silveyn

[silveyn]

As i remember correctly Wakfu first seasons have a big support from France 3 and animation before was cheaper.

But I agree with opinion about style issues. Budget doesn't matter in basic form shape and mood of the show by narrative design.

When defenders of Bestiale blame its problems on a modest budget, it's worth recalling Tomm Moore's "The Secret of Kells" and "Song of the Sea", or the works of Genndy Tartakovsky – "Samurai Jack" and "Dexter's Laboratory". These projects also had limited resources, but do they look so lackluster? No. Because their creators invested not in expensive rendering, but in expressive style, thoughtful silhouettes, and character charisma.

The problem with Bestiale isn't the backgrounds or the overall animation – they are executed well. The issue lies in the character design, especially that of the main heroine, Yrehn. Her appearance isn't just minimalist, as some claim – it contradicts the intended concept. The character, conceived as an adult, experienced woman who has lived in complete isolation on an island with wild animals since childhood (which gives the series its name "Bestiale") and serves as the protector of the last surviving member of a mythical species, looks like an androgynous adolescent in ridiculous shorts and a tank top.

Character design is the foundation of animation. Budget constraints are no excuse for weak artistic choices. Yrehn could have been made stylish even within minimalism, preserving her charisma and alignment with her character. Instead, we have a design that fails on both aesthetic and narrative levels.

Recall the early "Wakfu": Ankama was a small studio back then, but their first episodes looked cohesive and stylish. It was a project that impressed despite limited resources. They bet on distinctive design and atmosphere.

What's changed now? Ankama has four seasons of "Wakfu", two feature films, and vast experience behind it. Is Bestiale's budget really lower than their first OVA about Goultard? More likely, the problem lies in priorities: money might have been misallocated, or the studio didn't want to adapt its style to modern standards.

Fans shouldn't excuse Ankama by citing the budget. Simplifying details is one thing, but anatomical flaws, inconsistency with the concept, and lack of expressiveness are entirely different. The signature style could have been maintained even with limited resources, but the result is disappointing.

One hopes Ankama can still regain its former level. But for now, announcements of new projects evoke not excitement, but anxiety.

[silveyn]

Yumalia was a mistake.

youre the only blog that understands how i feel abt yumalia but also still likes amalia you are one in a billion!!!

can i say that honestly i feel like amalias character degraded over the seasons? like we went from snarky princess you can still hold her own weight by fixing problems in a less offensive way (and still being able to rock your shit) to whatever the FUCK season 3 has going on.

i firmly believe that the ship felt super rushed bc the writers knew they shouldve been focusing on literally anything else. like yeah we COULD focus more on the weight of her leaving her father or we can make her say "i know youre a man in your heart" to the 22yr minor.

yes!!! thank you!!! i love amalia ... they could never make me hate my glorious queen, all the other yumalia haters who dislike her are fake as shit

but yeah... the only way the writers could conceive of making this ship (yumalia) work was by changing everything about both characters, which usually means. hey. maybe these characters aren't in fact meant to be in a relationship.

amalia went from a snarky princess who, underneath her selfish exterior, deeply cares for those around her and will do anything for the people she loves, to Yugo's Love Interest who is . like . occasionally sassy when the writers feel like giving her something to do.

going from amalia's whole family dying to her getting married to yugo without any in-between scenes of her grieving, and simultaneously making her coronation (which should have been both a momentous and somber occasion because HEY!!! she's finally queen but also hey. her whole family had to die for her to achieve this) all about her relationship with yugo for fanservice drove me NUTS. like. the revelation that she's now queen is basically an afterthought. i haven’t read the great wave because it lowkey just looks like the Yugo Show but i don’t expect anything has changed there.

speaking of; yugo isn't exempt from bad writing either because he barely feels like the same person he was in s1 (don’t claim character development because he’s actually gotten WORSE). they consistently give him all this weird, unresolved turmoil about burdening amalia with his affection that makes him mess with her emotions for the entirety of s3 and also be Intentionally Cruel to her FACE and it's like. hello he would Not do That stop orchestrating weird pointless drama that just mischaracterizes both of them. the s3 finale where they "resolve" this is weird and anti-climatic aswell.... like WHY is amalia apologizing to HIM??? he was being awful

also, the fact that they had to age yugo up before the characters got married will always be hilarious because you just know the writers were like oh shit guys. she can't marry this little boy what the fuck were we thinking. quick, think of a plot device we can use to make this Not really Creepy.

