The Boy and the Beast

   The Boy and the Beast is Mamoru Hosoda's latest film (I have previously written about Wolf Children in a past module) that was released on July 11th 2015. The subbed and dubbed versions were however released around early March, which finally gave me the opportunity to watch it after our previous submission for research and development. Having purchased the art book and storyboard book sometime last year, it has since been one of my main influences and inspirations for this project when it comes to its characters designs, animation quality, background designs, and even storyboards.

   An action adventure fantasy (Like his past films), the story follows Ren who has recently lost his mother. Not knowing the whereabouts of his father and not wanting to live with his legal guardians, the nine year old flees into the streets of Shibuya, resenting life and everything else that came with it. Moving onto the more interesting bit, the Lord of the magical Beast Kingdom has decided that he will return in order to reincarnate as a deity and names two potential successors, with one of them being one of the main protagonists of this film, Kumatetsu, the powerful but unfortunately lone and lazy bear-like beast. Ren and Kumatetsu eventually cross paths one another, and while they are off to an incredibly rocky start, begin a very close master and disciple relationship as the story progresses...

   It is interesting to note that the characters of Mamoru Hosoda's films are always flatly colours WITHOUT a single layer of shading (With a few very rare exceptions) regardless of how dark or brightly lit their surroundings happen to be (Which should result in some very drastic shading or lighting depending on what sort of setting it is). Again, this most probably results in numerous colour palettes created for a bulk of the film's cast, especially for Ren and Kumatetsu. 

   This still keeps the task of colouring simpler when one thinks about it, because even if shading was to be added to these characters, surely their entire colour palette needs to still be changed, when they are placed in a setting with dramatically different lighting. But in all, I do indeed find this style of plain colour to be appealing, I just find it amazing how it can be effectively done especially one needs to carefully consider what colour palettes should be used, no matter how subtle the differences are.

   To further add to this, the film's beautifully painted backgrounds are somehow able to go so well with the flatly coloured characters, neither stands out too much with one another and somehow blends so naturally with one another (But then again many animated works from both the west and east have proven that more detailed backgrounds can indeed go well with characters that are designed and coloured in a far simpler style, it could also be said that the animation style might have a part to play in this as well).

   It has always been a challenge effectively blending CGI and traditional 2D animation (And quite frankly, there aren't too many examples-- or have I yet to find that many that are able to do so). While it definitely is much easier to use CGI, especially for crowd scenes. This film really does try its absolute best to make it work, by blurring the backgrounds and its characters, you unfortunately can still make out the unnaturally fluid movements of the CGI characters in the back. Still, it isn't necessarily as awful as some other examples and doesn't deter too much from the overall beauty of this film (The pros most definitely outweigh the cons). So long as they aren't just lazily throwing CGI in there without even attempting to blend it in properly (It kinda worked for the Animatrix, but not here, no). 

   There is a lot and I mean A LOT of fighting that actually takes place in this animation, but what I found absolutely interesting about that is the fact that it feels and looks really different to the usual dynamic, over-the-top fighting you see in other japanese animations. And no, this isn't even about the quality and intricacy of the animation (Obviously since japanese anime films will of course have a higher animation budget than most television series) itself... I still can't quite put my finger on it but I suppose it is the slightly more realistic look it is given in comparison, even during the crazier fight scenes. This might be a bit of a criticism however, that I feel like the fight scenes still lack the impacts seen in so many other animations? It is clean, detailed and pretty realistic (Much like Satoshi Kon's own works), but there is something lacking, even during what should be the most brutal of fights... eh, who knows, I should probably rewatch it again someday to see if I actually missed out on something.

Sengoku Basara (Production I.G.)

   While Sengoku Basara was originally a video game series by Capcom (Known for being a "crowd-fighting" action game in the vein of Koei's similarly themed Samurai Warriors series), it is here where we will talk about the anime TV series adaptation to brought it to its current level of popularity. It is also in this post that we will be focusing on the series that was produced by Production I.G. (Season 3 would instead be animated by Telecom Animation Film and in my opinion is very underrated when compared to Production I.G's own version... and so I might consider writing about them as well in the future).

Pirate Lord that surfs on his giant anchor weapon
whilst leaving a blazing trail behind him,

   Sengoku Basara's story is very loosely based on real events of the titular Sengoku era in the history of feudal Japan... and I mean: Very. Loosely. And quite frankly, I am not that all surprised, seeing as Capcom was also behind the Onimusha series, another Sengoku era themed game done in a similar style to the Resident Evil series that featured interdimensional demons bent on controlling the famous Sengoku Lords of Japan and taking over the world).

