SHAFT, their distinctive distinction

As most animation in the Japanese industry is created from pre-existing work such as comics, the style tends to vary very slightly from the original, usually only simplifying it in order to make it feasible for animation. But here are some points that usually make shaft what they are.

Deranged Animation – characters and scenes are often freed from the shackles of reality. Ordinary objects that resemble something real can all of a sudden turn into the most outrageous things that you probably would never have thought of unless you were on drugs.

Warping of an image to add a feeling of surreal imagery 

the same person changing the way he is being drawn in under 10 seconds of the same scene. from left to right normal, serious face with a completly pointless line, over the top deranged reaction that youd expect from a different genre of actual toon like cartoons.

Varied Art Styles – while animations are typically drawn, shaft has a habit of mixing it up adding various forms such as stop motion and cut out animations to the mix all in the same episode. This makes for very pleasurable viewing (if it’s to your tastes at least) but sometimes it just helps something regular look extraordinary.

Medium Blending – Mixing Live action sequences/ backdrops with traditional 2d animation or vice versa,  this was used a lot in sayonara, Zetsubo Sensei and also in Puella Magi Madoka Magica for backgrounds and objects.

Shout Outs – There shows are packed full of shout outs that are meant to signify there family members of any sourses of information, there usually not obvious to the general viewer, but there are plenty. Some of these are often used to point out past mess-ups or solve controversy’s that the fans may have been curious about but unsure of for previous shows.

Unreadably Fast Text – they have a habit of scrolling usually relevant text unreadable fast across the screen, at some points even the characters get annoyed about it.

A head tild – They have a head tilt that they WILL force into any show they create it is not a SHAFT show without it so donot belive anyone who tells you it is. The head tilt usually serves no purpous and can happen at any time for example, in times of happiness, surprise, curiousness, deep thought, love, admiration, superiority, blankness, sinister thoughts, basically whenever the director feels like it!

Unmoving Patterns – characters wearing outfits with complex patterns will keep their orientation regardless of the angle. While shaft use this a lot their have been other studios who have taken this to a much higher extreme.

Who ever said that was normal – they will up the FPS and quality of a scene coupled with exaggerated movements randomly just to make a boring everyday thing look extraordinary.

Surreal theme tunes - the endings and/or openings to the shows will always feature a surreal song worthy of their deranged animations whether its obscene of irrelevant, it just isn’t normal.

Full on editing – Sometimes scenes will be done completely differently from there source material just because the director wants to do it his way, as long as the story progresses in the same manner and the overall mood is in line with its original, they will feel free to explore and express.

In these scene from Denpa Onna Seishun Otoko the Aunt twirls Erio (blanket girl) around and throws her into a wall leaving only her legs dangling out of the door she smashed through, all this because Erio knocked down the table in a selfish fit. Compare it to the scene from the original comic below, not only are the characters designed differently but rather than the aunt getting angry she herself got hurt (by Erios foot touching her) and complained instead.

Don’t I know you from somewhere?! – They have a habit of bringing back the same voice actors for their shows, usually playing characters with similar personality’s to the previous ones. It just helps the shows be a lot more comfortable having a familiar sound to it and in a way ensures quality.

Blu-ray’ed –with shaft being known for their poor time management this is the only positive thing that could have been born from it. The DVD and Blu-ray releases usually get a complete quality overhaul that’s the hectic weekly schedule prevented them from creating it is one of there more promised and adored policy’s form the studio to the fans. I will be showing an example or two of this later.