Orange Responds to Controversy Over Using CG Art in Anime

Danica Davidson August 29, 2024

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CG animation in anime is somewhat controversial (never mind the controversy about AI art). Orange Studio, which is known for using CG for Trigun Stampede, Beastars, and other anime, talked about the controversy while at Anime NYC.

“The original design is really important in characters,” remarked producer Daigo Ikeda. “Replicating the art style is not the objective, but to replicate the behaviors as animation is the prime goal. So, based on that prime goal, we redesign the look of the characters to basically best describe the uniqueness of the character.”

He continued, “Orange is not just trying to replicate existing methods, but trying to interpret and create our own as well. So depending on which influence, things are being changed around. Motivation-wise, our CEO, [Eiji] Inomoto, was heavily influenced by Toy Story to try and approach CG animation, so a lot of influence comes straight up from the start.”

Orange producers demonstrated some of the computer techniques they do to mix CG with hand drawn animation. For example, backgrounds for IDOLiSH 7 LIVE 4bit BEYOND THE PERiOD were made by Unreal Engine.

Earlier this year The New York Times did an article on the very subject of CG anime, showing that most anime fans aren’t into it. Still, there are different degrees of using CG. For example, The Boy and the Heron used it a little bit, but mostly stuck with hand-drawn work. Atsushi Okui, director of animation photography on The Boy and the Heron, told The Times that at Studio Ghibli CG animation is “a complementary tool in graphic production that puts hand-drawn 2-D animation as its principal axis. I would hope that in Japan the shift [to digital tools instead of hand drawn work] will not occur so completely.”

What do you think of CG versus hand-drawn animation?

Source: Polygon

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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.