Production IG vs Gainax vs Madhouse vs Bones

[Syphin]

I did want to post this much earlier, as these images came out almost two months ago, but I've been too lazy O.o.

The artists of top anime studios Production IG, Gainax, Madhouse and Bones each provide an image comparing the most iconic characters of their studios � just which studio is victorious is doubtless in the eye of the beholder.

Left to right: Blood+ (Saya), Ghost in the Shell: SAC(Major Motoko Kusanagi), Ghost in the Shell: Innocence (Motoko), Seirei no Moribito (Balsa), Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Eden of the East (Saki Morimi), The Sky Crawlers, Patlabor

Left to right: FLCL (Mamimi Samejima), Diebuster (Nono), Nadia (Nadia), Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (Arumi Asahina?), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Nia Teppelin), Neon Genesis Evangelion (Rei Ayanami), FLCL (Haruko Haruhara), Nadia, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Yoko), the background robot is?

Left to right: -?, -?, Chobits, Ninja Scroll (?), Cardcaptor Sakura (Sakura), -?, Kobato, -?, X, Devil May Cry (Dante), Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (D)

Left to right: Sword of the Stranger (Tobimaru - dog), Darker than Black (Hei), -?, Fullmetal Alchemist (Edward Elric), Xam'd: Lost Memories, Ouran High School Host Club (Haruhi Fujioka), Eureka Seven (Renton Thurston), and Wolf's Rain (Kiba)

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>> Production IG is the winner in my book, my #1 favourite anime studio, to me they have the most mature and interesting titles coupled with visually stunning animation - Eden of the East recently showed that. I love Ghost in the Shell, I love it immensely, it is my favourite anime. To me this is what makes anime great, mature and creative storylines like this with amazingly kickass characters (the Major is my favourite female character) conveyed through high quality animation and production values. This along with Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira were the reasons why I got into anime. Back then when I watched GitS, I had no idea what was going on, the one scene I do remember was Motoko jumping off the buidling roof, looking back and cloaking as she falls - that is one of the most iconic scenes in GitS.

There hasn't been a moment while watching GitS (even re-watching), that I have felt disappointed or bored, I always feel entertained and gripped while watching it, it makes my brain and soul happy and high. The Ghost in the Shell movie by Mamoru Oshii is my favourite anime movie and movie in general. It should also be noted that the Wachowski brothers were influenced by GitS when creating The Matrix.

Here's some more food for thought, for those who think English dubs suck, I watched GitS:SAC entirely in English and it is and has been for a long while, my favourite anime series - I know the Japanese dub is better but this English dub is almost as good. I have the watched the movies in Japanese though. Quality anime generally get quality dubs.

Also love Masamune Shirow works - GitS, Appleseed, Dominion, Ghost Hound, Real Drive. His works end up being adapted into anime form by Production IG.

Ghost in the Shell vs Matrix

The artist could have included Kimi ni Todoke, that is extremely popular in Japan (and with me). Haven't watched; Blood+(watched the OVA though), Jin-Roh, The Sky Crawlers, Patlabor - but I do plan to.

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>> Well surprising the Gainax artist considered only female characters to be iconic, I would have thought Shinji and "I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away" line would be the face of Evangelion =D, and wow, no Kamina - shocking!!!

Evangelion has to be one of the greatest anime titles in existence, if you haven't watched it along with other specific titles you are blind to the side of anime that makes anime really what it is. It is such a detailed work and the complexity of each character's problems and struggles and watching how they deal with and accept/overcome those problems makes this one hell of a series to watch and re-watch. When I first watched NGE, I didn't understand much about it, and I actually thought Shinji was annoying in a way because he was mentally weak, but there is the saying that you hate in others what you hate in yourself and I can't really deny that. Same thing with Gurren Lagann, I was annoyed by Simon's weakness and hesitation, but in the end, after watching the development of those characters where they end up believing in themselves, I liked them both. Another thing about NGE is that when you re-watch it, you always end up feeling differently about what happened, it's probably because the events that happen largely depend on how you interpret them and since people are continually changing, what you interpret as what is happening at one point, will be different at another point in time (this applies to all anime that ends up making you think a lot about what is actually happening).

