Re: Animu/Mango General
Posted: March 12th, 2015, 3:40 pmMay as well take this moment to recommend a few shows.
My first recommendation is for Log Horizon.
It has two seasons, both 2-cour.
It focuses much more on the the game mechanics and lore of it's MMORPG world than SAO does. The first season introduces to us and the players that are trapped in this world the basic rules of an expansion pack that seems to have trapped everyone that has ever touched the game. Rather than a plot centered around getting out like .hack and SAO, Log Horizon is centered around living and adapting to life in an MMORPG. Simply finding a way to get out looks to be just a subplot in the second season.
Dungeons, raids, NPCs, attack/skill timing, classes, guilds, item drops and crafting, player killing, guild/personal plots, bot accounts, alts, etc. All of these are focused on, usually in their own independent arcs.
The actual world turns more political than game-like about halfway through the season. There's plenty of character development and a wide cast to develop to boot.
The second season explores the changes that have been added with the expansion pack, town and NPC-Player relations, looks into what some characters went through in real life, and even turns philosophical about childhood and adulthood.
I expect that there will be a third season, and maybe a fourth if the LN has that much content.
The animation is no where near top-notch though.
My second recommendation is of Shirobako.
This show is one that I might be biased towards because it's about a field I would like to enter eventually. Through it we get a glimpse of what actually happens in the anime industry, much like Bakuman did with the manga industry.
Storyboarding, Key animation, in-betweeners, retakes, the hierarchy of animation, techniques and shortcuts, 3D vs 2D, background CG, character design, artistic portrayal, sound direction, voice acting, research, scripting...
It sheds light on the lifestyles that those who make anime have. It's not very high paying unless you're with a stable company. Deadlines are hard to meet. Relations are paramount. Misunderstandings can set things back completely. Some characters have internet infamy pinned on them because although it's a group effort, ultimately the blame usually goes towards one person in the credits. Characters worry about the direction the industry is headed. Sometimes characters have trouble achieving dreams and pursuing creative happiness for various reasons.
Bakuman had a romantic subplot and that worked well for that show, even if it made some parts slightly less believable.
Shirobako also has a subplot, being the dream of a high school animation club to eventually work on a professional one together, but it's barely present as it focuses much more on individual characters. It still needs a bit of suspension of belief, as the cast seems to recover from every setback thrown onto them (well, for the most part). Heck, the studio the story is revolved around works almost like your typical high school project group.
That said, I will never look at a list of staff the same way again.
Oh, it's animated primarily by P.A. Works by the way, do there's no lapse in quality. It's on it's 22nd episode.
My first recommendation is for Log Horizon.
It has two seasons, both 2-cour.
It focuses much more on the the game mechanics and lore of it's MMORPG world than SAO does. The first season introduces to us and the players that are trapped in this world the basic rules of an expansion pack that seems to have trapped everyone that has ever touched the game. Rather than a plot centered around getting out like .hack and SAO, Log Horizon is centered around living and adapting to life in an MMORPG. Simply finding a way to get out looks to be just a subplot in the second season.
Dungeons, raids, NPCs, attack/skill timing, classes, guilds, item drops and crafting, player killing, guild/personal plots, bot accounts, alts, etc. All of these are focused on, usually in their own independent arcs.
The actual world turns more political than game-like about halfway through the season. There's plenty of character development and a wide cast to develop to boot.
The second season explores the changes that have been added with the expansion pack, town and NPC-Player relations, looks into what some characters went through in real life, and even turns philosophical about childhood and adulthood.
I expect that there will be a third season, and maybe a fourth if the LN has that much content.
The animation is no where near top-notch though.
My second recommendation is of Shirobako.
This show is one that I might be biased towards because it's about a field I would like to enter eventually. Through it we get a glimpse of what actually happens in the anime industry, much like Bakuman did with the manga industry.
Storyboarding, Key animation, in-betweeners, retakes, the hierarchy of animation, techniques and shortcuts, 3D vs 2D, background CG, character design, artistic portrayal, sound direction, voice acting, research, scripting...
It sheds light on the lifestyles that those who make anime have. It's not very high paying unless you're with a stable company. Deadlines are hard to meet. Relations are paramount. Misunderstandings can set things back completely. Some characters have internet infamy pinned on them because although it's a group effort, ultimately the blame usually goes towards one person in the credits. Characters worry about the direction the industry is headed. Sometimes characters have trouble achieving dreams and pursuing creative happiness for various reasons.
Bakuman had a romantic subplot and that worked well for that show, even if it made some parts slightly less believable.
Shirobako also has a subplot, being the dream of a high school animation club to eventually work on a professional one together, but it's barely present as it focuses much more on individual characters. It still needs a bit of suspension of belief, as the cast seems to recover from every setback thrown onto them (well, for the most part). Heck, the studio the story is revolved around works almost like your typical high school project group.
That said, I will never look at a list of staff the same way again.
Oh, it's animated primarily by P.A. Works by the way, do there's no lapse in quality. It's on it's 22nd episode.
