Ask John: Identify Recent Sakuga Anime

Question:
Other than Redline, are there any other recent “sakuga” or animator’s anime out there that are must-see? I saw it recently and it just invigorated my love for the medium. Can you recommend other anime out there that show a similar reverence for pain-staking attention to detail and fluid animation?

Answer:

Perhaps ironically, while feature films may be where viewers could most expect to see “sakuga,” highly detailed animation, over the past several years examples of impressively rendered hand-drawn animation are much more common in television anime than in feature films. I do have to admit that I haven’t yet watched many of the theatrical anime of the past five years, including Onigamiden, Tezuka Osamu no Buddha, Tibet Inu Monogatari, Colorful, Sora no Otoshimono: Tokeijikake no Angeloid, and Major: Yujo no Winning Shot. But I have watched a significant number of recent theatrical anime, including all of the recent Pretty Cure, Detective Conan, and Crayon Shin-chan movies, Hoshi o Ou Kodomo, K-On!, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoshitsu, First Squad, Summer Wars, Sky Crawlers, and all of the Ghibli features. Features are simply exhibitions of exceptional animation quality, like Lupin III: Castle Cagliostro (1979), Birth (1984), Akira (1989), Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (2001), Stranger -Mukoh Hadan- (2007), and Redline (2009) have never been especially commonplace and seem especially infrequent nowadays.

However, particularly over the past ten years or so, anime opening credits sequences have become increasingly elaborate to the extent that opening credits for current shows including Kyokai Senjo no Horizon II and the second Eureka Seven AO opening are breathtaking. Furthermore, select recent anime TV series including Nisemonogatari, Guilty Crown, the Black Rock Shooter TV series, the first half of Fate/Zero, Gakuen Mokushiroku High School of the Dead, Madoka Magica, and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt have been filled with frequent scenes of lavish, elaborate, theatrical quality animation: fluid motion, fully illustrated movements that don’t rely on animation shortcuts, lots of hand-drawn detail and visual effects. Many other current and recent anime include frequent scenes with impressive animation, including Heartcatch Precure, Sacred Seven, the first season of Strike Witches, Canaan, Princess Lover, Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna, Jormungand. Mawaru Penguindrum is a bizarre hybrid of limited animation alternating with spectacularly fluid animation sequences. The recently concluded Queen’s Blade Rebellion may be dismissed as an exploitative T&A fantasy, but it includes many sequences of brilliantly animated motion. Even last year’s ridiculous Rio: RainbowGate TV series was actually impressively animated.

Also particularly worth mention, Production I.G’s 2010 Animax Grand Prix TV special Shoka may not look especially refined (by design, not accident), but its animation quality is superb. And this year’s upcoming TV series “K” promises to feature animation quality of a caliber not seen frequently.