#its giving storyboard vibes

[crystallizedtwilight]

🎃 LSBC Questions: Part 18! 🎃

Lock, Shock, Barrel, and Calliope questions that call for quick answers will be under the cut in batches of 10-15 🧡

Previous bulk questions batch

Maybe Shock will tell her one day. It's not top of mind so Shock hasn't considered it being something to share.

Some sources say Lock is the leader. Others, like Jorgen Klubien and Owen Klatte (storyboard / animators on tnbc) say that Shock is the leader. I personally think Lock and Shock each fully believe that they are the leader and bicker about it: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

I'm not very skilled at background art, but I like to imagine that the other worlds have their own whimsical over-the-top aesthetics just like Halloween Town and Christmas Town do.

Yep! Ghouls are born supernatural creatures. Zombies used to be human. Ghouls dine on corpses, have 3-toed-feet, and have normal flesh/living bodies. Zombies can bite the living, have 5-toed-feet, and their bodies are decayed flesh/reanimated. If you're wondering if a ghoul would eat a zombie, they would not—if it moves it's not food!

Just a trio thing!

Many people ask if the epilogue (4 or 5 skeleton kids) will be part of this AU but I've made the decision that it will not. This AU takes place when Jack and Sally are newly married and want to enjoy each other's company for a while before kids are a focus.

Yep!

Just like Shock yearns for a black cat familiar, so too does Calliope dream of having a dog companion one day.

They've been hard banned from 4th of July Town. No one is happy to see them there for obvious reasons (but that doesn't stop them from going and they just run if they get caught!)

They've been banned from Christmas Town on principal, but they keep getting in and Sandy is just like "(long sigh) Just don't break anything this time." Mrs. Claus gives them gifts she thinks they'll hate to discourage them from returning but the trio just end up genuinely liking them. The elves fear for re-work any time they show up.

Valentines Town doesn't appreciate its romantic moments being ruined with party snaps.

They've canonically caused messes in Thanksgiving Town and Easter Town so they're not welcome there either. The Easter Bunny still shivers at the thought of them due to the mix up!

And St. Patricks Day town was not their vibe.

Due to their mischievous nature they definitely haven't made any "friends" in the other hinterlands worlds yet. However, the trio find it most fun to travel to and interact with the human world via the tomb portals. Whether it's scaring folks on Halloween, sneakily enjoying festivals, or buying junk food at a gas station at 3 AM: [1] [2] [3] [4]

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Alright, here we go

First and foremost I want to talk about what flying bark's animation has meant to me.

In a world where every day I see 2d animation being rejected for cheaper 3d and puppet animation at every turn, Monkie Kid's animation was the one of the first things that gave me hope for the future of 2D animation. I can't tell you how long I've been wanting a 2D animated show, growing up I wanted one so desperately, I craved good animation amongst the stiff 3D and flat storytelling, so when I got it, when Monkie Kid happened, I was so unbelievably happy. It was everything I wanted in a show, gorgeous animation, excellent voice actors, romance free and friendly to my desperate friendship-craving, romance-overstimulated brain and written in a way I enjoyed so much. I struggle to describe exactly how much I’ve adored everything this show has been up until this point. It truly is a masterpiece.

Monkie kid has kept me company during the lowest and roughest points in my life. I got to such a bad place mentally but Monkie Kid’s fast-paced, snappy, detailed, colourful bright animation brought light into my darkest mental times and not only helped me stay connected with people but kept me creating even when I wanted nothing more than to lay on the floor and never move again. I'm aware most of the flying bark team is active on the bird app and none of them are gonna see this most likely but I still just wanted to say thank you. Thank you so much for animating this show, thank you so much for giving it your all. Thank you so much for giving me something I’ve always wanted so perfectly. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for keeping me company at my lowest, thank you for sharing your joy of animation so I could catch some of those rays of sunlight and feel a little of that joy too. Thank you for your positivity and good vibes, thank you. 

I know so many people have gotten inspiration from flying bark and I have to add myself to the infinite list. My art has improved so much thanks to their inspiration. My style has developed, I’ve had so much fun, I’ve written some of my favorite works ever based off of expressions that the characters make alone. My last amv I made because I was so grateful for the animation that we'd gotten up to that point. I wanted to showcase, to thank, to appreciate. I didn’t know it would be a goodbye. Words can't describe all that flying bark's animation and even their storyboards have done for me. When nothing could make me happy, monkie kid wormed its way into my brain and somehow kept me in one piece. I know that wouldn’t have been possible without the animation that left me at the edge of my seat, breathless and laughing over how incredible it really was every single time. Every new clip, every new episode I’d pause and rewatch again, I’d rewatch over and over, I’d take screenshots of every goofy background character, I’d screenshot every expression I could, I’d go through episodes frame-by-frame, literally one at a time for hours on end just so i could catch every detail, I’d open my eyes wider and wider to try and take in every bit I could in a way I’ve never been able to do before because there is nothing else out there like monkie kid. There was nothing as fun and as joyful as every single frame that flying bark gave us. And I am going to miss that so much.

The fact that season 4 was a sendoff is so heartbreaking to me, it's hard to describe how devastated I feel knowing something that kept hold of my hand when I was facing hard hard things in my life is suddenly gone. I don’t know how to ever express how important this show has been to me, it’s kept me going and helped me get to a place where I could breathe again. It’s connected me with some of the greatest people I know. It’s given me incredible experiences, introduced me to what animation could be and I can’t lie and say it doesn’t hurt having to say goodbye so suddenly. 

I know this isn’t the end of Monkie Kid as a show. I know season 5 is still coming. And I also know Monkie Kid has lost a huge part of what made it unique and special, a huge part of its heart and soul. Without flying bark it feels like half the show is missing and although I hope I can still support the show, no one can deny the cavern-sized hole that is left by flying bark’s absence in it. The animation team has such an incredibly positive atmosphere around them that just absolutely radiates from the things they create. I am going to miss that so desperately in monkie kid. I’m going to support every other show flying bark works on, I’m still going to love their animation wherever it goes, but I am going to miss it in monkie kid like nothing else I’ve ever missed.

I do have some other thoughts regarding the new changes in monkie kid but I wanted to keep that separate from the actual farewell, so that’ll be it’s own post and I just want to end this by saying thanks for everything Flying Bark you’ve been a real one. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re already being missed so hard it hurts. Keep those good vibes and keep up what you’re doing. You all really are incredible and an inspiration to artists everywhere. We love this show because of the voice actors, because of the writers, because of the music but a great deal of people loved this show because of you. You’ve inspired a community of artists, you’ve inspired me. Thank you flying bark for everything you've given us, you gave it your all and I’m gonna carry the impact you left on me for the rest of my life. 

