Does Anime Need Good Animation? (One Punch Man Season 2) 

Not gonna lie, I probably wouldn't have cared so much about the poor animation quality this season if season 1 hadn't set the bar SO DAMN HIGH!

What’s funny is that season one was afraid that it’s quality will not live up to the quality of the manga...

I'll wait for One Punch Man Season 2 : Brotherhood

You can't start a series using amazing visual storytelling, then change it to ilustrated radio and expect people will like it. Once you go sakuga you can never go back-uga! *BADUM TSS*

The thing is, Chuck Jones lead looney tunes is not only incredibly well animated, but also have incredible voice acting and dialogue that is both snappy and funny. That's what makes them so absolutely spectacular.

Mob psycho 100 season 2 was literally out of this world, the animation was just too good and complemented the story on new levels

"Does animation in anime matter?" *looks at berserk* yes, it does.

"Boruto, Boruto's dad, Boruto's dad shippuden.." x'D that made me laugh

*Boruto's dad... Boruto's dad shippuden* Looks like it aint ending anytime soon

Yes, animation in anime matters.

Animation is especially important in ACTION ANIME. The fight scenes in season 1 were very well done. Season 2 scenes are just bland.

Honestly, I didn't exactly mind the drop in animation quality, as long as the story was compelling. And it was. A lot more than the first season's story.

MB= Mobs Basement

The thing that puts me off with opm 2 is the directing rather than the animation. The first episode feels rushed.... it seems like they wanted to get to the king stuff(which is the good stuff) without them reintroducing to our main two characters. It doesn’t work in the context of the 4 years hiatus and it doesn’t work when you binged it with the way they ended season 1.

"Does anime need good animation?" Short answer: Yes. Good animation: 1. Fits the tone of the story being told. 2. Logically and clearly conveys what it is attempting to show. 3. Is aesthetically pleasing and/or interesting. 4. Is consistent. I care about story far more than animation, but I'll drop anything that doesn't follow these four rules.

Mob Psycho 100>OPM now for me. Season 2 hasn't really done anything that the manga has already done so it's a skip for me. Guess I'll wait to see what the Anime bigwigs decide to do with the inevitable season 3.

Mob Psycho is seemingly done for now. Give OPM to Bones for season 3.

i have seen black clover's fight animations so im not too dissapointed lmao

Well let’s be honest, good animation was one punch man’s thing

I think the biggest issue with "bad animation" is when a show used to have MUCH better animation before so the difference in quality is just absolutely jarring. One Punch Man Season 2 is an example for that as well as the most recent Final Season of Attack on Titan. I really wish people would have more patience in general so that the products they love come out when they are as good as they can be. But as stated in the video companies just try to keep their brands relevant so they don't even care if the quality and creativity suffers for that.

We were so spoiled by the animators in season one and i didnt realise until s2 ep1

I think the reason animation quality matters, especially for OPM, is the fact that a lot of the gags from OPM are visually based. A lack of visual quality would mean reduced quality of the gags, which is what I think makes OPM more accessible for newcomers to the world of anime. I haven't watched any OPM S2 yet, so I can't comment on this and make a final opinion on it, but I'm not looking too forward to it.

Murata's artwork is simply too damn detailed and perfect that it's hard to animate.

My favorite things from One Punch Man Season 2 : 1. GAROU 2. We spend more time with other characters 3. 🍌🍌🍌

I judge an anime based on its story first, then its animation. The problem is is that I already read the OPM manga so I wanted to watch the anime for its animation. Needless to say, I was disappointed

15:55 "I'm just gonna let his MAL page scroll by as I talk" *doesn't even get through the "A"s*

Short answer, it depends on the genre. Also OPM S2 has way more problems than just the animation, the whole artstyle is completely wrong even in scenes where nothing is happening and they could just one to one copy the manga.

OPM s2 has animation quality that wildly varies from 1/10 to 8/10 just in the first god damn episode.

Actually, now that you mentioned it, Attack of Titan is still a really great example of some very nice animation and improving quality per season, rather declining quality. *EDIT:* I love the attraction that this comment has started and allow me to give some additional opinions. Story wise I haven't really felt an noticeable increase in quality. That doesn't mean it declined. In fact, the story stays strong as it always has been. Some people ridicule the attack on human part of the show, but I think it showed another great aspect of the world, that in the end we are dealing with humans after all. A government/monarchy ruling over its citizens, doing all they must to stay in power is not something you can outrule, as the show tells you. I also personally love the sound quality, it's very, very detailed and makes the world they live in so much more real than that is.

