General anime thoughts/discussion thread.

Urgh how lame. People are allowed to like different things. It's like if star wars fans united to take down star trek. It doesnt actually do anything for the thing they like.
 
As for "digital anime would have to be remade to go above the resolution it was created at"- nope. It would have to be re-composited, but that's only assuming the base files still exist.
I’d be interested to know more about this. While I’m aware it’s easily possible to extract more detail from hand drawn anime (because the cels are huge even compared to film, and they were usually transferred to film) and in the case of 3D animation and flash it can simply be rendered out at a higher resolution, I realise I don’t actually know much about digitally drawn animation. I always presumed the reason early 2000s anime looks like crap on Blu-ray (Azumanga Daioh, Haibane Renmei etc.) was because it was originally drawn digitally at a low resolution and there was no more detail, so upscaling was the best they could do - Is that not the case?
 
This is just speculation on my part, but it’s entirely possible the original artwork was drawn digitally at a higher resolution than the video was being exported at, then reduced in size to (presumably) 480p, if it’s the early 2000s. Depending on how the video was originally prepared, there may also have been quality lost due to the compression methods of the time and choice of file format.

As Professor Who says though, any improvement in image quality would depend on all the original assets being available, then someone taking the time to re-render the video from scratch, which could be a big ask for anything other than the most popular or enduring titles.
 
This is just speculation on my part, but it’s entirely possible the original artwork was drawn digitally at a higher resolution than the video was being exported at
That was what I was contemplating, but then
As Professor Who says though, any improvement in image quality would depend on all the original assets being available, then someone taking the time to re-render the video from scratch, which could be a big ask for anything other than the most popular or enduring titles.
You'd think with digital art this wouldn't be an issue, since surely they'd simply be stored as digital files and you could set the computer off rendering and just leave it to do its job? I mean, it would seem very short-sighted not to mention wasteful if the full resolution art is being deleted and presumably, in the SD era, was never even intended to be seen? Surely it would only be created at a higher res with an eye to people being able to view it in the future, otherwise why create it at a higher resolution in the first place?
 
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SD BDs prove BDs improve SD footage due to space and subtitle options.
I'm aware of the fact that bitrates are higher on Blu-ray due to the increased space and therefore you're going to end up with less compression artefacts etc. However my comments are specifically in relation to early 2000s digitally animated series' which were upscaled to 1080p for Blu-ray and look horrible, rather than SD on BD content.
 
Depends on the quality of the upscale most are garbage well 90% are garbage cos one company does them. Yay QTEC.
This is all getting very speculative now without actually having the facts (which is what I'm interested in and why I asked) but that's part of what's confusing me. Why, if you had the files in higher resolution (which at this point I still don't know whether they do or not) would you hire people to upscale it from a lower resolution instead of hiring people to re-render it from a higher resolution source?
 
Rated 15 here isn't it? Wouldn't MA 15+ be a more reasonable equivalent?

I don't think I'd put this in the same category of some of the more extreme anime out there...
it was volume 4 which received the R18+ rating which should line up with the episodes featuring rape scenes.
Got to say I agree with @ManiacB here. And I certainly don't remember there being any rape scenes in Kill la Kill, despite having watched the series three times so far. 🤨
Not sure how much I enjoy seeing such a brilliantly written show being misrepresented, hence this post.

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I mean I think Lagann is great, and while it does perhaps embody some of the shonen and mech tropes you’re clearly not a fan of, I think it does so tongue firmly in cheek. It’s more an over the top parody of them than anything. It also probably helps if you know your Gainax.
I can't possibly let a post praising Gurren Lagann pass without reply, so... 😛

It's very much done knowingly, yes. It's director Hiroyuki Imaishi at his full-throttle best, but backed up by writer Kazuki Nakashima's intelligently written script that provides genuine depth as well as good dumb fun. They're an outstanding pairing. 👍
 
Seems you'll need to give it another rewatch.
I certainly will be giving it another rewatch at some point; it's an excellent series after all.

I would suggest, though, that you might want to refrain from using terms like "rape scenes" in future in cases where there aren't any. A show could potentially suffer damage to its reputation through false claims like that.

I've said my piece.
 
I would suggest, though, that you might want to refrain from using terms like "rape scenes" in future in cases where there aren't any. A show could potentially suffer damage to its reputation through false claims like that.

