malymin

The Layout Crisis: The Collapse Of Anime’s Traditional Immersion, And The Attempts To Build It Anew

As two respectable efforts set two decades apart, it’s easy to compare the differences in their production and see how those hint at the changes in anime altogether. Indeed, Tokyo Mew Mew New’s stock footage is often more dazzling than any burst of animation in the original, as anime has evolved in this flashy direction. Is there a price to pay for that, though? The answer is yes, with an arguably much larger gap in the quality of the layouts in each version. Despite the early 00s being a rocky period for anime in its own right due to the digital transition, and this series being far from the greatest example of immersive composition, this understated quality of the animation is simply worlds apart. As I pointed it out, multiple people reached out with a reasonable question: if this is as representative of a trend as I made out to be, why was it something that sounds as fundamental and in theory undemanding as the framing of a shot that took such a huge hit in quality? Shouldn’t the fancy animation be the victim of this alleged decay instead? To understand that, we have to catch up with the industry’s mentality, history, and practices that enabled that cohesive immersion in the first place.

An article that explains the complex behind-the-scenes forces behind why newer anime (including reboots of old anime) seem to have less interesting cinematography than shows of similar caliber in the 90's and 2000's.

There is in fact a part of me that would like to see reboots or sequels to certain shows (yes, even as big-name franchise IPs choke us to death on endless sequels and reboots and spinoffs...), because i want to see some of those characters and ideas explored again, through a different artistic and thematic lens. If it's bad, I think, we can just forget it existed in a few years. But... so many magical girl anime reboots, I've noticed in particular, have visibly suffered from these issues. Sailor Moon Crystal, Tokyo Mew Mew New, Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card... they just don't look as good. The characters are intricately drawn, pristine and on-model... and the shows as a whole feel visually dead compared to their predecessors.