Do you want improved animations (like SM) or a better artstyle (like XYZ) for the next anime series?

[Apslup]

I guess better animation over XYZ artsytle because a well animated battle is amazing to watch, but I do much prefer XYZ's Artstyle to Sun and Moon's, so if they can go back to XYZ artsytle that would be great.

I don't really have a problem with SM's artstyle, it's just prefer XYZ's. The only thing I don't like about SM's artstyle is the way Ash looks. He looks way too stupid to take seriously.

 

[Epicocity]

I feel like a better question would almost be whether you'd prefer better animation or better writing, because you can have the greatest animation in the world (and the greatest art-style), but like I said above, if you don't have the cinematography or the writing to it, to what end is it all?

 

[AznKei]

I feel like a better question would almost be whether you'd prefer better animation or better writing, because you can have the greatest animation in the world (and the greatest art-style), but like I said above, if you don't have the cinematography or the writing to it, to what end is it all?

I'll go with the writings first, then the animations and the artstyles. For me who plays video games mainly for fun gameplay over graphics & presentations, I think I have a similar mindset what I'm expecting for the show as well, although there's no gameplays in the show.

 

[Ignition]

I'll go with the writings first, then the animations and the artstyles. For me who plays video games mostly for fun gameplay then graphics, I think I have a similar mindset what I'm expecting for the show as well, although there's no gameplays in the show.

Pretty much this for the same reasons

 

[Lord Starfish]

I want better animation like in Sun & Moon and a better artstyle like in Sun & Moon.
...And perhaps some of that better handled serious storytelling like in XY, because much as I enjoy Sun & Moon, its handling of major story arcs has been less than impressive. Somehow pretty much all its most impactful dramatic moments have been in single episode stories. Or, I guess 21 could be counted as the conclusion of a story arc, so a better way to put it would perhaps be that all of its most impactful dramatic moments have been relatively small in scale, and that when they try to do something truly grand and epic they slip up.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

I want better animation like in Sun & Moon and a better artstyle like in Sun & Moon.
...And perhaps some of that better handled serious storytelling like in XY, because much as I enjoy Sun & Moon, its handling of major story arcs has been less than impressive. Somehow pretty much all its most impactful dramatic moments have been in single episode stories. Or, I guess 21 could be counted as the conclusion of a story arc, so a better way to put it would perhaps be that all of its most impactful dramatic moments have been relatively small in scale, and that when they try to do something truly grand and epic they slip up.

The artstyle of SM has been very poor, my two major concerns with SM has been the poor art style and the stupid faces every characer makes otherwise it is a pretty entertaining series, the storytelling especially in the aether arc as you mentioned was very underwhelming.

 

[mehmeh1]

Kinda off-topic, but it'd be interesting to have SM's series director stay for gen 8 but with tomioka back for the role of lead writer

 

[Epicocity]

Kinda off-topic, but it'd be interesting to have SM's series director stay for gen 8 but with tomioka back for the role of lead writer

I think I'd personally have Yajima back in the director's chair simply because I feel he has a better eye for cinematography and pacing for a series. Tomioka can handle great writing, but I feel like Yajima just knows how to put it all together in one cohesive package where very few cracks show outside of subjective opinion.

 

[mehmeh1]

I think I'd personally have Yajima back in the director's chair simply because I feel he has a better eye for cinematography and pacing for a series. Tomioka can handle great writing, but I feel like Yajima just knows how to put it all together in one cohesive package where very few cracks show outside of subjective opinion.

Yeah, but tbh I'm not sure what exactly Yajima/SM's director are responsible for in their respective series compared to Tomioka/Matsui

 

[Epicocity]

Yeah, but tbh I'm not sure what exactly Yajima/SM's director are responsible for in their respective series compared to Tomioka/Matsui

I mean...all of it? They are the directors. The writers get to decide, possibly, their own points in individual episodes that should be hit to flesh out the director's vision, but the director is still...the director. At the very least he has to know how to tell the story visually.

 

[mehmeh1]

I mean...all of it? They are the directors. The writers get to decide, possibly, their own points in individual episodes that should be hit to flesh out the director's vision, but the director is still...the director. At the very least he has to know how to tell the story visually.

I meant it more as in the relationship between the lead director (Yajima/SM's director) and the lead writer (Tomioka/Matsui)

 

[Leonhart]

I feel like a better question would almost be whether you'd prefer better animation or better writing, because you can have the greatest animation in the world (and the greatest art-style), but like I said above, if you don't have the cinematography or the writing to it, to what end is it all?

In my case I've simply settled for sketchy writing which I don't think will ever improve, but the animation always seems to get better, hence why I focus on it more.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

I think I'd personally have Yajima back in the director's chair simply because I feel he has a better eye for cinematography and pacing for a series. Tomioka can handle great writing, but I feel like Yajima just knows how to put it all together in one cohesive package where very few cracks show outside of subjective opinion.

Yajima only personally storyboarded the first and last episode of XY (while also directing a doing a little bit of key animation for the last). The majority of the well done battles were storyboarded and directed by Asada Yuuji, who is still doing the same for Sun & Moon.



Sun & Moon is focused very heavily on the character acting. Series Director Tomiyasu Daiki has prioritized the characters and comedy for Sun & Moon, something new for Pokemon and it's been an incredible success. Animators have been so happy to work on Sun & Moon, which is no surprise. There's more creative freedom because of Nakano and Yasuda's designs. Hiro'oka's designs for the previous series had too many lines and bad proportions.

