Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san Z
Short Synopsis: Our lead character can summon demons
For the new series of Azazel-san, it really did help that its first episode focused on my favorite character of the series: Moloch. This guy is utterly hilarious, and this lead to a really funny first episode here. The thing with him is, that the creators have so many great ideas about him. And they used a ton of them in this first episode, turning him into this cute plushy pulling a really obvious ret-con of a certain event of the first season. This series also loves its over the top violence, and that too had some really nice moments. Where in Moromi-san, people were just beat up all the time, Azazel-san does this with care and timing. And creativity. And a mind that is completely lost in the gutter.
OP: One of the very few openings that are actually funny
ED: Quite quirky.
Potential: 85%
Namiuchigawa no Moromi-san
Short Synopsis: Our lead character fishes up a mermaid.
This year, Azazel-san is also airing alongside another 10-minute episode series. For the first season it was Hen Zemi. For the second, it is Moromi-san. For the first season it aired alongside a show that explored the borders of taste and that made it a contest to see how disgusting it could be. For the second season it aired next to…. a hyperactive mermaid. Here is the thing with this first episode: it tries way too hard to be funny, while it actually isn’t. Moromi-san just keeps yelling and yelling and yelling. She just keeps doing violent things, over and over. It stopped being funny to me after… one minute I think?
OP: Energetic at least.
Potential: 20%
Aku no Hana
Short Synopsis: Our lead character is an average high school boy.
There is one thing that I picked up from the reactions of Aku no Hana before I watched this: the character-designs were supposed to be really bad. So I was expecting them to be like full of bishoujo with brightly coloured hair, incredibly plain looking and where all characters looked like the creators just kept using the same character model but with only swapped-out hair and eyes. Not this! This is amazing! A show that has its own style, and every character looks significantly different. And also look at the animation: instead of relying way too much on key animation (like, one pose that moves slightly, then cutting to another pose that moves slightly), the characters here are nearly constantly moving in interesting and believable ways. The voice acting also is different: much more realistic than usual. This really is one of those shows that went the extra mile. One that thought: “what can we all add to make this stand out, and make it even better?” I also love the simple soundtrack: perfect for creating an atmosphere. The backgrounds are also really detailed and also very true to life. This first episode mostly spent its time showing the everyday life of the main character. Which, actually is pretty fine for character-building. And when it switched over to the main character daydreaming in his room for a short while, it really made an impact.
OP: Love the guitar solo
ED: Whoa! Hauting! Unique! Awesome!
Potential: 95%
I realize that this may be jumping the gun, but this was the first thing that entered my head as the credits roll:
“This may be one of the most important anime in a long time.”
Honest to god; not only is it experimental, but that experimentation has purpose. It captures the mood of the manga better than the manga itself. Every facet of the experience is designed to make the viewer uncomfortable, and it succeeds in the best way possible.
I could not be happier.
Rotoscoping, especially badly done rotoscoping, does not qualify as experimentation in my book. This isn’t some sort of unknown method that is bringing artistic innovation.
The show lands squarely in the uncanny valley and it’s made worse by how there are certain scenes where the characters don’t even have well drawn faces, let alone realistic ones, and at times they just freeze in place.
If they simply made this a live action drama, that would have been a wiser choice.
They are using a technique rarely used to this extent in the medium in order to achieve a certain purpose.
That is, without a doubt, experimentation. It really doesn’t matter if the technique itself is brand new.
And uncanny valley? How could anyone get uncanny valley from this? Those models and movements are nowhere near detailed enough to have a problem with that. A Scanner Darkly has a bigger problem with the uncanny valley than this episode.
You know, He Man was rotoscoped too. It´s cool, but not that great, or different from the same type of mystery/ horror anime that we get every season.
What I find funny is that the characters look like they are in their 30s when they are supposed to be highschool students.
“characters look like they are in their 30s”
yeah that kinda bother me too
Aku no Hana was fantastic. Those gorgeous backgrounds, that unsettling atmosphere, that use of poetry, that ED…
I couldn’t be happier either.
You are, quite literally, the only blogger I’ve seen to say good things about these designs. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
It’s not the design/art I have problems with, but the source material.
Art-wise, I’ve seen better, and I’ve seem worse. The characters might seem ugly to most moe-harem or KyoAni-slice-of-nothing fans, but it’s intentional. It also portrays Japanese people and their facial features more accurately than any other (yes, Jap dudes, even the pretty ones, look like fish … don’t kid yourselves, ladies). Frame composition was excellent – looks like their director of photography has actual experience looking through a viewfinder.
The fluidity, on the other hand, was way too amateurish. Might have been cool a decade or so ago, but nowadays every other independent or youtube ‘arthouse’ production employs it. It’s not attractive in the least, though I suspect that’s semi-intentional.
Now, on to the source material, the manga specifically, which I despise. It’s a shallow story at best, there’s hardly anything ‘psychological’ about it (contrary to the tags on manga databases), and in general, it’s been done way too often in the seinen demographic. I suppose it’s meant to appeal to herbivorous or masochistic Japanese college students, I dunno. I suppose that’s why the director has taken liberties. I, for one, hope he alters the story beyond recognition, since that (imho) would be an actual improvement over the manga. If he sticks to the source, the most he’ll achive is lipstick on a pig, regardless of his pedigree.
If you enjoy this sort of self-depreciating story, more power to ya. I’d rather watch the news if I wanted to feel bad for people.
My wait for some credible studio/director to animate Inio Asano’s Oysumi PunPun continues….
I haven’t watched or read Aku no Hana yet, so I can’t reply to the rest of your comment, but please never use the word “Jap” when referring to a Japanese person ever again. And especially in your “look like fishes” context, or even in general.
It was a derogatory and insulting term used during World War II; it hasn’t lost its connotation since. So please, refrain from saying that word. Thank you.
in short, you’re saying it’s pretentious. for me, gave me something to think about for a while, and i found it quite psychological in a sense, and it’s understandable why others can’t see it as psychological. then again, considering this got animated, it probably means that there’s a higher possibility of punpun getting animated… though parobably only after two more years.
