The entire staging of the anime has this kind of fascinating aspect due to the magic of its universe. The scenes are all very loaded: there are a lot of filters, details, things moving. Anime always has many pleasurable elements highlighted. Almost everything is spectacularly beautiful and detailed. And the anime makes several plans that allow the viewer to contemplate all this beauty. It's an anime made entirely in 3D, and it uses this style of animation very well to immerse the viewer in all this technical fascination.
The action scenes are divided into two very specific points. One that I like the most and one that I hate.
What I like the most is the one that lives up to this whole visual relationship of contemplation.
When the characters are about to activate a specific power, the anime always gives a very broad perspective of what is happening (image 1). When he uses the scenarios with that tone of discovery, it's also very gratifying (image 2). It is a very accepted way of looking at this technique. To sum up, they remind a bit of game cutscenes.
What I liked the most were some very expressive shots, from when the anime approaches to show some more evident gesture. (image 3). In the first episode in the chase scene, the anime shows Tang San's character up close making some hand gestures when performing an incantation. The dynamics of the scenes often arise from this agility of the camera in relation to what is happening around it, and the expressiveness in highlighting these minor details.
It is important to remember that this more contemplative, continuous and visual relationship of events reinforces this idea of MMORPG games that the anime tries to convey. This relationship speaks very well with the spectator's gamer imaginary. But, rather than a personal perspective, it is a more panoramic perspective of events.
For much of the anime, characters are given quests, objectives, participate in events. They even have that very basic background in games of the type, where a character, upon reaching a level, can use some different enchantment, weapon or skill.
On the other hand, it has a very serious problem that takes the viewer out of this more contemplative perspective with this game experience, which is when the anime cuts too much of these action plans. In almost all fights, the anime uses a more frantic montage, making several cuts of the same scene. And why is this a problem here?
As I explained a few paragraphs above, Douluo Dalu is a work with very visually loaded scenes. If, on the one hand, this is good when the anime leaves the viewer in a single perspective to contemplate these moments, highlight some detail or scenario, on the other hand, the viewer cannot process these same scenes when they are cut too fast. There are too many details to pay attention to at once. Instead of this more frantic montage taking the viewer along with the action, in reality it ends up confusing a little.
The problem here lies in the conflict between these two approaches.
In another text where I comment on Bing Zhu Qi Hun, I also talk about another feature that bothers me in both animes. By using this 3D animation, more detailed, where the characters have a more organic relationship, and even a more human movement than in a conventional 2D anime, some things don't work in them in a behavioral way. When characters try to act more cartoonish or blatant, it ends up sounding kind of weird. This seems to be directly inspired by a more humorous 2D animation, and in this 3D mold, it doesn't sound so natural.
I still think the choices that work in Douluo Dalu stand out over these issues. It's a very new experience, very different from what we're used to in Japanese animations, even those that are also made in 3D. I think it's a good anime to start entering the universe of Donghuas, especially those that are 3D.