i will admit, though,, the initial idea for them being together is kind of fun. like. lovely sunshine boy x snobby princess who is just as sweet as he is beneath her bratty exterior. and he loves her because Deep Down he can SEE how kind she really is,, and she admires him for his unconditional selflessness. THAT’S cute. i would've liked that. but atp i'm just thinking they'd be so much better as friends.

they have one of those relationships where i'm kind of staring at the screen like. really . i'm supposed to believe THESE TWO are in love. when you've given me zero incentive or reason for believing that . OK. so you're lying to my face basically. the scene in the ova where yugo is all, "ughh i've been in love with her all these years" positively BAMBOOZLED me as a kid like omfg stop LYING.

if you’re going to put them in a relationship or claim that yugo was in love with her for years at least have some appropriate build up. don’t even mention those scenes in the first two seasons where romance is like. moderately implied (i use the word implied LOOSELY) OR the manga because i’m 99% sure it’s been retconned now. they came out of nowhere and i’m dying on this hill.

ok this turned into a rant sorry anyway qpr yumalia you're so personal to me

[silveyn]

Wakfu s3 and s4 art books kind of suck (in terms of character art)

I’m going to say it…

I don’t think I’ll like the Season 5 Wakfu art book 💀

💖The season 1 was the best (if you own the whole collection. I own five volumes. I want vol 3 and vol 8).✨

😔 We never got a season 2 art book. 😭 No OVA art book/zine. 🫤 The Season 3 art book was fine. 😐 The Season 4 art book was not valuable to me…honestly maybe season 3 and 4 art books are about the same 🤷‍♀️ HOWEVER, the season 4 art book has adult Yugo (so that's a plus!)lol

For context - I could have bought the season 3 art book. I held it in my hands. But when I looked at it, flipped through it…I didn’t find anything of value to me inside of it.

What is valuable to me? Character art.

They LACK concept art and sketches. They only have art from the show. Okay, the season 3 art book has SOME oncept art for the NEW characters, but I want to see the concept art for EVERYONE. I want to see the sketches! I wanted to see if they played with Amalia’s look in season 3 before deciding to for that final look. I love her OVA look more and thought that’d be her season 3 look.

Art books are supposed to inspire and inform.

As an illustrator, I didn’t get much inspiration from the season 3-4 art books for Wakfu. They’re good references for drawing the characters if you lack a computer, phone, tablet, library, and WiFi—but that’s about it.

A part of me wonders if they make these books because it's a decent cash grab. 👀🤷‍♀️

I also wonder if…

they don’t have much to show (I doubt).

whoever puts these together just don’t gather good content for it.

the curator is just bad at putting together art books. Porbably having no frame of reference of TV art books currently out. If this is true they should not be putting an art book together.

Additionally…The designs since season 3 have been lackluster. 😬

Dull. Uninspired. The characters are not giving the ✨..the pizzazz that the season 1 characters gave. Even Amalia season 3 kinda feels like a downgrade. It's a cute outfit that has meaning (the orange leaf) but, I feel it could have been better.

Also that pants comment in the season 3 art book felt like bullshit.

I LOVED that she was feminine. There is nothing wrong with being feminine. You can be feminine and still wear pants and shorts. It kind of feels narrowminded, but maybe I'm misreading (probably not though). I'd rather them just say that it's cheaper/easier to animate pants and leave it there.

The only good thing about the season 4 art book is adult Yugo references. Am I wrong? 🤔 However, I feel like they could have pushed his design more as well.

As a matter of fact, my guess is that they pick the dull character designs because it’s easier (and more importantly cheaper) to animate simple designs than complex ones.

A simple design can still be appealing though - Echo, Amalia (s3), Toxine, etc.

Among my TV art book collection wakfu season 3 & 4 books are my least favorite. Books I have barely opened since getting.

Side note: The Dofus film art book is nice too.

[silveyn]

All my friends are horrified by the decision to make everything so anime.

Nobody expected this, and nobody wanted to get the typical Netflix anime style with uninspiring designs and colors after the trailer. What they did with Bechamel requires a separate post.

Did you see what they did with Welsh & Shedar?

