1. 

   Kabitzin
   June 18th, 2006 - 23:18

   I think you forgot Gonzo and Xebec =D.

   But what about Studio Ghibli?

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2. 

   Ten
   June 18th, 2006 - 23:26

   Mine will probably include Production I.G., Bones, Bandai, Madhouse, and Gonzo.

   Yes, I like GONZO. Despite its semi-soiled reputation, I really admire the risk they take in a lot of their project.

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3. 

   Crusader
   June 18th, 2006 - 23:46

   I feel that Studio Ghibli is border line anime since it feels more like art and isn’t on the same level as most studios. I haven’t been an otaku long enough to prefer one studio over another, although that may change this summer.

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4. 

   Stripey
   June 19th, 2006 - 01:14

   Kabitzin: Oops I forgot XEBEC. XEBEC would certainly deserve to be on the list more than ZEXCS. 2 years ago I would emphatically say it was in my top 3. But with recent works like Fafner (had its moments but didn’t quite deliver) and Eremetar Gerad (needs to stop employing pre-schoolers to do their backdrops), their ranking has slipped a little. Top 5 nevertheless. Athough I wonder if things would be different if I had caught their Negima.

   Studio Ghibli’s a class of their own. I found it hard to compare with series-based production studios.

   Ten: I used to have VERY high regard for Madhouse. After all they produced the much exalted Cardcaptor Sakura, one of the THE anime of its time. (Still is for me ) But their recent works have shown some depreciation in animation quality. Their artwork is fine but the animation seems inconsistent… For example I gave up on their Ichigo 100% and even Saiunkoku (which both you and I adore) have animation lapses. Maybe I’m nitpicking

   As for GONZO, I’m still trying to get over their Kiddy Grades, Saikanos and Hellsing. (Although I suspect the latter 2 have problems inherited from their source material) and focus on their LastEXILEs, Full Metal Panics and Chrno Crusades while deciding where to put Samurai 7 and Black Cat on this spectrum. I guess I don’t hate them anymore. They just haven’t give me anything yet to worship them for.

   Crusader: Maybe not knowing about the studio is a good thing since one can embark on a series sans prejudices about the production studio.

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5. 

   kuromitsu
   June 19th, 2006 - 01:25

   I also like Gonzo – I may not like most of their shows, but I respect their innovativeness, whether it actually works out or not. And Gankutsuou, Blue Sub 6 and Last Exile are real gems.

   My problem with Ghibli is that I just can’t help but feel that all of their movies are the same. They have some really good movies, but the rest are just too similar… or non-descript, in the context of each other… or something, I can’t really explain. That, and I found that I just can’t get into their stuff, even their best. I like them but I can’t be enthusiastic about them. (And I never thought their work “art”… they’re as much “art” as, say, Spielberg’s movies.)

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6. 

   Tess
   June 19th, 2006 - 01:34

   Whee, my favorites are KyoAni, bones, and J.C. Staff. Sometimes Sunrise, as with Mai HiME.

   KyoAni… AIR, Haruhi… not much to say except that they are amaazing. Art indeed.

   bones… Anything by them that I have seen, I loved. FMA, Scrapped Princess, Eureka Seven(The best so far!) as well as this season’s Ouran and JuuOuSei.

   J.C. Staff… I never really noticed them till Honey and Clover, but afterwards I realized they did many anime I liked, as well as my favorite anime, Honey and Clover, of course. There most recent, Karin, was fun and cute, and artistic. J.C. Staff is very artistic, though not as detailed or godly as KyoAni.

   So I guess I have pretty similar tastes to you. Though I can’t come up with more than a top three…

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7. 

   tj_han86
   June 19th, 2006 - 01:49

   GONZO. The smell of manufactured success is so alluring. Besides, they make my favourite shows.

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8. 

   lavarock
   June 19th, 2006 - 01:50

   My 5 top studio will be KyoAni, Bones, Sunrise, Madhouse, and GONZO.
   KyoAni for its unmatchable quality and dedication to perfection of detail.
   Bones for escaflowne as well as scrapped princess and rahxephon and others.
   Sunrise for their non-gundam shows, including mai hime, cowbow bebop etc.
   Madhouse for X, chobit, Monster and probably many others.
   GONZO for saikano, LE Hellsing and others.

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9. 

   Skane
   June 19th, 2006 - 02:04

   In no order of preference,

   ..) ufotable
   ..) Kyoto Animation
   ..) Bones
   ..) GONZO
   ..) Gainax

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10. 

    wontaek
    June 19th, 2006 - 02:10

    More than half of Ghibli production taste like ‘Conan, Boy from Future.’ However, their newest venture may open some eyes.

    http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/earthsea/

    Gonzo rates highly in our household for their work in Solty Rei.

