Like a lot of people, I found the first episode of True Tears exceptional, but exceptional first episodes are a dime a dozen anymore, so I won’t proclaim my everlasting love for the show just yet. I’d really like to, though.
I will, however, say a little something about the animation. If you care to know how beautiful the show is, you’re best off watching the first episode for yourself, but I do at least want to make note of the background art. Or, to be more specific, the rich use of CG in the background art. Back when CG was the “next big thing,” I used to hate seeing it pop up in traditionally animated shows. It just looked so horrible and out of place much of the time, and even on those rare occasions when it was carefully integrated into the show, I found it unsightly.
Animation techniques continued to mature, of course, and with the advent of digitally animated shows, so did CG techniques. It’s only been in the past couple of years, however, that I’ve finally warmed to its use in the shows I watch. What happened? The studios figured out what they were doing, that’s what. Why now? I don’t know. Perhaps they just needed ten years to perfect their techniques or something.
And the CG work in True Tears is damn near perfect. It gives so much life to the background art. And it melds with the traditional animation so effectively that I no longer notice it’s CG once I get over my initial, “hey, this looks kinda different,” sensation.
Nicely played, P.A. Works.
then there’s gonzo with their 3D stairs. =)
Yeah, I suspect GONZO is the studio that single-handedly ruined CG for me for so many years.
“It just looked so horrible and out of place much of the time, and even on those rare occasions when it was carefully integrated into the show, I found it unsightly.”
lol, harlock saga
I didn’t notice the background much, but now that you say it, I guess it is true. Then again, I watch in on a streaming website due to certain issues, so the quality is much lower and that makes the good parts harder to notice.
Did anyone else notice the bit at 17.25? That adopted girl is sitting at the table and for a couple of seconds her clothes become see-through…and then revert to being solid again. WTF? Subliminal fanservice???
“Daft Punk: Discovery”. Just in case anyone wondered.
I had seen where someone had said something about that, Maelstrom, so I watched for it. Talk about extremely short and extremely subtle. The shot of her sitting there lingered for long enough, however, that I assume it was intentional. Weird.
Shinichiro was picturing her the way he saw her in the bathroom.
Obviously, but it still seemed a little out of character (for the show) given the general tone of the first episode. Then again, when he walks in on her in the bathroom, there’s a camera pan that’s obviously intended to provide a little fanservice, so who knows. Unexpected fanservice is pretty common in first episodes, I guess.
Quite good for a first episode. But it seems to have a solid story and I hope animation quality will stay the same. 13 episodes ? Maybe a little short, no ?
But as everyone says EPIC ANIMATION show is EPIC ANIMATION show.
Oh, and Mirai Nikki is fucking awesome by the way. Chapter 24 is brilliant.
““Daft Punk: Discovery”. Just in case anyone wondered.”
Why don’t you play the game?
I actually didn’t pay attention to the CG that was present, though people talk about how great the animation is besides that. I’ll have to watch the first episode again, as I was focusing on the characters and chickens more than anything else. :P
Ugh, Gonzo CG… I still don’t think they’ve learned their lesson. However, any process that makes it easier (and cheaper!) to produce good anime is alright by me.
While I agree about Gonzo CG in general (meaning a resounding: ugh.), Last Exile still holds a place in my heart as an anime that actually benefited from CG.
lots of first episodes with potential this season. you know what the means, more disasapointments. =/