Well actually i just think the problem is that the studio stepped in the world of 3d and immediately tried to make a master piece, instead of experiment with a few short animations first. You know, to get the hang of how 3d works or feel first.
@@PolishTamales you know it kinda feels like you just don't like 3d animation. Or at least have seen to many bad examples. 3d is an art form. It takes time to master. Japan as whole is way behind when it comes to how to animate in 3d compared to the rest of the world. I said they tried to make a master piece but i was exaggerating. I mean they tried to start a whole new big project working with something they aren't familiar with yet. In the end, like most 3d animated stuff from japan, tried to mimic 2d animation. It doesnt work because 3d is much more complicated. So when i say they souldve experimented while small projects, i mean the should of gotten a feel of how the medium works, and slowly push the boundaries of their understanding of it. Japan since forever ago saw 3d as nothing than a support tool for 2d. But it can be so much more if they just took the time to learn how to use it
@@PolishTamales stop using me as a jumping off point to rant about how anime will always look better in 2d. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying anime looks better in 3d. I'm not saying 3d will always look better than 2d. I'm not saying 3d will replace 2d I'm not saying the anime look will be perfectly replicated in 3d I'm not saying 3d is the overall best choice for any animation every. I think both 2d and 3d animations could exist at the same And I'm not saying japan just discovered 3d animation. What i ment when i said this specifically, was that 2d was way more popular and widely used than 3d for decades. But my point overall is that for them to FIND THEIR OWN SYTLE using 3d, they should practice by make small projects first. Just like with 2d. You don't, or shouldn't, go out and make a hour and a half animated movie just because you got a bunch of people together who know how to draw. No, sit down, learn about the program your using, test to see how long animating a minute long animation takes. Then you try to get better, faster. See how things look in motion, see how well your ideas transferred into the work it's self. I mean, that's point of creating something. Working with it until you good at it. But you just keep say "3d anime will never look as good as 2d anime" that's your opinion. Good for you. But mine is "as soon as japan gets a understanding of how 3d can work, i bet we're going to get some cool ass animations!"
Super insightful here. It's hard to jump from one art form to another. Imagine playing guitar for 30 years then trying to rip on drums. It's gonna take time to figure it all out.
They did CG anime previously. The problem likely lies more on the hands of the director: So far he's had mostly stinkers under his name. Just because he's the son of a genius doesn't make him competent, let alone as good as his father.
It's like an artist that is used to using one medium trying a new medium. Nothing wrong with that. They did use 3D before to enhance their 2D, like how I can use water colour techniques to help with acrylic paintings. But now they're trying to hop completely into another medium. Ghibli has spent years mastering the 2D, if they wanna try branching out to 3D then I do hope to hear about more about it in the future as they get better at it. To be honest, before this youtube video I'd never even heard of Earwig.
Same. As an artist, sometimes I like to play with new media or media that I don't use often. It would be a mistake to create an entire piece in it and try to sell it... That didn't stop me from doing it with Inktense pencils, but it's still a mistake.
@@BeeWhistler 2D, for Games or Films, is just better. We dont have enough. It gets especially clear for me because i am following multiple YT-Channel that gather Games from all places and play them, to see if theyre good or not. The Amount of 2D Games that are just nice and good is astonishing; and theres also many that are above that.
@@slevinchannel7589 That's like saying my shopping list is superior to Watchmen because the later is a graphic novel. Quality consists of a bit more than the medium or style in this case
2D, for Games or Films, is just better. We dont have enough. It gets especially clear for me because i am following multiple YT-Channel that gather Games from all places and play them, to see if theyre good or not. The Amount of 2D Games that are just nice and good is astonishing; and theres also many that are above that.
