Kyoto Animation: Studio discussion, speculation, and whatnot.

[Tempester]

Hopefully the relative sales failure of Nichijou will convince Kadokawa, Pony Canyon and other producers that they can't just stamp KyoAni's shiny, gloriously animated label on any unambitious light-hearted manga adaptation and expect dazzling sales.

[speedyexpress48]

Originally Posted by Tempester

Hopefully the relative sales failure of Nichijou will convince Kadokawa, Pony Canyon and other producers that they can't just stamp KyoAni's shiny, gloriously animated label on any unambitious light-hearted manga adaptation and expect dazzling sales.

Strangely enough, on several video game boards I go to, Nichijou is considered a masterpiece to them while K-On!, Lucky Star, Key anime and even Haruhi are regarded as crap.

Then again, those guys are huge fans of Scott Pilgrim tho...and that film was pretty much a flop.

[Kudryavka]

I wonder if they'll ever animate one of the winners for the KyoAni Creator Contest? Well, if they ever declare an actual winner. Cheap way to get great new ideas, I don't know why they haven't chosen one of the really good entries to animate. Maybe they have a long list of To Do stuff already?? :?

[Random32]

Originally Posted by Komari

I wonder if they'll ever animate one of the winners for the KyoAni Creator Contest? Well, if they ever declare an actual winner. Cheap way to get great new ideas, I don't know why they haven't chosen one of the really good entries to animate. Maybe they have a long list of To Do stuff already?? :?

I don't think any of them impressed them enough. Though I think after a while, people will stop putting effort it since it would seem hopeless, so they have to animate something sooner or later.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Well Nichijou is over.
So aside from the K-On movie in December, what is KyoAni doing next?

There's a new K-On manga out right?

Well, there you go- The script practically writes itself



If not, probably some other no name title that we've never heard before.

[Pocari_Sweat]

If adapting further Key VNs is out of the picture or more Haruhi LNs... and if they are looking for new material then they should adapt the Sharin no Kuni Himawari no Shoujo VN. Very popular and highly acclaimed amongst the VN crowd, and its style feels like it fits the Kyoani criteria perfectly - comedy combined with heavy melodrama.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Komari

I wonder if they'll ever animate one of the winners for the KyoAni Creator Contest? Well, if they ever declare an actual winner. Cheap way to get great new ideas, I don't know why they haven't chosen one of the really good entries to animate. Maybe they have a long list of To Do stuff already?? :?

As far as I know nobody has actually managed to win the grand prize on that one yet.

It is weird that they do seem to have nothing down the pipeline other than that K-On movie though. Is Nichijou over yet? I honestly keep forgetting it exists and that Kyoani even has a show out right now, but perhaps they'll announce something after that wraps up and it probably won't be a Nichijou movie either.

[Ithekro]

Nichijou ended yesterday after 26 episodes and one OVA.
No known news of anything else aside from the K-On movie this December.

[Akito Kinomoto]

For some reason I'm willing to bet that the K-On! movie is going to be the last time KyoAni does anything with the cute girls doing cute things genre, at least for a while. Because even if they have consistently made quality products from those series, I get the feeling it's becoming outdated.

[Ithekro]

Well they certainly got a lot of practise doing all sort of strange animation styles in Nichijou. With all they pulled off with that show, they could quite literally do anything now.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Well they certainly got a lot of practise doing all sort of strange animation styles in Nichijou. With all they pulled off with that show, they could quite literally do anything now.

In fairness, Kyoto Animation has indeed made full use out of experimental animation in Nichijou. So they at least have used the show to play around with some insane animation styles, many of which might translate well into an action-oriented show.

So that's what I'd kind of like to see Kyoto Animation try after the K-On! movie - Something action-oriented.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

So that's what I'd kind of like to see Kyoto Animation try after the K-On! movie - Something action-oriented.

Well in fairness KyoAni has made two actions shows - Full Metal Panic 2nd season (1st season was done by Gonzo) and Munto. IIRC, FMP: TSR was Kyoani's first independent anime. Munto on the other hand flopped however.

[Westlo]

The Second Raid was fantastic, my second favorite mecha series of the last decade. The animation in regards to mecha and character was superb, great score by Toshihiko Sahashi (if he didn't do the music for Sacred Seven I would've thought he was retired...), well directed, tightly woven and entertaining plot and most important of all, fantastic character development for the two leads.

It's so utterly depressing to see that KyoAni have not gone back to this type of show since 2005. And looking at their sales figures, you can't blame them. Hopefully Kadokawa have some hot property on their hands and give it to KyoAni, what's the point of KyoAni doing another cute girls do cute things show, haven't they mastered that already? Don't they see SHAFT passing them by with monster hits in Bakemonogatari and Madoka?

Still I'm kinda over it now.. I'm more worried about the decaying quality of Madhouse and Bones over the last few years now than Kyoto "Vince Carter" Animation.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by DemiSoda

If adapting further Key VNs is out of the picture or more Haruhi LNs... and if they are looking for new material then they should adapt the Sharin no Kuni Himawari no Shoujo VN. Very popular and highly acclaimed amongst the VN crowd, and its style feels like it fits the Kyoani criteria perfectly - comedy combined with heavy melodrama.

