Ronja the Robber's Daughter 1-2
So this show seems to have gotten a lot of premature flak for being CG and being directed by Goro Miyazaki, but it's actually pretty good so far. The CG isn't perfect - some of the shading is a little flat - but it doesn't compare unfavorably with Western TV CG productions. The CG animation itself is fluid - thankfully it doesn't use the limited frame-rate which is so distracting in many Japanese CG productions - and it does the best job I've seen anime CG do at portraying subtle human character movements and facial expressions, which is pretty important in a series that's all about characterization. As can be seen above, the art design of the natural world is lush and vibrant; the pre-production work by Ghibli paying off here.
The story so far is simple, light-hearted, and charming, and the direction mirrors that by being unostentatious and observational. That doesn't mean it's dull either, there's some good use of the 3D camera, and a couple nice touches such as the smooth transition between Mattis spinning Ronja as a baby and him spinning her as a child. Ronja herself isn't characterized too much yet beyond wide-eyed optimism and curiousity, but we haven't seen much of her yet beyond her time as a baby. The relationship Mattis has with his daughter is certainly well characterized, and you can feel the tender parent's love that has softened this gruff robber. It's good to have this emotional core established right off the bat.
Being an adaptation of a classic Western children's book, this certainly harkens back to the days of World Masterpiece Theater, the program that brought us such masterpieces as Anne of Green Gables. I don't think this will be as good - Goro isn't going to match Takahata, and I doubt the source material is as strong as Anne - but it's quality wholesome family entertainment, and this world could always use more of that.