I don't have a problem with it being 3d at all it was just poorly done and didn't have the sense of style they are known for. It really felt like someone's first attempt at something without much guidance
@@poweroffriendship2.0 the man wanted to be a landscaper i think it was. No formal training as an animator, but cause he's the son of a legend obviously he must be able to right? I hope Goro can be happy
I mean it's been used to great effect in anime for a while, mostly in mecha and even current Shonen like demon slayer, where the drawn animation takes center stage and the 3D is very subtle. I would even go as far as to say that land of the lustrous shows you can use full 3D to create some amazing visuals, but like everything it's has it's ups and downs, a studio like ghibli which specializes in incredible stills, background art and expressive animation shouldn't rely so heavily in a heavy handed tool like 3D animation, it's just not right for them I think.
@@natsud99 if the story that is being crafted feels that 3D or 2D benefits then the creators will go for it. at the end of the day they are just images. creators will utilize either if it feels that one or the other serves the story better.
@@kurikuraconkuritas sure thing, but the execution of the story has depth in of itself, to the point that a great story, like say, and adaptation of junji ito, done by moving panels can fall flat, even though the original story is left untouched, the visual arts are in of themselves part of the story telling, not just a means to an end
I would like to mention that Studio Ghibli actually has used Cgi and 3d animation in a lot of other movies. The main difference is they tended to use it as a tool to enhance 2d hand drawn animation. Some examples are the corruption worms and mountain god in Princess Mononoke being 3d. And the the castle in Howls Moving Castle being computer animated to overlap. Also some water monsters in the beginning of Ponyo It is also worth highlighting that they use the weird look of cgi and 3d to show the magic and unnaturalness of what they were animating.
2D, for Games or Films, is just better. We dont have enough. It gets especially clear for me because i am following multiple YT-Channel that gather Games from all places and play them, to see if theyre good or not.
@@mrcroob8563 da faq are you saying? When did he ever make that claim? Dude if you have to start out putting words in someones mouth then your opinion is not valid.
@@mrcroob8563 do you really think we stopped making 2d games in the 90's 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 this is why im laughing at you because you are really dumb. Hey numb nuts what year did cuphead come out 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Check out Sergio Pablos' Klaus to see how 3D and 2D can be used together beautifully. He and his team came up with entirely new technology in Tarzan and refined the style to near perfection by the time Klaus came out.
This video seems to be saying that Ghibli shouldn't try new things, or that they should be forever locked into a particular visual style. I disagree. If anything, if Goro is going to keep directing, he should be encouraged to find his own style rather than just copying his father. That said, I think the main problem with Earwig is simply that jumping straight into a 3D CG film without any preparation or practice was a huge mistake. It looks amateurish because it *is* amateurish. That's the problem; not the medium or the style.
I dunno whether they meant to say that but it's certainly implied. Obviously their 2-D stuff looks better than Earwig... but I think they're just saying the 3-D movie didn't have any of the charm and that there are things you can do in 2-D that 3-D can't do as well. Or maybe it can but they just didn't manage it.
It’s not surprising when a studio with a half-century of experience at the top of the 2D animated industry and the cultural cachet to hire the best in the industry try a new form they have little experience in nor the creative culture for - it was always going to compare very unfavourably. It also gravely hurts them that because they are the big name in that game, they are immediately going to be compared to Pixar and the like. A studio who’s just now trying out 3D is going to compare as poorly against one with a quarter-century experience with the best 3D animators in the industry and that wrote half the tools used in that industry, as Pixar would if they dropped a hand-drawn animated film. They would have been better suited to play with short films for longer, and release the animated things under a different line for a while. They’re a remarkable home for talent, and if they have the will to become a major 3D animated studio they will - they just a should have waited until they were before they put the full Studio Ghibli Film label on the marketing.
I think a more accurate take is "why Miyazaki's distinctive art style doesn't work in 3d". Nothing about the stories or characters is affected by it being in 3d or 2d. Only the art style. And some art styles just don't work in one or the other.
