The Mike Toole Show
Done with Computers
by Michael Toole,
In just a couple more days, North America will be graced by yet another example of that surefire hitmaker of Japanese animation: the all-CG film that's based on something popular in these parts. I am referring, of course, to Casper Van Dien (who, hilariously, does not reprise his role as Johnny Rico), and the advance notices from Comicon complain about soft plotting, but laud the numerous action scenes. Yep, this one's pretty much bulletproof.
But why is this specific formula-- the all-CG approach-- seen as such a surefire path to success in the west? Almost every CG anime that's struggled out of the gate in Japan has seen the light over here, from complicated stinkers like URDA. The only way to really pin stuff down is to talk about the whole spread of these all-CG anime films, but before that? I want to complain about something totally dumb.
Alright, see, before this Tuesday, I used to be able to bamboozle a lot of people by talking about “that Starship Troopers anime.” Almost to a person, they'd figure I was talking about the generally likeable Starship Troopers: Roughnecks, a sturdy little TV spinoff of the feature film helmed by Foundation Imaging, the guys who created most of the computer-driven SFX for Studio Nue's absolutely fantastic powered suit designs and sticking fairly close to the book's M.O., was generally pretty awful, with sluggish plotting, weird character designs, ugly enemies that resembled walking vaginas, and one of the most discordantly cheerful OP sequences ever. Watch closely, and don't miss Carmen's amazing death-stare! Thing is, the storied “Starship Troopers ANIME” is likely to be overshadowed by this new feature, which is a shame. Why? Because, well, the bad stuff must be preserved along with the good!
Putting that aside, what we're really talking about is Japanese animation rendered entirely in 3D CG, and that story can be opened pretty appropriately with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The rather infamous Final Fantasy movie wasn't the very first computer-generated anime - veteran studio franchise up to that point.
In short, Sakaguchi and company got caught up in their own hype, using Square's considerable financial resources and clout to push 3D CG technology to the limit. But the cost wasn't cheap-- some $139 million went into developing the movie, and audiences around the world reacted with a complicated mixture of awe and complete confusion to the film's stunning visual quality, patchy story, and the sheer spectacle of a meticulously rendered CG model of Ben Affleck that speaks with the dulcet tones of Soeishinsha for 2001's 3-episode OVA Malice@Doll, and while it's the most polished of the three, it still kinda looks like shit. It's helped by some smart characterization and a weird, psychosexual story by scribe Chiaki Konaka, but it just doesn't hold up. All three of these bizarre, small-time CG movies are available on a single DVD here in North America, under the title Landmarks of CGI Animation. That title's a bit too kind, methinks.
Remarkably, the world of Japanese animation didn't exactly learn its lesson from Final Fantasy’s lousy financial performance. The following year of 2002 would see another high-profile CG project based on a video game, MTV2 broadcast in 2004, complete with brand new nu-metal soundtrack. Like the OVA itself, their campaign flopped.
Now, wait a minute. Earlier, I talked about how these 3D CG projects are often viewed pretty favorably, but the opening entries to the field are clear flops. What turned the trend around, you ask? That'd be 2004's Appleseed: Ex Machina still looks great and packs some fantastic action scenes, but its story is barely coherent, at best. But despite all that, the initial film was a solid performer and gave the franchise some new life. Both Appleseed and its sequel are still in print, a rarity in this day and age.
Interestingly, the business started to build on Appleseed's success. The most ostentatious example is Squaresoft's Amazon. Could that be because it costs less than $8? Probably. Eight bucks is a pretty damn great deal for a visually sumptuous fantasy action flick.
how Catblue: Dynamite. Catblue's a bizarre attempt at capturing the mood of 70s cop movies and TV; its only real success is its soundtrack. See, Romanov Higa has problems; he has a great sense of the cinematic, but his character animation has always looked halting and alien to me. There's an ugliness and uncanny valley-ness to his work that outdoes even Robert Zemeckis's fare. More recently, Higa's directed a short OVA loosely based on Masamune Shirow's Tank Police manga, titled Tank SWAT. Once again, it just looks weird as hell. Nowadays? Someone, somewhere is continuing to give Romanov Higa money, and this person must be stopped!
Despite my bitching, Higa's approach has led to success, and he wasn't the only animator to take the “Funimation brought it to these shores, and just as quick to move on to the next. That's probably for the best.
2008's Resident Evil: Damnation, a sequel centering on Leon once again, is set to hit Japanese theatres in October. Apparently the first film did really well here, because we're getting it a month earlier than the Japanese, at the end of September!
Now it's time to talk about stuff that came out in 2009, which makes me glad. 2009 was a good year for all-CG anime. On the home video front, we had To, which is one of those shows with really unfortunate titles, like Another. How the hell do you go to the video store and ask for To? What is a video store, anyway? To is a really neat OVA, a pair of two unrelated science fiction tales directed by the aforementioned Fumihiko Sori. To’s got a great storytelling pedigree - it's based on Kai Doh Maru, with its detailed 2D animation layered seamlessly on all-3D backgrounds, and you're in the ballpark. But Oblivion Island actually takes the reverse approach, with 3D characters and props laid out over 2D (or, at least, 2D-looking) background elements. The approach seems kind of old-school, but visually it works really well. The titular protagonist is a likeable teen girl, and the story is weird and sentimental is a pretty good way. Oblivion Island is one of those rare anime films with enough mainstream appeal that you can just walk into Target and pick it up; I do recommend you do so!
2010 would bring us Namco's video game guys, and it has all of the requisite fightin’ that you'd expect from a Tekken movie. But if you ask me, the OVA is better. Yes, the 2D OVA, which featured the gang fighting invisible dinosaurs, is better than this. Make of that what you will.
So what's the deal in 2012? We already know most of the story. Starship Troopers: Invasion is hitting shelves this week, Resident Evil: Damnation will follow soon after. And hey, we already got Friends: Naki of Monster Island, which hit Japan last Christmas. I'm a bit surprised we don't have it yet, but it took Oblivion Island a couple of years to get released here, so I'm sure we'll see it eventually.
So how about this, readers: do you, as anime fans, like the look of 3D CG anime? I think it's getting better, but some aspects of the character designs-- the pinched faces, for example-- just rub me the wrong way. Do you have a favorite 3D CG anime? Or maybe you're sore at me for not talking about other projects, like MS IGLOO or Mr. Stain in Junk Alley? Talk about it in the comments!
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