do you like modern animation?

[mayaclars]

What do you think is missing in modern anime? Has the style of drawing become simple, or is it the storytelling? Maybe something else or maybe everything is great?

personal site in 2000s style

[poesu]

Are you only asking about anime?

In general, animation has become less smooth, in no thanks to cutting rising production costs. I think it had more life to its movements; even if it was sloppy here and there, especially looking back at the previous century, but it was just a reminder that a human toiled over the art. The more computers got involved, the more "mechanic" the look became.

On the the other hand, more and more animators are trying out new things and getting real creative! Like Spiderverse, KPop Demon Hunters, etc. I'm not an avid watcher of anime, so I don't know specifically anime examples other than Studio Trigger; I love their style. But then yeah, the last thing I watched from them was Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners, which was... bruh. Looked good. The story and pacing are meh to say the least.

Judging by what my girlfriend says, it's not like anime was all shine and rainbows back then. There're lots and lots of old shows that are just ridiculously bad in all possible ways.

[rnottelovesowls]

western animation has been pushing boundaries in terms of creative expression, which i applaud. especially in theatrical animation. there was the LEGO Movie, which used CGI to emulate a brickfilm, and the Peanuts Movie faithfully emulating the comic's 2D design with CGI. but things really changed forever with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and it's "painted CGI" design. many films have followed its cartoonish modus operandi: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, KPop Demon Hunters, Turning Red (sorta), TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, Forgotten Island, and The Bad Guys are some examples. and of course, stop-motion is alive and well with Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio and most recently, Wildwood. and who could forget The Amazing Digital Circus?

but eastern animation? i would argue that, with a few exceptions, soooo many anime and manga series today look the exact freaking same. obviously, not worldwide modern classics like Frieren. but your average otaku isn't watching Frieren. they're a different audience; they don't care about quality of animation or storytelling so long as there are cute girls with big gazongas to buy figurines of, and japanese cartoonists are more than willing to pander to them. anime still doesn't have mass appeal, and i'd argue that shows like "Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon?" are why

[MrsMoe]

As a fan of 90's anime, I'd say that the main thing that modern anime is a sense of darkness and grit. Not just visually, but in terms of story and theme. Like rnotte said, a lot of it is extremely repetitive and relying a lot on escapist fantasy bullshit for weebs. Maybe I'm just living under a rock, but I rarely ever hear about an anime going to the bold, experimental or uncomfy places that stuff like Eva or Lain went. Nothing's even as fun yet deeply existential as Cowboy Bebop. The closest thing like that I've heard about is The Summer Hikaru Died, which I haven't seen yet.