The most fluidly animated anime out there...

[Waking_Dreamer]

Im just curious...what are the animes out there that are just breathtakingly animated?

When I say animated as in the movement of the characters, vehicles, environment etc. Also, not just for a particular scene stand point - but consistently throughout the series. So like I know how some scenes are pretty fun to watch in Naruto and Bleach - they totally fail on the consistency basis.

I havent been into anime as much as I was a few years ago but I always thought series like Ghost in the Shell, Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and maybe Serei no Moribito were top notch animation wise...though its come to my attention that apparently they are still not as good as other animation series/styles. Can this really be...?

It would interesting if anyone could mention other anime series that are animated better than the ones already mentioned, links to clip examples would be great too if possible.

Also lets limit them to series and not movies sicne there is a big difference in terms of scale and budget when it come to those formats.

[C.A.]

Clannad's 'Imaginary World' scenes are one of the most fluidly animated scenes ever in normal series.

For OVAs, which usually have high quality animation, Karas was outstanding. Extremely fluid, sharp and fast movements during fighting scenes.

[MidnightViper88]

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, definitely, though it seems the GitS team got even better in the production quality with 2nd GIG...The implementation of 3D modeling in even 2D modeling out the ass really does wonders...

Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are two others that are also profound in animation quality...

And if you aren't distracted by the animation style, then FLCL would also have to be quality too...

[KholdStare]

I'm going to go with The Place Promised in Our Early Days. No, not 5cm/s, but that. The music video in 5cm/s was great, but I think Place Promised excels in animation.

[Mushi]

Originally Posted by KholdStare

I'm going to go with The Place Promised in Our Early Days.

But that's a movie... and a Shinkai one at that. Doesn't he take an unusually long time to make his films? OP asked not to include movies.

I'd have to agree on MidnightViper88's choices. Another that comes to mind is Last Exile.

[andromeda0201]

I'd say most of Bones series are done extremely well animation-wise, they may not have the breathtaking 3D effect as seen from KyoAni, Makoto Shinkai's works, or the beautiful backgrounds like Seirei, Ghost in the shell etc...

However their character movements and expressions are done extremely in detail, especially the expressions which I can say, are done far more superior compared to other studios out there. You can observe anime like Kurau Phantom Memory, FMA and Eureka Seven, every movement from a raise of an eyebrow to a smirk are so well animated and remain consistant throughout the series.

[xia]

Originally Posted by MidnightViper88

Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are two others that are also profound in animation quality...

I hate to just echo other people's sentiments, but those two came to mind pretty quickly.

Also have to agree that the Clannad's imaginary world scenes were also animated beautifully.

[nixie]

Kaiba has amazing fluidity. Gurren Lagann was also outstanding.

[Kakashi]

I vote for Naruto!....Juuust joking of course, no need to grab the pitchforks. Kurozuka has amazing animation.

[SeijiSensei]

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=42599
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=54050
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=63120

I'll repeat my recommendations from one of those threads of Noein and Mononoke. Noein has some fluidly animated fighting sequences (see episode 12 in particular). Mononoke, and it's predecessor Bakeneko, are remarkable for their rather psychedelic style. I'd also second Kurozuka.

Recently I've found the shows by Brains-Base to be among the most intriguing both in terms of scripts and in terms of animation. Baccano!, Kure-nai, and Natsume Yuujinchou are all very different shows, but they're all quite well made.

[Mushi]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Recently I've found the shows by Brains-Base to be among the most intriguing both in terms of scripts and in terms of animation... ...all very different shows, but they're all quite well made.

I was thinking the same about Kamichu!

And I want to add, about Last Exile, I mentioned it mainly for the flying and battle scenes and traditional/CG mix. The quality of human animation varies from episode to episode as I recall.

[Supah Em]

In terms of fluid animation Karas is the only one that comes into mind. It was one of the few shows that made me go WTF over the excellence that is the fight scenes.

[ZeRoGravity]

There are times I find too many awkward inbetweens in a fluid animation. It may look nice in motion but it looks completely retarded when its still. I guess that is fine on small screens, but when the show is blown up on T.V. like 32" or bigger it is so obvious and ugly.

