Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Is Anime's Animation Style So Hard To Imitate?
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Jose Cruz
Posts: 1775 Location: South America |
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I never actually understand when people claim something is copying "anime style" either. Like they use to claim with Avatar and Totally Spies. To me it doesn't look its trying to copy the Japanese style at all. I actually think that the most anime-like Western animations I have watched are two movies: Waltz's with Bashir and Wrinkles. Waltz's with Bashir because of its realistic and detailed art and serious tone, Wrinkles because of its literaly quality and complexity ("maturity") in its writing. I wouldn't think just copying the standard shounen jump art style makes it "anime like". It would just look fake. More like an ignorant attempt to copy something that does not exist which is "anime style". |
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Valhern
Posts: 916 |
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I think the term Sakuga has been corrupted to the point it doesn't sound like we really understand what we're talking about. Sakuga is just literally animation, and when most people throw the Sakuga in they're talking about the flashiest, action-packed kind, which is not wrong, but these aren't the only highlights Japanese animation has in comparison to Western animation.
Beautiful walk cycles, with a lot of weight and pleasant motion. A dancing training sequence full of dyanmism (and this is not my favorite of Fujii). Running and hair details Background animation Outstanding character animation (and direction, anyway) There is only one person in all of Japan who can do this Is this supposed to go against Western animation? No, I love Western animation, I like its special attention to character acting, expresiveness, and, just like anime, it also has a wide ranage of memorable and unique styles. I do prefer anime for how the artists are given more of a voice on a general level, and watching is what made me love animation overall, but it's due to differences, not because I think one is superior to the other, and I particularly like one influencing the other. Avatar obviously is my favorite example as it combines a lot of Western consistency and attention to detail while also having sparks of strong, Eastern quirks, sometimes in the style, at others in the whole scene, creating a style of its own, similarly to works such as Redline. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Yep. Bringing the analogy back to food, that's how fusion cuisine gets made. And fusion cuisine is some of the best cuisine there is.
That's because they're not you. (There has also never been any attempts to look authentically anime-like. Avatar and Korra are as far as it's ever gotten, but I think anyone smart enough to run a TV show is also smart enough to put their own spin on things.)
Different priorities. American entertainment (as a whole) is focused on immersion: You are supposed to forget you are watching something, reading something, or playing something and become totally engrossed in the story's world. A key part of that is consistency: Something that looks or moves noticeably different from the rest of the work will be jarring and will take the audience out of it. It doesn't mean American works don't have thumbprints. Oh no, I learned that Hollywood is all about thumbprints and can make or break landing a job as a writer, producer, or director. Rather, the thumbprints are those of the creators and permeate the entire work. That's the core of the auteur theory, a method of making films popularized by the French New Wave back in the black-and-white era and is still the dominant approach to this day. |
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Kadmos1
Posts: 13558 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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In the past few years, there is also case of role reversal. That is, some anime that looks like it's trying to mimic a Cartoon Network-style of animation, notably "Panty & Stocking" which reminds me of "Powerpuff Girls".
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ParaChomp
Posts: 1018 |
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Japanese storyboards are based on shots and "camera" movement. American storyboards are based on actions (including the simplest of them). Never expected to see Naruto and Scooby-Doo in the same post. Are my choices weird? |
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Valhern
Posts: 916 |
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Certainly, whenever watching any film you'll always notice certain decisions in directing and framing that are very common and widespread. But it's usually more cumulative work covering personal and individual artistic voice. A lot of times Western animation will stick to "This is how it goes", but it's true that each show does have an unique "consistency", especially so in backgrounds and design, and especially so in the most climatic moments, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe (to cite recent examples) never have the same feel to them. An episode (or even a scene) of a show looking different from the rest of them is certainly the exception, not the norm, and backwards in most Japanese animation, Dragon Ball Z, due how long it is, it's the perfect example of always changing depending on the animation directors, I think we have like 6 styles of Goku Super Saiyan. |
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writerpatrick
Posts: 672 Location: Canada |
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There's a lot of hybrid stuff. Many Western shows have been animated overseas. Rankin Bass used a Japanese company for it's drawn animation. So there may be some unexpected influence.