“it’s been done way too often in the seinen demographic” good, list me some things, I’m running out of things to read.
As an Asian lady, I would object to the statement that Japanese dudes look like fish and thus ugly by international standards. Maybe to YOU, but to someone who’s grown up around Asian facial structures or got familiarized with them via other methods, the average ones look average (like every average dude everywhere ever), and the cute ones do look quite hot, thank you.
Believe it or not, there are plenty of Asian girls who prefers Asian looks to Caucasian ones! We’re not delusional, pfft.
Lol, the characters look like ass
I also enjoyed! Glad I’m not alone….
“And also look at the animation: instead of relying way too much on key animation (like, one pose that moves slightly, then cutting to another pose that moves slightly), the characters here are nearly constantly moving in interesting and believable ways.”
Maybe that has something to do with the “animation” being rotoscopy?
I DO like the character designs being realistic (Even the characters having no shadowing is a valid art choice) but I also have a completely negative, totally personal, opinion about rotoscopy, specially when the show/movie is completely done with this “technique”.
“So I was expecting them to be like full of bishoujo with brightly coloured hair, incredibly plain looking and where all characters looked like the creators just kept using the same character model but with only swapped-out hair and eyes.”
you’re kidding right? Oddly, i’ve barely see people bitch about that. In this case it’s more of the aspect that it didn’t match the original’s artstyle, and now the dreams of hundreds of masochists are being crushed slowly. And realistically, I feel that people are more likely to start throwing shit when designs are realistic and experimental verses generic and idealistic. I mean, if you were to present kaiba and some generic haremshit to a random person, which do they think would have a better artstyle? people submit to pandering alot more than you think man.
With rotoscoping, the facial designs are weaker and animation is choppy. It makes the characters look like shit, which means it’s accomplishing what it’s originally intending to do. Especially with that robotic feeling.
Also focus on the minor dialogue, the gossiping of the girls as they mock others, the fatass who can’t appreciate literature, the teacher who praises the hard worker and criticizes the lazy one. Then you begin to realize it’s all pretty shitty.
>if you were to present kaiba and some generic haremshit to a random person, which do they think would have a better artstyle?
Kaiba.
Oh, you mean random anime fan?
And I believe (without having read the manga) that the robotic feel was intentional.
yep i’m regarding a vast majority of “fans”
if the art is generic, it usually isn’t something to get pissed about. more because “it’s been like this for so long we’re used to it”
more “fans” are likely to regard the character designs as bad when the designs aren’t “animey” enough, but thats from casuals. The other time i see shit being thrown is when the designs don’t match to the original.
and the robotic feel is probably intentional as you said. Having read the manga, it somewhat suits the situation. Doing a live action would not put enough emphasis to the minor events of society, while an anime would be nothing more than an exact copy of the manga.
Kaiba’s too safe. Give me Kemonozume!!
Thank you for being one of the few people to look past the unusual animation, and actually like it, to focus on all the other things this ep pulled off so well. Also best ED of the year so far.
I agree. I loved it the animation and character designs and backgrounds. The voice work was great and realistic, and the music really did set a nice, creepy atmosphere and tone. As someone who is currently living in Japan, the realistic nature of everything really takes up the creep factor of the series for me.
The only real negative thing I could say is that it felt like it got a little draggy in the middle, but the ending made me want more! Hating Aku no Hana is the popular opinion to have, but I’m perfectly fine sticking to my unpopular one. I really liked what I watched and saw. It was a nice breath of fresh air.
me on IRC, yesterday:
what % will psgels give to aku no hana?
imho it will be 90-100
and he’ll write something like “the animation style is interesting and innovative, it’s really different from usual anime”
F’N NAILED IT
stay predictable psgels
Oh no, you figured out someone’s tastes.
Guess they’re forever invalidated now.
Because that’s how that works.
lol u mad bro ?
Problem?
i know it was intentional or what not but this is sure as hell not gonna sell BD’s 😐
This, exactly
psgels is predictable beyond possible. Any anime that isn’t a harem gets a pass with him, I noticed, even when it’s not exactly good. It’s like having a “different” artstyle or story makes it automatically good in his eyes.
Like a teenager who wants to have different taste than other people just for the sake of being “different”
Stay frosty psgels
Maybe because harems are 95% bad.
Stay mad, Mir
Of course, but that doesn’t mean anythig that isn’t harem is good
Reading comprehension, etc
Heh
Ah yes, Mir. I completely agree. Of course, that means we have to categorise Robotics;Notes and Magi as harem shows, of course.
The thing with Harem shows is that I can literally only come up with one example of a harem-ish show that is legitimately good. (The world God only knows). Outside of that they’re basically all crap made to empty Otaku pockets.
This is funny. He’s predictable, after writing hundreds of anime reviews many of which include every episode review. Ya, you know what that predictability is called?
Wait for it.
Taste.
Why is being “predictable” bad in this context? He’s blogging about whether or not he likes a show, not writing a novel.
Meh. Predicting what Psgels with say about a show like this is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Yeah probably gonna be the best anime this season… quality 1st episode, loving the realistic character designs and voice acting, and the “dull” color palette
Not a big fan of this kind of animation though, its a bit too jerky, but it doesnt bother me either
No idea what its about though
If you think those designs are realistic, then I don’t know how you view the world. Don’t get me started on the movements. People don’t jerk around like that.
I agree that people don’t jerk around like that. But I think watching the art and the animation when it’s not very jerky (probably a consequences of having a low TV series budget) feels more realistic than watching the normal style.
Rotoscope art means people DO jerk around like that.
I noticed these sort of movements in jdrama too.
