Why, when reviewers review this show, do they totally overlook the fact that the huge battle scene at the end, of which the whole of the rest of the series had been building up to, isn't even animated, but is instead represented by a series of still photos and crappy music. A totally frustrating and irredeemable end to what would have otherwise been an excellent series. ARGH!!!!!!!!!
Do, or do not. There is no try.
i am so with you on this, i pand a foutune for these on video and all i got was some stills. i haven't been this pissed off since the original end of evangelion!
Thunderbirds Aren't Slow
I thought the series of black and white stills set to baroque chorus music was a brilliant move. Added drama and interest quite well.
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freefall79 said: "i haven't been this pissed off since the original end of evangelion!"
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I loved that too. Congratulations!
Thank you Hideaki Anno, for movies that have inspired me.
It was strangely different, visually arresting, and sort of operatic.
Strength of mind, force of will...
The Use of Black and White, Stills and the dramatic music was a creative choice done by the story tellers to give it an incredibly eerie mood... Take a step back, and consider what kind of emotions such a set piece is supposed to induce. It's a quality choice, and a risk taken for the sake of the story.
In the end, the way it was done; builds a more dramatic piece then straight animation could achieve, and when the final frames change to color... it makes a stronger impact then otherwise would be achieved.
But as with anything, it all deals with opinions... and I can see your views... but for me; I think the decision was correct, and made for an even more emotional end to the series.
C
They likey did episode 6 in black and white and 'stillframed' the end battle because they likely about ran out of money in the production budget. Even then, director Hideaki Anno and music composer Kohei Tanaka helped co-create one of the best anime shows I've EVER seen -- likely one of the best ever created in the same league as Akira and Grave Of The Fireflies
I was even able to get this show on DVD and a CD copy of the soundtrack -- it was well worth it! :)
Episode 6 was intentionally shot the way it was. On the remastered collection, there is an uncropped version of episode 6. The director had the episode cropped to give it a widescreen look to make it look more epic, sort of like the old war movies of the past. The stills used to portray the final battle were also done on purpose to give the scene a very dramatic feel. And no, it was not done because the money was running out. Bandai stayed with the series right to the very end. If you want an example of an animated series suffering due to lack of funds, try watching the latter half of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Sega, who provided most of the money to make the series, pulled out of the project after a boycott was called for due to the graphic and surreal violence used in the series.
shareThere is also the fact that you'd likely not want to see it in colour anyway, since they were approaching Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. It's, as noted in that episode, practically all white space thanks to the abundance of stellar bodies. The colour would all be bleached out by sheer radiance. Imagine looking up at the sun and then applying that shine a few billion times, but all around you.
A better question would be how Noriko et al got back after that final mission.
Gunbuster had two generators. That's why Kazumi went with her. They couldn't seperate, since the whole thing was running off of Buster Machine 2. It's also why they got back thousands of years after the rest of the fleet.
As for the battle, it was unimportant. The series wasn't "building up" to this fight. The fight was merely a delaying tactic for Buster Machine 3 to come online.
Look at it this way. You've just animated a massive fight sequence in the previous episode. You now have thirty minutes to finish the story. Would you waste it on yet another long fight scene that is ultimately pointless to the drama and storytelling? Even if you kept it brief, it would pake in comparison to the awesome sequence in episode five. The approach made sense and worked brilliantly. The score, the shots, the casualty count, everything worked in getting the point across without taking the focus on the more important drama surrounding Noriko, Kazumi, and Jung.
The ending was nothing short of perfect.
The ending is perfect and the whole thing is a brilliant piece of storytelling a cross between The Forever War and the space opera of EE(Doc)Smith i love the suple references Noriko`s bedroom to Akira/Nausica/Totoro and Space Battleship Yamato as well,what stands out for me though is just how wellfounded it is with its science the time-dilation when using sub-light engines and the very good explanation of their trans-light warp drive(very well explained in the AFTP science clips)
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