LOVE YOU FLYING BARK. Here's to a bright future. Thanks for everything <3 

[littledigits]

Random facts that may amuse you about the river episode of hilda

To be handed a script and then be like ' ok now lead your team to do the visuals' its like ,a wild experience so I want to share some of the weird things my brain latched onto .. For the door sequence, My pitch to our location and color designers was based off of a blacklight, under water themed mini-putt course I used to love when I was a kid. Just goes to show you can really pull inspiration from anywhere haha. I dont think anyone expected me to go that buck wild with it but I'm glad everyone was on board. anyway.. I lovingly called it Eugene's ' Putt Putt cave of doom ' . I wanted the doors to look kind of flat, like stage props ! The mini putt is STILL THERE BTW . look at this video. GOSH I MISS IT SO MUCH.

Anyway - It works great too because it allowed everyone to have the cooler blacklight palettes, where you can see Eugenes -true- colors. I wanted him to be duller outside of the water on purpose. Cuz hes just a lil old timey guy. A " slightly deranged Stan Laurel " , which was what i had in my pitch notes to the design team.

Heres another silly fact but we based part of the serpent off of the sarcastic fringehead cuz..look at it . its just like -AHHHHHHHHHH. It just waves its mouth infront of other fish and it looks scary but it doesnt DO ANYTHING. ( I think, biologists can correct me)

Also just in general I was vibing with the old..creatures on a map . Like. Of course we're going to give this serpent hooves. OF COURSE THIS SEA SERPENT NEEDS HOOVES. So the designers did a few rounds based off of way older illustrations.

The choice of shadow puppets was done to give Eugene an 'old timey' flavor. I really wanted him to feel more vaudeville and tap dancey - so the shadow puppets were to give him a..more modest intro. The adventures of prince achmed was an inspiration, because how old school animation can you get ! And it really backed up the use of bold colors. I wanted to save his BIGGEST performance to the end, also shout out to @castletoons who boarded this episode AND nailed the song sequence WITHOUT EVEN HAVING THE FINAL SONG?! It fit perfectly. It was fate.

oh , and if you felt a particular beetle juicey tone to this whole episode? You're not wrong ! While it wasnt on my mind when I was first working on visual concepts, our storyboard supervisor Jeff Bittle showed me this intro from the second season of the animated show. Everything zipping at the camera on this endless void ride was the perfect chaotic energy that really helped bring in that sinister tone.

UH SO YEAH I mean I could go on about some of the thought processes behind choices and stuff and honestly I dont want to get into the weeds with opening up a pandoras box on behind the scenes of hilda or whatever. But I thought this episode was a fun example to kind of share a bit of The entire team ran with this weird chaotic energy and I appreciate them so much for it. I'll always love this strange lil episode.

[maddy-k-reads-all-day]

Okay... so I'm pretty sure the "Play My Way" song is canon considering its an official Amanda 2 song and it's listed in the games credits.

So I'm also gonna consider the two animations the song is based on as canon, too. Bear with me.

If we consider all 3 videos canon then things get really interesting.

Timeline wise, I think all three videos take place before the first game.

The first where everything in the Hide and Seek tape goes smoothly where it's just a storyboard happens before Amanda and Wooly got trapped. I think this may have been a pilot to the animated series. It feels like it sets up what Amanda The Adventurer was supposed to be like. Amanda and Wooly are super friendly with each other, plus Wooly is missing his ears just like the games original pilot.

The second version might be sometime after they got trapped. Supposedly Amanda didn't originally remember her life as Rebecca in the first game right? I think this might be where she started to notice something off. When they replay the Hide and Seek tape, Amanda clearly gets the feeling they've done this before. I'm so sure about Wooly here tho.

Now let's talk about the song on its own, ignoring the timeline and just acknowledging that the characters find this tape familiar.

By the third time (the song), Amanda clearly notices that they've done this before and freaks out. And I think here if Wooly didn't notice something off before, he does when his part comes when he's repeating the lines from the animatics he sounds really unsure? "Right, you're the best... you must play this a lot." Like there's a weird sense of unease in his voice when he says this.

The chorus to me feels really interesting because I feel like we're getting Amanda's true feelings about this situation.

"Now watch us play our part. Now watch us dance and sing. Don't want to fall apart like kids who never seem to scream."

I love the puppet-like vibes these lyrics give off.

After this it seems like the tape resets cuz it's suddenly Amanda's turn again. And Wooly seems like he's really frustrated that he's not getting his turn. But Woolys verse is the most interesting to me.

"Now watch us play our part. Now watch us dance and sing. Don't let it break your heart just play along and-" He gets cut off.

This almost sounds equally passive aggressive as Amanda's chorus. There seems to be an equal amount of resentment. But the "just play along" part seems very fitting for Wooly. One thing I think about Wooly is he seems very avoidant of things that upset him. And it got me wondering if the reason he's always trying to redirect things isn't because it's some "job" of his, instead he simply doesn't like it. He doesn't like tragic stories he doesn't like talking about death or people you trust hurting you. But a lot of these things seem like things that Hameln intentionally wanted in the show so I'm really starting to belive that Wooly himself is the one who doesn't want to talk about it.

Another thing I find weird is how adamant Wooly was about wanting a turn and then how the moment Amanda was gone, he started to panic. As his verse continues after Amanda's chorus, he sounds more and more upset. I can't wait till the animation for this comes out because I really wanna know what Wooly was talking about when he says, " I don't wanna go in there." Omg. Didn't Amanda say that once?

Now, when he finds the "cat under the box," this time it's Mr. Fox? And then Amanda sings about killing someone. I don't think it's Wooly because, continuity wise, that doesn't make sense. We found out that killing Wooly does nothing he just comes back. So Amanda wouldn't try it twice, right? So I think it's Mr. Fox before the first game. Maybe Mr. Fox was a character similar to the opossum? Idk why Amanda would kill Mr. Fox unless if he was in their way. Actually, I know it isn't Wooly because Wooly is still alive at the end of the song- (imagine the music video comes out and makes me look like a fool)

I also wonder what Amanda's "it's you" is supposed to mean. Maybe Kate was the one watching this tape?

Anyway, these are my observations and theories. They are kinda messy and subject to change, but what do you think?

