Ask John: Why Do Production Values Vary Within A Single Anime?

Question:
I have heard that production values change over the course of a series but I have never really noticed until now. For example, Macross Frontier is one of the most visually impressive series in recent memory and yet as the show moves on I find the characters’ faces and bodies lacking the depth and manners they had in earlier episodes to the point that they almost look like wholly different people now. So my question is, why do production values sometimes change in the middle of an anime series?

Answer:
One could easily imagine that after so many years of producing anime Japanese production studios have the process streamlined to ultimate efficiency, but that’s not exactly the case. Producing anime is a complex process done on a relative shoestring budget. As a result, there are always unforseen circumstances that impact anime production, frequently resulting in noticeable variations in the quality of episodes in multi-episode series, or even shots and scenes within a single production.

Most of Japan’s anime production studios are small companies employing fewer than 100 people, and many of these studios work on more than one project simultaneously. Furthermore, since most, if not all, contemporary anime relies on assistance from overseas animators – usually assistant animators based in Korea – production time has to be set aside for transporting work back and forth. Furthermore, it’s not uncommon for animators to work at home rather than in the studio. As a result, there are countless opportunities for anime productions to encounter delays or problems that may impact the finished production.

Anime productions typically hold small press conferences following the completion of dialogue recording for first episodes, as the completion of dialogue recording signifies the final major step in the production of an anime. These publicity events usually occur several weeks before a new anime series premiers, suggesting that new anime television series typically have a handful of episodes completed before the series makes its broadcast debut. However, there are legendary stories of weekly anime episodes being completed and delivered to the broadcaster mere hours before air time. Naturally, especially since first impressions are important, anime productions put a lot of effort into debut episodes, but as production continues, work may fall behind schedule, or funds may become scarce.

Titles like the Mezzo and Kissdum -Engage Planet- television anime series are good examples. These two shows had spectacularly drawn and animated first and second episodes, then their production quality declined drastically. Since every episode of an anime is different, it’s impossible to know precisely how much each episode will cost. Episodes with more animation require more time to draw, and animators need to be paid more for their extra work. But if an artist falls ill and can’t work for a few days, or simply falls behind, the integrity of the entire production may suffer.

Furthermore, all anime productions have a supervising director, but multi-episode series often employ multiple different directors to helm individual episodes, and different directors work at different speeds and have different production methods that result in subtle differences between episodes within a single program.

We often hear of Hollywood movies running over budget or behind schedule. Unfortunately, most anime productions don’t have those luxuries. Anime productions running over budget or behind scheduled simply have to make compromises to stay within budget and production time constraints. And observant viewers can frequently spot those compromises in the form of quickly and poorly characters, especially limited animation, or a sudden decrease in fine or supplementary detail. Since all of these compromises affect the quality of an anime production, fans refer to these compromises as lowered “production values,” but the phrase “production values” refers to more than just the production budget. Very few anime productions are either lucky or skilled enough to avoid compromises in production standards. Uneven production values are just an unavoidable reality for the majority of anime productions, so fans have to recognize that fact and sometimes overlook and forgive production flaws, especially in low and average scale TV series productions that force artists to do the best work they can under harsh budget and time constraints.