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11. 

    Zyl
    June 19th, 2006 - 02:29

    Given how other CLAMP series have turned out to be less than what we expected from the manga, Madhouse’s production of CCS is much appreciated even if the animation quality wasn’t top notch. (BONES did a decent job with Angelic Layer too.) But for this season, Madhouse really delivers on Black Lagoon which is visually gorgeous.

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12. 

    crimson
    June 19th, 2006 - 02:45

    I like Gear Fighter/Senshi Dendoh for their rather excellent pacing as by Sunrise (VS their other works and in terms of pacing). And I think I like this series bcos doesnt gives me the “omg guys we have 3 episodes left time to blitz to the ending” type of feel. Well, yeah, there are certain unresolved miracle technology issues but the ending was quite decent too. I just wished they had used some better songs in the ending moments..

    Anyway, I have problem rating the different studios since I seldom look at the studio names when i watch an anime. Unless it was like the old days where i actually sit thru the OP each time… *and* when their studio names are pretty LARGE *and* somehow easy to remember for my mind (like GAINAX or GONZO). Seriously, it was only about a year ago that i started to remember names for studios since i see people talking about it in blogs
    *covers his head miku style* me me~, u canT club me for that.

    I’m going to get almost zero marks in a test to name the studios for my favourite animes, lol.

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13. 

    crimson
    June 19th, 2006 - 02:49

    addon: when their studio names are -=printed=- pretty LARGE
    (sorry, my asterik’s doesnt comes out right as usual, doing a final try) , *test1**, **test2*, **testing3** **test4** **test4**

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14. 

    Eleutheria
    June 19th, 2006 - 05:09

    Kyoto Animation’s weakness is probably their lack of original intellectual material. All of their recent successes have been either sequels (FMP), adaptations (Haruhi), or remakes (Air).

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15. 

    Stripey
    June 19th, 2006 - 05:43

    kuromitsu: I need to watch this Gankutsuou which everyone is talking about. It might just be the one to push GONZO onto this list.

    Tess: You have good tastes! I just finished Karin too and despite the silly premise, it’s a VERY entertaining series; one of the many reasons that JC Staff is on this list.

    tj_han86/wontaek: Hmm since GONZO keeps coming up in this discussion, I guess I shd really give them more airtime on my anime viewings to hopefully build that better perception of them.

    lavarock: Ah yes, thanks for reminding me that Madhouse did X and Chobits, the reasons why I had held them in high regard.

    Skane: Gainax is one studio that I’m ambivalent about. It’s kind of a love/hate relationship. They’ve been pretty quiet of late?

    Zyl: They are probably pouring their resources into Black Lagoon then. Saiunkoku has pretty art but not-so-pretty animation. Didn’t know BL is produced by Madhouse. Another good reason to catch it.

    crimson: I remember SUNRISE’s earlier non-gundam work, SCRYED had TERRIBLE music too. I suspect that’s why they had roped in Kajiura Yuki to compose their later blockbusters.

    Eleutheria: Excellent point! I also remember how they were rather ‘faithful’ to AIR’s game ending which was not necessarily a good thing.

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16. 

    Skane
    June 19th, 2006 - 07:57

    I highlighted the above five companies as names that would perk up my radar if they are mentioned now. Gainax do not seem to be making new anime on their own now, but they do have a hand in some of the new ones. Some of which may surprise you.

    ..) ARIA The Natural Ep01 ( ufotable also helped in the series)
    ..) Honey & Clover( actually… H&C is like the mutant lovechild of almost every single animation company)
    ..) xxxHOLiC

    So yeah, they help out a lot, but they don’t seem to be making new ones these days. I remember Gainax for Mahoromatic( I loved the ending!), FLCL, and well… the grand-daddy of them all, NGE( as much as I might b**** about the last two episodes, I did like NGE overall).

    ~~~~ ~~~~

    GONZO has one thing that KyoAni does not. A far longer history, and history eventually means hits AND misses. To use a gaming company analogy, KyoAni is the Blizzard of anime companies now. Very few productions to their name, but all relatively big hits. SHaruhi is probably KyoAni’s Starcraft.

    ~~~~ ~~~~

    I feel so lonely in my appreciation for ufotable, but I suppose it is to be expected. After all, not many people rave about ARIA( final animation) and Futakoi Alternative( whose Rentarou was my all-time favourite male lead character until Rock from Black Lagoon displaced him) in the first place.

    ~~~~ ~~~~

    Of course… my list only reflects my CURRENT status. Who knows… maybe KyoAni may botch up the Kanon remake, making me resent them for years to come, or Madhouse continues to make anime series as good as Black Lagoon, or Gainax totally fades into the shadows, etc…

    The list is, as the popular saying goes, subjected to change.

