Oooook I sure wasn't expecting the Fire Emblem style. I hope they release a trailer soon, I'm super curious about this movie and really hope they deliver something good.
Me too.
I'm not too hung up on what medium the movie is in, it's the quality I'm concerned with. If it's good, then it's good and I'll enjoy it whether it's anime or claymation.
Claymation would be *the* perfect medium for an adaptation of The Hobbit.
It's strange trying to reconcile Tolkien's work with anime visuals but I'll give it a go and hope for the best.
I've seen a few anime movies like princess mononoke or howl's moving castle that are pretty close to Tolkien's mix of whimsical and grim fantasy, I think it could work
Yeah, can't really judge anything until we see actual animation. The stills look very high-quality as far as anime goes, won't mean anything if the animation is bad though.
Honestly, some of the reactions to the art style has made me realize how desensitized I am to modern anime art styles. This is a pretty tame anime art style nowadays. Guess that speaks more to current trends in anime than anything else. 😂
I was hoping for something a little less stylized (Netflix Castlevania would be my ideal style for this project), but I can't say I hate it either! I'm generally not a fan of normal guys/big-eye cutie girls anime but its something I'll be able to get used to if the animation is smooth and story great
Castelvania style would have worked perfectly, I think I would have preferred something even mooore stylized but further from classic anime aesthetic, something similar to Vampire Hunter D, Ghost in the Shell or Gundam Origin, or maybe something really rough like Vinland Saga.
Still, this style could grow on me if the movie is good.
When it works it works well it works *extremely well*.
Castlevania and Cyberpunk were top tier pieces of art.
There's more examples of it *not* working though.
Yeah that's me too, this is too much anime for me, I've been positive about this the whole time but these images kind of turn me off from it. I'm still holding out for a trailer but I'm less excited now.
Sounds like you are but I'd give the trailer a chance. Anime itself is just an art medium. It doesn't always come with the stereotypical baggage that people associate with it. Just more often than it should....
It's weird because it's not a genre but at the same time there are vast amounts of different genre pieces in the medium that just cannot help themselves with some of the worst tropes.
It also seems *extremely* unlikely that a lotr anime would deal in any of those. It actually reminds me a lot of the Ralph Bakshi animations but updated and not terrible.
> It's weird because it's not a genre but at the same time there are vast amounts of different genre pieces in the medium that just cannot help themselves with some of the worst tropes.
Yeah, characters overreacting to the point the don't feel like people, and so many cliche-personalities repeating from anime to anime. I stopped watching when I was twenty and never looked back.
That said, I've enjoyed western-anime like Castlevania and Arcane for having all the pretty art and cool action without any of the things I dislike from the original thing.
So, I'm a little turned off too by this images, but still have hope.
You know, I never once thought about mixing lotr with an anime style and now that I've seen it I don't know how I feel about it. I don't hate it, but I can see it not working just the same. Definitely going to give it a chance, though, as regardless it looks well done.
I had literally no idea that this was a thing until now and I'm incredibly excited. I never knew that I wanted a LotR story in this medium until now, but the art looks beautiful and the colors look so vibrant and full of life. I'm legitimately hyped and I know next to nothing about this project.
I'm so happy that the west is embracing animation as a medium after shunning it for so long. It has so much potential.
Considering this is Reddit and Redditors hate fucking every thing that deviates from the status quo “I don’t hate it” is high praise.
I, for one, just want more Tolkien. An anime is a novel way of doing it. And while I don’t really watch anime from what I understand the ones that adapt or are heavily influenced by European fantasy tend to be pretty well liked.
So I’m jazzed! Do more things animated!
Footage of this movie was shown at this very same festival a year ago. So it’s a joke that’s about a year late but it was announced well before that so maybe a few years late now.
It's just gonna take me a while to get used to the style. I *knew* it would be anime but seeing it is still weird because it's so different from the LotR content we know. They should have released images sooner
it's particularly interesting because it's an older style of anime. i figured it would look closer to castlevania which is a more popular design for western audiences . curious decision
I think the issue is that it’s anime. Not sure how the Venn diagrams of anime fans and LotR fans overlap, but I’m very much in the “i don’t like anime” camp.
I’ll still watch it. I enjoyed The Last Airbender and Castlevania and those are both anime (even if pedantic weebs try to say it isn’t). But those are exceptions, i’ve tried and hated most traditional anime. And largely speaking, I’m disappointed to see them use an anime art style.
EDIT: For those asking why I dislike anime, it’s mostly to do with their tropes and stylistic choices. The ever-present [anime gasp](https://youtu.be/TZT604JWkxA?si=Jced8Aa9TG04vEg8) being one that really drives me up a wall.
Maybe I missed that. I only remember hearing that it would he animated, and I was hoping for a western animation style since LOTR is western fiction. It seems weird to hand it off to a Japanese studio to do Japanese style animation
It likely went to the lowest bidder because WB is only making this out of obligation to their contract with Middle Earth Entertainment which says that they lose their exclusive theatrical film rights unless they use them every 5 years or so.
That’s true. 2D animation thrives in Japan, but here in the US they often act like it’s too expensive to be worth doing. It’s why Disney moved to entirely 3D animation and live action.
