Mar
26
Surely with a contentious post title like this I’ve grabbed everyone’s attention.
I had a chance recently to revisit Air. It’s an incredibly bizarre series, purely because of the way it divides audiences. Anime has always had its fair share of love-it-or-hate-it anime, the most famous is probably Evangelion, but there’s no question that Air is one such title, and the fact that almost all of its impact and appeal is emotional makes it difficult to talk about with any great amount of objectivity. But, I make no secret of it, I loved it. I am a self-confessed Key fanboy after all (although having no knowledge of the Japanese language puts me in an awkward position in that respect, since my inability to understand the games that have become, over the last few months, shunned by fan-translators, means my only exposure to their stories is through the anime adaptations), but there’s something about their stories and characters that really strike a chord with me. Add the fact that my current favourite animation studio, Kyoto Animation, have had their hands in two Key anime adaptations, and, well, it’s very easy to see why I’d be enthusiastic about the series that this marriage produces. But, I don’t want to give the impression that it’s the animation quality alone that attracts me to these series, even though I certainly do appreciate the polish that careful animation, elegant cinematography and meticulous directing can add to a story. And I do like to think I can talk about Key/Kyoto Animation series with some amount of objectivity… like I did in my most recent review.
But Saturday will see two years since Air finished it’s initial airing. I still remember being completely blown away by the animation… it was on a level I’d never before seen in a non-action anime and the only TV series I could think of at the time that had a quality of animation that competed with it were Bones‘ Scrapped Princess and Production I.G.’s Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Much water has gone under the bridge since then and in that time Kyoto Animation has established a reputation among the best in the business, and while it’s almost impossible to disagree that their most popular work, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, is the Kyoto Animation series with the best cinematography, I’m not sure I’d agree with those that argue it’s the one with the best animation. Obviously, it’s difficult to be objective while discussing animation. It’s easy enough to say “this series has good animation” or “this series is butt-ugly”, but making comparisons is very difficult since one can’t really give such comparisons a fair shake unless they watch series side-by-side, which is a rather awkward way to watch anime. Even then I wouldn’t say that’s a great way to compare animation, since animation will always fluctuate over the course of a given anime and there will be scenes that don’t demand much motion, while other scenes will demand grand, sweeping movements of the camera while a million things happen at once… such scenes obviously requiring animation to match. This is pretty much me making an “I may be wrong” disclaimer.
But, there’s no question that all of Kyoto Animation’s series are easy on the eyes, and their record to date is very impressive. As you’ve guessed, in my eyes, the title of best animated KyoAni series is between Suzumiya Haruhi and Air. Kanon falls slightly short on consistency… there are a few episodes that fall slightly short of their usually lofty standards, particularly during the Mai arc, and the cinematography isn’t as daring as it is in Suzumiya Haruhi or FMP:TSR (yes, yes, I know, I’m judging animation, not cinematography). FMP:TSR has great animation, cinematography and action choreography, but its visuals aren’t quite as eye-catching as the others, and it was occasionally (though rarely) sloppy, such as a few moments during the fight scene between Mao and Xia Yu Fan (or was it Xia Yu Lan…?) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya very rarely slipped, and the most impressive thing about its visuals (other than the cinematography which, as I alluded to earlier, I thought were absolutely terrific), was the way characters would move with energy that perfectly communicated their mood. It’s one thing to communicate this with facial expressions… it’s another to do it with the bouncy movements of the head as a character talks, the way a character turns around, or the way a character flicks their hair. They’re the little things which epitomize the attention to detail KyoAni takes with their work (which adds to the long list of reasons why I have so much admiration for them). But, yet, I still thought Air’s animation was better.
Air obviously had all the consistency of its eventual successors, but I have a significantly harder time spotting flaws in Air’s animation than I do in any of KyoAni’s other series (and they’re easy to remember in any of their series, since by the time you’ve finished watching, you can count them on your hand [/hyperbole].) I think, if Suzumiya Haruhi’s animation highlight is the way the characters move, Air’s animation highlight is the way nature moves the characters. The way the wind blows through the characters’ hair is easily the best example of that, but little things the way the mirage plays with the visuals, and the rendering of the sky are also very impressive (Air and Ouran High School Host Club arguably have the two bluest skies in anime). Overall, the whole thing really is a visual delight of a rare calibre.
I suppose there’ll be inevitably disagreement over what is a very subjective contention, but the fact that, even after all this time, Air still ranks among the most fluently animated series to grace the small screen is incredibly impressive, particularly given the progress made in animation in that time. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the Kyoto Animation’s upcoming Clannad anime. Here’s hoping it can overtake Air’s position in my eyes as KyoAni’s prettiest, most fluently animated series. I always love progress in anime, so I like to think that a title like this won’t be permanent.
Comments
4 Comments so far
Wow, I’m so totally late on this one.
Yeah, I wouldn’t say I fell into the “hate it” category; in fact, I loved the Air movie (despite it being from a different animation company, the artwork is only slightly modified). I got frustrated with it, but I wouldn’t call it a bad anime so to speak. However, there is no denying that the animation in Air is fantastic; in fact, I do really enjoy a good visual experience, and believe that it entails a good deal of the viewing experience. When judging an anime, aesthetic value amounts to little insofar as weighting goes. However, there’s no doubt that affects the degree to which I find watching the anime as a pleasurable experience.
I know production values fluctuate severely between anime, however I have to say that the general trend of animation is increasing dramatically. Watching Ghost Hunt really made me appreciate this - the camera shots and pans were above anything I’ve seen before (and that makes no sense unless you see it in person probably).
I actually thought Haruhi wasn’t that great in terms of animation for awhile, esp. when compared to Air. Then I saw it in HD (which is great and becoming a much larger fansub standard). Now I’m having trouble deciding which one is better. I do like Air better as an anime though.
Sorry to hijack your thread
Wait, you liked Air better than Haruhi, but you only gave Air an “Average” in your review. You mustn’t think highly of Haruhi then…
Sorry, for clarification: the Air movie*
Actually, the Air movie IMO was done better in terms of animation (even if only slightly so =/). But uh, I dunno what I would give Haruhi, maybe a 7, it could possibly scrape an 8. I dunno; I thought it was overrated in my opinion. but then again I thought similarly of FLCL (more drastically so, I would’ve given it a 4), which everyone seems to adore. It might just be me…
FLCL wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t OMGBBQ BEST THING EVA like many seem to claim. We are way off topic now… (oh well, at least I’m getting comments. I’m not sure I’d bother with this whole thing if I wasn’t).