   This series has admittedly been a guilty pleasure of mine since last year, and while it is obviously not a piece of Shakespearean masterpiece, that certainly does not mean that no love was put into it (Far from it). I could go on really, but I don't want to get any more personal than I am already being about this series.

That's right, you flip that horse good, Yukimura.

   The easiest way to summarize this series is how incredibly over the top it was, and the sheer insanity and ridiculousness it was as an anime adaptation (Though, it really isn't to say that the game series is a lot tamer). Sure, another obvious reason as to why it became an even bigger media franchise than the game series it was based on was the fact that it featured a cast of nothing but eye candy and fan service (Which to me is reason why so many were unfortunately turned off by the third season, considering the slightly less appealing art style that was used, despite the fact that the studio were far more faithful to the characters' original designs from the game).

   With works like Seirei no Moribito and Ghost in the Shell, it is no surprise that Production I.G. is one of the better-known studios (If not one of top five) for its quality animation, and Sengoku Basara was thankfully not the exception. As mentioned before, in all of its over-the-top if not incredibly silly moments, the series also had some of the most well-animated fight scenes in any anime series. Whilst taking advantage of the fact that these samurai could defy gravity in this universe (Quite a far cry from Seirei no Moribito's far more realistic fighting animation), animators went all out in choreographing the craziest fight sequences (Refer to previous gif) while still somehow making it believable and of course enjoyable enough for its viewers. Aside from really nicely done weapon animation, there are lots of fun if not dynamic camera shots used in a lot of these sequences (There really is never a fight scene that is done in a flat shot). I do believe that there was one scene in one of the earlier episodes when it a completely different art and animation style was used simply to enhance the frenzy and blood thirst that was experienced between the two characters as they dueled with one another.

   And I can most certainly ALWAYS appreciate the animation of characters that are dressed in considerably detailed if not complicated clothing and/or armor. Yes, the character designs may have been simplified from its original source (The only way they could animate a character with detailed chainmail while keeping their sanity intact is to use a texture and static screen it, to be honest... and that would certainly not go with the rest of the art direction for this adaptation). I will always appreciate how shading and lighting is done in animations (Because I know how much time that takes along with coloring each frame), and this series does it absolutely beautifully without making it stand out far too much, especially when it comes to their armor pieces.

   To end it off, while this adaptation of Sengoku Basara might be questionable in terms of its story and character development (Again, this is why Season 3 has its own merits, to be honest), do watch it for its sleek character designs, amazing animation and over-the-top scenes between some of the most ridiculous samurai characters you will ever see... Also, do try to watch it in Japanese, the seiyuus did the most amazing job. This version of Date Masamune wouldn't have become so memorable if it hadn't been for all the Engrish that is thrown in there by Kazuya Nakai.

Oh. God. How could I forget about the dancing samurai...?

Legend of Korra

   The Legend of Korra is an American animated television series that aired on the Nickelodeon television network from 2012 to 2014 (Oh, how time flies) and was created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino as a sequel to the critically acclaimed Avatar: The Last Airbender (Which aired from 2005 to 2008). Again, much like its predecessor, the show is animated in a style that is strongly influenced by anime, which is not to say it is. The series follows the new Avatar Korra, the reincarnation of Aang from the previous series, as she faces political and spiritual unrest in a modernizing world.

   And much like its predecessor, the show has been a critical success. Drawing favorable comparisons with the HBO series Game of Thrones (Huh) and the work of Hayao Miyazaki. It has been praised by reviewers for addressing sociopolitical issues such as social unrest and terrorism, as well as for going beyond the established boundaries of youth entertainment with respect to issues of race, gender, and sexual identity. While Samurai Champloo was an anime series that stepped out of the traditional if not stereotypical tropes and expectations of anime at the time, both Avatar series were not afraid to show that they were heavily influenced by anime, while still managing to remain their own unique and memorable series.

   Much like Avatar: The Last Airbender, it is evident that a lot of love was put into this considerably darker sequel by its creators... Sure, the show might have had a somewhat rocky start (A little opinionated, I suppose, but I was most definitely one of those that felt a little annoyed if not turned off by the characters when they were first introduced and how they were written over the rest of the season, particularly Korra), but it eventually began picking up by the end of the second season, and most certainly ended with a bang by the forth and final season (Am I allowed to spoil this...? No? Oh well, I'm sure you will all figure out what I mean on your own). 