    JCStaff is starting to get my attention, but a LOT of what they make bounces off my interests, so it’s a tough deal there.

    Aquaplus is another oddity. I never watched To Heart before, but I adore Aquaplus for making Comic Party( the original run. CPRevo was made by another company) and Utawarerumono.

    Cheers.

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17. 

    Skane
    June 19th, 2006 - 08:12

    ADD] The bigger problem I have with AIR(TV) was not the ending, but the nagging feeling that it was too cramped. I never played the game material before, so I had no idea what to expect, but I still felt that too many things were happening too fast.

    To KyoAni’s credit, they still managed to make it good, but the nagging feeling that it could have been better was always there.

    To give an analogy, it was as though they tried to summarise the entire Lord of the Rings within 100 words. No matter how damn good your summary is, it will seem… incomplete.

    That the Kanon remake is more than 20 episodes is already an eye-opener. I only pray that KyoAni can pull it off. The quality of KyoAni’s detail in 13-eppies for 20+eppies would be a dream come true.

    Fun Trivia: GONZO & KyoAni used to work together on projects. It could even be said that we should thank GONZO for making KyoAni what they are today.

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18. 

    buh
    June 19th, 2006 - 10:33

    No order:
    1) Gainax – Been very shaky with their TV series recently but more than made it up with the re-stylings of Cutie Honey and Gunbuster OAVs. Great classics. Quality when quantity is low or when the right director is on the job.

    2) KyoAni – Small studios with very big production values with a huge love and respect of everything animation. Quality over quantity.

    3) Bones – Able to pump out insanely long series to great effect. Quality + quantity.

    4) Production IG – Unbelieveable talent and variety. Capable of changing their styles extremely fluently and uniquely among every genre at a whim. Quality + quantity.

    5)MadHouse – A huge resume of works. Again very much like ProIG, very capable in every style with respectable productions throughout. Quality + quantity.

    Sorry, but for evey Gonzo anime I’ve seen I’ve had little to no emotional attachment to any of the characters or world.

    And Xebec?!? Xebec!?! I will never forgive them for the disaster that was known as Mahou Sensei Negima! Never!!!

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19. 

    DrmChsr0
    June 19th, 2006 - 11:03

    I do not have any favorites. However, I will agree with most of the choices.

    Sunrise has one big failure. The man they call Fukuda. He is a pawn of Bandai, too easily influenced by pretty much anything. Sunrise should have fired him ages ago. I will agree, though, 08Th MS Team was teh pwn.

    The only thing I can say about BONES is that they do write pretty decent stories. Read the RahXephon manga and loved it, despite the incest/siscon. YAY STRIPEY

    JC STAFF! STARSHIP GIRL YAMAMOTO YOHKO! PUNI PUNI POEMI! AZUDAI! MAHORABA! SHANA! HONEY AND CLOVER! KARIN! They pwn so damn hard. Case closed.

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20. 

    kacpy
    June 19th, 2006 - 14:29

    I only have one comment. Haven’t finished Eureka seven yet, but from all the other shows you mentioned in your studio Bones weaknesses part, I sure as hell don’t think they have “series closure problems”.

    Guess that’s just me though.

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21. 

    cclragnarok
    June 19th, 2006 - 18:54

    BONES: RahXephon, Scrapped Princess, etc.

    KyoAni: Suzumiya Haruhi, Fumoffe, and Second Raid.

    These are the only studios that can make me try a series just because they made it.

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22. 

    Stripey
    June 21st, 2006 - 09:02

    Skane: LOL! I like your KyoAni Blizzard analogy. I try not to say much about GONZO myself because I have seen too few of their recent works. But personally from what I have seen, their issue is not a mere yield problem (ie high output so a correspondingly greater no. of failed works) but that uninspired-ness in plot/humor and character development. When tjhan_86 says of GONZO “manufactured success”, I emphatically agree with ‘manufactured’ and am still ambivalent on the ‘success’ part. For many of their characters lack intuition; their plot, a driven coherence. Interesting that you should mentioned KyoAni and in the same breath since I consider them to be anti-theses of each other. Anyway I’m not meaning to bash GONZO. In fact I’m looking forwards to catching their Gankutsuou. Btw thanks for your many insights here!

    buh: Oops maybe I shouldn’t catch Negima should I want retain my postive impression of Xebec? Haha I love lying to myself Production IG will always always have my respect for their GITs productions.