[gnomeniche]

i should probably post about the storyboards bc i’m obsessed. i get why they changed stuff for the final (most of the dialogue they changed is superfluous because it reiterates ideas brought up earlier / overexplains a little of the fun ambiguity that sticks in your mind, like them actively pointing out it’s uncertain which duck was killed) but seeing the old version is so interesting. i love seeing what changed and what stayed the same

also i love this part. sure it’s pretty on the nose wrt the themes of the show but bc of that i KNOW if it HAD been in the show i would have gone nuts over this line every time i watched it

“it’s terrible where he is” “everything has to go back to its proper place” just like the main three’s situation…

also the line about putting everything back in its proper place helps reinforce that feeling of lesley as a fucked up kindergarten teacher + am intrigued by storyboards explicitly saying that lesley played out the whole series up to now in the dollhouse and the more blatant implication that she is not the one in charge + the idea that lesley came up here with others before.

that last one gives me the vibe of one of my many possible theories about what she represents which is like… she is partially representative of a kid who watched children’s edutainment shows like the one dhmis takes place in and is stuck in her vision of her childhood. someone who used to live on a lower floor (a child who watched the show and thought of the charas as friends) but went up (grew up) but is always looking back at an imagined “better past” that wasn’t actually that good. i need to make a proper post about my idea of toxic nostalgia in dhmis though so i’ll keep that in my pocket for later

other notes:

the rundown of them having Zero idea what their interests Are in the jobs song storyboards is so cool. i’m right that the show-world dictates that they are not really supposed to have a sense of their own identity besides what roles they play. no idea of what they like and want for themselves. but even if that’s how they’re supposed to be, as they exist for longer they gain their own preferences and desires. i want duck to collect buttons though let him have his buttons

i understand why they made red guy more annoyed about the jobs song in the final product and i love my sulky best friend but also it’s funny to see him actually get verses and all of them are on the theme of I Would Like To Sit Somewhere Quiet And Decompress. me too red guy

instead of unemployed brendon we could have had dead-end job kelvin…

the funeral scene dialogue being almost identical to the final scene is great. already perfect no notes

[enden-k]

btw now that i can get to it (was busy and had someone over) i can babble a little abt zzz and give my thoughts so far on it if anyone is still wondering whether they should try it or not

first thing i have to say is, to me it feels like a cozy casual kinda game. and i love it. i think thats the part i saw some ppl complain abt

it reminds me a lot of P5 w the overall vibes etc (i played on first release years ago but not the additional stuff afterwards so idk if there were changes to the plot or anything with whatever royal is about) and it was a comfort game for me back then so yea. this might add a lot to why zzz feels like such a comfort game to me

the siblings are not active, playable characters in combat since theyre the proxy guiding and supporting the playable characters (agents) in the hollows (compare it to domains). outside of the hollows you run around with ur chosen sibling and whoever you picked, the other doesnt disappear or becomes irrelevant. they are a unit, run their video store together, theyre one proxy, supporting each other. i already love how trailblazer is more vocal than traveler but the siblings are active, talking parts in cutscenes and whenever theres dialogue choices, your chosen sibling ACTUALLY SAYS IT. this is smth i wished for a while in gnshn so seeing it in zzz made me super happy. it gives them sm life and gets me into it idk how to say it

(this is them btw. pretty mfs)

anw its not overwhelming like gnshn feels to me. gnshn has sm to explore and sm story and its smth i both enjoy and feel exhausted by. now, if you played persona or are familiar, its easier for me to use for comparison. you get to run around as the chosen sibling in the city but the fighting (w the agents you pull from the gacha) all happens in the hollows (similar to when you enter the metaverse). it runs with a day-night cycle and depending on the time, npcs and quests pop up. you can pass the time if you need a specific time of day for an objective, by doing hollow exploration or simply resting in ur room. theres side stuff you do, like running your store and visiting the arcade and play snake akjscbk

the combat itself reminds me of HI3 and wuwa and feels super smooth and fun to me

it has cutscenes etc but the story parts in between are illustrated and presented in a comic/storyboard kinda way? which fits the whole video/movie aesthetics well. its pretty cool

overall, if you didnt try it out yet bc you think it requires lots of energy and time like gnshn, its nothing like that at all. ofc im not through with everything but so far it feels like a very nice game to play casually, w a big cozy bonus when youre spending the day freely in game. i play only on pc or on console when i wanna lay down but this game even i would play on phone or ipad to chill akjscbk

the characters are also pretty fun and cool looking! like, look at them, so far we got

the most chaotic ragtag group in all of new eridu (they share one braincell and its anby who is in charge of it)

fresh looking heavy industry workers (they have a bear)

classic horror housekeeping service who will poison ur tea ig

motorcycle gang (oggling the glasses guy and boss lady super hard, they will be mine when playable-)

public security (they have an actual catboy in case weve got catboy enjoyers here)

special hollow operation elite squad aka the coolest strongest mfs out there taking care of hollow disasters

ALSO THE NPCS!!! LIKE!!! look at the cook!!! tinmaster running the coffee shop!!! the girl selling gadgets or the bunny person running the arcade!!!

even the regular npcs just roaming the streets. theres lots of cool details and life in every bit, its really cool

anw!! idk if this helped or made sense, this is also just my own impressions and feelings so far so yeee. if someone decides to play, i hope you will have fun and get whoever you really really want!!

[glitcheslikeslego]

DISCLAIMER BEFORE WE BEGIN HERE: this is just me ranting and being done with certain sides of the lmk fandom, and not the fandom as a whole. if anyone decides to start trauma dumping or actively trying to start arguments in my replies again, i have a block button for a reason :3c

Okay, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

I think this fandom needs a lesson in media literacy and I am here to give one :3c!

So, media literacy is the ability to analyse stories presented in media to determine its credibility, and who better to talk about analysis than me, that one character analysis bitch uwu.

LMK is very main character focused, especially with MK since he’s, you know, the main character. It leans heavily on the plot of MK and his friends facing enemy after enemy, and with how short the seasons are (10 episodes each), it’s understandable that they won’t give every character large amounts of screen time, this especially goes for side characters, mainly Nezha, Li Jing, Red Son and his parents, Peng, Mayor, the Nine-Headed Demon etc etc. It’s all about MK and his friends.

Just because you like a side character, that doesn’t mean they need a whole season or special dedicated just to them. As seen with Red Son and Nezha, their familial issues are handled off screen, and just because you want to know more, that doesn’t mean that the show actually has to show it. And with Peng and the Mayor, just because we want to know where they are, doesn’t mean they have to show us. They may end up showing up, that’s not completely out of the realm of possibility, but you can’t expect the writers to shove every past character they can into a newer season.

While side characters can be important in moving a plot or explaining it more, they don’t completely matter in the long run. In season 3, the only reason why Nezha gets involved is because Wukong steals the map and they end up in a wild goose chase until Nezha arrives to wreck Wukong’s shit. Aside from that, his other appearances are relatively the same, something happens and Nezha just so happens to get involved and help out, then when all is said and done, he heads off to the Celestial Realm again. Same with Red Son, he just so happened to be involved, helped out a bit, then he and his family just vibe in their fortress. Really all the side characters just show up, help out a bit, then leave to do their own thing. In the end, they don’t really do a whole lot in the long run aside from help.

