Studio Deen: Studio discussion, speculation, and whatnot

[RRW]

Originally Posted by Malkuth

Interesting there is a thread for bashing studio

They focus on fan-service (harem and/or bishounen)

Well, as adaptions go this studio has committed several atrocities...

• Kore wa Zombie Desuka?
• Dragon Crisis!
• Unlimited Blade Works
• Seitokai no Ichizon
• Umineko no Naku Koro ni
• Shion no Ou
• Touka Gettan
• Shounen Onmyouji
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
• Fate/Stay Night
• Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
• Samurai Deeper Kyou
• Fruits Basket

Or let's put it this way, series composition is an unkown term to their stuff. Animation is so and so for TV, better in OVA (ROD, for example) and movies (UBW), when they actually animate anything, since the shows the pick usually need very few keys and even these are just talking heads. Still for me the writters they employ should be publicly executed as a service to mankind

not sure if They focus on fan-service (harem and/or bishounen) they also adapt many of work that outside that like giant killing and law of ueki. even thought they have some reputation on fujoshi market. to me their forte is comedy

[Malkuth]

Originally Posted by Taufiq91

You just committed an otaku rage for listing these shows :P

I suppose

Originally Posted by rrw

not sure if They focus on fan-service (harem and/or bishounen) they also adapt many of work that outside that like giant killing and law of ueki. even thought they have some reputation on fujoshi market. to me their forte is comedy

I have a hard time recalling any bishounen harem or non-H yaoi by another studio

[TJR]

I doubt they deliberately focus on anything. Pure contractors like Deen tend to adapt whatever the producing companies throw at them.

If your company produces a big hit in a particular genre, you get flooded with requests for similar things. It's like how actors get typecast into certain roles because producers and directors hope to see the same success.

The narrowing just gets worse if the studio produces hits within only one or two genres - say, fujoshi and gag anime - while other types of series flop. When that happens, the sponsors stop inviting them to do anything except the stuff they're successful at. It's like how Madhouse was largely blacklisted from doing moe anime (which the president admitted) because they put out a bunch of low quality, poor selling ones.

[RRW]

Originally Posted by Malkuth

I have a hard time recalling any bishounen harem or non-H yaoi by another studio

only studio that closer to deen in bishounen harem or non-H yaoi market is Bones. even thought generally deen more popular consider they tend to released more than on in a year.

but obviously i dont care about that (eventhought i did watch hetalia movie).

[sople]

They're probably one of the better studios but the problem is the anime they are known for aren't the good ones. When you think DEEN people tend to think of things like Umineko which wasn't given a very large budget for a reason.
Still they've been making great anime '85 and working on great anime since '75. They have always been big on animation assistance so chances are your favorite studios have used their services a lot.
Anyway here's some of the better series they did.

Amatsuki
Angel's Egg
Fate/Stay Night
Fruits Basket
Full Moon wo Sagashite
Giant Killing
Hatenkou Yuugi
The Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA
Jigoku Shoujo
Law of Ueki
Kore wa Zombie
Maison Ikkoku
MariMite
Patlabor OVAs
Ranma 1/2
Read or Die OVA
Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen
Sadamitsu the Destroyer
Seitokai no Ichizon
Simoun
Shion no Oh
Shonen Onmyouji
Tactics
Touka Gettan
Urusei Yatsura (2nd half)
Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
You're Under Arrest
Zipang

You probably won't like all of these but anyone claiming it's a bad list probably hasn't seen much from it. Regardless of your feelings towards the F/SN or Yami to Boushi adaptations, they are probably the best VN adaptations ever made. Even things like CLANNAD which had a lot of care put into them manage to mess up key things because they weren't designed to be anime.

[Reckoner]

Half that list is filled with awful animes, and the others are reasonable, but not awe-strucking.

Their fate/stay night adaption (Not UBW, that was just terrible beyond belief) is alright, but ti isn't very good as far as adaption go.

Seriously, this studio is shit.

They're lucky to have an actually good adaption of rurouni kenshin OVA, as well as a passable Higurashi adaption (which had an awesome enough source material to carry it because really they were trying everything possible to make it low quality).

[sople]

Originally Posted by sople

You probably won't like all of these but anyone claiming it's a bad list probably hasn't seen much from it.

I really doubt you've seen more than 3-4 anime from the list.

[Raiga]

My impression of them was a little sour at first but Seitokai no Ichizon and then Zombie I both enjoyed quite a lot, and Higurashi, while I'm sure it could have been better adapted, I enjoyed for what it was.

However, I can't say I enjoyed their adaptation of Umineko, and even Higurashi had its awkward moments and some rather badly animated scenes (which definitely contributed to my initially less-than-stellar impression of the studio).

