ANIMATION DISCOURSE S2

[u/CryptographerLost825]

So it seems like since the last episode dropped, there’s been a lot of discourse around the animation for Season 2 overall. I’m going to try to give my most level-headed thoughts on this. As a passionate fan of the comic, after seeing how they adapted the fight on Thraxa, in my opinion the fight lacked and underdelivered on the sheer visceral gore and ferocity in the comic. This is one of the first few times I think that the show paled in comparison to the comic in terms of the scale, spectacle and amount of detail that was put into the comic. The issue is less about the blood and gore being shown in the episode, it’s more about the level of detail of the gore, battle damage and destruction. I think there’s nothing wrong in constructively levying criticism to a property I’ve immensely loved and only want to see thrive and constantly improve. In season 1 a lot of the focal moments like Guardians massacre, Machine head fight, Omni Man/Invincible showdown and by extension the Atom Eve special episode were massively improved and the elevated in grandiosity, scope and brutality, which is what I was expecting for the Thraxa fight but unfortunately its came off a bit weaker for me than the source material. Now overall I do think that S2 has stepped up the animation in terms of the character models, lighting and lack of CG models in the background, but it hasn’t made the animation really count where it matters most like in S1.

I think a lot of the fans that have concerns about how certain moments will be adapted in terms of the animation are valid. The comics only get crazier in blood, gore and spectacle from the Thraxa arc and if this animation we got for Thraxa is emblematic of how future moments will get translated, I think it’s alright to be mildly concerned. Now is it possible that they repurposed most of the budget towards the second half and namely the finale, where we’ll see the animation shine and pop off, sure. Until then I can only judge off of what we have so far. What do you guys think?

[u/[deleted]]

I'll assume you haven't watched much animation if you think that is top tier :p

It's not even about the technical aspect, it's about being creative about it. These guys can travel throughout planets within seconds, one punch of them can send the other flying and level several city blocks and yet their fight didn't convey that at all

https://preview.redd.it/tfgft6hqcr2c1.png?width=1879&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce8a08f542fbdea409e81a23e6cc41a8fcd53ad3

[u/Magical_wizard_ → u/[deleted]]

I’m no expert on animation but an extremely detailed background like the left image is not only extremely difficult to animate, but also would take away from the fights happening in the foreground by crowding the frame

[u/Icy-Dragonfruit-7169 → u/Magical_wizard_]

Anime pulls that crap off on the daily

[u/2-2Distracted → u/Icy-Dragonfruit-7169]

Ask studio MAPPA how that's going for them currently lol

[u/Intrepid-Second6936 → u/2-2Distracted]

You do realize that Japanese animation isn't just MAPPA right? That's literally the poster child of bad working conditions.

Kyoto Animation, Bones, among others are all just fine in their working conditions. They have their occasional crunch periods, but are more or less well driven studios that don't pursue the relentless crash and burn to reach the top mentality of MAPPA's CEO.