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Anime aesthetics.

First one . Though you can replace it with something along side of; visual representation of art and emotions. Something that compliments the product's use of visuals. I don't really know how to explain it.

semsnake wrote:

No, English is not my first language. I am aware of the horrible structure and problematic grammar, it was mainly due to the situation I was in during the writing.

Actually, your English is pretty good. I didn't see any major problems with it.

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While not as experienced on anime as you people most likely are, I do find the current state of anime aesthetics, while beneficial with its simplicity, to be ultimately unfavorable. I rather prefer when artists create their own types of art styles that aren't necessarily influenced by mainstream anime. It's a bold statement, and I am open to be proven otherwise, but I have formed this opinion solely based on my observations.

In other words, you're looking for more experimental art styles. Some of that does appear every year, but anime being a commercial product is naturally limits how frequently it occurs.

And, frankly, I'm fine with it not happening frequently. As much as fans complain about lack of originality in anime, most actually don't want series with original styles all of the time. Also, I often find very unconventional art styles to be aesthetically repugnant; just because something is an original art style does not automatically mean that it's good.

As my first contribution to this forum, I might as well throw in my two cents. I think that many, many modern anime are indeed falling back on common cliche'd styles, but that has always been the case. It's just that we're more likely to see more of the recent stuff and spot the consistent patterns, whereas oldies have the novelty of being old, and we're less likely to hunt them down (this is a generalization, if you prefer oldies that's fine). As Sturgeon put it, 90% of everything is crap, and this applies to visual styles as well as stories and production values.

The continuing prevalence of the "moe" style is also a major contributor to this apparent stagnation you describe, and it has become very easy to pin down some anime as light novel adaptations simply by their art styles.

That said, there are several stand-out exceptions in the last five years, both adaptations and original productions. Time of Eve is one of the few anime I've seen to successfully integrate traditional 2D animation and CG and makes it look gorgeous, while playing with innovative camera work and making surprisingly good use of facial expressions. Puella Magi Madoka Magica manages to blend many experimental styles and uses them to integrate some well-placed symbolism into its visuals. The Tatami Galaxy couples minimalist art with highly fluid animation to create a thoroughly unique aesthetic. I could keep going with several other examples: Kyousogiga, Bunny Drop, Redline, Mawaru Penguindrum, not to mention several revivals of older styles (hello, A Woman Named Fujiko Mine). The anime industry is not without its problems, but I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic.

Great contribution to the thread. You most certainly have my attention with that response, though some of these examples to stumble up on my criticism, but I can't really lock my judgement until I have actually delved deeper into them.

(I know it sounds kinda sarcastic, but I really do mean it .

semsnake wrote:

Great contribution to the thread. You most certainly have my attention with that response, though some of these examples to stumble up on my criticism, but I can't really lock my judgement until I have actually delved deeper into them. (I know it sounds kinda sarcastic, but I really do mean it .

Hey, if my viewpoints weren't met with some measure of disagreement and criticism then it wouldn't be an opinion worth sharing

Of course, what art styles are "innovative" is in and of itself a subjective matter. Where do we draw the line between being "inspired by" something and being a "ripoff"? How different does a style have to be to "stand out"? What if some people find the different style "ugly"? What's more important, production values or art design? The list goes on.

Personally, I try to focus on the artistic intent behind an art design, as well as on how well it parallels the narrative and themes it's being used to convey. After all, anime is about combining visuals with story. In general, I admire styles that show sincere effort and inspiration.

To play the devils advocate sometimes I think that artists are too concerned with being original. And will try anything someone else hasn't done before. Often without regard to the fact that the primary reason it wasn't done was because it was a stupid idea anyway. Alot of the time I think it is more important that something is done well than it is done originally.

Some other recent shows that I think look rather different from most modern anime are Sakamichi no Apollon, which took a highly realistic approach, productions by Shinbo Akiyuki and Studio SHAFT like Madoka Magica and Bakemonogatari, and Yondemasu-yo, Azazel-san with its chibi demons. noitaminA shows often have distinctive aesthetics. Look at the Spring, 2010, pairing of Sarai-ya Goyou and Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei for examples.

no such thing as 'a main anime style'

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For example: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aesthetic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics http://aesthetics-online.org/

First one