AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Little Busters

***relentlessflame*** · 2012-11-20, 20:35

Regarding the composition of the story, it's probably worth mentioning again that all of the episodes so far have been written by same writer who also did the overall adaptation/story planning, which is itself extremely unusual for a 2-cour (+) show. (I don't know if she will end up doing the script for the entire 26-episode run, plus the next season, but if so, it'd be pretty-damn impressive for a TV anime.) So I think the elements that people don't like about the script treatment are probably attributable a lot (entirely?) to the lead writer. And, as a reminder of the conversations that happened before the anime started airing, the writer does not work for J.C.Staff and has never worked on a J.C.Staff show before; from what Key stated, she was selected with their approval based on her work on long-running adaptations of classic/well-known literature.

As much as people complain about the "budget", spending the time and money necessary to have a single writer do so much of the script for a weekly anime requires a lot of trust and dedication. It'd be a lot more financially-efficient (if they just didn't care) to have someone generate a rough outline and have sub-writers do the episode scripts, as happens for most shows. We also know that Key themselves said in the past that they had come up with the "trick" to make a TV adaptation of Little Busters work as far as the story goes, so we don't know how much of the story layout was also done under their influence, not to mention the have also said that they are also consulting on the writing on an on-going basis as well.

So all that to say... I think that a) they probably do have a plan in terms of what they're doing with the story and b) whatever that plan is doesn't sound like it has much to do with J.C.Staff. So I tend to agree that even just changing the animation production studio may not have changed the aspects of the story presentation that some people dislike. (However, I tend to think that some people may be more forgiving of the story issues if a) they had more faith in the production company, and b) if there were pretty animation to talk about. I think there is a lot of angst among some VN readers right now because the anime is not as popular as they think it deserves to be, and they are looking for people to blame.)

Now the way that script is adapted into anime (the storyboarding, direction, etc.) is obviously more under J.C. Staff's control. I think it's interesting that three of the seven episodes so far have had their storyboarding done by the main director, which is what was expected based on him having been chosen (he was seen as a very "hands-on" director). Perhaps the nature of this is also that, if you don't really gel with the main director's style, you'll just have to live with it, because his style has a large influence on the way everything goes. If this does indeed end up being a split 52-episode show (which is how it's looking), I suppose people will likely get used to it eventually (or they won't).

Regarding the comparisons between Sakurasou and Little Busters in terms of production values... I honestly would be surprised if one show has that much of a bigger budget than the other (notwithstanding that Little Busters may be scheduled for double the episode count, so would have needed double the investment from the production partners). I really do think it's a) the experience and skill of the staff involved, and b) the techniques used to mask the budget. The digital compositing and 2D effects in Sakurasou are top-notch and adds a sort of "shininess" to everything that Little Busters doesn't have. Meanwhile, Little Busters commits the "sin" of falling back on some really well-known and much-ridiculed shortcut techniques (like speed lines and still frames) that are obvious, while they seem to focus a bit more on things that are a bit less commented-on or obvious (like smoother character animation).

Anyway, it'll be nice when the story picks up enough steam that this will be the main focus rather than the production values.

2012-11-20, 20:35	Link #76
*relentlessflame* 　 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 41	Regarding the composition of the story, it's probably worth mentioning again that all of the episodes so far have been written by same writer who also did the overall adaptation/story planning, which is itself extremely unusual for a 2-cour (+) show. (I don't know if she will end up doing the script for the entire 26-episode run, plus the next season, but if so, it'd be pretty-damn impressive for a TV anime.) So I think the elements that people don't like about the script treatment are probably attributable a lot (entirely?) to the lead writer. And, as a reminder of the conversations that happened before the anime started airing, the writer does not work for J.C.Staff and has never worked on a J.C.Staff show before; from what Key stated, she was selected with their approval based on her work on long-running adaptations of classic/well-known literature. As much as people complain about the "budget", spending the time and money necessary to have a single writer do so much of the script for a weekly anime requires a lot of trust and dedication. It'd be a lot more financially-efficient (if they just didn't care) to have someone generate a rough outline and have sub-writers do the episode scripts, as happens for most shows. We also know that Key themselves said in the past that they had come up with the "trick" to make a TV adaptation of Little Busters work as far as the story goes, so we don't know how much of the story layout was also done under their influence, not to mention the have also said that they are also consulting on the writing on an on-going basis as well. So all that to say... I think that a) they probably do have a plan in terms of what they're doing with the story and b) whatever that plan is doesn't sound like it has much to do with J.C.Staff. So I tend to agree that even just changing the animation production studio may not have changed the aspects of the story presentation that some people dislike. (However, I tend to think that some people may be more forgiving of the story issues if a) they had more faith in the production company, and b) if there were pretty animation to talk about. I think there is a lot of angst among some VN readers right now because the anime is not as popular as they think it deserves to be, and they are looking for people to blame.) Now the way that script is adapted into anime (the storyboarding, direction, etc.) is obviously more under J.C. Staff's control. I think it's interesting that three of the seven episodes so far have had their storyboarding done by the main director, which is what was expected based on him having been chosen (he was seen as a very "hands-on" director). Perhaps the nature of this is also that, if you don't really gel with the main director's style, you'll just have to live with it, because his style has a large influence on the way everything goes. If this does indeed end up being a split 52-episode show (which is how it's looking), I suppose people will likely get used to it eventually (or they won't). Regarding the comparisons between Sakurasou and Little Busters in terms of production values... I honestly would be surprised if one show has that much of a bigger budget than the other (notwithstanding that Little Busters may be scheduled for double the episode count, so would have needed double the investment from the production partners). I really do think it's a) the experience and skill of the staff involved, and b) the techniques used to mask the budget. The digital compositing and 2D effects in Sakurasou are top-notch and adds a sort of "shininess" to everything that Little Busters doesn't have. Meanwhile, Little Busters commits the "sin" of falling back on some really well-known and much-ridiculed shortcut techniques (like speed lines and still frames) that are obvious, while they seem to focus a bit more on things that are a bit less commented-on or obvious (like smoother character animation). Anyway, it'll be nice when the story picks up enough steam that this will be the main focus rather than the production values. __________________ [...]