If you're separating art style from the means to tell the story, you're already doing it wrong. Different art styles are exactly what enables certain stories to be told a certain way
For me, the Ghibli's uniqueness comes from the fact that almost everything they depict is hand-rendered by a human being. Every detail is lovingly/excruciatingly put on screen by a human hand. This dovetails nicely with the usual Ghibli theme of the natural world vs. the industrial/manufactured world. 3d animation, for all it's technical marvel, is an industrial process--that is, it feels a step removed from human hands producing a thing. In Earwig, I couldn't help but feel that there was a lack of connection to the people that crafted the film--I couldn't feel the hands that crafted that story. That connection to another human being through the art they produce is something that, for me at least, is unique to Studio Ghibli.
I dont inox what you mean by human hand, but nowadays, 2d art is mostly done with graphic tablets and Il still consider it handmade. 3d is very différent but it's still handmade and you just have to watch a few Pixar movies to see how beautiful itcan gets.
There's little in the argument that goes against CGI. It's simple enough if they wanted to use computers to set up the scenes and characters then output in a 2D style. Southpark is 100% CGI but it looks like hand drawn animation on purpose. The computer just saves a lot of time from needing hands pushing and pulling pencils and paint brushes.
Nah, there's definitely an emotional aspect of imagination that can't be portrayed with realistic 3d modelling. I kind of find it similar to the "oomph" behind Goku's kamehameha that portrays the effort and power, that when contrasted with the cgi blasts from the live action dragonball... they don't have the same imaginative impact because they're detailed and realistic. Or the live action Speed Racer's (2008) big race scenes when compared to the fluid emotional feeling when watching the boost sequences in Redline (2009). The obviously exaggerated stretching and morphing of the car in Redline gives a feeling of "THIS IS GOING SOOOOO FAST!!!" that you just can't really do with a realistic portrayal simply because of the constraints that realism sets on the medium. You *could* do similar effects in 3d/cgi, but it *feels* offputting.
A bit random, but: Did you knew RU-vid has a Nudity-Issue? And did you knew that the Report-Button does exist? And one last question: I wonder, can you combine those 2 facts?
Welcome to Wisecrack. They use pop culture as a hook to dive into philosophy and history. It's more about learning something new than getting yet another 'hot take'
It is 100% relevant for them to be picking on this very bad example of 3D animation. It is a Studio Ghibli product, and they are known for their attention to detail and magnificent imagery. They praise other 3D animated films in this, I don't see what the issue is. I don't think they're arguing against 3D animation, I think they're arguing FOR Ghibli still representing the everlasting power of 2D animation.
I've always preferred 2D over 3D animation. Don't get me wrong, 3D is good too and it works with a lot of things; but I think that anything can be made beautiful with 2D animation. The only limitation for 2D is the artists' imagination. So much of the "abstractness" of animation is lost when translated to 3D and that generally hurts more projects than it helps.
2D, for Games or Films, is just better. We dont have enough. It gets especially clear for me because i am following multiple YT-Channel that gather Games from all places and play them, to see if theyre good or not. The Amount of 2D Games that are just nice and good is astonishing; and theres also many that are above that.
Right? I didnt know if he meant lack of visual depth, or the shading preference that looks like cell-shading (like in Legend of Zelda, Wind Waker). Because Ghibli could absolutely make a cell-shaded CG movie in their style and have it look good.
This continues Wisecrack's tradition of posting videos with titles I think I'm not interested in (ie. "this is different so it sucks" from anyone else) and then making me glad I watched. Great job. Now I'll look at Miyazaki with even more appreciation.
Slight correction ; Disney didn't invent the multi plane camera, it was Lotte Reiniger in 1926 for her film The Adventure of Prince Achmed. Reiniger's version was rudimentary and was improved upon for Snow White by Bill Garity, animator at Disney, still a whole 10 years after Prince Achmed came out. Edit; Otherthwise very interesting video
@@gurentgc3546 Yes that's what I alluded to but to say Walt Disney invented it is factually false and outshines the legacy of the real minds behind the craft. Disney was a great businessman and never was an animator. Not everything the company did should be attributed to him.
