(L) Aku No Hana (Flowers of Evil)

[Fevvers]

Haven't watched tge episode yet but I am loving the character designs. Relax people, this is tame compared to other seinen character designs out there *laughs*. Anyway, if there's anything I hated about the manga, it was that godawful generic otaku designs. Glad Nagahama took control.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Fevvers

Haven't watched tge episode yet but I am loving the character designs. Relax people, this is tame compared to other seinen character designs out there *laughs*.

If the characters actually had more defined lips and noses (or,you know, faces not only in close ups) like in plenty of seinen manga character design I wouldn't have an issue with the visuals.

[Azuma Denton]

Seriously ZEXCS??
You put some detail in background art but you couldn't put some detail on character design?
Even the OP is just some slide show?
Are you trying to be SHAFT??

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Azuma Denton

Are you trying to be SHAFT??

No,Arve Rezzle is zexcs trying to be shaft I'm not even kidding.

[topboy]

I think that decided to animated it like that with reasons,being it intense storyline with psycho actions or unappropriate behaviours of characters.They used so called 'new innovation artistic' to release seriousness of story. This way makes only real fan continue watching it. Less criticism from society.

[darkchibi07]

Originally Posted by Fevvers

Haven't watched tge episode yet but I am loving the character designs. Relax people, this is tame compared to other seinen character designs out there *laughs*. Anyway, if there's anything I hated about the manga, it was that godawful generic otaku designs. Glad Nagahama took control.

Now the big question is will this style be able to carry along the intended story they want to tell. Nothing's worse than a disastrous experiment.

[Marcus H.]

Nothing's more hilarious than a disastrous experiment.

Fixed that for ya.

[vaden]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

The irony for me is that I was already torn on whether I wanted to follow this, because the manga is intentionally such an unpleasant experience. Now added to that is that the visuals in the anime are likewise an intentionally unpleasant experience. Doesn't make the decision any easier.

I haven't read the manga, but I hazard the difference here is that the unpleasantness of the thematic content isn't easily mistaken for incompetence, while the unpleasantness of the adaptation's animation is.

[articuzwolf]

Kinda hate myself from hating Magi or Kingdom in the past few seasons

they were actually not that bad...

[Fevvers]

Originally Posted by totoum

If the characters actually had more defined lips and noses (or,you know, faces not only in close ups) like in plenty of seinen manga character design I wouldn't have an issue with the visuals.

Eh, didn't really bother me. Like I mentioned, I've seen worse (and by worse I mean bizarre/outlandish designs).

Now on to the first episode, I think I'm in. Really, that was quite an experience, such a pleasant surprise for me as I thought the manga was merely so-so (though it had an interesting story to tell, wasn't impressive visually for me). I love the attention to the little details here, the uneven roads, rusty steel pipes, decaying structures, the ripped posters, Kasuga's barely there smile as Saeki takes a glimpse of him... Voice acting is very different as well (or at least different from the typical seiyuu acting) which is something it has in common with Mushishi as well.

And oh, that dark, ambient background music is eerily similar Atticus Ross' soundtrack for The Social Network. Interesting...

[Trajan]

I don't have much to add to the rotoscoping debate, but my God the sound design is fantastic. Perhaps with the added visual task of reading subtitles our brains miss out on some of the audio information we are being presented, but if you close your eyes and just listen it's simply wonderful.

[Fevvers]

Originally Posted by Trajan

I don't have much to add to the rotoscoping debate, but my God the sound design is fantastic. Perhaps with the added visual task of reading subtitles our brains miss out on some of the audio information we are being presented, but if you close your eyes and just listen it's simply wonderful.

QFT

On the top of my head, I can only name three anime that delivers something similar audio-wise: Ghost Hound, Shigurui, and Lain.

[taichi-kun]

No No No

Bad very bad.I'll drop this right now...

Please no anime version of Tokiwa or I'll have nightmares

[jeroz]

I feel like this series is better to listen to than to actually watch it

[vaden]

Originally Posted by Fevvers

And oh, that dark, ambient background music is eerily similar Atticus Ross' soundtrack for The Social Network. Interesting...

You weren't the only one — the music in the trailer reminded me strongly of Reznor and Ross' work on Ghosts I-IV.

