Cat Shit One vs. Astroboy: What Should Anime CGI Be?
This is a trailer for an potential upcoming anime series called Cat Shit One by studio anima. First off what makes this look so different is that it’s interesting to see a Japanese studio do their take on what CGI should look like — we’ve seen Pixar set the pace for years, but this series clearly has its own sensibilities. Which brings me to the next point: The subject matter of this show is war with the twist of featuring cute woodland creatures. The last time anyone has tried anything like this was the animated film Watership Down which while being an amazing film was never a huge commercial success.
But you know what’s amazing to me about this trailer? When you look at what Imagi is doing with Astroboy and Gatchaman what I’ve seen lacks the spirit of the original shows — it’s like they’ve copied the character designs and make 3D versions of them but the soul of the original series is lacking. What makes Cat Shit One amazing is that you can tell that something new and interesting is going on — it’s not Shrek with giant robots. Here’s the latest Astroboy trailer to show you what I mean by lacking a soul:
Astroboy sort of reminds me of the Speed Racer remake film — it’s pretty eye candy, and they get the details right, but they’re being so slavish to what the original was they forget that anime is all about taking chances and breaking new ground. I also feel that it’s folly to make something based on anime and not have a creative team from Japan as part of the project. You can take the anime out of Japan, but there always has to be something of Japan within the anime in order for it to work.
Frankly if Tezuka was alive today he’d be much more excited about Cat Shit One than the Astroboy remake…