Now, side characters aside, let’s talk about headcanons. I like headcanons! I like coming up with my own and seeing other peoples headcanons, I think they're so neat! Headcanons on their own aren’t the issue here though, my issue is when people take headcanons and pass them off as canon and factual information about a character.

Take the genderfluid Red Son headcanon. I think it’s neat, it’s a fun and interesting idea, but when people try and use it as actual canon information, it can be pretty disappointing to newcomers who discover that a genderfluid character that they could possibly relate to isn't canonically genderfluid at all, but is instead just a headcanon from one storyboard artist. The person could feel tricked when they come into the fandom for the first time. That’s why I believe if it’s confirmed in the show or the creator themselves said anything about a character, then it’s true, unless stated otherwise.

In addition, just because you like a headcanon, that doesn’t mean you have to force people to like/believe in that headcanon too. And if you don’t like someone’s headcanon, that’s cool too, don’t harass them/bully them for it. The same can be said for ships too, if you do like it, cool, don’t force others to like it. You don’t like it? That’s cool too, don't bully them for it.

Tumblr has tag blocking and user blocking for a reason guys, you aren’t bad people for blocking people who you don’t like/don’t like you, and you aren’t bad for blocking tags for things you don’t want to see. Curate your online experience to cater to yourself and make you comfortable.

So long story short about media literacy and being online in general; take the time to understand what this show truly is, a silly lego show for kids ages 8 and up. Just because you like a specific character, that doesn’t mean they will get the screen time/on-screen development you want, and don’t harass other people over that. And while headcanons are cool, don’t pass it off as factual when it isn't.

Thank you all for coming to my class :3.

[jacenotjason]

I hear "cops role swap" and my brain immediately goes to a reverse of the original idea for SM 5, Cap and Shotty being VERY shit cops and John and Jack attempting to usurp them to bring some actual order into the town

guhh i feel so upset whenever i think about the fact that we couldve had more cap and shotgun, but yknow what its fine the storyboards are hilarious.

i love that its implied Capitan knows John from somewhere. i might be sleep deprived but it gives me ex vibes HAUEAhua

WHAT DID HE SAY WHY IS JOHN SO OFFENDED!?

so offended he almost showed his mouth...

one more

edit: yes i am just now realizing this isnt at all what your ask said I HAVENT SLEPT IN LIKE 24 HOURS OK

[nilusanimationworld]

So....the KFP4 plot huh? WHEW! I really needed DAYS to process all this & uh...I think I’m finally ready to talk about it?

Also before I start saying anything please note that I may share few more EXTRA details. Where did I get the details? Welllll? I may have cheated & decided to spoil myself a bit to get more stuff out. Although I promise I’m not gonna share any images & go deep to spoil movie. To be honest I myself only managed to get like only 5% extra details. Also reason I had to spoil myself to dig this deep by talking with the person who got this stuff personally from CinemaCon is that I’ve seen a lot posts saying most of you all have GIVEN UP on the franchise after the plot news was out. Granted some of the plot is not making sense. I myself had to read like 100x to process all in. But giving up on the franchise? I still can’t do that. KFP has a special place in my heart. I’m not saying I’m here to rescue by giving you guys hope. Instead I’d highly suggest you all to keep the expectations low....LIKE REAL LOW! The higher we’re setting the bar the more disappointing results we’re gonna get. Some things so far I found does give us a little hope of light & some are well....meh?  

ALSO PLEASE NOTE IF YOU DONT WANT TO GET SPOILED I’D HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM REDDIT & TWITTER FOR A WHILE! ESPECIALLY DO NOT USE THE KUNG FU PANDA 4 HASHTAG ON TWITTER 

|| SPOILERS UNDER CUT || 

So first let’s just start with the villain herself. The Chameleon. Turns Kate Mckinnon is voicing the villain & her design so far is actually not bad? So far it actually looks good. Only way I could describe her looks is that she’s giving me a bit Shen mixed with bit of Viper vibes. Elegance is the only word I can describe her. Since its only a storyboard image sadly. Its not even a concept art image. 

As for her abilities/powers! Ooooh I hate Dreamworks here for baiting us saying this Chameleon can ‘summon’ the old villains. I know they’re doing this for keeping this a surprise or something idk but whatever the CinemaCon fans saw are completely different from the whole summoning idea. Apparently turns out she IS THE ONE HERSELF who can turn into TAI LUNG, SHEN & KAI. SHE’S A SHAPESHIFTER! Which is no surprise since she is a Chameleon & they’re known for changing colors. So I really don’t see the point why Dreamworks made movie news blogs & reports saying & using the word “SUMMON” which is completely different from “Shapeshifting”? Another thing this is gonna disappoint a lot of Tia Lung, Shen & Kai fans because i’ve seen a lot over excited fans who are waiting for a rematch Especially a Po vs Tai Lung. I’m so sorry guys but these guys are not coming back. They originals are dead DEAD!

She’s also gonna shift into one of Po’s biggest challenger yet too. I’m not mentioning this one this is worth saving it for the movie or the trailer. I hope they save this surprise of the MOVIE ONLY

So far for me the villain actually does sound & look promising. Whoever came up with Chameleon shapeshifting idea is actually pretty darn smart. My only concern is that she doesn’t become one of jokester type villains since its Kate Mckinnon who’s voicing. So yeah...that’s the villain info

Now for the fox character Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? LMAO y’all have no idea how many different spellings I had to come across to get this character info! The funny part is people are even changing the fox’s gender in some articles which is really weird because its Awkwafina who is gonna voice her. So far we only know that she’s gonna be shown as a thief first? And later as Po’s student? Her design? No idea. For now. 

Judging by Awkwafina’s past animated characters like Sisu & Ms Tarantula I’m assuming the character might be some playful, sneaky, childish, cunning type of a fox character since the fox is gonna be introduced first as thief? idk this is just my thoughts? Bonus if she turns out to be some annoying teenager or young adult who would try to get on Po’s nerves during their adventure.Kinda to give Po taste of his own medicine & realize how difficult it is for Shifu & Tigress who has to deal with Po’s shenanigans. 

Also I won’t be surprised if the Fox too has some very similar backstory like Po or Tigress. I’m really getting a feeling the story is gonna be about misunderstood fox who most likely could be either an orphan or abandon by family/villagers or something

Okay so now comes the plot. We all know that Po is gonna get promoted to higher master position & he has to find new Dragon Warrior...yaddy-yaddy-yadda!  Apparently their gonna show Po finding Chen/Zhen/Zhan/Chan (SOMEONE PLEASE CONFIRM WHAT’S HER REAL SPELLING!) in the museum where Po is....patrolling? (i’ll be honest this info is a little confusing because I really don’t see why Po of all people is patrolling at the museum especially since now he’s in a bigger position....like why?) So after he finds her & catches her & stuff & she tells about Chameleon & later go on this adventure (Oop! Dragon Knight plot?) to city where the Chameleon resides & here comes the typical Mike Mitchell writing. Take a wild guess what the city is gonna filled with? We had got Wolves for the Gongmen City right? Now what could be MORE DANGEROUS THAN WOLVES? Hmmmmm? Well.....

