[AX96] Another Person's Review
Mark L. Neidengard
Well, looks like it's time to throw in my own take on the fifth year of the
largest anime convention outside Japan. =) In short: it was well worth
attending. If that's not terribly helpful, keep reading. =) By the way, there
was a lot more going on, but as someone once said: "history is a labyrinth, and
those who survive only remember their own path out".
- Guests of Honor!! This year the number of industry luminaries was beyond
insane, and I strongly suspect that almost everyone at the con had at least one
of the GoH's to be interested in. Due to scheduling conflicts (see below) I
didn't get a chance to see Sonoda or the Tenchi seiyuu, but I wasn't worried
because of the two GoH's whose panels I did attend and whose signatures I
did collect: Anno and Oshii. Both of these men are positioned on the very
cutting edge of what stories are told using the medium of animation, and it is
their creative vision and personal touch that both captures the imagination and
paves the way for any brave and talented enough to follow them. The two were
an interesting contrast: Anno, superficially the moviestar with stylish shirt
and darkened sunglasses; and Oshii, low-profile with his long hair, T-shirt and
vest. Both had reasons to be exultant: their efforts had achieved critical
acclaim back home, and to both their surprises, here in the States. Both also
had reason to worry: both seem to approach their work as an expression of
themselves, and the danger of popular rejection is the specter that always
haunts any creative effort. Anno stated as much directly, saying that he was
ready to quit at any time, striving to make each work his greatest as long as
he could. For the person whose works have generated so much popular acclaim to
say that any limitation in the medium of animation is a limitation in himself
is a profound thing. Oshii has similar things to say, although he seemed more
relaxed before his audience. He addressed one of my long-time questions about
Patlabor 2, stating that in his view the message _did_ probably get through to
at least the older section of the Japanese audience. He also seemed to feel
that works like P2 had practically hit the wall where animation quality is
concerned: I can only hope that he and his associates are resolved to continue
pushing that wall outwards.
- Evangelion!!!
Due to a combination of factors, I hadn't had the opportunity to see any
Evangelion before the surprise screening of A.D. Vision's subs of the first
two episodes (specially prepared for AX; major kudos there). My reaction is
one of utter shock. The opening sequence has enough visual energy to give
_Mission_Impossible_ a run for its money, and I guarantee that watching it
twice did not begin to make the whole thing sink in. The animation quality is
_nothing_ like any television series I've seen before, blowing my previous
animation quality choices like Fushigi Yuugi into a distant second-place. Most
OVA's have nowhere near the production values. And then there's the story
itself: full-immersion from zero-hour and breathtakingly fast-paced. The
character development in the first two episodes surpasses what some shows do in
twenty, and even happens during the combat scenes! And as for those combat
scenes, anyone going to Evangelion expecting the typical mecha show is going
to be radically surprised. The complexity of the "mecha" designs, the
detail of the motion, and the _visible_ plausibility of the scale of the
mechs (many, _many_ stories tall) are phenomenal. And amidst all of this,
Gainax finds time to use fan-friendly shots like the "Penpen shower scene"
(which had the audience on the floor) and incredible cinematography like the
blossoming sky-scrapers scene. If the rest of the series is even half as
pointful, it will easily be one of my favorite works yet. Also, I expect the
forthcoming Evangelion movie to be nothing short of mind-blowing.
- Art Show
I think this year's Art Show was a definite progression from last year, with
the average quality of pieces visibly above that from before. A number of
them were actually adaptations of established works (con-goers might have
noticed me pointing out all the pictures adopted from Nobuteru Yuuki pieces in
the Phantasein artbook, or the A!MG piece adapted from Guardress). This year,
there was no corridoned-off "nosebleed" section, though a couple of H-rated
pictures did make it into the show by the end (including a very nice cell of
Mink from Dragon Half). It was also nice to see an exhibition of Onishi's work
(remember the Honneamise opening/closing montages?). Also on display were
pieces donated for the charity auction, including signed cells from the new
Urushibara work and a signed, color sketch of Hikaru from CLAMP. Also present
was a nice set of SD Sailor Senshi, which unfortunately got broken up at
auction (see below).
