| Hi all, I have two questions about anime that I'm hoping someone can answer. My first question is: 1. Why does anime look so good compared to American animation? Of course, we all know that anime is known for its strong attention to detail. My question is: why? Why is it like that? How did it get to be like that? From what I understand, anime relies heavily on outsourcing to other countries like South Korean and Taiwan. The animators in Japan work on key animation and the in between frames are drawn by artists in other countries. If anyone could provide clarification that would be great. 2. How are teams of small animators able to make anime that looks as good as anime made by major studios? I understand why the major and important anime look good (Dragonball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh, Bleach, etc.) Those shows receive a lot of funding from companies like Bandai, Konami, etc. However, what I want to understand is how teams of small animators in Japan can make anime that looks just as good as major productions despite having a smaller budget and less people. I can't find it but I remember watching a Touhou fan animation on Youtube that looked like an official anime made by a major studio. How did it look so good? If you can't answer my questions I would also appreciate if you could recommend a book or online articles that can answer these questions. Thanks Edit Just want to edit this post to say this. I am not saying that American animation is somehow worse or lower quality compared to anime. Of course not. Just look at literally any Disney movie. What I am saying is that anime is pretty much known across the world for having high quality animation, whereas American animation is focused more on gags and visual humor than detailed animation. That's all. |
CovertSphinxMay 26, 4:11 PM
| 1. America is heavily restricted in making characters remotely sexual by design. This is why mostly all cartoons put their characters in a chibi style. Also Asians are generally more intelligent than westerners. 2. Asians being more intelligent also allows their skills to far surpass us on average. Also, studios their are often more about performance than western companies running on esg bloat. |
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CovertSphinx said: What I am saying is that anime is pretty much known across the world for having high quality animation, whereas American animation is focused more on gags and visual humor than detailed animation. Part of the problem is this notion among the executives running the animation industry in America is that "animated = kids". Therefore, they do not prioritize projects that aren't exactly kid oriented or are in a typical cartoon style. When they do, its usually big budget tentpole works like Disney animated films, stuff by Pixar/Dreamworks, etc that can appeal to as broad of an audience as possible - not just kids, but also to parents. |
| 1.Aside from the fact that western media suffer from too many restrictions, animation is way bigger in Japan and it's treated as a story medium, while in the west it's treated as a genre (most of the time kid oriented).Obviously there are good new western shows like scavengers reign,Pantheon and the summit of the gods to bring up some recent examples. 2.Its matter of scheduling and budget.A small studio which produce an anime i a year has more time to focus on it and spend its budget on the said show than a studio which just makes 5 shows in the same year if not in the same season. Also the touhou anime you are talking about is probably this one https://myanimelist.net/anime/55315/Gensou_Mangekyou__The_Memories_of_Phantasm and I agree it looks great |
CovertSphinx said: 1. Why does anime look so good compared to American animation? The inception of Anime dates back to animators being trained by working on Disney projects so already you have outreach making animation very diverse from outside influences. Combined with Japanese culture being very prideful in their endeavors where someone working in any specific field would rather die than to bring shame to their profession which could explain priority of meticulous attention to detail compared to American animation. CovertSphinx said: 2. How are teams of small animators able to make anime that looks as good as anime made by major studios? Technology. Over the years Animation has changed from repetitive hand drawn Cel animation to some people being able to create an animation project almost on their own through use of computer technology. Most of the work of animation is extremely repetitive needing to create frame after frame to make a complete scene. Technology has almost automated most of the repetitive steps in this industry where an animation project that would have taken over a year to complete could be done with todays technology in a matter of months. |
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| >1. Why does anime look so good compared to American animation? That's just a superstition. For example Castlevania looks better than most anime. The real answer to that is that western media in general is cucked and westerners like shooting themselves in the foot. 2. How are teams of small animators able to make anime that looks as good as anime made by major studios? Small amount of high iq animators could replicate a big studio made up of low iq animators. Also direction is important. Also if you still think "good animation" is a real thing and not just a misconception: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2161507 |
