More artwork has been unveiled of SHAFT’s upcoming second venture into the world of magical girls, Prism Nana – showing they’re combating banality by means of excessively cute Kantoku based illustrations.
This is not to say anything negative of “Magical Suite Prism Nana” as it will more than likely prove spectacular, as with most SHAFT works – and the aspect of Kantoku providing the artistry is one certainly welcomed and then some. However, SHAFT is setting to release this whilst having three mahou shoujo films awaiting from their other, already established, magical girl work – and not to mention, the work in question, the ubiquitous Madoka, wasn’t released too far back to begin with, perhaps only having a gap of one or two series in between.
Like any entity, SHAFT is free to do as it pleases – although it seems that what they wish to do all involves magical girls as far as the foreseeable future goes. The entire “-monogatari” series was confirmed to be getting an animation at some point or another, yet Kizumonogatari went delayed – and it seems the studio is too occupied playing with adorable little girls who have sparkly powers. There’s nothing wrong with such, one must simply hope however that SHAFT doesn’t reorder their operations around that element – as how Kyoto Animation did with moeblob.
All that aside, the artwork is certainly expressive, just as expected from Kantoku – the reactions of the visage don’t merely portray a sentiment, but emanate it powerfully. Note above how the face isn’t the sole element to transform along with different emotions – the hair changes its flow, the tilt of the head dynamically adjusts, and even the shoulders move accordingly as well.
As for another worthwhile observation, the sketch in the top row, farthest to the right, seems to show the heroine without any textiles attached – in other words, she’s bare and undressed, quite something to look forward to alongside the cute characters and Kantoku art.
Now hopefully, the story proves as sweet as the artwork – and SHAFT disowns the mahou shoujos after this.
Aug 9, 2012 @ 11:13 CDT
Madoka Magica much.
Aug 9, 2012 @ 17:27 CDT
This is a studio that was deservedly rolling around in money made from Bakemonogatari. Then they hit the mint with Madoka. I’ve pretty much seen the entire studio cannon (haven’t watch all of Hidamri or Arakawa…working on it), and they always work for your attention. If moe magical girls is the wave of the future…I’m game. Besides this look delicious…
Aug 9, 2012 @ 18:58 CDT
It’s not the wave of the future, it’s the wave of the past – and they’re recycling it.
Aug 9, 2012 @ 21:25 CDT
Everything old is new again. That’s no excuse. I’m looking at most US television now and seeing tired Buffy recycles that actually manage to look dated in the special effects before the show even airs. I’ve managed to put together a novel which more or less recycles The Odyssey IN SPACE with Steampunk.
Attention spans are short and a bulk of the viewing public is new. And a new generation of producers going into the job are going to want to put their spin on a classic. If they do a poor job, it’s blatant recycling. If they do well, then it’s….
Aug 9, 2012 @ 21:34 CDT
“If they do well, then it’s…”
Recycling is recycling – although there’s a difference between reusing garbage efficiently, or just tossing it back into the cycle of etc. SHAFT reuses elements all the time, although they expand upon them, and I’m not worried about the quality of this series – it will more than likely be spectacular.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s not contributing to a tired genre – this will only work for so long. If you’ve seen a certain episode of Jintai, it exhibits this all quite well.
Aug 9, 2012 @ 21:31 CDT
Things happen in clumps. Three to five years ago, SHAFT was pretty much doing weird post-post modern satire/farce/social commentary. SZS, Arakawa, And The Town Moves… and some puni puni Hidamari. Much of that was sharpening up for the Monogatari franchise…
Is this them stamping out their version of the Magical Girl genre? I’m willing to wager than somebody somewhere asked Kanaku what they wanted to do for a series, and they said Mahou Shoujo. Word got passed around, and SHAFT jumped on the opportunity to work…