I'm certainly not a Vanga, but something tells me that this duo would look like this

You can beat me for saying this, but i LOVE ankama's original style and hate the modern anime style.... it's too bright and lifeless shit for me...

[silveyn]

Half of the classes in the future are completely absent and they don't want to reveal them to us.

When in the golden years of Ankama there were comics or animation projects about almost any class and many who shone in individual comics and they were not connected with Goultard, Julith or whatever is on the agenda now.

If I had nothing to compare with, I would say that this is a feature, but at the moment, IOP centricity is just a mockery of those who love the Universe, and not another French Goku.

Cheers to the Year of Karn!

Or new writer pet

As if completely hijacking the Bestiale plot wasn’t enough — here we go again, another story about him.

Even in the webtoon about Savara, he ended up dominating the plot.

For me personally, Karn embodies everything that's currently wrong with how Wakfu is being written.

Just to clarify — I have nothing against his fans, and I'm not saying people shouldn't like him. But this is yet another case of a writer's pet, and it's honestly frustrating.

We've already been through this with Oropo — now we have a new star. A guy who's been around since the dawn of time, crossed paths with every fanservice character imaginable, and is just so incredibly cool he basically hijacks the plot, while bland characters like Yrehn and Savara are left in the dust.

[silveyn]

And let’s not forget — during the Year of Osamodas, we got a game about Iops, featuring four more new Iop characters. Now there's the Morchiken announcement, and guess what? The main hero's partner is also an Iop.

Waven TV is all about Elely. Game about Iops mostly. No, this isn't stopping anytime soon. And no, there aren’t just 17 classes — there are plenty more, including fully sentient ones outside the god pantheon. But clearly, someone prefers to stay safely in their comfort zone with Iops instead of even trying to flesh out other classes, even just a little. That's why Kerubim still supreme because show developed a lot of aspects of the world.

Thanks, at least, for showing us the sweet Xelor girl, Cadence, in Lance Dur. Otherwise, they’d probably all be evil too

Cheers to the Year of Karn!

Or new writer pet

As if completely hijacking the Bestiale plot wasn’t enough — here we go again, another story about him.

Even in the webtoon about Savara, he ended up dominating the plot.

For me personally, Karn embodies everything that's currently wrong with how Wakfu is being written.

Just to clarify — I have nothing against his fans, and I'm not saying people shouldn't like him. But this is yet another case of a writer's pet, and it's honestly frustrating.

We've already been through this with Oropo — now we have a new star. A guy who's been around since the dawn of time, crossed paths with every fanservice character imaginable, and is just so incredibly cool he basically hijacks the plot, while bland characters like Yrehn and Savara are left in the dust.

[silveyn]

Cheers to the Year of Karn!

Or new writer pet

As if completely hijacking the Bestiale plot wasn’t enough — here we go again, another story about him.

Even in the webtoon about Savara, he ended up dominating the plot.

For me personally, Karn embodies everything that's currently wrong with how Wakfu is being written.

Just to clarify — I have nothing against his fans, and I'm not saying people shouldn't like him. But this is yet another case of a writer's pet, and it's honestly frustrating.

We've already been through this with Oropo — now we have a new star. A guy who's been around since the dawn of time, crossed paths with every fanservice character imaginable, and is just so incredibly cool he basically hijacks the plot, while bland characters like Yrehn and Savara are left in the dust.

[silveyn]

If you're remaking it from scratch, don't promote the old trailer in it.

The hype was always strictly on the old trailer and the idea before Kerubim, not on mediocre Pokemon dude.

I don't know a single person who was waiting for Welsh and wanted to see this as a replacement.

My problem is that it's presented as "did you see that trailer? We're going to make a cartoon out of it". And no, I know that this happens if you look at Bestiale only Bestiale was simplified for obvious reasons, and here it basically looks like a completely new cartoon that is trying to get by parasitizing old materials, which obviously won’t exist, since Ankama Japan no longer exists.

Promotions are LITERALLY failing expectations.

Official redesign of Welsh (and probably Shedar) in Welsh&Shedar anime

[silveyn]

Let's be realistic and admit that this is not what we expected, and it's time for Ankama to stop pushing an old trailer into all the media that won't fit either in terms of mood or animation.

And yes, these are Pokemon.

The problem is not even in the simplification of the designs, which were quite simple in the trailer, but in the fact that this is a modern fashionable style that does not suit either Dofus or Wakfu. And I'm not talking about the style of the drawing, I'm talking about design in principle.