Also, I think it depends on the property and the writing. Some shows had crap animation back in the day but were good shows because of the writing. Examples: Ren and Stimpy and Cow &Chicken
I don’t think Ren and Stimpy would work without it’s style, it’s relative simplicity only serves to make those grotesque close ups even more effective. It’s like seeing Photoshop Flowey after playing through Undertale and it’s entirely (otherwise) pixelated art style
I think Earwig's problem is more of a lighting issue. It just look so bright (as per usual Ghibli art direction) it gives off an uncanny valley effect. It really wasn't translated well in 3D because that type of lighting works well in 2D. A soft focus would've helped too.
It could be interesting if you guys did a video comparing Doctor Who to Rick and Morty. Both Rick and the Doctor are genius travellers of space, they possess advanced technology, they both have companions and both fought in a very large space war before the start of their series. But despite this they are very different in their view of the world and life. The Doctor sees human and alien life as sacred and protects them, with him even in some episodes sacrifising himself for others while Rick sees everyone as replaceable with their value deriving from how useful they are to him. The Doctor also doesn't like disrupting time and space because he sees it as fragile and sacred whereas Rick doesn't have such quams although other versions of himself think differently.
YES! Finally! Thank you! Realism, 3D included, does not equal a more REAL EXPERIENCE. Which is what I found anime, Sudio Ghibli, or otherwise, to be better at, compared to the likes of Pixar and Disney. I have experienced this for decades, read a good book about it which title and author I sadly forgot (An excellent segment about AKIRA there, and the silence of violence and explosive depictions in anime in particular has stayed with me), and have been waiting for others to discuss the same ever since.
Realistic graphics is a good case of something we think is good but actually has its downsides. Realism offers a spectacle but doesn't let you use your imagination. This is one reason, I think, why a book is often considered better than the movie -- the better pacing, sure, but also its lack of visuals require the reader to insert their own with their imagination, which is immersive and puts a part of the reader into the story; the reader is essentially in charge of the visuals via imagery. This video was challenging to digest but I think one point it was conveying was that flat animation allows viewers to choose what to focus on, rather than directing their focus via depth. So I suppose it's a matter of immersion via spectacle (3D) or immersion via imagination (2D)
I know 3D animation is much cheaper, faster and easier to do than traditional animation. However, it is easier for me to tell how more sincere the dedication and hard-work is done by the animators from the latter.
Using Earwig misuse of conveying emotion to shit on 3D animation is like using Tales from Earthsea to shit on 2D animation. Also, despite not using multiple layers, I can't say I ever considered Ghibli films flat. I think flatness is being used a little too loosely here.
I remember a few years ago on a whim watching Spirited Away and it doing that rarest of rare things and transporting me back to my youth. It is, simply put, a staggering masterpiece.
I may be using a gaming term, but I think the only visual issue with the movie was the shader they used. If you look at Ghibli's traditional work, it almost always has the same blobby, cell-shaded looking shadows. They should have tried to do the same thing here. They used flat, bright colors but tried to impose life-like dynamic shading onto the rendered objects and characters. This gave it a similar misshapen and nightmarish or cheap effect as the original Toy Story. I think Ghibli should have chosen to cell shade the movie, and it would have looked league's better. *Examples of 3D rendered works that use this shading style beautifully are Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. With a few artistic tweaks, I believe cell shading can absolutely be used in computer animation. It would work perfectly for Ghibli's artistic preferences.
I haven't seen Earwig and the Witch so won't comment on it specifically but anyone who has seen the 3D shorts in Love, Death and Robots knows that 3D animation has to power to be tremendously evocative when well executed.
I just think they tried to implement their simplicity in a medium that requires details to be phenomenal. It made Earwig seem like a low budget 2005 animated film. They needed to research on 3D animation. Just look at Lupin III: The First. It looks amazing as a 3D animated film.
