The man who started it all for me, my admiration for all things Shaft I mean.
As many of my peeps know, I’m a huge fan of the anime studio Shaft. I consider it to be the Nippon Ichi Studios of Japanese animation. Now I’m writing this post after watching the 1st episode of “Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sakunai” and like a certain blue void I noticed how incredibly similar to Shaft’s work this show’s animation style is. However, I noticed some key factors missing that made it fall short from being a perfect Shaft anime clone.
Luckily since I’m such a nice guy, here are what I believe are the basic requirements to making a Shaft anime.
1: Creating magic using a low budget. 4 words: Puella Magi Madoka Magica. What I mean by this is how Shaft can create works of art (in my eyes) using a budget that would make NIS proud. Heck even Hidamari Sketch’s animation is badass. Sure some see it as lazy but that’s the point. It’s not supposed to be a splendor of CGI madness or something you’d see in an art museum…actually their animation can be compared to paintings you normally see waaaaaayyyyyy in the back somewhere.
My good friend and fellow blogger, Snippettee put it best by referring to Shaft as minimalists and I couldn’t have said it better myself.
2: Inconsistency. While Shaft can work magic with a low budget, the drawbacks of said amount of money clearly shows. Even their most recent work, Denpa Onna Seishun no Otoko wasn’t safe from this liability. The BEST example to explain what I mean by this is episode 13 of Bakemonogatari. Animation critics had a field day with the amount of errors in that episode…wooooooow.
3: Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. You need to have conversations that range from interesting, thought provoking topics to mindless drivel while shifting to random scenery of the current area with little to no meaning behind the shift. Oh and make sure there’s a balance where one attribute doesn’t overshadow the others. For example: don’t make too many area shifts and not return to the characters.
4: Playing with the camera. During random conversations, cameramen are ordered to go all Powerpoint on scene and create confusing camera shots and angles. This is usually meant to give a more impact making feeling than necessary. A great example of where the full potential of the cameramen is unleashed is Dance in the Vampire Bund where they made the simple act of shattering an egg seem as epic as the duel between Yoda and Senator Palpatine.
5: Tilting heads. I have no idea why characters in Shaft exclusive works (Meaning none of the anime where they collaborated with Gainax) tilt their heads in a 90 degree angle but they do. I suppose it’s meant to convey a confused emotion. In any case the real reason doesn’t matter because this is one of Shaft’s most well known trademarks.
6: Randomness. This one’s connected to number 3 because some of the topics not only have difficult to detect references to other media and culture but also will blow fry your brain if you can’t keep up, same goes for certain inserted items/clips in the scenery and their purpose.
That’s pretty much it for the basics. There’s no need to go any deeper because if an anime contains all 6 of the above mentioned points, then you’ll know right away it’s a work by Shaft.
How well does “Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sakunai” fare as a clone? From what the 1st episode has shown us, it got 3 out of 6 right. Now whether that’s a good or bad thing depends on the viewer. Me, I’m just happy Shaft got a clone at all. It shows that their greatness is indeed recognized by other anime companies. Long live Shaft!
In the fourth point big importance is in the camera to focus on the girls legs as shown in Denpa Onna. I can’t remind how many legs shot there were in that series.
Actually that’s part of the rising shot well known in other Shaft anime. This is where the camera obsesses over the woman’s sexiness and scales her from the bottom up (Legs to head).
Just to add, Shaft is minimalist. I truly love the conservation of space in its art. Plus, the random references and avant garde art are being rampantly used.
Many thanks for your input. shaft sure has a way of creating so much while using so little. Good stuff.
To tack onto point #3: Add a lot of abstract dialogue with no possible connection to the story other than dry satire and useless John Donne Metaphysics, lol. Just kidding, just kidding.
I do not think that Hisashi’s (the directors) intent, but just happened by chance with regards to some of the techniques. Also, many people do not know that AIC, the animation studio includes a few former staff members and hired hands from SHAFT (as well as from Xebec and a few others), so that also attributes to the similarity somewhat.
I enjoy pointless dribble.as long as it amuses me and when it comes to Shaft, they usually find a way to make even the most craptastic of topics entertaining.
Well whatever the truth behind the matter is, I still hope to enjoy Boku wa…etc. as much as possible.
Shaft usually cuts down its budget for TV anime and go all out on the BluRay versions.
Their works seem to be low budget overall, but that’s not entirely true. Shaft animates more stuff than we give them credit for, especially in scenes where action is involved. Notice how most anime sometimes go frame-by-frame (meaning that you can see some stopping) in their action scenes and then look at Shaft’s. I think Shaft draws more frames for their action scenes than some others.
Actually the only reason I called them low budget is because people refer to them as such. Still, I’ll always refer to Shaft’s style as art.
I’m seriously no good at research and actually don’t feel like it. Hmm…if money or grades were involved…hmhmhmhmhm. I’m a bad influence aren’t I?
I think this goes with #2–or maybe a better word for it would be “randomness”–all those one-frames that SHAFT has become infamous for. You know, those short clips that pop up, that you’d miss if you even blinked. SHAFT anime, as well as having lengthy dialogue, are also very random. You’d have to pause every 5 seconds to catch all the hidden messages they pack into each episode.
It’s that exact randomness I enjoy but it can be attributed to the mindless dribble portion of dialogues. As for the instant clips, comes with the territory.
Besides, I watched and survived Pani Poni Dash which should be an accomplishment worthy of a Gold Medal (BTW, PPD is awesome)
PPD is the MOST RANDOM anime I’ve ever seen! And this is coming from someone who owns Excel Saga. I dare anyone to find something more random.
I already said all I had to say about this show a while back so I need not repeat myself any further than by saying, I agree that PPD is a very difficult anime for a beginner to watch.
Anything can be clone, it all comes down to whether it rises above being just that or does with the same strength. So far Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sakunai didn’t impress me too much, I see how its obviously inspired by the studio, but I would rather have a “real” new SHAFT anime any day over a copy!
I understand what you mean. We both agree that just because something is clearly borrowing ideas from another successful company, doesn’t mean it’s bad. For example: Dead Space 1 is OBVIOUSLY Resident 4 in space, with a few tweaks to make it slightly different. But does that make DS a bad game? No. It just means like you said that they’re borrowing ideas from something else that was successful and try to make it their own as best as they can. This post was, like my Shaft anime reviews here, an excuse to praise them more for their style and note down what I like about their shows. I still can’t stand Maria Holic or Arcade Gamer Fubuki but those two atrocities aren’t enough to make me turn my back on Shaft’s greatness. Here’s to the next Shaft anime.
Moving on to Boku wa “etc”., the preview OVA was underwhelming and I didn’t get into the 1st episode until Sena knocked on the door. That’s when I really started getting into it. I don’t know if the show will pick up from now on but I’ll still watch it.
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7) What about darkness: Puella Magi Madoka Magica = Magic meets darkness and deconstruction
I don’t think so. Madoka’s the 1st show to actually go that far into the darkness. Dance in the Vampire Bund wasn’t as dark and I haven’t finished “Tsukiyomi: Moon Phase” yet. As of now, Madoka’s the only Shaft show to go that far.
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