Renn’s 12 Moments in Anime: 11 Studios
Originally, I was going to write this post about an assortment of people: established seiyuu, upcoming seiyuu, character designers, directors, and of course, the man of the year, Gen Urobuchi. But that ended up an unorganized mess, so I went with studios instead. You know, the companies responsible for producing and animating the anime.
Now, the thing about studios is that they’re never going to produce just a string of hits a year. This is true even moreso this year where barely a single studio stood out. And what does “stood out” mean anyway? Are we talking about studios that made a lot of money or studios that produced quality works? Unfortunately, if I’m going to talk studios, I’ll have to talk an opinionated mixture of both money and creativity.
So why talk about studios at all? Well, for one, it’s fun. Being a studio fanboy is one of the joys of being an anime fan. Plus, talking about studios makes me sound like a mighty fine nerd. And for another, there is a certain level of quality and a certain type of show you can expect from a studio. For example, with BONES and Kyoto Animation, you can always expect high-quality animation. With Sunrise, you can expect mecha and action, and with JC Staff, you can expect moe. So you can compare a year of a studio’s output to their output overall, and sometimes, you’ll find very interesting results.
So, to celebrate my final moment in anime, let’s talk studios. This final moment encompasses posts 10-12, and it’s a celebration of how great a year this was in anime. Although, to be frank, this post almost indicates otherwise.
3 Studios that Performed Worse than Average, IMHO
(1) This was a tough year for GAINAX. They lost Director Hiroyuki Imaishi (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt) when he went to form his own company, Studio Trigger. The two things they animated this year, Houkago no Pleiades and Dantalian no Shoka, are bland and unmemorable. When GAINAX are at the top of their game, they’re the best in the business. They’re the studio behind Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and all of Imaishi’s hits. When they’re in transition, as they’ve been before, they resort back to the typical anime moe tricks.
(2) Few studios have had a worse year than Madhouse, one of the most prolific anime studios. Why? In a word: Marvel. Madhouse got stuck in a deal producing four Madhouse x Marvel anime, featuring franchises such as Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men, and Blade. And they’re all pretty cheesy and terrible. Luckily, 2012 seems to be looking up for them. They’re back on their creative A-game with veteran Morio Asaka directing Chihayafuru, and on their financial A-game with a very popular remake of Hunter x Hunter.
(3) Alright, Kyoto Animation only produced one thing this year, Nichijou. And Nichijou, as a show, was… alright. I dropped it, but I dropped it because of time issues, not because I thought it was terrible. But that doesn’t change that Nichijou’s is KyoAni’s first genuine flop, with less than a thousand units sold per volume. They’ll recover though. This is company that repeated an episode eight times and still had it sell (ahem, Haruhi). Plus, their new mystery anime, which will arrive in the spring, looks awesome.
3 Studios that Performed Better than Average, IMHO
(1) I’m not a fan of A-1 Pictures, even if I’ve liked quite a few of their anime. They’re not a company of otaku like BONES, GAINAX, or any of the popular mainstays. No, they’re an offshoot of Sony, a company of businessmen. They buy big titles, and create soulless, solid anime out of them. But this year their formula really worked. The IdolM@ster, Prince-Sama, Ao no Exorcist, and AnoHana all sold in spades. And I rather liked AnoHana and Ao no Exorcist.
(2) Ufotable specializes in OVAs and movies, but 2011 marked a new foray into TV anime. Sure, they’ve done it before, but not in a while and not with an immense amount of success. That changed this year with Fate/Zero, which took the otaku world by storm. Sure, it’s an installment in a well-loved franchise, but Ufotable made it work with sharp scripting and great production values. Looking forward to the best part of the series come spring.
(3) Maybe I’m cheating a bit since SHAFT only animated one good anime this year, with only 12-episodes at that. But considering that Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica broke records for Blu-Ray sales and may very well have ushered in a new era of anime, I think its placement is justified. Also, special shout-out (again) to Gen Urobuchi, the writer who powered Ufotable and Shaft to have the spectacular 2011 they had.
3 Studios I Hope to See More of in the Future
David Production have been making good anime since 2009, but this year, they really found themselves a niche: kooky comedies. Both Ben-To and Level E were among this year’s most clever offerings. They’re the one reason why I’m looking forward to Inu x Boku SS… although I don’t have that much hope for that one.
