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Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

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Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#51

Post by yndoendo »

ekianjo wrote: post #11

Because that's what Japan looks like, duh! Any place in Japan has basically power lines all over the place, even in cities like Tokyo. And also because it's easy to draw and show for 5 seconds in every anime to save on the precious animation budget because it's super static and goes everywhere. Added bonus it can be added into any decor and you would not notice it's the same pattern imported all over again in between…

It is not just Japan but also South Korea with power lines everywhere. Yet they mask some of their cell towers to look like trees, mostly saw them closer to the DMZ.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#52

Post by ekianjo »

gravy wrote: post #44
vanpeebles wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely ... because the Simpsons is the epitome of all western animation. /s

What is this even supposed to mean? That's exactly their point. The average-to-low-budget (as well as unpopular) anime still has power line shots all over because that's just what they do. On average, our establishing shots in our (Western) cartoons just aren't as detailed. Obviously popularity and quality are not hand in hand, and The Simpsons is one of, if not the most popular cartoon show of all time.

The Simpson has massively better animation than The regular tv anime in Japan. Most animes have very few animated frames and instead revolve on fixed backgrounds, scrolling, voice over and only lips moving now and then. Good animation is expensive to produce and most animes are made with very few resources and time. When a good one makes it, its nothing short of a miracle.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#54

Post by ekianjo »

drderidder wrote: post #42
ekianjo wrote: post #11

Because that's what Japan looks like, duh! Any place in Japan has basically power lines all over the place, even in cities like Tokyo. And also because it's easy to draw and show for 5 seconds in every anime to save on the precious animation budget because it's super static and goes everywhere. Added bonus it can be added into any decor and you would not notice it's the same pattern imported all over again in between…

That, plus attention to detail is just part of the Japanese culture. There's a higher density, very little wasted space, and a slightly smaller scale of the built environment there that always strikes me as having a "storybook" feel, for lack of better words. Manga and anime communicate it quite well visually. [edit] Not directly related but I find it encouraging that the number of houses and carports there with sola…

> That, plus attention to detail is just part of the Japanese culture.

I am waging you have never seen powerpoint slides made in Japan.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#55

Post by da02 »

coolandsmartrr wrote: post #50

Short Answer: Anno Until their depiction in Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995, power lines were virtually non-existent in anime. After all, why draw them when they take up more time and effort during a time-packed production schedule? However, Hideaki Anno, the director of the aforementioned anime, began to implement them in backgrounds, bringing in a new kind of mechanical urban aesthetics. Anno has a certain kind of…

Which article(s) do you recommend for going into more detail on "Evangelion revolutionized anime"?

I remember reading on how one of the people involved was surprised at its popularity despite all the "characters being messed up".

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#56

Post by distrill »

exelius wrote: post #33
sevensor wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serial Experiments Lain remains a point of reference for me. Whenever the modern world seems especially surreal, I hear it in my head: "present day, present time!" followed by the mad cackle of laughter. It also deepened my appreciation for the electrical infrastructure when I first visited East Asia.

Yeah, I feel Lain is one of those underrated classics that people really only watched if they were super into anime around 2000-2004. Any later than that and the reaction was kind of "well, duh, of course that's what happens". I feel the same way about much of the societal commentary in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex -- they totally nailed the way groups like ISIS and the alt-right would spread like wildfire…

I saw lain a few years ago for the first time and I wasn't underwhelmed at all, I thought it was great.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#57

Post by ghostbrainalpha »

gravy wrote: post #47
peterwwillis wrote: post #43

Anime background/setting tropes: - cicadas - airplanes - power lines - traffic signals - artificial riverbanks - lush sprawling forests - the roof of a building

Honestly. I went to Japan just last month and the fact that all of this is everywhere is just crazy.

> The fact that traffic "signals, airplanes, and the roof of a building" is everywhere is just crazy?

What does that mean?

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#58

Post by nudpiedo »

coolandsmartrr wrote: post #50

Short Answer: Anno Until their depiction in Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995, power lines were virtually non-existent in anime. After all, why draw them when they take up more time and effort during a time-packed production schedule? However, Hideaki Anno, the director of the aforementioned anime, began to implement them in backgrounds, bringing in a new kind of mechanical urban aesthetics. Anno has a certain kind of…

Actually many old manga draws these power lines too, it is just a way to show the way Japanese cities are in the reality (in the present.)

However it does not recreate itself to much in this details of the urban landscape.

E.g. 歩くひと, (the walking man).

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#59

Post by saalweachter »

jonknee wrote: post #45
toyg wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Any place in Japan has basically power lines all over the place, even in cities For the record, there is an ongoing debate in Japanese urban centres on whether these lines should be placed underground for good. They are a function of the astonishingly rapid development Japan underwent in previous decades, when nobody really cared about details like the urban landscape because they had "more important things to worr…

> The counter-argument is that anything underground in Japan will suffer from continuous earthquake activity; Water and sewage is underground right? If they can figure out pipes underground they can figure out power lines underground.

Eh, there's a certain argument to be made and considered.

Manhattan only started mandating buried lines back in the telegraph era, because every time it snowed a bunch of lines went down and electrocuted people. Eventually you've got to say enough is enough and cut that shit out.

I assume if Tokyo had the problem to the same degree as Manhattan it would already be fixed. If it doesn't, then you're evaluating a more complicated set of trade-offs.

Re: Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?

#60

Post by xelxebar »

ekianjo wrote: post #11

Because that's what Japan looks like, duh! Any place in Japan has basically power lines all over the place, even in cities like Tokyo. And also because it's easy to draw and show for 5 seconds in every anime to save on the precious animation budget because it's super static and goes everywhere. Added bonus it can be added into any decor and you would not notice it's the same pattern imported all over again in between…

This is a reasonable hypothesis but it just doesn't hold water. If true you'd expect to see power lines in anime across all generations which we don't. The suddenly become ubiquitous after the Evangelion franchise popped into existence.
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