LADIES & GENTLEMEN! WE’RE GONNA GET CUTE EVIL BUNNIES! WHEW....LET. THAT. SINK. IN 

This really reminds me of one episode in LoA where Po had to deal with his past bully which was also a BUNNY! Funny part of that episode was that even Tigress had hard time believing Po couldn’t fight his bully bunny enemy & constantly reminded Po how tiny the bunny is which pissed & offended Mantis off. Anyways back to the main topic.

Now I’m not gonna sugar coat this one. The plot STILL very much does sound very off & very animated series level of writing. Also the person has confirmed this movie is gonna have more of comedy BUT (here’s the hopeful part or at least I’m hoping) the thing is all this info is just like 10 or 20% of the plot. There could be chances that we could still get some emotional stuff since Dreamworks is known for hiding & saving the emotional stuff strictly only for the movie. Remember Puss In Boots? The trailer gives us more of action & the idea of the plot meanwhile the scenes like Puss feeling guilty about not attending his own wedding, the anxiety scene, Goldie’s wish scene & Perrito’s back story all this was saved for the movie. So yeah I am still keeping 5% hope we do get some heavy stuff especially if this movie really does turn out to be the FINAL CHAPTER. Who knows that those storyboards were only the main stuff just to give idea & furious five too MIGHT be there during the adventure but their all split up or something? Idk man I’m just saying.

Where is Shifu? Furious Five? Po’s dads? The Other Pandas? OKAY....uh...so far uh....sadly I’ve no freaking idea where the hell are Po’s dads or the pandas? I’m just gonna assume all the pandas have settled down in Valley of Peace & living regular lives. Po’s dads I’m assuming running the restaurant? There’s sadly no info on this one. Although I really wished his dads would’ve played important role in this one since its gonna be lot difficult for Po to take in his new position & to pass his Dragon Warrior title. 

As for Shifu & the Five. We are gonna get them but we’re told they’re NOT gonna be part of the adventure or what so far the storyboards was shown at Cinema Con din’t have much of them. I am still like 3% hopeful for this one since the guy mentioned these were only the boards which were shown there could be chances the changes can be made. But if the movie really is only focusing on Po, the fox & the Chameleon than I’m assuming we might get very few cut scenes of Furious Five & Shifu. Back & forth scenes like they did in KFP3. Either that or the Furious Five are having some other separate mission & hence that’s why Po decides to go solo with the fox. 

THIS IS WHY!!! THIS IS WHY WE NEED A WHOLE SEPARATE FURIOUS FIVE SPIN OFF MOVIE

Now for the big question; Why isn’t Po giving his Dragon Warrior title to any from the Furious Five? Especially to Tigress?! OH BOY! When I came across the articles saying Po is gonna have to find new Dragon Warrior replacement my mind too immediately went on Tigress! HECK! EVEN MY MOM SAID THIS! Also I had the whole KFP1 movie flashed in front of my eyes Especially the scene of Tai Lung screaming at Shifu telling him about how he filled Tai Lung's head with Dragon Warrior dreams & trained him hard till his bones cracked & Shifu & The Furious Five being sour & bitter towards Po in beginning...I understand now...I FREAKING UNDERSTAND THE PAIN THEY WERE GOING THROUGH TO PROCESS THE FACT THAT THEY ALL TRAINED THE HELL OUT OF THEMSELVES FOR THIS DAMN TITLE EVEN GOING TO EXTEND THE GET THEIR BONES CRACKED & END UP GETTING NOTHING & instead some random noodle folk panda fell from the sky with no whatsoever kung fu skills gets the title...YUP I UNDERSTAND THE RAGE NOW. AND THIS SHIT IS HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN I SWEAR TO GOD THIS DRAGON WARRIOR TITLE IS SUCH A FREAKING CURSE!! GODDAMN OOGWAY!!

BUT...BUT...Here's the thing what we also see is that Five...ESPECIALLY TIGRESS never had that desperate goal for Dragon Warrior title in the first place. We all know at this point well aware that Tigress only wanted to get the Dragon Warrior title is because she wanted to make Shifu proud but after seeing Shifu finally being more compassionate and the older playful self again thanks to Po. Tigress doesn't hold that grudge or jealousy anymore towards Po. Which same goes for the five since they were already warming up towards Po before Shifu & Tigress.  

I know most of us & myself deep down all wanted Tigress to get the title since she has gone through hell the most right from her Bao Gu days but Tigress has made it very much clear that she's moved on from the whole wanting Dragon Warrior title and she's become her own warrior

Now in Tai Lung's case. Even though Tai Lung says he did all that training to make Shifu proud but it was clear that Tai Lung was already blinded & thirsty for the Dragon Warrior power the most (Thanks to Shifu). Heck! Shifu himself admits this that his pride blinded him so badly he turned Tai Lung into a monster.

So yeah I know right now we're all disappointed that Po isn't giving his title to any of the furious five but to some random fox (who is a thief...wow..nice choice Po) but let's not forget that's how even Po's story started & we'll just have to wait & watch to see Po taking Shifu's role as master & trains this fox character. 

Also I’ll make a separate post on how Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? (I SERIOUSLY STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HER REAL SPELLING IS) on how she could earn the Dragon Warrior title. That’s not gonna be a spoiler post that is just gonna be an analyzing post or how I can see it happening

And lastly can we trust Mike Mitchell?...OOOOOH BOY! Judging by his past projects I would say it’s a little concerning but lets not forget even Joel Crawford had made some not so very successful projects in the past as well & years later Puss In Boots 2 became one of his best & successful projects yet. I’m not so concern of Mike my main concern is what exactly happen to Jennifer Yuh Nelson for not being part of this so sudden? I remember in interview she had mentioned if she really decided to make all 6 chapters like Jeffrey Katzenberg suggested she really wanted to make a complete beautiful necklace franchise for Po’s journey! Heck to be honest the third movie itself WAS ENOUGH AS A PERFECT END TO THE CHAPTER! It really did give us a perfect trilogy I honestly don’t know why or what made them to give us fourth. This whole retiring thing & passing on torch has been a very common plot trend in most animated/anime/comic medias lately. Anyways. Too late now. Lets see how this chapter turns out.