So my judgement is currently a cautious, "Depending on the source material, the team, and a bit of chance, they can produce something good, but don't cross your fingers."

[RRW]

well usually i trust Deen if the animate comedy roles.

[Malkuth]

DEEN does not only excel in turning the best source material into shit, but also contracting extremely talented staff, and making them forget how to do their work

[Arabesque]

While I do think that there;s a lot of truth to the claims that ''Deen produces shitty anime'' I think we're getting into the point where it seems there is nothing positive to say about them in this thread :P

So something more sweeter to balance with the bitterness

Originally Posted by TJR

I think the president is also creating an anime in his late wife's memory.

That's actually true

Hiroshi Hasegawa, the 59-year-old president of Studio DEEN, is self-financing an anime retelling of local Japanese folklore to honor a promise to his wife Michiko, who passed away in May. Hasegawa is aiming to finish this anime about the stories of western Tottori Prefecture — his birthplace — and Yamagata Prefecture's Tsuruoka City — his wife's birthplace — next summer.

Originally Posted by Raiga

So my judgement is currently a cautious, "Depending on the source material, the team, and a bit of chance, they can produce something good, but don't cross your fingers."

More or less my view.

I might joke around about how they get out very low quality anime, but in the end they are actually an average studio with a number of decent series. Their problem lies in how they havent gotten out an excellent series to offset criticism.

[Witch of Uncertainty]

I don't get the whining about Higurashi. I've read all the visual novels that were covered in season 1-2, and thought that they overall did a fantastic job. Tsumihoroboshi was pretty bad, but the other arcs were almost exactly like the Visual novel.

Of course, when Shion attempted to kill Keiichi in Watanagashi-hen, they focused more on CRAZYMURDERELOL than the sadness that this scene was filled with, but I wasn't too bothered.

I like Umineko, but I can definetely understand a lot of the hate against it.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by sople

You probably won't like all of these but anyone claiming it's a bad list probably hasn't seen much from it. Regardless of your feelings towards the F/SN or Yami to Boushi adaptations, they are probably the best VN adaptations ever made. Even things like CLANNAD which had a lot of care put into them manage to mess up key things because they weren't designed to be anime.

They are arguably not. Regardless how the execution of the series was, F/SN was badly adapted: a lot of things do not make sense whatsoever, they made characters acting like idiot, and Shirou's development was literally ignored (the church scene being obliterated was the biggest toll for him).
Yami to Boushi basically changed the dynamics between characters for no damn reason.

I would even call Higurashi being a "better" adaptation than these 2, so I can't believe you can call these as best adaptations ever made. Even Kanon 2002 is better, despite being average compared to 2006.
The number of "blunders" for Clannad is arguably much lower than F/SN, and the adaptation was already harder for the former.

Originally Posted by Witch of Uncertainty

I don't get the whining about Higurashi. I've read all the visual novels that were covered in season 1-2, and thought that they overall did a fantastic job. Tsumihoroboshi was pretty bad, but the other arcs were almost exactly like the Visual novel.

Tatarigoroshi was completely dampened to death, with a huge focus on Keiichi being shown like a impulsive idiot (instead of a cunning and broken guy) and Satoko being merely a nutcase instead of a tragic character.
Meakashi also literally skimmed Shion's inner thoughts to the point the targedy was nearly inexistant.
Tsumihoroboshi was also a huge blow on Rena's past, and also how her relationship with keiichi developped (the fight on the school roof was one of the biggest disappointment of the first season ever).

The only proper adaptation they have done with Season 1 was Onikakushi, and yet they managed to dampen Keiichi's torn psyche.

[DonQuigleone]

Studio Deen is like a worse version of JC Staff. They both produce their fair share of bad series, including a large number of VN and Light novel adaptations. But at least JC Staff puts out the ocasional Gem (Honey and Clover, Nodame Cantabile). The only thing of any worth I know of put out by Deen is Higurashi, and according to fans of the VN they messed it up anyway, though I think on it's own merits they did a good job.

[Witch of Uncertainty]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Tatarigoroshi was completely dampened to death, with a huge focus on Keiichi being shown like a impulsive idiot (instead of a cunning and broken guy) and Satoko being merely a nutcase instead of a tragic character.

At what point was he represented as an impulsive idiot in the anime? I can't remember any difference in this chapter, really.

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Meakashi also literally skimmed Shion's inner thoughts to the point the targedy was nearly inexistant.
Tsumihoroboshi was also a huge blow on Rena's past, and also how her relationship with keiichi developped (the fight on the school roof was one of the biggest disappointment of the first season ever).

I agree with that. Especially Tsumihoroboshi. Thhat was a broken chapter, but I did not find the Shion chapter to be a bad one. Right now, I'd rather say that the only real difference would be the lack of sad music. I'll admit that iit's been a while since I read the VN and watched the anime, though.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Witch of Uncertainty

At what point was he represented as an impulsive idiot in the anime? I can't remember any difference in this chapter, really.