I'd assume the scene here is the one referenced that way
Satsuki and her mother in the bath I'd assume is the scene being referenced.
It is kinda awkward
 
I'd assume the scene here is the one referenced that way
Satsuki and her mother in the bath I'd assume is the scene being referenced.
It is kinda awkward
Yeah, that's what I'd guessed, too. God, it's very awkward; I totally agree. 😬

I just couldn't see how it would be classified as "rape".
 
Sonoda says it's Larry, the text says it's Larry, will we ever learn? Probably not.
Indeed. It's happened with a couple of Leiji Matsumoto's creations, too. Maetel from Galaxy Express 999 is apparently supposed to be Mater, which is Latin for "mother". And Lafresia from his Captain Harlock franchise is actually intended to be Rafflesia, named after a parasitic plant: Rafflesia - Wikipedia

That info is courtesy of Clements and McCarthy's Anime Encyclopedia.

Though surely nothing will top the skewed translation of the main villain from '70s racing anime Machine Hayabusa. His alias was likely intended to be Ahab Moby Dick, but was rendered in English as Ayab Mobil Dick instead! 🤣
 
Vaguely related I've seen similar discussions over Death Note. If you saw it in Japanese first you think it's better and if you saw it in English first you think that's better.
My experience with Death Note is arguably even more convoluted. I actually started with the pair of Japanese live-action films when they were shown on Film4 some years back. I'm a big fan of them.

Then I moved on to the manga and thoroughly enjoyed it. The anime is a mostly faithful adaptation of the manga, but I'm just not so keen on it. The episode where we reach L's demise (still potentially a spoiler for some!) was a bit... weird for me, plus I can't accept the change in tone of the ending.

Personally I hate the Japanese for it
Funnily enough, I've sometimes struggled a bit with an anime adaptation that I've already read (at least some) of the manga of. With Death Note, Mello's voice is not what I was expecting at all; I found it far too... theatrical. And too old-sounding!

If you've ever seen SSSS.Gridman, you'll know the angry and resentful Anti. That's how I'd imagined Mello would sound. Near, on the other hand, was... well, nearer. 😆

I like L's voice in the anime, but I just love actor Kenichi Matsuyama's portrayal of him in the live-action films; he captures all of his quirks and tics in amazingly vivid fashion. Absolutely masterful.

Have you read the Death Note manga, WMD? 🙂
 
Have you read the Death Note manga, WMD? 🙂
I have indeed. It's one of the few properties I've both watched the anime and read the manga. For context I watched the anime first. I think the first half is better in the anime and the second half better in the manga. Theres a few pieces of dialogue cut in the anime that make the manga better.
 
I think the first half is better in the anime and the second half better in the manga.
That's interesting. 🤔
My own view is that the anime loses out on both counts, but more so in the second main arc than the first.

Theres a few pieces of dialogue cut in the anime that make the manga better.
I seem to remember the part (in the first arc) with Light's scheme on the train — to learn the name of the FBI agent — having a shortcut made to it in the anime, which I remember thinking at the time might've introduced a small plothole. It's been about eight years since I've seen the anime, though. (And I've only seen it once.)

One of the big things I do rate about it is the parts where the action freezes to accommodate characters' internal monologues; that's really clever, and the music that goes along with it is excellent.

Is it Manga's BD version you've got, WMD? The one that includes the compilation films? I haven't seen those. (For the record, it's Manga's old 9-disc DVD set that I have.)
 
That's interesting. 🤔
My own view is that the anime loses out on both counts, but more so in the second main arc than the first.


I seem to remember the part (in the first arc) with Light's scheme on the train — to learn the name of the FBI agent — having a shortcut made to it in the anime, which I remember thinking at the time might've introduced a small plothole. It's been about eight years since I've seen the anime, though. (And I've only seen it once.)

One of the big things I do rate about it is the parts where the action freezes to accommodate characters' internal monologues; that's really clever, and the music that goes along with it is excellent.

Is it Manga's BD version you've got, MWD? The one that includes the compilation films? I haven't seen those. (For the record, it's Manga's old 9-disc DVD set that I have.)
Mine is the DVD set as well. I've never seen those compilation films. Death Note never felt like a story that would work if it was cut down so ive never even really looked into getting them.

I watched the anime first then read the manga. I dont remember any differences in the first half myself but it has been quite a long time since I've seen/read it. I did notice 3, I think, pieces of dialogue mostly from Near which made the second half notably better in the manga and cleared some stuff up in my head.

On a related note this Just Write video about Death Note and how to make TV addictive/bingable is really interesting and focuses on what was always my favourite episode.

 
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