Aesthetic IS Narrative
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2024
- The Golden Witch writes on Substack: goldenwitch.substack.com
And is also supported on Patreon: / goldenwitchfire
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Golden Witch on Twitter: / goldenwitchfire
Edited by Davoo: / thedavoo
Text version: myswordisunbelievablydull.wor... - Фільми й анімація
"this kind of stuff probably only matters to people who spend way too much time consuming media reviews."
Guilty as charged
same
I definitely fall into that category as well. Also, I'm currently in bed and was while I was watching the video too. So you can bet that the part about Lain made me pause the video and evaluate my life for a couple minutes.
i feel bad now
+asaf shlomo Why would you feel bad? While Digi says that, he's the exact type of person who he describes too, as he also consumes a ridiculous amount of UA-cam videos and media review/analysis. The only difference between him and his fans, and granted it is a pretty huge one, is that Digi also creates these types of videos instead of solely consuming them.
I have watched more anime reviews than I have anime.
Something I find funny is how much people on the whole tend to downplay the importance of strong visual presentation, yet often also declare "Show don't tell" which then relies on some level of well done visual presentation. An anime isn't its script, or its aesthetic, its a combination of both (and more), but if one appeals to you enough you don't even have to care about the other.
The thing is, it is not a real contradiction.
You can show and not tell with flash animation.
It does not need a strong visual representation, but instead a strong flow into that scene.
This is coming from someone who loves both strong narrative, and pretty art.
Digibro is himself guilty of this sort of argument in some of his previous videos :/
I actually find that PEOPLE overplay the important.... Critics tend to underplay them.
I think that (without doing any preliminary research) you'll find that many of the best regarded anime are ones that rely more on their animation and visuals to tell their story than their dialogue, and use dialogue instead when exposition or verbal interaction is the best method to convey the message/idea. I also think that many people don't consciously recognize this preference unless they stop to think about it.
On a note to examine my point, as a fan of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, there are times where I feel that the narrative style sometimes holds back the anime- particularly when the narrator gets involved- because they often use exposition that works well enough in a medium like manga when it would be better to let the visuals and audio tell the story. A specific scene that comes to mind is Ceaser's death when the narrator explains how sad everyone is when I can clearly hear and see how sad they are thanks to the Italian aria and Tomokazu Sugita's amazing yelling. That being said, I still cried seeing it the first time, and I think they've improved by part 4 where there seems to be less unnecessary talking (though I may be wrong on that part).
Jackson Bowns Yes, but people tend to confuse showing not telling with: "make something pretty looking and the story will be better by default"
I think the frustration you feel from not having honed your music/visual talent as much as your writing is something extremely relatable, and it was a really good point to bring up. It frustrates myself when I experience an emotion or feeling while watching something, but can't properly convey it to anyone else. Also The Davoo really stepped it up IMO in this video, the editing was great.
Actually, I think so too. I know that for me personally, writing has been the only creative thing that I was ever good at, and even then I wasn't fantastic. And I am constantly frustrated with myself for not being able to create music or draw gorgeous, animate incredible scenes, etc. And I also hate the feeling of not being able to articulate my thoughts on any given piece of art, or even just my thoughts in general. It honestly makes me want to start my own blog to review and analyze things. Just so I'll have something to write about, and so that hopefully I'll be able to get my feelings about art across easier. And yet I still haven't done it. I don't really know why either. It's not like I have a good enough excuse to not do it. If anything, it's probably just me being a little lazy. And that frustrates me even more.
...and on that note, I think I'll stop here. I'm rambled on for just a little bit too long now, and I know I'll just keep going and going if I don't stop now.
Also, I know I'm breaking one of the commenter rules by having one comment after another, but since I can't edit my message on mobile, I apologize ahead of time.
I'd also just like to point out that The Davoo killed it in this video. The translation part was probably one of my single favorite examples of his editing too. And I'm not sure exactly what that says about me, except for the fact that I'm probably a little too big of a nerd. But even despite that, he did a fantastic job of referencing multiple different pieces of art and even multiple critics throughout the video as well. And of course the scenes when Digi was talking about Lain and Kabaneri were picked incredibly well too, in typical Davoo style. (And I'm not saying this is a derogatory way; quite the opposite in fact. I think Davoo's style of editing is some of the best that I've ever seen on UA-cam. Which really makes me wonder what the hell I've been doing with my life considering that we're practically the same age. Maybe I should start doing some creative work of my own, which would almost definitely be writing as it's what I'm best at, before it's too late. I swear, all of you in The ProCrastinators make me feel like I have this need to create something. And that not doing so is only wasting my life away. I know this isn't true, hell I'm getting married incredibly soon, so I am actually doing something in my life right now. But I can't help but have this feeling that I need to create something before I die. And that if I'm going to get started, I should do it now and just never stop.)
I should probably stop responding to comments on this video. Every time I do, I just keep talking about how badly I want to write and it's only driving me more crazy as time goes on.
As an artist I have the hardest time writing a convincing story and natural feeling dialogue. I have ideas for a full webcomic but I'm afraid I won't properly convey my ideas, so for the time being I am drawing short 18+ comics. But EVEN THEN my stories and dialogue still suck so much that readers are always joking and making puns about how awkwardly my characters interact. ;w;
Really could relate to that part as well - drawing is kind of time-consuming process which I feel also doesn't give me much to go back to due the fact that aside from myself, not many people might look at it due the possible lack of interest in case it's something personal.
