A Study of One Piece Animation

o-chan

After watching the last episode I have to agree: Toei is half-assing Marineford.
Still, what the hell can we do? We're just the "American" watchers who are lucky enough to get a simulcast stream of the show. In the end, I feel those of us who are still bitching have a choice to make: Are we going to continue watching the One Piece anime or not?

If Toei has gone beneath our expectations then it's probably better to end this thread and move on to better things (like anime who properly use their budget). I, personally, will continue to watch One Piece. Why? Because the overall show entertains me. I actually liked how the specific episode focused on Coby's PTSD and how it was having a major effect on him. I reiterate, a lot of us are very sensitive to how stuff is being handled because we have far MORE access to information than the anime fans of the DBZ/YYH days. We criticize every little nuance that digresses from the source material. Years ago, I got into a dub vs. sub argument with a friend on how he though the dub was a "watering down" of the original artist's intention. Well, overall isn't the anime vs. manga discrepancy this? In spades!

Let's not lie to ourselves, the anime is, basically,a bastardization of the authors original intent. It has always been so (remember Luffy's scar and Zeff's leg?), yet we still enjoy the series because it brings those black and white manga images to life.

So in the end, while I am pissed off it's still my personal choice to watch the One Piece anime.

O-chan

Crossword

To be honest I never really expected mind-blowing stuff out of this arc, knowing who we're dealing with, but it really exposed the flaws the the show's directing style. One-chapter-per-episode can work when there's lots of material and dialogue, but if you do something like that for an arc that's nothing but action, pagespreads, and shorter chapters, you need to step up the ball on how you're going to go about filling up that time. Unfortunately, despite a few standouts, they pretty much took the lazy way out there.

Art-wise, considering that Toei isn't BONES, or Madhouse, or Production IG, for the most part, aside from a few stinkers, I thought it was okay…until you get to inexpicable cases like 482, or this week's episode, where there was no excuse for those big moments being given the treatment they were. I'm not going to go and blame it on Toei's other shows, because it's not like they don't deserve good production values, but it is a shame that a studio as big as Toei seemingly can't handle their resources in a way that can satisfy all of us. The next episode looks very, very good, but that's really cold comfort considering that all the action's done.

I guess in short, yeah, I'm disappointed, but I admittedly never had huge expectations to begin with. I hope that things will pick up now that the writing goes back to being more straightforward and there's more material to work with per chapter.

JulieYBM

The thing with the anime is that is is at least a new work unto itself. The transition between "comic to animation" and "Japanese to English dub" are separated by a huge gap in scope and work. Even if I don't particularly like decisions made, the anime is still something more deserving of respect than to be treated poorly by foreign dubs.

But still, I agree that the handling of the animation teams…just hasn't been good. Toei's the Disney of Japan and I'd like to expect better of them for these sorts of things, espicially when

.

o-chan

@Yuugi's:

But still, I agree that the handling of the animation teams…just hasn't been good. Toei's the Disney of Japan and I'd like to expect better of them for these sorts of things, espicially when
.

I'm going to call you out on this. Your link led to DBZ animations and the thing is, DB/DBZ/DBGT has had their less than stellar moments when adapting the manga material. As far as I know, Studio Ghibli is the Disney of Japan as far as the bar of quality that is set. Toei is more like the Warner Bros. animation division, they've had their hits and misses but more or less their works have made a significant contribution to their animation industry. In the end I think far more from Toei than what they have given us. From the start One Piece has ALWAYS had animation that was far beneath the standard. But what has made the series engaging was how it handled the WHAM material. Still, I do feel that Shanks appearance could have been handled better. Toei has so far dropped the ball on this and Whitebeard's death but has been spot on with Ace's death. So in the end…whatever...

O-chan

eliman12

This post is deleted!

JulieYBM

@o-chan:

I'm going to call you out on this. Your link led to DBZ animations and the thing is, DB/DBZ/DBGT has had their less than stellar moments when adapting the manga material. As far as I know, Studio Ghibli is the Disney of Japan as far as the bar of quality that is set. Toei is more like the Warner Bros. animation division, they've had their hits and misses but more or less their works have made a significant contribution to their animation industry. In the end I think far more from Toei than what they have given us. From the start One Piece has ALWAYS had animation that was far beneath the standard. But what has made the series engaging was how it handled the WHAM material. Still, I do feel that Shanks appearance could have been handled better. Toei has so far dropped the ball on this and Whitebeard's death but has been spot on with Ace's death. So in the end…whatever...

