Tag: sakuga

A sociology of the webgen

~ matteowatz ~ 7 Comments

Retracing the social, artistic and intellectual evolution of web-generation animation, this article first introduces the web-gen in more detail and examines its social dynamics, focusing on the networks that made it possible. Then, it moves to the web-gen’s relationship to technology, retracing the emergence of digital animation in anime and its role in a socio-aesthetic shift. This shift is afterward investigated in its critical formulation through close reading of some of the web-gen’s key texts. Finally, I interrogate the web-gen’s legacy, illustrating how its practices spread throughout the Japanese animation industry.

The animation of Char’s Counterattack

~ matteowatz ~ 3 Comments

When asked what was the biggest anime event of the year 1988, most people would surely answer Akira. Ghibli fans may note Grave of the Fireflies or My Neighbour Totoro. Only few people would mention one of the most ambitious entries in the Gundam franchise: Char’s Counterattack. Yoshiyuki Tomino’s third feature film project, and the first non-recap one, put an end to a story that had been going on for almost 10 years, the so-called “early Universal Century”. It was a turning point, not just for the Gundam series, but for anime as a whole - though this is rarely known or framed as such, since the movie is mostly only accessible to already experienced Gundam watchers. The goal of this article is to correct this state of affairs.

The Kanada style in context

~ matteowatz ~ 8 Comments

It is tempting, as is always the case with great artists, to imagine Yoshinori Kanada as a solitary shooting star who appeared and revolutionized Japanese animation from nowhere, a pure genius whose inscription in a historical context is almost irrelevant to understanding his work. The very nature of this project goes against such a vision, as it aims for two things: 1) not just evoking Kanada, but all those he met and inspired, and their own careers, and 2) a history that takes into account not just the artists, but the evolution of their styles and their relationships with the general context of the animation industry at the time.

My favorite things

~ matteowatz ~ Leave a comment

Animétudes celebrates its first anniversary! It has been a relatively short time, but the blog has grown a lot and I’m very thankful for that. So, first of all, I thank all my readers and those who have followed me during this adventure. I have done a bit of reflection over the past and future of the blog here. This time, to celebrate, I’d like to come back over my own relationship with animation and sakuga by highlighting some of my favorite animated sequences.

Exploring sakuga – Conclusion : A sakuga starter pack

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As a conclusion for this series on the sakuga community, it seemed fitting to me to target a different audience - not the experienced sakuga fans who would be interested in the theory and history of the community, but those who’ve just started getting into it, or haven’t even yet. Basically, this isn’t going to be an essay like the others, but I’d like it to be used as a resource : a place to find other places to start getting into sakuga.

Exploring sakuga – Part 4 : What is sakuga good for, anyways ?

~ matteowatz ~ 8 Comments

The idea here is not so much to add on complaints about the current state of the community, whether they’re justified or not. It isn’t either to be a normative account of what sakuga should be - I’ve been an active member of this community for far too little time to even dream of making such claims. Take it rather as my own follow-up on “At Least It’s An Ethos” - though I hope a less controversial one : some ideas about what sakuga means to me as an anime fan, and what it does and could bring to anime writing and criticism in general.