This however, brought me to another point, which was to consider being a script writer or director as a career. Over the course of my life, I had commonly befriended all kinds of artists and sometimes would request certain things from them incase I wanted to really take a stab on a particular idea or thought I had, but thought writing wasn't really the way to do it. I mostly am a very sweet, if bit eccentric and usually broad-with-words friend, and commonly my friends seem to very much praise or like my ideas, if for the depth that they get to understand when I talk about them in more "understandable" level.
Furthermore I'm a massive fan of them due being sorta multicultural person myself, born in Finland despite having my roots from Somaliland, and have had been building a setting and conventions for Anime-equivalent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit-esque "animated actors"-universe. I've come to full completion actually regarding it all, especially in means of rebuilding the ambiguous conventions or rules laid out by the aforementioned movie, such as where toons come from and how their reality-warping skills work for providing amusement, which I found little creepy when applied to today's anime characters.
The problem's been that I dunno where to use it all, but lately I had gone to make a mere crossover with characters that had their original work adapted to anime by J.C Staff as of 2009. Still, I had fun imagining anime characters outside the works they are in, and how they perceive the world and fans of their shows, along with interacting with other anime characters regarding that subject. There would also be ideas play with possibly familial ties based on the roots they come from animation studio/artist-wise, as well as community-like look on characters from different shows sharing one common place.
I quite hope to touch on this in a visual level instead of massive texts I posted on r/anime and to some of my friends, as they had quite big difficulty understanding what I talked about. But it only further exemplified the problem I have with attempting to write all my massively expanding, detailed thoughts on this AU to understandable words without people getting either a wrong picture or usually dropping out due tl;dr.
+Peahnuts ZSS
Like +Terror of Pirate's Cove, Foxy!, I'm also an artist who's not as honed on writing/music. I guess for me, I don't focus on comparing my skills to others since it'll cause me to be hard on myself and loose motivation due to frustration and jealousy. In that case, I end up not doing anything at all.
Instead, I just try to understand the basics of writing/composing sorta like a complex game like Dwarf Fotress. I'm not saying you shouldn't look up other artist/writers/composers for reference or inspiration (That's a part on how you learn), but that you shouldn't compare your skills to another.
I just wanted to type all this down cause I know the feeling of being all "Aww shit, I wish I was able to do [x] as good as [name]." I just wanted to put in my two cents.
dig the Tom Scott drop
eh
wdym
how ya doin geoff?
A E S T H E T I C S
ASS-DEAD-DICKS
D E A D P E O P L E
+Chen goodgulf i want your profile picture
Shut up.
A S S T H I C K
I don't read a lot of reviews, but I enjoyed the shit out of this video. Great work.
watch TOME it's one of the best web animated series ever.
gayhole stop cussing
+Logan Griffin I second this very much.
Yes davoo, that protein synthesis bit when he talks about translation was ace!
ikr I loved that bit XD
That's something we'd only get from the Davoo. The sheer level of weird meta made my head go boom boom.
Can't believe Digibro spent so much time and effort to talk about the importance of aesthetic and narrative and some one still has it in his mind to shout out "First" when his video came out.
FIRST
If you can't believe that, I must question the amount of time you have spent on this WONDERFUL facet of existence that we call 'the Internet', where for whatever reason...stupidity always rings louder than intelligence.
FIRST is an aesthetic.
It's an aesthetical choice that I have decided to communicate only through the use of the word "first".
First.
it's like an aesthetic complaint, bro
You are my favorite critic.
You help me understand my own thought process about anime, because I'm a logical person. I'm not without emotion, but i disregard them many times and in many thought processes.
Therefore I need help forming my opinion about something that heavily bases on Subjectivity.
I need him to breakdown why I like things cause I'm stupid XD
Edit: *This is not an ironic statement. I am calling MYSELF (the president of the Hunter x Hunter 2011 Dickriding Association) stupid*
***** How do you read out that i'm making fun of him. but i agree that i may have forgotten a clear indication that i am agreeing with him
i think he's talking to The Hunter. it kinda sounds like he's calling you stupid, but it's hard to tell.
No I'm agreeing with you I don't know how what I said can be insulting you when I'm calling myself stupid but I guess these things aren't obvious on the net so I guess I'm sorry for the misunderstanding
*****
Its cool :)
I really enjoyed Kabaneri
it was another zombie apocalypse but it was a badass steampunk zombie apocalypse damn it
played the cool factor and nailed the cool factor that's a good show in my book
It's kind of amazing that this is a video someone can make. How few people get to work on creative works, and how much fewer get to work on criticising those works, and how much fewer produce content analysing the job of criticising creative works. We really do live in amazing times.
Also awesomeVideogreatJobgoodWorkthumbsUp!
Wow. When you put it like that, you're actually kind of right. It's insane to think that something like this is actually able to exist. A video from a person in an extreme subset of people talking about the way that this extreme subset of people criticizes art. (Which itself is just made by a subset of people.) I know this is completely pointless to talk about and that it should be seemingly obvious, but if you really take the time to think about it, it's pretty crazy.
...or maybe I'm just crazy and rambling on. In all honesty, it's really hard for me to tell which sometimes.
James Hughes It makes up the very tipsy top of the economic pyramid, it simply couldn't exist without every level below it. I think given how often we think about politicians and other things that make us angry at our predicament it's worth remembering just how awesome a world we have created, considering how harsh reality really is.
+Alexei Barnes not to mention the fact that the upper levels of said pyramid are shaped by the lower levels, and thusly how our creations are shaped by the culture and harsh reality we live in, if I am not entirely mistaken, further drives how wonderful these creations are.
oh thank god this video is back. easily one of the most intelligent and impactful videos on youtube for me
First video I see and... yeah, you hooked me!.
