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Originally Posted by Warm Mist
The 'problem' with Kyoani is that they make awesome looking shows, yet they don't cater to MANY people's taste. It's only natural that there would be tons of complaints.
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That's pretty much it, yes.
Even KyoAni's harshest critics recognizes that the studio is a solid cut or two above the rest of the anime world when it comes to animation quality and attention to detail. There might be the odd non-KyoAni show that is on par with KyoAni in this regard, but I can't think of any long-standing studio that is
consistently at that level, while KyoAni itself is (I think that P.A. Works'
character designs and 'still picture artwork' are just as good as KyoAni's, but P.A. Works' animation quality is not as consistently great).
Many people naturally would like to see this animation quality and attention to detail applied to more than just "iyashikei slow-paced SoLs". While good animation quality can be appreciated almost anywhere, I can't think of a genre that needs it
less than "iyashikei slow-paced SoLs". Whereas animation quality is massively important to an action-packed show.
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But anyway, the complaints are not reasonable in my view either, because it's discriminating against a genre.
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It's not discriminating against a genre. It's just recognizing, like you yourself seem to, that it would be nice to see KyoAni branch out more.
KyoAni is special. That's something KyoAni fans and critics agree on (even if the critics are less keen on admitting to it). The fans like them because they're special. The critics think "You do all this awesome work, but you only do it on a very limited range of shows... that's highly disappointing".
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I haven't ever seen anyone complain about ufotable only doing Type-Moon chuuni stuff since 2008, and I suspect that's because the genre KnK and F/Z fall in is much more respected in the western world than iyashikei slow-paced SoLs.
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For a few years, ufotable only did movies and ovas. That's a surefire way to fly below the radar screen of a lot of foreign (i.e. non-Japanese) anime fans because we tend to focus more on TV shows (for various reasons). We tend to only focus on anime movies when they're based on properties that were already popularized in TV format (i.e. Nanoha, Haruhi, K-On, Madoka).
Same thing with Ghibli - It being focused on movies means that fewer people actively talk about it.
Don't get me wrong, plenty of us (including myself) have seen Kara no Kyoukai and/or some Ghibli films, but they don't have that "weekly momentum" that TV shows have, so they don't get talked about as much. So, in time, we don't think about them as much.
Also, some people simply don't like the K-On character design style. Many of those same people are fine with Ghibli character design style.
I don't have a major problem with the K-On character design style, but it does take the moe concept to a certain extreme, imo. I can see why it would be "moeblob" or "too much" for some people. And I myself don't think that look suits everything - I didn't think it suited Haruhi 2009 well, for example.
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I enjoy practically everything they make, for the visual presentation if not anything else. But that's exactly the reason I would like them to do more settings, because I love the way they make their anime.
I'd really like if Yamada did a high fantasy anime full of green meadows and exotic creatures, like this:
I'd like to see Takemoto directing a drama set at college, with older characters and broader conflicts.
I'd love for Ishihara to do something totally bananas, like this:
I'd love for them to make a steampunk anime, with lots of awesome plane/ship designs and lots of vaporous things. Or maybe a cyberpunk "grimdark" show even, featuring gargantuan futuristic cities, lasers, and gore.
How about a space opera? A return to mecha shows? Something like their LN Coppelia, which IIRC is set in a mansion and features a rich boy and two doll-maids alla Rozen Maiden. They could also adapt Kyoukai no Kanata, which by the PV and summaries seems like a sekai-kei show full of action and, albeit set in a highschool, would be really nice to see.
I don't really have any gripe with Kyoani, and I enjoy what they do. Hyouka is my personal AOTY, and I'm thoroughly enjoying Chuunibyou as well. But don't tell me that them branching out and handling any of those settings with the technical expertise they're known for wouldn't be (probably) glorious.
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I'm very close to these viewpoints myself. I'd put Hyouka amongst the top 5 or 6 anime shows of the year, and Chuunibyou has been very good. I also like your ideas for how KyoAni could branch out.