Bad CG in Anime

everybody run it's coming it's coming we're being attacked my bad Vijay in the past anime and CG have not had I'm not had the best public relationship the general reaction from someone when they hear the mere mention of CG being integrated into their favorite anime is that they pack up and start running a [ __ ] mile like they've just found out we're getting invaded by Nazis or even more horrifyingly CG Nazis but today I wanted to evaluate if CG really deserves its reputation within the anime community what are some examples of it being used well and badly and what are some of the different ways that CG have been integrated into anime so first we need to answer the question what is bad CG and here's the catch you aren't allowed to use any word that rhymes with just summer 2017 well if we look at the dictionary definition of bad CG we can quite clearly see that all for [ __ ] sake I'm sure we can all agree that it is CGI a face that is noticeable enough to take you out of your immersion and break your suspension of disbelief and out of place objects some stupid looking expression a lot of things can take you out of an experience but that's the thing to keep in mind bad CG is bad CG because you notice bad CG bad CG sorry I just wanted to say bad CG one more time I think a good place to start is just seeing how the general use and look of CG has evolved over time we normally associate CG with more modern age anime the CG effects have been around for a lot longer than people think and overtime has gotten better blending in objects if you look at most modern anime carefully you'd be hard-pressed to find one that doesn't incorporate some sort of computer rendered object in it and a lot of the time you don't notice because it's not something that significant there's been a lot of debate over how CG has changed the general look of mechs over the years and honestly I think it comes down to how bland and forgettable modern mechs feel they all move the same they all feel the same with the same clunky video game style that never looks quite as natural as hand-drawn mechs nothing becomes as memorable even if you have a cool design I mean [ __ ] chamber from sousei no gargantia had the thighs of a seasoned Las Vegas poor dancer this was never appreciated enough yeah whether it be to speed up the production time will make up for a lack of talents who can animate mechs well it feels like CG makes a use as a compensation tool rather than a deliberate creative decision because when done correctly they look just as fantastic the sequences of the unicorn transforming look [ __ ] amazing and the reason they do this is because they're done in CG trying to animate this level of complicated mechanical panel movement would be absurdly difficult by hand if I managed to make it not look like an in engine video game cut scene however one thing that the industry is still figuring out how to do correctly is with characters and it doesn't matter if they are in the foreground or the background there's an old Chinese proverb that goes life is like a crosswalk full of opportunity in every direction unless that crosswalk contains a ceg anime crowd in which case you're probably burning in hell yeah CGI crowds are the one thing I think are destined to always look like complete [ __ ] nothing's more distracting than when there's something important going on but your brain is unable to focus on anything but the same five PlayStation 2 [ __ ] hanging out in the background trying have rendus Lee bad to blend in and I really did try finding a good example of anime CGI Krauss so if anyone does have any good examples then please contact me at CGI crowds that don't make my eyes wanna come here suicide achieve male calm but this extends the foreground characters where you have to battle against this weird uncanny valley effect where characters kind of like anime but not anime enough so when they're just there front and center with no attempt to blend it in your brain has time to process what you're watching so you kind of notice wait a minute these are the same guys they hired to do the Mass Effect Andromeda facial animations even when they look competent when you are restricted to 3d models emulating a 2d R star there is less freedom to work with when it comes to subtle expressions nuanced character animation and even the best examples we've had so far don't even come close to the best examples in 2d animation yet things are looking better but the next problem is actually being able to blend these two elements the issue you face when you blend 2d animation with 3d elements is the aesthetic clash when we are watching an animated show we know it is an animated show that does not exist within our universe but we are fully invested in suspending our disbelief for that world however if you see two objects that blatantly look like they don't belong in the same universe it worse against that suspension of disbelief golden camo is the latest example of this where you have a standard anime characters fighting back [ __ ] pair from bar by five with a cel-shaded wolf in a background of green screen fire effects the visual cohesion is an absolute mess and personally I much prefer this early leak test footage as at least it has a uniform visual star which you know it just makes the fights just it's just far more believable different aesthetics only really work when the juxtaposition is purposefully part of the visual style or when it's supposed to happen narrative Lee there are however effective ways to blend the two elements that we are seeing more often when CG is limited to dynamic background environments the fast-paced movement of the foreground animation is only enhanced allowing for more freedom of camera movements which results in being able to do complex shots like this without giving the viewer adequate time to notice the aesthetic clash there are countless examples from attack on titan to copious Akito the exiled even some of the more intricate shot from war Nagar tree which fully take advantage of this or with other shows that had some shots that were rotoscoped with the aid of CG tools the important thing is that the CG is never the main focus always rendered in such a way that it naturally fits in with the visual style of the show in this sense ufotable are the [ __ ] gods at this throughout the years they have perfected the art of digital composition and blending traditional animation with computer-aided effects to the point where you can hardly tell the difference my first exposure to them was their first take on the fate franchise and no no not you get the [ __ ] out of here another time you blew me away and I thought anime couldn't look better than this but then they came back with unlimited blade works and no not [ __ ] you and have