A little while ago…actually I have no clue when this will actually publish so maybe some months ago… I watched A Whisker Away and I was completely charmed by the beautiful views of the city that were present throughout the movie. When an anime captures the beauty of the world surrounding the characters it can be really breathtaking and memorable.
There are a bunch of shows that I watched in part because they were set in such beautifully illustrated worlds. And I’ve got the urge to share some of them with you. I’ve narrowed it down to 6 largely because I actually have screen caps of these readily available but there are so many more examples. The Flying Witch comes to mind…
Be warned, if a picture is worth a thousand words, you are about to get an encyclopedia of a post. Cause there’s gonna be lots of pictures you see… You got it, then I ruined it by explaining it… Let’s pretend nothing happened, back to the post:
Sure, this series had its fair share of flaws. Arguably more. But one thing I don’t think we can fault it for is how beautiful it made the classical Japanese landscape look. It adapted a precise architectural style with multitudes of straight fine lines to really work in the details and contrast Western style buildings with traditional Japanese ones. A pleasure for any architecture buff.
Well this was a given. In fact you have probably seen this exact montage in my Whisker Away review. I forgot to talk about the alienation of the main character being symbolized through the scarecrows.. well I’m taking about it here where it will make no sense. Because I’m good at this! Also, yay, pretty screen grabs.
Somewhere along the way I sort of lost the enthusiasm I had for this series but one thing that never changed was the wonderment I had at the sight of Somali’s rich, incredibly varied and simply magical world. The very first seconds of the series open on a lush forest which captivated me and still has me in awe.
Believe me when I say these screen caps are not doing Kyusougiga justice. The weird looking glass world, unrestrained by conventional physics, looks both inviting and off at the same time. It’s soft but frantic and familiar yet unreal. It is a place that has a personality all of it’s own and the bold art style really brings it out. Also, if you haven’t watched Kyousougiga, you should just tab out and do that right now.
It is possible that I just like vaguely London inspired settings. And by possible I mean it’s that. It’s definitely that. Princess Principal turned out to be very different from what I expected and it part that was due to just how cool the town and school looked. A little gritty and grimy but lovingly rendered in meticulous detail. Kudos.
I mentioned it in my review but the city in Blood Blockade Battlefront just seems so alive and full. The backdrops are positively littered with interesting little details that just make the place feel so real and lived in. This series is the one that prompted me to create a specific Pinterest board just to keep landscapes and architectural screencaps in because I couldn’t get enough of looking at sci fi vampire New York…
Like I said, these are just a few series, there are a lot more. Are there any anime in which you really enjoyed the scenery? Or maybe a show where the interior designs were awesome, those are not as frequent in my experience.