Having Studio Gibli work in 3D is like asking Pink Floyd to switch to Regueton music. The latter might be more in vogue, but it is a sin to waste such perfection just to keep up with fashion trends.
i feel like what really makes 2d animation better with studio gibly is that it allows them to make their art grotesque, not bound by human physicality or a notion of what is possible. making them fit perfectly into the fantastical worlds that studio gibly movies usually occupy
it coudlve been the shrooms but earwig and the witch looks amazing whenever magic is being used. it also still felt like a ghibli film with lovable characters and plot
Goro's work has always been critically panned, unfortunately. There's a something that Hayao himself thinks is "missing" from his films. There's actually clips of Miyazaki sr. not being able to stay during the screening of Tales of Earthsea and going for a smoke because it lacked "something". Which is doubly sad because Earthsea is like, the best fantasy literature saga ever.
Goto Miyuzaki should've studied Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (SITS). STIS used 3d primarily to enhance the 2d. They beautifully combined the depth of 3d with the flatness of 2d all while maintaining the lack of hard borderline when unnecessary. I believe borderline would still appear in this recent Ghibli film but they would be on the lighter side since comic and ukiyo-e illustrations differ in various areas.
I think Earwig and the Witch, failed visually in the same way many first time fully CGI films do, by falling in the wrong part of the uncanny valley. While the characters stay within the cartoonish side the hyper realism of the food and environment creates a visual dissonance that subtly disrupts our immersion into the story.
I loved the film for its animation. The story was okay, but ended without any closure in my opinion. The 3D animation style was a breathe of fresh air when compared to the mainstream 3D films we see in America today. I've always reveled in the visuals of animation today and how detailed and realistic it looks, however, at a certain point, all the little details such as strands of hair, sand, and even food start to resemble each other as if everyone making a 3D animated film has access to only one set of textures and sprites that speak to the current state of the technology they have to create such work. With this film, we got to see a whole other set of "textures" from a different country, it seemed. It was refreshing to see Ghibli's take on current 3D animation and as someone who appreciates all the little details within an animated film, I was in awe the whole time. Seeing a 3D film and for once not recognizing the style in which its portrayed in every animated movie I've seen in the last 5+ years, was the reason I watched the film through the end. Miyazaki took a chance in a market Ghibli hadn't built a reputation to, but that doesn't discredit the masterpieces they've created in the past.
You put a lot of emphasis on perspective, however I believe the shading is more important. Also they seem to have good way to go on soft body simulations. I believe they will learn from this, and improve.
For me so much of the Ghibli studio's appeal was knowing at least 90% of what's onscreen was HAND-DRAWN, frame by frame. With all due respect to the 3d medium, it's the antithesis of what I enjoy Ghibli films for.
The weird thing to me is that Studio Ghibli's style has been pretty well converted into 3D in the past. The video game Ni No Kuni has its cutscenes done by Studio Ghibli, and the rest of the game is in the same style, but 3D (I don't know if Studio Ghibli did the 3D parts other than the art) The difference is that a lot of the game is still "flat." There isn't texture on the hair or food or clothes. It's a beautiful game and while the 3D parts don't look nearly as good as the 2D cutscenes, I think that is more about the flat but still 3D characters not blending in with the more textured background.
Ooh good opportunity to drop another request for the wisecrack team to look at To Your Eternity (Fumetsu no Anata e), I would love to hear your thoughts about it.
You can do everything you can do in 3D that you can in 2D. Just watch Worthikids videos here on youtube. He even has 3D stuff that looks like stop motion puppets.
Amazing 2d animation will always look better than mediocre 3d animation. This is not unique to Ghibli. If you look at some of the high points of Pixar, they rival anything done in classic Disney or Ghibli for pure beauty. I think it's a lot harder to make a 3d movie look amazing, but MUCH easier to make it look okay/alright and it's definitely cheaper. That's why studios love it so much.
2d allows for quick changes from frame to frame. The hair moves, the body breathes, the skin perspires. A first attempt at a new art form, like CG, is admirable, but will lose some of that living magic. It can be done, but it can't be done by those without experience. We should be glad they made this first attempt, because it could lead to a true challenge to the current greats like Pixar and DreamWorks. Give it time, and it might become mighty.
