10:25 Japanese call green lights "ao" or blue. 10:40 Headlight is off not because an error, but because Japanese frequently turn off their headlight at intersections if they're at the front, so as to not blind other motorists while they're stopped at a red light.
One of the things that makes Akira so special is how it existed at the right time and the right place to become what it is now. Otomo created a visceral and mature narrative with great writing and awesome scale, but it's also the culmination of countless masters of their industry. It's a super cool manga that got very lucky.
good editing, good analysis, good video. No doubt you have some experience in animation. Worked in VFX for a while and it''s amazing seeing someone dissect one of my favorite scenes off of one of my favorite movies.
little gem, at 29:44, note the little (one frame) rotation of the wheel to the left and at the end of the movement in the opposite direction, it seems counterintuitive, but that's what happens at the beginning of a change of direction, to unbalance the body in the direction you want to go, incredible detail!
I dont understand. if there is no difference between the two frames then isn't it just one frame? It all just seems like a fancy way of saying lower or higher framerates
Time keeps ticking regardless of your animation style so every frame is different but the contents of the frame can be the same as the previous frame. Same drawing re-used for consequent frames (ie, Drawing 1 for Frame 1 and Frame 2, then Drawing 2 for Frame 3 and Frame 4, and so on). Can be combined or varied for different objects in the same scene. Not only for saving the budget but also for creative choices like speeding up or slowing down movement and dynamics of a target object in the scene. That's why some generic seasonal anime can look so mediocre or choppy, they'd just move the objects as little as possible and re-use the same contents of a frame 4 or 5 times in a row. But unlike western animation where it's all about slapstick shenanigans most anime is written and directed like a dialogue heavy live tv show with actors (or dorama) where most scenes can be completely static with just characters opening their mouths and this would still work because a lot of anime is just an adaptation from a manga, which is you know, static dialogue heavy medium. I like animation myself and would often watch something just for the sake of seeing it move and inspect how they've achieved it regardless of being a silly story or making no sense, like a lot of anime OVA or movies from 80-90s. But I probably won't remember it in the end. Some good examples are Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Spriggan (1998), Blood: The Last Vampire, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Awesome animation and a joy to look it. But I've watched them all 2-3 times and I barely remember anything story wise or what they were about.
His Best Picture reviews with Did The Right One Win videos got me into films from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Without CSP, I never would've seen The Red Shoes.
Thank you so much for re-uploading this! Like others, I was looking for the original and was confounded trying to do so. I wonder what happened to the original creator's channel, as the entire channel has been taken down :(
I actually got into his videos when I saw his Best Picture and Did The Right One Win reviews around January. He started from 1928 (Wings) to 1993 (Schindler’s List).
Regarding the "slow motion" of some effects as the timeline of the movie passes in real time, I think it's absolutely a deliberate choice. It's VERY rare in modern animation to actually see some of these details. In the way that anime sometimes tries to use few frames for as much impact as possible, akira uses MORE animation to emphasize those moments even if it means ignoring time. Those "slow motion in realtime" effects are IMO, one of the key defining traits of the film that makes it so insanely memorable to this day. It's the "style" that sticks in my head when I think Akira, explicitly, not because it was mentioned in this video, but as something that I wished modern animation did. I also think a lot of these "scene issues" like scene 63 being "botched" is only if you do a super deep dive into every single frame, which I think reduces quite literally any film to be less than the sum of its parts. The "lack" of BGs during action scenes is absolutely a cost saving thing but also something that helps emphasize the action. It's very easy to digest, especially if you're literally going through these frame by frame, but in motion, minimzing that BG actually helps appreciate the animation SO MUCH. As a viewer, I couldn't care less. 66/67 I think stays in to emphasize that they're backing off as an "oh shit", which I distinctly remember in my first time watching the film. Removing them just makes it all about the antagonist and Kaneda which LESSENS the effect.
I think some things you glossed over, quite easily, simply because it doesn't apply directly to an animation technical term, rather than it simply being a focal point, either emotional focus, or, quite literally " camera focused " for those few seconds, or single frame. ...remember, a lot of manga shows impact on the emotion side of things, and doesn't need the background details. ( Up to the artists discretion I suppose.) While obviously some things are animation mistakes, many are not. Many fans of the Akira manga appreciate lack of words, or sound effects, going into a panel. Like his artwork gives enough imagery, no need for sounds, words, or backgrounds, to express the feeling. I imagine the film tries to capture that in some areas.
Yeah, I never liked this analysis. It seemed too pretentious and egotistical. Instead of trying to understand choices like missing background details as cultural and stylish differences, the video attributes it to cheats and errors. Its mind-boggling.
I love this movie and I've heard a bunch of stuff degrading it or casting it aside since it's relatively popular now. Love the actual analysis and appreciation into why it is still an amazing animation
Japan uses green lights just like anywhere else, it's just that in japanese they say "aoi" blue instead of "midori" green. Some vegetation is also called aoi or aosa (aka blue instead of green) when it's dark green or indicating it's un-ripeness
Thank you for re-uploading this I've been looking for the original one not knowing it was tooken down. Thank you so much I was doing some research on how animation is done and wanted to rewatch it again.
I saw the original one a year or two ago. I don't remember what music was used. YT has this automated function to listens for copyrighted music. If it finds it, then it will either not allow you to post, or play without any audio. Or maybe he was using the audio from the movie, and that got an auto mated copywrite notice? So they might have redone this video, with swapping in some free music. Just my guesses.