 

[Dragalge]

Tbh I don't know how I feel about having to use things like 3D cameras to mask the stiffness of characters. Embrace your stiffness with full confidence!

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

Tbh I don't know how I feel about having to use things like 3D cameras to mask the stiffness of characters. Embrace your stiffness with full confidence!

It has more to do with a lack of time. The simpler the lines and the fewer the lines the easier it is for a key animator to quickly animate a scene. The CG was being used to maintain a high number of lines while also moving characters. For the vast majority of XY the only good animator that the series had was Iwane Masa'aki. Oohashi Aito and Nishiya Yasushi only began to appear near the end of the series and were only involved with a small number of shots in comparison to Iwane.

The past year or so of Sun & Moon was hit pretty hard by production on Movie #21, but the first year had so much good animation. Iwane was finally not alone as the franchise's only good animator thanks to the youngsters brought onto the series. I hope the third year can recover so that Iwane isn't the only good animator regularly working on the series again.

 

[DatsRight]

Kinda off-topic, but it'd be interesting to have SM's series director stay for gen 8 but with tomioka back for the role of lead writer

While Tomioka does some high points in the show, my problem with the series that he heads is that they tend to be kind of formulaic. REALLY formulaic. When he took over from Shudo in the OS, things started to become more monotonous and the characters started to feel like chess pieces that couldn't really alter the same pace and outcome happening every episode, which only worsened in later series, especially DP and XY. When he had to alter things around a bit we ended up with BW's oddities like Ash losing all his experience, Pikachu losing to a newly caught Snivy, and Team Rocket taking on the personas of his usual sinister regional teams.

I'm willing to give Matsui another chance, she lacks Tomioka's refined story and continuity, to the point her approach is rather messy right now, but she does think out of the box and make the show way more character driven. Besides odd parts like Mallow, I lack the same ongoing apathy towards the cast and what they do (or most often won't) that I felt with previous series like XY. Besides botched arcs and and uneven character development have happened in Tomioka's series as well.

 

[Power Up]

While Tomioka does some high points in the show, my problem with the series that he heads is that they tend to be kind of formulaic. REALLY formulaic. When he took over from Shudo in the OS, things started to become more monotonous and the characters started to feel like chess pieces that couldn't really alter the same pace and outcome happening every episode, which only worsened in later series, especially DP and XY. When he had to alter things around a bit we ended up with BW's oddities like Ash losing all his experience, Pikachu losing to a newly caught Snivy, and Team Rocket taking on the personas of his usual sinister regional teams.

I'm willing to give Matsui another chance, she lacks Tomioka's refined story and continuity, to the point her approach is rather messy right now, but she does think out of the box and make the show way more character driven. Besides odd parts like Mallow, I lack the same ongoing apathy towards the cast and what they do (or most often won't) that I felt with previous series like XY. Besides botched arcs and and uneven character development have happened in Tomioka's series as well.

At the expense of good arcs.

Sorry, but I’d take amazing arcs over good filler any day. Get Matsui off the helm

 

[DatsRight]

At the expense of good arcs.

Sorry, but I’d take amazing arcs over good filler any day. Get Matsui off the helm

There's more filler than arc in EVERY series, and the problem is that often the arcs have to flow a similar way, showcasing the legendaries and game premise primarily. The fillers are often the points we get attached to the protagonists, which I find easier to do when the episode is driven by their own characters instead of them overlooking a COTD's dilemma and doing a bland as hell Team Rocket "battle" that a four year old could win.

Even in SM I can see Tomioka struggling to think out his usual box, having the odd good battle, but otherwise struggling to write a full plot the twerps can't wipe away with something basic like 'Pokemon use signature attack once or twice', while the other writers are getting more equipped to making Ash a versatile protagonist that can make the story flow according to him.

SM isn't tightly woven or focusing on character development, but I think it's succeeding in being FUN, the stories try to be fun and the characters try to be fun, something I think previous series sometimes forgot to be when focusing on setting up a big but predictable arc and then churning out some repetitive crap to pad out the rest of the series.

 

[Power Up]

It has more to do with a lack of time. The simpler the lines and the fewer the lines the easier it is for a key animator to quickly animate a scene. The CG was being used to maintain a high number of lines while also moving characters. For the vast majority of XY the only good animator that the series had was Iwane Masa'aki. Oohashi Aito and Nishiya Yasushi only began to appear near the end of the series and were only involved with a small number of shots in comparison to Iwane.

The past year or so of Sun & Moon was hit pretty hard by production on Movie #21, but the first year had so much good animation. Iwane was finally not alone as the franchise's only good animator thanks to the youngsters brought onto the series. I hope the third year can recover so that Iwane isn't the only good animator regularly working on the series again.

Yet they can’t use a flipping 3D camera, due to this we got OS type slow AF battles

There's more filler than arc in EVERY series, and the problem is that often the arcs have to flow a similar way, showcasing the legendaries and game premise primarily. The fillers are often the points we get attached to the protagonists, which I find easier to do when the episode is driven by their own characters instead of them overlooking a COTD's dilemma and doing a bland as hell Team Rocket "battle" that a four year old could win.

SM isn't tightly woven or focusing on character development, but I think it's succeeding in being FUN, the stories try to be fun and the characters try to be fun, something I think previous series sometimes forgot to be.

Man you need to stop with the TR stuff, a series doesn’t hinge on whatever **** they’re doing

More like comedy rather fun tbh

 

[Dragalge]

Yet they can’t use a flipping 3D camera, due to this we got OS type slow AF battles

We have had good battles in the past without 3D cameras. Losing them is not the end of the world.