What are you talking about? The characters are incredibly realistic looking in terms of anime, and clearly modeled after real people
Of course its done in a minimalist style, but thats even more impressive, and if you were any kind of artist youd know why
There are tons of cartoony anime styles out there so hating on something that does it differently is just wow
It is more realistic, if you consider what they’re animating. It might not be as fluid (ie, have as much in-betweening) as other anime, but that’s not quite the same argument.
Compare the way characters generally animate in a “well-produced” series, and you’ll see the difference. It’s idealized, possibly to a fault, so when you actually see animation trying to mimic human movement, it seems weird.
I’d bet that it would look horrible if they tried to use typical anime character models and line-art with this kind of rotoscoping technique. They aren’t really designed to animate the same way.
It might not be what we’re used to, but it’s not less realistic.
I’m sure that Aku no Hana will be one of the best shows this season, read the manga up to chapter 43, and it is full of mindfuck and disturbing scenes. But maybe they will censored certain things. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it is a really dark series
prefer it when rotoscoping is handled in a more sparingly manner, like when masaaki yuasa uses it in spots.
This adaptation is going to face some harsh outrage from fans of the manga. I feel just about the only people who will find anything positive to say about this show will be those not familiar with the source material. The comparison images bouncing around 2ch/4ch/mal really show just how upset the fans are, and only time will tell if this direction will work for the show or send it spiraling into the abyss. I was not a fan of the manga, but this episode was by far the worst of the season for me. I do hope for those of you who liked it, it stays enjoyable.
I didn’t read the manga and I still think the characters and backgrounds look awful.
It’s trendy to throw paint splotches on a canvas and call it ‘art’. It’s the same faggotry we’re seeing here. OH ITS SO INNOVATIVE!!!! No, it just looks like ass. Consolation in the fact no one is gonna buy it since 2ch is in an uproar.
The thing with turning paint splotches into art is that… sometimes, it’s art. I study it in school and we actually analyze this stuff. I know it sounds funny, but these artists keep splotching paint until the forces of nature suddenly align in a way that the paint forms a good composition. Then, it can be recognized as “good art” from the art community, because the artist who made it and chose which one worked is passionate and well-researched enough to know what is “good.” Those who just think, “I can do that in two seconds. See? Here. Where’s my prize?” are simply fooling themselves into thinking it’s easy because the concept is simple and doesn’t take much effort, when what’s most important is how it’s used.
When it comes to rotoscoping, you have to know how and why you’re using it for it to make that impact. As the audience, if you focus too much on the fact that it looks too simple and cheap, it may very well turn you off. For those who aren’t used to rotoscoping, like psgels–they’re usually more likely to realize what it’s doing to the series itself. It’s a matter of personal preference and perspective. Add in the fact that it looks drastically different from the original and you get an actual “innovative” idea (as opposed to simply calling it safe for the sake of the fans). Now it just needs to be utilized properly and it might turn into a gem.
Before I can actually judge myself, though, I need to watch the episode. I’m just pointing out why your comment sounded off to me.
I wish they hadn’t tried to have such a different art style. It’s so striking that it draws attention away from the story and characters, which should be the focus. It’s also really ugly. I don’t doubt that the story and characters are going to be good but I can’t stand the art style, and I’m usually much less picky than other people when it comes to bad animation/CGI usage/low framerates.
Haha holy shit, you’re delusional psgels.
That voice action. It actually reminds me of people talking to each other. Like, you know, real people. I loved it!
There’s this thing called art, it’s purpose is to make emotions flow from the observer, and we could say that animation falls in that category.
The Aku no Hana anime version has remembered that, and goes the extra mile with that.
Those who read the manga should remember that this is a story of angst, desappointment, rage, very deep sh*t.
This choice of style, background music and focus on such trivial things as girls talking near Kasuga actually elevates the basic idea and the experience of how he feels and the story.
I think they nailed it, they have all of us talking about the series as you see.
This series has balls.
Unfortunately all the impact will be lost, because the characters look like adults, playing kids. Evangelion, Akira, and Narutaru were unsettling because the characters actually looked like kids doing horrible things.
If anything the creators of this show pussied out, by not having real teenagers, do the acting and voice over.
Even though I found the art a little ugly, and there was a lot of useless time (like in the beginning), I really liked how the people looked like actual people; I felt like if you used one of those camera apps that turned photos into cartoons, this nailed it… and the voices sound like actual people talking to each other.
Hipster spotted! I bet you watch anime because everyone find it bad or inappropriate…
I was waiting for your response – good to see you liked it, I thought it was pretty great too. I get the feeling if it weren’t for this blog, which has been so integral in introducing me to experimental things in anime, I wouldn’t have found this show as interesting.
But yeah, it’s been amazing seeing all the responses to it, good or bad. All part of the plan, as far as the author is aware.
Aku no Hana is technically interesting, but… really too ugly.
I think I might’ve already said my spiel on the how I feel about potential of anime on this site, but Aku no Hana kinda solidifies my point of view.
When moving from medium to medium, a ‘creative director’ has to sacrifice control. When reading a book, ‘vision’ is left to the audience’s imagination. When watching a movie, places and objects are detailed, but characters and character interactions are left to actors to interpret. And in anime, everything is controlled except for the voice. To say the least, anime has the potential to most accurately portray the ‘original direction’ of a work. With that said, I don’t think I can call Aku no Hana an anime…
I appreciate rotoscope for what it is. It makes very realistic actions. But because the whole show is done this way, Aku no Hana is really no different than a live action drama with a filter on. You can see these real actors moving stiffly, and it’s not planned. It wasn’t calculated. There’s no control. It’s more ‘filmed’ than it is ‘animated’. And that to me isn’t a problem. But looking at it from a ‘tv drama’ perspective, you can see there are some questionable decisions like, for a show about kids these don’t look like kids. And some shots are really unflattering for these actors.
This thing plays like an independent film. The atmosphere leaves me with a strange impression. Depending on the plot, which I can’t imagine has much positivity in it, this could be a treat, or something sort of meaningful. Maybe. The art is tolerable, but I’ve seen this kind of thing before.