- Auction
This was one of the more amazing, and in fact _frustrating_ parts of the con
for me. All I know is that everyone who participated in the auction got the
most ridiculous bargains I've seen. The bidding was low _across_ the board,
with pieces of all sorts going for about a quarter of what I would have
expected, despite a great job by the auctioneer. Signed cells, autographed
posters, fan-art, and even an autographed videotape of the X theatrical trailer
all went for insanely low prices, which were unfortunately just high enough to
be out of my price range. I knew things were off to a bad start when the SD
Sailor Senshi set was split up within the first ten minutes of the auction: I
would have thought for certain that someone would have had more of an interest
than that. The only thing I can imagine after a lot of thought is that the
monied collectors were trying to save up for specific pieces, only to be
defeated and out of opportunities to go after "lower ticket" items. It is
my strong recommendation to the AX staff for next year to run the auction with
pieces of highest expected price _first_ and then to descend from there. Some
may see this as anticlimactic, but I think it compensates the artists much more
fairly and should also generate more revenues for the charity portion of the
auction. I suspect that had this been done this year, the revenue from the
auction would have been doubled. Perhaps Mike or one of the other wealthier
collectors can comment further?
- Logistical Problems
As I've said, I feel that the convention was well worth attending. With that
understanding, I felt that the logistics of this year's show were a definite
cut below last year's effort. Nearly every panel I went to experienced
troubles with its sound system, and anyone who was present for the 35mm
screening of the Patlabor 2 dub or the Memories sub can attest to the intense
aggravation of the projection problems in the main theater. The scheduling of
events was also troublesome: many events were not announced until the last
minute (I didn't hear about the first Anno signing until after it was over, for
example). In particular, a whole block of Pioneer events, including the
premier of Tenchi Muyo in Love and the panel with the seiyuu, were not
announced until it was too late for me to even try to fit them into my
schedule. Perhaps one of the con staff can comment further, but I got the
impression that the industry representatives were not very timely in
coordinating when they did what. Hopefully this can be addressed in the
planning for next year's show.
- Special Moments
I'm happy to say that the Caltech Anime Society had at least half a dozen
members present at the show for all three days (non-trivial considering the
size of the student body and the fact that we're on summer recess), and we
racked up a tidy collection of those nifty little experiences that seem to
crop up when there's a sufficiently large number of fans together like this:
1) The Sighting. Peter, a friend of mine managed, to spot the Shin Kyuuketsuki
Miyu Drama Album memorial box at one of the dealers' tables; this is out of
print and apparently rather rare (I just happened to get mine by luck from Books
Nippan when it came out). It turned out that the guy at the booth was
liquidating it from his personal collection, and Peter picked it up for $30,
less than half the exchange-adjusted yen price!
2) The Exchange. In an attempt to further expand my LD collection, I picked
up a "discounted" LD of Patlabor 1, only to discover shortly afterwards that
a different dealer had the collector's edition of the same thing for the same
price! I was able to return the first disc unopened and pick up the deluxe
edition, cutting a deal and saving $5 in the process. It was this that I later
got Oshii to sign.
3) "Oshii's Basset Hound". Ask someone present at Oshii's panel what this
means. =)
4) The Travesty: the most charitable term I could come up with for that 35mm
screening of the Patlabor 2 dub. The dub itself prompted me to coin the term
"miserably adequte" by dint of getting the general story across while squashing
or _replacing_ some of the more cherished subtleties of the film. As if that
wasn't bad enough, the audio and video problems (up to and including threading
one of the reels in reverse) were utterly ludicrous. The firs thing I did when
I had a spare moment after getting back was to grab the P2 soundtrack disc and
listen to it on the Music Lab's Quads to get the horrid sound of the theater's
rendition of the soundtrack out of my ears. Let's say that my blood-pressure
was _not_ very low when it was all over. I'm told that the staff was having
some honest problems with the machinery, but whatever the cause was, the net
effect was unfortunate.
