Karl Olson
10-17-2005, 09:00 PM
Anime studio Production I.G. has made an impressive name for itself. They launched a new era of animation technology in Japan with <i>Ghost In The Shell</i>, which not only managed to top the U.S. Billboard Video Sales charts, but also brought digital compositing and digital animation into play in Japan. They used their success not only to animate a legacy of fan-favorite anime titles ranging from the totalitarian dystopia <i>Jin-Roh</i> to the absolutely insane <i>Dead Leaves</i>, but also used it to spawn sub-studios such as Xebec and BeeTrain. They've even done work for US partners ranging from Cingular to Quentin Tarantino. They've shown they have serious skills, some good ideas and are willing to work with other people. So when Cartoon Network and Toonami announced they would produce an original anime series, no one was surprised that I.G. was the studio they chose.
Cartoon Network, especially its Toonami division, have been licensing content from Japan for years via third-party companies like FUNimation, Geneon, Bandai and ADV. But it's become evident that CN is increasingly eager to cut out the middleman. When Production I.G. had an idea for a new series that couldn't get off the ground in Japan, a mech show by the name of <i>IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix</i>, the Toonami team funded and co-produced the pilot, even licensing a ton of music from a seminal, experimental electronica record label, Ninja Tune. The result was a fan favorite miniseries with a brilliant mix of great action, good humor, awesome music and general coolness. So CN decided to take the next step and make it a series. Did it pay off?
Short answer: <i>IGPX</i> is probably one of the best-looking anime series produced to date in terms of fluidity and smoothness, if not compositing and cinematography. It's going to raise the visual standards for every anime that comes after it. It's also got a story with a ton of potential, though it remains to be seen whether I.G. will exploit it fully.
<a href="http://news.toonzone.net/images/2005-10/IGPX%20Mech.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://news.toonzone.net/images/2005-10/t-IGPX%20Mech.jpg" alt="Takeshi's racer" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="200" height="310"></a><i>IGPX</i> knows when to be bright and candy-coated and when to tone it down to a more cinematic palette, matching if not besting I.G.'s best television work to date, <i>Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex</i>. The character movement is at points so fluid it's hard to tell whether it's motion-captured, cel-shaded 3D, hand-rotoscoped 2D or just outstanding straight-up animation. The backgrounds are very nice, and they do a good job of creating a unique far-future environment. The bruised blue-greens of <i>GitS: SAC</i>'s eternal twilight that now pervade the industry are traded for a more blue-and-gold nighttime environment, providing a visual warmness that is a welcome throwback to earlier sci-fi shows.
The audio also excels. The mix is very TV-ready, but it still makes pretty good use of stereo. Everything comes through clearly, fortunately, because the foley, music and voice acting are all very nice as well. Ninja Tune's soundtrack, through culled out of their existing library, works well. It's got energy and drive when needed, but the more sedate and pensive side of their catalog is mined as well. The result is an excellent soundtrack that grabs attention without being distracting.
Lastly, the VA work is top-notch, featuring not only animation voiceover veterans like Steve Blum and Mark Hamill, but also live action stars like Haley Joel Osment in the lead role of Takeshi. Osment's nonchalant and smooth performance is top notch, Blum comes through with his signature anime cool-guy vocalizations and Mark Hamill continues to prove he's capable of some of the best villain characterizations ever.
The big question, though, is the story. It's a radical reinvention with fully 3-D mechs rather than hand-drawn 2-D, a very different layout for the actual sport and a much larger team infrastructure, having evolved from a few people working out of a beat-up garage into an organization with a manager, back-up players and the rest of the bureaucracy one might expect for an international sport. While certainly a lot more believable, it's also a bit more cluttered. Some character introductions smack of anime first-episode-itis: Cram in as many people and as much information as possible.
Granted, now that its setup is out of the way, there should be room for a lot more one-on-one character development in the future. If I.G. can repeat some of the high-quality character-oriented writing of their past, this could be a marvelous series. Maybe even a classic.