So....uh..yeah I guess that's it? I tried my best to keep this post with some positive stuff just to you know...lighten up? The thing is we can't say much anything right now because the movie is still in beginning/mid (storyboarding) stage. Its still too early. Changes still can happen hence we cant say much yet. Jack himself mentions that its too early for the trailer. So yeah its very common at times last moments some ideas could have changes.

Only word of advice to the pandom I'm gonna give is be a little more patient. I myself needed DAYS to process & break it down. If we have waited this long we just going to have to wait a little longer. My guess on getting the first teaser we could most likely get it in... August or September (this year)? I'm calculating according to how we got Puss In Boots trailer. The trailer was released in June & the movie was released in December.

We just gonna have to play the waiting game a little long & PRAY!! LOTS & LOTS OF PRAYERS (& INNER PEACE) THIS MOVIE DOESN'T RUIN THE FRANCHISE!! That is all for now. Feel free to share your thoughts or can private DM me!

[444lpblue]

The live performance for Whisper Me a Love Song... Wow. It’s just a total blast of energy and something Yokohama Animation Lab and Cloud Hearts have not had in a while. It exceeds by far the amount of movement I expected for the live performances, and I believe that’s mostly due to the specific allocation of staff. The live performance staff were listed separately in the credits rather than alongside the rest of the episode 1 crew. We have storyboarding and direction from Tsumori Shindo, whom I couldn’t find much information on aside from his Twitter, but he seems to be an extremely talented and creative visual artist. He has an indie anime movie coming out in the Summer of this year, and from the production materials provided on his socials, it almost gives me an ethereal, creepy vibe. It looks very unique, and if someone like him is going to be handling the direction of the live performances for this show throughout its airing, I truly don’t think we have anything to worry about. (Follow the movie’s progress here!)

The other staff members are more in line with what we’d expect from Yokohama Animation Lab. Misae Kawakubo, the animation director for the live performance, is quite a regular presence at Yokohama in general, as is key animator Shouya Gotou, whom we saw handling Monster Animation Direction in The Witch and the Beast (one of the better-animated aspects of that show), and Miyuu Ookubo, whom unfortunately I don’t know much about at the moment. All of them seem to be fairly new to the industry. The fact that they decided to seemingly have a dedicated group of staff just for the performance section of the episodes bodes quite well for the rest of the show. Shouya Gotou’s work in past Yokohama projects, while good, has never been quite this fluid and fun. It seems like they’re giving this project a lot of time for the staff to work with, possibly thanks to the delay, which could be credited to NUManimation, who’s airing this show, being quite consistent in terms of the anime they typically air being of pretty good quality. Being allowed to delay the anime by 4 months is not common. The fact that the animator staff seems to be Yokohama Animation Lab / Cloud Hearts regulars, if not just contracted to the studio, suggests that we’ll likely see them again for live performances in future episodes, which will be great.

That also seems to be the staff direction for this entire project; it’s filled with newer staff which seems to be a great thing in this case as it has improved Yokohama Animation Lab / Cloud Hearts quality of work by a significant amount. Full writeup here for you to check out.

[ratguy-nico]

Okey WTF that was... AMAZING. Its definitely one of the best episodes of the season maybe just behind The Amazing Rudy episode.

Like really, this season been characterize for new explorations in storyboard and storytelling in general and this is like the culmination of all that.

The fatc that I knew it was fake or a movie, but still cried with Bob and Linda's sacrifice tells how great this was.

Louise keeps getting better and better as character, the crew is giving their all in her writing.

You know many quotes of this episode are going straight up on my list of absolute favorites.

And I don't know if this is a consensus around the fandom but for a long time I wasn't sure the path Louise was gonna follow. I have clear visions of the other Belchers kids. Gene as a famous musician in any loud and messy way she wants, Tina running a horses farm, that can also have other animals, but Louise was a totally mistery.

A blank canvas an even if I like that with this episode, with their Hawk and Chick obsession, the puppet dragon, THE AMELIA EPISODE, im pretty sure she's gonna take the making movies path, maybe director, maybe effects, propts, but something around that. And for some reason it make me really happy.

~Just some after thoughts~

-The dinamic duo Gen-Tina carry so much of this episode for me. Just love them, working together sharing a braincell.

-I almost doubt if it was fake, cause everyone just acted their asses off for this proyect. And they didn't even may it to the credits XD.

-GIVE RUDY AN OSCAR!

-The special effects giving "movie made by the audiovisual club's" vibes , make me so happy without any good reason.

-The breaking in a song Louise just catch me off guard.

-Why Jimmy Jr did this? Did they buy him by telling him he will be a a main character, the star, that he will get famous or was he just there getting his chance to dance in front of a camera. Like give me this guys motivation. I get everyone else but not JJu.

-I have to remark the storyboard work, it was out of this word. Its so hard for animated series to do something brave and bold with the layouts and cameras. I just love to see it ❤️

-AND THE DRAMATIC ZOOMS MADE A DRAMATIC CAMEO (dont add any capture cause late and tired)

[samobservessonic]

There’s a page about AoStH that gives a brief introduction to the characters in that show, but I’ve skipped over that and moved onto what is unarguably the highlight here, which is the apparent “screen shots” from an early draft of SatAM Sonic. We see the image of the Freedom Team that was already shown in an earlier issue of StC, along with a few other images from a version of the cartoon that would never come to be What’s especially interesting here is that, at this stage, they already know details about the final versions of both AoStH and SatAM. We’ll get to that in the next post, but the article talks about them both separately. However, I believe that whoever wrote this thought that these images were from SatAM, as both this page and the bit about SatAM are referred to as being from a cartoon called “Sonic the Hedgehog”, as opposed to “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog”, which they referred to as such. Having said that, on the SatAM bit, they talk specifically about characters from SatAM who were already looking different to these images. Bunnie and Boomer (the original name for Rotor) are both mentioned, instead of the Johnny Lightfoot and Joe Sushi characters shown here. “Princess Sally Acorn” is also mentioned, though she isn’t shown to look different from the Princess Acorn here But whatever the reason these images slipped out, I’m glad they included them, otherwise we might never have known about these at all. The general assumption is that they were from an earlier pitch for SatAM, based on the small animals in Sonic 1, and without Tails, so probably made prior to his introduction. Perhaps this is the evolutionary link that would lead onto the pilot episode of SatAM We already know that Sally went through a lot of design prototypes before they landed on the version used in SatAM, and that’s a bigger topic on its own, but I’m going to take a moment to talk about Princess Acorn specifically, because I don’t think she’ll come up again for me to talk about, at least not in this StC read-through. Princess Acorn is shown in every image here, even more than Sonic himself. There are two more images of her that I found on the Sonic fandom wikia, both marked as concept art, but I don’t know more about them than that. They don’t appear in StC, but I wanted to share them anyway:

