This episode looked to be a big dig at the educational system. After all, the most powerful being on the planet applies to be a hero and is relegated to the lowest class because of the results of a submitted essay. Of course how an essay actually determines how someone can be a hero is ridiculous but sadly such processes of selection are not relegated to fiction. Job interviews are a prime example of that, they depend not on the skills you have but rather how good you can make yourself look. So Genos gets an S rank because he aced the tests and happened to blow up the House of Evolutions base whereas Saitama who actually was the one to defeat the House of Evolution gets saddled with a C. But well its Saitama, it’s only a matter of time before he shoots through the ranks.
The highlight of the episode was clearly the Genos and Saitama sparring. I hoped that for this particular scene Madhouse would go all out for the fight and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The fight presented some of the best animation in the series to date. Genos really is a marvel to watch fighting, with his mechanical parts and jet boosters just make him pure eye candy to behold. I see others who comment on the episode claim that the animation beats Ufotable and I don’t quite agree. The animation is great but they still are using shortcuts and Sakuga. Personally I feel Ufotable has better art consistency but Madhouse has some great dynamic choreography. That really is the charm of One Punch Man, the animation has so much character. Like Saitama’s swagger away after he beat Genos with a indirect Punch. The humor throughout the episode was great, especially the last joke of the episode gets me every time. Well now it seems that One Punch Man has removed it’s old formula and gone for something more consistent and I certainly can’t wait to see the top class heroes reaction to Saitama
I dont mean anything rude by this, but those who are saying that the animation in this ep beats ufotable probably arent that inclined when it comes to the technical side of animation in general. However i will say that the sakuga direction in this particular sparring session rivals certain scenes in ufotable’s fate work (I guess ufotable is now the bar used to compare animation quality)
Or maybe people just accept that animation can be technically competent, yet still lack the soul that makes it memorable or fun? I mean, I too can appreciate the animation of KyoAni and Ufotable on a technical level, but when it doesn’t leave much of an impression, what does it matter? I know I get more visual stimulation and excitement out of this or Kekkai Sensen than I ever did from the likes of Blade Works.
Ufotable for animation quality standards? Not KyoAni?
On ufotable, people are probably not aware that the studio often converts photographs into backgrounds and relies HEAVILY on 3D models as reference for character animation, sometimes using CGI outright instead of 2D. God Eater could not have afforded the five-toned shading style it got otherwise. They also tend to stick with designs that allow them to draw the characters relatively quickly, hence the high frame count. In this way, ufotable productions tend to feel like overprocessed Hollywood movies, technically impressive but somehow very cold in some parts because everything on the screen is too calculated.
In addition, ufotable has a relatively low amount of in-house talent making sakuga sequences entirely by themselves and doesn’t contact freelancers as often as other studios. Shingo Natsume and Chikashi Kubota are recruiting much, much more talent from around the industry, talent that doesn’t heavily rely on computers with the exception of the webgen animators, and have a lot of experience with fluid animation themselves. How else could Attack on Titan’s Arifumi Imai animate for this episode? You definitely won’t see him work on Fate/Stay Night.
Also a reminder that OPM is being animated on an average budget, the animators are just putting out their top game out of sheer passion.
Do you have sources to that information? I would like to give it a read out of curiosity. I was aware that PA Works relied heavily on converting photographs to backgrounds hence why they tend to base their anime in actual places. But I wasn’t aware that Ufotable did it sometimes as well.
I was aware that Shingo Natsume was pulling in a lot of talent to do animation though. The first episode alone had a number of talented animators work on it.
Here’s a demo reel which shows how they use CG, most conspicuous example being the KnK clip.
https://vimeo.com/77675596
Khara also has a similar method of blocking out scenes with rectangular models.
It’s speculation but some people have said the lighting looks off for characters in select scenes which may add credence as to how they use CG for characters. I also recall Lancer in the first fight of UBW having a 2D face superimposed over a 3D model in one cut, sort of like the Studio 4C Berserk movies.
Don’t really have anything to back up the backgrounds comment though. ufotable does sometimes outsource to Easter, the same studio that PA outsources to.
As for “simple character rendering,” well, look at this: http://i.imgur.com/U1cqmSy.gifv
Just look at that hat and the shading. Clean, but simple. Not to mention Rin’s character design in UBW. Pretty evident across their productions really.
It is important to note they referenced their studio roof and the skyscape multiple times for different productions. So maybe one example.
http://news.mynavi.jp/special/2012/fatezero/009.html
Well animation has come to mean the final product and the overall medium rather than its original meaning of creating the illusion of movement. Madhouse was founded by professional and classically trained animators such as Dezaki, Rintaro, Kawajiri and Murayama. These guys greatly expanded upon the techniques used in the industry and created quality work with sheer hard work of laboring over individual cells rather than relying on bells and whistles.
Many new animators developed their skills either by working under their tutelage or studying the ways they achieved the effects. Madhouse created such pedigree over the years that even after the departure of Murayama and his key staff upon forming MAPPA is still capable of putting out top-quality products; effectively dividing into two major companies.
New studios have improved overall equity by both having bigger budgets and embracing the new technologies that can improve visuals as well as saving production time. KyoAni, GoHands and Ufotable all create qualoty products, but also all rely heavily on CGI and digital post-processing. This is completely fine when utilized correctly and not overdone, but as mentioned here before can feel too sterile and lack the grit and style that hand-drawn series bring to the table.
Now as far as money-shots go- all anime utilize these to one degree or another. The only example of pure consistency would be Redline which is more of a passion project than a calculated for profit mega franchise. It doesn’t make sense to waste budget on scenes that have little to no movement, so since nobody has unlimited budget it is crucial to divide the resources and use them accordingly. The trick is to stay consistent and never have a noticeable drop in quality. So far One-Punch has done an admirable job at that, but I stress that not all the awesomeness is due to Madhouse’s great animation but also the vividity and the kinetic framing of Yusuke Murata’s original artwork, which flows incredibly when adapted right; and this is damn fine adaptation. They kept it as close as possible by adding exactly where it had room for improvement.
Keep in mind that things like choreography, framing, cinematography and song selection and audio engineering all add to the experience without being dorectly reliant on the animation itself.