ivynajspyder:

I am tired of people not getting the deal with the use of 3D in the Kirby anime so I gotta set the record straight.

It wasn’t because they ‘couldn’t decide’ or to save money or whatever weird reasons I’ve seen o_o (if anything it was probably more expensive but I dunno??)

Basically, it was a very intentional decision! Though the execution was definitely hit or miss (Dynablade uggghhh) they had good intentions.

Here is a snippet from an interview by Nintendo Online Magazine back in 2001,with Yoshikawa Souji, the director and one of the writers for the anime explaining it.

吉川 3D is a way to increase the number of frames. If you make a 3D model once, then you are able to make efficient use of that. The work of a 2D animator is awfully difficult. For example, it takes no less than a year to reach the point where you can draw one line properly, it’s that kind of world. But if it’s 3D, because you make a model, you can make movement from just clicking it. 3D is a way to increase the number of frames. If you make a 3D model once, then you are able to make efficient use of that. The work of a 2D animator is awfully difficult. For example, it takes no less than a year to reach the point where you can draw one line properly, it’s that kind of world. But if it’s 3D, because you make a model, you can make movement from just clicking it. Therefore, the animator doesn’t have hard time with drawing and can instead devote their time to movement, and it’s easy to get information of production and camera. In other words, they grow faster. I think that it might become revolutionary for a TV anime. Already, it has 3-5 times the movement of normal TV anime.





●●●The number of cels per story is about 10,000. Since the average for Japanese TV anime is 3500-4000, this is groundbreaking.

吉川 Though there is a budget to keep in mind, the strong point of Japanese anime is simplification. “Hey, even if the picture stops so much, can it be successful?” When this happens it has been poorly done. Therefore, this time we made this with the feeling “Let’s have it move to our heart’s content.”

My translation is rough as hell but you get the picture. They wanted to have smoother (and more) animation than most anime and 3D was a way to do that.

While we’re on the topic, another thing the interview goes over that people get confused about-

Why doesn’t Kirby talk?

Though in the anime, Kirby says “Poyo”, he never has any lines. This is in respect to the intentions of the game’s original creator. Someone familiar with Kirby in the games can easily meld into the world of the anime.

Basically to make Kirby the ‘silent protagonist’ like he is in the games, so you can still imagine your own personality for him, I guess? (Him parroting words here and there is mostly for cuteness sake.)

The rest of the Nintendo feature is pretty interesting, maybe I’ll be able to finish translating someday http://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0110/index.html (This is also the source that says how Sakurai said 'no humans’ Best decision he ever made if you ask me, glad it extended to the games o_o)