As both a translator and someone who once attempted to write a master's thesis on the limitations of language (and failed, no joke), I found this video very accurate and pretty moving. Thank you very, very much to you and your editor for putting it together.
Glad I happened onto your channel, consider me subscribed!
Great video, man. Your critique of critic methods and bias blew my mind wide open. I'd never thought of it like that.
digi tends to do that
Not really.... I mean for me...
BUT... It's nice to see that OTHER people's minds works the way mine does.
Apperently having different opinions is bias
Shadow111111 Can't you see the whole video is just him exalting his fucking obsession ?!
+Wn Liao he's explaining and justifying it, not acting as if he's a genius for having it.
I am surprised "Gesamtkunstwerk" is an actual English word.
Well, it's a German word, but it's caught on a little bit.
+Digibro Good to know. Thank you^^
"kunstwerk" means artwork or a work of art. I know this because in Norwegian it's "kunstverk" and Norwegian and German share a lot of lingual similarities and in context it's very easy to see.
And "Gesamt" means total or overall.
So it's an overall work of art.
I always thought people were joking when they said English borrowed a lot of its "complex emotion" related words from German, but im starting to see what they mean
Ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ
it had to be done.
I adore this video. I love it to pieces. It means a lot to me now. I got to the part where it pauses and asks you how you FEEL about a certain image and my god, I got such refreshment from that moment.
Presented with only the pretense that emotions can follow an image it seriously made me FEEL giddy. For one, it feels like these days we're only presented with entertainment as a pretense to what kind of taste we should have. Also because I feel like we treat them very often as an afterthought. "Visuals are only the medium for the story" is a sentiment I often feel when we talk about this sort of stuff, but that feels like such a simplistic way of thinking about. The image can BE the story. This invited some critical thought, and as an artist ,I appreciated the hell out of it. gave me some real inspiration to kick things up a notch.
Thanks Digibro.
I liked that part alot as well
I just have to appreciate the editing in this video and the way so many different shots were used not just from anime but from the subject of art itself.
This was one of your best videos, Digi. Fucking loved it
Your writing is simply awesome and your points meaningful. I never saw Lain nor Kanaberi, but I appreciated those images just through your words alone.
Thinking about watching Kanaberi now, since I love awesome art and epic animation
One reason for why I enjoy analysis videos is for the different ongoing narratives that each channel possesses. Even when I disagree with a video, I can find the unique logical steps that are taken to support the thesis to be rich with intrigue and well constructed points if presented well. I enjoy having my opinion challenged because I love the idea of someone 'selling' an idea to me, and much like with salesmen, the better the 'pitch', the more likely I am to buy that idea to some extent. That 'pitch' is what I thirst for in analysis videos/critiques and the fascination with that type of content has definitely led to my appreciation of critical analysis as a form of art. This video has simply reminded me of that subjective truth and has once again challenged me to look at certain aspects of my world in a different way. Much appreciated.
You know you enjoy a channel when you feel like you have a massive revelation every time you see one of their videos.
I love this video and the direction you're heading in with your writing. Also the Davoo keeps getting better and better! Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you for your work Digi. I may not watch many of your videos, but the ones I do always help me learn something new.
They need to go hand-in-hand.
Visuals and story MUST work together.
If you neglect one or the other, the audience WILL get bored.
If you have to sacrifice one, then sacrifice the former, but there shouldn't be any valid reason that you do.
I think what he's saying is that even that view while popular IS a bais. maybe so out there thinks the 2 can never mesh perfectly well together and so perfers when a show really emphasizes one point over the other. And that a perspective like that would still be just as valid (*note* I could be wrong in my interpretation)
But it's impossible to empathize a point over the other. Prose or direction may not be the story, but it is inherently the narrative
I certainly think it's best if they go hand-in-hand, and Digi admitted as much in this video. One of his points is just that there's still value in a show that places an emphasis on one over the other. Maybe YOU will get bored if a show doesn't have both good visuals and good writing, and I'm sure many other people feel the same way, but that doesn't necessarily apply to everyone.
***** writing quality is an aesthetic appeal.
TBH I hold the view that story/character development>music and visual cos its about the story first and the visuals and music are just a way to show the audience how the mood or tone is at that moment but if the characters are boring and the story is boring no one cares how good the music or art is. A prime example is kanaberi of the iron fortress quite a good sound track and art style but horse shit characters and story which made it a terrible show. As the saying goes you can polish a turd but its a still a turd(ie if the base of a show the story/characters are crap doesn't matter how good the other things are as it still doesn't cover up the terrible plot.)
This topic has driven me up the walls with some critics. On the rare occasion I write an opinion-piece I always try to write about both the script and aesthetic when reviewing something like animation/comics/video games because these mediums are a combination of both, and most seem to either forget about it or outright ignore it.
For example I prefer the aesthetic of the Evangelion movies than to the show because of its crisp line work, fluidity, and how it showcases the theme of hope visually. However script-wise the show is much better - with stronger characters, iconic interactions, and how it showcases it’s themes verbally. Therefore I hold both in equal regard. But every time I’ve expressed the opinion that visually the movies are better I’ve been told my view is worthless and unimportant. They completely disregard the narrative of the visuals are telling us in the movies, which I find a little disheartening because it feels like they are basically saying I’m an idiot for appreciating something on an aesthetic level.
But that’s just me though.
as a non eva fan I liked the movies better for the art but that's just me
Which is funny is that I hate the visuals of the Eva Movies, because they're so clean, I love when it gets messy and grained, it reminds me that it was drawn by an person
+Christian WS I agree. I like the grainier look because it adds atmosphere.