Out of those titles in the image, I've only watched, NGE, Gurren Lagann and FLCL. I generally prefer the male characters Gainax creates, even though my favourite character in NGE is Misato, my favourite Evangelion pilots are Toji and Shinji (both male). Could be I like Misato and Shinji because I find the hedgehog's dilemma concept to be very interesting. Female characters I do like a lot in Gainax works are; Misato and Haruko (from FLCL) =/.

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>> Surprised Madhouse didn't include characters from some of these titles; Black Lagoon, Aoi Bungaku, Paprika (really really great movie, a fantastic movie, it makes you dream again, also dam Hollywood for wanting to destroy it's image by making a fail live-action movie - you know it will be...ugh...), Dennou Coil, Death Note, Trigun, Kaiba, Monster (one of my favourite anime series - 'what is morally right?'), Summer Wars (indeed best movie of 2009 - glad it won that award and many others). So many [good] titles by Madhouse over their 30+ years existence.

Vampire Hunter D is another movie I will recommend people to watch, you won't regret you did - trailer, same with Perfect Blue and Paprika, these are seriously amazing anime movies. Piano no Mori was also a very good watch.

Paprika trailer:


Paprika opening:


Perfect Blue trailer:


Anyway there's still a lot of titles I want to watch by Madhouse - Millenium Actress and Metropolis are a few (I watched some of Metropolis before, but I don't remember what happened O.o).

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>> Bones, everyone should at least recognise one character there =). Moradim's favourite anime - Fullmetal Alchemist, and yes it is indeed a great anime and manga. Studio Bones pretty much for the last few years have accumulated some really amazing titles; in 2007 Bones came out with Eureka Seven, Darker than Black and the movie Sword of the Stranger (shaunz knows how good that movie was), in 2008 Bones produced the Soul Eater anime adaption (one of good shounen anime's you will see) and Xam'd: Lost Memories (it was good, minus me getting confused by the ending =P), last year - Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Darker than Black 2 - all great series which I loved watching. Looking forward to Heroman this year, will be interesting to see how the Bones/Stan Lee collaboration turns out.

Sword of the Stranger trailer:

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The Production IG and Madhouse images do look a bit simple, there isn't a specific direction or scene created in those images, it's just a bunch of characters in one image. The Gainax and Bones images do have direction, they create a pretty cool scene in their respective image.

The blog which I got these pictures from posted this along with the message (found it amusing and hilarious):

Shaft�s characters weren�t ready in time, and Gonzo ran out of money before starting. Kyoto Animation announced its participation but then delayed before supplying some old pictures of Haruhi.

If you don't know, SHAFT at that time were delaying the Bakemonogatari ONA (ep14) release and kept pushing the release date for the episode back, Gonzo has been struggling financially - they had to sell of sections, make people redundant, and even cancel DVD releases because there was not enough demand (ah poor Shangri-La DVD, I didn't think it was a bad anime) - doesn't help when you make a $30million deficit =(, Kyoto Animation announced a Haruhi S2 but aired the S1, they like to screw with fans, yet fans take it and come back for more...Endless Eight, I can't really comment on that since I didn't watch it but from what I hear it was just an episode repeated many times over (with minor differences).

Wouldn't have minded a Sunrise image - Gundam and Cowboy Bebop would suffice.

[I did make an attempt at trying to name at least the series that is included in the images, but I can't recognise some of them, so if you do, you should help fill in the gaps =)].

--Syphin--

[Darkshaunz]

Epic post with excellent insight. I have come to expect nothing less from a Syphin post.

