The Animatrix

[Green]

I didn't dl any of them, so it was all new to me. Incredible stuff, I loved the whole thing. All fans of anime owe it to themselves to buy it. Every episode is full of great ideas and direction, the directors really cut loose on all of these. In a way, it's sad, because you see what anime can do with a huge budget and artistic freedom, then you realize the current state of anime is far from what's on the dvd. More than once while watching it, I thought, "damn, if only anime creators had more money!". Another good thing about the dvd is the extras. Actually, there's just one good one. The commentary is pretty much useless, but there are some helpfull tidbits in it. The best is the 20 minutes history of anime segment. It's decent, overall, but includes enough cool stuff to warrant a watch. It's only 15 bucks at Best Buy, I think that's the same price pretty much anywhere else, too.
Oh, what was your favorite episode? From my first viewing, I'd have to say Beyond (the haunted house one). I like the use of color and the camera movements in it. I really liked just the kids playing around and floating in the house, that was nice. Second fave is Detective Story. Speaking of that one, there is a shot lifted straight out of Bebop in it. Did you spot it?

[Lhadatt]

Well, Detective Story was directed by Watanabe, so...

[Green]

Watanabe has style in spades. Kid's Story is just as awesome as anything else. The use of rotoscope with the skateboarding action scene was insane, and the falling sequence is beautiful.

[Despair]

Cool, I'm going to Best Buy to get this today $15 is a good deal.

[Click_Stick]

Couldn't resist the $15 price tag, either...

I've watched up to the Fast Runner so far and I'm really impressed with nearly everything. Final Flight and Fast Runner were the two that have done the least to catch my attention, but Program, Final Renaissance I and II, and Kid's Story were all incredible, pretty much.

KS has such an awesome, abstract art style and the direction really is well done. The skatebaording segment was definitely a standout. Program looks amazing and animates like butter... I'm not too keen on the character designs in this one [was this done by some of the Vampire Hunter D guys?], but I really enjoyed it. Quick, simple story... and the action was incredibly stylish.

FR I and II looked amazing, as well... And the story was pretty enlightening. Odd, as well. But cool. Some pretty sweet imagery in there with the battle clips and whatnot.

FFotO - Highlight: the ass, probably. Come on now. I need to rewatch Fast Runner, because I'm not sure if I understood it all that well.


I'm really looking forward to Detective story...

Oh yea, lame lame packaging. Who still uses those dopey cardboard cases, especially for a DVD of this kind? The sloppy collage-style cover pisses me off, too... and the patch is useless.

[Despair]

Agree, I hate these WB and New Line cheapo dvd boxes. Got to wait till evening to watch 4 films, I havent seen yet.

[Shinobi128]

Kid's story is probably my favorite. World Record left me confused and going, "Huh?"

[Click_Stick]

Originally posted by Green
Speaking of that one, there is a shot lifted straight out of Bebop in it. Did you spot it?

A couple of shots reminded me of Bebop, but the little eye "operation" scene struck me as most familiar/similar. Is this what you were thinking as well?

Detective Story has to have the single most unique style of animation ever... Amazing. I liked the Alice themes as well... That was a nice nod to the references in the original Matrix.

Matriculated was way too weird to be anazlyzed in one sitting... I can't say I really got anything out of it... Maybe that will change with another viewing.

Beyond was definitely a neat little piece. More ultraslick designs and artwork to oogle over.

I can't say I have one particular favorite just yet, but I'm leaning towards Kid's Story.

EDIT: Forgot... If anyone knows where I can find the OST for download, post a link here. Or if you can put some .mp3s up... Very appreciated.

[Green]

Click, yeah, you got it.
I saw Reloaded again today. They must have used the same actor in Kid's Story that they rotoscoped, he looks exactly like him.

The look of Kid's Story when in motion is sorta sloppy. It's still awesome looking, but sloppy compared to something like Waking Life (then again, WL had no awesome action sequences). So I thought at first maybe it was hand-drawn. Then I watched it a second time and realized it was all rotoscoped, because the backgrounds looked so damn realistic.

[Click_Stick]

Originally posted by Green
Click, yeah, you got it.
I saw Reloaded again today. They must have used the same actor in Kid's Story that they rotoscoped, he looks exactly like him.

The look of Kid's Story when in motion is sorta sloppy. It's still awesome looking, but sloppy compared to something like Waking Life (then again, WL had no awesome action sequences). So I thought at first maybe it was hand-drawn. Then I watched it a second time and realized it was all rotoscoped, because the backgrounds looked so damn realistic.

I thought the kid from KS was actually the same annoying guy [whose name is 'Kid?'] from Reloaded... But it was just his backstory or history or whatever. I forget where I read that, though.

I thought KS's animation technique was cool because as the action heats up, everything gradually becomes more contorted and abstract. Like during the skateboarding bit, the kid's face and body become stretched and crooked and the agents' outlines are twisted. But during the more relaxed scenes, the figures and backgrounds are more stable, so to speak. I thought that was neat.

If there's one thing that reminded me of Waking Life, it was the clouds in KS.