Alright, I’m back. Think a day off was good. Today I’m gonna briefly discuss 3D animation in anime. Like it or hate it, it’s pretty obvious that that’s the route anime is heading down. A popular example would be how Attack on Titan embraced this in its shift of the Colossal titan from 2D to 3D in the second season. UFOTable has been a forerunner with incorporating 3D into its style, making for some great moments of animation, though that’s not quite what I mean.
My introduction with fully 3D shows came with Ajin by Polygon Pictures. Polygon Pictures does work exclusively in 3D, many people first seeing their work in Knights of Sidonia. However, before that they worked on Ghost in the Shell Innocence, which had amazing CG animation alongside its amazing directing from Mamoru Oshii. I’m sure they had many works before this but looking into what were their own projects and what they helped with doesn’t seem possible in the short time frame I’ve given myself. Most recently, they’ve done the Netflix Godzilla movies and the Blame! adaptation.
While there are some thematic threads that tie many of their works together, most namely a focus on futuristic technology, the biggest thing would be the 3D aesthetics, which I believe have been getting better as time goes on. Those Godzilla movies looked pretty darn alright.
While Polygon Pictures certainly does hold a spot in my heart, I can’t say that they make the best CG anime out there. A few amazing shows have come out recently including Land of the Lustrous and Dorohedoro that utilize CGI to their fullest. I think they really show off what can be done with the medium and the untapped potential we have yet to see come out of it.
Of course, there is the other side to consider. Garbage that was obviously put together as a cheap cash grab. 3D animation is simply easier to create (not necessarily easier to make good though) so of course those who wish to make something and turn a profit would look towards it. The main example that comes to my mind is Himote House: a low effort, 12 minute-per-episode tv series with piss poor characters and even pisser poorer animation. Just imagining what they did to Berserk is enough to make some cringe.
I know that many people will turn their heads at the mere mention of 3D, but I do believe that’s a terrible mindset to have. Yes, there’s garbage, and a lot more garbage than good, but that’s true for all things. We’ve seen the wonders CG can show us and I, for one, am looking forward to more franchises embracing it as an option.