In the genre that I usually go for (comedy) there aren't much ones with good animation, the only series I can remember with good animation (note that there probably are more that I can't remember) are Kannagi, Manabi Straight and Library Wars.

[Mushi]

Originally Posted by Supah Em

In terms of fluid animation Karas is the only one that comes into mind. It was one of the few shows that made me go WTF over the excellence that is the fight scenes.

That's an OVA. And it was Tatsunoko Production's 40th Anniversary work, so you can be sure it got some extra attention. Haven't seen it, but it looks intriguing.

[Noe]

5 Centimeters per Second & Aria the Origination imo.

[ddwkc]

The first episode of Nanoha was quite fluid animation-wise. Hidamari Sketch x360's first episode as well. A lot of first episodes are quite well done. Too bad most of them don't keep the quality as the series progresses.

[Waking_Dreamer]

Yea, thanks for the suggestions so far.

Though remember I would like it limited to animated series and ones that have it on a fairly consistent level.

I heard that generally anime sacrifices animation fluidity for the sake of budget, where detailed character models and backgrounds are much less expensive than detailed, fluid motion. Also that generally they use 8 frames per second while other non-anime animation generally use 12 frames per second. So, while many people believe that the detailed character models and backgrounds indicates good animation, when in reality, it's just a consolation of money saved from choppy animation.

I know there are heaps of animes that obviously very choppy, but of the ones already mentioned some people will still say while look great are not the best animated animations there are. I am no animation buff so I dont know how valid that statement is. Anyone know more info about this?

So yea, I am looking for an anime series that is fluidly impressive throughout the series, so there isnt any, "oh well that scene was great but every ep after was...meh" and that totally shatters that hypothesis without a shred of doubt. ....if possible

Also, while someone already mentioned 5 Centimeters per Second, I know visually it was crack for the eyes and the detail background and colour are simply jaw dropping; animation-wise it wasnt that impressive. Obviously the genre didnt lend it self to show how good its animation could be, but as is - it wouldnt be a good example Im looking for. Animation as in fluidity of movement.

[qtipbrit]

As far as fluid animation goes, Place Promised has nothing on 5 Centimeters, and Shinkai has nothing on stuff like Ghibli, UFOtable's Kara no Kyoukai, GitS, Bones' Sword of the Stranger, Akira, or a couple of Madhouse's movies (Kon works come to mind). Orgasmic clouds and scenery != fluid animation.

TV series with the most fluid animation... KyoAni's Full Metal Panic! TSR, HFM's Aria the Origination, Gainax's Gurren Lagann, I.G.'s Ghost Hound, Sunrise's Gundam 00, and Madhouse's Kurozuka have some of the most fluid TV animation I've seen in recent memory.
As a note, all of these are more fluid than anything from Shinkai.

Edit: holy crap, forgot to mention Morimoto's Memories movies. They're from 1995, but they're crisper in animation than most of the movies of this age, not to mention Cannon Fodder, which was a showcase of the best animation direction techniques anime has ever seen. (Show me one other person who can directed a 22-minute movie with not a single screencut.)

[Deus ex Digital Boy]

Production I.G. inevitably has the most fluid animation because they get the highest budgets. I think GitS SAC was said to be like the highest budget TV anime ever or some shit.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Waking_Dreamer

So yea, I am looking for an anime series that is fluidly impressive throughout the series, so there isnt any,

Every show has a budget, and the animators have to make decisions about which episodes deserve a greater investment and which need less. Let's take Seirei no Moribito for an example. The first few episodes display some of the best animation I've seen in a television series. Does it maintain the same level throughout? Well, no, not entirely, though it's always a cut above most shows I've seen. There are extensive sections of the story where the show has more of a "slice-of-life" feeling focusing on the characters and plot development. Flashy animation really isn't necessary for these sequences, and the I.G. staff in general saved money on scenes like these to pay for the sequences that needed a bigger investment. I find this admirable myself.