The anime industry is not a friendly place for staff, as
well-highlighted by the production meltdown of Marchen Madchen, where despite their best efforts creatives were
apparently sabotaged by the extremely poor management of producer Nagai at
Hoods Production. When the same studio was announced to adapt a well regarded
manga, 3D Kanojo in the Dessert
Publication, you can imagine my dismay.
We finally got a preview where the main detail, the drawings, were revealed
to be uncorrected, even at this stage of
the production. This set a deeply unfortunate stage for the manga adaptation.
But the situation proved more complex, as the first episode,
helmed by the series director, blazed through the first volume (executed
through uneven storyboarding) with infrequent and ineffective timings of color
splashes. This approach, when used well, can deeply illuminate character
emotions. As an intimate work, 3D Kanojo is filled with nuanced moments of
intimacy, driven by strong voice acting and scripts (provided by the skillful
Deko Akao and co) -- but the color changes as used undercut the mood. The
series director, who I am told was not strong as director of the first Touken
Ranbu anime at Dogakobo, was actively the weakest element to me, even as the
drawings and animation were the most ‘technical’ flaw. The switch from series
director to other staffers, from episode 1 to others, was as a result
unsettling; the show was stable in its poor production, but improved in its
direction. Given that at some point, I got used to the poor production (it’s
not a “good” thing to do, but it’s a practical necessity to keep enjoying the
series).
But the show contained some deep surprises, featuring a
Natsume storyboarder (insert name here) on some episodes and legendary director
Yamauchi creating storyboards for episode 7.
(Thanks to my friend alecchi for helping me track staff members in this
show.) Assuming that poor production was a given, the presence of skilled
creatives is necessary. In the hands of either director, instead of the series
director, perhaps 3D Kanojo could be seen as sincerely a powerful work all
around. In particular, Yamauchi’s episode, perhaps coincidentally, was the
cleanest episode featuring both skillful storyboarding, the cleanest drawings,
and the best pacing. This episode gave me the impression that Yamauchi, known
for his excellent color work in series like Doremi
and Casshern Sins, would have been a
fantastic series director for this show. His expressionist use of color in
particular would deeply draw out the impact of the show. Failing that, the
Natsume storyboarder, who has not directed a series despite having quite an impressive
resume, would also be a much better choice for series director.
Images from Episode 7:
Unfortunately the problems I have identified will likely NOT
be gone on season 2 even with the 6 month break. This is a sore reminder of how
cruel the anime industry can be on a personal level, when a sincere show like
this one would become so unpolished. However, given that season 2 seems poised
to address powerful emotional themes, I certainly hope that this season can
fare better. At the very least, a Fujifabric ending theme will add a layer of
emotional depth that the series director cannot take away.
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