Last Exile
21st August 2004, 09:12 AM
I was looking through old issues of Newtype, when I noticed interviews with Watanabe (directed Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo) and Kon (directed Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers and Paranoia Agent), and that they both made comments predicting an impending crisis for anime to come. And judging by 2004's products, I think they were right. Here's the comments.
Watanabe (June 2003) - In point of fact, the state of Japanese anime is not all that good. The artwork has become quite refined, but there are simply too many titles being produced. Most projects tend to adhere to too harsh of a schedule, to be understaffed and udner funded. I think that with overseas funding, these problems can be addressed, and that's a good thing.
(Hmm, I think that last sentence isn't surprising considering the East/West fusion he's currently doing with Samurai Champloo. He's got the right idea)
Kon (April 2004) - The world is filled with anime films that have nothing but high frame counts giving them smooth movement, yet they're completely devoid of interest. In a sense, the good ones are the ones that people will say are interesting even if they have terrible animation. Naturally, the art is important. It's not something you can neglect. Still, I want to ensure the work is interesting, even if you can't make the animation as good as you want. And that's what the script is for. No matter how hard you work, if the script is boring, you'll never be able to make something interesting.
(Later on in the same interview) - I like serious ituations that still make me laugh somehow. Things that will make one person burst into tears but make another roar with laughter. It's good when people ahve touble deciding how to react. It may be easier on the audience if they can share their experience with others, but the world is already overflowing with that kind of one-dimensional thinking. I think contradictions are interesting. Truly fascinating.
(Too true. No wonder Paranoia Agent is what it is. And the true message of Episode 10 of Paranoia Agent is clearly a big swipe at the entire animation industry in general that the industry deserves)
Personally, i think they're right. The solution - less quantity, more quality I say.
Watanabe (June 2003) - In point of fact, the state of Japanese anime is not all that good. The artwork has become quite refined, but there are simply too many titles being produced. Most projects tend to adhere to too harsh of a schedule, to be understaffed and udner funded. I think that with overseas funding, these problems can be addressed, and that's a good thing.
(Hmm, I think that last sentence isn't surprising considering the East/West fusion he's currently doing with Samurai Champloo. He's got the right idea)
Kon (April 2004) - The world is filled with anime films that have nothing but high frame counts giving them smooth movement, yet they're completely devoid of interest. In a sense, the good ones are the ones that people will say are interesting even if they have terrible animation. Naturally, the art is important. It's not something you can neglect. Still, I want to ensure the work is interesting, even if you can't make the animation as good as you want. And that's what the script is for. No matter how hard you work, if the script is boring, you'll never be able to make something interesting.
(Later on in the same interview) - I like serious ituations that still make me laugh somehow. Things that will make one person burst into tears but make another roar with laughter. It's good when people ahve touble deciding how to react. It may be easier on the audience if they can share their experience with others, but the world is already overflowing with that kind of one-dimensional thinking. I think contradictions are interesting. Truly fascinating.
(Too true. No wonder Paranoia Agent is what it is. And the true message of Episode 10 of Paranoia Agent is clearly a big swipe at the entire animation industry in general that the industry deserves)
Personally, i think they're right. The solution - less quantity, more quality I say.