Anime artstyle fits 2d better. I think they need to make 3d be it's own thing. They should develop an artstyle around 3d rather than making 2d artstyle to 3d.
To answer the questions... yes, yes, all of that. Pixar began as 3-D and made its success on being at the forefront of that medium. Whatever anyone else does in 3-D animation, they're among those standing at the front having gotten there first, and it shows, even in their lesser productions. Ghibli came along after 2-D animation was well established and still carved out a space no one could come close to. And we can't get enough of it, so why toss it aside? If they wanted some 3-D productions, they needed to try taking it to a unique place, doing something that tells people this came from Studio Ghibli. But it looks like a direct to video American kids movie.
While I do personally like 2D animation more than 3D, I think Earwig’s biggest problem was it’s story, pacing, and characters. I’d like to see Ghibli try 3D again and do it right, but I’ll always prefer their 2D films.
Has anyone seen Lupin III: The First? I think that's what Earwig & The Witch's animation should've been like, and before anyone asks, I know Lupin III is not Studio Ghibli
as a guy who loves all forms of animation I agree with the video that being said it isn't like 3d has been around for as long as 2d has or refined it's techniques as much as 2d has either it has yet to catch up just cause it isn't as good now doesn't mean it can't be in the future it just needs to be given room to grow and experiment but even if it does in my mind it will never replace 2d for that matter either
It's not just flatness, it's a general art direction problem. It stems from the fact that this film was not pushed ahead by creatives such as Miyazaki senior or Takahata, but by the producers of the studio, who are desperate to breathe new life into the studio but don't really know what made classic Ghibli films so good. Same goes for the story, Goro's stories always feel uninspired, like he's doing this out of obligation rather than really loving his work. I empathize, it must be endlessly depressing to be in his position but he should really give these opportunities to actually talented people. And Hayao should be looking for those people as well. I'd actually love to see a well made 3d Ghibli movie, maybe a 2D/3D hybrid in the vein of the Spiderverse, with an art director who understands the medium and still respects Ghibli's traditional style, and a great, well directed story. Pixar is not the future of animation anymore.
It's not the FIRST misstep of the beloved studio, but their missteps are so few and far between that it certainly feels that way. Tales from Earthsea, for example, is a misstep. Coincidentally also directed by Goro Miyazaki. However, that isn't to say that Goro is just a less accomplished artist riding his father's coattails. From Up on Poppy Hill is his as well and that one is pretty good! I find Goro to be more experimental than his father which can be good in its own way, but, when compared to his father's masterpieces can come off inferior or not as polished. I think this was a necessary misstep for Goro so that he could gain experience in 3D and perhaps find his own voice.
It’s important to experiment! If they never had done this they’d continued to be pressured to do 3D instead of 2D because it’s cheaper and faster than 2D animating. However most people are willing to wait for quality products. Ghibli excels because it isn’t like other movies. They should stay unique.