This could really turn out to be a suckfest though. However, the birth of that flower at the end…
Now THAT was promising. The literature was not impressive until that moment.
What literature, is this a novel?
Wait, because you’re reading the subtitles?
Or you’re talking about the ‘writing’?
Right, you need practice.
You realize he kept quoting lines from the books he was reading?
You realize the “evil” flower book thing intertwines with the actual title of the anime and what not!?
Really?
Really!?
Still misused!
Dude. The birth of the flower at the end had directly to do with his bad decision to steal those gym clothes. The first episode had the main character mostly reading and day dreaming, he went back to get the book, his friend even misread the word as “evil”. Foreshadowing blah blah balh. This is all so jarringly obvious to say that “literature” has nothing to do with this show is insane.
What you’re misusing is the application of “literature.” It’s not that literature has whatever to do with the show, you’re calling the show itself literature – you aren’t judging the material that the character is reading, whatever, right? In Z Tempest you wouldn’t comment and say that Shakespeare is impressive, would you?
Honestly you just sound so f’in try-hard sometimes it’s hard not to comment.
Well in this show he just kept going on and and on about his books and I wasn’t impressed by the impact or what it was trying to do in the plot/show. I was literally referring the literature he was reading dude. But at the end I saw the place it all had in the plot and thought “hey not, bad, kinda cool actually” In tempest I just wanted to solve the mystery. The easiest way to do so was to look examine to look at the writing. Also I hate shakespear.
So uh, no, you’re totally wrong. I was literally talking about his books and lines he was reading from them. I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t see the value. Not until the end. That’s all I was saying. And god damn I hate how different the art is from the source material.
I’m gonna agree with psgels. The character design works fine and the rotoscoping I got used to, it just an acquired taste because it’s so different than the normal anime. It’s experimental and it’s great, even the uncanny valley helps create a disturbing tone in the work. Also one of the best EDs I’ve seen in a while.
Psgels, forget the haters. You have a great eye for good anime and style. People who think this anime is ugly just are brainwashed by the typical flashy anime and should watch more stuff like Kemonozume or Mind Game. The whole animation actually reminds me a lot of Mind Game’s ‘realistic’ sequences. Can’t wait for more summaries of this one.
It’s generally known that psgels doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about half the time. This is one of those times. And please don’t compare this shit to Kemonozume or Mind Game; they’re both incomparable to Aku no Hana.
Please stop. Shout “hipster” all you guys want, but psgel’s not the one resorting to personal attacks all the time when he likes something other people don’t. He does sometimes go off on a tangent when he doesn’t understand the appeal of something, but does he say the people watching it don’t know anything half the time?
Or maybe he’s being pretentious somehow? Perhaps you’d like to explain for us in tech terms what made Kaiba and Kemonozume so much better, so psgels can improve his use of language to satisfy you next time? I mean, if it wasn’t for psgels I would never have even known about Kemonozume and quite a few other anime, so I really fail to see the harm?
Is it because Aku no Hana bit off more than you think it could chew, and you want to prove to the world that it’s bad, through negative posts on blog posts? What’s the point?
Ah, well, he’s writing a public review of something, so in some ways he is attacking the opinion of another if his writing is particularly spiteful. Though he isn’t saying “if you like this, you have bad taste,” he is implying that his opinion is worth the public view. These “tangent[s]” you speak of are sometimes so, so, so bad. Honestly what he said about the one Hunter x Hunter episode that he didn’t like was much more offending than anything I’ve read on this comment board: Maybe less than “It’s generally known psgels doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about half the time,” but that was also pretty funny.
I don’t understand your first argument at all? It doesn’t follow that someone posting that they like something is demeaning people who don’t like it. If that’s what you meant then I’m curious why you’d jump to this conclusion, unless you’re looking to be offended? (not accusing you, it’s just an odd way to look at things).
I agree that he went off a bit on Hunter x Hunter (as did many of us), and that he’s also “attacked” (though not really) people for liking things he doesn’t like from time to time. Feel free to call him out on that. That’s fine, and there’s potential there for both parties to improve themselves.
But he’s only human, and this is just his hobby. Let’s not lose sight of that. He’s not a journalist, and he’s not a paid reviewer. If you’re going to hold him to higher standards, then it’s unfair to hold the others on this page to lower standards, just because he pissed you off about Hunter x Hunter once, so there!
If you find it amusing that he “doesn’t know what he’s talking about half the time” then there are dozens of other aniblogs for you to chuckle at, who attack people far more spitefully and often over differences of taste. It’s no excuse to single psgels out, just because he’s the easy target for having a less-than-mainstream viewpoint.
I know this is the Internet and people will be jerks and twits, but is defending them for it really the way to go here?
OooO i cant just w8 till “THAT” moment in the anime and how this particular style is gonna ruin it 😀 or they will just censor it out 😛 since its rotoscoped meaning actual people will have to do that lawls
which moment? there were many notably freaky moments in the manga. give me a volume or a page or something, but dont spoil it for others
hmm i don’t have the time go through it right now but iam talking about the classroom trouble with nakamura if u know what i mean, also the famous scene in the rain in the mountains + camp out moments and nakamura’s special “you are fucked” stares i cant imagine this technique even covering 30% of what the manga conveyed 😀 but meh guess some people will like it
ah the stares might be not as effective, the first stare was decent at most. the classroom might be decent considering the background art was really good. As for the camp it can go either ways.
This wasn’t bad at all, and it’s frankly embarrassing to read how scared people are of a different art style. It’s the same reaction you read to video games not having the best 3D graphics tech, and to hell with the other aspects of the game.
I feel ya man. Big budget games have become really pretentious in that sense.
This just further proves how people are so afraid and hateful towards different unfamiliar things.
Just like the Shin Sekai Yori Homosexual ep; which caused an uproar people saying “fuck this instadropped” etc and it turns out to be one of the best shows in ages by miles at the end.