It's been a while since I've seen or heard such a well educated and articulate discussion of anything on UA-cam in a while. Thanks.
Rewatching this and your older videos made me realize how much influence you had on me and my ideas about art for the last two years since I subscribed to your channel.
Thank you, I guess
Yes I agree with this video. I think a great example is Berserk 2016, they communicate the franticness of the characters through the choppy animation and interesting camera angles. I already can't wait for season 2.
Pls be joking
Don't confuse "interesting" with "good" please
+Seabass _ I'm not, it's a good anime
I was referring to your comment on camera angles. The quality of the show on the other hand. Well... I prefer the '97 anime, personally.
+Seabass _ Well you're a dumbass cat-jizzer
I've been looking for a critic like this for a long time
Hats off to you, sir. I swear I'll never get tired of your complex & highly detailed analysis, Digi. Seriously, it's a fantastic pleasure to hear your conceptions and explanations (I might put it pretty weak in terms of word choice, but I bet you got the point "feelings-wise").
Thank you sincerely.
The amount of work and care you put in this video is astounding, I can only imagine how much time you spent researching, writing and even reflecting on this. This seriously makes me consider raising my patreon pledge if you work so hard for every video
this is probably one of the best videos you've ever made
Hm. Nice work, Digi. I'd say that this is one of your best videos yet.
Also... the "How to Tell A Terrible Anime In One Episode" Video hit a million views... while its sister video is nearly at 140K. I don't understand why people want negativity so much.
It's such an eye catching controversial title, and talks about controversial things too. He even admits in this video that he's trying to say things people don't agree with.
Meester Man k
The first part is at 400k so it’s over 500k in total. The negative video is also better in my opinion (quality wise).
Tohlemiach Reddit has plenty of deeper analysis and thoughts on episodes too. And digibro is equally as guilty for heaping shit tons of circlejerk like praise.
I... don't think it has that much to do with being tired of positivity. Controversy has always been a selling point. I'm thinking it's because people who share a controversial opinion will be happy that there is someone who agrees with them, so they share the video, and people who disagree starts arguing about it, which gives it traction. Or maybe they share it too. You can see posts on forums and reddit going "Look what this dumb video said", right?
And since we're all assholes on the internet here, i want to add that i saw one episode of Flying Witch after having seen several of Is the Order a Rabbit, and it was really refreshing to see that slice-of-life can still be funny. And have a pretty different tone. I'm down.
You are amazing.
You hit point after point after point.
I think the biggest thing i can take away from this, is the feeling of connection you have to another artist when what they made spoke to you deeply, not because it impressed everybody else, but because it made you feel something.
It shows the core of art as a medium of communication between individuals. Just as an author of a book who may even be long dead can speak words directly into my brain, pushing me to the point of tears. An animator can say so much to me without me ever actually speaking face to face with him/her.
The fact that i can feel such a deep emotional connection with another human being, and be affected by them for the rest of my life, is why i love anime, music, movies, books, video games, and overall art.
In many ways it almost like directly connecting your brain to theirs, allowing you to share in what are likely very intimate thoughts and emotions that-that person has.
Your videos always make me think more than any other youtuber. Subscribed. This always leads to new thought ventures.
If you ever want to understand both why literary rules are important and how a grandmaster can illustrate going about transcending them just read anything by Cormac McCarthy especially All the Pretty Horses or Blood Meridian.
revisiting this video with a fresh outlook. Deleted my older comment which criticized the video because I missed the point the first time XD
I think this now has to be one of my favorite videos of yours, simply because so much of what you talked about simply with the wallpaper of lain, I related to on such a personal level that I started to cry because I have been in bed so many times simply grappling with sleeplessness. As someone who suffers from a chronic illness, I find myself in bed a lot, struggling to try and sleep not only to give myself something to do, but so that my mind can stop and rest for a bit without having to deal with all of the anxiety, depression and chronic pain that my illness has left me with. I think that I'll make lain my new desktop as well for awhile now, because maybe seeing her will give me comfort and remind me that I am not always as alone as I think I am.
I think this is probably one of the most insightful analytical breakdown of a show I've seen on this channel. Good job!
i do kind of like it when anime tries to go back to the 80's and 90's era of anime. (in a way that works anyway) bit because i enjoy that era more than now, but simply because it often feels like anime forgets about it, with a few exceptions.
hell, the fact older anime becomes ridiculously hard to find, even more so than say an old video game or especially a movie... that's pretty damn sad. Because the 80's and 90's era of anime helped shape the original otaku movement. Sure, the handful of works most talked about then are still readily available. Like Akira, Ghost in the shell, DBZ, SailorMoon, Pokemon, Trigun, Cowboy bebop, so on and so on. But even then, those weren't the only shows, and it is only th 80's and 90's crowd that even TALKS about the other shows.... which kind of blows.
especially with how much that era in anime shaped the current industry.
Will we ever get that vaporwave anime
Kaiba and Kuuchuu Buranko don't count?
I learn so much from you every single video. YOU are my favourite critic.
Digibro, i totally agree with you. I found your channel just some weeks ago, but i already rank it as one of my bests. You made me understeand anime and other forms of art way better than anyone else did, so thank you very much. Keep up these fantastic videos! :D
Now a days i spend more time. Consuming videos about media than actual media. So an esoteric video like this is very welcome. And i actually want to watch this show now, mission accomplished?
Who are your favourite musicians?
This was a fantastic video, and (somewhat ironically) extremely well-worded. I'm especially glad that you brought Lain up as an example. Thank you for making this.
I'm so glad you talked about that Lain picture, because I've watched Serial Experiments Lain three times, and you helped me understand it a lot more.
