Animation This Week
The past week I've mainly just been keeping up to date with a handful of shows coming out this season. I'm currently watching 3 Japanese series that are airing one episode a week. The first of which is a show called Mob Psycho 100.
It started airing its 2nd season in January, and is produced by one of my favourite animation companies, Studio Bones. The creator of the manga (an artist under the psuedonym ONE) is most famous for the hit series One Punch Man, which is also returning with a season 2 sometime this year, I am also looking forward to that. Mob psycho follows the everyday life of a young psychic boy named Mob, and his teacher, a conman psychic who manages to solve his clients issues using mainly odd skills he has picked up over the years. The series is a really great comedy, but its also very wholesome. despite being a liar and a con, Reigen acts as a real mentor to mob, and you really get to see how the characters grow and inspire each other.
One of my favourite quotes from the show is from Reigen, when explaining supernatural powers... " we are different than regular people because we are born with special powers. But that shouldn’t give you the illusion that you’re a special being... People who run fast, people who can sing well, people who study hard, people who are funny, and people with psychic powers. Are we different from them? Having confidence in your strength, is good thing but do not get carried away." I think the thing I really like about the show, is that while there are magic powers, the characters still feel real and believable, and the protagonist doesn't get everything he wants just because hes the 'main character' or 'the chosen one.
There was also a really cute short animation released by Pixar named Kitbull, which was uploaded to youtube and can be watched here:
Kaguya sama: Love is War is another comedy series that I've really been enjoying this year, I watched episode 7 and I've been looking forward to the new episode each week. The basic concept for the show is that 2 extremely academic students, The student council president Shirogane, and vice president Kaguya end up falling in love with each other. The only problem is that they both believe that the other is in love with them too, and that confessing would be a sign of weakness, and thus they would 'lose'. The show is about the two as they scheme and play mind games to make the other confess, and is incredibly entertaining and endearing to watch.
Another animation that came out recently, and unexpectedly, was a music video for one of my favourite artists, Mitski. It was a collaboration between the artist and Spotify, and was created for her song "A Pearl" on her 2018 album Be The Cowboy.
I really love the colour palette of the video, and the chalky/painterly style of the art direction.The timing and mood shifts are also something I really enjoyed about the video, and it really matches Mitskis style of singing and playing.
The last show that I've been keeping up with is The Promised Neverland, A psychological thriller that follows three children, Ray, Norman and Emma as they try to escape the orphanage that was created to farm human beings. The suspense in the show is outstanding, and every episode keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering whats going to happen next. You can really sense the fear that these young children are experiencing, the writing always manages to keep me engaged and immersed. The soundtrack also really helps with the mood and suspense of the scenes, and over exaggerated features and facial expression really adds to the unsettling vibe of the show, despite its deceptively cutesy character designs and art style.
It started airing its 2nd season in January, and is produced by one of my favourite animation companies, Studio Bones. The creator of the manga (an artist under the psuedonym ONE) is most famous for the hit series One Punch Man, which is also returning with a season 2 sometime this year, I am also looking forward to that. Mob psycho follows the everyday life of a young psychic boy named Mob, and his teacher, a conman psychic who manages to solve his clients issues using mainly odd skills he has picked up over the years. The series is a really great comedy, but its also very wholesome. despite being a liar and a con, Reigen acts as a real mentor to mob, and you really get to see how the characters grow and inspire each other.
One of my favourite quotes from the show is from Reigen, when explaining supernatural powers... " we are different than regular people because we are born with special powers. But that shouldn’t give you the illusion that you’re a special being... People who run fast, people who can sing well, people who study hard, people who are funny, and people with psychic powers. Are we different from them? Having confidence in your strength, is good thing but do not get carried away." I think the thing I really like about the show, is that while there are magic powers, the characters still feel real and believable, and the protagonist doesn't get everything he wants just because hes the 'main character' or 'the chosen one.
There was also a really cute short animation released by Pixar named Kitbull, which was uploaded to youtube and can be watched here:
I really loved the art direction in the short film, the chalky backgrounds are really striking, and I have a soft spot for line less animation, so I really loved this short film. The lack of dialogue was also a nice touch, as it gave me a lot of inspiration thinking about future projects/animations this year, and how effective storytelling doesn't have to rely on dialogue.
Kaguya sama: Love is War is another comedy series that I've really been enjoying this year, I watched episode 7 and I've been looking forward to the new episode each week. The basic concept for the show is that 2 extremely academic students, The student council president Shirogane, and vice president Kaguya end up falling in love with each other. The only problem is that they both believe that the other is in love with them too, and that confessing would be a sign of weakness, and thus they would 'lose'. The show is about the two as they scheme and play mind games to make the other confess, and is incredibly entertaining and endearing to watch.
Another animation that came out recently, and unexpectedly, was a music video for one of my favourite artists, Mitski. It was a collaboration between the artist and Spotify, and was created for her song "A Pearl" on her 2018 album Be The Cowboy.
I really love the colour palette of the video, and the chalky/painterly style of the art direction.The timing and mood shifts are also something I really enjoyed about the video, and it really matches Mitskis style of singing and playing.
The last show that I've been keeping up with is The Promised Neverland, A psychological thriller that follows three children, Ray, Norman and Emma as they try to escape the orphanage that was created to farm human beings. The suspense in the show is outstanding, and every episode keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering whats going to happen next. You can really sense the fear that these young children are experiencing, the writing always manages to keep me engaged and immersed. The soundtrack also really helps with the mood and suspense of the scenes, and over exaggerated features and facial expression really adds to the unsettling vibe of the show, despite its deceptively cutesy character designs and art style.
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