*Lets just admit it* One punch man season 1 was Lightning in a bottle

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

One of my art teachers once said something along the lines of: You can have a beautiful drawing be ruined by painting it badly. You can have a bad drawing but paint it beautifully. For me, a show with beautiful animation, character designs and all that can be ruined by bad storytelling. Rise of The TMNT comes to mind. (Fight me!) A show with bad or very stiff animation with strong storytelling, memorable characters, is far more enjoyable.

A good story can save a bad animation. A good animation can't save a bad story. (Other than very specfic cases.)

Animation matters, especially when we are still working very hard to fight against one of the greatest demons of modern day anime; *_CGI CHARACTERS, CROWDS, AND VEHICLES!!!_*

Honestly.... The fights don't really sound good. Specifically, they have a specific impact sound that they WAY overuse to the point where it yanked me out of the immersion. You can cut a corner or two, but not ALL the corners.

Different director Different directions You got Steven Spielberg in the first season And Then you got Michael bay in the second season BOOM Instant effects

Impossible to say that animation doesnt matter even if the plot is good

Yes, yes it does... Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

is it just me, or does every episode feel nonsatisfying and just build up upon build up upon build up and just a bunch of cliff hangers without much return or satisfaction?

I have seen season 2 and the writing is so damn good that I barley cared about the animation

In terms of OPM, yes. Animation is very important. The animation style has to remain consistent in order to create a fantastic anime. I know that people are impatient, but quality is better than quantity.

OPM season 2 just really annoys me. For someone who has bad vision and always sees things in a blur. I HATE THE MOTION BLUR IN FIGHT SCENES Edit: I’m also talking bout the lack of animation that creates a blur when someone punches not only the epilepsy prevention

Do you guys have any problem with OPM S2's fps? Idk but the pacing and animation is kinda fast to me. The animation was a huge downgrade compared to S1. Also the sounds is not well synced with the animation. Those were my animation

"That might be because you know Pretty Cure as... Glitter Force." The truth here hurts my soul.

Minions destroyed bananas Saitama brought them back

Saitama's shiny head though...

I have gone into watching season 2 with no prior knowledge of the studio switch. It also has been at least a year or so since I've last watched season 1 so I almost had no recollection of it whatsoever. All I can remember that it was an awesome show I watched long time ago. Season 2 was out for a while now so I though to myself, why not? First seeing that crappy OP filled with bold text zooming across the screen, I knew something was off. I then progressively start taking notice of the animation and even the writing. It got to the point that I actually paused the episode I was watching because of it, opened a new tab and checked who the hell did season 2. Then it all made sense.

I love the amount of thought and research go into these videos. And even though longer than average it never turns into rambling without direction. A+

This is actually why I, personally speaking, prefer shows that have a simpler art style but more fluid animation, as opposed to the other way around. Don't get me wrong, epic, flashy visuals are always a treat to see. But sometimes I find less is more, and it's about what you do with what you've got that matters, as opposed to the subject (animation) itself. Netflix's Hilda is a show I'm semi-obsessed with and is a perfect example of simpler art styles done in a fluid, dynamic way, that enhances the story of child-like wonder and Scandinavian-style mythology. Gurren Laggan is my favourite anime of all time, partly because of its ridiculous visuals and creative giant robot designs, but more so because of its characters. The heart of Gurren Lagann is overcoming impossible odds, and facing any challenge head on, knowing you have your friends to help along the way. As you say, animation is only part of what can make an anime (or animation in general) good. It's absolutely possible to thrive on a combination of factors where one aspect falls short.

Nobody: Geoff: Actually, Avatar is an Anime

Amazing analysis Geoff. In early highschool, I looked forward every week to the old sci-fi/horror radio serials that would air on a particular station at around midnight; they were creepy, amazingly evocative, and really really fun to listen to before dozing off. They reminded me of Batman: The Animated Series with an almost similar "visual" style in regard to the world they set up but of course through sound and music. If those radio shows could evoke such amazing imagery for me through sound, it's no wonder that even "limited animation" can be so entertaining; the classification of "illustrated radio" is brilliant. The standard established by OPM 1 however was based on the type of storytelling it chose - visual - whereas the second season called on viewers to readjust priorities from a visual feast to an illustrative narrative; the willingness to make that transition seems to me to be a big factor behind how much people have enjoyed this season.

