hi li cree :3 , I have a question regarding the show invincible , i was wondering if you knew why the show's animation is extremely simplistic and lack proper details / lighting , I think any Japanese studio could have done it better and make it more exciting for the fans to watch .
Hm….okay. Normally I would have deleted this kind of question but I do want to shed a little light since I think the audience’s scope of animated productions isn’t giving them the context they need to understand why American animated studios don’t look like anime even though anime is working with less time and money (usually). I want to preface my thoughts and opinions on this matter are not the absolute nor should be taken as the gospel truth. This is coming from the perspective of someone who has and is still currently working in both American and Japanese animation professionally. Spoiler alert: Both sides have broken systems and it’s a matter of choosing your poison.
Firstly, no I do not know the full details as to why Invincible looks the way it does. While I have theories as to why I don’t want to spread misinformation since I have friends who did work on the show and I know for a fact there that they did their damnest to make the best show possible. The sad truth is that there are factors beyond the artists’ control that have serious altering effects on how a show is made, looks and even distributed. And those decisions, Anon, are things you as an audience member have no idea about and that’s okay. Because you just want to enjoy your media haha, but let me pull the curtain back a bit give more context why every show you watch is a miracle.
Secondly, and I’m trying to say this as nicely as possible, please don’t say something like “a Japanese studio would have done better”. I do understand from your perspective Anon you might be referring to how Japanese studios can make visually diverse and appealing shows with smaller budgets and shorter schedules. But please understand even in Japanese animation, their pipeline isn’t perfect either (just like the American animation pipeline). Both spaces suffer from the same issue of the money that’s invested in animation doesn’t get distributed to the artists properly. It just manifests in different ways when you compare the two pipelines (at least that’s what I’ve noticed while working in both spaces). Each side is doing their best to make the show as great as possible, but there is still higher executive management decisions that can have ripple effects on how a show turns out.
For the case of Japanese animation, I think we can all agree that how they view animation isn’t the same as America. Animation in Japan is very much a medium of storytelling and consumed by all ages while in America it tends to be put down as lesser than live action. In addition to that, anime doesn’t really have the same executive structure that happens in American animation studios. By that I mean, high up executives very much have a say in how a show looks, how the story is written, and even who gets voiced (ie. celebrity voice casting). These executives can sometimes be helpful, others not. Sometimes they come late after you’ve already storyboarded a whole episode and one executive can say, “I just don’t get why this character has to fight though” and that can derail a whole entire episode in order to fix that one executive note.
Stuff like that doesn’t really happen in anime (and if it does that stuff is decided way before layout and genga begins). I’ve never worked on an anime where an executive gave a note that changed a whole episode at a whim. And I think because there isn’t that constant back and forth that’s why artists who work on anime have the literal space to make the source material shine (though that does not change the fact that better working conditions are needed). In America, that just isn’t the case and I think what audiences are feeling with Invincible in particular is how that corporate executive decision making can hurt a show not just on a visual level but also hurt the health of a production. And most of the time, the people who actually make the show…the people I know personally who go in day to day into the studio, storyboard artists, designers, production people…they do want make a good looking show. They really do. And I’m including the animators in overseas studios who also want to make a good show and do their best work. They all seriously do but they aren’t given the time, money and space to flourish. There is so much more behind how animation is produced on a large scale like TV than just “the artists were lazy” or “these artists would have done it better”. The money management, production scheduling, executive notes, safety and practices notes, legal notes, casting non celebs or casting celebs, studio politics, and just so much more that has ripple effects to the shows you watch.
Every show that makes it on screen is quite literally a miracle. Whether it’s American or Japanese, so much not just work but passion and love goes behind it. Every production artist/worker wants to give you the audience the best story they can deliver under the circumstances that are often not ideal. In the case of anime, you have the autuership and space from corporate meddling but not the time and money. For America, you have a little more time and money but not the autuership due to corporate meddling right from the development stage.
I hope that didn’t come off as abrasive, Anon. I just don’t want you to think the production artists on Invincible weren’t giving it their all for the show. Also, I don’t want you to misunderstand that giving it to a Japanese studio is the golden solution to every American show’s problems. It’s way more than how the final animation looks, it’s deep rooted in the system in which animation is produced in America that is broken and doesn’t allow us to flourish. And Japan does have its problems too (the grass isn’t always greener on the other side). So I hope next time you watch a show and you notice if the animation looks a little off, instead of thinking X studio would have done this better…I hope you think about “Oh, I wonder what factors within the studio didn’t allow the artists to flourish like how I see on this other show.” Often times, it’s the system that isn’t benefitting the workers anymore rather than the workers not doing their jobs.
I hope that answered your question.