I mean, Digi, I frankly hardly ever agree with you completely--our priorities concerning narrative are quite different despite both being writing-focused. But as a somewhat casual anime viewer, I find you always have something interesting to say; some new context to provide to the experience that gives me just a bit more perspective on media consumption in general. You've always been a valuable contributor to my feed for this.
Maybe I don't mind when you make a video I don't agree with since I have always approached this channel from the POV of Analysis and not Review. You're more of an educating perspective than a critic, and that's inherently valuable to a writer expanding their self-editing reflective toolbox. Your videos are educational in that they should how some own very different from myself might engage in my work and how to use that to spot weakness in my own craft I might not otherwise see. (Well except for the Psychopass 2 video. At that point I was just needing an outlet for my neurotic frustrated processing of the mess I'd just witnessed and I knew absolutely no one else who had seen the show.)
Wow, I didn't even realize that this was a controversial opinion. It has always seemed obvious to me that anime is a visual medium, and as such it also uses its visuals, its style, its aestetic etc. to tell the story. Just as much as it uses premise, script, characters, plot, and music. You did a good job explaining it in more detail.
This is definitely one of my favorite videos you've made. Great job.
I learned a lot of things that didn't really make sense before this video and it also helped me see the world in a new and much more interesting way. Thank you for putting in the time and effort to make this video.
Well, it worked, Digi. I took a little bit of what you said, to apply it to something I already do.
One of the reasons I buy some games usually ends up being the aesthetics, because I want to learn from it, so I can both apply it to my own work, and/or to understand new ways visuals can be a part of the game itself, rather than just pretty blinking lights over invisible mechanics (the most recent example being that weird puzzle platformer htol#NiQ).
I like telling and making stories, so obviously I take that greatly into account, and it's why I follow people like you who are more leaning towards the narrative on their perspectives and consumption of media, exactly because I am not like that. I'll be the first one to call bullshit on something that just tries to use their visual elements to excuse shody writing, but that's if the product is pretending to have good writing.
For fuck's sake, despite it being ecchisecake galore, I find the designs in MonMusu to be adorable and a good exercise in character design. xD
I am terrified of my future as a writer. My fear is not just of failure, but that I may succeed and realize how much better it would have been if I was better educated in the art of storytelling. I want to learn but I do not have the money for a formal education. With 3 jobs, a wife, and a story to write, I don't have the time to watch and learn from all the many storys writtin or told by others.
I'm not sure what kind of response I'm looking for by posting this but I hope you can help me somehow.
Best of wishes, Sunset_Soldier.
Looks to me like you already know what you are doing. I mean I read your post and responded .
I, myself, am a writer as well. I create these vivid worlds that I can't full explain but in the end you don't need to fully explain things, all you need to end up doing is making sure that the image you want, or something similar, get's stuck in their head. When writing I make sure that I describe my characters but not all at once. I'll mention my main characters raven hair hanging over her face as she looks down from the branch of a tree but I won't mention her body build quite yet, it isn't important yet. Later on, when she's talking to an old friend, I'll have to old friend mention her missing eye and have them ask how she lost it. I'll mention how she moves with grace when forced to fight and how at one point she was pined after by men and women alike, but now her physical appearance has been tarnished by a sizable facial scar. You don't need to describe everything right off the bat for people to understand things. And it's the same thing with the visual medium, in fact I'd say you should have to describe it to a lesser extent.
Digi, this is my favourite video you've made. I applauded whilst standing at the end, and I'm not even kidding.
Digibro is a Matthewmatosis fan? MY LIFE IS COMPLETE.
Digibro, between you and Arkada, I have considering trying to start my own channel of anime reviews, with a focus on a series I will call "In the defense of", where I will defend popularly disliked shows, like Mirai Nikki or School Days. And one particular line from this video has made me want to do at least that latter part more than ever. The line where you said that you want more critics giving their own view on the situation rather than pandering to their viewerbase. Well, in my view, a lot of these shows get more hate than they deserve, and I want to at least prove that they weren't as terrible as everyone says, even if they weren't the greatest shows in existence.
Oh my God, I would LOVE if someone defended SD and MN besides just me! I'm also planning to start my own channel when I move, and I might make my own SD video, but having someone else's to sort of finding a starting point would be fantastic.
The way you used images in this video was very captivating and impressive to me and really made the video great to watch. And on a side note, I couldn't help but notice the slow motion paint mixing and bouncing around to be from an awesome channel I subscribed to about two weeks ago.
thank you Davoo for editing. You did well.
What was the first show you were showing? The art style is striking.
gankutsuou the count of monte cristo
+Kalazar321
Thank you! I was wondering the same thing!
Thanks too! It looks beautiful, and the count of monte Cristo is one of my favourite stories.
Wonderful video
Glad your not holding grudges for his comment on your last vid which btw was 6 MONTH AGO!
lol, I'm surprised anyone remembers that. I've been watching Digi for a while, and his recent content is great
So good, thank you for always creating amazingly thoughtful works Digibro
Damn Digibro, you are always opening my mind a little bit more everytime i see your videos. Thank you.
It's a little sloppy not to focus on how both aesthetics and writing makes up a narrative together. They are both used to tell a coherent narrative, and it feels disjointed when you have one without the other. This was the central point that was lost when you strayed too far away into tangents.
That wasn't the point, though. The point was that aesthetics offer their own narrative.
*****
But all the elements build up to the same, overarching narrative perceived by the audience; that is the meaning of Gesamtkunstwerk.
Serial Experiments Lain doesn't succeed because the art is amazingly detailed, it succeeds because the visuals presents the same story as the narrative. Come on, these are your own points which you made in the video.
