Key Fans Are Too Entitled
Unless you have been hiding under a rock the past week or so it would have been pretty hard to not have heard the incessant whining of the KEY fan base about the announcement of the JC Staff anime adaption of Little Busters! The complaints have been so loud that in order to quell their worries, Baba Takahiro, the President of Visual Arts, announced on his twitter that the staff also shared their anxieties, but is confident in JC Staff. Personally, I saw this as completely unnecessary because while there are some valid concerns about JC Staff heading the project, they are being taken much too far past rationality. In fact, to be quite honest, the sort of behavior being displayed from the fan base has been downright disgraceful.
Little Busters! is a project that KEY fans have been begging for, for many years now. It was almost impossible to enter a conversation about an announcement of an upcoming Kyoto Animation work without people clamoring about whether they would adapt it or not. This persisted for a long time and it wasn’t until a recent interview with KEY that talked about how Kyoto Animation had no time in their schedule for Little Busters! that people finally began to quiet down about it. Considering that Kyoto Animation has been the main studio for KEY works more or less, and the length of time since the original visual novel came out, there was little hope anymore that a Little Busters! project would ever come to be. Luckily for the fans though, another studio with the enthusiasm to do it has decided to step in. But what do they get? They get an ungrateful backlash of entitled fans.
Why can't we all be happy?
No, the fact that a Little Busters! adaption is finally coming is simply not enough. This is a project that demands the royal treatment. Only Kyoto Animation could do it right? Or at least PA works or some other studio with “topline visuals.” Obviously because this is the lowly JC Staff, this project is pronounced dead before it even touches the screen. In all seriousness, I truly have to question whether people here are fans of KEY or fans of Kyoto Animation. Seeing as how people keep demanding only the topline treatment to a source that many or most probably have not even experienced, I am led to believe it is the latter. The expectations and desires for this project are outrageous, and it just seemed like destiny that they would never accept a project not headed by Kyoto Animation.
Now, the complaints are all over the board, but mainly seem to strike at two key points: that JC Staff is incapable of producing a faithful script and that JC Staff is incapable of producing a quality visual experience. Yes I remember what transpired in past projects like Shakugan no Shana II, Zero no Tsukaima, or that “nonexistent” adaption of Tsukihime. But consider this, many of these projects are now four or more years old. Tsukihime their only other visual novel adaption was nearly a decade ago! This was a time when visual novels were a relatively unknown property and studios did not know yet how to handle them. People seem to only be remembering the bad things that happened years ago.
Have they not proven they can do a good job when they put their mind to it? I recall titles like Nodame Cantible, Honey & Clover, Toradora, Bakuman, Toaru Majutsu no Index, and even the latest Shana III that have all been praised by the source readers considerably for how well done and faithful they were. Index’s latest season in particular is cited as having excellent visuals. And if there is one reassuring sign that JC staff is going to put the proper level of attention to detail in this work is that there are hardly any projects they are working on in the near future besides this one. This is a studio that unlike Kyoto Animation is very large and takes on multiple projects at once. I think they get just how important this project is to some people, and are trying to go the extra mile. Add in the fact that KEY seems to supervising this project, and there is almost no reason to be freaking out like this.
Mai is disappointed in you.
So while I understand that there are some valid reasons to be somewhat skeptical, this outright rejection of this Little Busters! project simply because it has JC Staff’s name on it is very silly. They may be a bit of a hit or miss studio for sure, but when they turn it up, they most certainly can deliver. This is not a studio that ever deserved such unfair and irrational treatment, especially considering they have not even done anything yet. Look at all the information we have at the moment – some staff listings and a makeshift preview released by KEY with a disclaimer that it would not be reflective of what the actual series would really look like. There hasn’t even been an episode, preview, or even a piece of promotional art released yet people are already discarding this project as a failure? I am sorry, but this sort of attitude sucks. You clamored for the project, an enthusiastic studio with a known ability to do well when they try finally decided to take it on, and you have this ungrateful attitude? As much as I would have love for JC Staff to prove all the naysayers wrong, which they may very well do, I almost rather have not seen this project ever come to light. You guys simply did not deserve it.