The second one is particularly interesting to me, because it looks like it might’ve been from a storyboard, showing Princess Acorn reading a story to Tux Penguin. It makes me wonder if Tux was originally going to be portrayed as the “young child” character - a role that Tails would go onto fill. I know some fans talk about how Tails was more child-like in SatAM compared to later versions (but this portrayal of Tails was kind of general to western media, where “kid genius Tails” didn’t become more of a thing until after Sonic Adventure), so I do wonder if maybe to a certain extent, Tails had been swapped into Tux’s role. Maybe not, however. Since Tails was already present in the pilot, but you never know. Not only that, but Sally would go on to be called “Aunt Sally” by Tails in the show, which is perhaps a similar vibe to what they were going for with Princess Acorn and Tux here Anyway, that’s our bit of unused Sonic media speculation for today, but there is another page in this mag that I want to talk about, so I’ll include that in the next post

[oddygaul]

Quick Hits #4 - Prey, Across the Spider-Verse, Flavor Girls

Prey

Honestly, I just loved the setting. Seeing the Great Plains relatively untouched, and the Comanche living and thriving there, with a fairly thorough recreation of their village and lifestyle, captured my imagination in a way lots of fictional settings fail to. All of our heroes were bad as fuck, too – Naru’s axe-on-a-string is absurdly cool, and then her brother is out here shooting the Predator with a bow and retrieving his single arrow from its flesh after every shot. Hell yeah.

This is the first Predator movie I’ve seen. I loved the design, especially its bone helmet, but was a little mixed about the whole invisibility thing? Putting aside how unfair it seems (how you gonna tell me they care about having a ‘worthy’ hunt but they’re allowed to be invisible when fighting like, A Small Dog?), it was a little dull visually. It certainly sets the Predator apart from other movie monsters, I get it, but there’s something anemic about a fight scene in which one of the combatants is just a shimmer. Full invisibility is cool – Ghost in the Shell’s cloaked fight scene is iconic, as if someone’s fighting air – but when someone’s just visible enough that you can clock them, like this, it feels like the worst of both worlds.

We get a lot of uncloaked fighting in the back half, so, c’est la vie, I guess. But imagine the grizzly bear fight without the camouflage!

Across the Spider-Verse

Still fuckin’ rules. 

This watch, I was left wondering why this movie’s comedy works for me so much more than all of the MCU movies’ humor. It’s commonly held that the bane of the Marvel movies is their relentless undercutting of serious moments with jokes, which prevent any drama from really landing properly. And yet, the Spider-Verse movies do a similar thing, and it… works here for some reason?

I mean, sure, the writing is just better. That’s a factor. “Stop telling us about your holes!” Comedy gold. Simple as.

More than that, though, I think it’s that these jokes legitimately feel like they’re written for the character, not the scene. They’re not pithy observations about the situation, meant to show how disinterested the heroes are in the movie they’ve found themselves in; they feel like genuine reactions from the character about what’s happening around them. Miles’ quips don’t feel like wisecracks from an above-it-all action hero, they feel like the nervous ramblings of a scared kid. Gwen’s zingers give off a confident, no-fear vibe whenever she’s working with other heroes in the public eye, but the second she’s alone, the mask comes off to reveal how anxious and unsure she is of her own situation. And so on.

Truly love how they made this mf look straight out of Mob Psycho

Flavor Girls

Fun, but not amazing. The Sailor Moon-esque magical girl shtick is played pretty straight, with no real twist that I can see. The characters are enjoyable, because a motley crew of clashing personality archetypes learning to become a team is always enjoyable, but none of the writing really stands out. The premise, too, is fairly boilerplate.

So, a lot of the charm comes from Locatelli-Kournwsky’s art, but the art itself is in a very weird place for me. He’s clearly a very skilled artist: the character and outfit designs are all incredibly cute, the anatomy and posing is great, he’s a talented storyboarder with an incredible eye for layouts and shot composition, and the environment art, especially the composition and perspective, is confident and incredible. I particularly love the straight-outta-Bayonetta baddie designs, the cutaway architectural interior illustrations, and the videogame manual-style character profiles.

But the rendering is just so loose! It feels like no thought is given to the beauty of the line, to the finish of the page, to the technique and application. There’s moments where the looseness fits, like when characters do Big Anime Reactions, but much of the book made me feel like I was looking at sketches or thumbnails rather than final pages. Locatelli-Kournwsky’s talent bleeds through anyway, certainly, it just feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. At the end of a day, in a comic, no matter how good your composition, anatomy, creativity and designs are, all of that gets run through the filter of marks you ultimately put down on the page.

[littledigits]

Hello..

Not sure if this is going to makes sense..... but

How does one approach studying Timing and Spacing in animation ?

Like, how would you go about taking notes/

Or observing and studying Spacing and Timing of an animated scene mindfully, so you could apply it to your own work.

Do people just watch an scene they like on something like youtube, and go frame by frame, noting down how many frames have past between each keyframe as well as the spacing by thumbnailing them down ?

I'm honestly kinda overwhelmed, and frustrated cause I have a hard time nailing down the kind of timing I want (specificlly getting that 'snap' kinda feel)...

I don't like how 'floaty' or 'smooth(?)' things tend to turn out when i try to animate ;-;

IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE. My friend I give you big support vibes cuz I had such a hard time understanding timing and spacing. It comes easier for some but not others and thats ok. I had to learn how to be boring with it before I got comfortable enough to experiment and I can still easily get stuck in my box. I would say that reference is a HUGE PART of making animation work. Over time you can build up your mental library and you may not need as much and just go off of your own thought process but thats something you build up to. And most people when they start will find things either can be jittery or too even, and thats just part of training your eye! Snappy animation can be tough too ! but thats why learning from it is GREAT. Gosh theres so much you can learn from frame by framing things - especially classic hand drawn stuff. So i 100% would recommend finding some ref of the style you want to emulate and just try it out and 100% -figure out how many frames in between , seeing just how much they manipulate the pose, anything really! Its not about getting it all right, its just about breaking it down and learning a few things at a time and going 'OH maybe ill try that out next time' I think you going ' hey this feels too floaty and isint the vibe' is you exactly describing what the problem is. Your in-betweens are probably very evenly spaced out- but thats a really common problem when people first start. But the solution is just as you said - REF. And in animation that is more of a part of the job then anything honestly, same with storyboard. and learning a lot from eachother. I FEEL YOU THOUGH. I was there too, and it took me longer then others to be able to get what I want. But you're on the right track , just dive in to doing that good good frame by frame and then trying it out yourself ! here are some links that you may find useful as well ! https://gingercatsneeze.tumblr.com/post/145037677357/1-ah-fai-was-a-chief-animator-for

HOPE THAT HELPS ! <3

[seeingivy]

What’s your writing process like? Do you outline or storyboard?