| 1. Why does anime look so good compared to American animation? (not an "anime expert") Eh, I wouldn't go as far to say that tbh... A lot of anime is really really static and they don't even fully animate the mouths. In the states, animation is just starting to stop being seen as too "cartoonish" because Hollywood is still filled with a lot of oldies that aren't really with the times. but when America actually tries with their animation (IE, Castlevania, Arcane, spiderverse,) its actually 100x better than Japanese animation. I think because of Disney, America still correlates animation with something for children, and they think live action is the ultimate form of entertainment (which is why they keep remaking everything into Live Action form), so they put less focus into it. lately that's been changing tho.. |
Kenzolo-folkMay 26, 7:31 PM
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| First of all, let me just preface this by saying there are examples of amazing western animation, like say thief and the cobbler, it's not that the west cannot produce good animation even if they wanted to. So the question is, why don't they? I think the first point to consider is that the west has sort of abandoned 2D animation. Obviously it still exists but it feels like most western animation is 3D. At the very least, the stuff I see coming out is mostly 3D. In that space, I actually think the west is leading, even good 3D anime like houseki no kuni and Beastars are in my opinion held back a little bit by wanting to so rigidly stick to that classic cell shaded anime look. Whatever the case may be, I think when you think of good 3D animation I think you think of Pixar or dreamworks or some other western brand, not anime. Getting back to that "the west has sort of abandoned 2D animation", I think what that really means is that the west is not interested in competing in the animation space. Already in the early days of Disney there was a growing sentiment (which may also have been manufactured by Disney themselves) that animation was a frivolous thing for children. It's not something that pushes boundaries, it's not made for adults. Even when "adult" animation is made, it is very commonly confined to comedy, kind of sticking to the idea that you can't tell a serious story in animation. (I feel the need to point out that there are even still good adult animations produced in the west, but it is definitely not the norm) I feel like the sentiment might slowly be changing these days but the effects of this mentality have already settled in, animation was just not taken seriously enough for a long time and so it's no wonder that the west doesn't have the kind of wealth of standout shows to show for itself. As for your second question, well I don't really know to be honest. I think it might be partly a difference in passion. Particularly when you see these solo or duo productions often they are a labor of love, or at the very least, the artists feel like this work directly reflects back on them. In many cases these small productions also get to spend way more time in the oven, they might take a year to produce one 10 minute animation. Obviously when you have that much time to refine something and make it the best it can be, even if you have much less manpower, it may exceed the quality that a big but fast production can achieve. I feel like you also shouldn't underestimate the impact of vision. When you only have one person working on something, every decision, every frame was painstakingly created to share 1 vision. When you have 100 people working on the same thing there are too many cooks in the kitchen, everyone has their own ideas of what is good, that's why to even get something halfway decent out of them you need a director to unify their work. But ultimately the director can only work with what he is given, he can't micromanage the thing as deliberately as the one man team. In some cases sacrifices to the vision may have to be made to accommodate for the fact that the end product will be cobbled together from the work of 100 different people. The one man team has the most direct pipeline from vision to completion, even it'll take them 100 times as long. |
CovertSphinx said: 1. Why does anime look so good compared to American animation? On a technical note, in the past when western cartoons started to be cerned out to market toys most of them actually had a lower framerate than anime, though there are some retro cartoons from that time i think looked awesome, framerate is quite tricky to get right, depending on the animation style using too little or too many frames can mess it up On a more stylistic note, this regarding modern western cartoons, they've just started looking stale, recycling over and over agan the same artstyle and animation techniques CovertSphinx said: 2. How are teams of small animators able to make anime that looks as good as anime made by major studios? This i'd put down to 2 things, talent, and time, they probs weren't rushing things last minute for the deadline despite the small budget, unlike a certain major studio (*cough cough MAPPA) |
