Category: The Reflection

The Reflection returns, with more frames, some much needed exposition and lovable characters!

It starts 3 years ago, as the Reflection flashes across the globe. Green rain(?) falls from the sky, people all across the world fall unconscious or die to this event. Those that survive, gain powers never seen before! Both the music and the art style do alot to set the mood here, the comic-like art standing out. The animation is still weightless in certain places though, as the falling people all look like dead weight. There’s no momentum behind anything. At lease we get some backstory before hopping back to the present, or near to it at least.

Our story picks up immediately before the events of the first episode, with the assumed President of the United States (Did the flags give it away) giving a speech about the Reflection. He is rudely interrupted by the fiery woman from last episode, who takes the stage to bring attention to her people. Those being the Reflected, those who survived the event 3 years ago. While I am concerned how she got that close to a public figure so easily, I love her animation. The style of the series, when animated properly, really is striking. As her speech progresses, no one moves to stop her, but we do see I-Guy fly through the sky. While there are still a lot of still frames, they added more to the scenes that required it which is all it needed. Praise be to Stan Lee!

Speaking of Lee, I was expecting him to show up in the series, but not as a villain. Using his psychic powers I assume, he coordinates the team of villains. Their plan it seems was to set a trap for X-On, to get him out in the open. To bad they didnt plan on I-Guy. For the next while we get alot of reused scenes and some new ones, all with X-Ons inner monologue. The animation on his fight with Mr.Kung Fu was nice, it had more impact than most shots. After a quick recap we pickup where we left off in episode one, in the Stalker Girls apartment.

We get a lot of X-On in this scene, which is good. His personality is like if Spiderman had more of an attitude. I quite like him. He gives us some information on another character, Wraith, who I feel we will meet soon. Next we get some time alone with I-Guy, another charming personality. They guy is quality, like Tony Start without the demeaning attitude. The singing, the costume, the song, LA, everything about him screams performer and he clearly loves a good show. As seen by his time on the plane, the guys a goofball. He got so nervous from his first fight he puked! As with X-On we are treated to some repeat scenes with his voice over, lazy but they do seem to have more frames this time.

After that, we meet some of his team. Apparently they are all showboats, just like I-Guy. The best part of this sequence though is that we learn all of those effects with the screens actually occurred! It was a legitimate show! Nice touch, I really like these people. Sadly we get yet another flashback, its only purpose to show us what I-Guy was doing during the Reflection. The scene could have been shorter and gotten the same information across. After that, more scenes of I-Guy, this time stopping a robbery. Multi-Armed guy is a bit, crazy, but we get to see more and more who I-Guy is.

Finally, we end on a clip of the group of girls we opened episode one with. The idol group that does the ED most likely, who apparently have a bigger part to play. No doubt they were also hit by the Reflection and have decided to create a pop idol super hero group! Could work. Could crash horribly. Not much happened this episode sadly, but we saw the improvement we wanted and got the exposition we needed. One thing is for certain though, I will be sorely disappointed if I don’t get a new I-Guy logo picture each episode.

See ya next week! Excelsior!

Its a bit late in the season, but The Reflection is just getting started. Sadly, it feels like more time in the oven was yet needed. Thought up by Stan Lee and directed by Hiroshi Nagahama, lets dive right in. Because of the substantial difference in quality between them, I am going to break this first piece into 3 sections. Those sections being Art, Direction/Animation, and Story/Characters, so lets dive right in.

Art

If there is one thing Reflection does right, its the art. The style is unique, minimalist and reminiscent of comic books. Lots of bright solid colors with no shading, thick black lines and 3D/Rotoscoped backgrounds. In stills and quieter scenes its quite striking. Simply look to the opening lantern scene for proof of that. Director Nagahama, his prior work including Mushishi, once again brings a unique style to a season. It reminds of Ping Pong, which had a similar comic-like style yet much more faded colors.

Because of this unique, simplistic style, the animators can also use 3D to very good effect. Very similar to games like Borderlands, this comic book style allows for cell shading and rotoscoping on the 3D buildings. The 3D lanterns in the opening scene, and later the buildings while I-Guy soars through the air all look like they belong. They fit with the art and the world, unlike most 3D in 2D anime. If nothing else, Nagahama deserves recognition for what is no doubt an iconic style. If the animation was better, Reflection would be a standout of the season in this respect.

Direction/Animation

Having mentioned it, lets focus for a moment on the animation. Wow. There are things worth praising here but far more to criticize. To start, there are a lot of interesting ideas put into practice here. The opening lantern sequence was beautiful, the 3D lanterns making full use of this art style. Then there was the spin transition, with all of the monitors becoming turning into a space-scape. I re-watched that particular sequence numerous times, because it looked quite special. With this minimalist art style, animation should look fluid and easy to follow. Sadly, shots like these were in the minority and it was anything but fluid, edits and still shots littering the field.