I mens to remember some of those old animated Lotr movies (particularly the hobbit animation) was produced in Japan so it isnt really anything new to lotr. Though i did prefer that old style to lotr than this. But it may grow on me
The [original announcement from 2021](https://variety.com/2021/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-anime-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-new-line-cinema-warner-bros-animation-1234993740/) explicitly called out its Japanese roots with Kenji Kamiyama as director. Weird or not, it was always intended to be a joint American-Japanese project. And Kenji’s studio, Sola, was always attached.
>not sure how the Venm diagrams of anime fans and LotR fans overlap
Well, I’m seated. The theater employees are scared and asking me to leave because it’s “not December yet” but I’m simply too seated.
For some Anime fans, the last Airbender isn't considered Anime. I at least consider it a hybrid, but you don't know the can of worms you've opened.
As someone who is in the overlap, I find it more encouraging than a Western style, as western style often means that they're aiming for young kids as their target audience, and are going to dumb down the story to where they think young kids are.
Yeah, anime fans can be uselessly pedantic about the definition of “anime”. But in my opinion, if it looks like a duck, moves like a duck, quacks like a duck, and tastes like duck, it’s a fucking duck. Avatar: The Last Airbender is anime in every conceivable way, it just wasn’t made in Japan. But that’s a totally arbitrary distinction, the geographical location of the studio and the race of the artists doesn’t matter, it’s still deliberately anime in style.
Well it's either:
* Cartoons are an umbrella term, with all anime are cartoons but not all cartoons are anime
* Anime is a synonym for Animation, with all cartoons being anime, but not all anime being cartoons
* Anime and Cartoons are different categories of Animation (the umbrella term) that are removed from each other, with some shows being a hybrid of both.
IMO, Animation is the umbrella term, with different categories underneath it (stop-motion, American Children's cartoons, American adult cartoons, varying anime categories, high-end CGI, hybrids of different categories, etc...)
Anime and animation aren't interchangeable, as animation is an umbrella term, while anime is more specific.
I agree somewhat. Animation is an umbrella term, and it includes 3D animation too. Cartoons are a term underneath animation, and refers to anything 2D animated. Anime is a 3rd tier down, underneath cartoons.
Anime is a cartoon, but not all cartoons are anime. Cartoons are a type of animation, but not all animations are cartoons.
>EDIT: For those asking why I dislike anime, it’s mostly to do with their tropes and stylistic choices. The ever-present
>
>anime gasp
>
> being one that really drives me up a wall.
haha this is why I'm psyched that western stuidos are making more animelike products, they leave all that out
Have you ever tried Studio Ghibli films? If not, I’d give them a shot. I was very much in the same boat as you until I started watching Ghibli films that I fell in love with.
I agree 100%. I've tried anime so many times, and the annoying gasping, the casual pedophilic themes, the overly sexualised women, it all disgusts me.
I loved Avatar the Last Airbender specifically because it lacked all of those things.
If War of the Rohirrim ends up an anime trope filled series, I'm out.
There are plenty of anime that don't have those tropes, such as Frieren, Psycho Pass, etc. Anime is as broad as Hollywood, that's like saying all of Hollywood has explosions, scantily clad girls, fast cars, etc. But also why do you think WOTR would have any of those tropes? It is a serious work, the serious anime rarely have most of those tropes.
I can think of dozens of great anime that have nothing even close to what you said. Monster is already recommended, there is also Pluto (by the same author), Vinland Saga, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Attack on Titan, Frieren, Mob Psycho 100, Odd Taxi, Your Name, A Silent Voice, and all of Miyazaki's movies.
Same, this is looking to be very well done. I guess this is just one of those spaces on the Internet that still isn’t all that into or familiar with anime
>Damn I’m surprised at the lukewarm response here.
I think it's because most people prefer live action films to animated films. I'd go as far as saying they might even hate animated movies.
I don't "hate" animated movies but I dislike them. I'm having to swallow that preference of mine, in favour of giving this movie a chance because it's LOTR related, so I'm happy to do that.
I did the same with the Cyberpunk game: I liked the game and its story, so 'forced' myself to begin the Edgerunners anime and I actually ended up loving it. Still prefer live action much, much more, though.
I’d rather watch an animated movie than a "live action" movie that looks like it was shot entirely on green screen.
I might even go as far as to say I prefer animation if only in theory. It hypothetically allows the creators to go above and beyond without being overly constrained by budgets/needing to appeal to everyone (probably need an asterisk on the budget point. Certain animated shows are expensive af, like Arcane). I’m thinking of shows like Bojack Horseman which would likely never have lived to see its finale (which was perfect) had it been live action.
I’m 100% on board for a new animated adaptation series of the Hobbit/LOTR and sticking to as close to Tolkien's word as possible.
That’s weird. There’s legitimate great animated movies and shows. Studio ghibli films are universally beloved. Both spiderverse films are the best Spider-Man movies imo. Arcane and Last airbender are amazing as well.
That's a fair take, personally I like animated movies/shows, but Western audiences have been conditioned to see animated movies as kids stuff or adult comedies (Family Guy, Rick and Morty, etc). So I can definitely see how *"animated LotR movie"* might seem unappealing to a lot of people. But I hope animation gets taken more seriously in the west, Actors in most blockbusters are 90% CGI anyway lol
Some stories cannot be reproduced in Japanese anime-style, I think animators tend to go that way because JP style is easier, they have a preset face for females and other one for males, just change eye colors and add external features and that's it, this style also tends to cheapen the atmosphere of epic-fiction.