You remind me of myself when I still ran the anime blog with Retsgip-sempai. I know the thrill and exhilaration you must feel when you are pumping out such elaborate and passionate proses. In a way, I envy your spark and impact of delivery - but I am much more grateful that you are sharing these entries with us.

I'll say it now.

My favourite studio of all time is Gainax.

Not related to Gainax (KyoAni actually), but I love this picture. Deal with it /shades

Neon Genesis Evangelion started everything for me. When I was around 10 years old, the first manga I ever bought was Eva Volume Three. Whilst other kids were developing crushes on their teachers or whatever - I was simply intrigued by this "Rei Ayanami". She seemed like a quiet character who wasn't like any person I have ever seen on TV or met in real life. Her dialogue was very limited in the book but I just wanted to know more. One thing led to another, and I watched the anime. Many people watched the anime for the giant robots attacking monsters - but to me, that was secondary. I watched it for Rei and to see how she dies and is reborn in multiples. How she falls in love at the last minute, and only to have her feelings buried in death. Basically at around 11 years old, I had to comprehend existentialism on a kind of philosophical level.

13 years later, I am still a very ardent Rei fanboy - I just let my love for Rukia be more outspoken. It shows also, physically. About 70% of the figurine collection are Evangelion-related, and I have more Rei models (still buying them as well) than any other character combined in my collection. In many ways, Rei (and Gainax) was a pioneer. Rei was so different as a heroine compared to the other peppy and chirpy super-magical girl shows that many thousands of anime fans were gripped and compelled by this kind of character. So was born the "Silent and stoic girl"-type. On the surface, a lot of people who don't understand will call her doll - but true Eva fans can see the small changes in her as the series progresses. Oh and hey, I love Asuka too (but don't tell anyone that!).

The End of Evangelion was nothing short of an anime cinema masterpiece. It was more a demonstration of humanism and art-form just happening to manifest in the medium of a feature film. It was violent expressionism at times, sexual themes the other and mostly abstract philosophy in between. Basically, End of Evangelion tells the story of humanity's ugliness, baseness and how despite the vileness of human character - there is at least beauty in chaotic cycle of living. If I am not mistaken, I was about 13-14 when I watched End of Evangelion. About the same age as Shinji, so the movie totally devoured me and I was in state of utter melancholy when I realized that was it for Eva once the movie ended. I will not lie, as a kid of 14 - the movie was kind of fucked up, and even as I watched it in adulthood there are some parts of the movie that makes me feel uncomfortable and I wonder how I ever got through the explosion of blood, colour and religious overtures in my adolescence.

How can I say it, Evangelion to me isn't like "My favourite show, number 1! XD" kind of thing. What Eva is to me, it is the origin of everything. The start point to me as an anime fan and a Gainax loyalist, when I realized in my dull, drudgery of a life as a young student in a strict private school - I could follow the story of a boy not unlike me called "Shinji Ikari" in his robot, saving the world despite being a coward, having lusts in his youth and the free flow of blood in the series was something that shook the core of who I was. I own two Eva jackets, I wear them both regularly. Some people think I am an Eva Fanboy because it's one of those famous anime sci-fi cult hits, but I silently know better. So when people mention Gainax and when I say I'm dead dedicated to their works - they may think it's because of TTGL (which was excellent of course) or FLCL (masterpiece, it owns), I just nod and say sure. They wouldn't understand it.

Also - you've probably figured out why I am so smitten hopeless by Yuki Nagato (from Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu) - Yuki Nagato is basically the Rei Ayanami of this generation! Rei also set the precedent to me having a stern preference to anime girls with short hair, that can hold their own in a battle but say very little. Rukia of course, has all those traits!

