Research 6 - Patema Inverted

While not really the same degree of fame and art as some of the previous anime movies I've written on, Patema Inverted has one of the most interesting and confusing concepts i have ever come across. Im still confused as to how it happened. Ok, let me try… So an event happens flipping earths gravity, i believe it was scientists messing with what they shouldn't, and this has caused people to fall into the sky. Based on how I'm not entirely sure as to the crutch of the story its essentially a romeo and juliet situation, boy and girls from different places with distrust towards the other side end up together.

So the really interesting thing about this anime is that there are so many scenes where there are people with different gravitational pulls. This can result in really confusing scenes as there will be upright people and upside down people talking in the same space. I was quite happy to have to respond by turning my iPad around in order to understand what i was looking at it was fun to be doing more to see this animation from another angle.

While i enjoyed flipping the iPad about like with the Garden of Words the story and characters weren't the selling point but this time it was the concept. a confusing and twisting concept with dizzying perspective which when you think about it actually installs fear into you when you think your going to fall into the sky.

Research 5 - The Garden of Words

Ive already blogged about this in my studio practice blog however want to go into a few more details. Its a short movie of only 40 minutes however this is not detrimental to it in the slightest. The story follows a young boy in his last year of middle school, with a dream to become a shoe maker and he believes he won't get any where by staying in his school so on rainy days he plays truant, going to the park to practice shoe making and design. There he meets a young woman in her mid twenties drinking beer and gorging on chocolate and from there the story develops. It is unclear if any romantic feelings come from the pair but the two do become close, with out actually realising that they already knew each other prior to their meeting. The story goes on to follow the troubles that the young woman faces and how the boy helps her over come this.

Now the important part the animat- SCENERY! The backgrounds and scenery are stunning in this animation. When i first watched it i had to do a double take on wether or not it was a live action film. No, its photo realism. The application of the animation is incredible it has beautiful fluidity and the pastel highlights and lines make it so much more appealing with a soft touch to the cold rain.

If i could get to a point where i could animate and draw back grounds to that standard id be a very proud animator. However i have no talent for photo realism so all i can do is work towards developing my own art and animation, unlike applying new and interesting concepts like Paprika the fantasticalness of this film lies in the extraordinary visuals in a very ordinary setting.

Research 4 - Paprika

Paprika is an anime movie made by Satoshi Kon (2010), know for his very unique movies such as Perfect Blue and Tokyo God Fathers. Paprika is focused around the concept of dreams, through the use of a  small invention dreams could be viewed and analysed by scientists however some of the dreams begin to overlap with reality causing people to appear to lose their minds. It follows Sachiko a psychiatric therapist/scientist (?) for the company creating the dream machine who uses an alter ego or sentient personality named Paprika to go into other dreams to help the best she can do.

The animation in the film is is clean and smooth but it then also goes into amazing detail with a massive amount of information and imagery being shown on screen. This is because of all the dreams overlapping and creating this massive parade which was like a visual dump of madness. Its a really intelligently planned film with its pacing and switching between multiple shots and scenes, especially in the dream sequences when it shifts between the fast paced action shots in one place to another.

Ive never considered conceptual ideas in my animations, I've always aimed for working to the brief or towards entertainment, this isn't to say Paprika isn't entertaining, far from it, its just that it takes on deeper meanings and considerations of subject matter and its genre.

Research 3 - Akira

Akira is one of the most famous anime movies and was what brought anime into the western public eye. The film follows the story of two young biker gang boys, Tetsuo and Kaneda, years after world war three, Neo-Tokyo has become a dystopian society full of rejects and hobos. After a bike chase Tetsuo gets mixed up with a strange child and is taken to a secret facility where it is found he has psychic abilities, the same if not stronger than the child who put him in the facility. the rest of the story covers Kaneda trying to save him and then go on to helplessly watch as he inflates into a monster due to his powers.

Akira was recommended to me by my tutor as an anime movie that i must watch in order to really appreciate anime. I'll agree that the animation is incredible, it is amazingly fluid and full of movement in comparison to animation of its time (i.e Dragon Ball). However i didn't find the story as entertaining as people made it out to be. This mostly came down to personal preference, i could tell its story was really impressive and thought out but for me it wasn't as exciting. I'd watch it again but not regularly or out of enjoyment for the film, more to enjoy the animation i suppose.

I suppose this is an example of how fame does not necessarily mean all round acclaim and popularity. While something can still be appreciated it can still be either scrutinised or not enjoyed based upon its content and the audience watching.

Research 2 - Anime Now!

It all started with the explosion that is Akira. That is when Japanese animation boomed onto the global market coming to a wide fan base for an actual specific and niche fan base.