Almost exactly my thoughts about this whole Little Busters! debacle. It seems that for any studio, the failures seem to always overshadow the successes. People these days have clouded their minds that JC Staff is a lousy studio who can’t produce any good works, and yet fail to realize that many popular and well received franchises and series have been done by them (the ones you listed).
Personally, I don’t give a damn who adapts Little Busters. Of course, I would have loved it to be KyoAni or PA Works, but in the end, so long as they don’t majorly change the story (which they have already stated that they WON’T), or produce less than acceptable visuals, though I know that JC Staff are fully capable of producing topknot visuals (I thought AnoNatsu had great visuals), it should turn out fine.
In fact, as I like rooting for the underdog, I hope that this adaptation actually turns out more than spectacular, which will put those naysayers in their place.
There really do appear to be two JC Staffs. One is the Kasai/Nagai/Kuroda/Okada axis that produced, as mentioned, some of the greatest romance and slice-of-life series of the past decade: H&C, Toradora, etc. The other is the much more hit-and-miss studio. The former would be a great fit for Key titles, really, and might even moderate some of the worse impulses of Maeda and co. They just don’t do “shiny” the way KyoAni did at their height (that KyoAno seems to be gone anyway), or PA Works does now. Good anime doesn’t need shiny.
So we have to see which JC Staff produces Little Busters to gauge whether we should be excited or concerned.
@Mike: Holy shit dude. Are you me? Because you mimicked EXACTLY my thoughts. Even on the “Shiny” comments regarding how Kyoani don’t care no more and how PA is on that pedestal now.
Yep, both Kasai and Nagai as directors and Kuroda and Okada as writers, all of them excelling in the “slice of life, drama, comedy”. Well Okada well she tries and not in troll/perv mode like she with Aquarion EVOL or Black Rock Shooter atm lol. Though her involvement as lead writer for Lupin III seems to be working fabulously … for now. I swear Fujiko Mine running around without a top on was Okada’s idea…
Anyways back on point, I wholeheartedly agree with this blog post. Some Key (and by extension Kyoani) fans think they should get S-class treatment for everything. And out of Key-related animes, I only thought half of Kanon (2006) and Clannad After Story (until episode 18 or 19, after that, it was trash) were great. Large portions of Kanon, the entirety of Clannad S1 and Angel beats were largely slapstick comedy spam and rather bad.
I do however, wish J.C. Staff will go back and do some noitamina titles like the good old days though… I mean noitamina’s debut anime Honey and Clover was done by J.C. Staff (with Kasai and Kuroda on the production team).
I think there’s a bit of history that is at the root of it. The rest is as much as entitlement as much as an expectation fans have for IPs because of who has it.
The announcement did surprise me, but I’m not upset at the very least since I have read in the past that Kyoto Animation can’t do it because they are busy. People don’t realize this, but they are a small studio compared to the big names. This is probably why they only work on a few productions last year such as Nichijou and the K-On movie.
I think people have way too high expectations and let down because JC Staff is mostly a hit and miss studio. This doesn’t mean that they are bad since they made some great anime in the past, but it’s overshadowed by mediocre light novel adaptations.But yeah, the studio shouldn’t matter if they have a good production team and do it correctly. As for me, I’m just happy that there is finally a Little Busters anime after all these years and I will definitely watch it when the time comes.
I can understand somewhat, people have seen Kyoto Animation’s past attempts of KEY stuff, and they have been good, or even fantastic, whereas J.C. Staff has done none, and it is a very hit and miss studio. I wouldn’t dismiss J.C. Staff, but the announcement would make me more anxious.
For example, if FMP were to come back, but Gonzo were doing it, whilst I’d be happy that it were coming back, I’d be incredibly anxious as to whether it would be any good or not, especially because of the recent Last Exile: Fam is so great. I’d even think “I’d be happier if Kyoto Animation was doing it”.
So I do understand where people are coming from, however getting angry at J.C. Staff is pointless, and since some of their stuff is actually pretty good, they should at least wait and see before attacking the studio. Of course, some might say that they’d prefer for there never to be an adaptation rather than have a crap one, which I can somewhat sympathize with, but since it might actually be very good, I would have thought they’d like to take the chance.
