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

Do you want to see animation or artstyle be improved.

  • Animations

    Votes: 22 44.9%
  • Artstyle

    Votes: 27 55.1%

  • Total voters
    49

Mew2

Team Rocket's Enemy
To quote Tony Stark in Iron Man, "Is it too much to ask for both?" Seriously, though, I think that we shouldn't be forced to choose, especially considering Pokémon is the number 1 highest grossing media franchise in the world in terms of total revenue. If I really had to, though, I would choose the art style, but only if we keep the current animation level. I don't want to gain in art style if it means losing in animation.
 

PorcelainVulpix

currently watching LOK
XY art style but with Ash’s original OS eyes.
 

mehmeh1

Not thinking twice!
I'd be fine with them keeping SM's style if the colors are less washed out, they take another look at ash and jessie's designs, and maybe add the 3d camera back, otherwise it's fine
 

Satomine Night

The Power of Z!
Of course, having both—more fluid animation and a more detailed art style—would be the ideal, but since the Pokémon anime does not have the same budget as a Disney or Studio Ghibli film, that's not going to happen. Personally, I prefer more fluid animation over a more detailed art style. A more detailed art style is nice, but it doesn't lend itself as well to fluid animation, resulting in frequent use of stock footage and/or stiff animation.

One thing I appreciate the most about SM is the fluidity of the animation; and if that means the animators had to soften the lines and simplify the character designs, then I'll take it. In a still visual medium such as manga, the detail of the art style obviously has greater importance. But when it comes to animation, the quality and fluidity of the animation has priority over the detail of the art style, especially in an "action" series—and by that, I mean a series where there is a lot of movement, not necessarily actual action scenes.

While XY's art style was more detailed than SM's, the animation was stiffer and there was more frequent use of stock footage. The animators hid the stiffness well with dynamic camera angles and flashiness, but the stiffness was still there. It was most apparent in the human characters, who didn't really move all that much, especially outside of battle.
 

U.N. Owen

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night ...
I voted for animation.

If I wanted to see good artwork, I would go to Alex Ross's portfolio, Bosslogic's instagram, take a visit to my alma mater, or even look at fan art.

For animation to be good, you need to fully take advantage of angles, curves, edges, and fluidity. Fights with poor animation ruins dramatic tension, more so than the art style. We've all screen capped bad artistic frames, had a laugh, and moved on, but our eyes very easily notice when animation is chunky.
 

Epicocity

Well-Known Member
I feel like the question here is a bit...loaded (?), now that I think about.

Like, are we trading a more aesthetically pleasing artwork for animation that's used where it doesn't need to be? Or is it implicit when we say "animation" that it'll be used primarily where it needs to be used (i.e. battles).

Though, I think it's important to note that you can have great animation and artwork, but if the actual cinematography isn't up to snuff, it doesn't do much.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
PorcelainVulpix said:
XY art style but with Ash’s original OS eyes.

I was never a fan of the brighter shade of brown in his eyes beginning from BW, although XY Satoshi's hair is what bugged me the most even though I'd still pick him over SM Satoshi's design.
 

VoltTacklingPika

Well-Known Member
My first problem here is that the question immediately implies that XY's art style is better than SM's - as if that's a given fact. I couldn't disagree more with this.

I found XY's look to be dated. They took the older designs and added more consistency and a fresh coat of paint, but you can still tell these designs came from the late 90s. These may be designs I'm accustomed to, but I never found Pokemon's designs attractive until very recently.

SM's designs have more variety to them and draw on a broader range of influences. The show doesn't just look like an anime. There are some designs that have a broader appeal. I appreciate how colourful the show is and get a warm and cosy vibe from it.

That aside, if there's a choice between improved animation and "better" artstyle, it has to be improved animation. I honestly don't get why anyone would choose otherwise. Animation is to anime what acting is to films. Imagine watching a film where everyone stood around and only delivered their lines. It'd be boring, wouldn't it? So I've never quite understood how someone could excuse bad/non-existent animation just because it looks pretty to them.

(And as for the "why not both" option: it's too time intensive for a weekly TV show. Even a well-produced TV anime has to pick and choose which parts of an episode are highly animated and which aren't. Unless they go the KyoAni/Ufotable/Madhouse route of only producing one or two 12/24 ep shows a year, the schedule makes it difficult to make consistently great looking anime.)
 
Last edited:

FrozTKnight

Will ORA ORA ORA you
Animation - Rather have lively animations than stiff pretty models.

