November 2nd, 2020
"Animation and sound doesn't matter"
Anime Relations: Fate/stay night, Aria the Animation, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Fruits Basket 1st Season
Something that irks me everytime I read it to the point it became a pet peeve is the prevalent opinion that animation, soundtrack, and voice acting should not be considered when qualifying the quality of an anime. It is understandable to have this position - anime is, in practical terms, a storytelling medium. Establishing that only plot progression and character development are what matters to you when consuming a show is an easy way to proclaim one's devotion towards objectiveness (whose existence in the arts is a matter to be discussed elsewhere), that one strives to serve the story justice. This reasoning is logical, yes, but in the words of Emiya Shirou, "Just because you are correct, it doesn't mean you're right!"
See, when we are watching anime, we are not only "watching" anime. We are consuming different impressions that are captivated by our senses from what is being reproduced. From what we see, to what we hear, to the connection of ideas our brain does by principle of similarity. When one watches anime, one watches the whole package. If animation did not matter, one might as well hear a radio drama. If soundtrack did not matter, one might as well as read manga. If artstyle did not matter, one might as well just read a book.
The reason why, for example, when I say Shinsekai Yori, anime fans are more pround to think of the anime instead of the novel itself, or why when I reffer to "Higurashi", it is to the anime insetad of either the drama or the sound novel. What compels us is anime. Trust me, if non-key animations did not matter, we would have more Picture Dramas
Derailing from the main point, so that I take advantage of this space and not write a different blog entry, is that, as I feel it, this carelessness towards sound and animations has downgraded anime, not in the sense of quality (although it can be a consequence of the following), but a downgrade in creativity. What I mean is, the trend of using J-pop for opening credits instead of using the song as another piece of the story.
Take, for example, the openings of Aria the animation (2005) and Demon Slayer (2019).
14 years of difference well contrasted. What concerns us tough is the sound. Aria the Animation chose a calm, soothing song that matches the quite well the passive, quiet tone of the series. As for Demon Slayer, your average J-pop song is used. Skeptics would, of course, claim that Demon Slayer is a shonen, and thus the use of J-pop is fitting. Also, skeptics of this claim would very likely point out that these are just two anime from two different genres, that appeal to two different demographics, so justifying the difference from a time perspective is flawed.
That is why I decide to bring to attention two anime that were made originally in the 2000s, that have been remade, and, as I point out, have been affected by the J-pop everywhere trend.
The first one is Fate/Stay Night (2006) from studio DEEN and its remake (which is technically a non-chronological sequel, but I digress) Fate/Say Night Unlimited Blade Works (2014-2015) from studio Ufotable.
Then, we have Higurashi no naku koro ni, both the version from 2006 from Studio DEEN and the remake (or well, non-chronological sequel, like Fate/stay night, funny consequence) from studio Passione that just started airing a month ago
Of course, I must say that with this I do not mean to hate J-Pop and that every opening with it is instantly bad (the op of the first higurashi blew my expectations, it fucking slaps.), it is just a small concern of mine. Also, this isn't a black-or-white issue either, as I said this isn't a hate rant to mask a sentiment of new things bad old things good, I am able to recognize recent good use of opening songs to create atmosphere, the first example that comes to mind is Fruits Basket remake first season's (2019) opening song.
It may all just be though, me getting old, and having hard nostalgia for 2000-2011 anime (which wasn't that long ago - but hey, things change fast nowadays).
See, when we are watching anime, we are not only "watching" anime. We are consuming different impressions that are captivated by our senses from what is being reproduced. From what we see, to what we hear, to the connection of ideas our brain does by principle of similarity. When one watches anime, one watches the whole package. If animation did not matter, one might as well hear a radio drama. If soundtrack did not matter, one might as well as read manga. If artstyle did not matter, one might as well just read a book.
The reason why, for example, when I say Shinsekai Yori, anime fans are more pround to think of the anime instead of the novel itself, or why when I reffer to "Higurashi", it is to the anime insetad of either the drama or the sound novel. What compels us is anime. Trust me, if non-key animations did not matter, we would have more Picture Dramas
Derailing from the main point, so that I take advantage of this space and not write a different blog entry, is that, as I feel it, this carelessness towards sound and animations has downgraded anime, not in the sense of quality (although it can be a consequence of the following), but a downgrade in creativity. What I mean is, the trend of using J-pop for opening credits instead of using the song as another piece of the story.
Take, for example, the openings of Aria the animation (2005) and Demon Slayer (2019).
14 years of difference well contrasted. What concerns us tough is the sound. Aria the Animation chose a calm, soothing song that matches the quite well the passive, quiet tone of the series. As for Demon Slayer, your average J-pop song is used. Skeptics would, of course, claim that Demon Slayer is a shonen, and thus the use of J-pop is fitting. Also, skeptics of this claim would very likely point out that these are just two anime from two different genres, that appeal to two different demographics, so justifying the difference from a time perspective is flawed.
That is why I decide to bring to attention two anime that were made originally in the 2000s, that have been remade, and, as I point out, have been affected by the J-pop everywhere trend.
The first one is Fate/Stay Night (2006) from studio DEEN and its remake (which is technically a non-chronological sequel, but I digress) Fate/Say Night Unlimited Blade Works (2014-2015) from studio Ufotable.
Then, we have Higurashi no naku koro ni, both the version from 2006 from Studio DEEN and the remake (or well, non-chronological sequel, like Fate/stay night, funny consequence) from studio Passione that just started airing a month ago
Of course, I must say that with this I do not mean to hate J-Pop and that every opening with it is instantly bad (the op of the first higurashi blew my expectations, it fucking slaps.), it is just a small concern of mine. Also, this isn't a black-or-white issue either, as I said this isn't a hate rant to mask a sentiment of new things bad old things good, I am able to recognize recent good use of opening songs to create atmosphere, the first example that comes to mind is Fruits Basket remake first season's (2019) opening song.
It may all just be though, me getting old, and having hard nostalgia for 2000-2011 anime (which wasn't that long ago - but hey, things change fast nowadays).
Posted by Pentagonion | Nov 2, 2020 3:40 PM | 0 comments