continually improved and pushed the boundaries so much so that they have crafted a unique visual style which is instantly recognizable and no one really calls this CG animators pite how much they use it but moving on a different problem from blending 2d and 3d is when you are completely switching between the two let me set the scene you're enjoying a classic show it looks awesome the characters look great and we're just about to get to the heart pumping action scene then without any warning it cuts to the action and you noticed something's a bit off about the way the show looks and then just as you get used to it it switches back to before and you like okay maybe my eyes are being funny then you begin to look really closely and slowly you realize that maybe there is something different about the way the show looks constantly switching from 2d to 3d to 2d again is a guaranteed method to make the viewer feel a sense of visual whiplash and this semi is right up there with CG crowds for anime things that [ __ ] keep me up at night the most recent offenders I can think of are with Ania Shiki and the berserk movie trilogy and the thing is the CG sometimes doesn't even look bad I wouldn't even mind if some of these shows were fully 3d it's just a note don't shut shut the [ __ ] shut shut shut the [ __ ] up just the constant switching between visual styles that break any kind of emerging you could be having and I would prefer it so much if they just chose one style and committed to it I mean we've all heard of jazz hands but have you tried the hottest trend Bad CGPA what people don't normally talk about however is that the switch can be done well if we stick to some of the same rules we talked about killakee was a good example if I tell you kill the kill used a lot of CG your mind will probably go back to that one time Satsuki was apparently ice-skating vertically up a building which how can I eloquently put this it looks [ __ ] but what you probably don't know is just how many cuts were completely CG like this shot or this shot or this entire sequence where they built an entirely new 3d model just to accentuates these few frames and unless you were flicking through frame by frame and know exactly what to look for you won't even notice exactly because it was the sky so well as opposed to being lorded front and center but that leads into the Big Daddy fully 3d anime if there was a final boss for the anime industry this would be it and for most of the time so far anime has handled it about as well as a Facebook surfing candy crush addicted grandma attempting and no hits run on Dark Souls the problem with a lot of us had with early CG anime was that they seemingly came in with the approach of trying to emulate the 2d art style with a completely different tool and it doesn't take a genius to tell you that if you aren't using your tools correctly it probably won't go well movement felt restricted and robotic characters just weren't as expressive the frame rate sometimes looks really dodgy as they purposely restricted it something even one guy who helped make silly Internet videos figured out was a dumb [ __ ] idea before an entire industry did they didn't play to their strengths but despite this as time went on things began improving acceptable shows started appearing we slowly started to accept that maybe there could be a space for CG anime and just as we thought things were starting to look up the 3rd 2016 came crashed landing into the scene oh but it's okay thanks to the collective effort of every half piece of beep come out we managed to stop this from ruining everything quick polygon pictures release something half decent and maybe we can get out of it kimono friends Nobunaga concierto kado these were fully 3d shows that managed to be enjoyable but the problem is I feel these shows were enjoyable in spite of its CG not because of it over the years polygon pictures have tried their damned hardest to make a case for fully 3d anime and continually improves with every project they work on but to me it's the same problem there's nothing that makes me think I would rather see these shows using CG over traditional animation if given an aesthetic choice that is until we got the one show we were waiting for land of the lustrous a show like this was a long time coming but despite how many opinions it changed about CG anime it didn't really do anything new that we haven't already discussed what it did do was understand what the strengths were for CG as a tool and play to those strengths the CG crystal effects of metallic textures gave the show a unique visual identity that wouldn't be a striking if it were in 2d and the number of dynamic shots it was able to pull off in his action scenes chase eaves or just using long shots to build this claustrophobic tension is something that could only be achieved using CG hopefully by the end of this you can get the idea that despite the reputation CG in anime has right now CG can look good and has looked good for years even if you're not a fan of the aesthetics seen in polygon pictures works or land of lustrous you've probably appreciated it even if you didn't know but that's just it it's a lose-lose situation because if CG does its job well it won't even be noticed but if it does fail then it's forever doomed to have some shitty anime youtuber cement it into meme history it's failures are exposed and its successes are ignored but it's important to note that whether it's good or bad largely depends on the understanding from the crater of the strengths and limitations of working with CG as a tool as it is with every other medium CG has become a standard part of anime nowadays so if you're not a fan of that then I can suggest that you watch order anime take the 80s for example computer effects may have started to become revolutionary in Hollywood but anime was still untouched and pure you know back then they would never ruin their anime by rendering things using ugly PlayStation 1 graphics because they were too busy rendering things with a [ __ ] guitar 2,600 [Music] wait bro why is your helicopter bad CJ what is your face bad CG well hey is your life bad CG hey guys hope you enjoyed the video thank you very much this month to Sun fun down matey but Lebanon big Black Hawk 16 sisters one zero zero eight six Ella for Robert I'm Borg and everyone else on my patreon for helping to support me for this month and making this video possible as you can see I've changed my location back again I am back in America and I will be attending a X in LA in just a few weeks I have a very busy schedule so if you're going to be attending a X as well keep an eye out for that as I'll be posting that soon anyway that's it for me today not too many updates but until then I've been gig up and I will see you all next time

