Story is the most important aspect in a series. But when the animation is not executed properly, the story lacks something. Kyoto Animation is one of the studios that excels in the field of animation. Is this enough to make the story feel complete?
In games the visuals can make or break a game. When textures or animations are incomplete or rushed, it is immediately noticeable. The player’s attention is drawn away from the story, his attention is drawn to the imperfections. This cannot be the intention of the producers.
In the world of anime one studio gets heavily criticized. This studio is called J.C. Staff, which is notable for works such as the Shana franchise and the To aru no Index series. Animation wasn’t the strongest part in these shows. But the studio is able to pull of some impressive products such as Toradora, which was a blow of fresh air within anime.
Despite this, the studio is still lacking on the animation department. Some animations feel as though they miss a frame. Characters don’t move as majestically as some studios like Kyoto Animation can pull off. The animation that is produced by this studio is a benchmark where a lot of studios can work towards. Colors almost pop out of your screen and characters move naturally.
What made this possible is probably a bigger budget and a more experienced staff. Or maybe even the software that is used, that makes fluent animation possible. It is also possible to think that because KyoAni delivers less shows in comparison to J.C. staff, the studio has more time to work on details within animation.
Animation alone isn’t enough though. The crisp animation that KyoAni delivers doesn’t justify any story. It seems that at this moment, the studio has found a sweet spot that makes sales possible and keep revenue up to stay operational. The stories that KyoAni creates, will not be the most interesting for a lot of people. But the way the story is presented, makes the story much more enjoyable. The viewer is not drawn to inconsistencies and will most likely have a more positive attitude towards the end product. Unless the story is really flawed of course.
Ninety's Blog 
The artwork and musical scores that Kyoto animation puts into their anime is amazing. I watched a behind the scene sound recording of how the animators did the theme songs and I couldn’t be more impressed. The studio was just so efficient and determined to do do their best in carrying out quality animation.
In hyouka, I couldn’t be more proud of how nimble and realistic the characters movement were. It was like they were coming to life. While main characters were taking, the background wasn’t just awkwardly on pause like most animes do. The details that Kyoto does whether it’d be a small strand of hair blowing with the wind or a blink here and there is just remarkable.
Great update. ^__^/
I also must admit the studios where I literally say “WOW” are P.A. Works and KyoAni. The textures and details in the environments in the series made by P.A. Works are really, really outstanding.
And not a lot of studios match the fluent character movement like KyoAni does.
Agreed!!
Angel Beats had some of the best animations, hands down.
Tari Tari was also an amazing anime. I loved the sceneries in the stories. Sadly, I have never seen P.A. Works’s anime films before, and I really should!
If I’m not mistaken was Blood+ also made by P.A? I vaguely remember something about them after seeing an interview the director had on the anime.
As a P.A. Works fanboy I don’t remember they did Blood+. If I’m correct it was Production I.G. who did the blood+ series(which I haven’t seen). I haven’t seen the movies either, but the one I’m waiting for is the Hanasaku Iroha movie. I really like that series(made a post about that series not too long ago haha).
Ahhh….i see….i must have gotten that mixed up somehow then XD
Ehhh?? I didn’t know they were going to make a movie out of it!!! Do you know when the release date is going to be ??
I need to read your post then !! ^ ^ I loved that series as well!
Its not my favorite, but KyoAni is relatively nice animation studio. Granted, I like the animation used in some of its earlier works (Ex: Lucky Star, Air, Clannad, etc) still seems like it hasn’t a changed abit. And like yourself, looking forward to the Hanasaku Iroha Movie. (If I am not mistaken it was released this month back on the 9th. Should be a dvd/bd version coming soon this year.)
Hyouka wasn’t my favorite either, but the animation was really magnificent. Lets hope some subgroup picks the movie up soon:p
I meant KyoAni itself. Hyouka on the other hand, it was fairly decent, albeit getting repetitive toward the end. However, I did like enjoy the animation with the warm and dark color schemes, something I am not use to seeing with KyoAni’s projects. And, yeah, I am sure it will. It will just longer than usual for it.
Liked the post btw :3
Thanks for your feedback, its always nice to hear if someone enjoyed my posts. I think Clannad and K-ON are my favorite KyoAni projects up till now. Not a lot studios can match their animation quality.
Your very welcome. True, very few match their quality in animation, but some studios work that I have seen are reminiscent of it. In particular, OLM (Oriental Light and Magic known for Pokemon) and Sunrise (since they close partners) come to mind.
KyoAni is my favorite animation studio, for the animation. Though their stories may not always be the best every season (or whenever they have a new series), their quality work makes the anime never dull or boring to look at. It always has life in it. I appreciate the details they put on character acting, background animation, and sound effects.
They seem to have found a sweet spot in what works and doesn’t work for an anime. But overall they keep delivering good series.