As I alluded to in another thread (character design thread), it seems as though present day artist have adopted a similar design blue print structured around overly cute, doll-like, and "toy-ish," to almost "life-less" looking characters. I would imagine these cost cutting tricks found in new school anime to increase overall net cash flow.
With respect to overall production cost, this is pure assumption on my part; but visually speaking, I think the "higher production cost for vintage anime" assumption is justified.
Look at the characters in Kanon/Clannad, Elfen Lied, Tsukihime, Shuffle, Air TV, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, Shana No Shakugan, etc. The main characters practically have the same facial design, with a faint shine-streak strategically placed somewhere on their hair, and with these designs it seem as though the artist(s) have also adopted a completely different style of animation, in a sense "cheaper," "lack of movement," or "moving still images." Sure these characters are cute, and you just want to hug and squeeze them, but they just seem "cheap" in terms of production cost.
Whatever happened to the character designs of old? Whatever happened to quality animation often seen in vintage series? Not to overly generalized, but characters in "new" anime often lack the subtle body movements that render life consistently seen in "old" generation anime. A classic example would be characters walking away from the viewer--new generation anime religiously employ the recycled image effect where the idea of "perspective" is lost. The character would be positioned in the same spot but with legs simply flapping, and this is suppose to give the illusion of walking toward a distance. The problem with this is that it's also magnified by the lack of background movements. This combination seems cheap.
Are there any current company actually working on designs that deviate from the current cute "blue-print"? If not vintage anime, I would like to see the revival of "vintage character designs" and better quality and technical "animation".
This all makes me wonder which company out there actually invest time in truly animating each scene with quality so they evoke life, and not simply trying to cut corners.
Brief background. I grew up on Disney/American cartoons and still gravitate towards these primarily due to their technically sound and fluid animation. Numerous static images frequently employed in the new generation anime is still rather hard to digest until I have sat through a handful and often times high number of episodes, at which point my eyes finally accustoms to low cell count, higher static anime images. There is also this sense of urgency of wanting to quickly get immersed in the story versus the constant wonderment of when the animation quality will finally pick up when watching new school anime. Basically, the lack of subtle movements in new anime is quite a distraction to the story.
On the flip side, I can press play on the DVD player and instantly find comfort in american cartoons and vintage anime. It simply takes more time to get that same feeling watching the new "cheaper" anime blue-print. I would say watching vintage anime gives me a sense of comfort that mirrors what I see in American animation--my focus is more on story versus consciously dissecting low animation quality often found in new generation anime.
P.S. I would like to generate a poll, but not sure how (i.e. I favor old/vintage anime; I favor new generation anime, and etc.).
( First of all, I have to say that I do enjoy both old and new generation anime, but I find more "comfort" looking at old school anime. And I actually didn't start watching anime until about 4 years ago. )
Does anyone have a general idea about the production cost of old versus new generation anime? Is anime more profitable in present day or the past?
Simply from an visual artistic stance, the production cost just seems higher for old school anime. The amount of animated movements seen in vintage anime seems to overpower those found in new school anime.
New school anime seems to cut corners, heavily. Reliance on high still frame count, low character body movements, recycled images, lack of microscopic details, comparatively simple designs, all just screams "we need to be cheap[er] to save cost" if we want to put out 26 plus episode series. As I alluded to in another thread (character design thread), it seems as though present day artist have adopted a similar design blue print structured around overly cute, doll-like, and "toy-ish," to almost "life-less" looking characters. I would imagine these cost cutting tricks found in new school anime to increase overall net cash flow.
With respect to overall production cost, this is pure assumption on my part; but visually speaking, I think the "higher production cost for vintage anime" assumption is justified.
Look at the characters in Kanon/Clannad, Elfen Lied, Tsukihime, Shuffle, Air TV, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, Shana No Shakugan, etc. The main characters practically have the same facial design, with a faint shine-streak strategically placed somewhere on their hair, and with these designs it seem as though the artist(s) have also adopted a completely different style of animation, in a sense "cheaper," "lack of movement," or "moving still images." Sure these characters are cute, and you just want to hug and squeeze them, but they just seem "cheap" in terms of production cost.
Whatever happened to the character designs of old? Whatever happened to quality animation often seen in vintage series? Not to overly generalized, but characters in "new" anime often lack the subtle body movements that render life consistently seen in "old" generation anime. A classic example would be characters walking away from the viewer--new generation anime religiously employ the recycled image effect where the idea of "perspective" is lost. The character would be positioned in the same spot but with legs simply flapping, and this is suppose to give the illusion of walking toward a distance. The problem with this is that it's also magnified by the lack of background movements. This combination seems cheap.
Are there any current company actually working on designs that deviate from the current cute "blue-print"? If not vintage anime, I would like to see the revival of "vintage character designs" and better quality and technical "animation".
This all makes me wonder which company out there actually invest time in truly animating each scene with quality so they evoke life, and not simply trying to cut corners.
Brief background. I grew up on Disney/American cartoons and still gravitate towards these primarily due to their technically sound and fluid animation. Numerous static images frequently employed in the new generation anime is still rather hard to digest until I have sat through a handful and often times high number of episodes, at which point my eyes finally accustoms to low cell count, higher static anime images. There is also this sense of urgency of wanting to quickly get immersed in the story versus the constant wonderment of when the animation quality will finally pick up when watching new school anime. Basically, the lack of subtle movements in new anime is quite a distraction to the story.
On the flip side, I can press play on the DVD player and instantly find comfort in american cartoons and vintage anime. It simply takes more time to get that same feeling watching the new "cheaper" anime blue-print. I would say watching vintage anime gives me a sense of comfort that mirrors what I see in American animation--my focus is more on story versus consciously dissecting low animation quality often found in new generation anime.
P.S. I would like to generate a poll, but not sure how (i.e. I favor old/vintage anime; I favor new generation anime, and etc.).