Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo
I have to roundly disagree about PA - I find their series to generally be among the most visually impressive around. They effectively co-produced Moribito, and I think True Tears and HanaIro are a couple of the most beautiful series to look at. Their animation might not be as fluid as KyoAni, but their backgrounds are consistently as stunning as anything in TV anime.
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I'll really disagree about the backgrounds especially. I think that's one of the areas where PA Works really shows their weakness in standing up there with the top-tier digital looking studios today (KyoAni and Ufotable mainly). Their backgrounds are mostly 3D digital backgrounds, but generally lack the composition which makes them look really cohesive, especially when lighting is taken into account. This is extremely apparent in Angel Beats and Hanairo in particular. There are many episodes where some interiors and exteriors just looked totally bland.
Another thing to consider is that Ufotable and Kyoto Animation are really the only animation studios in Japan today who we can really say are fully representative of the shows they put out. No other studios I can think of qualify because they mostly operate on the traditional production model where the animation studio is generally just for animation. Which means the proper employees of the studio are mostly production management staff, in-between animators, and key animators. Everything else is contracted from freelancers or other studios specializing in those tasks (backgrounds, finishing, composite, etc).
Ufotable and Kyoto Animation on the other hand, are studios built from ground up with a brand new mentality towards animation production in Japan. They recruit fresh staff across every discipline every year and do pretty much all major tasks in-house. Staff are trained, and as they gain experience they are promoted. Episode directors, storyboarders, key animators, in-between animators, in-between check, finishing, art direction, backgrounds, digital effects, 3DCG, composite, editing, etc. Everything is led by actual employees in the studio. Even when they contract outside staff to help with the workload, it makes a huge difference when the actual process starts and ends within the studio itself.
/rant :-)