Yeah animation matters. Myself having read the manga, I already know the storyline and plots. Now I wanted those epic fights animated and super gorgeous CGI but we're given this. *sad*

Honestly the "meh" animation was expected and it doesn't really bother me much(tho I still wish we got to see what Shingo Natsume and MadHouse could've done with it), my big issue is the pacing, wich is completely off. I went trought a couple of versions on diferent sources just to make sure that I'm not watching some speed up edit, almost everything feels rushed and most scenes don't get any room to breathe or build up. The best/worst example probably being Genos using Accelerate for the first time against Sonic, a monstrously badass moment of Genos declaring "You lose." was relegated to a rushed flash of a scene(tho I do agree on the sound quallty in most cases, the "boom" of Genos's movement was perfectly chosen), and overall that's what a lot of it feels like. Its like the show is just ticking of boxes on the "manga did that" list without much thought or reason behind it. They are also missing some amazing shots from the manga that matter more than I think they realize, that is especially noticible in episode's 3 fight between Garo and the tank top band, they missed or underdelivered a bunch of Garou's expressions that make him feel genuinely dangerous and terryfying or how they ditched the shot of Saitama's countless casual faced afterimages smashing past Sonic, wich was one of the funniest scenes in the series so far. Its still allright overall, but its really just riding on the quallity of the base material while barerly adding anything from itself. If anyone asks me, 10/10 times I'll recomend the manga over it unlike with the first season where both versions are equally worth a watch/read and stand tall on their own. Oh and one more thing, the music is horribly underwheliming, I can't recall a single theme from S2 so far, nor can I think of a scene where the music was impactfull in any meaningfull way.

The animation always goes up whenever Fubuki is on screen.

Mother’s Basement: It’s almost impossible for you to forget what happened in the last episode (from last week) Me: *forgets what happened in the episode I just binged as I begin to watch the next episode*

The story though in this season was just glorious That part when Siryu was calling out for help had me holding my breath like never before. Something I never expected from an anime where the protagonist hasn't even come close to fighting seriously That being said I still think that Sn 2 wasn't as bad as people put it. It was still good enough to meet my expectations

for me, the only reason I watch anime is if the animation is worth my while, if it's not a visual feast I get more enjoyment out of just reading the manga/light novels.

What i personally think is while sakuga is definitely cool to have in shots i would rather have an anime that had good strong direction across the board rather then just a couple really good scenes. JoJo is a great example of this - sure it doesn't have tons of sakuga strong but the direction for the animation especially in JoJo Part 5 is really damn strong (Episode 27,28 being great examples of this). OPM S2 could get way with the lack of sakuga if it can particularly strong direction but it feels ho-hum - like an A1 Pictures adaption.

I do definitely notice the drop in the quality since I’m also rewatching season 1, but I’m still enjoying season 2 and if this season really was rushed I think it still looks good! Maybe season 3 will look like season 1 again!

One punch mans main appeal are the cool fight scenes that are beautifully animated. So yes, it matters.

Yes! animation matters in an animated work .

I'm surprised you didn't list Skullface Bookseller Honda-San as an example of limited animation not necessarily being a flaw.

great video Geoff I find that too many people forget that animation is an aspect and doesn't necessarily define anime not unless it wants it to and we have seen plenty of shows with limited animation do and be great so yeah thanks for giving shows like that their due

Season 1 is an impossible high bar of animation quality, that’s near impossible to re create that team! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

We dont NEED sportscars to enjoy driving, a cheap low PS car can be fun too. We dont NEED elaborate, high quality food, a simple meal can be delicious, too. We dont NEED OPM season 1 animation, OPM season 2 can be enjoyable, too. But we WANT all those things. The other things may be good, too, but great things are better.

OPM2 definitely still enjoyable to watch, but there's still a definite decline in quality/diminished return.

Seeing as how the original webcomic literally looks like it was made in MS Paint, i think we can conclude that most OPM fans really don't care all that much about art quality so long as the writing is good.

Meanwhile, Digibro is there and saying "if you're an animator, and you don't like the project you're working on, quit your job."

The thing is, the animation is good if we comapare it to a mediocre seasonal anime adaptation (say Index or Date a Live). But if we compare it to the animation of the first season of OPM, then yes, it's terrible.

Tbh it’s not the animation that bothers me, it’s how most of the jokes is poorly timed and the voice acting just seems a bit off.

Literally any no name studio could make an 7/10 with opm because its already written This show pisses me off now. It was great and now its mediocre trash with ever other show being made right now. Is it enjoyable to watch? Yes Could it be better? Absolutely. I dont feel like watching it anymore and will stick to the manga. No drop in quality any time soon there.

Great video as always. Personally, I think that the fight scenes that involve Garou are the best ones so far.

Dont fear! We still have Studio Bones to keep on saving Anime!

Atleast there is also Demon Slayer this season and that looks amazing.

