Anime Mirai/Young Animator Training Project 2013

[Folenfant]

This is turning into a bit of show for hipsters to celebrate but I still think its important because its a solidly produced indie project that shows what good animators can do with a limited 500K budget. I find it kind of had the spirit of 70s anime mixed with the visual style of Gurren Lagann and a Magical Fantasy theme. The story is pretty simplistic follow your dreams inspirational fare fun stuff with some quirky characters but sadly is limited in scope by its length to a fairpy brisk and predictable course of events with little room for character development. Definitely would recommend it mostly for its animation showcase and unorthodox visual style only.

[7Th]

LWA had foreshadowing, character development, a consistently developed theme, a competently told story driven by the actions of the characters (and by their flaws and strengths rather than by contrivances) and clever visual jokes that didn't oversell themselves. The storytelling was just plain good. The idea that something safe can't be good is something I've always been against; I mean, K-ON is a much safer show than PsychoPass (not like PP is particularly daring, either way) yet it features much superior storytelling and execution.

LWA is clearly different from pretty much every other YAP short, tho. It's definitely "profitable" in spirit and the character designs are definitely meant to be cute and attractive for most audiences.

[JKL]

Originally Posted by Folenfant

This is turning into a bit of show for hipsters to celebrate but I still think its important because its a solidly produced indie project that shows what good animators can do with a limited 500K budget.

I think it's the opposite. This is turning into a show for hipsters to rag on because they just can't stand the fact that a short and simple story executed well has been so warmly received.

[Guardian Enzo]

It's certainly become a rallying cry to unleash name-calling against anyone who isn't drinking the Kool-aid.

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by 7Th

LWA had foreshadowing, character development, a consistently developed theme, a competently told story driven by the actions of the characters (and by their flaws and strengths rather than by contrivances) and clever visual jokes that didn't oversell themselves. The storytelling was just plain good. The idea that something safe can't be good is something I've always been against; I mean, K-ON is a much safer show than PsychoPass (not like PP is particularly daring, either way) yet it features much superior storytelling and execution.

I agree. I'm not sure how more risky storytelling or complex characterization would have improved the show. All of these elements are designed for a certain purpose in the anime, and they fulfill those requirements very well. As a result, there's barely a wasted line or cut or even frame.

And really, I do value the creators' restraint from trying to explain everything. It lets the characters and story develop naturally through action, and it leaves a much stronger impression as a result. The actual writing in the work is very good.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Folenfant

This is turning into a bit of show for hipsters to celebrate.

Nah, that's going to be Death Billiards whenever it gets subbed

I can already see people calling that one the "true gem" and saying Little Witch Academia is overrated.

[JKL]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

It's certainly become a rallying cry to unleash name-calling against anyone who isn't drinking the Kool-aid.

Fortunately in my country we don't have access to said Kool-aid.

[Tyabann]

LWA is like... everything that was good about the stuff we all watched as children, but animated beautifully.
If you hate it there is something wrong with your brain.

[frubam]

Spoiler for Death Billiards:

The quality of the animation, like LWA, was superb =03, and the story was intriguing, however one thing ruined it for me; the young man =0\. He just got too frantic and it got annoying fast. The old man was pretty awesome though; I didn't expect him to be knowledgeable in the martial arts and kendo. Definitely put an ass kickin' to the young man .

As for the end it's hard to say who went where. One would think it obvious based on the masks above the elevator; however, the young man went in the noah(good?) elevator while the old man took the oni elevator. You could interpret it as the old man, after whispering with the bartender, kindly taking the place of the young man to go to hell, but I feel that would be too simplistic =02. Perhaps the old man was more evil than he let on, hence his sinister grin as the elevator door closed. Maybe their fates where already predestined, despite the bartender stating that upon entering Queen Decim, you are considered equal. I dunno, I'll leave the thinking to someone else =0p.

[Izayoi]

Is this the thread for Little Witch Academia? I haven't watched it but I can see it almost everywhere, clearly really hyped. I am planning on watching it tomorrow. I am very excited. Will edit later for impression. **

[JKL]

People hype things. Things do not hype themselves.

[brocko]

If things are not hype, then how are people able to be hype over it?

/semantics

[Dist]

Originally Posted by Izayoi

Is this the thread for Little Witch Academia? I haven't watched it but I can see it almost everywhere, clearly really hyped. I am planning on watching it tomorrow. I am very excited. Will edit later for impression. **

This thread is for Anime Mirai. LWA is one of the shows made for it.

LWA was a pretty fun watch. Too bad it was so short .. I don't usually like OVA's because I feel one episode just can't do anything justice but it didn't feel like it on this one. Same goes for Death Billiard .. what was just brilliant. The grandpa was badass .

