Amazing Nuts!

Ah, finally Studio 4C releases something again. This time, it’s a collection of four music videos, Global Astroliner, Glass Eye, Kung-Fu Love and Joe and Marilyn, all combined in one package of Amazing Nuts! After watching this, I really have to say that the people behind this were simply brilliant. If these were actually anime, they would have been awesome. It’s such a huge pity, seeing as Studio 4C is an amazing studio, though they spent most of their time on music videos, instead of a compelling anime series. Global Astroliner has a real urban feeling. It features pointy and shady-looking character designs, and portrays the relationships between corrupt officials and people from the street. It’s the only video which doesn’t feature a love-interest of some sort. I’m quite fond of the art-style here, think Tokyo Tribe meets Gorillaz with a high amount of imagination. All characters look quite unique this way. I wish more anime would follow this example. ^^; Then comes Glass Eye, with a totally different focus. We see a girl who’s probably suffering from an overdose of some kind of drug, in the middle of a street. While Global Astroliner was more stylish and funky, this is more sad and touching. This girl then meets a boy, all surrounded by some great CG and animation. The characters themselves also look to be completely made out of CG, but not as crappy as the usual 3D series you see. This actually looks very good. Glass Eye really had a dreamy mood, when you combine the great CG, character designs and background art with each other. Then Kung-Fu Love comes, and this is the first time we have a bit of a descriptive title. It once again is entirely different from the previous one when it features a kung-fu girl, taking on various opponents, and eventually running into a boy she loves. Qute standard, though the thing I really loved in this one was the art and animation. This anime has a greatly colourful style. Perhaps the closest to Studio 4C’s original art style. Each of the characters look beautiful, especially the main character looks gorgeous. The only real disadvantage is the music in this one. While none of the songs really fit my taste, Global Astroliner and Glass eye managed to capture my interest with some very interesting songs, though Kung-Fu Love comes with a cheesy pop-song. Could have been much better. Joe and Marylin was the worst of the four, though. This time, we have a ballad between two loved ones, one of them being a singer. And well, that’s basically what happens. It features some strange 3D-animation, which unfortunately doesn’t really work. Also, the attention to detail we saw in the previous three movies is also a bit lacking, apart from a beautiful cloudy background, perhaps. The music also didn’t really do anything to improve this, it tries to create a romantic feeling, though Glass Eye was far better in this. Overall, if you’re bored, and looking for some eye-candy, this is definitely one to recommend. Though the fact remains that we’re just talking about a bunch of music videos here. They would have rocked if they were genuine anime-series, though right now, they’re all a bit lacking in the story and character development department. Still, this does prove that Studio 4C haven’t lost their touch. I’m therefore looking forward a lot to their upcoming releases of Tekkon Kinkreet and Genius Party. And with a bit of hope, they’ll start on another tv-series in the future. I’m really hoping for that to happen, as their talent is just too big to waste.]]>