Anime Future of Animation

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray] The thread idea came when I was watching a preview for [i]Paprika[/i], the newest movie from Satoshi Kon. During the preview a quote from The New York Times comes up: "[[i]Paprika[/i] is] evidence that Japanese animators are reaching for the moon, while most of their American counterparts remain stuck in the kiddie sandbox."

I just wanted to create a discussion about anime and its future as a medium in countries other than Japan. In reality, it'd be better for me to use the word animation, and that's where I question if this thread really belongs in the Anime Lounge.

Does the quote have some merit? Is it a bunch of BS? How is animation going to change in both Japan and the US? Will 3D overtake it all regardless?

(I know it's unusual to just leave the opening post like this, but if it generates enough replies I'd like to think about what others have to say first).[/color]

[Ikillion]

[COLOR=#0e1030][SIZE=1][FONT=Trebuchet MS]Eh, I feel that its more of an either/or kind of thing.

As for the future of animation, I really think that it can and possibly will, in time become a bigger medium in other countries than Japan. Yet, it will take time. What I have observed (This is just an estimation from what I've heard around school), is that when most adolescents and adults think of animation they think of shows for kids who are young. While there are some animated shows that are for adolescents and adults, (Ex. Family Guy, Futurama, South Park ect.) they are in no way in as great of a number as those over in Japan.

Animation really could be bigger in places other than Japan, the only problem with that is that the market isn't really focused in that area then they are in things that are live action and all that other stuff.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Dagger]

[quote name='Lunox][color=dimgray']Will 3D overtake it all regardless?[/color][/quote]
[url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/15/disney.newprincess.ap/index.html][u]Thankfully, no[/u][/url].

As far as future innovation goes, I think most of it will continue to take place in Japan. The vast majority of anime are just as stagnant (in their own way) as the kid/parent-oriented CG movies that American studios keep churning out eagerly. Even the good stuff--the stuff that gets critical praise as well as fans--is rarely innovative when it comes to how it's actually animated.

I don't think that increasingly eye-popping and slick animation counts for much; anyone can make something look pretty if it has a decent-sized budget. That's like video games inching closer and closer to the rich detail of realism... to what end? Direction style and sakuga (the actual drawings) are more important when it comes to creatively pushing the envelope. Maybe it's due to the concentration of sakuga freaks in Japan as opposed to in America. Either way, Japan seems to have a stronger market for animation that pushes boundaries, even if it's still a niche within a niche.

I'm sure that plenty of short films and other types of daring animated works, 2-D and 3-D, get produced in America, Europe, etc. But it's only in Japan that you see stuff like [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6722][u]Kemonozume[/u][/url] (a TV series) and [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4363][u]Mind Game[/u][/url] (a full-length movie) being made. After all, when did the last work like The Triplets of Belleville appear?

~Dagger~