This opening episode was plagued with questionable edits, motionless animation and less frames than your average power-point presentation. It moved at the speed of a glacier. There was a full one minute segment where there were perhaps 5 frames. This caused a number of scenes to look jumpy as there were few smooth transitions between frames. This low frame count also gave almost 0 impact frames, leaving blows between Hero and Villain feeling weightless. A manhole cover floated through the air like it was styrofoam. Couple that with multiple still shots, jumping from face to face, and you would be alone in thinking the episode was buffering. I can only think Nagahama erred to far on the comic book side of “Animated Comic book”.

Story/Characters

With everything in Reflection screaming “comic book” at us, no one should be surprised by the comic book story we have. There was little mention of the over arching story for most of the episode, Nagahama possibly going for the “Show don’t tell” method. What we do manage to learn however is that it has been 3 years since an event called “The Reflection” took place. Now, suddenly, villains and costumed heroes have appeared in public with few having any idea why. The government however apparently has their hands in it, with an official coordinating with X-On and I-Guy. The villains apparently have their own organization as well, as those captured in the first half are set free in the second. This alludes us to some over-arching plan, with some characters comments leading me to think this will be a Magneto/X-Men style story.

I say this because of the sort of racial tensions that were said to be popping up between the Reflected and normal people. In the X-Men, another Stan Lee comic, the villain Magneto constantly pushed for Mutant superiority of regular humans. The Villains in Reflection give off very similar vibes to this story wise, but we will have to wait and see. Hopefully the animation in this episode was a one-off. We still have the rest of the season to go after all.

See you next time folks, and as Stan Lee says excelsior!

For years in the anime community there has been a question about what exactly qualifies as an anime. Many argue that anime specifically means animation made and produced in Japan alone by the Japanese. Others argue that anime is shorthand for animation and thus should be extended to western inspired pieces such as Avatar the Last Airbender, Teen Titans and RWBY. But what about those in between? What about pieces created by the West but produced by the East? It is in this middle ground that Stan Lee’s The Reflection lies. The Reflection doesn’t being airing until July 22nd, and because of its unique position, I thought it would be good to take a look at it. To take the opportunity to talk about what The Reflection is, where it’s coming from and what we can look forward to in this upcoming season.

To start, lets introduce out key players, Stan Lee, Hiroshi Nagahama and Studio Deen. I find it difficult to believe there is someone in this day and age who doesn’t know about Stan Lee but here is a quick primer. Stan Lee is the man who brought us Marvel Comics and is basically the father of western comics, with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko the artists at his side. With the recent advent of Superhero movies, Stan Lee is back stronger than ever and is preparing to make another foray into anime. His previous works in the east include Heroman and the Ultimo manga series made in conjunction with Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei.

Next we have Hiroshi Nagahama, a longtime Key Animator and Director. Nagahama started out at Madhouse before eventually going freelance. On his own he worked on the design for Revolutionary Girl Utena and began doing animation direction for Ojarumaru. Eventually, he came to direct his own critically acclaimed pieces such as Mushishi, Detroit Metal City, and The Flowers of Evil. Today, we are fortunate to have him directing The Reflection.

Finally, we have Studio Deen, a place many of you know well. Studio Deen is one of the old hats in animation and have been doing it as far back as the 80’s with pieces such as Angels Egg and Ranma 1/2. More recent examples of their skill include Log Horizon Season 2, Hetalia, and one of my personal favorites Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu. With recent quality like that and the heavy hitters as mentioned before, The Reflection has a good baseline to start from. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be much information on how these three came together, but no doubt after his time with Bones working on Heroman, Stan Lee has a few contacts in the industry for The Reflection.

With its pedigree laid out, lets take a look at The Reflection, coming to simultaneous distribution July 22nd. As expected with Stan Lee, we are looking at a Superhero story, though this one is more along the lines of My Hero Academia than Superman. Our story begins with an event called The Reflection (early title card!), after which many individuals all over the world are discovered with super powers. These powers range from our hero Xon who can copy and stockpile other peoples powers, I-Guy who can generate a concussive blast with his voice and Deadwing a man turned bat who fights with ultrasonic waves. With these powers some naturally choose to use their powers as villains, so of course heroes must appear to oppose them. Over the course of this conflict we will no doubt learn about The Reflection, what caused it and if there was a deeper plot behind it.

With Stan Lee as the creator, the man who has made some of the most loved comic book characters in history, and Nagahama as the director, with his experience from Mushishi, I expect we will be treated to more than your average super hero fare. The Reflection has yet to receive a rating and will consist of one cour, airing on Funimation and Crunchyroll starting July 22nd at 11 pm. Be sure to check it out!