{"id":271,"date":"2013-10-17T15:12:28","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T19:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/?p=271"},"modified":"2013-10-28T17:30:05","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T21:30:05","slug":"why-rwby-is-great-news-for-anime-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/why-rwby-is-great-news-for-anime-fans\/","title":{"rendered":"Why RWBY Is Great News For Anime Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the dark days of two-episode VHS tapes to today\u2019s era of simulcasts and Blu-Ray collections, one thing has remained constant in our relationship with anime in the United States.\u00a0 Regardless of the price or format, we (and everyone else who doesn\u2019t live in Japan) have always imported our favorite shows from their native land.\u00a0 With a few notable exceptions like the Avatar<\/i> franchise, we\u2019ve never had much success with replicating the look and feel of Japanese animation in domestic productions.\u00a0 The list of \u201cwhy nots\u201d is both long and familiar: high cost, limited audience, difficulty of production, and so on.\u00a0 American studios just aren\u2019t able to justify the cost of giving us our own shows about giant robots and psychic cat-eared maids.\u00a0 Enter RWBY<\/i>, the latest project from Rooster Teeth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"RWBYScreen\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Magic sword with rotating elemental enchantment thing? Yep, it counts as anime.<\/em><\/p>\n

Without getting too technical, the biggest difference between RWBY<\/i> and a typical anime series is the way the two are animated.\u00a0 While Japanese studios have been incorporating CGI into their productions for years (Exhibit A: the delightfully outdated racing sequences in Initial D<\/i>), the actual process is still very much a frame-by-frame affair.\u00a0 The software used to make RWBY<\/i> works more along the lines of a video game cinematic.\u00a0 The animators build character models, props, and environments, then record their movements through the virtual equivalent of a camera.\u00a0 The result is that the characters in RWBY<\/i> can jump around and shoot monsters in the face without the folks at Rooster Teeth having to draw the whole thing thirty times for each second of video.\u00a0 This means that the show can be made with a smaller staff and a smaller budget.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019ve enjoyed the sharp humor and colorful visual style of RWBY<\/i>, what fascinates me most is what it means for the world of animation, especially when it comes to the epic science fiction and fantasy visuals that attract so many of us to anime.\u00a0 As computer animation evolves and develops, it\u2019s becoming increasingly feasible for small companies like Rooster Teeth to create shows that would once have required the resources of a major animation studio.\u00a0 This is excellent news for a couple of reasons.<\/p>\n

First, it means that unusual, financially risky projects are more likely to get the green light because of reduced animation costs.\u00a0 For an example, look at Arpeggio of Blue Steel<\/i>, which is airing this season.\u00a0 It\u2019s an odd little sci-fi series with some very flashy naval battles being produced by a studio typically associated with doing the 3D CGI work for bigger projects.\u00a0 By leaning heavily on computer aids, they\u2019re able to pull off some impressive action sequences in a series that would\u2019ve been a tough sell a decade ago.\u00a0 The less money they have to spend, the less they have to make, and the more quirky, original shows see the light of day.<\/p>\n

\"BlueSteel2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We all live in a computer generated submarine. (Too many syllables?)<\/em><\/p>\n

Second, it means that we\u2019re more likely to see studios outside of Japan try their hand at making something with the visual style of an anime series.\u00a0 I don\u2019t expect Pixar or Cartoon Network to give us the next Spirited Away<\/i> or Madoka Magica<\/i>, but I am confident that we\u2019ll see an increasing amount of animation projects from small, independent studios from a variety of countries.\u00a0 What would an anime series from an American, French, or South African director be like?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, but I\u2019d love to find out.<\/p>\n

RWBY<\/i> is by no means the first piece of indie animation to show off what a small team can do (anyone remember Voices of a Distant Star<\/i>?), but it\u2019s the latest example of how new technology opens up more possibilities for the world of animation.\u00a0 Am I about to tear down my Samurai Champloo<\/i> wall scroll to make room for a poster of Ruby or Yang?\u00a0 No, but that\u2019s mostly because I\u2019m more of a Weiss fan.\u00a0 Am I excited to see how RWBY<\/i> and shows like it develop over the next few years?\u00a0 Absolutely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kawaii Overthink is written by Paul Jensen. You can follow his ramblings about anime on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the dark days of two-episode VHS tapes to today\u2019s era of simulcasts and Blu-Ray collections, one thing has remained constant in our relationship with anime in the United States.\u00a0 Regardless of the price or format, we (and everyone else who doesn\u2019t live in Japan) have always imported our favorite shows from their native land.\u00a0 [Read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions\/324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}