But you gotta admit that garou's counterattack against TTM was clean

What do you think about the mononoke episodes? Not the ghibli studio one, the one with the medicine seller? It's a very "indie" anime and the animation is so different than any other anime I have ever seen...and I love the series. Love the animation Too. Do you think animation of that style acceptable?

It's not that bad, coz it's opm, but at the same time it's averageness makes it REALLY BAD. Why? Coz it's OPM.

Welcome to the NHK is really good but really lacking in the animation factor, still my 4th favorite anime

I hear that Trauma Center OST in the background! 👀

You said a lot of good points as always MB, and this ain't a disagreement with you, but while a show doesn't need 10/10 animation all the time to be popular or successful (because of the good reasons you highlighted) your point on consistency is my main problem with this season. I guess what I mean is I really appreciate animation consistency and I forgive the occasional dip in quality in some episodes of my fav shows, but this whole season is a dip in quality. I appreciate the people behind making anime but the dip in quality is to stark to not notice and be disappointed by. Can't help but feel a visually based medium like anime, and even more so OPM which has a lot of visual comedy and was recognised for amazing fight scenes as well, needed or deserved better than this. I can't justify S2 just because it's doing what a lot of other anime do because it wasn't this before and I didn't come to it for this.

It's obviously inferior to the first season but I say it's more than watchable, I like it.

Cromartie high school, boom, done

Thanks for the note on sound directors, I found that a lot of shows I enjoy are part of Jin Aketagawa's work. My starting point was No Game No Life and Sora Yori mo tooi Basho, and some other major shows I enjoyed that he was a sound director of were: Demi-chan wa Kataritai, Gamers!, Golden Kamui, Grisaia no, Hataraku Saibou, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai, Killing Bites, Kuzu no Honkai, Machine Doll, Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku, Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, Rockman.EXE, and Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta. The best part is that many of these are my favorite shows to listen to, be it OP/EDs, or crazy narrators, or even just insert music.

I have always referred to those moments you described as "the production budget scenes". Knowing there's a word for it, sakuga, is satisfying. I'm going to start using that word from now on, thanks!

Yes animation in anime matters if it didn't anime producers might as well just write audiobooks

I watch One Piece every week and I think it's pure trash (animation wise)

Thank you for the video MB ! For those who want to have another look about the problems of OP Season 2 you can go look the video of Ermite Moderne about it which talk about the enormous workload at JC Staff and the Production Comitte (Warning the video is in French)

tbh I wasn't even that bothered by the drop of animation quality. I was still able to enjoy this season and I'm hoping for a third season to come out. I want to watch the end of that arc

Funny story, I'm actually doing a breakdown of the fight between Genos and Sonic for a final project. Namely because it was the moment that cemented to me that I should never get my hopes up again for this season. I'm trying not to be cynical and admit to nit-picking a few parts, but the mental nadir has made the sakuga moments in later episodes feel far more impactful. Limited as they've been. What irritates me the most about season 2 isn't so much the limited animation as the fact they keep leaving stuff out that could be done in limited animation effectively. Like in the Saitama Serious Sidestep technique, they don't actually show Sonic getting hit. At all. And they remove a lot of the moments where there is a denial of buildup, like in the Genos v. Sonic fight where they remove the shot of Genos about to launch his attack into the ground as Sonic goes for the kill.

Isn't JoJo a seasonal anime😕

Honestly, I got into anime for the storytelling. I LOVE reading fantasy books, and when I discovered anime I finally felt like TV could be just as good, perhaps even better, than my favorite books. I've only just started to appreciate animation quality, and I expect it will never be anywhere near as important to me as it is to most otaku.

Hey, Toei occasionally decides to go god mode and whips out the Shida Sakuga.

Inferno cop (best anime with literally zero animation)

If a adaptation has poor animation and medíocre at best direction, why even make a anime? Imo animation is really important, up there with story. Doesn't matter if a manga, berserk for example, has god tier writting if the anime has utterly trash animation, the anime already failed on it main purpose at least for adaptations imo. For original anime, it isn't as necessary imo. If your original anime has trash story , what's the point.

"...Plenty of other youtubers have that angle covered." **smelly man in sunglasses coughs in the distance**

Is there a listing for the music used in this video? Some of the tunes are things I recognize but can't quite put my finger on it and I wanna look them up

Great shout-out and love letter to the craftmanship of anime production in general!

honestly the cgi elder centipede looks pretty fucking good like not amazing but good ( i actually like opm s2 )

I mean, nothing really INSANE even happened yet, and I like how Saitama looks more like his One version at times

Love the term illustrated radio. I'm going to have to try watching some old favorites sound off to see how they stand up.