Does anyone actually like this new wave of CGI animation?

No matter how many times I try to watch one of these shows that use this clunky, low polygon count GCI, I just end up disgusted and feel like these studios just consider us all suckers.

Netflix seems to be the biggest purveyor of this, but it seems to be cropping up everywhere. I can think of only one reason they would peddle this is that it's considerably cheaper to produce.

I'd like to that if the story is good enough that you could look past the bad animation, but I am constantly ripped from the story because it, no matter how hard I try. Because it's so prevalent now, it makes me wonder if most people just aren't bothered by it, or maybe even actually like it.

Here are some of the shows I've tried watching.

  • The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh
  • Trigun Stampede
  • Exception
  • Godzilla Singular Point
  • The Dragon Prince

Am I being over critical?

phanto,

I really liked GSP. I wasn’t put off by the mix of animation and CG. But, I pretty much love anything that has A) Godzilla, and B) no Matthew Broderick. (I like Matthew Broderick just fine when there’s no Godzilla in the mix.)

shikitohno,

I find it really depends on how it's used and what style it's done in. Some shows, like Chainsaw Man, seem to do a pretty good job of incorporating it and still having a consistent style. Part of why I like anime is that I, generally, like the art style better than other varieties of animation. I felt like a lot of criticism of Trigun Stampede was just dismissed as people being close minded about CGI. It may have been technically impressive, but I didn't like the way it looked and it didn't hook me. It felt less like an anime and more like if some Western studio made an adaptation of Trigun. If there's people who like it, great, but I do wish I could dislike it without having people dogpile me to say my personal tastes are wrong.

akovia,
akovia avatar

The original Trigun was among the first anime I watched, so it's close to my heart and wanted to give this new installment a fair shake. As I have already said, I think it's better than most of the other examples I've listed, but it still falls into the category of distracting 3D for me. The faces and expressions are just odd and unnatural. I'm still actively watching it and don't plan to drop it like other on my list, but I wish I wasn't distracted by it.

People can dismiss your opinions as close minded, but you can't fight the visceral reaction you get when watching something, even when trying to be open minded about it. I completely respect the people that have no issue with it, or even prefer it, but that's not my experience.

That said, I actually love the OP in Trigun. The animation as well as the music, and I don't actually skip it like I do on most.

RevealingStorm,
RevealingStorm avatar

Land of the Lustrous without CGI wouldn't be the same. So at least some studios are doing it right.

majorgator13,
majorgator13 avatar

i felt trigun's cgi was pretty good. felt like it had a consistent style. a little bit pixarish buts thats probably for the best.

VulcanSphere,
VulcanSphere avatar

Vulcan appreciates and adores studios who can properly use CGI, but hates studios when they screwed up the whole anime.

Valdair,
Valdair avatar

I might be a little biased because F/SN: UBW is one of my favorite animes ever but I find it absolutely gorgeous. GRANTED, a lot of the most beautiful parts are simply wide paintings, but I do think the CGI usage for particle effects, fog, and some of the magic during the fights lends a "pop" that I think looks pretty cool and doesn't pull me out.

akovia,
akovia avatar

F/SN: UBW and most anything from that franchise is on a completely different level. Garden of Sinners is an all time favorite.

I'm not against CGI as a medium one bit, though I don't think it could ever replace the human hand for sheer beauty. What I'm against are these clearly low quality, blocky, and unnatural looking animations that are jarring to watch. It just feels to me like it's budget before substance. If people aren't bothered by it, then it's a financially sound decision. But to me, it loses what it means to be an "Anime", and is just an animation.

The video the @Gordon_Freeman linked shows that it's indeed possible to keep the Anime aesthetic while gaining the benefits of 3D, so I can only hope the medium matures sooner than later.

sheepyowl,

It's good when a studio do it well (chainsaw man, demon slayer) and it's ass when they don't do it well.

VeeSilverball,
VeeSilverball avatar

What I tend to notice when they go for an all-3D look is that it gets a more consistent look. A lot of the time that's consistently bad, but when they start mixing it to have an occasional sequence that moves the camera or shows a vehicle it's way more jarring.