It is annoying when people call stuff that was clearly made in West as "anime style" when it's not. Just because something uses good animation doesn't mean the animators were copying Japan. Reboot has been called anime-style but it was a completely Canadian production and effectively established the CG style that Pixar and other studios now use. Although nowadays Western animators have been heavily influenced by anime so that will have some effect, but many of the same tools and techniques are used worldwide as well. Certain techniques are cost effective. You'll also note that shows such as Avatar, Shaolin Showdown, Ninjago and Jackie Chan are based on Chinese folklore, not Japanese. There's an effort made not to make this stuff look like anime. |
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jr240483
Posts: 4379 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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not quite. it was actually attempted by CN Japan when they try to do an anime version of powerpuff girls z, which unfortunately had really mixed results. then there was the 2011 remake of thundercats that was done by madhouse which didn't last as well. its pretty much a one sided conclusion here where there is only one result. companies should stick to what they know cause if its not broken, DONT FIX IT BY TRYING SOMETHING NEW! unfortunately wished hollywood would get that message and scrap the live action ghost in the shell movie before it turns into a massive mess and a half. |
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NearEasternerJ1
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MrOink, many of the 90s cartoons were done by JP studios under AMERICAN STANDARDS. Americans had higher standards. Bruce Timm HATED Sunrise and other JP companies for their sloppy animation. TMS was praised, but they were under American standards. If not, each episode of Batman TAS would only have 3300 drawings as opposed to 10,000+.
It's strange how Akira and Nemo are the only well animated anime from TMS; all their good work was mandated to them by Disney and Amblin. |
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Stuart Smith
Posts: 1298 |
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Panty and Stocking is the only recent example I can think of of Japan aping America, and it was influenced more by Drawn Together -Stuart Smith |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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The phrase "anime style" is extremely vague and can vary tremendously between individuals, so much so as to be meaningless. That phrase is the scourge of all artists who draw and doodle in public where lots of young people hang out.
It's not that simple: Thundercats 2011 flopped in the ratings but was pretty well-received by those who watched it...at least until the writers went into a civil war and episodes became pretty inconsistent in writing. Remember that Madhouse also animated The Boondocks, which went on for four seasons and was ultimately cancelled because Aaron McGruder wanted to work on other projects. Ultimately, it all comes down to the writing. No matter how it's animated, people aren't going to watch if they don't like its writing.
I noticed Adventure Time is the only high-profile American animated TV show to have episode-based thumbprints (which I believe is the proper definition of "sakuga"), and that's because weirdness is its gimmick. Well, there are also certain scenes in The Amazing World of Gumball. In both instances, though, the different animation style and character design are drastically different and call attention to themselves. As far as individual creators go, I would say the most recognizable is Genndy Tartakovsky. His pacing, framing, fight choreography, and use of background objects are so distinctive, they can be identified in live action, like with Iron Man 2. Something else to consider is that I'd guess both parts of the world have their audiences accustomed to whatever style of thumbprint they have. If an episode from a US animated TV show looks and moves slightly differently because someone else is in charge, people are going to complain about it, even kids, like what happened with the "candle" episodes of Animaniacs (where Steven Spielberg took the reins directly), which are by far the most divisive episodes of the series. |
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StarfighterPegasus
Posts: 149 |
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Am suprised no one mentioned Ninja High School creator Ben Dunn who worked o Marvel's Mangaverse. I like his style it reminds me of 80s to early 90s style of anime
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Kadmos1
Posts: 13558 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Tezuka, the guy that really established the anime style, was influenced by Walt Disney. So, Americans trying to mimic the Japanese is somewhat appropriate.
b |
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EricJ2
Posts: 4016 |
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In fact, some at the time accused NHS of reminding them of then cult-hit Urusei Yatsura a LITTLE TOO MUCH... But, of course, that was one of the only manga/anime comedies we knew back then, so, to borrow the Geico-ism, if you were going to fanboy-plagiarize anime, ripping off UY was....what you do. |
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Topgunguy
Posts: 258 |
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American fascism + xenophobia. "It's Japanese? Those sandal-wearing goldfish tenders?! Get em outta here!! AMERICAN ALL THE WAY!!" A-holes. |
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