[Dawnstorm]

From the very start, when I heard "rotoscoping" I was worried. I'm surprised how much I actually like the visuals. Once I got used to it, it was nice to not have any more lines that necessary (line from the anime, probably Beaudlaire in Jpanese? "I despise all movement that displaces lines" - heh). Very slow pace, monotonous soundtrack, but there's a constant fading in and out (volume for sound, line details for visuals) and that makes for a very interesting effect (something, btw, that's probably harder to pull off in live-action films, since you'd have to work with filters or whatever - not an expert). Sometimes the back of a head might remind me of that strange flower...

I'm pretty happy with episode one, actually. I certainly don't think it's incompetence.

Originally Posted by Theo

Setting this to a-ha's "Take on Me" is a stroke of genius. You'll need to know the video to get the joke.

***

Oh, and I absolutely love the opening and ending.

[creb]

Maybe I've just watched far too much anime to actually be bothered by animation quality.

As for the actual show itself, I realize it's supposed to be some psychological thriller/drama/etc, and that it's likely supposed to be a slow burn, and, yes, the ending, but gawd that was one boring 23 minutes and 59 seconds of my life.

I think painting my walls using my eyelashes as a paint brush would have been more exciting and rewarding.

[Guardian Enzo]

As to the visuals, I share the belief that many viewers are missing the larger point of these artistic choices. They're choices - mostly.

But here's the problem. Just as the show's attackers are missing that point, the staunchest defenders are swallowing a lot that seems like simply shoddy work as being all in the name of art. This isn't trying for photo-realism - in life people's movements aren't jerky because of low frame rates and their faces don't disappear more than 10 feet away from you. Some of this is being done simply because it's cheap, and frankly, it's not especially skillful use of rotoscoping as compared to some.

This reminds me of SHAFT, in a way, using tricks to make up for a lack of animation quality and chalking it all up to stylistic choice. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't.

[Marcus H.]

^ The main difference is that SHAFT has shown to have pulled this off quite nicely with the Bakemonogatari series (which are monsters in itself when it comes to sales), while we only have the bold words of the director and the mangaka in our hands. Not to mention ZEXCS is quite a notorious animation studio for producing not-so-commercially-successful series.

If Aku no Hana will only push through for the sake of artistic recognition, I may not care anymore if they bomb spectacularly. I'm not sure if ZEXCS doesn't mind losing money from this audacious project, though.

[Traece]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

As to the visuals, I share the belief that many viewers are missing the larger point of these artistic choices. They're choices - mostly.

But here's the problem. Just as the show's attackers are missing that point, the staunchest defenders are swallowing a lot that seems like simply shoddy work as being all in the name of art. This isn't trying for photo-realism - in life people's movements aren't jerky because of low frame rates and their faces don't disappear more than 10 feet away from you. Some of this is being done simply because it's cheap, and frankly, it's not especially skillful use of rotoscoping as compared to some.

This reminds me of SHAFT, in a way, using tricks to make up for a lack of animation quality and chalking it all up to stylistic choice. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't.

I think one of the big things that Aku no Hana really brings up is: How far can you ride the "art style" train until it goes too far. Before I say anything, I admit to having only seen comparisons and clips of the first episode, and I've not read the manga or really heard of Aku no Hana prior to it appearing this season (it was on my plan to watch list, but I've removed it for the time begin. It's safe to say this is a permanent decision).

Call it a choice, call it an art style. You're technically correct by saying that. However, this is real life and we don't do any of that "everyone is beautiful for making their own choices" BS. The art in the anime is far from the look of the manga. The anime versions of the characters are bulbous, featureless, and flat, even strangely proportioned. If the characters looked more like the manga characters, I would accept it; and if the characters looked realistic, I would accept it. They don't fit either category.

As you say, it is cheap and it is not skillful. That's an issue. It's also an issue is people are accepting of what I can only call intentionally poor craftsmanship. At least in the case of studios like SHAFT, when quality suffers it tends to be more of a one-off instance. There was an issue with Psycho-Pass where people felt that a couple episodes (which were slower-paced, dialogue-heavy episodes) were poorly animated, while the rest of the show was (in my opinion) beautiful.