Not always -- if you interpreted a set of words as being literal you will have one interpretation; while if you interpreted the same set of words as being sarcastic you will have another interpretation - unless you are stating that literal and sarcastic interpretations do not conflict with each other in meaning and strive to create the "same, overarching narrative," the "same, overarching narrative" does not exist. Brush up on the "death of the author" theory or maybe even "deconstruction" theory, that should help a bit
I think the idea he is trying to get across is that the aesthetics offer up their own story / message / idea, which can be woven with a separate message that would be the story for yet another interpretation, but isn't wholly reliant on the other to get its individual point across. That is the reason he brought in other anime as examples (other anime that I am not familiar with, so I'll leave off on that)
I really don't think you understand, you are just restating his point. The point of the video was to convey the idea that aesthetics can convey a narrative. Not that aesthetics are the only way to present a narrative.
Thanks for showing us that not everyone will interpret the same words the same way ._.l|
1: This IS your best video. Brilliant thought process.
2: But Kabaneri still suck and the images you showed are still empty. It's an artwork, but It's in first place a story. And I'm considering aesthetic as a storyteller, here. And the story the aesthetic tells is not consitent. I got what you caught on those images, but the story they tell still empty, in It's own context. I wish I could explain better, but my english is limited. I just couldn't not to comment.
I adore this video more than I can express with words.
And I love that this video corroborates that that's a valid way to feel.
Definitely up there on my favorite videos you've done because its just so true, so incredibly incredibly true. Almost "over-analyzing" concepts like this is exactly what resonates most with me because this is exactly the sort of thing I do, and exactly the way I think. This entire video was pretty much all of things I've always wanted to say but never been able to put into words.
Especially in the section from around 10:00 to 12:23. That's exactly why I watch analysis and reviews in the first place, and one of the reasons I enjoy watching you so much is because I don't agree with your views in a lot of cases. Sometimes disagreeing on something can be worth so much more than agreeing on something.
But Digi, don't you think that such a critical landscape where more critics can review things in a personal way is already beginning to emerge? I would look to your videos as immediate proof of such a claim, but overall I think that the internet and access to technology has made widespread the tools to make things like critique both easier to produce and to distribute. So, while such a shift might not be a shift in the whole medium of critique, are you really asking if such a shift exists or if it exists in the 'mainstream' media?
Said people like their unbiased reviews because they like to think they came up with their own opinions. Providing honest outlets that says "biased opinions here, come in if you appreciate this POV" is a good thing to me. Small shifts in the paradigm.
There's really not much need to 'retaliate' against the mainstream. Henry Ford didn't make cars to spite horse carriages. If you build it and market it well, you beat the dinosaurs eventually.
tl;dr keep doing what you guys are doing and you will come out on top
+sandcastle84 yeah, we'll beat the dinosaurs... if the dinosaurs don't do themselves in first.
DireSandwich it was only a matter of time, as repeated many times in history
Oh! so this video is plainly a fancy way of saying "your opinion is wrong" that reactionary and childish response. +thedavoo
+TheDavoo What you're saying really isn't much better. No matter where a person falls on the opinions vs objectivity spectrum, there's pretty much always the same number of retards. The brighter side of the objectivity camp dislikes opinion pieces because they lack irrefutable substance about the topic rather than the creator. That naturally leads to the pinnacle for those people being something that blandly states facts with a little inductive reasoning. The problem with subjectivity is that it can cause people to ignore details that they're consciously aware of or use flowery language to misrepresent the substance to make more people conform to or value their opinions, dismissing opposing viewpoints with narcissistic excuses such as, "That's like, your opinion, man," or, "There's no such thing as objectivity." There's also those who simply like the prospect of striving for pure objectivity because it's pleasing to try and focus on the game or anime or whatever as much as possible while removing oneself from the equation.
Honestly, there's a problem with absolutism, false dichotomy, and a sad confusion between the words objectivity and omniscience in both camps. Preferring either opinion pieces or a dry analysis is something that actually is a matter of opinion.
Wow. Great video Digi.
"...matters to people who spend way too much time consuming media reviews..."
Hehehe...guilty...
True. I'm a visual/audio artist and a teacher, and I have definitely focused more on aesthetic analysis in my critical analysis classes. I ask the students to question why colour palettes are chosen, and what sound means over the narrative. Unspoken communication has a heavier weighting on my interests.
As an illustrator who hopes to start a graphic novel at some point, it's great to watch your videos to analyze all different kinds of story telling and styles, it's really inspiring.
The protagonist from Kabaneri looks like a tryhard hipster.
ＭＡＫＥ Ａ ＭＯＶＥ
What's the manga of your pic
***** Tatoe Hai ni Natte mo
I T ' S A L L I N Y O U R H E A D
H E R E C O M E S D A T B O I
As an artist who loves to write, this was super cool to watch/listen to :) Like holy moly!
Thanks for doing what you do, bro!!!
Thanks for the great video. As a visual artist, I find myself often at odds with my peers in regards to my evaluation of media, where much of my favorite work is what I find most pleasing or interesting on an aesthetic/visual level. Even my favorite writers (William Gibson for example) are ones that manage to convey very vivid imagery with their use of words. Of course, as a visual artist, words are nary my craft, thus I have a hard time really conveying how I feel to them. This would be a really helpful vid to show them!
YOU MADE A GRAMMATICAL ERROR AT 6:00! *lying in bed
YOU DID GOOD
Fadosious*well
It seems to be common usage in American English, actually.
EmperorFishFinger Fair enough. Thanks for being nice on the internet.