5) The Evangelion Premier. Enough said.
6) The Trajedy: that certain well-deserving pieces at the auction didn't go for
closer to what (we think) they should be worth. Actually, the real trajedy is
that I didn't have a bit more money: given the prices people seemed willing
to pay, I could have cleaned up given even a modicum of funds.
Hopefully there will be one more event to come, but we'll have to see. =)
In any event, despite the problems, the con more than made up for itself with
events and people I was interested in seeing, and by bringing all us fans
together to try to fellowship between missing meals and staring at the screen.
I hope that the SPJA continues to do an awesome job and bring us even greater
con experiences in the years to come.
--
/!\/!ark /!\!eidengard, CS Major, VLSI. http://www.cacr.caltech.edu/~mneideng
"Fairy of sleep, controller of illusions" Operator/Jack-of-all-Trades, CACR
"Control the person for my own purpose." "Don't mess with the Dark Elves!"
-Pirotess, _Record_of_Lodoss_War_ Shadowrunner and Anime Addict
Kujakuo
Mark L. Neidengard wrote:
>
> Well, looks like it's time to throw in my own take on the fifth year of the
> largest anime convention outside Japan. =)
> - Guests of Honor!! This year the number of industry luminaries was beyond
> insane, and I strongly suspect that almost everyone at the con had at least one
> of the GoH's to be interested in.
I heard Mikhimoto turned up just to attend, not as a GOH...
> - Art Show
> I think this year's Art Show was a definite progression from last year, with
> the average quality of pieces visibly above that from before.
> there was no corridoned-off "nosebleed" section, though a couple of H-rated
> pictures did make it into the show by the end (including a very nice cell of
> Mink from Dragon Half).
I felt it was the most brilliantly-colored cel art there. It sold for just $110.
> - Logistical Problems
> aggravation of the projection problems in the main theater. The scheduling of
> events was also troublesome: many events were not announced until the last
> minute (I didn't hear about the first Anno signing until after it was over, for
> example).
> /!\/!ark /!\!eidengard, CS Major, VLSI.
At about midnight on Saturday, Sonoda suddenly decided to do 10 sketches. The
fans around him played "juken" to see who'd get a sketch.
Kujakuo
Enrique Conty
In article <4rbolv$s...@gap.cco.caltech.edu> mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu (Mark L. Neidengard) writes:
>He addressed one of my long-time questions about Patlabor 2, stating that
>in his view the message _did_ probably get through to at least the older
>section of the Japanese audience.
So you were the one on the right side of the room asking all those questions
about whether the audience would understand their films? I was the one on
the left who asked about Oshii's fascination with Judeochristian mythos.
>The animation quality is _nothing_ like any television series I've seen
>before, blowing my previous animation quality choices like Fushigi Yuugi
>into a distant second-place.
Wait until you see Escaflowne. This is HIGH-END OVA quality... O_O
>3) "Oshii's Basset Hound". Ask someone present at Oshii's panel what this
>means. =)
Gabriel!
The Dealer's Room had nice stuff. Got lotsa of CDs, and my first cel
purchases:
- A *large* cel of Hitomi from "The Vision of Escaflowne" for $50.
- A couple of Teki Wa Kaizoku cels, one Marsha, one Latell, for *$5*!
(The funniest part was when later that night, Tony Dellett, Dave Fleming,
and Russell Rezaian cornered me on the hallway, literally screaming
"WHERE ARE THEY!!!")
--
Enrique Conty | co...@cig.mot.com | http://www.mcs.net/~conty
Come to Anime Central, the Midwest's first anime convention!
Visit our website at http://www.mcs.net/~docangst/3w/ac/
Keith Rhee
In article <4rbolv$s...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>, mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu
(Mark L. Neidengard) wrote:
> - Evangelion!!!