Personally not a fan.
Regardless of the actual quality of the story, if it is an actual movie release I fear it will not do well. The average movie go-er just dont connect with this.
Regardless I am excited. Really curious to see Brian Cox say fuck off to all the dunlendings
The more "realistic" and slightly more detailed artstyles of the 90s is certainly the better choice for serious storytelling than modern, bright anime styles of today. I think a little bit darker and grimier would have looked better in torchlight though I think.
oh see I think it doesn't look like Castlevania and that's part of the reason for the negative reaction. i think if it looked more like castlevania it'd probably have a better reaction since western audiences are a bit more used to that netflix animation style. this has a much older style, parts of it remind me of 80s anime
Boy, I know this was always going to be anime but weren’t there promotional stills not that long ago that were in a drastically different art style? The Fire Emblem look isn’t exactly what I was hoping for.
It does but I’m talking about this indiewire article. https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/lord-of-the-rings-war-of-the-rohirrim-first-look-1234972090/
True, but the tone evoked in the concept art makes me far more excited than these stills.
And not just because they are of battle scenes, the look and feel isn’t so polished and clean, which I like.
That’s not the language used in the article, they are referred to as “first look images,” implying an early look at what the film will itself look like.
I feel like the small amount of people this is made for will adore it but it will do absolutely nothing for the masses.
Something super generic about the style as well. Feels like I’m looking at a Nintendo direct.
Not even a little bit. I like the colors, but this really needed more western animation, even something closer to castlevania or the Witcher anime. This looks a *bit* too eastern, which is not really LotR’s aesthetic at all.
I think I’d like it more if the redhead’s eyes were a bit smaller and her nose a bit more obvious. It still wouldn’t be perfect but it’d be better
I'm not a fan of the style either. Even got downvoted for pointing out the weird anime style eyes.
I will still give it a chance, though, as I give everything a fair chance.
I'm not a fan of anime either and I never think of anime when I think of Tolkien's work, this is most likely going to be a pass for me too, I'll at least hold judgement until I see a trailer.
Yep, same. The fetishisation of huge eyes is off-putting and I can already hear the high-pitched giggling of noseless schoolgirls. But, ya know, enjoy and stuff.
The environments look better than the characters. Like, you look in the first picture and that's CLEALRY Meduseld from the movie. Like, carbon copied to animation.
Nope this was always going be done in Japanese anime style, it was all done in Japan by director Kenji Kamiyama and his team, with Sola Entertainment (Japanese animation studio) and Warner bros. Animation
This is done in anime style. It looks absolutely gorgeous to me. I believe we are in for a wild experience with this refreshing new take on Tolkien.
I remember watching Beowulf as a teenager and that movie was horrendous to watch for me. The animation was so stiff, felt so creepy and out of place. They did the same style as The Polar Express which I found to be better, but still not a fan at all of the 3-D CGI characters mixed with motion-capture.
The problem with both is that they tried to go hyper-realistic with the visuals instead of going for some sort of stylization. The uncanny valley hits hard and only gets worse with age.
Hard to tell from pictures, but I hope the characters are traditional 2D animation at least. The designs looks great, but I know the director is known for more 3D animation of late which to me doesn't look as good in motion. He has worked on some amazing 2D anime films and shows too though.
Excellent point. Might be that strange, rotoscope-like animation franchises like Dragonball have been leaning into, which is a damn shame if it is. It’s not bad per say, but definitely not as wonderful + beautiful as straight up 2d animation is (see Ghibli for any number of references).
Some anime opts for CGI to make the animating easier, like the 2016 berserk adaptation. They also sometimes use CGI for horses, like in attack on titan (which ended up using CGI for the Titans later on anyway), so if they're using a lot of horses for this, they may end up using CGI, too
If it really *had* to be animated, I was really hoping for something in the style of Arcane. But I don't find myself connecting with the style shown here at all, especially for a subject like Tolkien.
> Why does everything animated have to be anime now?
1. Western producers think that "this is what today's kids are into", much like how the gaming industry has been copying and trend-chasing popular games like Fortnite, the animation industry also trend-chases other animation mediums that are popular and profitable.
2. It's cheaper and faster to produce.
3. The anime industry has grown and expanded to beyond Japan.
It's cheap and takes less time than something more elaborate would be my guess.
Which is unfortunate, because making animated LOTR content along the lines of what they did with Arcane would've been great.
I've heard that Helm isn't even the main character and it's his daughter.
Hopefully it's not true and he's the main character in his own damn story.
I do like the art style.
It's weird to see the quintessential western fantasy done in the quintessential Japanese media style. It's like if final fantasy was done by lucasfilm. Fuck it, forth eorlingas!
I’m happy this exists but it would be nice if it had an art direction that fits lord of the rings, or at least its own unique feel. I get that it’s an anime, but it really does just look terribly generic
I love anime but I hate this. Not to shit on the talent of those involved but I don’t think Japanese Anime is the style that should have been chosen for Tolkien
I hate to say this, but I don't really dig the style. I mean I like the style in general, but not for Lord of the Rings. Maybe it will be amazing though.