As an animator, i'm not sure what the "flatness" means. The characters feel 3D and the backgrounds have perspective creating a sense of depth. There are times where the background is flatter, but even then it doesn't feel flat due to the visual clues that makes the brain able to determine the perspective or angle. Some Ghibli drawings are more flat, especially scenes in Ponyo. I think over all their style doesn't fit 3d since with 2d there's a lot of visual "cheats" that help the drawing work, like how Mickey Mouse's ears don't follow realistic perspective. Though, Micky Mouse and other Western 2d characters have a more grounded 3 dimensionality, anime faces always have a flatness but that's just the style. 3D anime characters can work if they implement design cheats where something (nose and mouths usually) is flatter. I believe that's why Earwig doesn't work, they tried to make the models too perfect and well.... too "on model". 3D can be a blessing and a curse, just because a model looks accurate on all sides doesn't mean it'd necessarily work. If something looks perfect from one angle but completely wrong in other ones, that's fine, even encouraged. All the audience sees is what's on screen, make that work and it doesn't matter if a model is completely messed up when you turn it around. Now, on another note, the animation itself is bad. It's very stilted and i think they probably tried to animate it the same way it'd be with 2D. If you're good at 2D and go into 3D, ya gotta adapt to the new medium, it's not frame by frame. With stop motion it'd probably be similar since it's still frame by frame animation
I personally saw the shortcomings of it's storytelling first, which was the most disappointing as a good story to invest can be enough to overlook a certain visual change, but I think ya guys hit the mark on this bc this explains the "lack of feeling" I had from this apart from the storytelling flaws I saw. Without that fantastical aspect that's in previous Ghibli movies, and a less than compelling story, this movie unfortunately became an underwhelming product of such a prestigious studio. However, that doesn't mean that should deter them from any 3d medium. I'd love to see them incorporate some 3d given time and see them make something beautiful of it as well. No knock on any medium or the studio, it's just trial and error
I think that animation with stop motion would solve all of the problems, indicated in the video, with the 3D Gibli film. The Fatastic Mr. Fox movie combines the 3d elements of the environment with the 2D side motion of the characters and it's just an all-around great movie. I would love (LOVEEEEE) to see Gibli, and their craft, to dabble in stop-motion
"It's good that he made one movie. With that, he should stop."--Hayao Miyazaki Sorry, Goro, but it looks like this outing doesn't exactly do anything to prove your dad wrong.
Absolutely agree. Being both a competitive fighting game and enthusiast for over 25 years, the feel of 3D animation should and could be saved for specific reasons. The feel of the story, the origins of the characters, and basically where the characters headed to. A specific example of this is when Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom moved on to Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. Although the mechanics were sound, the addition of 3D graphics-a 3D story mode-became a horrible detriment to the entire game. It lost so much support that a game that was promised 50+ characters and 5 years of supports, stopped at release because of the seriously poor 3D modeling and graphics. UMVC stuck to a comic book, 2D styling inspired by Marvel with 3D accents in supers which provided the right amount of usage. MVCi's story mode downgraded the entire game's likability, with overexposure (story mode) to its subpar 3D renders, while the gameplay and new mechanics were stellar. Earwig (which looked like tekken 4 with image smoothing on), was the absolute worst use. It was so bad it distracted from the story as did MVCi.
I have yet to find a 3D movie that doesn't look like a bunch of toys jostling around. This is really why it works for children. Hand drawn or 2D animation offers a much more organic and mature understanding of the world.
I think it has to do more with how studios approach 3d design. I think it has more to do with Ghibli not either going abstract or realistic. A perfect example that 3d/cgi doesn't need to be realistic and can have a lot of that 2d feeling is dragon ball z fighters. I think if the Ghibli had focused more on trying to create the world they normally build with the help of cgi rather that simple try to use cgi "correctly", the way most people use it, it definitely could work
CG doesn't make things bad any more than 2d makes things good. They are simply styles; the artist is the source of the art, not the computer and not the brush. To think the quality or lack thereof is somehow embedded in the tool used to create it is to discredit people like Miyazaki; The Wind Rises is beautiful because of his artistry alone, not because of the 2d animation tech he employs. If that were true, then every straight-to-DVD sequel to Pocahontas would be a work of art. And as for CG, saying you can't make great art with it is like saying you can't make great art with a camera; it's simply false.
While staying with what you know is safe and makes sense, innovation comes from trying new things. It was brave of them to step into a new medium. I do prefer the hand drawn 2d art though. It feels more real.
In 2d drawing depth is achieved by adding strenght to the subtle details of objects through colour gradients or adding shadows in the form of strong lines, in this movie paradoxically 3d renders look flat when compared to 2d art... so textures that resembles 2d drawings could have been added to the image to convey the same depth. 2019 samurai shodown remake did this with great success to translate its anime artstyle from 2d to 3d.