> My reaction is one of utter shock... If the rest of the series is even half
> as pointful, it will easily be one of my favorite works yet.
If the first 2 episodes left you awestruck, the story past episode 13
will make your jaw hit the floor.
> /!\/!ark /!\!eidengard, CS Major, VLSI.
Geez, I saw you walk by, but I was busy talking to another staffer and
didn't get to shake your hand. Maybe next year.
Michael Liu
Mark L. Neidengard (mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu) writes:
>
> - Evangelion!!!
>
> The animation quality is
> _nothing_ like any television series I've seen before, blowing my previous
> animation quality choices like Fushigi Yuugi into a distant second-place.
*Ahem* I said it once, and I'll say it again: the quality of animation for
Fushigi Yuugi is average for Japanese television. Please do not confuse
a liking for a particular style of art with high quality, thank you, and
I'll withhold the nukes. ^_^
The first few episodes of Eva is a good example of good animation with an
art style some may not like.
Michael Liu
ae...@Freenet.carleton.ca
Mark L. Neidengard
In article <4rd3s8$h...@trotsky.cig.mot.com>,
Enrique Conty <co...@rtsg.mot.com> wrote:
>In article <4rbolv$s...@gap.cco.caltech.edu> mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu (Mark L. Neidengard) writes:
>>in his view the message _did_ probably get through to at least the older
>>section of the Japanese audience.
>
>about whether the audience would understand their films? I was the one on
>the left who asked about Oshii's fascination with Judeochristian mythos.
Yup. That was me. =) One of the other CAS'ers connected your name with your
face for me in the line for the closing ceremonies, but by then it was far
too late to say hello.
>>The animation quality is _nothing_ like any television series I've seen
>>before, blowing my previous animation quality choices like Fushigi Yuugi
>>into a distant second-place.
>
>Wait until you see Escaflowne. This is HIGH-END OVA quality... O_O
>
>>3) "Oshii's Basset Hound". Ask someone present at Oshii's panel what this
>>means. =)
>
>Gabriel!
>
>The Dealer's Room had nice stuff. Got lotsa of CDs, and my first cel
>purchases:
>- A *large* cel of Hitomi from "The Vision of Escaflowne" for $50.
>- A couple of Teki Wa Kaizoku cels, one Marsha, one Latell, for *$5*!
> (The funniest part was when later that night, Tony Dellett, Dave Fleming,
> and Russell Rezaian cornered me on the hallway, literally screaming
> "WHERE ARE THEY!!!")
Heh heh....I just wish I had a bit more money...even a couple hundred would
have done...
Mark L. Neidengard
In article <4rd07k$7...@freenet-news.carleton.ca>,
Michael Liu <ae...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote:
>
>Mark L. Neidengard (mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu) writes:
>>
>> - Evangelion!!!
>>
>> _nothing_ like any television series I've seen before, blowing my previous
>> animation quality choices like Fushigi Yuugi into a distant second-place.
>
>Fushigi Yuugi is average for Japanese television. Please do not confuse
>a liking for a particular style of art with high quality, thank you, and
>I'll withhold the nukes. ^_^
And, as I said before, when I say "animation" I mean "animation", not art
style. In the case of FY, I found both to be good. In the case of Evangelion,
I find both to be excellent.
Michael Liu
Mark L. Neidengard (mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu) writes:
>
> And, as I said before, when I say "animation" I mean "animation", not art
> style. In the case of FY, I found both to be good. In the case of Evangelion,
> I find both to be excellent.
Objectively speaking (as if I wasn't before), the animation of Fushigi
Yuugi is so-so. The character movements are no smoother or more awkward
than most TV series. The chara design, however, does vary in the final
product in an unpleasant manner whenever another group works on it. It is
not as bad as Tekkaman Blade, but it was not good. In fact, it is not
possible to say FY's animation was good unless bias was involved, which is
why I thought you had a crush on the art style and became short-sighted.
Since you don't think you're head-over-heels with the art style, then all
the arguments we've had about Eva are thrown in a new light, and things
don't look pretty on your side. ^_^;
Michael Liu
ae...@Freenet.carleton.ca
Why is it that people who're capable of giving me a good fight are always
my friends?
Kevin S Caldwell
In article <4rfeqo$3...@freenet-news.carleton.ca>,
Michael Liu <ae...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote:
>
>Mark L. Neidengard (mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu) writes:
>>
>> And, as I said before, when I say "animation" I mean "animation", not art
>> style. In the case of FY, I found both to be good. In the case of
>> Evangelion, I find both to be excellent.
>
>Objectively speaking (as if I wasn't before), the animation of Fushigi
>Yuugi is so-so.
I'm going to agree with Michael, here. I've heard others refer to FY as
having good animation, but when I showed the first few episodes to the
local club, several people commented on a few scenes that really stood out.
In the first episode, Miaka is forcing her way through a crowd, and nobody
moves except for her. In a later crowd scene, some of the mid- to
background characters are only outlined and filled with a single color. I
realize this is a TV series here, but that scene just made me think of the
bit in ep. 6 of Gunbuster where Noriko and Jung-Freud are in a crowd of
cardboard cutouts.
I've only seen the first 8 episodes of Eva, but there are a few cases that
jump out there, too: Static, backlit characters conversing for long
periods, etc.
Of course, animation quality of TV shows doesn't mean much at all to me, or
else I'd be begging AnimEigo to drop UY and release DNA^2...
Kevin Caldwell
Forever Young >:]
mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu (Mark L. Neidengard) typed something like:
>In article <4rd07k$7...@freenet-news.carleton.ca>,
>Michael Liu <ae...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote:
>>
>>Mark L. Neidengard (mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu) writes:
>>>
>>> - Evangelion!!!
>>>
>>> The animation quality is
>>> _nothing_ like any television series I've seen before, blowing my previous
>>> animation quality choices like Fushigi Yuugi into a distant second-place.
>>
>>*Ahem* I said it once, and I'll say it again: the quality of animation for
>>Fushigi Yuugi is average for Japanese television. Please do not confuse
>>a liking for a particular style of art with high quality, thank you, and
>>I'll withhold the nukes. ^_^
>And, as I said before, when I say "animation" I mean "animation", not art
>style. In the case of FY, I found both to be good. In the case of Evangelion,
>I find both to be excellent.
>--
>/!\/!ark /!\!eidengard, CS Major, VLSI. http://www.cacr.caltech.edu/~mneideng
>"Fairy of sleep, controller of illusions" Operator/Jack-of-all-Trades, CACR
>"Control the person for my own purpose." "Don't mess with the Dark Elves!"
> -Pirotess, _Record_of_Lodoss_War_ Shadowrunner and Anime Addict
Animation wise (japanese TV series) I don't think anything beats
Macross yet. They had some fluid animation and some great art (both
for the characters and the background) also the special effects
animation were excellent (water splash, explosions, etc.)
But if you want to compare some great TV animation (technically) then
you guys should watch one of the old Disney TV cartoons again... now
THAT'S smooth animation!!!
Jong "being de-animetized by my work" Hwang
(no I don't work for NeoDisney and never will) :P
Mark L. Neidengard
In article <4rfeqo$3...@freenet-news.carleton.ca>,
Michael Liu <ae...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote:
>
>Mark L. Neidengard (mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu) writes:
>>
>> And, as I said before, when I say "animation" I mean "animation", not art
>> style. In the case of FY, I found both to be good. In the case of
>> Evangelion, I find both to be excellent.
>
>than most TV series. The chara design, however, does vary in the final
>product in an unpleasant manner whenever another group works on it. It is
>not as bad as Tekkaman Blade, but it was not good. In fact, it is not
>possible to say FY's animation was good unless bias was involved, which is
>why I thought you had a crush on the art style and became short-sighted.
