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NEWS: CLAMP's Tokyo Babylon 2021 TV Anime Unveils Cast, Staff, New Video, April Debut


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Raneth



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:15 am Reply with quote
Hmm...I don't like the animation all that much but I don't know enough about animation to figure out why I don't like it. The camera seems to be moving too much.

At first I thought the character designs looked off, but checking back I think my memory of Clamp's art was just faulty. The somewhat squished head look is present there too.

I want to be excited about this but I'm not yet. Hopefully the full show will be good.
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catbot158



Joined: 04 Mar 2017
Posts: 232
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:11 am Reply with quote
Raneth wrote:
Hmm...I don't like the animation all that much but I don't know enough about animation to figure out why I don't like it. The camera seems to be moving too much.

At first I thought the character designs looked off, but checking back I think my memory of Clamp's art was just faulty. The somewhat squished head look is present there too.


Don't worry, it's not you. GoHands is the studio animating this adaptation, and you don't need to be an animation know-it-all to see that their animation style is...unique. That's a nice way of putting it, unique. They have done good shows (K), but they also have done infamously bad shows (Handshakers and W'z) which you should check out clips of to see their animation style at its worse.

I am a bit more hopeful about this one, though I shouldn't be lol. Their bad shows were all original properties, while their good shows were adaptations. They were pretty respectful to K's original source, and since they are somewhat limited by the very definition of adaptation, GoHands shouldn't pull any of the crap they did for their original shows. I hope, God I hope.

Anyway these tracking shots look so static and the choreography is weird. At least the story will be good, this is early Clamp material after all...
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TsukasaElkKite



Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 3946
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:21 am Reply with quote
I really hope this is worth it. It bothers me that they retconned it to be set in 2021 instead of 1991. And MECHA? REALLY? I know THAT wasn't in the original manga.
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AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:38 am Reply with quote
The VA choices are good but I can't say as much for the art. Just like the last video if not for the text in the video and the dialogue I wouldn't have recognized this as Tokyo Babylon at all. Subaru is meh I suppose but neither his sister nor Seishiro look right, especially Seishiro. As a high level Clamp male he should have the trademark narrow triangular head and broad square shoulders; he also looks far too young compared to the manga or the original OAV. In addition to the designs being off the animation fails to have the same gritty atmosphere as the original.
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:39 am Reply with quote
Raneth wrote:
At first I thought the character designs looked off, but checking back I think my memory of Clamp's art was just faulty. The somewhat squished head look is present there too.


I think it might be something to do with the hair for the twins (for me, anyway). They added little wispy trails that overlap each other across the center of the hairstyle, which is fairly common in modern anime hairstyles but the twins didn't have before. It was always a jet black swathe of emptiness where there is now a bit of detail added. The bob cuts look a little messier compared to the clean cut look of the manga color pages as a result. Plus, the studio seems to have settled on making the twins have a hair color that is more brown when all three used to have identically black hair. Subaru looks more reminiscent of the Shonen Onmyouji protagonist than he does himself.

Seishiro's hair isn't too bad for me... maybe because he had that little wavy curl to it before. I do wish he was taller and broader, though. He simply looks too young, but is the best of the three designs for me.

I'm still mostly apprehensive, but I'll definitely watch.
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 1816
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 9:50 am Reply with quote
Knowing Clamp, Yuko might make a cameo considering the character references Subaru in the first chapters of xxxHolic

Triltaison wrote:
Raneth wrote:
At first I thought the character designs looked off, but checking back I think my memory of Clamp's art was just faulty. The somewhat squished head look is present there too.


I think it might be something to do with the hair for the twins (for me, anyway). They added little wispy trails that overlap each other across the center of the hairstyle, which is fairly common in modern anime hairstyles but the twins didn't have before. It was always a jet black swathe of emptiness where there is now a bit of detail added. The bob cuts look a little messier compared to the clean cut look of the manga color pages as a result. Plus, the studio seems to have settled on making the twins have a hair color that is more brown when all three used to have identically black hair. Subaru looks more reminiscent of the Shonen Onmyouji protagonist than he does himself.

Seishiro's hair isn't too bad for me... maybe because he had that little wavy curl to it before. I do wish he was taller and broader, though. He simply looks too young, but is the best of the three designs for me.

I'm still mostly apprehensive, but I'll definitely watch.

Yeah, back in Tsubasa, Subaru and Seishiro retained a simpler hairstyle although the latter was apparently was based on his young persona of how he Subaru. Then again back in Tsubasa, Clamp stated they wanted to try a more shonen-like art in order to contrast their shojo works.
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FiendHunter



Joined: 02 Dec 2019
Posts: 151
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:43 am Reply with quote
[quote="catbot158"]
Raneth wrote:
They were pretty respectful to K's original source

What original source? I thought K was also an original...