That exact VN/Studio combination was the first entry on a "troll" next season preview chart that got passed around a few months back, so the sentiment is actually somewhat widespread on this one.

Originally Posted by Akito_Kinomoto

For some reason I'm willing to bet that the K-On! movie is going to be the last time KyoAni does anything with the cute girls doing cute things genre, at least for a while. Because even if they have consistently made quality products from those series, I get the feeling it's becoming outdated.

I honestly think that over the last few years fans have gone from considering Kyoto an exciting new studio to a rock solid but ultimately somewhat staid studio.
Being "rock solid but staid" is okay if you're making something people already love, so I think Haruhi, K-On!, and even Lucky Star have life left in them. But I think that in general new Kyoto franchises aren't seen as being as exciting as, say, AnoHana. Or Idolmaster. Or Hanasaku Iroha. And the sales reflect that.
Cute girl shows are far from dead, but Kyoto desperately needs something to shake things up (as Air and Haruhi did half a decade ago) is they want to be successful outside of their established franchises. Personally, my gut feeling is more optimistic than skeptical that they will do so, even if it takes a year or two.

BTW, while I certainly don't think its the only factor in this image problem, I can't help but think Endless Eight was a contributing factor. Nothing says "staid" like selling out.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

That exact VN/Studio combination was the first entry on a "troll" next season preview chart that got passed around a few months back, so the sentiment is actually somewhat widespread on this one.

You mean this one?

[rulfo]

Originally Posted by DemiSoda

If adapting further Key VNs is out of the picture or more Haruhi LNs... and if they are looking for new material then they should adapt the Sharin no Kuni Himawari no Shoujo VN. Very popular and highly acclaimed amongst the VN crowd, and its style feels like it fits the Kyoani criteria perfectly - comedy combined with heavy melodrama.

As much as I still hope for KyoAni to handle Planetarian I think they've successfully mastered the melodrama side. Even Nichijou has heartwarming moments that tend to lean in that direction. So I'd rather they do something else.

Regardless, I think that a new season of FMP might be coming to us sooner than we think. Them handling it is a question to be asked.

In any case, I'd like KyoAni to have the guts again to do original projects. I'd be totally happy to see what they would cook up.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by DemiSoda

You mean this one?

Yes.

To be honest though, they perhaps made it a bit too easy to figure out it was a troll, and not just because there's too many well loved franchises in the listing. For starters, a Gurren Lagann prequel would be required to end on a note that is anathema to the tone of the series, and the GSD description is just too specific about the flaws they intend to fix to be credible.

Originally Posted by rulfo

In any case, I'd like KyoAni to have the guts again to do original projects. I'd be totally happy to see what they would cook up.

While some might cite a lack of past original projects as an indication they won't, this is another area where I'm optimistic: I've heard of a lot of original projects taking 3-5 years to complete start to finish (Madoka is towards the short end, Gurren Lagann and Dennou Coil at the long), so I think its premature to say KyoAni has no intention of doing originals just because just about everything they've done is adaptations.

[Marcus H.]

Is it possible for Kyoto Animation to go for the Noitamina timeslot? I noticed that among the most famous animation studios, Kyoani seems to be missing in the list of Noitamina series.

I do suspect that they might go for the otaku half of Noitamina since they need to build up funds since Nichijou appears to be a flop when it comes to DVD sales.

[rulfo]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Yes.
While some might cite a lack of past original projects as an indication they won't, this is another area where I'm optimistic: I've heard of a lot of original projects taking 3-5 years to complete start to finish (Madoka is towards the short end, Gurren Lagann and Dennou Coil at the long), so I think its premature to say KyoAni has no intention of doing originals just because just about everything they've done is adaptations.

Interesting...

Well these are just my thoughts, KyoAni for me seems to lack something in the script department. They still have good staff members who can direct a show so there's no problem in that. Animation, definitely no objection about that.

I think someone who can come up with such a very good and original material would freshen up their image. But they'd need some of their in house charms for sales to flourish.

As of now I have no big issues against KyoAni and I still enjoy very much the things they've delivered up until now. Just sometimes it crosses my mind and just wonder what else could they achieve.

[Decagon]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

Is it possible for Kyoto Animation to go for the Noitamina timeslot? I noticed that among the most famous animation studios, Kyoani seems to be missing in the list of Noitamina series.

I do suspect that they might go for the otaku half of Noitamina since they need to build up funds since Nichijou appears to be a flop when it comes to DVD sales.

I think Bri made a great post about this before:

Originally Posted by Bri

/snip

I think it's due to K-on. K-on got Kyoani's first bit of recognition outside of the core otaku fanbase (even though it gets blamed for being pure otaku bait). Earlier attempts at different content did not work too well; see Munto and FMP. My guess is they tried the same with Nichijou, but went a bit too far in trying too please non-otaku so they lost their main audience on this one. I'm sure Nichijou would have worked fine in the Noitamina slot. Still, I hope it won't end their attempts to do something different.

But I'd be happy just to see them adapt more things that are safe for Golden Time. More widely accepted animations that aren't about fighting or magical girls or have to do with decade-long family series. It could help open up other genres to more general audiences.