Other notable mentions:

Kyoto Animation - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is Hands-down an excellent slice-of-life cum Sci-Fi action/intrigue anime series. S2 Endless Eight was an amazing troll, it feels shit and amazing to be trolled by KyoAni. The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya movie is now ranked number 2 just under EoE in my personal all-time best- That is how fucking ridiculously good it is. It's so good that I can't shut up about it on vent, and I am sure Arl/Oli want to punch me in the dick for not shutting up about it. Also, I listen to the soundtrack every day at work ever since I saw the movie. Pretty sure I teared up at a couple of scenes in the movie too - I'll even readily admit they weren't manly tears. Nagato Yuki Saikyo desu!

BONES - Host Club Ouran was GREAT (no, it really was outstanding). FMA and Eureka Seven are of course, excellent. Sword of the Stranger is like number 3 on my top anime movies of all time. People need to watch SotS, as it is bloody remarkable. The storytelling narrative and action choreography are bar none.

Production I.G. - Jin-Roh was very good and Sky Crawlers is nothing short of excellent anime cinema. GITS wasn't really for me, didn't like it as much. I've heard good things about Eden of the East. Production I.G. produces and animates at a caliber unmatched in the industry, they can even make Gainax look kind of sloppy at times. Which is a feat, because Gainax animations are fluid as fuck. But Production I.G. feels and looks like class all the goddamned way. They are to be handed kudos for that, definitely.

Madhouse - Black Lagoon. Enough Said. Action anime of all time, simply the best in the marketplace.

Studio Pierrot - Bleach and Naruto anime team. Great filler stories, Great movies and excellent animation during important canon scenes. Kudos, definitely. They sometimes run into budget problems and have to use Korean animators. It's okay because the QUARITY makes us all laugh anyway. Also because they gave me my Rukia movie ;p (lol bias).

Sunrise - Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Gundam Zeta, Gundam Double Zeta, Gundam Unicorn and Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket are my favourite UC-related Mecha movies and series ever. EFSF forever! Down with the warmongering Zeon spacenoids! aaand GINTAMA ANIME MOTHERFUCKERS!

Toei - For giving me Dragon Ball Z. Jesus Fucking Christ Dragon Ball Z anime is so awesome that it continues to kick my ass so hard that my colon and the colons of future generations will feel the G-force of the Kaioken up to twenty times. No gimmicks, just fucking buff guys powering up by yelling a lot and then throwing crazy lazers at each other at forces enough to destroy galaxies eighteen thousand times over. So mind-blowing powerful and manly that this shit is to be admired for eons to come. AAAAAAAAAAA!!!! KAKAROTTT!!!!!!

SHAFT - Bakemonogatari was so good that it felt dirty in a way. It was pretentious as Hell, but it was pretentious in such an Artsy-fartsy way that I couldn't help but love it. Bakemonogatari was basically a very nicely disguised "deep harem" and the 4th wall breaks plus pop culture jokes were excellent. It was good in a Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei way, and I loved that show because it was pretentious as all fuck. Basically I watched and enjoyed Bakemonogatari because I enjoyed the snob value it was leaking and the characters were genuinely perky with individual sexual allure and earthly characteristics. It was eye-candy and brain padding, Hell...I'd recommend it. Good shit.

So, after all that - tldr - Gainax is my number 1. Just because Gainax is my number 1 however, does not mean I do not recognize the awesomeness of the other studios either. I just have a strong personal connection with Gainax's favoured child - NGE. I will continue to support them, probably until I draw no breath or they disband - whichever, I'll follow them.

I hope my response did your thread justice, Syphin.

-Shaunz out.

[Syphin]

Now that the Gurren Lagann Parallel works are over, Gainax has announced their newest work - Pansuto, or it's English title - Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. Most of those who worked on Gurren Lagann, working on this project.

The story centers around a teen-celebrity-like blond-haired girl named Panty and a black-haired Goth Loli girl named Stocking. The two are angels sent from the heavens to battle the "Ghosts" on Earth.
[Source: ANN]

It's an interesting name for an anime, I'll give them that, but will have to wait to see just what it is about. Apparently more details on it should be out in June.

[btw shaunz, thanks for the reply, it was a very good and interesting read =)].