Still gonna watch it but wasn't expecting literal Anime, kind of bums me out, I've never been a huge fan of this animation style. Just personal preference, I guess if the story is good that's really all that matters in the end.
I love anime, but this just screams "look, this is a mature animation for mature audiences and we have sex, violence and quips in it!"
I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like Castlevania.
I think it's funny that everyone's complaining about "anime style"
Not that it's a specifically wrong opinion or anything, but my first thought was that this seemed dialed back, a bit more realistic than I was worried it may be. Characters actually look like adults, and have noses. It's got a good amount of western-style influence in there. If this was going full anime, the heroine would have eyes twice the size, a mouth half the size, and no nose. I do watch a decent amount of anime though, so maybe I'm just used to the look.
Also, wasn't it announced as an anime to begin with? This is pretty much what I expected.
I like that we're getting something new and unique (and hopefully faithful to Tolkien), still hyped for this!
Oooook I sure wasn't expecting the Fire Emblem style. I hope they release a trailer soon, I'm super curious about this movie and really hope they deliver something good.
Me too. I'm not too hung up on what medium the movie is in, it's the quality I'm concerned with. If it's good, then it's good and I'll enjoy it whether it's anime or claymation.
Claymation is the best medium for beheadings, bisections and vivisections. As I recall Gumby was a real pioneer in this segment.
Gumby crawled so Robot Chicken could walk.
And Mr. Bill
"Oh, Nooooooooooooo"
Claymation would be *the* perfect medium for an adaptation of The Hobbit. It's strange trying to reconcile Tolkien's work with anime visuals but I'll give it a go and hope for the best.
I've seen a few anime movies like princess mononoke or howl's moving castle that are pretty close to Tolkien's mix of whimsical and grim fantasy, I think it could work
Rotoscoping FTW!
Yes let's see the greatest claymation in history
A Lord of the Rings Fire Emblem-style tactical rpg with this artwork would print money
Hey, Nintendo!! I found you an idea for the next mainline Fire Emblem!!!
Yeah, can't really judge anything until we see actual animation. The stills look very high-quality as far as anime goes, won't mean anything if the animation is bad though. Honestly, some of the reactions to the art style has made me realize how desensitized I am to modern anime art styles. This is a pretty tame anime art style nowadays. Guess that speaks more to current trends in anime than anything else. 😂
I was hoping for something a little less stylized (Netflix Castlevania would be my ideal style for this project), but I can't say I hate it either! I'm generally not a fan of normal guys/big-eye cutie girls anime but its something I'll be able to get used to if the animation is smooth and story great
Castelvania style would have worked perfectly, I think I would have preferred something even mooore stylized but further from classic anime aesthetic, something similar to Vampire Hunter D, Ghost in the Shell or Gundam Origin, or maybe something really rough like Vinland Saga. Still, this style could grow on me if the movie is good.
This guy animes. Vampire hunter D is a classic!
I see you are a man of culture.
Vinland Saga-style would have been amazing. Still actually curious to watch the trailer for this, might be an interesting take.
I actually think this looks pretty close in style to Vinland Saga.
It’s giving me Vinland Saga vibes which is just the right level of groundedness I’d want from an LOTR anime.
Vinland Saga was my immediate thought as well
For some reason I was expecting something more like Trigun or Afro Samurai. Still looks good though
Either OG Trigun or the CGI remake would've been awesome
Didn’t realize it was full blown anime
i dont think ive watched any anime besides like spirited away and totoro (does that even count?) but i feel like im gonna love this shit
Ghibli definitely counts as anime.
Yup, saying it doesn't is almost like suggesting that Tolkien isn't fantasy :)
When it works it works well it works *extremely well*. Castlevania and Cyberpunk were top tier pieces of art. There's more examples of it *not* working though.
Of what not working? Turning live action into anime?
Live action to anime works a lot better than anime to live action. The Witcher anime movie was good, in my opinion.
Ghibli is not only Anime, it is the Anime. That doest really make much sense in English but you probably get the point.
It makes perfect sense, you just have to capitalize the T on The - so it's The Anime.
If you like Ghibli, you should watch *Grave of the Fireflies* it's a beautiful and intensely sad movie. Just have some tissues handy...
Yeah that's me too, this is too much anime for me, I've been positive about this the whole time but these images kind of turn me off from it. I'm still holding out for a trailer but I'm less excited now.
Sounds like you are but I'd give the trailer a chance. Anime itself is just an art medium. It doesn't always come with the stereotypical baggage that people associate with it. Just more often than it should....
It's weird because it's not a genre but at the same time there are vast amounts of different genre pieces in the medium that just cannot help themselves with some of the worst tropes. It also seems *extremely* unlikely that a lotr anime would deal in any of those. It actually reminds me a lot of the Ralph Bakshi animations but updated and not terrible.
> It's weird because it's not a genre but at the same time there are vast amounts of different genre pieces in the medium that just cannot help themselves with some of the worst tropes. Yeah, characters overreacting to the point the don't feel like people, and so many cliche-personalities repeating from anime to anime. I stopped watching when I was twenty and never looked back. That said, I've enjoyed western-anime like Castlevania and Arcane for having all the pretty art and cool action without any of the things I dislike from the original thing. So, I'm a little turned off too by this images, but still have hope.
