Warning: The following contains spoilers for Episodes 1-3 of Gachiakuta, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
I was gonna turn the title of this post into something like “This Anime is Trash” or something evocative of the central motif of garbage present in the story, but then I remembered that every reviewer on YouTube has already made that joke. I also remembered not immediately picking up on the joke and getting a little pissed, thinking, “What the fuck are these people smoking?” The thing is, it’s undeniably effective clickbait; it just already feels played out (not that my title ideas are any better, clearly).
To the surprise of no one who has read my writing before, I love Studio Bones. Their shows have consistently been among my favorites of all time, be they original projects or adaptations, and for over 25 years, they’ve been a shining beacon in an industry full of beloved studios. But sometimes I feel like I need to brace myself for the day when my favorite studio will “fall off”. I’m not getting any younger, and the same can be said of the artists behind my favorite works of film and television.
I think it was The Canipa Effect on YouTube who said that studios aren’t actually important. What matters are the artists behind the studio. When you get right down to it, it’s not “Bones” that I have to thank for my favorite shows. It’s the producers and founders like Masahiko Minami, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, and the late Hiroshi Osaka. It’s also Bones’ directors, like Tensai Okamura, Takuya Igarashi, Rie Matsumoto, Kenji Nagasaki, Masahiro Ando, and none other than Shinichiro Watanabe.
Of course, I say all this, but Bones still has that dog in them. Mob Psycho 100 is one of the most well-animated TV series of the past decade. Bungo Stray Dogs continues to be one of the highest-quality manga adaptations out there. My Hero Academia Season 7 was so good that I tried to nominate it for Anime of the Year at this year’s anime awards (albeit to no avail). Like, come on, they just announced a new adaptation of a series from the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist. They’re doing fine.
The thing is, studios change. It’s natural, because the people working there age and pass what they know down to new people. Those new people might kick ass and bring the studio into a brave new era, and maybe those new people fuck it up. Most of the time, it’s nothing so clear as either one of those. I guess what I’m trying to say is that, in trying to prevent myself from becoming a bitter old man or a stan that refuses to criticize something, I want to be more critical of Studio Bones. You see, it’s just a little tough, though, because so far, Gachiakuta is pretty fucking cool.
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