   One thing that certainly stood out to me about this series, was the character development over all four seasons. Again, I really wasn't a fan of these characters during the first two seasons, but once I actually went back and considered all four seasons as one whole entity... I couldn't help but feel astounded by it all. No one would have expected so much to take place, to change... and it feels like the gentlest reminder on how much can actually change within a short period of time. A person and their beliefs, relationships between various people, situations, absolutely everything... And it is all developed in the most believable way possible (Very much like its predecessor, really, so maybe I shouldn't be so surprised about how well they had pulled this off).

   Again, much like the previous series, The Legend of Korra was most cetainly known for its quality production values. The series was produced mainly as traditional animation, with most frames drawn on paper in South Korea by the animators at Studio Mir and scanned for digital processing. Each episode comprised about 15000 drawings. The series however did make occasional use of computer-generated imagery for complex scenes or objects, most noticeably in the animations of the pro-bending arena or the mecha suits of the later seasons.

   The Legend of Korra most certainly stood out to me in terms of its striking visuals (Which you can certainly see in the gif set below). While The Legend of Aang was also known for its unbelievably gorgeous visuals, I do feel that this series had certainly taken it a step further when it came to its production values. The animation quality is beyond breathtaking as well as the art direction itself. Even one could admire the simpler if not quieter scenes in the shows, and appreciate it for its crisp coloring and lineart. 

   But obviously... that is not what we are here for. Much like the previous Avatar series, The Legend of Korra also stood out for its incredibly detailed fight sequences, with the bending styles featured derived from different styles of Chinese martial arts. Yes, there is the fantasy element there as always (With the controlling of various elements and what not), but there is also the beauty in how realistically these characters move whilst doing so (In which many of the Principles of Animation can be successfully applied to, such as Anticipation, Timing and Solid Drawing). The impact, the struggle, and strain, so much could be felt from each movement they make, be it light or heavy. Korra's way of fighting is also a metaphor in itself as continues to grow as a person whilst being made to deal with all the matters that are so cruelly thrown to her by the city. And while she maybe the all powerful Avatar, the truth is, she is but still a teenager who had so much to learn at the very beginning of the series... and that is also shown from the way she fights throughout the show.

   Both Avatar series have also been an incredibly huge influence to my work not for its anime influences but also due to the fact that it is set in a fantasy world that borrows extensively from East Asian art and mythology. And while it started out as a mere interest like anything else, Mike and Bryan certainly went all out in creating the gorgeous fantasy world that we have all come to adore to this very day, of course, with help from the right people that is, if your heart is really in something, everyone else can most certainly tell once they see it for themselves.

Samurai Champloo

   Samurai Champloo was one of my first few inspirations from the get go when it came to this project, and honestly, I am actually surprised I haven't done a write up for it until now (Or did I...? Oh well). This was just one of those anime series that broke out of all those stereotypical anime tropes during that period, making it one of my biggest influence for works that might be considered 'anime' to many when it is so much more than that.
   
    An Action Adventure Chanbara Comedy Japanese anime series developed by Manglobe (Also later known for Ergo Proxy), Samurai Champloo featured a production team lead by now renowned Shinichiro Watanabe, character designer Kazuto Nakazawa (Known for his anime sequence in Kill Bill Volume , The Animatrix's "Kid's Story" and Linkin Park's "Breaking the Habit") and mechanical designer Mahiro Maede (One of the most prominent Japanese anime creators working today, having contributed to such works as Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo and Neon Genesis Evangelion). Samurai Champloo would also be Watanabe's first directorial effort for an animation television series after the critically acclaimed Cowboy Bebop.

   Shinichiro Watanabe is known for incorporating multiple genres into his anime creations. In Cowboy Bebop for example, Watanabe blends classic cowboy western with 1960s/1970s New York City film noir, jazz/blues music, Hong Kong action movies, and sets the entire series in space. And in Samurai Champloo itself, Watanabe unites the cultures of Okinawa, hip-hop, modern-day Japan, and chanbara. With such a unique blending of genres, this has led to some referring him as the "Quentine Tarantino of anime", and to this day remains among Japan's best animation directors.

   

   Having been a huge fan of Cowboy Bebop (It was especially one of my biggest influences when I was studying Illustration back in my last art school), Samurai Champloo was admittedly... not one of my absolute favorites the first time I had watched it (And I suppose this is due to the fact that Mugen came off as a much weaker and less charming protagonist when compared to someone like Spike Spiegel... Yeah, I really wasn't the most open minded person at that time). 

   I can't necessarily remember when it was exactly that I decided to give it another chance, but once I did, I do say that it is now an even bigger influence on my work than Cowboy Bebop ever was. It's funny really, as I really can't imagine it never being a part of my life now. It has after all influenced some of my most favorite shows, particularly The Boondocks. To this day, I found myself rewatching this series far more than I have Cowboy Bebop (It is not to say that one is better than the other, because I absolutely love both these series with all my heart... and quite honestly, I am planning to rewatch Cowboy Bebop once I do get the chance to).