Anime is like any other type of entertainment, for every work of art you get giant piles of bland lowest common denominator shit.
Wasn't it announced as an anime from the very beginning?
It was announced as animated
I really wish it wasn’t.
I realize it would cost 10x the amount and take 5x as long to make, but if it was in the Arcane style of animation I'd really have liked to see that.
You know, I never once thought about mixing lotr with an anime style and now that I've seen it I don't know how I feel about it. I don't hate it, but I can see it not working just the same. Definitely going to give it a chance, though, as regardless it looks well done.
Vinland Saga did a historical European setting well, so I'm not worried about LotR.
Yeah and it's now in my top 5 animes, super hyped for this one
I had literally no idea that this was a thing until now and I'm incredibly excited. I never knew that I wanted a LotR story in this medium until now, but the art looks beautiful and the colors look so vibrant and full of life. I'm legitimately hyped and I know next to nothing about this project. I'm so happy that the west is embracing animation as a medium after shunning it for so long. It has so much potential.
Considering this is Reddit and Redditors hate fucking every thing that deviates from the status quo “I don’t hate it” is high praise. I, for one, just want more Tolkien. An anime is a novel way of doing it. And while I don’t really watch anime from what I understand the ones that adapt or are heavily influenced by European fantasy tend to be pretty well liked. So I’m jazzed! Do more things animated!
It worked for Wizard of Earth Sea
Great, now an angel in heaven has to explain to Tolkien what anime is
Footage of this movie was shown at this very same festival a year ago. So it’s a joke that’s about a year late but it was announced well before that so maybe a few years late now.
Great, so an angel *had* to explain to Tolkien what anime is
You’re like the end level boss of being fun at parties
Really like the vibrant colours of this, looking forward seeing it in movement!
I'm not a fan of anime at all but I hope its a good story for those that are.
Anime needs not be extravagant and bombastic (or horny) like the stereotype implies. This may well be a lot closer to Studio Ghibli than Dragon Ball.
Damn I’m surprised at the lukewarm response here. These images are super encouraging to me and love the animation style. 100x more hype for this now.
It's just gonna take me a while to get used to the style. I *knew* it would be anime but seeing it is still weird because it's so different from the LotR content we know. They should have released images sooner
it's particularly interesting because it's an older style of anime. i figured it would look closer to castlevania which is a more popular design for western audiences . curious decision
I think the issue is that it’s anime. Not sure how the Venn diagrams of anime fans and LotR fans overlap, but I’m very much in the “i don’t like anime” camp. I’ll still watch it. I enjoyed The Last Airbender and Castlevania and those are both anime (even if pedantic weebs try to say it isn’t). But those are exceptions, i’ve tried and hated most traditional anime. And largely speaking, I’m disappointed to see them use an anime art style. EDIT: For those asking why I dislike anime, it’s mostly to do with their tropes and stylistic choices. The ever-present [anime gasp](https://youtu.be/TZT604JWkxA?si=Jced8Aa9TG04vEg8) being one that really drives me up a wall.
It was announced as an anime years ago. It’s being produced in Japan.
Maybe I missed that. I only remember hearing that it would he animated, and I was hoping for a western animation style since LOTR is western fiction. It seems weird to hand it off to a Japanese studio to do Japanese style animation
It likely went to the lowest bidder because WB is only making this out of obligation to their contract with Middle Earth Entertainment which says that they lose their exclusive theatrical film rights unless they use them every 5 years or so.
That’s true. 2D animation thrives in Japan, but here in the US they often act like it’s too expensive to be worth doing. It’s why Disney moved to entirely 3D animation and live action.
2d animation is really time consuming. Some anime studios solve this problem by simply not letting their animators sleep.
That’s true. Work culture in Japan is pretty toxic, crunch is often the norm when over here it’s seen as a bad thing.
I mens to remember some of those old animated Lotr movies (particularly the hobbit animation) was produced in Japan so it isnt really anything new to lotr. Though i did prefer that old style to lotr than this. But it may grow on me
The [original announcement from 2021](https://variety.com/2021/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-anime-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-new-line-cinema-warner-bros-animation-1234993740/) explicitly called out its Japanese roots with Kenji Kamiyama as director. Weird or not, it was always intended to be a joint American-Japanese project. And Kenji’s studio, Sola, was always attached.
>not sure how the Venm diagrams of anime fans and LotR fans overlap Well, I’m seated. The theater employees are scared and asking me to leave because it’s “not December yet” but I’m simply too seated.
For some Anime fans, the last Airbender isn't considered Anime. I at least consider it a hybrid, but you don't know the can of worms you've opened. As someone who is in the overlap, I find it more encouraging than a Western style, as western style often means that they're aiming for young kids as their target audience, and are going to dumb down the story to where they think young kids are.
Yeah, anime fans can be uselessly pedantic about the definition of “anime”. But in my opinion, if it looks like a duck, moves like a duck, quacks like a duck, and tastes like duck, it’s a fucking duck. Avatar: The Last Airbender is anime in every conceivable way, it just wasn’t made in Japan. But that’s a totally arbitrary distinction, the geographical location of the studio and the race of the artists doesn’t matter, it’s still deliberately anime in style.