I’ve tried to argue recently that the deciding factor for the fate of the Little Busters adaptation isn’t the studio, it’s the director, and now that I’ve learned Yamakawa Yoshiki is directing it, well, I’m not sure what that indicates. Hatsukoi Limited was better than it had the right to be, but it still wasn’t a very good anime by any stretch of the imagination, while Kill Me Baby is mediocre in its best moments. However, the outrage is ridiculous given the project is barely in the initial stages of production. You’re spot on about the fans acting entitled. I’d also say they’re being precious, but that’s nothing new from otaku.
I’ll push back on a few of your points, just because I can.
JC Staff has proven themselves to be relatively mediocre studio, time and time again. Absent Kasawi/Nagai/Kuroda, JC Staff makes some of the most mediocre shows every season. In addition, JC Staff most certainly lacks the technical know-how of Kyoto Animation or PA Works. The average animation quality of their shows is simply worse.
Now, I argue that none of this is problematic. In fact, this may have been a smart move by Key. Little Busters! is not classic Key. Classic Key ended with Clannad. We haven’t had a proper Jun Maeda tearjerker in years (even if Maeda has continued to work at Key, the types of stories he’s writing has changed.)It’s only fitting that a new studio with a different artistic vision directs a completely different kind of show. Ironically apt.
One thing to note: the “nonexistent” Tsukihime was a huge sales hit, it sold over 14k units on average. People who propagated its nonexistency have done a very good job at fooling everybody.
I agree 100%.
Yes, I was WORRIED about what JC Staff may do, but KYOANI turned down KEY multiple times. If Key decides JC Staff is their best second, then I wish for the best.
The studio, while having some flops, does have a lot of good (and/or well received) adaptations under its belt: Bakuman, Toradora!, Toaru Majutsu no Index, Ghost Hunt, Shana, Slayers, Azumanga Daioh, even Utena just to name a few.
Seeing hatred toward the studio and an anime that has yet to be made is almost sickening. Most of what I see it “it isn’t KyoAni so it is going to suck JC just makes it worse”.
As for animation quality concerns that some have brought up: LB is slice of life… HOW much animation do you think it NEEDS? They’ll be able to concentrate on making it look great for the slow moments that won’t take much effort, and then put extra effort into any action scenes. Most of the “poor animation” series were action heavy so this counteracts it.
@Spinarakk
I just find it funny myself because I loved the Tsukihime VN so if anyone had a reason to be prejudice it should be me, but I’m definitely wiling to give them the chance to impress.
@Mike
One thing interesting to note is the writer/series composition is a guy who has never worked for JC staff before. In fact most of his work has been on children day time shows mostly. He has experience with long running works.
I do think the better JC staff would show up for this.
@Acejem
JC Staff and notamina were a match made in harmony back in the day, it is a shame they never gone back to that vein. They did strike financial success there too.
I actually kind of do prefer the JC palette over the shiny KyoAni days myself.
@Omo
Well historically it has always been KyoAni, but they were already out of the picture and explicitly stated they had no time for it. That’s why I don’t get this attitude. It wasn’t like their beloved studio was ever going to take up this property, and they should be damn happy someone chose to do it.
@chikorita157
Indeed it was a surprise, but for me it was more of a pleasant one. There are far worst studios that could have gotten their hands on this title. At least JC has a good enough potential to do good and for me that is enough to say just wait and see.
@Fumoffu!
Yeah I do acknowledge there are some reasons to have some reservations, but I just didn’t like the fact that they cried so hard about it, pushed back so much that the President of Visual Arts even had to come out to quell their worries. So sure, have some healthy skepticism, but at least let them air the damn thing before crucifying them.
@SK
Studio usually correlates with visual quality, director with more of an overall well put together production. I agree that director is the overall most overriding factor for most anime, but this is especially true when you got anime original works. You only need a competent director to simply adapt something, not an amazing one in the vein of somebody like Shinciro Watanabe.
As I mentioned above I think the interesting thing to note is that the writer has never worked for JC staff and has worked on many long running day time kids shows. He has experience with composing series of long length, something Little Busters! will be.