[totoum]

Well Death Billiards was good fun

Spoiler for death billiards:

Indeed,just looking at the signs above the elevator seems to easy and our bartender just isn't reliable,after all he reveals that the game of pool was predetermined despite the fact they pretended to choose it at random earlier.
Is it even specified that it has to be one in heaven and one in hell?Maybe he's just the ultimate troll and they both got sent to hell

I'm not always a fan of endings that leave things unanswered but in this case I think it's interesting because the way a viewer interprets the ending might tell you a bit about the viewer's personality,I tfigure the staff must really enjoy observing the reactions of people.

[Revan21]

Death Billiards

Spoiler for Ending:

I don't get it. How can you change your predetermined fate, the one that was decided by how you lived your life or by your soul, just because you happened to die at the same moment as someone else? The most likely answer is that you cannot. If the game really changed their destination, why don't regular people get the same chance to repent?
Out of the two the old guy seemed to be the more despicable one, but I can only base that on his 'Just as planned' grin and that he was bullying others when he was young. On the other hand, the only fault the younger man had is that he cheated on his girlfriend. Of course these actions do not count if they are judged purely by their souls and in that case there's no way to tell who went where.

I also found it interesting that the younger man's flashback on his life went backwards, while the old man's flashback was in chronological order? Which one is more self-centered I wonder?

[Dop]

I liked Death Billiards.

Spoiler for Not the billiards I was thinking of.:

When I saw the old guy line up for his first shot, I was thinking "I bet he was some kind of pool shark in his youth", and I wasn't far wrong there.
Wasn't expecting that fight scene though. For an old man he put up a damn good fight!

Was very glad it didn't do the "I'm an old man, you're a young man with your whole life ahead of you, you should live!" business as I was kind of expecting that the victor would live and the loser die.

I did really like the way they left the ending ambiguous. There was the issue of the masks above the lifts and the one above the lift the old man took looked like an Oni as far as I know.
But there was no confirmation. It left things open for discussion.

To me this show felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone, only missing Rod Serling's introduction.

So far this year's Anime Mirai has given me two shows I've enjoyed, but for competely different reasons. Good stuff.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Watched both Little Witch Academia and Death Billiards. Both were excellent and I loved them both so screw deciding which one was better .

It is no brainer that Death Billiards was the more "intellectual" (if you want to call it that) choice as it explores psychological interactions in humans when they are faced with situations that determine the very life and death of them. It gave some food for thought and I personally loved the ending, as it was intentionally left ambiguous without feeling like a copout. It definitely had a darker tone and the visuals reflected it, though I don't think it was necessarily "better" than LWA as it was a stylistic choice.

On the other hand, LWA was just loads of fun, something that is very underrated amongst "critics". It was optimistic, colorful and full of energy and it reminded me of the fun Disney cartoons of old when I was a kid. Though the art style was more cartoony than DB, it isn't necessarily inferior as the animation was very fluid and there was substantially more fight scenes. I'm not sure what some people mean by LWA containing "cute girls doing cute things" as this is absolutely nothing like your typical slice of life anime show aimed at hardcore latenight "otaku" audiences. In fact I would liken it more to Disney, Ghibli or heck even Harry Potter - something that a general audience can get into. I would say that LWA is definitely the more "accessible" OVA that would be able to appeal to a larger audience.

My only complaint is that well... it was only 25minutes each . But hey, more short works like this please!

[Haak]

To be honest, I never felt comfortable with Death Billiards. It just felt way too judgemental (Yes, I know that was the whole point, but still). It wasn't bad though, and I definitely appreciate the level of thought gone into it.

[Xion Valkyrie]

LWA is one of the best things I've watched in a while. It highlights everything good that anime can do and really showcases that imagination is still alive in the fantasy genre. I especially liked the mini paint brushes = mini brooms thing for the floating devices.

There's so much history and world building oozing from all the background details and offhand remarks that I really want to see an entire series built upon this concept. It really puts to shame the 'fantasy' type anime that have been coming out recently that is fantasy in name only, just slapping on some standard fantasy tropes/aesthetics on your standard rom-com plot.

[Kirarakim]

I really enjoyed Death Billiards and yes it does have this Twilight Zone vibe too it (there is even a Twilight Zone ep it kind of reminded me of: A Game of Pool)

The one thing that annoyed me was that the young guy's reactions were a bit over the top but then I guess if I was in his situation I probably would be more scared like he was too so I am not sure if I can judge him.

The ending was great though. At first the no answers annoyed me but thinking about it more I think it was better to be left open because it does leave room for interesting discussion. Although I am left with no opinion on what I think so I am not sure how much I can add to it.

Spoiler:

I didn't really see either of their lives as perfect. The young man cheated on his girlfriend/wife, the old man was a bully in his youth. Do either of those things signify hell? We don't have a full picture of either man's life so I can't really judge. And because of that I really don't know who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. In this case I don't trust the visuals at the end.