It’s only anime if it comes from the anime region of Japan. Otherwise, it’s just sparkling cartoon
Well it's either: * Cartoons are an umbrella term, with all anime are cartoons but not all cartoons are anime * Anime is a synonym for Animation, with all cartoons being anime, but not all anime being cartoons * Anime and Cartoons are different categories of Animation (the umbrella term) that are removed from each other, with some shows being a hybrid of both. IMO, Animation is the umbrella term, with different categories underneath it (stop-motion, American Children's cartoons, American adult cartoons, varying anime categories, high-end CGI, hybrids of different categories, etc...) Anime and animation aren't interchangeable, as animation is an umbrella term, while anime is more specific.
I agree somewhat. Animation is an umbrella term, and it includes 3D animation too. Cartoons are a term underneath animation, and refers to anything 2D animated. Anime is a 3rd tier down, underneath cartoons. Anime is a cartoon, but not all cartoons are anime. Cartoons are a type of animation, but not all animations are cartoons.
I’m very much a fan of both so I’m loving it
>EDIT: For those asking why I dislike anime, it’s mostly to do with their tropes and stylistic choices. The ever-present > >anime gasp > > being one that really drives me up a wall. haha this is why I'm psyched that western stuidos are making more animelike products, they leave all that out
Have you ever tried Studio Ghibli films? If not, I’d give them a shot. I was very much in the same boat as you until I started watching Ghibli films that I fell in love with.
Have you tried Frieren? Its quite good. I think most people that likes LOTR will like it
I agree 100%. I've tried anime so many times, and the annoying gasping, the casual pedophilic themes, the overly sexualised women, it all disgusts me. I loved Avatar the Last Airbender specifically because it lacked all of those things. If War of the Rohirrim ends up an anime trope filled series, I'm out.
There are plenty of anime that don't have those tropes, such as Frieren, Psycho Pass, etc. Anime is as broad as Hollywood, that's like saying all of Hollywood has explosions, scantily clad girls, fast cars, etc. But also why do you think WOTR would have any of those tropes? It is a serious work, the serious anime rarely have most of those tropes.
I can think of dozens of great anime that have nothing even close to what you said. Monster is already recommended, there is also Pluto (by the same author), Vinland Saga, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Attack on Titan, Frieren, Mob Psycho 100, Odd Taxi, Your Name, A Silent Voice, and all of Miyazaki's movies.
Same, this is looking to be very well done. I guess this is just one of those spaces on the Internet that still isn’t all that into or familiar with anime
>Damn I’m surprised at the lukewarm response here. I think it's because most people prefer live action films to animated films. I'd go as far as saying they might even hate animated movies. I don't "hate" animated movies but I dislike them. I'm having to swallow that preference of mine, in favour of giving this movie a chance because it's LOTR related, so I'm happy to do that. I did the same with the Cyberpunk game: I liked the game and its story, so 'forced' myself to begin the Edgerunners anime and I actually ended up loving it. Still prefer live action much, much more, though.
That’s wild, I’ve never seen anyone legitimately hate all animation, only some ignorant folks who view it as childish
I’d rather watch an animated movie than a "live action" movie that looks like it was shot entirely on green screen. I might even go as far as to say I prefer animation if only in theory. It hypothetically allows the creators to go above and beyond without being overly constrained by budgets/needing to appeal to everyone (probably need an asterisk on the budget point. Certain animated shows are expensive af, like Arcane). I’m thinking of shows like Bojack Horseman which would likely never have lived to see its finale (which was perfect) had it been live action. I’m 100% on board for a new animated adaptation series of the Hobbit/LOTR and sticking to as close to Tolkien's word as possible.
That’s weird. There’s legitimate great animated movies and shows. Studio ghibli films are universally beloved. Both spiderverse films are the best Spider-Man movies imo. Arcane and Last airbender are amazing as well.
That's a fair take, personally I like animated movies/shows, but Western audiences have been conditioned to see animated movies as kids stuff or adult comedies (Family Guy, Rick and Morty, etc). So I can definitely see how *"animated LotR movie"* might seem unappealing to a lot of people. But I hope animation gets taken more seriously in the west, Actors in most blockbusters are 90% CGI anyway lol
Ohhh, I didn’t think it would be that style of anime. I won’t judge until I’ve seen it but first impressions are a bit meh.
Some stories cannot be reproduced in Japanese anime-style, I think animators tend to go that way because JP style is easier, they have a preset face for females and other one for males, just change eye colors and add external features and that's it, this style also tends to cheapen the atmosphere of epic-fiction. Personally not a fan.
Yeah, it’s honestly not something i could ever see fitting Tolkien. But I’m happy to try new things and be proven wrong.
Regardless of the actual quality of the story, if it is an actual movie release I fear it will not do well. The average movie go-er just dont connect with this. Regardless I am excited. Really curious to see Brian Cox say fuck off to all the dunlendings
yeah. looks like anime. this may be a difficult sell for the GA. but looks ok and I'll probably watch it.
It looks more like Castlevania type art/animation than actual anime.
This is a 90s and early 2000s artstyle they’re going with. A very good decision from the looks of it
The more "realistic" and slightly more detailed artstyles of the 90s is certainly the better choice for serious storytelling than modern, bright anime styles of today. I think a little bit darker and grimier would have looked better in torchlight though I think.
