Aug6
MetaVerse Episode 45: Studio Spotlight I
feel., Kinema Citrus, P.A. Works & ZEXCS are the first studios under MetaVerse’s spotlight
We talk a lot about “oh, this is such a [studio] show” or when we want a manga adapted we sometimes think, “I hope [studio] picks that one up for adaptation.” On this podcast, we take a little extra time to discuss these studios, our perceptions of them and which shows we liked from them.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:00 — 29.7MB)
MUSIC
OP: “My Soul, Your Beats! (Rock vers)” by LiSA from Angel Beats!
ED: “Slow Dance” by Suneohair from Sukitte Ii na Yo
OST: Barakamon OST
About Meta Cast
The team behind Metanorn's Podcast, MetaVerse. Our aniblogging experience gives us the expertise to dish out detailed opinions on which series to watch and ones to drop. And remember, we take fangirling seriously!
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
Some studios have a strong culture, but most seem not to. A lot of talent, including directors, are freelancers who float from project to project by different studios. Aku no Hana is the way it is because of Hiroshi Nagahama’s willingness to experiment in the animation process itself than whatever studio culture exists at Zexcs. It’s sad you didn’t give it more than 10 minutes of a chance. His other works are Studio 4°C’s DMC, Madhouse’s Jubei-chan 2, and Artland’s Mushishi, which illustrates what freelancing means. Studios outside of Tokyo (KyoAni, GoHands, P.A. Works) tend to have charismatic identities because they necessarily have more in-house regulars to form a culture, I suspect. Other studios have charisma coming from their founders & legacies (Gainax to a certain point, Shaft, I.G, Ghibli, 4°C, Bones, etc.)
But a lot of other studios seems to be places for random freelance talent to congregate, and therefore provide no indication of what a given show of theirs will be like.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Ladies and Gentlemen, Seanny! Longtime co mod of Anime Talk at G+ and it’s OreAni, the semi-weekly or so youtube casted talk on all thigns seasonal about anime. Thanks for contributing.
…and as for Aku no Hana. I just didn’t find it pushing the wheelhouse. I did check in on it from time to time, and just couldn’t appreciate the style.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I watched 2 episodes of Flowers of Evil, so I gave it a bit over 40 minutes. Good enough? :p
I tried to like that series, but it just wasn’t working for me. I’m positive there’s a good story there and director influence can be great for an anime (like Yuuasa with Ping Pong), but I just couldn’t get behind the style he crafted for the series; it just seemed to be too much, I felt. Also, my other podcast co-host mentioned how the anime ends. Flowers of Evil is a series I think is doubtful for another season, so if ever interested enough, I’d just go to the manga.
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
Fair enough. I’ll go ahead and semi-spoil that Aku no Hana is a slow and steady ramp-up in tension, so there’s not much going on in the early episodes. (I was also very skeptical of its rotoscopy during that period.) The uncanny-ness of the animation process serves to make the series so much more unnerving in its latter half, and allows for tremendous detail in its “character acting” which it takes constant advantage of. I don’t buy the common sentiment that rotoscopy was a mistake and would’ve been a more effective series with conventional design & animation.
I will buy the argument that it was a poor marketing decision, because otaku are generally hostile to things that don’t conform to their expectations of what anime should look like. It took Yuasa two TV failures (financially, not artistically) for people to learn his name and acclimate to his visually challenging style and storytelling sensibilities.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
There’s another problem with Aku no Hana that has very little to do with the method of animation: It’s about pretty horrible people doing pretty horrible things stupidly. It may be a well-told story about horrible people doing stupidly horrible things, but the content of the show still turns almost everyone off before it starts.
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
I’m not sure about that either. The hang-ups I’ve observed were entirely about rotoscopy. Before the premiere, people seemed to be excited about the premise and overall vibe. The goal of Aku no Hana is to depict a (or potentially recall OUR) angst-ridden teenage identity crisis, and it does so very effectively, if you are receptive to that kind of story. It can’t tell that story if its characters aren’t flawed and confused. The point I’m trying to make is that its rotoscopy actually aligns with its artistic goal contrary to popular assumption. It wasn’t a mistake from an artistic standpoint, only a marketing one.
(I watched it alongside WataMote, which was an oddly similar series despite being an episodic gag comedy. They depicted unglamorized teenage experiences through different lenses.)
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I watched the entire anime and found it average story-wise and was even fine with the rotoscopy because of a new style. I have a feeling it got more hate from people because of rotoscopy rather than plot. Anime is strewn with more horrible plots than this about bullying, romantic drama and what not.
Though, the director did take the ‘You shitty freaks’ to another level with his self-animated end cards. Kinda always turned me off but I was still fascinated till the end because of the story treatment. For me as a watcher, change is always welcome.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I gave Aku no Hana the three episode rule. Yes, I did drop it because of the rotoscoping. Yes, I was not used to the different animation style. However, the story as I understand it is rather compelling and I continue to have an interest in picking up the manga.
I have repeatedly seen the argument that rotoscopy was the right way forward with Aku no Hana to complement its twisted psychological tone. But at the end of the day no amount of artistic aspiration can be appreciated if people just don’t want to look at it, as you so aptly observed.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I also want to add that your definition of the “effectiveness” of an anime series in your response to Jrow is rather narrow and should be expanded to include the actual marketing success of and public reception to said work.
You attempted to remedy this by later equating your initial comments to “artistic” decisions and accounting for the other factors from a separate, purely “marketing” standpoint. However, I maintain that “effectiveness” should not exclude any points that would detract from the work being able to convey its message. And turning people away from even looking at the work definitely affects said effectiveness. The world’s best story is extremely ineffective if no one reads it.
“Success” is another similar word that might be thrown around here, but that one would more appropriately be applied to the solely “marketing” side of things if you wish.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Man, that was a nostalgic beginning. Girl DeMo that is.
I don’t hate shows because of a studio. For PA Works, I liked Angel Beats! and Eccentric Family. I hope they get out of their current romance drama funk though. They are too talented to get fixated on a genre.
Let’s do a ufotable one during Fall. I can talk for hours but I’ll keep it short.
Btw, WHAT WOULD I GIVE TO HAVE SHAFT animate Shokugeki no Souma, they’d do a pretty good job with all the reactions too.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Consider it a plan to talk Ufotable. A lot of good stuff… and then there’s Gyo. 😮
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Can never forget Gyo… OTL
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
When I hear that PA works does anything I will probably end up watching regardless of what genre they are working with! I can’t wait to see if they tackle a mecha series one of these seasons. Their best show I have seen from them will probably be Angel Beats cause I relate more to that than anything else they have made and yeah their worst imo is Red Data Girl.
Ahhh yeah cinema Citrus I think that Yurushiki is their best and their worst is probably Black Bullet.
Wow I agree with Jrow! Whenever I hear the studio FEEL I always think of them as doing ecchi shows as well and most of the time ill stick around watching their stuff and their best show for me would be Mayo Chiki and for their worst it was probably Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai for me which I still think is freaking TERRIBLE.
For some reason whenever I hear Zexus my mind always thinks they are a mecha studio and their best works for me might be Sukitte Ii na yo and a tiny bit of Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi because of a few characters and their worst easily Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne…