The Animated Series

[Brian_Rice]

I was randomly watching the old Birds of Prey live action series which has the flash-based Gotham Girls web animation series as a special feature, and it prompted me to go back and watch some of the old Batman the Animated Series episodes -- and specifically the final season where they moved to a more streamlined animation style.

It's funny that my mind remembered the animation being clean and precise and, essentially, non cell/film based, which it's not. It was amazing to watch those older episodes, with the film grain, the deep blacks and awesome colors and dynamic animation -- all of which is lost in current animation which is captured and animater soley on computers.

I'm a huge fan of the storytelling in Xmen Evolution and Spectacular Spiderman which were both computer-based animation styles; and some of the newer DC direct-to-DVD animated films have been serviceable, but that final season of Batman the Animated Series will probably forever be the best series of animated television, anime or no, that's ever been put to screen. From voice acting to directing to animation to Shirley Walker's amazing filmic scores. They truly don't make 'em like they used to.

 

[Gary Huff]

I find that almost every single cartoon is anime based in some way. Not that I have anything against anime, but it seems that "style" is in every single cartoon these days. Can't we do something different?

 

[vcassel]

I find that almost every single cartoon is anime based in some way. Not that I have anything against anime, but it seems that "style" is in every single cartoon these days. Can't we do something different?

Different strokes, I suppose, but I like it. It is different from anime by it being a synthesis of Eastern and Western styles. The term I most regularly hear it referred to in animation circles is 'Fusion' or 'Manga Fusion'. I suppose 'Manga' is a bit of a misnomer, but I think it's because it's a style that has also pervaded comic art as well.

 

[Gary Huff]

I agree it has its place, it just seems like every new cartoon has that style and it's becoming overused.

 

[Brian_Rice]

Teen Titans, to me, was really the breaking point of east meets west. The absurdist anime style is, to me, what gives the genre a bad name to most westerners. Things like Animatrix, Princess Mononoke, Ghost in the Shell, etc are great works of art, but the silly freeze-frame motion hyper-inflated (and typically over sexualized) anime style is just barftastic and lends little to any reputable storytelling IMO. If you morph an entire character spec to exhibit a specific emotion in what's otherwise supposed to be a drama/action-based show, it's okay for three-year olds, but it completely takes the educated viewer out of the story. It's okay for a cartoon wolf's eyes to blow out of their head when watching a sexy dance, but when it happens to Peter Parker when he sees Mary Jane, that's just stupid. Teen Titans did this consistently and, to me, left it as one of the worst superhero animated shows of the last decade when it should have been something great considering the talent attached.

All of the Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z business is all fodder for infants so far as I'm concerned, and most of it keeps animation from seeing its full potential. We should have never taken a step backwards since Transformers: The Movie, but unfortunately the anime boom of 10 years ago, for awhile, set things back dramatically. I still don't think we've completely recovered, but with DC making a point to have all of their direct-to-DVD artwork reflect the comics they're based on, I think things are getting back on track. If you want to see non-anime style cartoons, check out some of DC's latest titles. Wonder Woman was probably the best of the bunch.

Personally I love the mix of manga and traditional animation. I think most japan-made animation leaves a lot to be desired in terms of writing and overall storytelling (what they do with characters like XMen, Batman, etc is pretty dismal), but the manga influence by way of its influence on comic book artists has made for some of the better renditions of traditional American characters. The more expressive and "bubbled" the animation, the more the squash-and-stretch principle can be applied which makes for a more dynamic animated subject. Probably the very best examples of manga influenced comic art comes from Joe Mad, whose run on the XMen is still some of the most striking comic book work ever done and for some people even takes a place above Jim Lee's most iconic images.

So anime to american animation (as you can see in the Riddick and Batman animated films that accompanied the live action features) still has a lot to prove, but animation based on comic books that have been influenced by manga (like Xmen Evolution, Spectacular Spiderman and in a round about way some of Pixar's stuff), is a w-i-n.

What I think we need is something like what we got from the Resident Evil: Degeneration or Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children films but written by american screenwriters. The CGI requires the artists to reign in their more silly instincts. Overall the Japanese just have a long way to go in terms of screenwriting and characterization. They didn't get the benefits of Shakespeare the way westerners did, so their writing style is still based in what we would consider the more rudementary Greek or Roman literature, which is fantastic in terms of theme, but is generally a servant to that theme instead of the western approach of being servant to story and character. I think 20 years from now we'll see anime and japanese cinema in general catch up to current as the blending of cultures continues (primarily because of their horror genre and anime). But remember that manga was created as an underground storytelling tool specifically to deal with the events of WWII as were all of the giant robot creations (Voltron, et al), so I'd think it's going to take considerable time for western influences to really adhere completely.

If dramatic anime can drop the obnoxiousness completely in their teen cinema, and if its written by a westerner or someone with a traditionally western storytelling education, I think the genre as a whole could start to be accepted by a wider audience. But the thing about underground is -- does it ever really want to stop being punk rock?

Avatar: The Last Airbender series, to me, says that the genre is on the right track by having a western produced and controlled show being realized not simply by japanese artists, but japanese visual storytellers. Avatar is best of breed in terms of "anime", but right now it pretty much stands alone as even most of Adult Swim's anime stuff isn't written by westerners.

 

[Gary Huff]

It could just be that our expectations and culture references are just different, which is why Japanese storylines don't resonate with American and European audiences.

 

[Brian_Rice]

It could just be that our expectations and culture references are just different, which is why Japanese storylines don't resonate with American and European audiences.

Yeah, I've had these discussions before. It's kind of a weird thing to really arrive at a definitive answer. But being someone who likes definitive answers, I think story being paramount (not theme) is the "right" way for a story to be told. If it wasn't, we would have stayed with the Greek and Roman tradition instead of leaving it behind post-Shakespearean. Obviously we found something more in the pages of Romeo and Juliet than we ever did with the romance of Orion and Aphrodite.

Japanese writing style still has yet to leave behind those ancient traditions of theme-first writing. Some of it is actually being exstinguished by the same disease westerners suffer from with is *visuals* over story, which isn't a step in the *right* direction, but at least it's a step away from the routine and mundane which comes with traditional ancient writing style.