   

   When comparing it to Cowboy Bebop (Yes, I am going to be doing that a lot during this post if you haven't already guessed), the animation style and art direction is notably looser if not rougher when compared to Cowboy Bebop's more... traditionally animated look (In my opinion at least, that series just has a more old school sort of look to it when compared to this series), especially when it came to its main characters' designs and animation. 

   As mentioned in my last post about sacrificing a character's appearance when animating certain scenes, there are many instances when details might be sacrificed by the animators when animating certain scenes (And I feel that Mugen especially falls victim to this numerous times throughout the series). This could perhaps come off as somwhat lazy, especially when this series has been regarded for most of its quality fight sequences. And in fact, it certainly still deserves that reputation, presenting some of the most dynamic and uniquely choreographed fight scenes seen in any anime series. How often would you see a vagabond use aspects of break dancing during a sword fight with another samurai?

   

   While there were certainly a lot of modern genres and influences in it, I also enjoyed the fact that it was nicely balanced out with more traditional ones. Jin especially takes on the role of the traditional ronin in both personality and fighting style, which creates this really nice contrast between him and Mugen. This odd couple can be enjoyed whether they are dueling one another or fighting alongside one another throughout the entire duration of the series.

   Samurai Champloo was most certainly also memorable for its amazing soundtrack (One which I have continued listening to to this very day). Produced by Watanabe's longtime friend DJ Tsutchie and Japanese hip hop duo Forces of Nature, others that were involved were R&B songstress Kazami, rap artist Shing02, R&B singer Minmi, American MC/producer Fat Jon, and perhaps most notably, Japanese DJ/producer Nujabes, who had sadly died in a traffic accident on February 26th 2010. Samurai Champloo's ambient soundtrack has since received very high critical acclaim and is ranked among the Top Ten Anime Themes and Soundtracks of All Time, with it being listed at #10 and Cowboy Bebop taking the #1 spot.

   I wouldn't say that Samurai Champloo is perfect (After all, I have chanced upon quite a few folks that have expressed their dislike for it), but it certainly remains one of my biggest influence and will perhaps continue to be for years to come, and in the most positive manner possible. It is a series with a surprisingly effective blend of very different genres with incredibly entertaining and well animated fight sequences, along with the most amazing soundtrack to nicely wrap it all up. And quite frankly, it has a pretty entertaining story and colorful cast of characters (Fuu will probably grow on you overtime, if you give her a chance, I think), while that is certainly not the award winning bit to the series,  it is not something to be looked over either.

Yutaka Nakamura

   Yutaka Nakamura is an animator, designer and cinematographer with works including key animation on projects such as Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy, Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, and many more. Nakamura is especially well known for his dynamic and unique action sequences, and is considered in animation circles as one of the greatest action cinematographers of his generation (No surprise there). Having the freedom to storyboard his own scenes, he mixed a unique action cinematography and animation timing to create distinctive action scenes in animation. One of his most notable animation works includes the last action scene in the movie Sword of the Stranger.

  I had first chanced upon the man whilst researching Stranger of the Sword... well, more specifically, I had first come across him in one of LeSean Thomas' many spotlight posts in the past but had only decided to take proper notice of him during this period whilst working on The Bond of Four. And I have since then heavily referred to his works whilst working on my own animation's cinematography, most specifically for my fight scenes. Granted, I will never be able to do anything as gorgeously complex as any of his works, but it has most certainly inspired me to push myself just a little harder whilst figuring out the choreography for the fight scenes themselves, especially during the final scene itself.

   One thing that I would absolutely love to learn more about is his process in storyboarding such incredibly detailed fight sequences. Does he use any references whatsoever? I mean, I can certainly believe that the man has been able to choreograph scenes from scratch after years of experience, and again, that is just so inspiring to us animators. Just, what is his thought process exactly when working on a scene? Everything is completely done traditionally and by hand, the details, the perspective shots, everything. Especially in a day when computer animation technology is being so heavily utilised, masters such as Yutaka Nakamura still storyboard and animate his scenes frame by frame and with paper and pencil... If I am right, only the colors and backgrounds are done with computers (Just a little adjusting here and there really to further enhance camera movements during a certain scene, nothing too extreme).