Spoiler for Tatarigoroshi, third arc of Higurashi S1:

Basically, after Satoko broke down, Keiichi was shown just taken off guard first, and upon seeing her sleeping within Chie's custody, he basically clench his fist "I will kill him". He basically had -no- plan, and it was awkward to actually "feel" that Keiichi was really going to kill Teppei until he started beating him with the bat. Prior that point, it was basically tame.
They completely removed his psychotic seizure when Satoko and Rena were having a fit, and thus removed all of his KOOL mode when he was establishing several routes for killing Teppei.

The intensity, brutality and care of Keiichi were dampened down to oblivion.
In fact, Tatarigoroshi is considered as being the worst adapted chapter of the whole series, with Tsumi being next.

I agree with that. Especially Tsumihoroboshi. Thhat was a broken chapter, but I did not find the Shion chapter to be a bad one. Right now, I'd rather say that the only real difference would be the lack of sad music. I'll admit that iit's been a while since I read the VN and watched the anime, though.

Spoiler for Meakashi-hen, Fifth Arc of Higurashi S1:

Although I understand why they removed the whole explanation for the Sonozaki family, they entierely removed Shion's monologue, which was a enormous mistake.

It basically dampen the tragedy like hell, as Shion was desperately hoping Keiichi to find out her "game", but to no avail. You barely have any thoughts regarding Satoshi and whatnot.
The last scene with Shion's regret about her being happy with Satoko and Satoshi was also obliterated.

DEEN managed to preserve the franchise [shock] factor, but that's not really a huge merit since the franchise itself was so successful about it to begin with. They however nuked the other side of the series altogether.
In a sense, Higurashi adaptation is considered as worse than Umineko for good reasons.

[Witch of Uncertainty]

Lol. None of these things even occured to me when I compared it.

..Cannot unsee. :/

[Archon_Wing]

I am the cut of my budget
Greed is my body, and laziness is my blood
I have created over a thousand screw ups
Unknown to writing
Nor known to frame rates
Have withstood no pain to create much crap
Yet these hands will still hold money
And so as I pray "Unlimited Broken Works"

-- And that is why Fate/zero series went to Ufotable

[sople]

All VN adaptations ruin something important. This is because they weren't designed to be anime in the first place. CLANNAD completely ruined the concepts of light orbs. As far as removing the church scene, that was done be cause they needed to give Sakura a role for the anime to work as a stand alone. Again, done because it was shifted to a different medium.

The fact that most of the hate for DEEN comes from people with comments like "I can't think of anything decent they did besides Higurashi" confirms my suspicions that the hate comes from people who haven't watched any of their good things.

Things like Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen, Simoun, MariMite, Patlabor, Maison Ikkoku, as well as several others are top tier anime no matter how you look at them. It's just that DEEN is a giant studio that puts out so much anime they don't bother to put in a decent budget for some of the things they do. Well, all big studios do the same, including madhouse.

It's funny that people don't whine about madhouse ruining CHAOS;HEAD or Devil May Cry. The F/SN fanbase needs to chill out.

[Klashikari]

Spoiler for clannad, end:

"Completely" ruined the orbs? As far as we could have discussed over the ending thread, there were still "loops" implications and so forth. That is only an overarching core of a storytelling that could be circumvented with few hints, albeit harder to catch. That aside, all the important events, characters traits and even dynamics and details were preserved or even fleshed out (Kotomi is the prime example of it). So This adaptation defied a lot of issues from the medium with far less problems as result.

Spoiler for F/SN, end of Fate Route:

The Church scene require like not even a full minute and -why- do you need a role for sakura anyway? It isn't like they -have- to include her. To begin with, Fate route alone could do the trick either way, it was their own doing for squeezing UBW and HF tidbits in the pack, leading to a lot of unecessary things.

Actually, if you check out Chaos Head discussions, you will quickly realize that Madhouse wasn't left unscathed, so I think you should keep the context at hand, especially that C;H was in an even worse shape. Heck, even when people are discussing steins;gate, we were a big bunch to be afraid of another fiasco similar to C;H.

Finally, I dunno if you read the full thread, but such series were already mentioned. That being said, they were past their prime to say it plainly: if you check what they have done for the past 5 years, the amount of trash is arguably higher.
Of course, they aren't as bad as subpar studios like XEBEC and whatnot, but they are really not a noteworthy studio, to say it plainly.

I wouldn't mind productions with execution and value on par with Ikkoku or Tsuiokuhen, but the situation is just plain: the studio isn't close to bring anything close to these or something "above average". It isn't like masterpiece can be produced each year, but at least something not average/below average.