I wonder how updating the timeline will affect the story though. I mean, changing it to 2021 gotta have consequences Neutral
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catbot158



Joined: 04 Mar 2017
Posts: 232
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 12:15 pm Reply with quote
catbot158 wrote:
Raneth wrote:
They were pretty respectful to K's original source

What original source? I thought K was also an original...|


Wait, I thought it was based on a manga?

Edit: I LOOKED IT UP OH SHOOT, K IS NOT AN ADAPTATION. It's an original anime! I was introduced to K via the mangas, so I didn't know it was an original property too!

Then...what the hell happened to GoHands?! They had such potential with K and then Handshakers had to go and screw it up! God, why do they do this.
Tokyo Babylon 2021, don't mess this up, please.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1752
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 12:34 pm Reply with quote
Everything else aside...

Aoi Shouta?

Aoi "I'm Cute But I Couldn't Act My Way Out Of A Plastic Bag" Shouta?

Uhhhhh okay. Yet another questionable talent decision for the sake of stunt casting. I suppose they're banking on the character songs and stuff.
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WANNFH



Joined: 13 Mar 2011
Posts: 1695
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:45 pm Reply with quote
SHD wrote:
Everything else aside...

Aoi Shouta?

Aoi "I'm Cute But I Couldn't Act My Way Out Of A Plastic Bag" Shouta?

Uhhhhh okay. Yet another questionable talent decision for the sake of stunt casting. I suppose they're banking on the character songs and stuff.
Dunno, after Symphogear and PriConne I can't say that Shouta can't act outside of his type-cast at all. He is talented in right direction.
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Lady Multi



Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 673
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 2:24 pm Reply with quote
tintor2 wrote:
Knowing Clamp, Yuko might make a cameo considering the character references Subaru in the first chapters of xxxHolic


I wouldn't mind but I referenced to be that she knew of him of after the Tokyo Babylon instances, but it was always loose into the cross-references. I took it as everything had already happened at that point.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1752
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 6:08 pm Reply with quote
WANNFH wrote:
SHD wrote:
Everything else aside...

Aoi Shouta?

Aoi "I'm Cute But I Couldn't Act My Way Out Of A Plastic Bag" Shouta?

Uhhhhh okay. Yet another questionable talent decision for the sake of stunt casting. I suppose they're banking on the character songs and stuff.
Dunno, after Symphogear and PriConne I can't say that Shouta can't act outside of his type-cast at all. He is talented in right direction.

I wasn't aware he could act inside his typecast... Aoi is popular because he's cute and he's a good singer, with idol ambitions, and increasingly as he gets more popular he gets basically stunt-cast in shows where a) his character is expected to get popular, and b) his involvement is expected to bring in fans. Kinda like Miyano Mamoru nowadays, except Miyano is, in fact, a talented seiyuu aside of being decent-looking and being good at singing. (Or rather, let's just say Miyano has voice acting talent. I haven't heard good acting from him in years, as he seems to have completely gotten stuck in his own mannerisms, but he used to put out some really good and nuanced acting.)
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4807
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:46 pm Reply with quote
I don’t know what possessed CLAMP to go with GoHands for one of their classic manga. CLAMP has generally not had any issues with getting big name studios in the past to adapt their works like Production I.G., Bones, and older Madhouse, and they’re involved in an upcoming Netflix project, so clearly they’re still being sought after. I also don’t know why they haven’t greenlit a second season of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card yet when it’s been two years now and Madhouse finished up No Guns Life, but still no updates yet on the Clear Card anime. I would be more interested in them finishing up their existing anime adaptations than CLAMP starting on something like this.
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 901
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 7:48 pm Reply with quote
SHD wrote:
Everything else aside...

Aoi Shouta?

Aoi "I'm Cute But I Couldn't Act My Way Out Of A Plastic Bag" Shouta?

Uhhhhh okay. Yet another questionable talent decision for the sake of stunt casting. I suppose they're banking on the character songs and stuff.

Ooph. But also true. That was totally my gut reaction, too, and I haven't actually heard him in much outside of Symphogear and Granblue.

This trailer also doubles down by making him a victim of what I call "the Nana Mizuki Effect," where basically everybody, no matter their chops (or lack thereof) just sounds like they aren't trying hard enough next to Nana Mizuki.
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Hellfish



Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 391
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:46 pm Reply with quote
The designs and oficial art remind of Deviantart in the 00s in a way I don't like... it's detailed but to me just feels busy for the sake of being busy and I have trouble recognizing the characters. (Clamp adored drawing busy images but with them stuff looked great, to me this looks disjointd)[/img]
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