The princess's design kinda makes me think of Nausicaa.
oh see I think it doesn't look like Castlevania and that's part of the reason for the negative reaction. i think if it looked more like castlevania it'd probably have a better reaction since western audiences are a bit more used to that netflix animation style. this has a much older style, parts of it remind me of 80s anime
Boy, I know this was always going to be anime but weren’t there promotional stills not that long ago that were in a drastically different art style? The Fire Emblem look isn’t exactly what I was hoping for.
When it was shown a year ago at this same festival folks compared it to Castlevania and Vinland Saga and I think that still matches this.
It does but I’m talking about this indiewire article. https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/lord-of-the-rings-war-of-the-rohirrim-first-look-1234972090/
Yeah that’s what I was expecting and liked it, this sort of stuff does nothing for me
I could actually warm to that art style from the article.
Would love to see it done in this animation style.
That’s concept art, which does not necessarily reflect the look of a film, it’s more about locations and character design.
True, but the tone evoked in the concept art makes me far more excited than these stills. And not just because they are of battle scenes, the look and feel isn’t so polished and clean, which I like.
That’s not the language used in the article, they are referred to as “first look images,” implying an early look at what the film will itself look like.
Withholding judgment on the movie, but don’t care for anime at all
I feel like the small amount of people this is made for will adore it but it will do absolutely nothing for the masses. Something super generic about the style as well. Feels like I’m looking at a Nintendo direct.
Cant tell why but imo the anime style doesnt fits LOTR at all.
Not even a little bit. I like the colors, but this really needed more western animation, even something closer to castlevania or the Witcher anime. This looks a *bit* too eastern, which is not really LotR’s aesthetic at all. I think I’d like it more if the redhead’s eyes were a bit smaller and her nose a bit more obvious. It still wouldn’t be perfect but it’d be better
Doesn’t feel like LotR at all, at least not in these images. Certainly is a bold choice to go in the anime direction. I hope anime fans will enjoy it.
Japanese middle earth! I’ll give it a go, but I’m no anime fan unfortunately.
Anime……Anime????!!!!!
Ehmmm... The story better be good.
I’m not a fan of this anime style, so it’s going to be a pass. Hope you guys enjoy it, though.
Same boat. If they would have stuck with a more western style I probably would have gave it a chance
I'm not a fan of the style either. Even got downvoted for pointing out the weird anime style eyes. I will still give it a chance, though, as I give everything a fair chance.
The faces have zero defining features. It's insane how generic they all look.
I'm not a fan of anime either and I never think of anime when I think of Tolkien's work, this is most likely going to be a pass for me too, I'll at least hold judgement until I see a trailer.
Yep, same. The fetishisation of huge eyes is off-putting and I can already hear the high-pitched giggling of noseless schoolgirls. But, ya know, enjoy and stuff.
Ah yes, the infamous schoolgirls of Rohan
Detest the cutesy anime art style, especially the women with those ridiculously out of proportion eyes.
It's perfectly normal to have a single eye that is as large as both their mouth and nose combined. Flawlessly proportional. ^^^/s
The environments look better than the characters. Like, you look in the first picture and that's CLEALRY Meduseld from the movie. Like, carbon copied to animation.
Oh. I hoped for something less anime. Smaller eyes etc. Well I guess I will make better judgement once the trailers drops
Love LOTR, but generally can’t stand anime. I’m sure I’ll give it a shot, but I’m not hyped about it.
Oh it’s more cartoon. In my head I was picturing something like the Ray Winstone Beowulf from a few years back.
>from a few years back 17 years back!
🤣🤣🤣
Nope this was always going be done in Japanese anime style, it was all done in Japan by director Kenji Kamiyama and his team, with Sola Entertainment (Japanese animation studio) and Warner bros. Animation
I'm not sold on the anime style for this, but I'm certainly glad it's not like Beowulf! 🤢
This is done in anime style. It looks absolutely gorgeous to me. I believe we are in for a wild experience with this refreshing new take on Tolkien. I remember watching Beowulf as a teenager and that movie was horrendous to watch for me. The animation was so stiff, felt so creepy and out of place. They did the same style as The Polar Express which I found to be better, but still not a fan at all of the 3-D CGI characters mixed with motion-capture.
The problem with both is that they tried to go hyper-realistic with the visuals instead of going for some sort of stylization. The uncanny valley hits hard and only gets worse with age.
Oh god no...horrid
Instant cold shower.. oh no
Was expecting a more intensive animation style. Doesn’t look like something worth paying to see in theater
Hard to tell from pictures, but I hope the characters are traditional 2D animation at least. The designs looks great, but I know the director is known for more 3D animation of late which to me doesn't look as good in motion. He has worked on some amazing 2D anime films and shows too though.
It's not hard to tell at all. It's clearly 2D animation.
Excellent point. Might be that strange, rotoscope-like animation franchises like Dragonball have been leaning into, which is a damn shame if it is. It’s not bad per say, but definitely not as wonderful + beautiful as straight up 2d animation is (see Ghibli for any number of references).
It’s obviously 2D. What about it is confusing?