Rotoscoped CGI actually shows up quite a bit these days. When the director wants to use very high or low camera angles that wouldn't be on the model sheets, I'll often notice that suddenly, the characters that aren't moving are now in identical stiff poses. I don't really mind because with TV animation, it's often just barely getting through the story - a lot of production to make it just a little bit more complete than an animatic. Even manga production now is on the CG train in some cases, but there's some expectation of just making it a starter reference to add onto, instead of something you trace, since there isn't a need to hold the forms together as strongly between frames.

AlternativeEmphasis,

There are some CGI I have never minded, personally I think the real problem with CGI is quite often it does not mesh with traditional animation. Like the infamous bear fom Golden Kamuy.

But then the Berserk movies and Promare shows you can have full CGI and work well as well as 2d/CGI hybrids and work well

Saturdaycat,
Saturdaycat avatar

Wow that's an excellent representation of terrible CGI implementation!

okawari,
okawari avatar

Some of the 3D stuff is ok.
Insomniacs after school pulls it off for the most part. (I'm not entirely sure how much of that show is 3D).

There are good works that incorporate 3d well enough, but I'm also struggling to stay immersed when things that are CLEARLY 3d is just overlayed on top of the otherwise hand drawn art.

atocci,
atocci avatar

I'm not a fan of it, but I don't think I'm actively bothered by it either. I haven't watched an anime done in entirely CGI since Kado the Right Answer was airing in 2017 though. Hopefully things have improved since then, I'll have to check out Trigun Stampede.

akovia,
akovia avatar

In all fairness, Trigun had the best animation of the ones I listed. IMO

It's also the newest, so hopefully it's a trend of what's to come.

Arcanus,

Nah, it's the "new" animation style, I think it was pioneered by RVBY a few years ago, because you can get really smooth animations but still keep the anime "style" but I agree if everything looks like this it's kinda meh

Gordon_Freeman, (edited )
Gordon_Freeman avatar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZsboyfs-L4

Althought is applied to videogames it does a good joob explaining how it is possible retain anime style using 3D assets (CGI) yet almost nobody does it, too much work

akovia,
akovia avatar

Wow! that's really impressive.

It's clear that they have the tech to do it better because there are some great examples out there, but this really drives it home. I much prefer the aesthetic of ASW and would welcome more shows if they used that system. Hopefully more studios will take the challenge.

Thanks for the info!

Gordon_Freeman,
Gordon_Freeman avatar

Netflix seems to be the biggest purveyor of this

No it isn't? Just because you see "Netflix Original" does not means netflix made it. Netflix did not made nor produced most of the anime in its library. They only have the right to distribute it outside Japan in most cases, with 0 involvement in the production

akovia,
akovia avatar

That makes sense. It's just seems that I see more of it on their platform than elsewhere.

Thanks for clearing that up.

x3r1t0,

Interesting, for me seeing “Netflix original” on a anime preview was an immediate nah, can’t be bothered, a bit close minded maybe I know. This changes everything

Gordon_Freeman,
Gordon_Freeman avatar

It's the same with live action shows, btw

For example, outside the US Titans (the live action Teen Titans show) or the first seasons of Star Trek Discovery are "Netflix originals" because netflix had the exclusive distribution rights

The Netflix originals are a thing that varies per country, it all depends if Netflix has the exclusive distribution rights for that country or not

Saturdaycat,
Saturdaycat avatar

I'm 35 years old and have been watching anime since the 90s. I truly miss cell shaded anime, but at the same time the newest CGI based animes seem not bad. I did like MAPPA's take on Chainsawman and I do not mind the next season of Vinland Saga. To be honest, if done well, it's not the end of the world. I strongly prefer no 3D still, however.

akovia,
akovia avatar

I completely agree there are good examples. I enjoyed both your examples and wasn't bothered by the animation, which makes it seem odd that they don't use the same technology elsewhere.

I really wish it didn't bother me so much, but I find myself constantly distracted by it. I find it particularly off-putting when they start using it on a series that didn't use it before like The Seven Deadly Sins. I've watched the entire series, and then out of the blue they change it to use this clunky CGI. You get to know and love the characters you've spent so much time with, and now it's like watching an entirely different show.

Thanks for the input!

brodyquest,
@brodyquest@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

Chainsaw man had CGI

atocci,
atocci avatar

Chainsaw Man's CGI was incredibly well done too. If more anime used it like MAPPA did there, I think it would be better received.

RevealingStorm,
RevealingStorm avatar

not aa good as something from Studio Orange but it's still pretty good

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