Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The cost-cutting measures of anime

I believe anime to be one of the most unique, beautiful and engaging animation styles out there. I just simply cannot get enough of the beauty that some anime features possess. There's a certain flow to the action and scenery that I just don't get from any other style of animation, which I definitely see as a big factor in why I enjoy anime so much.

That's not to say that every anime project is created equal. Depending on the budget for a movie/series, you can see varying levels of animation. I don't think I've seen an anime that features truly horrible animation or style, just lackluster when compared to the bulk of content out there.

With that said, even some higher-quality shows use some cost-cutting measures. Everyone has a budget that they have to stay within, which means that sometimes a few corners have to be cut. Usually those decisions don't impact the entire series as a whole, but sometimes they do stand out.

We've touched on a few of these examples in other posts on the site. Characters talking with their back turned to the camera, animation loops used over and over again, and even dialog scenes reused with new bits of voiceover. What are some other cost-cutting measures you've seen in anime that drives you nuts?

3 comments:

  1. The biggest cost cutting thing ever that really annoyed me was when Evangelion ran out of budget, so they came up with two crappy final episodes that took place in lala land.

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  2. Ugh, Bakemongatari had their infamous episode in the Nadeko Snake saga where they ran out of budget. The majority of the episode was still cards with voices talking over them.

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  3. I'm not sure if it's budget cutting, or just laziness, but it's when the fight scenes are very generic like with Togainu no Chi

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