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INTEREST: Kemono Friends 2 Director Reveals Circumstances For His Hiring, Story Details




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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3447
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 3:12 pm Reply with quote
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"Ultimately, the structure of [Kemono Friends 2] is hardly any different from the previous series, but there will be a new protagonist and a new journey."

So no Kaban-chan?

Quote:
Kimura's idea for the new series is to emphasize the slice-of-life and "healing" elements that were present in the first anime. "I wanted to make the kind of show that you can chill out to after a hard day at work." He said that he did not want to over-emphasize the science fiction element because it could make the story too heavy.

Sure, the first series had potent healing effect, but it didn't turn popular by being a sibling of Aria. The appeal of the first one owed a lot to 'mystery and adventure into the unknown', if those elements are removed why not simply rename it something else and call it a day because what's the connection?...

Quote:
On the technical level, Kimura also hopes to recreate the "atmosphere" of the first series, although all of the character models have been remade from scratch.

The first series character models were rough CG, but they had a spark in them that worked in the context of a low-animation full-CG production. The new models so far have been as generic as can be...


Last edited by Blanchimont on Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Koda89



Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 278
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 4:40 pm Reply with quote
So basically....Kemono Friends but without almost any of the things people liked about Kemono Friends.

No Kaban-chan, toning down the sci-fi mystery post-apocalyptic aspect, etc.

Pretty much the only things that seem to be carrying over are the cute animal girls and the healing aspect, aka the two easiest parts of the show to hand off to a new director.
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Raneth



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:17 pm Reply with quote
This all feels like such a huge mistake. Part of the reason KF worked was because of the juxtaposition of the healing factor with the dark sci fi atmosphere. It was clear as you watched the show that something bad went down in the past, but that only made the cute interactions shine even more. It was resilience and continued discovery after disaster, even as the ramifications of that disaster loomed bigger and bigger.

Without the "heaviness" of the sci fi aspects, all of that will be lost, and KF2 will just be another generic cute girls doing cute things show.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see the magic of the first season ever being recaptured in the new one if this interview is indicative of how they're approaching it.
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melmouth



Joined: 19 May 2012
Posts: 167
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:46 pm Reply with quote
This says it all. I loved it for BOTH these elements, and the tension between them:

Quote:
This all feels like such a huge mistake. Part of the reason KF worked was because of the juxtaposition of the healing factor with the dark sci fi atmosphere. It was clear as you watched the show that something bad went down in the past, but that only made the cute interactions shine even more. It was resilience and continued discovery after disaster, even as the ramifications of that disaster loomed bigger and bigger.

Without the "heaviness" of the sci fi aspects, all of that will be lost, and KF2 will just be another generic cute girls doing cute things show.
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K.o.R



Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 221
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:56 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The first series character models were rough CG, but they had a spark in them that worked in the context of a low-animation full-CG production.


Endearing in their slightly-crappy-ness Razz
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Koda89



Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 278
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:18 pm Reply with quote
K.o.R wrote:
Quote:
The first series character models were rough CG, but they had a spark in them that worked in the context of a low-animation full-CG production.


Endearing in their slightly-crappy-ness Razz

Exactly! In college one of the classes I had to take was 3D animation. Part of the reason I'm rather forgiving when it comes to CG series is because I know how hard the stuff is to actually do.

When you consider the studio that made Kemono Friends only had about 10 people, give or take, what they managed to do is phenomenal. Yeah it is janky, but charmingly janky. Like you can see the seeds of good ideas for the animation, but they just didn't have either the manpower or skill(or even both) to properly do it. I personally love it when people shoot for the stars but don't quite get there.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:28 pm Reply with quote
Blanchimont wrote:
Quote:
"Ultimately, the structure of [Kemono Friends 2] is hardly any different from the previous series, but there will be a new protagonist and a new journey."

So no Kaban-chan?


...Nnnnnnnn-noop! Confused

Usually when there's been a change of production, or management, or ownership, the new show runners just flush the works, strip it back to concept, and make up new things that the old creators can't sue for a piece of.
That's been the case of some shows that differ between their TV and OVA versions (like Slayers or the various post-Tenchi's), and looks like that's the safe road the producers are going without Tatsuki.

In this case, the new producers clearly thought that "It was the girls (and not the apocalypse-tease) that sold it!", and well, they would think that.
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HannoX



Joined: 30 Apr 2012
Posts: 194
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:35 pm Reply with quote
A de-emphasis of the dark scifi elements? A human child other than Kaban-chan? My expectations for this continue to decline.
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Dalek-baka



Joined: 03 Jan 2013
Posts: 42
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 7:36 pm Reply with quote
I think it's a good decision to try make it different - I'm not sure about trying to recreate style of original one without person responsible for creating it.
It would be just pale imitation.

Trying to do something new might work, it won't be KF that I liked in the first place but there is some chance of it being at least enjoyable. And I like that comment about it being "healing", those are my favorite series and since "Tamayura" ended there weren't that many series with this feel.

I only hope it won't interfere with his work on "Aikatsu Friends" as this show is really great so far.
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Frog-kun
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 10 Jun 2017
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:20 pm Reply with quote
Imo "not over-emphasizing the science fiction element" doesn't necessarily mean he's going to downplay it. Personally, if I got handed the Kemono Friends project I'd feel tempted to explore the post-apocalyptic setting further because it's so interesting and mysterious. Kimura felt that temptation too, but isn't succumbing to it.

Having said that, the reason why the science fiction element stood out so much in the first season is because nobody saw it coming. They didn't need to explain anything to keep people guessing. Keeping the exact same mystery about the world without introducing any new elements is probably going to come across as "downplaying the science fiction angle."
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Posts: 3017
PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 2:08 am Reply with quote
If this ends up doing well, then I will officially have no idea what Japanese anime fans are thinking.
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tootbrush



Joined: 31 Oct 2009
Posts: 230
PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 5:45 am Reply with quote
Dalek-baka wrote:
I think it's a good decision to try make it different - I'm not sure about trying to recreate style of original one without person responsible for creating it.
It would be just pale imitation.

Trying to do something new might work, it won't be KF that I liked in the first place but there is some chance of it being at least enjoyable. And I like that comment about it being "healing", those are my favorite series and since "Tamayura" ended there weren't that many series with this feel.

First reasonable take in this thread.

Dalek-baka wrote:
I only hope it won't interfere with his work on "Aikatsu Friends" as this show is really great so far.

Like with Aikatsu Stars, he's just a Supervisor on Friends, so he's not involved in its day-to-day production. But unlike Stars, he hasn't worked on any Friends episodes so far, probably because of KF2.
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SWAnimefan



Joined: 10 Oct 2014
Posts: 634
PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 7:30 am Reply with quote
So they're rebooting without rebooting, but this time it's a trio. Gotcha.

Well, good luck to them!
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