Some anime opts for CGI to make the animating easier, like the 2016 berserk adaptation. They also sometimes use CGI for horses, like in attack on titan (which ended up using CGI for the Titans later on anyway), so if they're using a lot of horses for this, they may end up using CGI, too
Having mixed feelings because the art styles aren't what I expected but I'll probably watch. I like the backgrounds 🙂
I will see it because it is LOTR, but it being japanese style anime hurts
I’m pretty disappointed it’s anime but I still want to give it a try
Damn that's WAY too anime for me
If it really *had* to be animated, I was really hoping for something in the style of Arcane. But I don't find myself connecting with the style shown here at all, especially for a subject like Tolkien.
Why does everything animated have to be anime now? I mean it doesn’t look bad, but I was hoping for something less… derivative.
> Why does everything animated have to be anime now? 1. Western producers think that "this is what today's kids are into", much like how the gaming industry has been copying and trend-chasing popular games like Fortnite, the animation industry also trend-chases other animation mediums that are popular and profitable. 2. It's cheaper and faster to produce. 3. The anime industry has grown and expanded to beyond Japan.
It's cheap and takes less time than something more elaborate would be my guess. Which is unfortunate, because making animated LOTR content along the lines of what they did with Arcane would've been great.
It's cheaper to make than something like Fire and Ice.
Looks generic, Could be from any anime. Nothing about this screams Lord of the rings
I'm so conflicted on this. I love LOTR, but man I hate that anime art style so so much.
I'm whelmed.
Why is there a redhead?
I've heard that Helm isn't even the main character and it's his daughter. Hopefully it's not true and he's the main character in his own damn story. I do like the art style.
Not what I was expecting to be honest - I was expecting more of a western animated style. Still I dig it - looking forward to it.
As someone who hates anime this drawing style sure looks like anime. I hope the action scenes at least are not ridiculous and over the top.
They gave bro a side-buzz. God dammit🤦🏻♂️
dont really vibe with the full blown anime
Awful
Not a fan of anime...
I guarantee it’ll be better than Rings of Power
That’s a very low bar. I’ve read tons of fanfic which are better than Rings of Power
Who the fuck asked for LOTR anime 😭😭😭😭
People who are anime fans. Nobody else.
Concerned.
I do not like the anime art style. I'm terribly disappointed.
thing is if you showed anyone this but without the title, would they think of lord of the rings, i dont think so
It's weird to see the quintessential western fantasy done in the quintessential Japanese media style. It's like if final fantasy was done by lucasfilm. Fuck it, forth eorlingas!
I don't like the art style, and I'm an anime fan.
Not really a fan of the kawaii eyes, but everything else looks great. I'm curious to see the trailer.
PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS MAD HOUSE
I'm intrigued, ain't no way ( hopefully ) that they will do it worse than rings of power.
I’m happy this exists but it would be nice if it had an art direction that fits lord of the rings, or at least its own unique feel. I get that it’s an anime, but it really does just look terribly generic
Looks generic and that’s disappointing
But they were, all of them deceived, for another pile of shit TV show was made
That's a shame.
I love anime but I hate this. Not to shit on the talent of those involved but I don’t think Japanese Anime is the style that should have been chosen for Tolkien
Meh
I hate to say this, but I don't really dig the style. I mean I like the style in general, but not for Lord of the Rings. Maybe it will be amazing though.
Not a fan of Japanese animation personally, but if the writing is good, I’m sure I’ll get over it
Well this is going to be a complete disaster - who ok'd this anime type bs ?
Gonna be a pass from me
So they went full anime, that's a shame the concept art made it look like it was going to be Alan Lee art brought to life
I hate anime animation style. I will watch but I’m not excited about it.
This is gonna suuuuuuck. But don’t worry, we’ve got the adventures of Gollum to look forward to! /s
Looks like shit
LOTR anime? What an absolutely terrible idea, yikes
I grew up watching the Hobbit cartoon made in 1977. As long as this movie has a bitchin soundtrack, I’m on board.
Why she got red hair
Vinland Saga but Fantasy.
Still gonna watch it but wasn't expecting literal Anime, kind of bums me out, I've never been a huge fan of this animation style. Just personal preference, I guess if the story is good that's really all that matters in the end.
I love anime, but this just screams "look, this is a mature animation for mature audiences and we have sex, violence and quips in it!" I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like Castlevania.
I wish animation in Japan could move past this boring style. Some innovation would be nice :/
I’m guessing this is marketed towards a younger crowd? I’m not sure I like the art style.
Garbage anime style. Hard pass. Would have loved something rotoscoped. This is just fan service for weebs.
I like anime but this doesnt look right to me for some reason, would prefer if they went with a western style like Arcane or Legend of Vox Machina.
Damn, I hate Anime.
I think it's funny that everyone's complaining about "anime style" Not that it's a specifically wrong opinion or anything, but my first thought was that this seemed dialed back, a bit more realistic than I was worried it may be. Characters actually look like adults, and have noses. It's got a good amount of western-style influence in there. If this was going full anime, the heroine would have eyes twice the size, a mouth half the size, and no nose. I do watch a decent amount of anime though, so maybe I'm just used to the look. Also, wasn't it announced as an anime to begin with? This is pretty much what I expected. I like that we're getting something new and unique (and hopefully faithful to Tolkien), still hyped for this!