    DrmChsr0: Rahxephon manga has siscon?!? *mumble* must get…my… soon*mumble mumble* I started noticing JCStaff since Azu. They had their bad patch w me (Ikkitousen/Maburaho) but won my love again with Karin and Shana.

    kacpy: Haha maybe the problem’s on my side! I can anal about anime closures Wolf rain’s (discountng the OVAs) and SP felt quite rush for me. FMA had a lot unresolved and left it to the movie but has still threads dangling after. Nevertheless, overall I hold these series in the highest regard since they gave me one terrific ride

    cclragnarok: I am one with you on this then. Of the 5 studios I listed, only KyoAni and BONES give me that impetus to want savour their productions at once. Although I must admit I missed Eureka 7 which some are saying is their best work so far. Looking forward to that.

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23. 

    Bridge Bunny
    June 21st, 2006 - 22:59

    Sunrise made one anime IMHO that is very very very very very very under rated, PlanetES, best damn sci-fi anime I’ve seen them do, Gaogaigar not withstanding.

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24. 

    Stripey
    June 22nd, 2006 - 09:23

    I’ve heard wonderful things about PlanetES. It’s perpetually on my to watchlist although I first have to get my paws on the series Thanks for the highlight.

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25. 

    yuribou
    June 27th, 2006 - 09:05

    Lol, I loved Ikkitousen and Maburaho ^_^

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26. 

    Stripey
    June 27th, 2006 - 10:58

    LOL! Actually I did enjoy the enterprising ecchi fighting moves (Ikkitousen) and Maburaho’s vibrant color-rendering. But storywise both series just didn’t do it for it.

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27. 

    wao
    July 1st, 2006 - 22:30

    The thing is I find a lot of problems that people say they have with studios aren’t necessarily teh studio’s problem.
    Many studios don’t actually hire scriptwriters (although I.G. does), the scriptwriters come in through association of the story editor who is usually independant of the studio. That’s why you can get such varying quality. So it’s not necessarily their fault that shows have open endings and stuff, or that things are changed. For example FMA… I don’t think it’s the studio BONES’ fault that the storyline deviated from the manga. I’d rather attribute it to the chief writer Shou Aikawa, who did a similar thing with 12 Kingdoms… he shuffled things around and added new elements.

    Even if they had control over the scriptwriter, they’ve still got far from full control unless it’s an original production or the producers are nice. A lot of time the Producers and other suits are the ones who decide how long a show should be and how fast they want it out depending on market demand and competition with shows on other stations at the same timeslot and so on. And sometimes they are the ones who want to change the story. Like in NANA’s case… Madhouse is so big, I doubt they actually get key people together and decide that they want to put in so many recaps. The director didn’t seem to do this with his otehr shows like GSG and Chobits either. But considering NANA’s huge success and amazing ratings (5.0+!! For a night-time TV anime!!) I’m not surprised the producers have a part to do with this (and the mangaka too, I guess)
    Another example is the recent Juuousei. The producers really had control over that one – they were introducing in half of the megahitwtfhugemoneymaker Johnny’s duo, Kinki Kids (all their 23 singles hit #1 …) So they want to manage things so that he gets a good image and wins more fans, perhaps. And the 11 episodes too: they want to save more space for Honey and Clover II (coinciding with the movie?)

    The biggest measure of a studio’s greatness isn’t the director of its series eitehr (not all the time), because they can be freelance or from other studios. For example Tatsuya Igarashi, director of Host Club, was a Toei person afaik (not Bones, anyway).

    I think the best way to judge a studio is more through a. their quality checks (though circumstances may affect this, like how XEBEC animated Fafner very well but shit happened in Negima as the director was an arse; and Sunrise did Planetes excellently but Destiny flopped thanks to director and wife) b. the people they send out to do the individual episode things, like storyboarding and episode directing. These are more likely going to be real studio staff, rather than outside people (though that of course happens, too). c. the visual animation (excluding episodes where they outsource t other studios)

    As for the type of shows a studio does, I think that usually does say something about the studio even though it’s usually just a few people deciding. It’s important to know, I guess, which ones are “we’re running out of jobs so we’ll have to accept doing this stupid show, sorry!” and which ones are “let’s ride on the moe boom and create ANOTHER generic eroge adaptation” And sometimes studios have very different parts that act very differently. But I think with smaller studios it’s a somewhat good gauge.
    Like Kyoto Animation… from what I read and see it seems like they really enjoy the projects they do; it’s not like it was pushed onto them. So they (in a way) collectively choose to do certain projects.

    And that was a whole load of lengthy boring shit from me so I guess I’ll add my own self-important opinion on 5 favourite anime studios. But I can’t really rank them.

    Since this is already so long I shall not give any reasons!
    1. Studio 4C
    2. Satelight
    3. Bones
    4. Production IG or Gainax???
    5. Kyoto Animation

    I would have put IG in for sure but their TV seires really have started to flop. Rushing too much. STick with one TV project or just movies, already! Gainax has got v. interesting staff and enthusiasm, but I don’t like their tastes exactly. Will fall apart if they get the wrong director.

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