O-chan

Animation-wise, the worse episodes (beginning with the Artificial Human episodes) were consistently the episodes supervised (and key animated) by Uchiyama. It was a consistent pattern up through the end of Dragon Ball GT. Aside from the occasional Hakamada episode, the episodes were always of a consistently well done level. Since about mid-Impel Down the animation for One Piece has been consistently unspectacular. Not necessarily bad, but not necessarily amazing either. One or two scenes might be graced with a top-level key animator, but those are few and far between if at all. Even when Toei was stretching their far fewer comic pages across an episode their filler would always be well animated with fluidity and grace. With the past two arcs we've gotten stills or slow-motion scenes.

MasterKingJC

I'm really hoping and praying that the animation gets better when

! they hit the timeskip. If they decide to make a new series for it, it would be a good chance to make up for the animation inconsistencies of Impel Down and Marineford.
But we'll see what happens in a few months…

Sephrim1

One Piece animation is pretty unique and I would have to say that about Bleach also. Over all though, One Piece is probably the most unique manga/anime I've ever read and watched. It's story is really deep, the drawing and animation are incredible, plus I love the theme songs. I also love the fact there are so many characters and everyone is powerful, you really can't say who is better than who. That's one of the biggest reasons I love Naruto, but I think One Piece combines Bleach and Naruto into one. No wonder they are called "The Big Three."

MasterKingJC

Whut?

Sonic Youth

If only the entire anime was drawn like the sixth movie I'd die happy.

Robinchen

@ Sephrim1
Lol? The Big 3 is meanwhile a wrong name. OP sells much more than Bleach and Naruto together…

And animation style is absolutly different from Manga style. Oda is much better. The Anime was good in the past. For example Enies Lobby Arc, Alabasta Arc. In this episodes looked the characters like the ones Oda designed!

XMURADX

I guess XMURADX will be pretty pissed off after seeing how TOEI handled Shanks entrance. LOL!

To be honest, I wasn't really pissed off, thanks to 485. I mean everything is possible after 485.

Anyway, I've really lost interest in the anime at the moment, I find myself not caring anymore. It's about time I took a break from it, unless Tate or anyone special pops up and grabs me again. I can't wait till the TS, hopefully by that time, all the good staff returns.

Though, I'm still working on the MF video.

@goty:

Uh, it wasn't just the beginning though. His trademark angular style looked much less noticeable than usual.

Oh, the angular style is definitely vanishing. because he doesn't do key animation anymore. Lately he have been just correcting the art. Usually, character poses, movement, positions and angles used are up to the key animator to decide.

If you look closely, Shida, Tate, and Kuroyanagi uses very similar angles in most of their scenes. But they are less noticeable compared to Ishizuka. It's how they get used to it, and how they improve.

o-chan

@Sonic:

If only the entire anime was drawn like the tenth movie I'd die happy.

Fixed that for you. Meh heh heh.

O-chan

XMURADX

For those who were wondering about Tomita, he just worked on the latest Digimon Xros Wars ep 27.

During the WB war, he worked on 11, 12, 14, 19, 20, and 25.

Sonic Youth

@o-chan:

Fixed that for you. Meh heh heh.

O-chan

Are you kidding me? It's that usual boring "try-to-resemble-Oda" style that never will look alright.

At least the sixth one was unique and awesome because of it.

Crossword

Speaking of Movie 10, did we ever find out which part of One Day Sato animated? I don't think it's anything major, but I am curious regardless.

o-chan

@Sonic:

Are you kidding me? It's that usual boring "try-to-resemble-Oda" style that never will look alright.

At least the sixth one was unique and awesome because of it.

I love both movies, but honestly if there was any movie that came eerily close to capturing the "spirit" on the manga Movie 10 wins hands down.

O-chan

XMURADX

I would like the animation director of Movie 10 for the art style, and the animators of Movie 6 for the key animation.

@Crossword, my best bet would be Oars, shanks and Rayleigh's cuts.

TLC

@Sonic:

If only the entire anime was drawn like the sixth movie I'd die happy.

So you want it with even worse art?

Unbreakable

@Thousand:

So you want it with even worse art?

+1 .

Sonic Youth

You guys… Think outside the box.

TLC

@Sonic:

You guys… Think outside the box.

Art that looks like cat vomit is unique. It doesn't make it good.

Crossword

Man, my finger's feeling a little twitchy today.

@Crossword, my best bet would be Oars, shanks and Rayleigh's cuts.

Hm, is that so? I guess I can see it if that is the case.

SakugaSaga

@Thousand:

Art that looks like cat vomit is unique. It doesn't make it good.

Ewwwww, cat vomit.