Channel: Gigguk

Views: 2,503,901

Rating: 4.9493699 out of 5

Keywords: Anime Zone, Gigguk, Top Anime, OP, ED, CG in Anime, Bad CG in Anime, CGI Anime, Worst Anime CG, Best Anime CG, Top CG Anime, Top 10 CG Anime, Bad CG Anime, Good CG Anime, Top CGI Anime, Top 20 CGI Ani

Id: WVQkwbhmuqQ

Length: 12min 36sec (756 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 16 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/ExDSG]

I think the main problem is them trying to replicate 2D animation, unlike a Disney or Pixar who went to replicate the principles of animation into 3D, 3D anime seems stuck using a toolbox that helps make quick 2D shows. They could not cripple the framerate because the episodes for CG anime are finished at least months in advance, but they choose to 'keep the aesthetic.' Thing is it's also not like Japan has bad CG because games usually have good CGI cutscenes made in Japan. I mean Polyogn Pictures made this. Only reason why their TV and film productions look bad is because they are limiting what their CG can do.

Also contrary to what people think, CG in anime is usually more expensive than 2D. Because like a wise man once to paraphrase 'if it makes logical sense, its probably wrong because the anime industry is illogical.'

[u/SmurfRockRune]

That Monty shoutout. RIP.

This video didn't really tell me anything new, but it sums up a lot of my thoughts on CGI. I love anime using CGI when it's done well, like in Fate or Houseki, as he used for his examples, but also things like Garo and Tiger & Bunny.

[u/VoyeurTheNinja]

I can't be the only that has violent orgasms to the Unicorn Gundam activating its NT-D Mode.

Also, I can't help but feel that the CG of Kemono Friends adds a sense of charm to the show. Might just be me or the Stockholm Syndrome kicking in but I feel like if the show wasn't in CG, the show would've had a very different feel compared to what we got.

[u/Terranwaterbender]

Anytime there's a video about the use of CGI, you gotta bring up Freddie's great take on CGI in the movie industry. Funny how similar the arguments are when you switch around movie and movie lingo with anime and anime lingo.

[u/devenbat]

I wish he had talked a bit longer about Land of the Lustrous more instead of "Oh, btw Land of the Lustrous is a good CG anime. Moving on"

[u/Mystic8ball]

It's a shame that Gigguk is implying that Polygon pictures aren't playing to the strengths of CG, the action scenes in Ajin look pretty damn great in my opinion.

And in Kemono Friends defence I think that the janky CG gives the show this weird endearing charm to it.

[u/DarthNoob]

he shits on love live CG a lot here because it fuckin sucks but Love Live's CG has improved a lot over the years; it went from being absolutely horrifying to being one of the highlights of the series in Sunshine.

[u/aniMayor]

Gigguk talks a lot here about "playing to the strengths of CG" the way LotL did, but I think that's a misleading focus. There are tons of unique aspects of traditional animation that you can "play to the strength of" but plenty of great anime don't utilize in particular, either. Should CG really be any different? They're just two different animation formats, neither of them should require playing to its strengths or else it isn't considered good.

As an example, Captain Harlock has both a cel-animated TV show+film and a recent all-CG film, neither of which stylistically fits the franchise any better than the other. The film's CG is not "good CG" because it fits a certain aspect of the film, it's just good because it was made by a talented and experienced staff that didn't need to cut corners on it. Capt Harlock is no different insofar as "playing to CG's strengths" as Kado is... it's just better-made than Kado.

You can make a show/movie using traditional animation, or you can make it using CG, and nowadays neither of those is the default option anymore. Some anime can highlight the strengths of either one. Some anime won't highlight the strengths of either. Just because Land of the Lustrous works especially well as a CG anime doesn't mean that only anime that can do the same thing should be CG, or conversely that all CG anime should find a way to theme their visual style in a similar manner.

Even going back to the infamous CG crowds, there are plenty of productions where the creators understood the limitations of it and used it appropriately so it wouldn't break immersion - e.g. a recent Lupin III: Part V episode where they made sure to set the CG-cast well into the background, with muted tones, and not keep any long shots on them... as opposed to, say, all the street crowd shots in Re:Zero where CG-models are walking past jankily in the same degree of foreground as the subject of the cut, all dressed in vivid or high-contrast colours, so the audience's eye is easily drawn to them.

[u/BabyBabaBofski]

GUYS! THEY'RE BEING ATTACKED BY BAD CG

Anyway houseki no kuni proved it can look amazing.