Funnels Vs Dragoons

[C.A.]

I always think of that split second as an animation fault.

But if I were to put my mind to it and think of an explanation based on science:

Firstly the abilty to reflect beams is caused by the 'Mirror Coating'. Meaning, if there was ever a more complex process than just reflection taking place, it should all happen in the coating alone.

If its just simple reflection, there could be 2 ways, already mentioned in this thread, micro mirrors and retroreflection, both are actually the same.

If it involves a more complexed process, that causes lag in reflection, I have a theory for it:

Even with retroreflection, a reflected beam would not be as focused as it originally was. To reflect a beam with the same focus and intensity it would require something more than simple reflection. Something that makes the coating more than just a coat of paint or mirror particles.

This coating could be a very intricate set of prisms arranged at the nano-scale. The prisms are arranged in such a way that they will collect incoming beams, converge them towards a single point, then directed back in the same direction as it came from.

The entire coating is arranged at a molecular level so that there's probably millions of such prism arrangements per square centimeter. This to reduce the chance of a beam getting to the coating and not reflected back in the same direction.

The splitting of the beam, converging and redirecting is the process behind the split second lag. Its not a real reflection, but the outcome of the refraction and converging of beams causes a similar effect.

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by C.A.

I always think of that split second as an animation fault.

Why? The animators did it the same way every time it happened, so it seems quite deliberate.

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

Why? The animators did it the same way every time it happened, so it seems quite deliberate.

The way they animated it is for effect and cleanliness, while risking its supposed effect of being instantaneous reflections.

They animated it in such a way where we can see Akatsuki take the full hit, returns it back fully while striking a pose. And if the beams are reflected back exactly in the same way as it comes, the animation would be a little messy if its instantaneous. It wouldn't have a problem if its a normal reflection, bouncing beams off in an angle away from the origin, but a retroreflected beam would be messy to animate exactly. The red and blue positron beams would look very weird and messy if the leading part of the beam returns before the trailing end comes to Akatsuki.