No fucking way this show deserves the lowest ranked on MAL. Even if you people truly hate the art, the other categories are not bad, voting 1/10 for your opinion on different art from manga alone and ignoring the directing, sound etc is fucking ridiculous.
Yori was kinda dry and dull to me, but I get your point. I did drop it but it wasn’t bad or anything.
At the same time just because it’s different doesn’t mean it is good. I think Hana is off to a good start though; just depends on where they go with it.
Did you just compare the butchering of a manga to homosexuality? haha oh wow.
62 comments.
Just wow.
I understand that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but blasting psgels just because he likes it is beyond immature. It’s this kind of behavior that makes me embarrassed to be an anime fan sometimes.
Yeah, the controversy surrounding this show is literally “stop liking what I don’t like”. That’s it, alongside long essays complaining about rotoscoping.
I wish there was more depth to the debate than that, but there isn’t.
Everyone is free to their own opinions and interests, I won’t blast psgels or anyone else for enjoying this show.
However, to the people who actually understand the rotoscope process and how good animators blend it into traditional animation this is just an insult. Essentially this is a live action show drawn over to the point where it looks like a bad Sony Vegas filter I used one time. It’s being trumpeted as some innovation or experimentation worthy of historical remembrance but the reality is it’s lazy. Bad rotoscoping sticks out like a sore thumb just like bad CGI. If a 100% bad CGI movie were to be released tomorrow would we praise it as some godsend to the industry?
Even with all the criticism CGI gets it takes a lot more creative collaboration, creativity and artistry than this show. The best example I can think of is that people who are ignorant are easily impressed because they only care about the end product. In this case it’s fluid and fairly realistic therefore good. This is comparable to how people on DeviantArt praise tracers or underpainters not knowing the level of effort was minimal in comparison to harder working artists. These lazy artists then proceed to get fame, popularity and huge fanbases for taking huge amounts of shortcuts while hard working artists are ignored. It’s enraging when laziness is praised and that probably explains some of the hate in the comments here.
Sometimes the end product isn’t the only thing that matters especially when it means a loss of artistry and traditions worth keeping around.
I love how the fans of this show are insulting the haters as “afraid,” “scared,” etc. It’s nothing like that at all. The reason why many people hate the show is simple: the artstyle is UGLY, as well as deviant from the original manga. The show can be the absolutely faithful in terms of plot, themes, and atmosphere, but all that would mean is that one can read the manga and get the plot, themes, and atmosphere without the eyecancer.
I like how your saying this because I read the manga after the haters started to cry then I saw the art of the manga and it was fucking typical shit I could see from typing “old anime” in Google the art is good your just a normal person who want everything to look dumb and generic as every other show
Please make up your mind. There is like separate hater factions that can’t agree with what they hate denying each other. Many like you say its because the characters look nothing like the manga and some say if there wasn’t a manga to compare with it is ok. Then the majority say that’s not the it, it is rather the rotoscope is absolute shit.
Then some others say its because the main nakumura girl looks like a whale and the girls look fat and unnattractive. Then based on this, which points us fans to believe your hating on the girls not being cute like the manga. Then you deny that statement when the criticism points us to believe this. Stop making excuses after excuses while denying each other; when its simply your criticism that points us to assume you hate it for that reason.
This reminds me of the Itazura na Kiss live actions, when some people hate the Taiwanese version because the actress looks unnattractive (which is perfectly fitting for her role as a derpy dumb girl).
Suddenly the korean version comes out, they use a supermodel as the derpy girl and it gets so much praise; regardless of the acting for both.
Also, fucking 4ch or whoever editing the face of Nakumura to look like a moe girl and glorifying it as what it should have been. This is the evidence that points us to believe some people are hating for the lack of cute/moe character designs; even if they don’t realise or admit it.
Give me an objective reason to disprove this fact and tell me your own OBJECTIVE opinion then! Stop fooling around.
Also, why follow exactly like the flipping manga, if you want to look like the manga that bad read the flipping manga. This is actually what the director and mangaka said aswell. They are two different mediums, which two different ideas in mind.
I’m not disagreeing but as some people tell, is very hard to tell where the art and animation is intentionally ugly or being lackluster. The main one for me was the girl in the background with her mouth open, it was eyebrow-raisin to say the least. But I also liked how the style capture subtle movements.
It’s just as simple, then, why other people like it: they don’t consider it eye cancer, and aren’t as hung up about different art styles or changes from the manga’s artstyle.
Besides, if SAO’s story could be told in such a strange way compared to the light novels and still be well-received, then why all the hate for an artstyle shift?
But I don’t read manga. And I prefer anime over manga anyway. What’s the point?
just so you know they creator of the show the mangaka said he thought the animation was fine he know about the rotoscopy and stuff I would post the link but I lost it exiting my browser and coping something else sorry.
First of all, using the same name as me marks you as a troll. And you know what, not having the same design as the manga is less relevant than being UGLY, in case you haven’t gotten my meaning. The manga’s art is not considered particularly good (if you think it’s typical, you have low standards), but at least it is not hideous and flat. Unlike what morons like you seem to think, it is perfectly possible to go for a “realistic” style that’s not atrocious.
HOLY SHIT.
I just saw some pages from the manga.
WHAT THE FUCK.
The animation is a piece of shit. Follow the source material. Unforgivable. I like the art style of the manga. Wow. That’s just insulting.
I’m somewhat familiar with rotoscopy after having watched a few independent animation films here and there over the years, though I went into this not knowing much about the original story. I’d like to see a few more anime shows like this stand apart from the original manga sources in terms of both animation and maybe even a few story elements here and there. While I appreciate the desire to faithfully recreate certain manga in anime form, I miss the days where anime was it’s own unique animal separate from the manga.
It’s refreshing to see them utilize a tried and true technique that will allow viewers to experience the manga in a new way. Sure it isn’t anything new. So what? I was totally engrossed in the story and I think it was awesome that they chose not to stick so closely to the original designs.
let me join in the crowd. The character design in the anime is just FUGLY.
