Called my dad up on the way home from work: "I'm picking you up in 20 minutes. Taking you to see some anime."
Dad: "Sounds good, let me get dressed up."
This is how we do things in my family. My folks are long retired, pushing 70, and spend most of their time on cruises and watching football, but they got me into anime when I was young enough that if you rounded my age I'd be 0. So, I think it's only fair to return the favor and introduce them to the really good stuff now that they're older.
When I saw Crunchyroll was doing a Sneak Peak for some series coming out this April, with Witch Hat Atelier included in the lineup, I knew that was something I couldn't miss, and something I wanted to make sure they didn't miss as well.
From the early trailers, I was a bit worried about this adaptation though; it looked like they were using a lot of CGI, which I felt totally went against the vibes the series had going for it. Given the MAJOR plot of Witch Hat is that Magic isn't something you cast, it's something you draw, to have the series be CGI seemed really off-putting.
Well, from last nights preview of episodes 1 and 2, I think we can all rest easy. My worries have been relieved. It really looked like they refined the CGI almost completely out of the show. If they maintain the same level of consistency throughout the rest of the series, and are able to keep up with the quality from the episodes they showed off, I think we've got a very strong contender for Anime of the Year. I'd say the animation quality was either as good or better than Mushoku Tensei at its peak. The direction managed to really bring out all of the best qualities we saw in the books; I especially like how they occasionally cut to this pop-up style effect where they transition the characters from anime-style, to a pop-up book illustration. Super well done. I'd rather not spoil any of the other incredible moments, so please make sure to watch this one yourself!
The official worldwide premier for Witch Hat Atelier is less than a month away now on April 6th. We will be watching it again for sure.
After the premier of Witch Hat came Daemons of the Shadow Realm. I went into this one totally blind, only familiar with the series based on its reputation and pedigree, but not knowing anything about premise, characters, etc. The book is from author Hiromu Arakawa, creator of Full Metal Alchemist, of which I'm a bit of a fan (named my kid after one of the characters level of fan). Episode 1 did not disappoint. The premise completely sucked me in. Studio BONES did a marvelous job with the animation quality; direction is on point as well.
After getting home last night I re-upped my MangaUp subscription. Planning on binge reading the series today. I've gotta know more.
After Daemons of the Shadow Realm came The Drops of God. This is another series I'm not super familiar with. I've not read the manga, but oddly enough I'm watching the live action adaptation on Apple TV right now. Is it weird to say I think I liked the live action version better? The animation from the episode 1 preview seemed really low budget, and a bit bad... direction seemed all over the place as well with too many cuts to the backs of people's heads (as if to save money on not having to animate their faces). Motion seemed stunted and lifeless. Not sure I'll watch this when it airs after seeing the preview, which really begs the question why Crunchyroll would include something like this in their lineup??? Wouldn't you want to show off the series you're really expecting to WOW people? This felt like a real misstep to me.
I will probably read the source material - I believe I picked it up some years ago from a Humble Bundle, so I've got it all on digital somewhere. Also going to continue watching the live action, though it seems like there are major differences between the plot...
I didn't stay to watch Re:Zero, since I'm not caught up with season 3 yet and didn't want to get spoiled.
Wonder how that was... if you're reading this and watched the s4 premier, comment below...
I'm not sure I'll go to another of these Sneak Peak events, since it's basically just paying $20 to watch something a few weeks early (and I hate when you have to pay premium price for early access in video games), but I could see myself doing it again if it was a show I wanted to see up on the big screen. Getting to see Witch Hat like that was incredible. Wonder if there's a way to convince theaters/Crunchyroll to show some of there shows in theaters on the weekly....
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