Excuse me? Of course it is _possible_ to say that the animation is good. In
fact, the point is susceptible to debate and counter-example. The tenor of
your post suggests that the definitions I am using for "animation" and "art
quality" (which I have articulated before) are different from yours. I don't
feel like repeating myself overmuch, but briefly I'll reiterate that I consider
"art style" to refer to the static properties of the work (character, clothing,
mecha, and scenery designs, etc), and "animation" to refer to the temporal-
dynamic properties of the work (the illusion of motion, persistence over time,
color shifts, etc). As a result, "animation" also picks up most of the
"cinematography" in a work (leisurely pans over a landscape, moving "viewpoint"
sequences, etc).
In both art and animation, I judge not on the minutae like frame rate or lines
of shading, but on the net visual effect generated. I will not claim that FY
wins on any specific "animation" detail like frame rate, but I will say that in
_my_ judgement the _net_ effect produced by FY's animation is better than any
other television series I've seen except for Evangelion. If someone can show
me how I've misvalued the things I've seen, I'll revise my opinion. =)
In terms of "art style", I'll definitely agree that the changes wrought by some
of the lower-budget art studios were at times quite annoying, but I found the
average (or perhaps more accurately the "gestalt") to be quite respectable.
>Since you don't think you're head-over-heels with the art style, then all
>the arguments we've had about Eva are thrown in a new light, and things
>don't look pretty on your side. ^_^;
*blinks* Pardon? I don't think I recall arguing about the art or animation of
Evangelion before...last I remember, the major discussion was about the
value of "quality" versus "innovativeness". At the time, I said that I'd
rather have a well-done unoriginal work than a poorly-done original one. Of
course, a well-done _and_ original work is always something to hope for. =)
Michael Liu
Mark L. Neidengard (mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu) writes:
>
> Excuse me? Of course it is _possible_ to say that the animation is good.
Not when one takes the average quality of the output in the medium
(animation) into consideration, even just the Japanese portion of it. It
may be good from your subjective point of view, but in eyes of this old
viewer of anime, it's just passable. (The OP is another matter, of
course.)
> your post suggests that the definitions I am using for "animation" and "art
> quality" (which I have articulated before) are different from yours.
[Cut]
> "art style" to refer to the static properties of the work (character, clothing,
> mecha, and scenery designs, etc), and "animation" to refer to the temporal-
> dynamic properties of the work (the illusion of motion, persistence over time,
> color shifts, etc).
My definition doesn't differ from yours, just less well-explained. :-) FY
is average on each and every property you mentioned in animation. The
concept of average changes over time, and FY could only be considered
"good" if it were done in the '70s.
> _my_ judgement the _net_ effect produced by FY's animation is better than any
> other television series I've seen except for Evangelion.
Not enough anime viewing, I fear. ^_^;; You're correct that Eva is good,
though, but no better than a good OVA. (The average animation quality of
OVA has been falling over the years.)
> *blinks* Pardon? I don't think I recall arguing about the art or animation of
> Evangelion before...last I remember, the major discussion was about the
> value of "quality" versus "innovativeness".
Well, I just think that someone who demonstrates an impaired judgement on
animation probably is impaired on many other things related to animation.
(It's a consistent bias I'm sure even I demonstrate.) ^_^;;
Come to think of it, weren't you the one who tossed Ray Earth against
Mazinger Z, Gatchaman, and Yamato? Impairment confirmed. :-)
Michael Liu
ae...@Freenet.carleton.ca
Mark L. Neidengard
In article <31D9DA...@ix.netcom.com>,
Kujakuo <Kuj...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>Mark L. Neidengard wrote:
>>
>> there was no corridoned-off "nosebleed" section, though a couple of H-rated
>> pictures did make it into the show by the end (including a very nice cell of
>> Mink from Dragon Half).
>
It would have sold for more if I had had the money to engage in a bidding war.