Having following psgels’ blog for around 4 years, this is one of the things that I dislike the most; when you see an anime get unusual character design, it got over 90% appeal.
Even Sancom who rarely makes fun of experimental type anime give a post regarding this :
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2013/04/07/aku-no-hana-a-crime-against-manga/
wasnt that site the one who make fun of birdy and the infamous naruto episode
>rarely makes fun of experimental type anime
what a joke
– sankaku complex
– tabloid bullshit that really takes nothing seriously
– not making fun of almost everything
The thing is, it wasn’t good just because it used roto. Look at how beautifully the backgrounds were painted! Or the use of sound to create tension and atmosphere. Also the slower pace and malevolent foreshadowing.
The sound effects and the eerie music combined with roto made it not only feel surreal but much more intense than it would have been otherwise.
Animation in this case enhances the story itself, not the character designs.
For me, Anime is about the story, pacing and characters not just the character designs. I don’t consider shows like ‘The Boondocks’ or ‘The Last Airbender’ to be anime, just because they resemble anime superficially. Honestly, I’m kind of shocked by how important this is to people.
keep watching then lets c if it isn’t dropped by episode 3 by most people 😛
This show is on my top four list to watch actually. I’ve also heard similar comments about shows like One Piece where people refuse to watch it because they hate the art style. I’m still baffled by this kind of attitude, but I’m guessing we have a similar situation with Aku no Hana?
Also if people are used to a certain style it can be jarring for them to suddenly watch something that looks a lot different. It also helps that I wasn’t a fan of the manga in the first place so this will be my first experience with this storyline.
No offense, but this one episode alone got me super hyped for the more! If the story is strong then it should hold up in the long run, I think. Animation isn’t enough to turn me off for some reason.
Wow that was weird. Couldn’t pin who the main character was for a while with all the mid length and long shots refusing to distinguish who he was. The character designs are ugly but also sadly really quite realistic. Great atmosphere and really liked the rotoscoping, all the movement is eye catching.
that is weird as I had no trouble at all distinguishing who the main character was.
This looks Amazing! Why is everyone bashing psgels for liking this? Doesn’t it make sense to be excited for something that tries something different instead of retreading the same 30 year old character designs? Either way I’m excited.
The manga’s art was butt ugly too. People are whining that it lost the moe female designs and now the characters look like real girls (yes some girls are husky, oh no!) This otaku culture of immaturity and hate is seriously disgusting. The manga was a darling among the otaku community since most of them could relate to the sad existence of the main characters even though the manga was sending a message to “stop being an emo brat.”
Also the crude rotoscoping adds to the unsettling feel of the anime. The manga did a decent job of that through the writing, but the art never matched the mood. Now I honestly feel that the setting in this series is dark and creepy.
You people just don’t get it do you?
1. Lets say they actually hired a black actor for that dumb 4th spiderman movie. It had nothing to do with race, Spiderman is fucking white. Fans have followed spider man for decades, and while not as extreme, fans of the manga expect faithful adaptions. Such else, while not always, can be a disappointment or slap in the face.
2. As far as I can tell she wasn’t husky in the manga. She also appears taller. Changing style is one thing, but her new look completely changes her personality, or so I assume.
3. It might have made more sense to do a live action rotoscoping adaption.
4. Now this is just a guess, but I almost feel like the manga had some positivity in it. This adaption feels nothing but dark. Almost depressing.
5. Honestly, if the characters faces were actually visible 90% of the time, my complaints would be pretty low, but as it is the details on characters is utterly out of pace with the backgrounds. Also, the lips move, and words come out 10 seconds later. There is no excuse for that.
Which leads me to number
6. Intentional bullshit, that everyone will eat up as “fantastic work of art”. Like taking candy from a baby. Perhaps not true, but still somehow insulting.
1. but spiderman is black
2. we haven’t seen whether personality changes
3. director originally thought that a live action was better, a direct adaptation would be pointless because you could just read the manga. (can’t disagree with him here, the reason i didn’t watch magi was because i was expecting the exact same thing) why he went with rotoscopy, i have no idea
4. manga is negative as hell, the author is an asshole and has a negative outlook on society. if you were being bribed by a sadistic chick, its not supposed to be cute. now that i think about it almost everything was negative, where was the positive?
5. runs with the theme, lack of detail shows how society has fallen into a robotic cycle with no identity.
6. not a fantastic work of art, but not complete shit either, only time will tell whether this style will work in bringing out the intentions of the author.
1. No he isn’t. 2. I realized the error in wording after I wrote it, what I meant was “look” and through her new look her personality may seem/feel slightly different. 3. I’ve read manga before and wished to see it in animated form instead so I don’t agree with the director. Live action would have been better. 4. Well if there was not anymore… probably. 5 (insert clever retort here) 6. Hm… author an asshole… director questionable… and I’m not supposed to smell bullshit? We’re being spoonfed and insulted… why the fuck wasn’t the audio correct. That’s the biggest red flag of all.
only time will tell…
oh and enjoy your black spiderman~!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man_(Miles_Morales)
Human being have some serious xenophobic race isssues. Obama isn’t black, he isn’t white either. He’s black and white. Hes 50/50. Making santa black, making a superhero black… oh lord. Just make up a new superhero and make him black. ANd seriously, what about the asains, hispanics, mutts like me, and everyone else? Human beings are so fucking retarded I swear.
1. SEO told its story in completely “the wrong” way compared to the light novels, but people still ate it up.
2. Changes in appearance aren’t the same thing as changes in personality. That’s like saying that Holo was completely different from the light novels because she looked a little older and wasn’t drawn in the same style.
3. What’s the difference, really?
4. This might be a valid point, we wouldn’t know yet.
5. That’s not such a major thing to other people, it’s all a matter of how sensitive you are to that kind of thing. Casshern Sins had this weird thing where character’s mouth were left open sometimes at the end of a sentence, I didn’t care.