White Fox animated Katanagatari last year, and while it was good (reportedly), it never reached the heights of Steins;Gate, one of the anime of the year. Only three full series in, and White Fox has already made an anime of the year. Nicely done. Their adaptation of Jormungand (due next year) looks promising and a good fit for them as well.
Maybe it’s a bit premature to put asread on here, as Mirai Nikki is only half-way finished. But, nah, they’ve done a great job adapting the manga, which is trashier and uglier than the TV series. I don’t know if they have the talent for an original work, but they’ve really worked this adaptation, despite their non-existent budget.
Favorite and Least Favorite Studio of the Year
My favorite studio this year was Brain’s Base. They made four anime (Dororon Enma-Kun, Natsume Yuujinchou San, Kamisama Dolls, and Mawaru Penguindrum), and I loved all but Dororon Enma-Kun. Not bad. They also animated their first (I think) movie this year: Hotarubi no Mori E. These last few years, Brain’s Base has really established themselves as a high-quality studio that produces quirky titles.
The most disappointing studio? Production IG, all the way. Sure, they made Kimi ni Todoke and Usagi Drop, both of which were good adaptations. But their two original, very hyped anime, Blood-C and Guilty Crown, positively sucked. There’s a pretty high bar with this company; their series all have high-quality animation, and they’ve made anime like Ghost in the Shell and Eden of the East in the past. Guilty Crown and Blood-C are a bit of a step back.
Yeah, I know I’m missing many studios and people (for example, Sunrise probably made the most money this year). So, who impressed you this year, studios, writers, voice actors, or otherwise?
Note: ONE. MORE. LEFT. Will come in a couple of hours. You can trust me since I typed up most of that post beforehand. I feel like such a loser posting these after Christmas has ended my time, since (1) these were due by Christmas Eve and (2) it was Boxing Day in the rest of the world when it was Christmas my time, anyway. But it’s better I see it through, right? Anyway, to those who don’t know, this is the 12 Moments in Anime Project, one moment a day for twelve days straight. Thanks for reading! Oh, and a happy Boxing Day!
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I am still waiting for that sequel of Durarara! and Kuragehime from Brains Base.
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Me, too. :( Well, we're getting more Natsume. xD
Don't forget Shaft also did a 2 episode Hidamari Sketch OVA as well as a 6 episode Katte ni Kaizou OVA (from the guy that wrote Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei but from before SZS) to buttress the argument for Shaft's success this year.
The only studio I'm going to disagree with your comments is those for Kyoto Animation. Nichijou was not a flop. Sure it didn't move alot of DVD/BD but that doesn't mean it was a flop. From an artistic side Nichijou was the most experimental anime KyoAni's done and the styles and techniques used in Nichijou will influence their work for a long time. Also, while it didn't sale alot as an anime, because of the anime sales of the manga sky-rocketed. In 2011 Nichijou was the 49th highest selling manga series and sold over a million volumes in 2011. Also there's the upcoming rebroadcast of Nichijou in primetime for the winter season. This type of thing isn't done for a show that's considered a flop. Kyoto Animation also put out the K-On! movie this year and the revenues from that have been stellar. Four weeks in and it's made over a billion yen and has actually out-grossed Summer Wars at the equivalent point of time and is only a bit behind the first Evangelion reboot movie (Evangelion 1.0) at the equivalent point of time.
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I had no idea about Shaft, which proves my research (lol) only extended to TV series. Should of kept the post to TV series, come to think of it. >.< Thanks for the info though. I'm definitely going to check out Katte ni Kaizou; that looks awesome. :D
I had also forgotten about the K-ON movie, but thanks for the reminder about the sales. Kyoto Animation shouldn't be on there with the one of the blockbusters of the year (oops). I still think Nichijou performed worse than average for them, considering how successful their series usually are, but I'd have to agree flop's too harsh.
argh, don’t even remind me of the terrible year that Production I.G. have had, such a disappointment.
I hope 2012 is a return to form for both them & GAINAX.
Brains Base where definately tops imo.
:( They'll rebound. They've produced tons of hits. This year was just kinda weird for them.
GAINAX's next project is Medaka Box, which will either be really terrible or really awesome. They couldn't have picked a Shounen Jump series more suited for them, but it's still a Shounen Jump series with lots of Shounen Jump flaws.