Let's take K-On as an example. Here's a screencap of a news variety show BEFORE the K-On movie.
It says K-On and related goods have sold 28 billion yen.
Now, what we know of K-On's sales is from reports around when the last K-On!! volume came out and it said the K-On series has sold 540k units. Now, assuming 8800 yen per disc (because why not) that only comes out to 4.75 billion yen. There was like a 20 billion yen goldmine in merchandising.
Well considering that this is two cour romcom anime I really didn't expect any meaningful development yet (we will maybe see something in last episode...). Still it was rather nice episode.
I'm not sure how many people here are familiar with the name Yasuhiro Yoshiura but you might be familiar with some things he's worked on, such as Time of Eve or Eve no Jikan in Japanese and the upcoming Patema Inverted. Personally all I had seen of his works were a couple of trailers for Patema or perhaps they were for those specials which may be part of or a lead into the show. Anyway, I decided to look at what else he's worked on and start from there.
Noisy Birth
I think I actually originally got this picture from Branduil so I'll give credit to him for it.
The first piece I could find was this approximately two minute long music video he worked on that aired in 2000 called Noisy Birth. The visuals were okay I guess and are all mostly in black and white and at times and there was the odd interesting looking part but I'm not really sure what, if any, story the visuals were really trying to tell. I also wasn't personally a fan of Shibata Yuki's music here. Over all it's kind of forgettable but at only two minutes or so it's an interesting curiosity piece to see where he started anyway.
Kikumana
The next work I could find was this approximately six minute long piece called Kikumana released in 2001. Kikumana is apparently the name of the girl which this short focuses on. I don't think there is supposed to be an exact story to go along with it but it's strange and surrealistic type imagery is more supposed to help evoke a type of mood or atmosphere within the audience. It does have some pretty interesting visual ideas I thought and it seems like with the girl not much happens in her little world but at the same time a lot happens and she's alone but also not really alone.
Some might find her character design perhaps off putting, the way her eyes look all black for example, but I personally kind of liked it. Speaking of that, the piece is all black and white and grays but there is quite the contrast between the light and the dark here. There's really no dialogue with except for one line where a robot thing says "It's time" or something. Although it's kind of funny that the girl still gets credited with a voice because while she doesn't talk, she does still technically have a voice with her audible musings or gasps and what have you.
It was kind of interesting how it also switches between a first person POV as well. For only being about six minutes long I think it's a piece people should take a look at whenever you get a little bit of free time.
Mizu no Kotoba (Aquatic Language)
The last piece I looked at so far was Mizu no Kotoba or Aquatic Language. It's the longest of the three at about nine minutes and came out in 2002. This piece is in colour and has actual dialogue to it. It's set in a cafe with different groups of people talking to each other in their own little conversations. The one girl by herself reading books reminded me of Kikumana with her design. Unlike that show, the visuals here aren't as interesting but instead it's now more the narrative. Personally I didn't mind the somewhat rougher drawings either and found they had their own charm. The main male character at the counter is also voiced by Yasuhiro Yoshiura himself.
I'm also starting to notice some techniques that he likes to use, such as going into a first person perspective a few times with the main character in this piece again. I actually kind of liked this show. It's not super deep but it's interesting how all the seemingly seperate conversation tie in together in a lot of ways or there are visual hints towards other things which will be revealed later.
(Ending Spoilers)
The reveal of the girl working at the cafe really being an android or robot is pretty much told to you before the guy goes into that bubble world as her pupils dial in complete with a quick and subtle but definite mechanical sound. As the guy is walking by you hear the two girls talking about Androids which pretty much gives it away so it wasn't really a big shocker in the end. I guess the fact she didn't really have any legs was more surprising.
While I haven't seen Time of Eve yet, knowing the general theme of it being how humans and androids interact and the idea of communication and knowing both of these works were directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura, this piece really does seem like a precursor in terms of where some of the ideas come from such as the general theme of the importance of words and people communicating, people talking about androids a little and combined with the visual cues of books and a person reading a book dealing with Isaac Asimov and I Robot for example.
At only nine minutes in length I have to say I liked this one along with Kikumana and recommend others take a look at it. At least to see maybe where some of the ideas and directorial techniques came from for later works such as Time of Eve.
I think this is supposed to be a POV shot from the main males eyes but the characters during this scene just looked really weird to me.
Only one episode held my interest all the way through and it was all action, there are glimpses of a good show with humour, but for the love of god is it not being utilized.