Official redesign of Welsh (and probably Shedar) in Welsh&Shedar anime

[silveyn]

in some rococo attire.

[silveyn]

lil study source

I don't post OCs very often, but let it be here

[silveyn]

Finally finished it! ✋🤚

The whole piece was greatly inspired by Saitou Naoki

[silveyn]

So is Lady Echo not half-Dragon?

I saw some people arguing on Reddit about Wakfu misconceptions, and somebody said it was a fan misinterpretation that Echo is half-Dragon.

Apparently, Mig who made the Ogrest comic, only seems to view Echo as an Eniripsa demigod with a design based on duality: angel and demon. And the S3 artbook only addresses her as a daughter of the goddess Eniripsa. Finally, the French Krosmoz wiki labels her only as an Eniripsa demigod and never once mentions Dragons at all. English wikis list her as half-Dragon, but provide no source.

I just naturally assumed she was half-Dragon this whole time given her design, especially her wings. But nothing actually confirms she is a Dragon in the show.

@mig-auteur

Can you clarify anymore info about Echo?

[silveyn]

I don't really agree with the healing abilities, in the Oropo game her cards were the ones that gave a shield. In the Oropo OVA Echo outright said she didn't want to fight and she didn't like it, which kind of hints that she's not a very good fighter. And she never actually used force. Pure manipulation and diplomacy.

I don't really mind that she's a half-dragon, but canon just doesn't give any evidence or explanation for it.

So is Lady Echo not half-Dragon?

I saw some people arguing on Reddit about Wakfu misconceptions, and somebody said it was a fan misinterpretation that Echo is half-Dragon.

Apparently, Mig who made the Ogrest comic, only seems to view Echo as an Eniripsa demigod with a design based on duality: angel and demon. And the S3 artbook only addresses her as a daughter of the goddess Eniripsa. Finally, the French Krosmoz wiki labels her only as an Eniripsa demigod and never once mentions Dragons at all. English wikis list her as half-Dragon, but provide no source.

I just naturally assumed she was half-Dragon this whole time given her design, especially her wings. But nothing actually confirms she is a Dragon in the show.

@mig-auteur

Can you clarify anymore info about Echo?

[silveyn]

I think headcanons are a nice thing, just saying it's 100% canon doesn't make sense even if it's not visually.

For me, Echo could still be a reference to Maleficent, who represents good and evil, and is just taken from the movie. I'm already used to the fact that in this universe, the design sometimes doesn't make sense, if we look at the wingless Eniripsas and hornless Osamodas in Waven.

So is Lady Echo not half-Dragon?

I saw some people arguing on Reddit about Wakfu misconceptions, and somebody said it was a fan misinterpretation that Echo is half-Dragon.

Apparently, Mig who made the Ogrest comic, only seems to view Echo as an Eniripsa demigod with a design based on duality: angel and demon. And the S3 artbook only addresses her as a daughter of the goddess Eniripsa. Finally, the French Krosmoz wiki labels her only as an Eniripsa demigod and never once mentions Dragons at all. English wikis list her as half-Dragon, but provide no source.

I just naturally assumed she was half-Dragon this whole time given her design, especially her wings. But nothing actually confirms she is a Dragon in the show.

@mig-auteur

Can you clarify anymore info about Echo?

[silveyn]

Well, i hope that episode about Flopin and Mad not gonna be replaced for Elely or Oropo special.

[silveyn]

I would have forgiven the visual, if there was a good script, and even then I think that the series should have been renamed "New Adventures of Karn", because he has more history than the sisters at whole show...

Random Bestiale Thoughts

I find it really amusing that Tumblr's Ankama fans have collectively agreed that Bestiale's Yrehn (and Nimoda) don't look like adults, and have been giving them redesigns to actually fit their age.

I have to ask why do they do look so young in canon? Coqueline / Mishell is designed to look and act like a child, but she's supposedly the oldest among Oropo's demigods. I can at least somewhat buy her aging is messed up like Yugo's.

Nobody in the Bestaile show ever comments on them being short for Osamodas, so I don't think they're supposed to have dwarfism (that's not so say real life people with dwarfism look like kids, but animation does portray them like that sometimes).

We've seen adult female Osamodas like Simone and Aurora, so it's not like they're all short.