   Animation fans have found ways to identify which animator works on which scenes in a film or show, and one of Nakamura's defining qualities when it comes to his works is how his debris design tends to look in his scenes. Everything that explodes or blows up will have giant cubes flying all over the place, it is notably blocky if not more cartoonish in appearance when compared to how debris might be drawn by other animators if you look closely enough. And another one is the fact that his weapon animations tends to move as fluidly as water (Refer to the very first gif set above or even my write up on the Stranger of the Sword for examples). There is also something particularly distinctive about his camera work, which you can once again see from the gif examples, and to this day, is the one thing that still leaves me absolutely floored no matter how many times I look his works over for reference and inspiration. There seems to be a noticeable focus on feet in his camera works, which is certainly not something many others tend to focus on too much in any sort of media when you think about it.

   I also do feel that a lot of details are sacrificed for the sake of more quality (Or fluid) animation, which makes me all the more appreciative (If I appreciate this guy any further, percentage approval would be infinity, to be honest) over the fact that Nakamura pays an equal amount of attention to character details as he does with his animation and complex choreography. The details on a character are never so heavily sacrificed that they would become completely unrecognisable during certain scenes. A lot of animators think that such a thing could be sacrificed during certain scenes, particularly during more fast-paced scenes (And I believe that FLCL might have been guilty of that a couple of times). And so once again, this places Nakamura above many other big name animators, seeing that he considers every single detail and places so much love and care to every thing he does.

Song of the Sea

  

   Aaaaand we're back with another one of Tom Moore's astoundingly gorgeous works! It has been ages since I wrote about The Secret of Kells, so, let's just see how much my writing has changed since then, huh (For the better or for the worst, eh)?

   

   Song of the Sea is a 2014 Irish animated fantasy film by Cartoon Saloon, this would also be the studio's second feature film. The traditionally animated film, which began production soon after the release of The Secret of Kells (2009). Needless to say, with the experience gained from working on their first film, noticeably lesser production time was needed for this film as compared to its predecessor. It premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September in the TIFF Kids program. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards (2015), but unfortunately lost to Big Hero 6.

   After watching the Secret of Kells, I immediately held high expectations for the studio's very next project, and I was pleased to say that it completely blew away even those expectations. I was firstly able to catch it on a plane trip back to Manchester, and while it was still on a teeny tiny screen, I was still able to admire the gorgeous amount of detail that is put into every single scene... And speaking of detail, a friend was initially reluctant to watch this, believing that the style looked too plain and simple to her... Well, AREN'T YOU GLAD THAT YOU GAVE IT A CHANCE NOW, BUDDY???

   Because, in spite of the show's geometrically simple looking character designs, the overall art direction is anything but simple. One amazing thing was the fact that the concept art and finish product are so unbelievably close to one another, as shown in Tom Moore's presentation during this year's Manchester Animation Festival. It still boggles the mind really how their gorgeously detailed concept art was brought completely to life. The concept art process especially is still something I wish I could relook back on, especially when simple blobs of colors were firstly blocked in before the real details were actually added in with ink (H-How on earth did they do that so effectively?). And that is honestly something that I wish I could do with my own concept, be it at least for the background designs alone.

   One thing that I am a particular sucker for are the parallels drawn in a story as it progresses. And while I don't want to necessarily spoil too much of the story if you have yet to watch it, I think the gifs above are a bit of a give away... or maybe not. While Song of the Sea's universe is absolutely rich with Irish folklore and culture (Very much like the Secret of Kells), they just did such a beautiful job mixing it in with the cast of very human characters. These are incredibly believable characters that are thrown into the most unbelievable situation, that the audience themselves can empathise with. Though from the very beginning, their fates have long since been intertwined with these magical beings that have so skillfully tried to remain hidden from the human race.

   Again, I don't want to spoil you guys with anything, but the main characters' father is certainly one of my favorites, and you will see why when you watch it for yourselves.

   Again, with such incredibly detailed setting designs, it is just so amazing how these character designs are able to blend in so well with it. There is no denying that the character designs are meant to be stylistically simplistic (Especially when you properly separate them from everything else), and yet, they still go so well with the heavily textured settings. This has certainly been a challenge I find myself facing with my own past animations, where flatly colored characters do not blend as well as they should with more painted background designs. And it was certainly an aspect a lot of my peers and tutor kindly pointed out during sessions.

   One honestly needs to know how to balance these things out when considering both character and background designs (More so if different folks are working in different areas). Obviously, the lighting and shading should also be taken heavily into account when it comes to making the character appear as if they actually belong there, as well as the style of line art. I feel especially that the beautiful lighting and shading is what makes everything in each scene just flow so well with one another.

   That and the color palettes as well, after all, if the color palette used for the characters contrasted too much to the setting in which they are in, that will certainly make the scene all the more unnatural and unappealing (Which once again, goes back to the lighting itself and the particular shades of color that should be used to color them).