C'mon guys, can't we all get along and be nice to newcomers to this thread? Yes, we all know about the art style of movie 6, but that's how Mamoru Hosoda rolls, and don't forget that Sushio helped with the character designs. People will either hate it or love movie 6 art, so let's not get into an argument about it. Otherwise:

How's that for art? 8D

Anyways, as XMURADX suggested, art director from Movie 10 + key animators from Movie 6 = an awesome movie. Man, I wish Mamoru Hosoda would direct another OP movie. :wub:

Hiroy

@Crossword:

Man, my finger's feeling a little twitchy today.

I'll slip and pretend it was accident I'll never fix.

@Sonic:

You guys… Think outside the box.

Never feed cave troll. Let it starve.

Unless you are going along with it just to see its reaction upon feeding, then go ahead. I find it amusing too.

SingingThroughTheStorm

Hiroy, I had to post because I saw your signature.
Even with a burned torso, he still has such power! :ninja:

I haven't seen any of the movies yet. Do I have to torrent them?
Since FUni only did Alabasta.

o-chan

@SakugaSaga:

Ewwwww, cat vomit.

C'mon guys, can't we all get along and be nice to newcomers to this thread? Yes, we all know about the art style of movie 6, but that's how Mamoru Hosoda rolls, and don't forget that Sushio helped with the character designs. People will either hate it or love movie 6 art, so let's not get into an argument about it. Otherwise:
[qimg]http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz192/fureya01/madokapringlesanthony.jpg[/qimg]

How's that for art? 8D

Anyways, as XMURADX suggested, art director from Movie 10 + key animators from Movie 6 = an awesome movie. Man, I wish Mamoru Hosoda would direct another OP movie. :wub:

On a side note: Summer Wars is an awesome movie. Think Ghibli meets Digimon: Our War Game (where the plot was pretty much taken from). I saw it on Blu-ray over the weekend and you guys need to see this movie!

O-chan

kaizokuo12

@XMURADX:

For those who were wondering about Tomita, he just worked on the latest Digimon Xros Wars ep 27.

During the WB war, he worked on 11, 12, 14, 19, 20, and 25.

What are those numbers?

Sonic Youth

I think it's episode-numbers, or something.

Anyway, sorry for those trolls, but with a combined effort of Oda and the animators from movie Six, One Piece could be fricking hardcore as a movie.

KaizokuOLuffy

@kaizokuo12:

What are those numbers?

Digimon Xros Wars episode numbers?

DyranLK

@o-chan:

I love both movies, but honestly if there was any movie that came eerily close to capturing the "spirit" on the manga Movie 10 wins hands down.

O-chan

Agreed. Movie 10's animation was the closest I've ever seen Toei get to reaching Oda's unique, intricately simplistic art style.

@Sonic:

If only the entire anime was drawn like the sixth movie I'd die happy.

You see, the issue with that is that the art style of Movie 6, while beautifully animated, is extremely controversial and split a majority of the One Piece anime fanbase into two individual groups: those who liked it, and those who didn't like it. If Toei even had the budget to start animating One Piece in a Movie-6-style fashion, it would definitely start up a riot.

Then again, I'm pretty sure several [to most] of the people included in the group of fans who didn't like the animation would get used to it over a fair amount of time, and will continue to watch the series with no problems. However, several more will probably quit on the anime and just resort to the manga once and for all…

Of course, the likeliness of this even happening is near impossible, because if Toei ever had a budget as high as it would cost to supply us with that kind of animation, I'm certain pigs would start flying and the sun will finally blow up and destroy the earth.

@o-chan:

On a side note: Summer Wars is an awesome movie. Think Ghibli meets Digimon: Our War Game (where the plot was pretty much taken from). I saw it on Blu-ray over the weekend and you guys need to see this movie!

O-chan

Oh man. Summer Wars was unbelievable, animation-wise. Definitely a movie worth watching, and admiring, all the way through.

kaizokuo12

@DyranLK:

Then again, I'm pretty sure several [to most] of the people included in the group of fans who didn't like the animation would get used to it over a fair amount of time, and will continue to watch the series with no problems. However, several more will probably quit on the anime and just resort to the manga once and for all…

lol, for me, when I first saw the animation style, I really liked it! Then, it became less and less interesting… When the image started to distort, it looks like I was watching some scribbles... That was when I try to watch many times though...

Of course, the likeliness of this even happening is near impossible, because if Toei ever had a budget as high as it would cost to supply us with that kind of animation, I'm certain pigs would start flying and the sun will finally blow up and destroy the earth.