Now would it be great to have both? Yes obviously it would but for that to happen the series would have change its format to a seasonal anime. But since they are never going to do that rather they focus on good animation and maybe redesign Ash a little.
 

Ignition

We are so back Zygardebros
How long before this turns into yet another XY vs SM bashing thread?

I say art style. I don't necessarily hate SM's art style but I much prefer (generally) XYZ's. Sometimes the soft/curvier look feels way off in some scenes.
 

Dragalge

"Orange" Magical Girl
Aren't all that stuff XY used in the main battles expensive though? I remember episodes after things like gym battles and such looking way off with more noticeable stiffness and such. I would gladly take a lot more consistent animation/artstyle in all episodes like SM then place large budgets on gym/league battles that results in the following episodes suffering for it.
 

U.N. Owen

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night ...
Balancing art and animation can be a noose around your neck if you're an animator. Every hard and sharp line can make your job more difficult. It's also one of the reasons animated adaptations of American comics are a pain to make.
 

Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
Aren't all that stuff XY used in the main battles expensive though? I remember episodes after things like gym battles and such looking way off with more noticeable stiffness and such. I would gladly take a lot more consistent animation/artstyle in all episodes like SM then place large budgets on gym/league battles that results in the following episodes suffering for it.

SM seems like it prioritizes SOL style episodes more than the bigger, more important episodes. 90% of battles have had pretty poor animation and choreography in this series, with only SM043 really feeling like it was properly animated for the battle. The grand trials (especially Nanu), Necrozma arc, and some parts of the AF arc looked really subpar (heck episodes like the baseball episode and the pointless first half of rope jumping had better animation than these big arcs). Since SM focuses more on SOL style episodes, and rushes though important arcs, it's no wonder the animation feels more consistent, and thats probably one of the major reasons why arcs in general this series have felt felt underwhelming to me (of course it includes reasons such as poor writing as well). Personally, I'd rather what XY did, and focus the main budget on the important stuff, since the most hype episodes tend to be the gym battles and villain arcs, so I'd expect to see those episodes look their best. If some pointless filler or two after an important battle looks more stiff, I wouldn't really mind.
 
Last edited:

Remix2

Well-Known Member
I will like if they did both but the only way they’ll do that is if Pokémon go seasonal which they aren’t anytime soon even though imo they should.
 

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Nighttime Guardian
I will like if they did both but the only way they’ll do that is if Pokémon go seasonal which they aren’t anytime soon even though imo they should.

I don't want them to go seasonal. It'd slow down the story immensely and they still need to keep pace with the games. It'd mean they could do a lot less episodes per generation and would have to drop a lot of content.
 

VoltTacklingPika

Well-Known Member
Aren't all that stuff XY used in the main battles expensive though? I remember episodes after things like gym battles and such looking way off with more noticeable stiffness and such. I would gladly take a lot more consistent animation/artstyle in all episodes like SM then place large budgets on gym/league battles that results in the following episodes suffering for it.

There are a few reasons why this happens. In XY's case, the battles were the priority, so they received the time and talent it requires to make an episode look great. By this point, they're making episodes well in advance of their release, but even then I imagine that a normal filler episode only received a fraction of the time+talent than a gym battle would have.

Money is a factor, in as much that more money = more talent. If you can afford to hire another quality animator for a good length of time, you'll get better looking episodes. But the biggest factor is time. It doesn't do much good to have talented staff but no time for them to do anything worthwhile.

SM changed the priority from battles to everyday moments and you can see that in the animation quality (all the show's best animated scenes are non-battles). It'll probably change again for whatever they're planning for the next series.
 

Remix2

Well-Known Member
I don't want them to go seasonal. It'd slow down the story immensely and they still need to keep pace with the games. It'd mean they could do a lot less episodes per generation and would have to drop a lot of content.

Honestly the only thing you really losing is a lot of filler which is a give or take then. If it mean more focus on important stuff like plot and character development I’ll take it, plus it give the animators more time to work on making animation top notch during the break.
 

Dragalge

"Orange" Magical Girl
Honestly the only thing you really losing is a lot of filler which is a give or take then. If it mean more focus on important stuff like plot and character development I’ll take it, plus it give the animators more time to work on making animation top notch during the break.
They have a lot of Pokémon to showcase each gen (even if newer generations don’t have much) and with generations only being 3 years now, it wouldn’t really be a good idea to do that.

Besides, filler is important in a show because it can pave the way for better pacing depending on how its handled rather than shoving down every important thing without giving some breathing room in between.
 
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