| I'm a self-proclaimed anime expert and I will answer your questions. 1) Asians, on average, are more talented and have better work ethic than westerners, due to both genetic and cultural factors, and it is not surprising that they produce better animation too. 2) They gather the right people with immense amount of talent. A perfect example: two studios, managed by former animators of Kyoto Animation (Yutaka Yamamoto and Shinobu Yoshioka) and animators by yet unknown Trigger (Hiroyuki Imaishi) have once produced anime that transcended it time and era so much that even its target audience was too young to buy it out - Black★Rock Shooter (TV). It is the ultimate expression of creative freedom of some of the best talents in the industry, without any restrictions set by the studio. A work of this kind is unlikely to be created again. @rohan121 gets the point: Asians are generally more intelligent, and thus more talented. @lenrea gets it too. |
Black★Rock Shooter (TV) is beyond its time arthouse fantasy/psychological drama/psychological horror/action. Should you watch it? See my review.  ⁺  ⁺  ⁼  |
CovertSphinx said: Why does anime look so good compared to American animation? Because it doesn't. CovertSphinx said: How are teams of small animators able to make anime that looks as good as anime made by major studios? Diminishing returns. More staff simply doesn't lead to better animation. |
| その目だれの目？ |
| I see more than one "because Asians are more intelligent" takes here that I feel are wrong on just so many levels. Despite the commonly-accepted stereotype and some research on academic performance, I don't think that's true at all, generally speaking. Even if it was true, that's such a reductive way of looking at things, and it sounds either defeatist or superiority complex-y, depending on who's saying this. It sounds weird and is frankly a little disturbing. Besides, I really don't think "intelligence" has a lot to do with animation quality, attention to detail, and the ability to churn out a product with extremely limited resources. Since I'm here, here are my thoughts, as a complete non-expert: 1. I don't think anime looks more "high-quality" than American animation overall. But if you narrow the scope to hand-drawn 2D animation and further down to TV animation made recently, I can see what you mean. I think it's a matter of priorities. The producers and creatives in American TV animation don't seem very preoccupied with making the animation eye-poppingly smooth and detailed, and the viewers aren't that interested or demanding of that, either. And that's fine, because they can focus more on other aspects like the writing, themes and expression. While animation is (arguably) the most important aspect of an animated show, it's not the only important aspect. It also occurs to me that since Japanese animators have been motivated and expected to deliver on "high quality," they have the capabilities and accumulated knowledge to do so. I expect that there are well-established know-hows and entire work processes that accommodate this style of animation after decades of working like this. Outsource studios in Korea have a decades-long history of supporting Japanese studios, so they probably have the same kind of advantage. Conversely, I've read about multiple generations of Disney animators absorbing the philosophies and tricks of the previous generation and passing them on to the next, so I expect both industries to have invaluable knowledge that helps them stick to their own style. 2. It takes just one person to make anime. Puparia is a famous example from a few years ago, a shockingly good-looking 3-minute animated short made by a single Japanese animator and released on YouTube. The problem is it took him 3 years of grueling work to make 3 minutes of footage (there's a good documentary on YouTube as well). A small team of talented animators can absolutely make anime that surpasses big-studio projects, but they would have their own challenges and sacrifices. I expect that the fan animation you mentioned was a near-miraculous gathering of extremely talented and extremely passionate animators, who threw a ridiculous amount of time and energy into the project with little financial compensation. Big studios have other tools at their disposal to try and hit the same quality bar, like funding, business connections, more pairs of hands, institutional knowledge, etc. I believe the old adage of balancing time, money and manpower would apply to anime industry as well. Maybe throw in "talent/passion" into the mix. You will never have all 4 in abundance. You can compensate one with another, but there's a limit. You will never go anywhere if you're completely lacking one. You can achieve the same optimal result in many different ways. |
