#samurai mech

[worrythought]

[terkmc]

Yojimbo

[l1-b1]

REF SHEET FOR MY NEW LLOYD DESIGN WOOO

[rhubarbes]

Cyber - Afro - Samurai - Ai generated image by me - rhubarbes_lab

[un-pearable]

recently changed my wallpapers to ninjago concept art after plundering the wiki (AMAZING DECISION) and i need everyone to know about the best part of the tinkerer’s workshop piece

[crossonover]

These three would be an interesting trio.

[scifi-fantasy-horror]

by  Bossxie

[cryptdidnt]

The mysterious Samurai X has a new vehicle! I thought it would be cool to try to challenge myself to make a transforming model and it was definitely challenging and theres no reason whatsoever that i don’t have any pictures from the back or have the mech in more than one pose. Again just want to restate, no reason at all

[arcadebroke]

link

[rjchang122]

[a34trgv2]

The Problem With Animated Shows Today

I shouldn't have to make a post like this because I know there's so much more animated content now than there was when I was a kid. Yet for the better part of a year, I've sat through one abysmal failure of a cartoon after the other, and I just can't stand it anymore. I'm aware the title might come off as pretentious, but rest assured I'm not a pretentious person nor to I view this post as objective fact. I'm just here expressing the common problems I have with cartoons recently and what I feel are the best steps to avoid them.

A common problem I have with cartoons recently is the awful writing on display. Shows like Samurai Rabbit, Hamster & Gretel, Ollie's Pack, and Mech Cadets all have writing that at best very underwhelming and at worst inexcusably amateurish. Scenes would go on for minutes at a time delivering boring exposition, unfunny gags, and very unnatural dialogue. It very much feels like the creators don't understand the value of basic writing principles such as "show, don't tell" "less is more" or "do much, speak little." Rather, they often go through the motions of a typical show so they can meet the given runtine and stay underbudget. For example, an episode of Centaurworld is around 26 minutes, which should be more than enough time to develop the characters, explore the world, have a good amount of funny moments and intense action scenes. What they choose to spend that runtime on instead is one note characters standing around arguing with one another, exposition dump upon exposition dump, unfunny gags, and underwhelming at best action scenes. This in turn makes the premise of the show feel wasted, like the creators only gave a successful pitch just to make something digestible to put bread on the table.

It really does feel like characters in cartoons these days are one of 2 archetypes: the annoying chatterbox and the moronic dirtbag. Let's compare 2 characters that have the same idea but vastly different executions: Eddy from Ed, Edd, n Eddy, and Ollie from Ollie's Pack. Both are outcasts who aren't good role models, but we're supposed to find them entertaining and funny. Despite those similarities, Eddy is clearly the superior character in this scenario because he often gets his comeuppance for almost immediately, and he actually does care for his friends. Ollie, in contrast, is just a selfish brat who sees his friends as expendable and doesn't get his comeuppance as quickly. Not only are the main characters detestable and annoying, but the supporting cast isn't much better as often they're either underdeveloped and unfunny or they're just parrots that always share the same thoughts as the main character. And don't even get me started on how incompetent, pathetic, and annoying the show's villains can get. Seriously, I defy anyone to make a good case for characters like Lloyd Garmadon, Jamack, the Yokai from Samurai Rabbit, or any of the villains from Hamster & Gretel.

An important aspect of animation that not many people bring up in conversation is voice acting. Voice actors are essential in giving life to characters in animation as they're able to make them sound believable and authentic. Or at least, that's what good voice acting should be. So many of the animated shows I've watched have such underwhelming or otherwise terrible voice acting that make the characters sound fake and kill my suspension of disbelief. Some of the worst vocal performances I've heard in recent memory come from Chris Houghton as Cricket Green, Meli Povenmire as Gretel Gomez, Allyn Rachel as Bee, and Danny Pudi as Tiny. They all have very terrible range, no sense of urgency in their tones, and don't sound the least bit believable as their characters. It's also frustrating to hear veteran actors give lackluster performances such as Aulil'i Carvalho as Hailey Banks, Chris Diantamopoulos as Thunder, and Karen Fukahara as Kipo. It's not entirely the fault of the actors for giving lackluster performances, as often they're at the mercy of bad voice direction who doesn't do a good job bringing out the best in their actors.

It's a given that animation on television has more limitations than big budget animated films. The best animated TV shows ever made, though, are able to work around those limitations and provide some excellent visuals that make the world feel alive. Recently though, I've notice a common problem when it comes to the animation in shows like Mech Cadets, Super Giant Robot Brothers, Daniel Spellbound, Hailey's On It, Bee and PuppyCat and My Dad The Bounty Hunter. All of them look good from a design standpoint, but in actual animation, they look choppy and stiff. This is because these shows have bad animation direction. Most people don't think about animation direction when watching a cartoon, but we can definitely tell when animation looks good versus when it looks bad. Bad animation is not just what's being shown on screen but also how it's being presented. In Mech Cadets, a character is giving a backstory to another character in a dark control room, and the camera moves around the room, showing the walls while the character talks. This is beyond inexcusable as it showcases the lack of appreciation for visual storytelling and is a complete waste of resources. Other aspects of bad animation include choppy character movements, a lack of mass on the character models, disorienting cinematography, and poor use of lighting and shading.

What can be done to avoid these shortcomings? Well, it starts by having good scripts that value showing over telling. I can't recommend Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling enough for aspiring writers who want to make the best scrips they can. I also think having your characters be likable and well-rounded will help a ton, especially if they're in a show about good triumphing evil. Having good actors is one thing, but it's equally important to have a very good voice director with years of experience bringing out the best in voice actors. Finally, collaborating with a skilled animation director or a very well established animation studio would do wonders. And don't be afraid to speak up and communicate with the producers on how to make the show bettee while staying within the budget. Animation is a collaborative medium and animated series today should do a better job reflecting that.

[localaceken]

"Don't talk to me or my son ever again."

Titan Mech to lose your memories with.

[terkmc]

Yojinbo mech commission

[thefoilguy]

Muramasa from Full Metal Daemon Muramasa - Aluminum Foil Sculpture

[rhubarbes]

Afro Samuraï - Ai generated image by me

[un-pearable]

pixal, making her new body look butch as fuck bc she’s definitely just committing to nya’s bit and keeping an ironclad secret identity, no other reason: hehe he. hehe :]