While anime may seem to be incredibly popular with a very prominent fan base, anime wasn't made for the global market or big sell out cinemas, but to fill in the gaps on late night tv shows, even naruto struggles to get 5% viewership because anime is just that niche. Hayao miyazaki is really the only one, with studio Ghibli that has produced consistent blockbuster after blockbuster of anime movies. To this day Spirited Away remains japans biggest blockbuster hit, but with his 'retirement' (he just doesn't know how to stop) Ghibli films may start to fall down in the rankings of animated movies, even with the talent of producers such as Isao Takahata.

While it may not be the best thing since sliced bread it is constantly being produced because there is a desire for the content. Roughly 12-13 episodes for a series released and then the genre could be anything. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Magical Girl, Slice of Life, Drama, Romance, Thriller, Horror, comedy etc. Just take the hollywood film industry and animate it and you then have the anime industry, it never really fits to one demographic and as it spreads out its net to get more fans is it losing possible fans with inconsistency? (nah).

The idea of cliche could go alongside the idea of mainstream anime, big action sequences derived from popular manga series like Naruto, Bleach or One Piece. But its not only eastern anime that use cliches, western live action superhero movies, super hero saves damsel in distress from villain, maybe an internal struggle along the way to spice things up.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (PMMM) is an anime that started out as cutesy magical girl anime which quickly took a turn towards psychedelic monstrosity, combining Cabin in the Woods, Yellow Submarine and Faust gradually becoming more twisted as it descends to its finale. While its mild on the blood, the creator, Gen Urobuchi later wrote Psycho Pass, a drama police thriller where people blow up like fleshy bombs, a lot of blood and gore (season 2 i had to stop eating for fear i would throw up) i highly recommend psycho pass by the way). But back to PMMM, the witches took designs from Lotte Reigner as well as Svankmajer, a surrealist painter.

While PMMM is horror to an extent, the most popular mainstream action horror is Attack on titan, apparently, (AoT) due to an over bearing sense of the unknown of when the titans will attack and what exactly they are thinking, essentially giants+zombies=titans. But this anime elevated the manga and the art style further according to the original writer and artist for AoT, Hajime Iseyama. He says the art style of the anime is the definitive final version of his work. But besides this there are multiple other horror anime of recent years that have acceled the formula of generic, Parasyte, Tokyo Ghoul and recently, Ajin all have the aspect of a human becoming something they're not. Does this mean that horror is coming into mainstream anime? and does that mean the definition of mainstream has to take a much broader approach because if mainstream meant popular, then horror, an unconventional genre (in my opinion) is mainstream, but that doesn't sound right.

On a lighter note anime is also being used with advertising, in anime series. Tiger and Bunny an anime where superheroes are filmed saving lives while wearing logos and brands advertising companies such as Pepsi, Bandai etc. this has been used to a very entertaining aspect, while it does the money shot with the logo in the opening credits it focuses on the main duo, Tiger a veteran hero on his last legs and Barneby (bunny) a new hero with a new way of looking at the hero 'business'. More animes are using the idea of western style superheroes as a selling point. Samurai Flamenco with a kick ass flair and Gatchaman Crowds, with massive colours and references to 1970s source material and power rangers!

SteinsGate is a super hero anime with more of a subdued thriller aspect showcasing the first half a sitcom conspiracy drama switching to an action thriller of time travel drama putting the great doctor who to shame in only 24 episodes (personally).

Finally actual graphics and animation. Japanese animation in recent years has moved itself away from its perfectly drawn art style and more towards fluid and relaxed animation, less pain and more pleasure from creating anime.

Research 1 - Studio Ghibli The Films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata

This book was something i found and got over the summer but never really found the chance to read until recently. It covers the documentation of all the Studio Ghibli films up to 'when Marnie was there', revealing all about possible hidden meanings and how the stories made by studio ghibli, specifically Hayao Miyazakis, have strong meanings behind a balance with nature and how the world is changing because of modernisation and industrialism. While he shows symbolism with balance of nature in comparison he has such a fascination with flying that he has included flying motifs in some form  in all his films, in most cases this is flying machines spewing black billowing smoke, so he's creating films that show his respect for the environment through his love of flying and aviation which he almost presents in a bad light.

Their movies have more constant themes to them, head strong and inquisitive female leads and supporting characters, showing the world through the eyes of these children as they come to accept it while coming of age wether its set in the real world or a fantasy one.

I personally really enjoyed the book as it gave me a small insight into the works and minds of the directors at Studio Ghibli as well as showing the deeper meaning of there films that i would allow to fly over me or gloss across briefly with out taking into consideration.