The most beautiful designed anime

[relic2279]

Are the rest of the Key-based animes like this as well? If so, I need to get busy tracking down those torrents...

Kannon 2006 is close, but (imho) not as good visually as Clannad. If you like the comedy, drama and story of Clannad, you will love Kannon and Air.

Make those your next two to watch. You won't regret it.

[moonspot]

Juuni Kokuki aka Twelve Kingdoms gets my vote albeit not so overly for detail as much as artistic tastes and a..unique/refined sense of style made this anime such a joy to watch.  (I'm really hoping that my love of the story isn't clouding my perception)  I like most anime fans am drawn in by the vivd colours & shinny luster's that you only seem to find in animes.
Escaflowne, Planets, Chrno Crusade, & GITS are other fav's for similar reasons.

his and her circumstance (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou) & Ayashi no Ceres are also ones that I really liked the animation for although I can't put my finger on the reason as to why I liked them soo much...

...wait a minute...Do animes with good stories look better then others or am I unable to control my biased opinions?

does this post make sense to or resonate with anyone?

[Lizzy]

...wait a minute...Do animes with good stories look better then others or am I unable to control my biased opinions?

Must be, as Escaflowne is truly crap... just look at the noses, the angle/perspective failures and the totally outdated art (which was already ugly when it was 'in')... even oldies like Monoke look 1000x better than that
Chrno is actually also nothing special at all, standard animation.

Kare Kano is fun, but beautiful? Well, it fits very well to the topic and emotions... but don't forget the fkups later on (after the middle). *thumbs down*

[Slykester]

Personally, I find the design and presentation of Ef to be stunning.

[moonspot]

Kare Kano is fun, but beautiful? Well, it fits very well to the topic and emotions... but don't forget the fkups later on (after the middle). *thumbs down*

agreed.  The budget cuts they had to deal with slaughtered the last 2-4 eps, however I can appreciate the "artsy fartsy" attempt at doing something different although it didn't work for me.  but I really liked the look of it overall.

Must be, as Escaflowne is truly crap... just look at the noses, the angle/perspective failures and the totally outdated art (which was already ugly when it was 'in')

yeah I've heard that compliant about the noses hundreds of times.  I don't agree with it.  I'm pretty impressed when I see an anime that actually draws noses on characters instead of a dot or some weird incredibly small triangle shape where a noise is supposed to be. 

I'm mostly impressed visually by the environments rather than just character art.  worlds and environment like those in escaflowne, crono & 12 kingdoms.  I don't agree that crono is standard at all.  Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka is standard animation, so far a good funny anime don't get me wrong, but visually nothing special.  hell in Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka visually its almost a treat when the viewer doesn't have to see Jun'ichi damn living room for half the episode <-- that's a standard anime (visually speaking...of course...)

to each he's own I guess


pssst ratnayakee,  don't listen to Lizzy, the noses in Escaflowne aren't bad

[ghostjacker]

I thought Paprika was done very well. The colors were so vibrant. The scenes with all the toys, simply amazing stuff.

[CalabiYau]

umm pardon me, but most of it is rotoscoped and not hand drawn, it's a well done rotoscoping but it's still rotoscoping, it's also relays heavily on CGI (as in 3d)

I have to strongly disagree with the popular notion that CGI is some kind of worthless stepchild of animation.  It is no less an "art" than hand-rendered techniques, nor is it much easier (in my experience it just changes what is hard).  There is much excellent work being done in 3d and 2d CGI.  Work that comes to mind is Gundam 00, Starship Operators, Gundam Seed, and Ghost in the Shell, among others.  The real trick with CGI is melding it successfully with 2d/hand-rendering, which is an art in itself that is only recently done well in any great numbers.  Experience and a good eye is required to know when and how much CGI to use.  But make no mistake, CGI is art, it is difficult, and there's a reason CGI studios get paid bank for their work on films and tv shows.

Some of the better examples of animation I've seen are Escaflowne (the movie), anything by Studio Ghibli, Patlabor (the movies), Black Magic M-66, Gundam 0083, Dennou Coil, and Ghost in the Shell (movie and SAC).  Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl features excellent filter work as well.  Ninja Scroll also easily makes the grade.

[omegadragon]

anything done by Satoshi Urushihara (Legend of Lemnear, Plastic Little, Growlanser IV OVA, Another Lady Innocent as well as the artwork he did for the Growlanser and Langizer series of games and the mangas he has produced as well as the monthly slot and cover art for COMIC Tenma)

[izikiel]

Ergo Proxy and Noein are totally beautiful, 5cm per seconds also. Last exile deserves a mention

[Lonewolf5460]

Paprika, Planetes, Real Drive i like it because of the realistic proportions the women in the show have.

[Hiiragi]

OUtof many I find attractive, I's say I have two I consider very beautiful.
One is the Utena Movie, and the other is Loveless.

[beezer08]

I'm gonna have to go with Gankutsuou.  Reason being is that the art is really unique and sets the overall tone for the show. 

Though, if by beautiful you meant realistic.....then Planetes is probably one of the best I've seen. 

[relic2279]

Iindigo and a couple others mentioned Serei No Moribito, so I started watching it. So far, the artwork matches the content. It's an instant classic. (Haven't finished it yet though)

[h1h]

I'm surprised not very many people mentioned Gankutsuou, the animation was nothing short of gorgeous and it never ceased to be for a second.

[Asuka Soryu]

I have a wide range of tastes in anime. Cowboy Bebop and Wolf's Rain are lovely. But Oh! Megumi-sama and Evangelion take the cake above all others in my opinion.

[cubensis55]

In terms of animation and design?

Kanon, Clannad, and Ergo Proxy are some of the finest I've ever seen. 

[relic2279]

Voices of a distant Star is very good.. Sadd though..


Reki

Damnit. I just watched this and it was very good, but almost to sad for me. Recommended for anyone who likes emotional anime. It's also very short, like 25 mins or so.

[Lizzy]

yeah I've heard that compliant about the noses hundreds of times.  I don't agree with it.  I'm pretty impressed when I see an anime that actually draws noses on characters instead of a dot or some weird incredibly small triangle shape where a noise is supposed to be. 

But, but, but... those noses drew my attention just to it for like 1/3 of the show XD Everytime they did a close up all my attention belonged to the noses!!! Even the thick eyesbrows in one of the ./hack OVAs didn't do that to me. Also not the partly really weird/absurd hair styles in Yu-Gi-Oh.

And there's a difference between a normal nose and nose that needs a gun license ^^

Escaflowne isn't known as THE nose anime for no reason
http://our-imagination.net/ladydragon/wallpaper/EscaflowneA1024x768jpg.jpg
http://www.kaliteliresimler.com/data/media/24/Anime_escaflowne_resimleri.jpg
http://www.animekiva.com/attachments/5/Escaflowne_pictures.jpg
http://www.kirfel.info/grafik/escaflowne/escaflowne_011.jpg (ok, that pic is actually pretty)
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k20/lynk25/Escaflowne/VonandHitomi8.jpg <--- i'd be cool if the noses were always like that!
http://www.geocities.com/anime_realm555/misc/random_pix.jpg (and not like that)

And coming with the other extreme ([almost] no noses) isn't a good argument.
But almost no noses (see most Hayao Miyazaki stuff) is still better than such long noses.

[Wizzy123]

xxxholic series was well designed. I was hooked from episode 1 and on

[mgz]

i personally enjoyed the artwork of the first kenshin ova quite a bit