6. It’s just as easy to say as “HanaIro was mimicking KyoAni’s art style, what a total cop-out just for people who like ‘moe’ shows!” It’s a non-argument, just another way of suggesting that people who don’t like what you like are somehow shallower, dumber, and otherwise inferior to you.
+1 for you, echoes my sentiments exactly, the anime community as a whole is pretty saddening to be honest. I pretty much blame them for perpetuating the current state of “moe harem emofag bs” that doesn’t happen in real life. (save for the otaku, Japanese and Western) Anime as a whole is just filled with this “kirito type wish fulfillment” crap these days.
When something comes along that might NOT be that, everyone throws a fit, pretty hilarious and sad at the same time.
Self righteous pretentious bullshit is pretty hilarious and sad at the same time. Not sure if your trolling, but this isn’t about it being “NEW” it’s about the adaption, about the art, and about whether or not this is a farce.
‘Self righteous pretentious bullshit is pretty hilarious and sad at the same time.’
Good thing you know where you’re at, then.
Again. The characters are not realistic to their setting. The girls don´t look like high school students, they look like 20 something actresses. This is Dawson´s Creek in animated form.
Kuchu Buranku was way more experimental, here rotoscoping is just a lazy way to create uneasiness.
They looked like college students to me. The voice acting seemed like everyday HS students though.
You know honestly I didn’t mind. I liked the episode and thought it was great, but after seeing the manga I did a 180. It’s just too fishy.
Yes, as I said before, this show is the same high school mystery/horror anime they make every season in a new package. I think the main problem with Aku no hana is your point 6.
On another note, have you seen Attack on Titan? The animation on that show is amazing.
Ah, people keep saying that. I just finished downloading it. Can’t wait. This season has been awesome! Crime edge and Mao are currently my two favorite. Even Devil whatever wasn’t that bad.
On an unrelated note. Is that eel for that mermaid show holding a light saber?
Yes, I think that´s from when the mermaid was talking about global warming.
I understand why that show is paired with Azazel. The mermaid represents a hostess, and the kid is her meal ticket.
Even worse… they’re meant to be middle school students. Instead we have 30 year old actors portraying middle school students.
And if you guys read the manga at all, you’d see that “moe” is a huge part of the plot. The main theme is ugliness hidden under shallow beauty. What we get betrays not only the art style, but also contradicts the plot. The director really, really fucked up on this one.
I knew this instinctively and is why I’ve been bitching. Looking at the manga I love looking at the red heads cute bitch face. In the anime she just looks like a straight up bitch. Middle school. Yeah. I damn.
Being asian, it was refreshing to see more naturalistic looking asians. I hesitate to say realistic, because that clearly wasn’t what they were going for at all. But the details in the eyes and eyefolds were really great. I feel like the girl the main character has a crush on is also decently cute too.
It’s all relative I suppose. If people watch a lot of moe anime, their perception of attractiveness may change. I find myself doing that after a marathon of anime shows. You get acclimated to a certain look and have certain likes/dislikes tastes about what you find attractive.
Just because anime teens look like they’re an American 12, doesn’t make it so. These characters look their age.
They looked pretty young to me. Like typical high school kids. I noticed moe anime tends to make characters look even younger than what you would expect irl too.
Moe style does get old after a bit. I like moe if it looks attractive, like the artist can draw really well and the characters are super sleek and dynamic looking. I did check out the manga for Aku no Hana and it’s…ok. I can just imagine how it would have looked animated and it would have been ok at best. I’m glad they took a risk with this one though, it makes the story that much more unsettling.
The rotoscoping looks off and jerky because they use a really low frame rate for the motion. To be honest, ~24 fps is low enough already for many things. I checked some of the walking around, and it really is 8 fps here. Intentionally bad? I don’t know.
More-realistic character designs and experimental styles are fine by me, but this is not really achieving too much of either.
Personally I liked the ED and some of the directing with respect to the sequence of the town shown while walking to school. Aside from that, I’m not really feeling it.
It’s tough to say. On one hand, old anime used 8 fps or less, and they still came out alright even if they were “jerky”. Also, some anime using a lot of on-model in-between animation without really animating anything compelling, yet still get lauded as if they were AMAZING.
I think it’s a case of whether you can get used to it or not. If not, then it’s clearly a failed experiment in your eyes. Personally I find it weird to see anime characters, which have always moved around jerkily to me, animated like they are by KyoAni. It’s an uncanny valley thing to me, just like Aku no Hana. But that’s just me.
The nature of the movement has a lot to do with it. The more complex the motion and transformations, the higher the “sampling” rate you need to capture that dynamic acceptably. By motion I mean distance traveled on screen, and by transformations I mean the shape of objects changing like when a person shifts posture. Urgh, it’s not like I actually know the proper technical terms used for animation. So with a relative lack of movement and transformations, low fps is okay.
The issue is that the characters mimic natural movement (well duh), which we’re all used to seeing at a much higher frame rate, and which is furthermore more complicated than traditional animation.
The thresholds / blending / whatever effects for the rotoscoping making facial features appear and disappear don’t really help either.
All in all, I feel the effect is pretty unnatural. But seeing as the show is about unnatural psychological forces, maybe it fits. If the thematic content displays substance and has something actually interesting to say (rather than just being dark, moping around, etc.), then I’ll take the animation as just another aspect of the presentation. Otherwise, I’ll probably call it quits.
yeah, a sizable of cats are gonna watch this…i can tell by the number of comments alone…
Woah, this might be your most controversial post yet, psgels :O
And wow, first MAL, now 4chan, now here! Woah.
hell yeah more azazel san
Azazel-san! Rules the world!
That was some serious fun…..I’ve not laughed so hard in years. I am so glad it’s getting more screen time. I think it’s one of the best written shows out there.
I am so hyped for Yondemasuyo Azazel-san you have no idea. It’s been almost three years since the last season and if the new OP is in anyway related this one won’t disappoint.