Only one episode held my interest all the way through and it was all action, there are glimpses of a good show with humour, but for the love of god is it not being utilized.[/QUOTE]
I dont understand the criticisms, just what were people looking for in this anime?
TV放映30周年記念 キャッツ・アイ Blu-ray Special BOX OP映像ver. - YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wllWnKjbOMU
TV放映30周年記念 キャッツ・アイ 2nd Season Blu-ray Special BOX OPver. - YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMW23OrcXlc
I was wrong, according to AmiAmi, it was released back in 2009. So I guess it just had a really small print run, as I can't find it being sold anywhere else.
Katsuya Terada is mainly an illustrator, but as he is also a not very prolific but important character designer on animation productions I wanted to post it on this thread; the Katsuya Terada TEN - 10 Year Retrospective - has been announced, and I'm sure it is going to be a sight to behold:
I probably wasn't paying attention before, but the fashion sense of these characters is just hilarious. Two belts just... hanging there. Are they sewn into the skirt? Or is she binding her legs? Who knows.
One thing I also noticed was the main character's voice acting. I don't know if it's the actress herself or if the director made her do this, but I challenge someone to count the number of "Eh", "Huh", "Uh", "Ah" grunts and exclamations that she makes throughout this episode. It's like her standard reply to any conversation because she can't figure out any other way to sound confused.
Maybe you can't just do silent reactions in anime because you don't have the ability to use your face to act and portray a particular emotion, but this was pretty damn ridiculous. lol
Yoshiura's character art was still really rough during Mizu No Kotoba. His characters don't lose that roughness until Time of Eve, so that's probably why they look so weird in that fisheye shot.
An overarcing plot was inevitable given that it's shounen, but it hasn't quite found the balance of action plus politics, it's either front loaded with one or the other.
One thing I also noticed was the main character's voice acting. I don't know if it's the actress herself or if the director made her do this, but I challenge someone to count the number of "Eh", "Huh", "Uh", "Ah" grunts and exclamations that she makes throughout this episode. It's like her standard reply to any conversation because she can't figure out any other way to sound confused.
Maybe you can't just do silent reactions in anime because you don't have the ability to use your face to act and portray a particular emotion, but this was pretty damn ridiculous. lol
I love the electro-orchestra sound of Allison and Lillia's soundtrack. Very interesting mix.
I didn't really pay much attention to the soundtrack during the show, except for the lovely theme.
I probably wasn't paying attention before, but the fashion sense of these characters is just hilarious. Two belts just... hanging there. Are they sewn into the skirt? Or is she binding her legs? Who knows.
One thing I also noticed was the main character's voice acting. I don't know if it's the actress herself or if the director made her do this, but I challenge someone to count the number of "Eh", "Huh", "Uh", "Ah" grunts and exclamations that she makes throughout this episode. It's like her standard reply to any conversation because she can't figure out any other way to sound confused.
Maybe you can't just do silent reactions in anime because you don't have the ability to use your face to act and portray a particular emotion, but this was pretty damn ridiculous. lol[/QUOTE]
Is [spoiler]Orion[/spoiler] back? She didnt seem to do it that much at like episode 1 or so.
Speaking of a different show about groups of girls, god forbid Saori get a focused episode/segment/moment in Girls und Panzer, as she's another a shitty character that can bog down any scene at the speed of sound.
While I haven't seen Time of Eve yet, knowing the general theme of it being how humans and androids interact and the idea of communication and knowing both of these works were directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura, this piece really does seem like a precursor in terms of where some of the ideas come from such as the general theme of the importance of words and people communicating, people talking about androids a little and combined with the visual cues of books and a person reading a book dealing with Isaac Asimov and I Robot for example.
I probably wasn't paying attention before, but the fashion sense of these characters is just hilarious. Two belts just... hanging there. Are they sewn into the skirt? Or is she binding her legs? Who knows.
Eh, I am liking how each different each new route is. Kinda like an Endless Eight then that they yell at you in your face. Don't care about the otome boyfriend this round either so not really all that interested.
One thing I also noticed was the main character's voice acting. I don't know if it's the actress herself or if the director made her do this, but I challenge someone to count the number of "Eh", "Huh", "Uh", "Ah" grunts and exclamations that she makes throughout this episode. It's like her standard reply to any conversation because she can't figure out any other way to sound confused.
In that vein, first one to come to mind was Medaka Box first season ending. It was very simple but I liked its charm, on those little characters made by Mr. Kuwana. Relaxing and went well with the song!