@Akira
Sure, but JC staff is a huge studio that gets contracted for large volumes of shows every year. I think it’s silly to compare them to the likes of KyoAni who only ever worked on 1, MAYBE 2 shows at a time and could give an absurd level of attention to detail. That’s why I said some of these fans are too entitled, what they expect for their shows is something very very few studios would ever be able to do.
And you know what? I’ve never been a big fan of KyoAni visuals regardless. Like someoene mentioned above they love their glare and shininess, in past works not so much anymore, and that I found to be kind of ugly. Fluid? Sure. But their backgrounds were never that great for me. Their strength was their ability to adapt, though arguably I would say their jobs on Kanon2006 and Clannad were not so good. And JC staff has shown with certain franchises recently that they can get it down, so I see no reason to worry. From an aesthetic point of view I also prefer them, when they put in a decent budget. It may not be as fluid, but I like the looks better.
As a side note I’ve never been the biggest Maeda fan, I actually prefer Naoki Hisaya who was more of the main scenario writer for kanon2006. So really, there’s never been “one” image KEY had in any of their works.
@Cyth
Well critical and financial reception are certainly two different things.
@Bane
Yeah this isn’t a high action packed show, so it’s not like they’re going to be worries about blowing a budget every episode. If they can make it aesthetically pleasing, and not have the animation look too choppy, that’s all a Little Busters! anime really needs. They don’t need top tier Ghibi like fluidness in every episode, that’s simply ridiculous.
The historic reason has to do with why KyoAni was chosen to do some Key works in the first place. It’s not because they have done it (the very first Kanon was Toei), but because there’s a bit of history/story behind it in which made possible for KyoAni to animated the other works.
It has very little to nothing to do with anything you’ve brought up actually.
Reckoner, I was going to just reply with a link to my “10 Things” articles I wrote a while ago, but then I noticed that the WordPress algorithm did it for me with the “Related Posts” section. Good show WordPress.
I disagree with the thesis of your argument, because I don’t think you understand the fans’ reasoning at all.
I think you have way too much “thankfulness” that any studio would take a Little Busters! adaptation at all. Here’s the problem: if a poor animation studio takes on the project, then the potential for an even better adaptation is lost for years, or even indefinitely. Kanon fans were lucky, but I don’t think anyone wants to count on there being a re-adaptation years from now. If not now, then there might still be a chance for Kyoto Animation to go back to their roots and animate a Key series in the next year or two. Given the last few things that KyoAni has produced, I have to wonder if this might be as good for them as it would for Key. But with JC Staff taking LB!, now they REALLY won’t have any interest.
So in that sense, it would be better if *nobody* animated it than for it to be taken by a lesser studio. There’s no need to be “thankful” that someone took on the project at all.
As for JC Staff – I have watched and liked a fair number of things they made. ToraDora was an excellent adaptation. I won’t complain about Tsukihime even after having read the VN. Shakugan no Shana was weak source material, and they adapted it directly. But they completely ruined Yumekui Merry, and their typical light novel adaptation projects are regular and mediocre. Time and again, the studio has demonstrated an institutional lack of creativity and innovation in adaptation; they don’t think of ways that the work could be better suited to the anime format, they translate it as directly as possible. This is the opposite of Kyoto Animation, and with an inexperienced director and a work as complex as Little Busters! (yes, I’ve read the whole thing) it’s cause for concern.
The classical “JC Staff” faded color palette works for some series and looks terrible on others; I know it would be a mismatch with Little Busters! as well. Their use of CG is still awkward and cheap compared to a studio like Kyoto Animation that has defined a new bar for 3D in 2D animation. They’re a notch up from DEEN and two notches up from Toei, but still; when everyone was expecting Kyoto Animation or PA Works, it’s a big drop in expectations.
By the way, I guess this didn’t really come through — my point was that ToraDora was a fluke, because it was a work that “naturally” adapted well with JC Staff’s usual uncreative adaptation style. I don’t think Little Busters! will work so well.
