I think 90% of my gripes with how modern anime looks comes down to flat color design/palettes.
Non-cohesive, washed-out color palettes can destroy lineart quality. I see this all the time when comparing an anime's lineart/layout to its colored/post-processed final product and it's heartbreaking. Compare this pre-color vs. final frame from Dungeon Meshi's OP.
So much sharpness and detail and weight gets washed out and flattened by 'meh' color design. I LOVE the flow and thickness and shadows in the fabrics on the left. The white against pastel really brings it out. Check out all the detail in their hair, the highlights in Rin's, the different hues to denote hair color, the blue tint in the clothes' shadows, and how all of that just gets... lost. It works, but it's not particularly good and does a disservice to the line-artist.
I'm using Dungeon Meshi as an example not because it's bad, I'm just especially disappointed because this is Studio Trigger we're talking about. The character animation is fantastic, but the color design is usually much more exciting. We're not seeing Trigger at their full potential, so I'm focusing on them.
Here's a very quick and messy color correct. Not meant to be taken seriously, just to provide comparison to see why colors can feel "washed out." Top is edit, bottom is original.
You can really see how desaturated and "white fluorescent lighting" the original color palettes are.
[Remember: the easiest way to make your colors more lively is to choose a warm or cool tint. From there, you can play around with bringing out complementary colors for a cohesive palette (I warmed Marcille's skintone and hair but made sure to bring out her deep blue clothes). Avoid using too many blend mode layers; hand-picking colors will really help you build your innate color sense and find a color style. Try using saturated colors in unexpected places! If you're coloring a night scene, try using deep blues or greens or magentas. You see these deep colors used all the time in older anime because they couldn't rely on a lightness scale to make colors darker, they had to use darker paints with specific hues. Don't overthink it, simpler is better!]
got caught up with the hnk countdown twitter account today and the panel where bortz tells dia that they don't care about fighting and like raising jellyfish better is still the funniest panel of the manga
Every time I find myself on the verge of formulating a theory I get caught in an annoying feedback loop of “chill out it’s not that deep” and “this is deltarune!! an unfinished game with only two chapters released!! we literally don’t know if it’s that deep or not!!”
one day I really need to break out of it and start posting more of my thoughts here. Lmao
do you still accept queequag asks?
becuase queequag lap pillowing sounds nice...
I always accept Queequeg asks.
it does sound nice. perhaps she finds you in a deep sleep, curled up on the mattress. blankets and supplies are sparse on a whaling ship, but it hurts her to see you in a ball of bone and flesh and skin, trying to keep warm. she's used to handling harpoons and knives, her touch careful and fleeting as she shifts your position so your head is pressed against her legs instead of the worn bedding. you merely mumble something incoherent and snuggle closer, and Queequeg allows herself to smile, even just for a moment
she's fallen asleep as well by the time you awaken, leaning against the wall with a hand cradling your head. you smile, reaching out and gripping one of the ropes around her wrists, and fall back into a comfortable sleep
the way i keep getting the exact same like 30 johnshi/kencage posts so the people i rb it from prolly get like 5 notifications on the same post all from me reblogging it the same day 😭
okay so its not very clear what exactly happened during the resurrection sunday live, and all we know is that koga and adonis probably didnt see what rei and kaoru were doing and that kaoru was whining like a bitch
kaoru says his, very famous, line, so we assume rei mightve actually bit kaoru
BUT maybe it was lightly and/or not too deep to not draw blood, since he does need to make the bloodsucking look real but also he already had the blood from adonis
and if that is true, then kaoru, while may not have the opportunity to be used as the sacrifice in public again, could still be able to provide blood for rei in another ritual potentially. like how adonis did.
which means reikao bloodsucking!!! *loud cheering*