This is the first video I have seen from you, and half way through I was already sold to subscribe here!
I think that this is your best video so far in terms of narrative (I'm currently 10 minutes in). You sold me at technological singularity and the show's vision of how the internet is a layer of the real world. Now I desperately need to watch (and read) Serial Experiments Lain. The image made me think of Pokemon (trading cards) and waking-up in the morning. Because I played with my Pokemon cards on the floor beside my bed and the sun often woke me up in the morning.
I don't know man. This is my first time watching one of your videos, and while I found it very interesting to listen to, I have some problems accepting the overall premise. Mostly because superficial, but aesthetically pleasing qualities have been used to justify weak storytelling in media _forever_ now. I can't speak anime, but to give a few all American examples.
Star Trek: The Original Series, which has obviously withstood the test of time up to this point, operates with quality writing and low production values. If you could show it to a modern day adult, without context, most of them would dismiss it off hand as "hokey" and probably "stupid." The polar opposite of this (as far as I can tell) is "Gotham" an Ostensibly serious, but frustratingly ridiculous "drama," with so-so acting, and _very_ bad storytelling. As far as I can tell, the show survives (and even thrives) on only two fronts. High production values, and brand recognition. Basically: pretty sets, matte paintings, and Batman. A lot of positive "reviews" from amateur critics on UA-cam tend to lead with "it's interesting" to see what Batman's villains were up to, before there was _a Batman_. But this isn't really anything, objectively. Not only that, if they are not interesting in their own right then what is the point? It's throwing money at something for being nostalgic. It's just points for novelty. That's why I think it's hard to say "Aesthetic is narrative," because as a basic narrative, that show doesn't work, on almost any level. It would be one thing if people actually recognized that they like it for looking pretty, but more likely they descend into hyperbole, and can't find anything wrong with it, when it reeks of glaring inconsistencies. I'd like to think every element has its part to play, but a gallery of art is a better medium for showing off pretty pictures than any "story" that doesn't deserve them.
10:35
the force awakens does not have coherent plot
and no emotional moments because of the lack of character development
kylo ren had plenty of emotional moments. He was my favorite thing about the movie.
Bob The Almighty Destroyer of Worlds and Bringer of Rectal Fissures a character being emotional for no reason doesn't bring in the emotion to the viewer making it terrible or laughable. thus emo kylo ren memes began.
or rather, it was an emotional moment. but only for him. and the viewer doesn't know why, and assumes why instead of knowing. so i don't count it.
if you want an example of an emotional moment think of any movie or tv show that made you feel hype, anger or fear towards a villian (anger that came from the actions of the character in the story, unrelated to any real world controversy), happiness, or tears of joy.
i felt no emotion for the characters of the force awakens.
Of course we have to argue about this still. It's been seven months, god dammit!
And of course it has a coherent plot. You can understand what is happening! _That's what coherent means!_
When it comes to emotional moments. What you're referring to with Kylo i assume is the great surprise at the end, which wasn't a surprise at all since you could see it from a mile away. That's why it wasn't very emotional for me. We had pretty much been told directly that this would happen in the middle of the movie. And yeah, Kylo isn't a super well developed character, but hey, we have two more movies for that ¯\(ツ)/¯
It's not like Vader was that developed to begin with. In A New Hope he was basically just "The Bad Guy" with no further explanation.
The most emotion i felt must have been for Rey being weirded out by all the fucked up shit going on. And she is set up as your proper protagonist, where we see her everyday life at the start and then how things changes for her. Kinda like it's a compentent, middle-of-the-road screenplay.
If you want to make comparisons, go watch some truly horrible movies and then come back to decent ones. It's a pretty cool experience, i promise.
Volbla
"You can understand what is happening! That's what coherent means!"
2+2=5 is coherent
i understand it
but it is wrong
i understand that its wrong and doesn't make sense.
if a movie is noticably bad instead of unoticably bad, it doesn't magically become better.
"And yeah, Kylo isn't a super well developed character, but hey, we have two more movies for that ¯\(ツ)/¯"
a movie that relies on other movies for character development makes the movie worse. develop the character in-movie.
"It's not like Vader was that developed to begin with. In A New Hope he was basically just "The Bad Guy" with no further explanation."
but kylo got much more screen time than darth and yet some how has less development.
scenes with vader development in IV
-opening scenes on tantive 4 to show as cool bad guy
-vader confronting imperial officers about questioning his faith as a show of force to illustrate vader's short temper despite stoic indimidating presence
-obiwan talking about vader and his turn to evil to luke, illustrating vader as ruthless for eliminating the order that took him in
-darth vader talking to obi-wan, relishing the moment of revenge he's been waiting to get on obi wan. illustrating an old relationship between the two that does leave the viewer guessing but conveys what it needs to without spoiling later films.
4 dev points in film
scenes with kylo development
-worshiping grandfather's ashes to illustrate obsession with vader
why? WHO KNOWS? looks like dev, not actually dev.
-kylo's temper tantrums, illustrates kylo as a bitch
-han and leia talking about how kylo turned to the dark side when he went to train with luke.
WHY? WHO KNOWS? looks like dev, not actually dev.
-kylo killing han, illustrates how far he's willing to go to become a sith.
WHY? because harrison ford doesn't want to be in another star wars film. looks like dev, not actually dev.
1 dev points in film
we know more about luke than we do about kylo and luke doesn't even speak in the whole film.
"Kinda like it's a compentent, middle-of-the-road screenplay."
just cause its middle of the road doesn't mean its good. and it's not middle of the road.
its shit. i only enjoyed the first quarter of the film because it all went downhill afterwards.
the force awakens is bad. not because of casting, not because of visuals, not because marketing (ok maybe because of marketing), but because of bad structure and writing.
character motivations change on a whim.
no one younger than 40 has a backstory, not even the main characters. too many things make no fucking sense.
