Why does Clannad look so much better than Air?

[DragonmasterX]

I played Clannad PS2 for a few minutes and noticed the backdrops and character art look a million times better than Air. But they're from the same company; why is there such a big difference? Is this a new artist at work, or did the original artists get better?

Hmm, actually, some Air CGs looked pretty good, the ones saved in the CG gallery that is. But throughout the game, the character CGs generally ook very plain.

[AstCd2]

Originally Posted by DragonmasterX

I played Clannad PS2 for a few minutes and noticed the backdrops and character art look a million times better than Air. But they're from the same company; why is there such a big difference? Is this a new artist at work, or did the original artists get better?

Hmm, actually, some Air CGs looked pretty good, the ones saved in the CG gallery that is. But throughout the game, the character CGs generally ook very plain.

Well, keep in mind that 4 years passed in between the two releases. The style of a professional artist can evolve quite drastically during that kind of time period. The popular alternative theory, of course, is that the rest of the staff just fixed up the wonky bits in Itaru's art. =P

As for the background art, I didn't notice any dramatic increase in quality. Did you have a particular scene in mind?

[Haeleth]

There certainly has been an evolution in the art. If you go back and look at ONE, it's hideously crude - the backdrops in particular. Fast forward to Kanon, and the backdrops are still obviously drawn on a computer - all sharp corners and geometric shapes. I haven't played AIR or Clannad in over a year, so I don't really remember their art in any detail, but it would surprise me if there hadn't been continued refinements, simply as the artists matured (and as storage space increased, permitting the use of more colours and less compression, of course).

[Carl]

Compared to they "grey speckle" of MOON., AIR is possitively gorgeous. And have you seen anything from Dousei? Absolutely horrible...

I'd say the biggest evolution between games was between ONE and Kanon, certainly not AIR and CLANNAD. If you play AIR a few times and go back to Kanon, you'll also find the art taking a turn for the amateurish. All going well the same will happen going back to CLANNAD after playing Little Busters.

Such is the improvement in technology and skill that comes with time.

[Maceart]

And now all we need is Kyoto Animation to bring Clannad's awesome backgrounds to full color animated life!

Clannad 2008!

[AstCd2]

Originally Posted by Maceart

And now all we need is Kyoto Animation to bring Clannad's awesome backgrounds to full color animated life!

Clannad 2008!

In all honesty, I'm beginning to doubt we'll ever see a Clannad TV series - at least from Kyoani, who seem to suffer under a regime that limits all their work to 13 episodes at a time.

It's not too early to start praying for a Little Busters TV series, though!

[Carl]

I'd rather have 26 episodes and worse background animation than the alternative.

The AIR TV series was way too hamstrung by time, so I shudder to think what would happen to CLANNAD.

Figure, with Air we had....3 major scenarios for the first arc, then 2 more arcs...

Clannad's got what, a timeline that spans at least a year? With, off the top of my head, 5 scenarios to play off? I can't even shudder to think. I think I'd be paralyzed by fear if they announced a 13 episode series.

[Carl]

Originally Posted by inuyasha9854

I think I'd be paralyzed by fear if they announced a 13 episode series.

I'd walk into the animation studio and do a Mishima Yukio.

[Maceart]

Perhaps Kyoto Ani can break their 13 episode curse starting with Clannad... we can all hope, can't we?

I mean, Kanon was handled by Toei, and that wasn't a bad one, it's just the animation was a little stiff.

Beautiful visual novel type games such as the ones from Key deserve great animation.

We could only hope....or at least, we could get a decent studio to do a longer one if KyoAni can't seem to break free of the 13 ep stranglehold

[Carl]

It's not like KyoAni are world leaders in the art of adapating visual novels to anime. AIR TV took the "lets sqeeze as many plot points into the space provided, and hope it makes sense" approach. I prefer the AIR movie, despite its shortcomings.

Series composition is what it's all about. Without people like Makoto Nakamura, Ryota Yamaguchi, Reiko Yoshida, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, etc running the show you end up with a jumbled mess.

Actually, after looking it up, quality-wise, the movie definitely stands out above some of Toei's other works, at least, of what I've seen.

We all want KyoAni because we know their animation style....but there are others, with the right budget, and art director, who could pull that off too. Adapting the story, that's really the job of the production studio. It's not like studios haven't collaborated before.....hmm....

--If you wish, you could write that off as a senseless, winded, response...my hands just decided to type for....whatever reason.

[Carl]

Originally Posted by inuyasha9854

--If you wish, you could write that off as a senseless, winded, response...my hands just decided to type for....whatever reason.

Hey, who am I to disagree with someone with an avatar like yours? ^_^

I've easily got more where that came from.

I do random raids on Japanese fanart sites. Usually several hours worth at a time. Just last night I've downloaded about 150 images between Air, Kanon, and Clannad. The source for my avatar, a few days ago.