I’m extremely excited to highlight this topic and have longed to write a brief musing once passing through my stint of procrastination. This could be a valid extension of my Live-Action musing I wrote last year: https://planetwu.com/majesty-and-magic-lost-with-poor-adaptations-to-the-flesh/. I am a huge connoisseur of excellent animation.

Which has led to numerous discussions and debates with fellow comrades that rival the snootiest animation folks in my experience, about anime studios I view to be essentially the current 4 kings of top tier animation. And really the most intense debate on the subject is usually with my friend, DrLeg3nd. He is a rabid Ufotable fanboy, so his pick has already been who his undisputed number 1 is. But he’s still a fair bit green. However my selection is a bit more nuanced.

Mappa: The Rising God King of the North

One of Attack on Titan most epic moments

While Ufotable does spectacular effects and is extremely high of quality,  the quantity leaves quite a bit to be desired, I believe the rising star, Mappa is more to my vibe and is an extraordinary, absolute freaking workhorse. Currently they are tasked with Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man, Vinland Saga S2, the Election Arc of Hunter X Hunter, Jigoku Raku, One Punch Man S3, Campfire Cooking in Another World. Honestly I may be forgetting some. Their current resume is astounding and their quality is extremely consistent despite their incredibly high bar and numerous projects. A very reasonable fear is them stretching themselves thin, but to counteract that seemingly, they have long production cycles and seasons are split into parts. The last season of Attack on Titan is split into 3 parts for Final Season. And the Final Season is split into 2 parts. So a running joke is that they really don’t understand the concept of Final. However I do not mind at all. Quality has costs, and I’d prefer if the story is finished with all the spectacle it deserves. This anime in my whole opinion is absolutely incredible for numerous reasons, some of which I explored in this musing: https://planetwu.com/being-shackled-by-unhealthy-compulsions-often-drives-unhealthiness/

The Eastern King of Visuals: Ufotable

They are incredibly noteworthy with insane visual effects and production values. Especially with their movies, OVAs (Original Video Animation), and key game series. Their most noteworthy projects of recent, are within the Fate series and Demon Slayer series. As I said in my introduction, my friend is a rabid fan of Ufotable. It’s for extremely good reasons he has gone overboard a lot of the time when they are concerned and have made questionable comments such as what I mentioned earlier, which just sounds absurd. Despite having crazy, movie-like animation for some anime, I honestly don’t rate them as highly as he does. In recent memory, they’ve only either done Fate adaptation anime or game anime adaptations like Tales Of Zestiria, Symphonic, and Touken Ranbu. Now they have Demon Slayer to add, which does carry on the tradition of spectacular effects and splendid choreography. And in my opinion one of the best Shonen anime currently that constantly goes toe to toe with Hero Academia. They are incredible for the effects. So much it is pretty much other worldly.

The King of South: The Noble Studio Trigger 

These guys are my personal favorites. I’m a huge fan of animation and expressiveness. I just love animation, and muse about my adoration in my animation musing. This Studio is an absolute master of the craft. From fights of clashing swords on Honnouji Academy grounds, to wage supernatural battles at Senko High School taking refuge at Anima City with other animal hybrids, or causing havok and mischief in Edge City. The stories and worlds are incredibly unique from one another and their animation breathes so much life, excellence,  and personality to compliment them. A huge reason I’m such a fan of animation is because it is the beating heart of the characters and world. It is precisely one of the largest elements I love of Komi Can’t Communicate. Because it’s an anime all about a girl overcoming her social phobia and is represented as the most emotive character. This series is a recurring element for me and I mused about it here: https://planetwu.com/romance-thrives-hearts-throbs-love-blossoms/ and my animation musing. I’m an immense romantic. But back on the subject, I can’t help but to gush about Trigger. Top notch animation that just pleases with both comedy, charm, and spectacle.

The Elden King of the West: Bones

Another studio that has awesome animation and a suite of anime that they have worked on. One of my favorite anime in the past decade is one of their animations: Mob Psycho. The anime is heavily emotive and an absolute combat spectacle. Another of my favorites is Noragami which is an incredibly distinctive animation and art from Mob Psycho. Another is the awesome Space Dandy which oozes incredible style and musical swagger. And speaking of musical swagger, they’ve animated Carole and Tuesday. And they also handled the exhilarating Super Crooks, which in my opinion has likely the most OverPowered psychic I’ve seen in superhero anime and is one of the most mature superhero animations I’ve seen. Just incredible.

Honorable Mentions

What do you think? Do you vibe with my list? Or have disagreements? Suggestions?

Chime ya thoughts below

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