Is not about the manga designs. Is about low budget rotoscope, is not innovative or edgy. or special.
You can use this “realistic designs”, but at least don´t do amateur rotoscope.
Finally, someone gets it.
The writing and the plot is interesting, and worth your time. But I hope the blu ray fix this atrocity.
are
Geez, what happened to the comments section in these last few years? Before, people were mostly tolerant, sharing their impressions, likes/dislikes, and most importantly, being capable of taking in another’s opinion! Now you’ve got these snobby know-it-alls. FFS, if you’re so keen on showing your bitterness, maybe it’s time to stop and think that is just a sad reflection of discontent connected with your real lives?
I agree. You are not in your own forum, you are only guests in someone else’s blog.
Try to respect your host and contribute making the blog better. Just state your opinion about the anime and don’t comment the comments of others. That’s what I try to do.
Kudoz to Psgels for his great posts and great tolerance.
people, aku no hana is a beautiful anime. If you guys can’t see the beauty in it, than too bad. Look at cross game for example, the character designs were bad, but the story line was so good, it delivered. An anime is not based on looks alone, its based on many different aspects. With the way things turned out in the first episode, I can say, this would be the most disturbing anime this year. And it’ll be terrific.
The stupidity of the comments here on Psgel’s predictability and Aku no Hana’s ‘pseudo-realism’ is quite jarring and unbearable. Last time I heard these reasons was when I was in primary. The anime’s not realistic because the characters ‘jerk’ around. It’s more realistic than most anime designs out there because of their continuous flow of action and their realistic ‘body positions’.
Get your fucking facts damn straight when critiquing on realisim in art, and don’t fucking insult or criticise Psgels because of what he considers good. And on a side-note, reason why he dislikes most harems is because most harems are in constant dilution. Want some point-evidence?
Compare Fushigi Yuugi to most harem anime series today.
I didn’t like the manga style, at all. Too generic and didn’t capture the atmosphere, I even stopped reading and decided to wait for the anime.
I was not disappointed…
So now that ive seen Aku no Hana, Ive got to say, whats the big deal?
You either like it, or you dont, or you couldn’t care less either way. I dont get where all this added animosity which then makes you insult someone because there view is different to yours has to come in. Deary me. Some people need to chill out.
Anyway, it was an intriguing enough first episode to make me want to see whats in store particularly if the story is supposedly meant to get tastier.
During this episode I kept being reminded of Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~ from the spring season 5 years ago. Although I appreciate the atmosphere between the two shows is meant to be different. Perhaps it was the feel/ contrast against the backgrounds.
Also im glad to see more Azazel-san is back. Always good for delivering the odd twisted moment, comedic violence that you cant help but chuckle at.
I’m honestly very disappointed in how the visuals look. Not only is it rotoscoped, it looks horribly ugly and the technique isn’t even done well. Not to mention rotoscoping is just very lazy animation as I see it. The effort to create it is there, it’s just that it defeats the purpose of something being an anime if it is just an imposition of live action.
Also, the manga’s focus on the uneasiness and all is a decent premise, but it’s not that entertaining at all to me. It doesn’t really go anywhere other than being uncomfortable.
Is the anime unique? Sure. But is it all that fun or some exemplary anime? Hell no.
I think that’s exactly the point, not all anime have to be exemplary or fun. But this surely looks interesting because it stands out of the other series of this season.
I don’t disagree.
I just think the uniqueness of the show and premise is really getting to people.
I still think it’s for the wrong reasons with the rotoscoping though.
The show has a similar kind of appeal as Mysterious Girlfriend X, but with a more of a malicious, dangerous overtone with the crazy girlfriend.
I don’t really see where all the hate is coming from. It’s simply a different art style. I guess it looks a bit choppy, but that’s not the worst. I don’t know enough about rotoscoping to critique it.
Also, in the manga, the characters are in middle school. It might have been subtle, but the anime is stated to be taking place in high school. Hence why the characters look to be in mid teens rather than in their early/pre teens.
Everyone stating that the characters look fat or not cute enough…
1) wow real girls don’t look like anime?! Oh noooooo…
2) I don’t really think Nakamura being “cute” is the point. I think the point was that she’s got some serious issues. Also I think Saeki’s character is pretty typically cute.
Otherwise, I thought that the first episode dragged a bit. I’m still going to watch this. The subject of the manga was interesting enough. And since there are only 13 episodes scheduled, I’m wondering where the anime will go with th story.
The problem is that it isn’t some original anime project. It’s not some kind of animating some novel. It’s animating a manga. It has to adhere with at least some form of the act of drawing something. Rotoscoping was done lazily here in that it’s pretty much live action but with it being drawn on top.
The director may as well have done a full live action instead of putting up this pretense that it’s an anime conversion. It hardly is. And I explicitly disagree that highschool designs or making characters in that age group creepy can’t work in normal anime styles. Madhouse studios shows has a thing or two to say about that, where they even turned fairly benign stories into something incredibly menacing. Like their Aoi Bungaku series.
I watched aku no hana based on this recommendation and i dont regret it at all, the moment the episode started i just knew it was going to be really good. i loved the different style of the animation and i can safely say it is without a doubt a reflection of how real high schoolers look like. if i hated it for the different animation style which i quickly got used to, it would be like hating south park despite having good content. a live action of this wouldnt have been able to deliver the beauty of the writing and the dark tone of the series so effectively, besides imagine the bad idol actors we would have had to deal with. Im glad the producers went this direction instead of making a photocopy of the manga and i just want to say i respect the opinions of the people who hate it cos i acknowledge the fact that not everyone thinks the exact same way i do, that would be creepy. However this anime is obviously directed at the few intelligent people left in the world who knows life is not a bed of roses, not that i dont appreciate fluffy mindless fun once in a while but im at the age where i really want to watch something that challenges my intellect and i think this show accomplishes it quite well so far.