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Why isn't Thunderbolt Fantasy considered anime?

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Oct 31, 2017 7:29 AM
#1
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It's made in Japan, it is animated, it's directed by Gen Urobuchi who also made Psycho Pass, Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, etc. It aired on AT-X which is a Japanese television network.

All of this, and it's not an anime, yet as memetastic as it is Pengu in the City is it's on mal, but this show isn't despite it fitting all of the same requirements.

Why is that?
Oct 31, 2017 7:31 AM
#2

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i think because it's not actually animation, but more like a puppet show
Oct 31, 2017 8:38 AM
#3

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Exctly.... for something to be considered an animation, it needs to have animation in it. But TF is just a movie with puppets.
Oct 31, 2017 9:04 AM
#4

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I wonder the same thing, considering that it's actually stop-motion and has underwent through an editing process digitally, with particle effects and all that good shit. Stop-Motion is considered an animation style in the world of animators.
So anyways, @Kineta can we get some input on this?
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Nov 1, 2017 8:15 AM
#5
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romagia said:
i think because it's not actually animation, but more like a puppet show

It's still animation just done in a different way.
Nov 1, 2017 8:19 AM
#6

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That's a weird technicality. Claymation still passes MAL standards but puppetry doesn't? (Well, never watched it anyway but wth)
Nov 1, 2017 9:15 AM
#7

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@Red_Ryu12345
SigmaticDoc said:
I wonder the same thing, considering that it's actually stop-motion and has underwent through an editing process digitally, with particle effects and all that good shit. Stop-Motion is considered an animation style in the world of animators.
So anyways, @Kineta can we get some input on this?
it has been repeatedly declined with the message "Puppetry does not count as stop motion."

ctrl+f in this thread https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=140439&show=360

here is a discussion from when it was ongoing which might clarify some things better than i: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1531458
Nov 1, 2017 9:41 AM
#8
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romagia said:
@Red_Ryu12345
SigmaticDoc said:
I wonder the same thing, considering that it's actually stop-motion and has underwent through an editing process digitally, with particle effects and all that good shit. Stop-Motion is considered an animation style in the world of animators.
So anyways, @Kineta can we get some input on this?
it has been repeatedly declined with the message "Puppetry does not count as stop motion."

ctrl+f in this thread https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=140439&show=360

here is a discussion from when it was ongoing which might clarify some things better than i: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1531458


That is a weird technicality for something like this.
Nov 1, 2017 10:03 AM
#9

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LOL C.L.A.Y is anime but Thunderbolt fantasy isn't.

https://myanimelist.net/anime/16606/CLAY

Damn the database is so great. Thunderbolt fantasy has way more animation than Clay.

Clay



Thunderbolt Fantasy




Nov 1, 2017 2:42 PM
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DrGeroCreation said:
LOL C.L.A.Y is anime but Thunderbolt fantasy isn't.

https://myanimelist.net/anime/16606/CLAY

Damn the database is so great. Thunderbolt fantasy has way more animation than Clay.

Clay



Thunderbolt Fantasy






Messed up, even if I think one guy making claymation by himself on youtube is fine though why is it on MAL?
Nov 1, 2017 2:45 PM
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When it comes to the database sometimes I kind of question this. Maybe its the fact where it aired maybe? Idk?
Nov 1, 2017 3:02 PM

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DrGeroCreation said:
LOL C.L.A.Y is anime but Thunderbolt fantasy isn't.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/16606/CLAY
Damn the database is so great. Thunderbolt fantasy has way more animation than Clay.
Clay

Thunderbolt Fantasy



apparently it wasn't added because unlike Clay, the puppets in Thunderbolt are real and not 3D.
https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1531935

this might explain why it wasn't added. it's not 3d - it's real puppets.
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Nov 1, 2017 3:33 PM

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Last time I checked, puppet shows aren't animation.

They're real puppets moving in real time. Do you consider Sesame Street or the Muppets animation? I didn't think so.
Nov 1, 2017 3:40 PM

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Anybody who watches TF and thinks that's stop-motion animation obviously doesn't have much experience with (stop-motion) animation because those movements are way too fluid, they are clearly moving the puppets in real-time without any aspect of animation being involved. The only thing I see are some effects edited in but that's not really animation, just effects/editing. But considering people call ufotable the studio with the best animation based on them using a lot of editing and effects I'm not surprised they think it constitutes animation.
I probably regret this post by now.
Nov 1, 2017 3:45 PM

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DreamingBeats said:
DrGeroCreation said:
LOL C.L.A.Y is anime but Thunderbolt fantasy isn't.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/16606/CLAY
Damn the database is so great. Thunderbolt fantasy has way more animation than Clay.
Clay

Thunderbolt Fantasy



apparently it wasn't added because unlike Clay, the puppets in Thunderbolt are real and not 3D.
https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1531935

this might explain why it wasn't added. it's not 3d - it's real puppets.
In this interview with Takena, Chainsaw Maid is specifically called claymation with no mention of CGI. Maid of the Dead is in the database.

https://myanimelist.net/anime/11679/Chainsaw_Maid

Also do you have proof that all of Takena's shorts are CGI and not clayanimation?

Nov 1, 2017 3:49 PM
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I have to agree with Pullman and Pyro's comments, but still it seems a little odd to me that this professional Japanese production isn't in the database, yet a shitty claymation video of a girl vomiting shit onto a plate made by one guy on YouTube is.
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Nov 1, 2017 3:55 PM

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Pyro said:
Last time I checked, puppet shows aren't animation.