For now, it looks and sounds very cool, and that's a good start.
Toonami's first original anime series, IGPX premieres this Saturday, Nov. 5 at 10 p.m.
See also Toon Zone's other reviews of the show:
Desslar: <a href="http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=6632">"IGPX" Feels the Need for Speed</a>
Duke: <a href="http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=6270">"IGPX":Prepare for the November Revolution</a>
Cartoon Network, especially its Toonami division, have been licensing content from Japan for years via third-party companies like FUNimation, Geneon, Bandai and ADV. But it's become evident that CN is increasingly eager to cut out the middleman. When Production I.G. had an idea for a new series that couldn't get off the ground in Japan, a mech show by the name of <i>IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix</i>, the Toonami team funded and co-produced the pilot, even licensing a ton of music from a seminal, experimental electronica record label, Ninja Tune. The result was a fan favorite miniseries with a brilliant mix of great action, good humor, awesome music and general coolness. So CN decided to take the next step and make it a series. Did it pay off?
Short answer: <i>IGPX</i> is probably one of the best-looking anime series produced to date in terms of fluidity and smoothness, if not compositing and cinematography. It's going to raise the visual standards for every anime that comes after it. It's also got a story with a ton of potential, though it remains to be seen whether I.G. will exploit it fully.
<a href="http://news.toonzone.net/images/2005-10/IGPX%20Mech.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://news.toonzone.net/images/2005-10/t-IGPX%20Mech.jpg" alt="Takeshi's racer" align="right" hspace="5" vspace="3" width="200" height="310"></a><i>IGPX</i> knows when to be bright and candy-coated and when to tone it down to a more cinematic palette, matching if not besting I.G.'s best television work to date, <i>Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex</i>. The character movement is at points so fluid it's hard to tell whether it's motion-captured, cel-shaded 3D, hand-rotoscoped 2D or just outstanding straight-up animation. The backgrounds are very nice, and they do a good job of creating a unique far-future environment. The bruised blue-greens of <i>GitS: SAC</i>'s eternal twilight that now pervade the industry are traded for a more blue-and-gold nighttime environment, providing a visual warmness that is a welcome throwback to earlier sci-fi shows.
The audio also excels. The mix is very TV-ready, but it still makes pretty good use of stereo. Everything comes through clearly, fortunately, because the foley, music and voice acting are all very nice as well. Ninja Tune's soundtrack, through culled out of their existing library, works well. It's got energy and drive when needed, but the more sedate and pensive side of their catalog is mined as well. The result is an excellent soundtrack that grabs attention without being distracting.
Lastly, the VA work is top-notch, featuring not only animation voiceover veterans like Steve Blum and Mark Hamill, but also live action stars like Haley Joel Osment in the lead role of Takeshi. Osment's nonchalant and smooth performance is top notch, Blum comes through with his signature anime cool-guy vocalizations and Mark Hamill continues to prove he's capable of some of the best villain characterizations ever.
The big question, though, is the story. It's a radical reinvention with fully 3-D mechs rather than hand-drawn 2-D, a very different layout for the actual sport and a much larger team infrastructure, having evolved from a few people working out of a beat-up garage into an organization with a manager, back-up players and the rest of the bureaucracy one might expect for an international sport. While certainly a lot more believable, it's also a bit more cluttered. Some character introductions smack of anime first-episode-itis: Cram in as many people and as much information as possible.
Granted, now that its setup is out of the way, there should be room for a lot more one-on-one character development in the future. If I.G. can repeat some of the high-quality character-oriented writing of their past, this could be a marvelous series. Maybe even a classic.
For now, it looks and sounds very cool, and that's a good start.
Toonami's first original anime series, IGPX premieres this Saturday, Nov. 5 at 10 p.m.
See also Toon Zone's other reviews of the show:
Desslar: <a href="http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=6632">"IGPX" Feels the Need for Speed</a>
Duke: <a href="http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=6270">"IGPX":Prepare for the November Revolution</a>