LOVELY POOKIE. MY LOVELIEST POOKIE YOU ARE. WHAT A DARLING YOU ARE. this is a very very fun question im very honored you asked/want to know.

this usually depends based on what im writing.

shorter fics or one shots, like family rules (which is one of my most popular fics hehe) kind of comes to me in a vision. think of these type of fics as like - ronnie is being delusional before bed and imagining a life with gojo before she goes to sleep. except it does not stay in my head and then I post it here on seeingivy dot com

my very special taylor as gojo series is its own breed. before, it would be i listened to a taylor song and got an idea and I was like yup. thats the one.

but most of taylor as gojo lately has been requests (WHICH I LOVE THAT YOU GUYS LOVE TAYLOR AS GOJO) so I will literally blast that song till something comes to me. ive been on and off streaming between call it what you want and story of us and nothing has hit me like lightning yet - so I will take more time to ruminate as these two songs are very special to me and I want them to be good.

as for my lovely, lovely long fics, this is less structured, which is even funnier:

I'll get the idea and scattered scenes will come to me. i'll have a rough idea of the plot in my head, of how I want things to go, and kind of work out the story points as I go

Idk what kind of reaction this will evoke, but 90% of important plot points do not come out until I write them

historia/y/n feud was not a thing until two days ago. the girlfriend scene was not pre-planned the met gala was not pre-planned. y/n getting stranded was not planned. this literally all happened yesterday cuz I was like oh what if.....

there are certain scenes that I think of that earlier on tho just make me really excited to write -> I always wanted their first kiss to be them practicing kissing for a scene, I wanted there to be a jjk crossover and for sukuna to be AN ANNOYING SHIT, and there's a bunch of other scenes like that in my head that i'm really, REALLY excited to write

so basically no plot. I actually don't even know how method acting ends actually. this is literally all just vibes - idk if that is horrifying to you a reader or exciting but the story comes to me as it comes to me and I work things out and build them in

this is also why I can fit so much fan service in my stories - whatever you guys show interest in (for example, armin was never meant to be a polaroid fiend but you guys thought it was cute and now made it a thing) you want laufey? I give you laufey? you want the greatest by lana del ray? ok its coming

that being said, pls interact with your authors stories!!!! literally if you tell me you like a song, you like sukuna being a bitch, you want gojo being a menace I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN (to the best of my abilities) and you should always, always tell your authors what you love about their writing bc it makes their day + gives all the lil warm feelings so just take the time to appreciate!!!

anyways. idk if this gave any insight to you if you're a writer or if you're a reader i might have just like giving you a panic showing you what the inside of my mind is like. anyways. love you.

[animehouse-moe]

Best Anime Openings Spring 2023

With the Spring season winding down, I thought it might be a fun time to share my favorite openings from this season (may or may not do an endings one as well). Initially I had thought about doing a tier list, but that's far too arbitrary for my tastes at this point, so we're gonna stick with the ones that stood out. I'll just go ahead and get started.

Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers - Magical Destroyer

I don't really need to say much about this one, I already wrote about it in depth once. But yeah, damn good opening that has the perfect mix of everything Inagawa, and tells a self-contained story about the journey of these magical girls and Otaku Hero. It's a wildly impressive affair from start to finish, though not quite for the faint of heart as the music choice may be abrasive to some (personally, I love it).

Heavenly Delusion - Innocent Arrogance

Really, this and MAD are interchangeable as my openings of the season/year. In most cases though I give the edge to MAD for the insane style of the latter half, but Innocent Arrogance is far tighter affair. Its themes and stories are more apparent and accessible to fans of the series, and it has a more unique style throughout with the harsh highlights and lighter/softer color palette through most scenes.

Hells Paradise - Work

I might avoid the anime like it's the plague, but you do have to give credit for the opening. Solid on all fronts, it has a unique style that sells the characters and world incredibly well, all tied together by very fluid and dynamic camera movements. Plus, Millenium Parade on an opening is always appreciated. I would still say it's comfortably below the first two in terms of quality though. The stories told through visuals in the above are just out of this world.

Skip and Loafer - Mellow

The song title for this one is very fitting. It's an incredibly comfortable, fun, and warm opening that does a lot with how little it shows. As expected, the color design is wonderful and has the perfect vibe for being a slice of life. The icing on the cake though is the dance sequence. Full of energy and joy, it tops off the wonderfully full feeling that this opening gives viewers.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Slash

Potentially hot take for this one, but while the opening is solid, it's how it teases the story that allows it to be superior. The pieces that are placed in plain view that we're only able to understand in hindsight is where the appreciation for this one comes from. The pieces that aren't directly tied to that comparison are solid, but I wouldn't say they're amazing. The best non-teaser though has to be the scenes of Miorine underwater and in a fractured crystal, as they reflect her mental state without placing anything in front of the viewer to compare it to.

The Legendary Hero Is Dead - Shinda!

This one really surprised me, between Masayoshi Ooishi performing divorced from the other half of OxT and a relatively unknown pair of directors for the opening, a very impressive effort was given for something incredibly memorable. Aggressive colors and storyboarding, a campy feel that plays right into the spiraling shots and lower quality CGI. It presents something incredibly memorable but without an incredible amount of effort expended in pursuit of it. Great example of a solid OP on a (resource) budget.

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage - Gold

There's not much to say here other than the geniuses over at WIT did it again. A wonderfully executed opening that chronicles the journeys of our various characters as they join Bojji on his adventures. It's incredibly cute and heartwarming, and one of these days I'd love to break down how perfectly it rehashes the story of Season 1 into an energetic and hopeful opening that punctuates the intermediate stories of this season. Also, WIT is yet to miss on song choices for these openings.

Dead Mount Death Play - Nero

I think this opening is the one with the most wasted potential out of the ones I've seen this season. There's some really incredible shots and ideas through it with stuff like looking through the eyes of characters and what they see, but at the same time there's quite a few bog standard pieces that fill out the build up to the crescendo of this OP. I wouldn't say I'm disappointed as I wasn't expecting anything out of this world, but I think if the team pushed themselves a little more they could have had a huge creative breakthrough.

Also, you should 100% go watch the MV that was made the song itself. It's animated by a single person and is entirely out of this world in execution. Amazing work.

And that's about all the very notable ones I have to talk about. There's some I was disappointed with like MahoYome's new OP that was rather restrictive, or the unremarkable nature of Demon Slayer (Zankyou Zanka >>> Akeboshi >> Gurenge >>>> Kizuna no Kiseki ) or Dr. Stone's latest openings. While there was certainly let downs and disinteresting openings, there was also evidently quite a few surprises and dark horses that appeared through the season. Overall, it's really enjoyable seeing how much a lot of newer shows are finding inventive ways to deliver creative and memorable openings.