Here’s my take. Key fans can wait. Key fans have waited. Key fans might rather wait. Little Busters has been out for ages. I’m not justifying people’s reaction and I can’t speak for anyone (esp. the average idiot @ MAL) who may not be aware of what happened during the late 90s/early 00s when Key was a thing and they were all the rage. Or saw the first Kanon anime when it was all there was. Or read about the story about how KyoAni found their wings with Air and Kanon and Clannad because fans brought them together. It’s almost like finding out how the next Isao Takahata anime won’t be animated by Studio Ghibli.
You know what? I think to an extent it’s fair to raise this as a concern or complain about it. I think part of it might be overblown, I don’t know, I haven’t really looked around. But the excuse Visual Arts gave is not going to do very much.
[...] the past two days, I read two opinion pieces regarding the whole matter. Therefore, I felt the need to share my own thoughts on [...]
@Omo
I’m a bit confused at what you’re trying to get at. Historically why KyoAni has done it, leading people to believe they should continue to do it? You’re saying how Toei butchered it, so that’s why KyoAni did it and in better fashion so they’re sensitive to crappier adaptions?
@TIF
Nothing new indeed. A lot of fans have always sucked and will continue to suck.
@mDuo13
Again why is JC Staff such a poor studio? Have they already butchered it? It’s not out yet, and it can very well impress. Secondly, this is why I mentioned entitlement. Why does it have to be KyoAni or the high road? Why should KyoAni do something they clearly have no current interest in doing in the near future? I understand what the fans are thinking. I understand there are causes for reservation, especially considering things like the Toei butchering. But this overreaction? Absolutely not.
1. They’re begging PA works to animate Little Busters? Ahahahahahahahahaha, oh wow. After Angel Beats (where it was proven that they could NOT rein in the excesses of Maeda et al), I’d be wary of giving them another Key work until they cut their teeth with other adaptations.
2. The best JC Staff work will forever be Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko. If Shinbo would return to JC Staff just to direct this, the entire show will be so glorious the entire fanbase will have to shut their gaps.
3. The entitlement issue appears to be a much bigger malaise that is affecting the anime community. It is a shame that people would rather have THEIR needs gratified than trying to enjoy the show on it’s merits.
4. There will never be a planetarian anime T_T
Bah, some people just think too much. Just watch the show and then see whether it sucks or not. Seeing the production studio or the director only say so much; heck, even if GONZO produced this show, it wouldn’t guarantee that it’s bound to fail (the studio still did Gankutsuou, mind you).
So I say, just shut up and wait for first before whipping out the pitchforks.
Agreed with your main point. We need to be glad that Little Busters was even highlighted at all, and at this point there just isn’t enough evidence to call it a bad adaptation.
But to be fair, VN-adapted anime are still being treated lousily, just not as often as before. The typically large stories of VNs are more suited for 26 episodes or more, but we still have big, popular VNs being shoehorned into 12-episode anime like the recent Majikoi, which I’ve heard was a travesty compared to the VN. The really popular and well-respected VNs like Steins;Gate, Amagami, and Key’s VNs are treated better than in the past, but VN adaptations still have a way to go.
I think the reason why KyoAni handled a bunch of Key anime was because originally Key (and their fans) were less than happy about Toei’s Kanon. Probably due to contractual reasons, what happened afterward was that both KyoAni and Toei did their adaptations for whatever the reason, contrary to typical business sense. It was made possible because both fans and Visual Arts folks worked at it so the end result was something fans liked.
There used to be a great write up about the KyoAni story and how they ended up adopting Air for the first time. Can’t find it easily. But the gist was it was the idea of a few fans and their networking that made it happen.
Yo, Couldn’t find your contact info. But..
I just found this a second ago, not sure if you’ve seen it yet or not. It doesn’t have many views yet.. It’s a trailer for something called PES (peace eco smile). It looks AWESOME. It’s through the Toyota company, however Studio 4C is producing it — So naturally it looks pretty darn good!
Here’s the YouTube link for it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUmBwuWHwLY
…I figured you’d like to see it and I know your readers like me would love to see it. Let me know what you think!!! I think the first episode is supposed to come out in a month… And then a new one every month or so. (from what I’ve read)
Keep up the good work. Love the site.
Your reader,
Ben
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