I think they have the budget, they just won't use it on One Piece when it's this popular… When One Piece have an uninteresting arc or slope a bit downhill for plot progression, maybe they will give a big budget for it... ( I'm thinking of the flashback)

Oh man. Summer Wars was unbelievable, animation-wise. Definitely a movie worth watching, and admiring, all the way through.

So, it's not strong, plot-wise?:ninja:
Only watch it from Murad's video and it's definitely have great animation!

kaizokuo12

This post is deleted!

SingingThroughTheStorm

I don't really have a issue with the current style, if they good just keep it consistent.
Make it look as good as this:

Look at SenGoku, he doesn't have some special affect, or crazy good shading. But
I think I would prefer the anime to stick to that style and consistency.

XMURADX

Summer Wars was pretty awesome, it really was fun, emotional, exciting and had pretty awesome animation. Directing was awesome as expected from Hosada, and the OST was really great.

@kaizokuo12:

What are those numbers?

Digimon Xros Wars episode numbers.

o-chan

@XMURADX:

Summer Wars was pretty awesome, it really was fun, emotional, exciting and had pretty awesome animation. Directing was awesome as expected from Hosada, and the OST was really great.

The only issue I have with the movie is that it took waaaay too many of the key plot elements from Digimon:The Movie/Our War Game which he also helmed. It doesn't matter if you watch the English or Japanese version of this movie (I refer to Digimon) but if you watch it right before watching Summer Wars you feel like the latter is a more epic version of the previous movie.

O-chan

XMURADX

@o-chan:

The only issue I have with the movie is that it took waaaay too many of the key plot elements from Digimon:The Movie/Our War Game which he also helmed. It doesn't matter if you watch the English or Japanese version of this movie (I refer to Digimon) but if you watch it right before watching Summer Wars you feel like the latter is a more epic version of the previous movie.

O-chan

Well, it was not an issue for me. Since I didn't watch Digimon.

Robby

I love the art style of movie 6, and its my favorite one of the lot as a result.

Ashura_KingFisher

@Sonic:

If only the entire anime was drawn like the sixth movie I'd die happy.

seconded.

I mean, the tenth movie has the coolest style out of all but somehow only the sixth movie/Tate's style which can really draw out the 'real' emotion of One Piece for me.

Kaizoku

Who are the Animation Directors of the Movies?

Crossword

1: Kazuya Hisada, Kazuya Kuda
2: Eisaku Inoue, Kazuya Kuda
3: Noboru Koizumi
4: Noboru Koizumi
5: Noboru Koizumi
6: Chikashi Kubota, Takaaki Yamashita, Sushio
7: Eisaku Inoue
8: Eisaku Inoue
9: Naoki Tate
10: Masayuki Sato

JulieYBM

Ah man, they had Kuda do the first two films? Man, I wish he'd do more. >_<

Kaizoku

@Crossword:

1: Kazuya Hisada, Kazuya Kuda
2: Eisaku Inoue, Kazuya Kuda
3: Noboru Koizumi
4: Noboru Koizumi
5: Noboru Koizumi
6: Chikashi Kubota, Takaaki Yamashita, Sushio
7: Eisaku Inoue
8: Eisaku Inoue
9: Naoki Tate
10: Masayuki Sato

Thank you. Inoue did the second with Hisada? Nice.

XMURADX

So, I guess you guys heard about the TorikoxOne Piece crossover.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5782/6dc982b6.jpg

Damn, that art style resembles Masayuki Sato. Movie 10 AD.

Crossword

First thing I thought of when I saw that image too.

eliman12

really great art and animation sure will be good, i expecting to new opening in 2 weeks.

o-chan

@XMURADX:

So, I guess you guys heard about the TorikoxOne Piece crossover.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5782/6dc982b6.jpg

Damn, that art style resembles Masayuki Sato. Movie 10 AD.

The red vest is back!

O-chan

Kaiolino

The red vest returned on volume 60's cover.

kaizokuo12

@XMURADX:

So, I guess you guys heard about the TorikoxOne Piece crossover.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5782/6dc982b6.jpg

Damn, that art style resembles Masayuki Sato. Movie 10 AD.

I wonder if that means Masayuki Sato will work on Toriko…:ninja:
It would be awesome if he does though...

XMURADX

But that might piss me off, though. :P ^
Next ADs

490: Toshio Deguchi
491: Masayuki Takagi
492: Eisaku Inoue
493: Takeo Ide

Inoue is still on the show. I wonder which chapter is that.

And I'm not sure if Ide's episode is the special, or the episode will air along with the special.

Thanks to Archah for the list.