They're real puppets moving in real time. Do you consider Sesame Street or the Muppets animation? I didn't think so.
I would to be honest. The Muppets are actually in the Big cartoon database and on Kisscartoon https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-story/132666-Muppets

Pullman said:
Anybody who watches TF and thinks that's stop-motion animation obviously doesn't have much experience with (stop-motion) animation because those movements are way too fluid, they are clearly moving the puppets in real-time without any aspect of animation being involved.
They are using glove puppetry so you are right it's not stop motion animation but I would call glove puppetry and other forms of puppetry animation since it is movement.

Red_Ryu12345 said:
Messed up, even if I think one guy making claymation by himself on youtube is fine though why is it on MAL?
Well they are Japanese although they don't seem specifically for a Japanese audience since he just uploads them to his Youtube channel (to my knowledge not 100%) and I don't think they would be considered professionally produced works. So yeah it's strange how they are in the database.

DrGeroCreationNov 1, 2017 4:09 PM
Nov 1, 2017 4:05 PM

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DrGeroCreation said:
Pyro said:
Last time I checked, puppet shows aren't animation.

They're real puppets moving in real time. Do you consider Sesame Street or the Muppets animation? I didn't think so.
I would to be honest. The Muppets are actually in the Big cartoon database and on Kisscartoon https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-story/132666-Muppets

Pullman said:
Anybody who watches TF and thinks that's stop-motion animation obviously doesn't have much experience with (stop-motion) animation because those movements are way too fluid, they are clearly moving the puppets in real-time without any aspect of animation being involved.
They are using glove puppetry so you are right it's not stop motion animation but I would call glove puppetry and other forms of puppetry animation since it is movement.



Well, you'd be wrong, frankly. Live-action is also 'movement' but it's not animation so I don't see how that is any kind of argument. Animation is not done by filming (unlike real acting and puppetry) but by photographing and creating the illusion of movement by showing individual frames in sequence.

Definition of animation:
"the technique of photographing successive drawings or positions of puppets or models to create an illusion of movement when the film is shown as a sequence."

If it's filmed, not photographed and then shown in succession, it's not animation by definition. Puppet animation (like what Kawamoto Kihachiro did) is also a thing, but again that uses stop-motion animation and not just filming real movements like TF does.
I probably regret this post by now.
Nov 1, 2017 4:27 PM

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@DrGeroCreation I don't see your point. The Muppets being listed on some cartoon database and an illegal cartoon streaming site doesn't change the fact that it's not animation. As Pullman said, your idea of animation is wrong.
Nov 1, 2017 4:34 PM

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@Pullman Okay I understand what you are saying. Thunderbolt Fantasy is a filmed puppet show not a puppet animation.People have their hands under the puppets and are moving them around instead of the puppets being moved and filmed step by step to imitate motion. If stop motion was used for the puppets then I guess it could have been added to the database.

@Pyro I admitted I was wrong but the Big cartoon database isn't just some cartoon database. It's the top cartoon database on the Web.
DrGeroCreationNov 1, 2017 4:43 PM
Nov 1, 2017 5:06 PM

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DrGeroCreation said:
@Pyro I admitted I was wrong but the Big cartoon database isn't just some cartoon database. It's the top cartoon database on the Web.

That's great and all, but I'm starting to feel like a parrot at this point.
Nov 1, 2017 5:12 PM

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Pyro said:
DrGeroCreation said:
@Pyro I admitted I was wrong but the Big cartoon database isn't just some cartoon database. It's the top cartoon database on the Web.

That's great and all, but I'm starting to feel like a parrot at this point.
You don't have to repeat anything though since Pullman already explained everything already.
Jul 27, 2021 1:53 AM
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The show is on anime planet. So it should be considered an anime since puppetry is still technically a form of animation.
Jul 27, 2021 3:17 AM

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Then anime planet made an exception respectively I don't know their reasoning to add it. But it's not the authority about what anime is or isn't (obviously).

And, no, puppetry isn't a form of animation. See the explanation of Alcoholicide above.

Honestly, was there even a reason to necro this thread?
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Jul 27, 2021 11:35 AM

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DreamingBeats said:
DrGeroCreation said:
LOL C.L.A.Y is anime but Thunderbolt fantasy isn't.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/16606/CLAY
Damn the database is so great. Thunderbolt fantasy has way more animation than Clay.
Clay

Thunderbolt Fantasy



apparently it wasn't added because unlike Clay, the puppets in Thunderbolt are real and not 3D.
https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1531935

this might explain why it wasn't added. it's not 3d - it's real puppets.


Fushigi no Yappo Shima: Pukipuki to Poi:

https://vimeo.com/520919456

Konohana no Sakuya Mori:

https://vimeo.com/221683648

Columbos:



Shisha no Sho:

Jul 3, 2023 6:07 AM
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Thunderbolt Fantasy mainly using the 'Glove puppetry' technique where the  puppets were manipulated and filmed in real time which makes it more a live-action than animation even though the stop-motion technique were also used heavily in this show. Comparing to C.L.A.Y which is not filmed but animated by piecing the stop-motion pictures frame by frame to create movement, hence C.L.A.Ys and other slow-motions are considered as animation but TF are considered as live-action (although has animation techniques involved).

A lot of time animation is associate with the cartoonish art style but in reality it is defined by the way of the motions are created, live-action films the motion in real time; the animation piecing the pictures into a motion after they were taken/drawn.
C__CJul 3, 2023 6:34 AM

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