Mark L. Neidengard
In article <4rj551$b...@freenet-news.carleton.ca>,
Michael Liu <ae...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote:
>I wrote:
>> _my_ judgement the _net_ effect produced by FY's animation is better than any
>> other television series I've seen except for Evangelion.
>
>Not enough anime viewing, I fear. ^_^;; You're correct that Eva is good,
>though, but no better than a good OVA. (The average animation quality of
>OVA has been falling over the years.)
Well, you can be patronizing all you want, but I'll need something more
substantial than that before revising my opinion.
>> *blinks* Pardon? I don't think I recall arguing about the art or animation of
>> Evangelion before...last I remember, the major discussion was about the
>> value of "quality" versus "innovativeness".
>
>Well, I just think that someone who demonstrates an impaired judgement on
>animation probably is impaired on many other things related to animation.
>(It's a consistent bias I'm sure even I demonstrate.) ^_^;;
Now we add ad hominems and arrogance to the pool.
>Come to think of it, weren't you the one who tossed Ray Earth against
>Mazinger Z, Gatchaman, and Yamato? Impairment confirmed. :-)
Maybe we can have a discussion when you have something rational to say.
Until then, don't expect to sway me with your oh-so-impressive body of
opinion.
Good day.
Michael Liu
Mark L. Neidengard (mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu) writes:
>
> Well, you can be patronizing all you want, but I'll need something more
> substantial than that before revising my opinion.
Would taking the smileys out of my posts make them less patronizing? What
substance could I have added to my opinion that Fushigi Yuugi's animation
was average without you actually seeing all the other anime that is out
there? Would a detailed description of the many static sequences found in
various episodes serve (I believe someone else has already done a bit of
that already)? Should I point out that the ground is wet to prove that it
is raining? (It would not be conclusive in any case.)
You may feel that the net effect of Fushigi Yuugi's animation is a good
one, but that's still a subjective view. (No, I don't know how to prove
that.) Some people in this newsgroup do agree that its animation is
average, and perhaps you'll find their explanations more persuasive.
Whether Fushigi Yuugi is well-animated or not does not detract the
entertainment value of its story, however, and I do find the series amusing
from time to time. The only reason I "picked on" you, I guess is, is your
oft-seen praise of its animation (with no support) without anyone saying a
word to the contrary. Peevish of me, but posts of mine have started a
minor argument on spelling in the past.
> Maybe we can have a discussion when you have something rational to say.
> Until then, don't expect to sway me with your oh-so-impressive body of
> opinion.
My opinion is no more impressive than yours because neither of us supported
our views. I may appear arrogant and irrational, but your dismissal of
this argument because my seemingly irrational statements makes you just as
arrogant.
*** Patronization Alert ***
My goal with these pesky posts is the achievement of a greater
understanding of anime, manga and tokusatsu by the fans of these media in
North America. There are too many people who, in my view, have seen too
little of everything and do not truly grasp the sense of the media in the
way Asians have. It is my hope that people here will be enlightened enough
one day to see anime or any of its brethrens in the way they're seen by its
intended audience.
But does it matter that North American viewers enjoy anime in a different
manner so long as they are enjoying it? I suppose not, but it is a true
demonstration of my arrogance that I would attempt to change a culture's
perception of another culture just so I wouldn't see reviews of anime that
make me feel that I saw a different cut.
If patronization makes you feel angry, then try this more straightforward
approach of mine: no, the animation in Fushigi Yuugi is average by today's
standards. It may be above-average when it is compared with the other
animation you have seen, but its superiority is not objective in the
general sense because it is not compared with the TV animation that has been
produced over the years. I have viewed and sampled much Japanese TV
animation from the late '60s to today, with at least one series in every
year. (No, I cannot prove this.) You, by your claim during the Eva
discussion, have seen less than I have. Your opinion that Fushigi Yuugi is
well-animated is objective given the data you have, but it is not so with
all the data. True, one can still think that the animation was good even
after all the data has been gathered, but that view becomes far more
subjective in others' eyes at that stage.
