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NEWS: Studio Fantasia Anime Studio Files for Bankruptcy


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AliceTheHare



Joined: 17 Jul 2015
Posts: 69
Location: Los Angeles
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:09 am Reply with quote
This isn't surprising, but it's always saddening to see a studio go. Plus, I really enjoyed Strain and Stratos 4.
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DuchessBianca



Joined: 24 Apr 2015
Posts: 562
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:30 am Reply with quote
Sad news, I absolutely adored Rumbling Hearts.
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KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:37 am Reply with quote
Unfortunate. Thank you for contributing to the greatness that is Cross Ange.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5527
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 1:11 am Reply with quote
RIP. Loved KimiNozu and Strain
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Galap
Moderator


Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 2354
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 2:00 am Reply with quote
I really really liked strain, but not for visual reasons. Their stuff usually is pretty low-quality, both in terms of animation and story, but for whatever reason Strain really shined.

I remember showing it to my friend and the first thing he asked was , "is this a hentai?" because the animation quality and some aspects of style looked a lot like hentai. And Fantasia did do a lot of hentai too, so I thought it was really funny.

It's pretty unfortunate that they went under, but to be honest not surprising. The lower-end houses are probably the more likely to fold.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13552
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 2:06 am Reply with quote
RIP. "Rumbling Hearts" was 1 of the saddest anime I ever saw (I was on Team Haruka, but at least they have the OVA series for that).
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2443
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 7:13 am Reply with quote
A shame, but hardly surprising when their stock was practically worthless, and they'd done little significant work in ages.

Rumbling Hearts is one of my favorite anime, but when I recommend it, it always comes with the caveat that the show looks like ass. It's another one of those early 2000s digi-paint shows, and on computer screens or HDTVs, the jagged pixelation really shows up. It's kind of amazing to think this show got a Blu-Ray release in Japan, when it just fundamentally is never going to look good (then again, it did sell really well back in the day).

It's not bad draftsmanship or characters reverting to derp-face, it's just very modest production values, and immature tools. At the time, I rationalized it as "well, just a character drama doesn't need great animation like action anime does." But then I saw KyoAni's Clannad and that changed my tune real quick.

In fact, Rumbling Heats / Kimi ga Nozomu Eien has been animated well, in the OAVs that Brain's Base did a few years later, showing an epilogue that posits a different ending than the series spoiler[, in which Takayuki has ended up with Haruka, rather than Mitsuki] (never licensed in English… attention Crunchyroll back-catalog team!). Since the second episode of the OAV is largely a retelling of the Kiminozo story, it's possible to make 1-to-1 comparisons of key scenes, and Studio Fantasia's work doesn't hold up well to the comparison at all:


(Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, episode 1, Studio Fantasia, 2003)


(Kimi ga Nozomu Eien ~next season~, episode 2, Brain's Base, 2008)


(Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, episode 2, Studio Fantasia, 2003)


(Kimi ga Nozomu Eien ~next season~, episode 2, Brain's Base, 2008)
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 9:04 am Reply with quote
Considering how inactive Studio Fantasia has been in recent years, its news of its bankruptcy isn't surprising to me. I'm a bit sad to see it fade away to past memories. Sad Agent Aika, Najica Blitz Tactics, and Rumbling Hearts were a real blast from them.
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H. Guderian



Joined: 29 Jan 2014
Posts: 1255
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 10:41 am Reply with quote
with the sheer number of studios out there now I can't be too surprised. I feel the longer a studio goes on sometimes they just acquire too many expenses. Being a mule for other companies can work for awhile while you're starting out, but I feel the line becomes too thin if you're many decades old and didn't create a huge brand name.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5315
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 11:01 am Reply with quote
H. Guderian wrote:
with the sheer number of studios out there now I can't be too surprised.
A number of them only do outsourcing, like backgrounds(Studio Pablo) or in-betweening. So one show wasn't made by one studio, it was made by one main studio with many otters giving assistance.
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Punch Drunk Marc



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1742
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:02 pm Reply with quote
Always sad to hear people lose their jobs, hopefully they all find something better. Surprised so many people on this liked Rumbling Hearts though. I watched the show before and I thought I liked it but after awhile I realized how garbage it was.

Aside from the poor animation (which I don't really hold against it) The story was agnst for the sake of angst and the only good character was the girl who was in a coma for three years. Seriously almost everybody in that show was a terrible person to some degree.
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2443
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:21 pm Reply with quote
Punch Drunk Marc wrote:
Seriously almost everybody in that show was a terrible person to some degree.

Try it again when you're a little older. You might find yourself more open to stories where the characters are deeply flawed, and the situation does not offer any perfect solutions.
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Ji-L87



Joined: 31 Jan 2014
Posts: 30
Location: SE, STHLM area
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:47 pm Reply with quote
This is sad.
I count myself as one of the few people who actually really liked the original Agent AIKa. For sure, it is trashy but it's so unexpectedly well done in many areas and it appeals strongly to my inner boy nerd with all the guns and vehicles.

And I believe it remains probably their best work. God knows they've been trying to recapture whatever made the original AIKa work but they never quite seemed to get the recipe right after that one time.

Still, Stratos 4 was pretty enjoyable, Strain too if I remember correctly but the AIKa prequels were just not very good. At all. Well, at least they got the music right.

Edit: I think the anime adaption of Aozora Shoujotai/801 TTS Airbats was a Fantasia production as well. It's not very good by todays standards but I like it.
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luffypirate



Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 3186
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 2:04 pm Reply with quote
I have the Najica panties (somewhere).
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kevinx59



Joined: 27 Jan 2012
Posts: 959
Location: In sunny California
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 2:25 pm Reply with quote
Expected since they hadn't done much recently, but still pretty sad. I liked this studio, and Stratos 4 was one of the first series that I watched when I began to watch anime other than the shonen/Toonami series. Its still one of my early favorites (got the complete set with artbox proudly displayed on my shelf. Shame we only got the first ovas). Most of their original productions (Najica, Aika, Stratos 4) were pretty fun to watch.
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