Anime with the worst art styles

[Gintokifan22]

Long running Anime tend to take a dive in Animation time to time, One Piece and Naruto have ( I'm a fan of both so yah)

I only remember two Anime that had such awful Animation that I couldn't even sit through the entire thing, that's hard for me as I'm not picky with Animation in particular as long as the characters are likeable I try not to let it distract me.

If I remember right they are short Anime, I think one was mixed with Sci fi and sclice of life which I normally love. I can't flipping remember the name UGH!

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by 0cean

I'd make the claim, that they push the medium beyond the boundary of what anime should be.

It's okay to be different. Though, that mostly means to look like shit - think Kaiba (2008). Turns out norms are there because they work and being way different for difference sake really is just striking your own ego. It's easy to differentiate oneself by choosing an unusual style, but hard to accomplish the same without visually sticking out too much.

I completely agree with you. It's just doing things differently for the sake of doing things differently, nothing else.
Those who truly experiment new things do so with the belief or hope that those may actually become the new trend.

[Tanuki.]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

It's just doing things differently for the sake of doing things differently, nothing else.

Can you elaborate that? I get the feeling that you simply don't find that style aesthetically pleasing and try to shrug it off as being hipster for that reason. And I find it hard to believe that people who have watched Aku no Hana will not be able to see the merits of that style and what it's trying to do (hint: it's more that just wanting to be different) , whether they like it or not. That show would feel totally, totally different with conventional character designs and animation.

Those who truly experiment new things do so with the belief or hope that those may actually become the new trend.

Why that? This doesn't make any sense to me. Why would you want everyone else to copy your style?

[Akito Kinomoto]

Well since we revived this thread again, I've actually got an answer now: most anime produced by Shaft. Mononoke is artsy. Ping Pong is stylistically simple. Whatever my grievances of Tatami Galaxy's plot structure, the visuals at least serve the story. Shaft anime often conflate visual storytelling into visual obtuseness, obstructing the underlying material instead of communicating it

[-G1-]

I partially agree with Kaiba (2008). It's a fantastic show and the director is brilliant, but he often uses unortodox designs in his works. This is not gratuitous: the aesthetical character of his work is almost-always in opposition if the character of the work story-wise. A dark story like Kaiba is shown even darker when in contrast with the childish designed characters and the world they are set in. The director probably would argue in favor of using childish design by means of some "artistic point" he's trying to convey.

I'd say that "bad" art style occurs when it isn't meaningful within the story. I think can only think of only one series in which the unortodox aesthetics is uneeded and actually makes it worse, but it's not exactly "normal" anime.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Akuma Kousaka

Shaft anime often conflate visual storytelling into visual obtuseness, obstructing the underlying material instead of communicating it

3-gatsu no Lion would beg to differ. It still has Simbo's over-the-top style, but pretty much always in support of the story line.

[Tanuki.]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

3-gatsu no Lion would beg to differ. It still has Simbo's over-the-top style, but pretty much always in support of the story line.

Hmm, when I watched S1, I had a bit mixed feelings. I loved the show and I think Shaft did a great job portraying Rei's inner feelings and anxieties, but I also think they overdid it a bit and every single of of Rei's monologues feels a lot more dramatic due to the symbolic imageries. I felt like it would have been better to tone that part down a bit to use it more effectively in scenes that really matter. If everything is rather dramatic, then the true highlights don't have a chance to stick out.

I still think Shaft/Simbo did an outstanding job in terms of directions, but I had some issues with this part specifically.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Tanuki.

Hmm, when I watched S1, I had a bit mixed feelings.

Me, too. I was just reacting to a broad-brush suggestion that SHAFT's work falls into the category of "worst art styles."

I've always been struck by Simbo's portrayals of schools in shows like Madoka and Bakemonogatari. They often contain lattice-work designs suggestive of a cage or prison.

[GDiddy]

Sometimes, the art in Naruto and even Bleach looked like something that a child could animate...

[Mad Pierrot]

A new one that I love is Devilman Crybaby. However, if you accidentally pause the episodes, you'll notice a lot of weird tones.

Same's with Toriyama's style. Since he has drawn so many characters including Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball, there are a lot of repeated faces. Even this was mentioned in Neko Majin.