(It should be noted here that it is definitely possible to judge the
quality of an animated piece without sampling all the productions that have
come before, but for someone like me who does not have a technical
understanding of animation, straight comparison is the only method.)
The view I'm expressing is more detached, rather like someone saying, "I
don't like it, but it's good." It uses some unwritten, general standard
people sometimes use when evaluating things. I'm sure your view is formed
along a similar basis, but I just cannot say that Fushigi Yuugi has good
animation based on all the animation I have seen.
Did I just waste a lot of time because I'm: a) stating the obvious and/or
b) you're no longer reading my posts? I don't know, but I hope someone
reads this post.
Michael Liu
ae...@Freenet.carleton.ca
Tomar
In article <4rd3s8$h...@trotsky.cig.mot.com>,
Enrique Conty <co...@rtsg.mot.com> wrote:
>In article <4rbolv$s...@gap.cco.caltech.edu> mnei...@ugcs.caltech.edu (Mark L. Neidengard) writes:
>>in his view the message _did_ probably get through to at least the older
>>section of the Japanese audience.
>
>about whether the audience would understand their films? I was the one on
>the left who asked about Oshii's fascination with Judeochristian mythos.
Asking the tough questions is a good thing. ^_^;
BTW, I'm glad you ask a couple of real good questions at the Anno
Pannel.
>>The animation quality is _nothing_ like any television series I've seen
>>before, blowing my previous animation quality choices like Fushigi Yuugi
>>into a distant second-place.
>
>Wait until you see Escaflowne. This is HIGH-END OVA quality... O_O
"O_O" is right. @_@
>>3) "Oshii's Basset Hound". Ask someone present at Oshii's panel what this
>>means. =)
>
>Gabriel!
Doggie treats anyone? ^_^
>The Dealer's Room had nice stuff. Got lotsa of CDs, and my first cel
>purchases:
>- A *large* cel of Hitomi from "The Vision of Escaflowne" for $50.
>- A couple of Teki Wa Kaizoku cels, one Marsha, one Latell, for *$5*!
> (The funniest part was when later that night, Tony Dellett, Dave Fleming,
> and Russell Rezaian cornered me on the hallway, literally screaming
> "WHERE ARE THEY!!!")
I bought my first cell at Expo too. An Aeka cell. You don't know
what I had to dig through to find her. Ryokos are a dime-a-dozen,
but I had to search high and low for a good face shot, smiling
Aeka. ^_^;
Not to mention my fortunate luck of getting the cell autographed by
Takada Yumi. ^_^;;;;;;
These two events helped make this con one my most memoriable
experiences inside and outside of Anime.
*sigh* Back to the daily rat race.
--
Tomar: aka to...@iastate.edu |"Are we happy?"
Temporary Summer Home: |"We're happy..."
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~tomar/anime.html |"The Golden Panties!"
Edward Seehwan Kwon
Forever Young >:] (xt...@exo.com) wrote:
: Animation wise (japanese TV series) I don't think anything beats
: Macross yet. They had some fluid animation and some great art (both
: for the characters and the background) also the special effects
: animation were excellent (water splash, explosions, etc.)
Some of the finest consistent TV animation I have seen yet comes from
Irresponsible Capt. Tyler. Then again, the character designs were
relatively simple so that may have not been that difficult to do.
Gainax's Nadia had its brilliant moments but was avergae much of the
time, and the original run of Ranma 1/2 also had excellent animation for
TV. Escaflowne also has more good animation moments than most TV shows.
****************************************** Eddie Kwon ****************
* She walks in beauty, like the night * email: zgu...@umich.edu *
* Of cloudless climes and starry skies * ANIMANIA/GOKURAKU *
* And all that's best of dark and bright * U of Michigan Med School *
* Meet in her aspect and her eyes * Devotee of Belldandy *
* -Byron * since 1993 *
************************************************************************
*[http://www-personal.umich.edu/~zgundam/amg.html] *AMG*AMS*AMG*AMS*AMG*