Our second “Studio Files” post is up, and this time around it’s BONES – one of the most accomplished and influential studios in anime history.
The Studio Files: BONES
Our second “Studio Files” post is up, and this time around it’s BONES – one of the most accomplished and influential studios in anime history.
Gary Cochran
September 25, 2015 at 6:50 pmSome of my favorite anime series and movies are from this studio. Led by Full Metal Alchemist and the under appreciated movie Wolf's Rain.
sonicsenryaku
September 25, 2015 at 7:34 pmoh bones how i appreciate thee…especially now given the state of things. Still waiting for that third season of darker than black…but who am i kidding?
admin
September 25, 2015 at 7:36 pmI have a suspicion that's going to eventually happen, actually.
sonicsenryaku
September 26, 2015 at 1:42 amGAAAAAAASSSSPPP!!! dont play with my feelings like that 🙂
Drake Chandler
September 25, 2015 at 10:35 pmWolf's Rain is easily my favorite Bones work. But I always think of FMA '03 when I think of Bones. It also sits in my favorites, although not as high. E7 I thought was overrated personally and chose not to move on to AO. E7 was a decent coming of age story, but I still dislike some of the cast and thought the series was sitting a lot of unused potential in regards to war and racism. The hospital scene has to be my favorite scene in the series.
Kamui
September 26, 2015 at 1:11 amFor me RahXephon is Bones at its best: Melancholic, contemplative, but still idealistic. When I first watched the series I was blown away by the quality that exuded in every aspect of the anime.
About Eureka Seven AO, people hate it because it never quite decided what it wanted to be, and then in its final stretch it kinda ruined the ending of the original Eureka Seven and its message (Love can overcome everything/Beings totally different can love each other and stay together if they put effort.) I didn't hate it as much a a lot of people did, but I think it was a pointless sequel.
sonicsenryaku
September 26, 2015 at 2:05 amhmmm i dont know; see, the message of love giving one strength to conquer the odds was still in the finale of e7 Ao. Ao loved his parents so much that he sacrificed his existence so that they wouldnt have to suffer the pain of annihilating the scub coral. Yea with the existence of e7 Ao, we now know that things didnt turn out all sunshine an rainbows after eureka and renton hooked up, but the first series never told us that's what would happen; it was never guaranteed. It just gave the viewer faith that the possibility was very likely for peace between scubs and mankind.
However, here's the thing, renton and eureka are still together and their dimension is safe after the events of e7 Ao. i think part of the reason why people turned so cold towards e7 ao (among other reasons) is because they didnt really get the ending. At the end of the day, the sequel didnt really shit on what the first series gave us. Yes, renton's dimension went down the shitter due to the scub coral basically poisoning everybody, but that wasnt really their intention. The reason why that happened in the first place was because the secrets thought that the scubs were a threat and began annihilating them. Since the scubs were being threatened, they started to activate and move across dimensions. Due to their excessive activation, they began to poison the earthlings unintentionally, forcing renton and eureka to do the one thing they didnt want to do.
Ao was the key; the answer to saving everyone because as per the dictation of time, Ao was destined to be born so that he could ultimately warp the very fabric of his own existence. Because of this, he is able to eliminate every single secret which means the scub coral would not be in danger, which meant all those shenanigans that occurred in renton's world never happened AKA we're back to the original e7 ending. Sure it meant Ao had to sacrifice being with his parents, but that's the melancholic end the series was going for. Despite that. it still stuck to the theme that love does conquer all, because it allowed Ao to beat the odds and essentially save the universe, doing something even his father couldnt do
Kamui
September 26, 2015 at 2:43 amYeah, but "ruining" the ending form the original isn't the only thing it was wrong with it. Truth, the "Retcon Gun", the hamfisted political agenda, the lack of development of the supporting cast. Those come to mid to as reason what it was as hated as it was.
sonicsenryaku
September 26, 2015 at 2:58 amyea i understand which is why i said the ending was among other reasons why people didnt like sequel as in it wasnt just the ending. however, Ao didnt really ruin the ending of the first series as i explained above. Ao has its blemishes (i definitely wont argue against that as i had my gripes) but i thought the series had some pretty good strengths overall that definitely helped me overlook some of my gripes.And despite the supporting cast not being as strong as the ones in the original, i still felt the familial bond Ao had with fleur and erica, despite thinking that a bit more focus and polish on their interactions could have really heightened the character moments in Ao
admin
September 26, 2015 at 3:26 amYou're fighting the good fight, Sonic, but fighting a losing battle. Trust me on this one, I speak from experience.
sonicsenryaku
September 26, 2015 at 7:14 amhaha yea i guess so. i mean it's alright i guess since everyone has their own opinion. Oh and i meant elena not "erica"…..guess which one of us needs sleep hehehe
Chrysostomus
September 26, 2015 at 1:46 pmNot to mention how Ao proved that Dewey was right regarding the scub coral… Yikes, did those writers even watch E7 before composing Ao? I would say they didn't.
Yana Anastasova
September 26, 2015 at 10:03 amI have a great amount of love for this studio, given how it's produced both my favourite shounen (FMA:Brotherhood) and my favourite shoujo (AnS). Wolf's Rain has a special place in my heart as well. Keep being awesome, BONES!
melodic thoughts
September 26, 2015 at 11:52 amWill Madhouse be next in the line for coverage? *^*
admin
September 26, 2015 at 4:07 pmThey will turn up eventually. Will it be next? We'll see!
Chrysostomus
September 26, 2015 at 2:06 pmI love Bones but they really need to stay away from anime-original mecha. E7 was very good, but everything else after that has ranged from mediocre to abysmal. Star Driver? Ehhhh… well, it's uuhh okay, I guess? Captain Earth? No… Just no. Ao? Let's not even go there.
And it sucks balls, because they are the only other studio besides Sunrise who still have the manpower and budget to animate gorgeous 2D mecha. They seriously need to get better writers.
Nicholas Earls
September 26, 2015 at 3:14 pmRahXephon, FMA, Scrapped Princess and Wolf's Rain are some of my finest anime memories from my high school days. I couldn't get into E7. I haven't really enjoyed anything from Bones in the past few years, though. I think the last show they were involved in that I truly enjoyed watching (well, parts of it) was Xam'd, though I haven't had a chance to check out Space Dandy yet. Captain Earth was godawful. I also couldn't get interested in Soul Eater, though Noragami is on my to-watch list for some indefinite time in the future.
Zeta Zero
September 28, 2015 at 9:09 amI liked BONES. When they were good.