- how was luke's lightsaber recovered from bespin, its a gas giant. cloud city just harvests the gas. luke's lightsaber went out a chute just like he did and plummeted to the planet base far below.
- how did kylo ren get darth vader's helmet? sure we know its on the forest moon of endor but it aint exactly small. a helmet in a forest is like a needle in a haystack.
- how did rey get a hold of her powers so fast? it took luke 5 years before he could even force pull his lightaber. rey did it, learned how to mind trick, and learned malacia (the force thing she did against kylo under interrogation) without any instruction in under 2 hours.
- who is stun baton guy? why was he in the film? why not make a comic about him like disney did but just take him out of the film? why is there only one stun baton guy? why did stun baton guy drop his shield? everything about baton guy is stupid.
- how the fuck did the first order afford all this shit? there's no way the imperial remmnant from episode 6 and the could build the first order or starkiller base. its bullshit.
- WHO'S DUMB ENOUGH TO MAKE ANOTHER GODAMN DEATH STAR
-WHO'S DUMB ENOUGH TO CAST THAT ONE CHICK FROM GoT AS A NOBODY?
the only question i don't have is why did alvin and the chipmunks 3 make more money in opening week.
why wouldnt they keep trying to make better more powerful weapons? Thats just how conflict works, you keep making something better, and if you fail you make something slightly different until you either lose or win your war.
I really appreciated what you said in this video, because I think way too often than not aesthetics gets underplayed/underappreciated WAY too much and too often. Thank you very much for saying all this in the ways you did; I couldn't possibly agree more.
When I see the picture... the opening song of the series plays its self in my head.
Because, for me, that songs passes all the feelings I felt while watching the series, and that song alone sums up for everything.
And you don't seem to understand
A shame your bias is so bad
And all the A1 Pictures shows
Will turn good but you'll never know
And you know what they say you have bad taste
And you know that it means K-on sucks
And you don't even feel a thing
I am baffled
I am blown away
I have lost respect for you
I am unsubbing
I am downvoting
I am leaving, and will watch G.R. instead
the way you expressed the inability to accurately translate ideas between different modes/mediums of communication was so eloquent it blew my freaking mind :')
it's so fascinating from a philosophical viewpoint
Don't think I've seen you're videos before, this meant a lot to me. I'm subscribed now.
you know, I haven't cared about anime in a long time, but your passion for it is incredibly interesting. combine that with my love of art, and you're rekindling my 'shameful' youthful love of anime and making me want to revisit it now that I've grown and changed. thank you for all the great suggestions and honesty. it makes your channel easy to binge too, and surprisingly you don't have to care about the topic in order to enjoy the videos.
I have no idea wtf you're talking about half the time (I'm not familiar with most of the animes you talk about, and you're much deeper into the culture then I ever was), but you do a great job selling me on them and communicating bigger ideas which are applicable to anyone with a love of the arts. Glad to have found your channel. Know that your hard work is not in vain! Thank you!
Holy shit. The editing here, some amazing amount scenes spliced together relative to the dialogue. Appropriate but none the less, impressive work, can see the time and effort.
Hot damn this seamed like a really long video but not because of the video's length but i found myself listening to every piece of it and contemplating everything. Digibro, you are impressive! Thats the only word i can define you as.
I have so much respect for you and the way you look at certain subjects.
Very interesting video. I have never laid much weight into the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words", but now I think I understand it a lot better. As usual your writing is top-notch, for me at least, with just the right level of high-lix words to get your point across effectively without sounding pretentious.
I'll probably have to watch it again to catch everything, since it was a little harder fr me to grasp than your usual videos, probably because it's a concept I've never really given much thought.
I have to say, I really owe digibro a huge debt of thanks. For helping convey so many feelings and thoughts that I've had and also for opening up new possibilities. A genuine thanks, and keep up the wonderful work! (take breaks too though, please don't overwork yourself)
DigiBro, I loved this video. And you really did, make me appreciate Kabaneri's aesthetic, and this is coming from someone that gave up on the show at episode 4. I like that 80's/90's anime hair connection, which I never knew of.
I've taken a director class and a phrase that most people in the industry will tell you is "there are no rules, only guidelines." Meaning, while you should know the basic "rules" it can be just as impactful if you break them. But always know them by heart before you break them.
"Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist."
God damn this was a great video. I'm not an anime guy but I found that helped me connect with your points even more than I would have if you talked about literally anything else I had the slightest foreknowledge on. Great video! Loved it!
I did a discussion video on the idea of "Narrative Superiority" with a friend a few months back, not quite the same subject here but this whole general idea of critiquing narrative as the be all end all of a piece which is inherently collaborative really bothers me. Thanks so much for this video, I'll have to share it around a bit!
GJ, nice description/explanation. Loved the Lain part, as I had similar experience with the series and artwork. Thank You for reminding me.
Oh and yes some friends asked me to explain "fuwa fuwa time" also :) was a weird feeling explaining it, I'll have to check more of your other videos I think. ( I skipped the second half as I didn't finish Kabaneri )
Art is so beautifully complex in that we can look at in a nearly infinite number of ways. Thank you for reminding me of that.
Best video you've done lately, Digi.
Digi, please never stop reviewing things. Your intelligent, methodical, thoughtful analysis is so refreshing and informative, it's really wonderful.
I actually really enjoyed this video. definitely made me rethink the whole writing before aesthetic thing.