Anime Batman (new straight to DVD from DC Comics)

[Joshua Fountain]

Here's a 10 minute cilip with commentary and introduction to the adaptation of Batman by anime directors.


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And here's a 5 minute clip with just the animation (no talkie).

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They have some good points there. Anime does have a tradition of conquering deep emotions with clarity and astounding artistic merit. I remember one scene in particular from an anime that reinforces this view. It was from Fullmetal Alchemist and it's after one of the many mini-climaxes of the series. The main characters are sitting in hospital beds and the sun is beaming through the blinds. The main character is just looking forlornly out the window and the sun is hitting his face. The very first word that popped into my mind was: TRAUMA. And that's just what the characters had gone through. UP to that point I hadn't seen such emotional and physical anquish portrayed in such a subtle scene in animation. And yes, they also have their own penchant for fighting sequences.

However, when I saw one of the ideations of Batman where he looked like the newest trend of androgenous Japanese man-boy heroes (see new Final Fantasies) it sickeningly reminded me of Japan's rampant pedophilia problem and how societal trends work their way into art. Kind of creeped me out a bit.

[Lone Wolf]

This looks like it's gonna be good. Especially the story done by Madhouse studios. They did Ninja Scroll and it's still my favorite anime.

[Hyskoa]

What's with the pointy nose?

[davi]

i personally find the aspect of making something western and changing it to anime because you think it has a better way of conveying emotion is insanely stupid...

Making Bruce Wayne into a 14 year old almost androgynous character doesn't in ANY way give the character more depth of emotion.

The only reason this was done is because anime has become so mainstream and is very adaptable to younger viewers.

[N D Hill]

I don't know, davi. I think the whole 'anime' title gets a bad rap and certainly unfairly encompasses too many genre and stylistic variations simply because they're asian. It always used to get to me when people would marginalize Peter Chung's work on Aeon Flux as anime. In truth, the quality of the art direction and animation look to be much better on this than if it were produced by the dominant western animation studios. The ones who've made our more mature animated features such as the animated Hellboy movies, 'Justice League: New Frontiers', and 'Turok: Son of Stone.' All of which adhere a western stylistic set of rules, which as far as I'm concerned, are no better or worse than the dominant styles coming out of Asia. However, I can say the recent western stuff simply looks and feels choppier when actual animation is concerned. Especially compared to this.

[Barts]

looks awesome, dont be so precious with it

[Joshua Fountain]

i personally find the aspect of making something western and changing it to anime because you think it has a better way of conveying emotion is insanely stupid...

Making Bruce Wayne into a 14 year old almost androgynous character doesn't in ANY way give the character more depth of emotion.

The only reason this was done is because anime has become so mainstream and is very adaptable to younger viewers.

I actually agree with you here. I wasn't talking about the style of the character that was giving him depth of emotion but how they typically do the storyline. I do agree with you as to the WHY it was done. To appeal to the new anime-youth *sighs*.

I have to say though that the western attempts at animating Batman (except for "Batman: The Animated Series" which I love so very much) have fallen short. Only one of the shorts really syncs with me and that is the Deathshot one. The animation has more of a realist style that I can jive with (no androgeny thank God... see the last bit of my first post as to why). The others I could probably live without.

I do like some animes... but they are few and far between. One classic example that I enjoy is "Grave of Fireflies" which actually moved me very deeply. I also enjoyed Fullmetal Alchemist for the storyline moreso than the artwork.. although I still hold to the fact they did such an excellent job conveying subtle complex emotions in that series.


I don't know what to think of this new development to be honest. But I'd thought I'd share.

[wiggum]

I hope this is better than that new "The Batman" saturday morning cartoon.

[Joshua Fountain]

I hope this is better than that new "The Batman" saturday morning cartoon.

Yeah that was a pretty horrific style. Everyone had banana faces! It just weirded me out.


I think the first batman styling they showed in this clip was pretty good.

But L.O.L. @ the androgenous batman!

http://lifeinservice.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/brian-emo-02.JPG

[halflife99]

Some of the designs look horrible and some of them look pretty good.
However, batman: Tas will always come first as far as I'm concerned.

[Anthis]

Gotta agree with halflife99 on the designs, although I'd probably have to see more.
Is Madhouse really doing the story? I remember hating what they did to Claymore, storywise ;/

Looks promising either way!