| ✺ Why does anime look so good compared to American animation? Anime studios really put a lot of effort into their artwork. They focus on creating super detailed backgrounds and give a lot of attention to the characters designs. This means that everything from the scenery to the tiniest facial expressions is carefully made, making the whole show look amazing. Also there is the huge variety of artistic styles you see. Unlike American animation which often sticks to similar looks, anime can range from super realistic to totally cartoonish. Each show has its own unique visual vibe. Another things that makes anime so visually better is the way they use colors, shading, and lighting. The colors are often vibrant and carefully chosen to set the mood, whether it is a bright, happy day or a dark, intense moment. Which really helps characters and background look more 3 dimensional. Plus, they are not afraid to experiment with different artistic styles, giving each show a distinct look. ✺How are teams of small animators able to make anime that looks as good as anime made by major studios? Interestingly, I believe the opposite is true. When it comes to comparing small studios to big ones, the difference is clear, small studios simply can't compete with the resources and talent of big studios. Most smaller studios might not have enough money or people to invest in fancy technology or hire really experienced people. Basically, they're working with what they got, which can sometimes be a bit limited compared to bigger studios. But they are pretty good at finding creative ways to overcome them. With a ton of passion and dedication, smaller teams come up with clever solutions to their problems. They always keep their vision in mind, staying focused on what they want to achieve. |
| "Why does anime look so good compared to American animation?" Not all american animated shows look bad, but definingly there are some questionable artistic choices...almost like some titles want to look ugly on purpose? (For example Welma wanting to destroy the Scooby-Doo franchise or something.) So in comparison not only the japanese, but many korean and chinese titles please the eyes way better. "How are teams of small animators able to make anime that looks as good as anime made by major studios?" 1. The japanese animators are masters of minimalism - only with 12 fps they can do miracles. 2. (And now about the ugly face of the anime industry) the japanese animators are exploited as slaves. |
| 1. a) Immensely talented, passionate and hardworking nations that have been practicing and refining their craft for decades, vs a nation that lives by "get rich quick doing nothing" motto (aka the american dream) b) Artstyle that isn't anatomically correct and makes character look more beautiful as a result (noses, chins, eyes, face shape, etc.) 2. That is simply not true. Smaller budget productions have fewer animation frames and most action scenes are just still shots with some post-processing effects. I remember watching a Touhou fan animation on Youtube that looked like an official anime made by a major studio That one took months and months just to make one or two episodes, meanwhile professional studios do it in 1-3 weeks per episode. Just want to edit this post to say this. I am not saying that American animation is somehow worse or lower quality compared to anime. It is objectively worse than japanese animation. Stop trying to appease to mentally ill fans of american animation. Don't be a fence sitter. This isn't reddit. |
| Which do you prefer? Differences between Japanese and U.S. Animation" by animators from Disney https://x.com/tomokin2012/status/1668228682203410439?t=Y6vq4OJYENZlSsPEEZKHgg&s=19 An interview https://www-pasonacareer-jp.translate.goog/article/20201014/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=ja&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://number-bunshun-jp.translate.goog/articles/-/832434?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=ja&_x_tr_pto=wapp |
GinIonSuiMay 28, 4:40 AM
| Depends. Many American studios aren't actually drawing their own animation anymore and they outsource to contractors - Who may as well outsource it to some back alley animation studio in the slums of a third world country. Whereas, many of Japanese series are animated in house or are shared between animation studios within Japan so they all care about the production quality equally from the animator to the production director and publishers. (very generalized) |
| Anime expert here: 1. Why does anime look so good compared to American animation? Western Animation was always childish but nowdays wokeness just pushed most people into Anime after late 2010s, the wokeness trend in the West is just insane. The worst part I felt very offended by it since wokeness uses my sexuality as political propaganda. They don't see anyone me as human being, for them, we're just a hive mind we think and act the same. They also promote stereotypes about us. Anime doesn't have anything I mention. I love freedom of speech in Anime. 2. How are teams of small animators able to make anime that looks as good as anime made by major studios? Asian Animators treat their creations more seriously (and they are more intelligent) than their western counterpart. Besides Western Animation is restricted to be either kids series or just comedy. |
NurguburuMay 28, 9:02 AM
| All weebs creatures of the galaxy, hear this message. Those of you who listen will not be struck by western animation. You will no longer know hunger, nor pain. Your Anime have come to lead you now. Our strength shall serve as a luminous sun toward which all intelligence may blossom. And the impervious shelter beneath which you will prosper. However, for those who refuse our offer and cling to their western animation ways… For you, there will be great wrath. |
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