Arknights: Prelude to Dawn (Arknights: Reimei Zensou) got its first visual, and like most posters, it looks great! But there are plenty of reasons to worry about the Arknights TV anime, and I’m about to go through the biggest worries about the show! I’ll be looking into the animation studio, and the two first-time directors that’ll be working on it.
Yostar Pictures – The Right Studio For The Job?
Yostar Pictures is creating the Arknights: Prelude to Dawn TV anime, which was expected, as the studio created the Arknights ONA in 2019. Thus, the studio is handling the product, and it’s going to be interesting to see how they approach this adaptation, based on a game. When you consider that Yostar Pictures is a rather new anime studio, with their first anime being Azur Lane in 2019, it will be fascinating to see how they approach this project. While the studio has a good style, their shows haven’t really been hits, with the latest being Sorairo Utility. It was met with a luke-warm reception, as predicted.
The fact of the matter is that Yostar Pictures isn’t a proven studio, which means that there’s a real cause for concern. Keep in mind, none of the anime created by the studio has a rating over 7.00 on MyAnimeList, which is a good indication of how mediocre the studio’s anime are considered. But is that a big deal? Not really. However, it’ll make less people certain that they’ll get a quality show, and thus, they might not tune in when Arknights animation airs. So it’s important to make sure that the advertisement is on point, otherwise the anime adaptation will fail before it releases.
The reason I worry is very simple; Yostar Pictures has a very simplistic style, that’s great visually, but wouldn’t be great in action sequences. But it’s something I worry about with every studio, as it’s difficult to animate action scenes (or anything where there’s a lot going on on-screen). However, I am willing to give them a benefit of the doubt, as the studio is still “new”. While that’s not an excuse, I feel like they are getting better. In all honesty, it all depends on the angle of the story, as Arknights is a game. Thus, the story the studio will adapt is going to be all over the place!
2 First-Time Directors Will Work On Arknights?
What about the director? Yuuki Watanabe will direct Arknights: Prelude to Dawn, but what is his experience level when it comes to directing? Believe it or not, this will be Yuuki Watanabe’s first job as a director! While he has worked as an animation director (GJ Club, Love Lab), Arknights will be his first time actually directing the entire show.
Masataka Nishikawa working as the assistant director, so what does it mean for Arknights? Well, he directed Breakers in 2020, but he’s most known for being an animation director, just like Yuuki Watanabe. Whether or not this is problematic is difficult to say, but he’ll be trying something new, just like Watanabe.
I’m curious how this will play out, and I’m sure that I’m not alone, right? We’ve got two animation directors, who’ll step into the helm of the ship, and that’s gonna be very interesting. While I don’t know the business-side of things, this doesn’t seem like a good decision.
Arknights Teaser Trailer Doesn’t Give Us Anything
While it’s merely a teaser, it’s an absolutely terrible way to get people excited, isn’t it? There’s not much to discuss about this short snippet. We don’t actually see anything. Thus, I can’t really give a better take on it. But they could’ve given us more, even if it’s a 1st promo. There’s no excuse for this.
I’m Hopeful. I Won’t Hold My Breath.
Considering that Arknights is a free-to-play tower-defense game, I’m not sure what to expect from this anime adaptation by Yostar Pictures. While the characters look very interesting, and there’s a decent variety to the themes and storylines, it’s just difficult to adapt a game into an anime, right? Maybe it’s just my perception, but there’s far too much to cover, and impossible to know what the studio SHOULD cover, you know? Video games are often considered traps because of that, as it is like running through a field of landmines, not knowing what to include and what to exclude in an adaptation.
Honestly, I’ll keep myself positive about Arknights. But I’m not holding my breath, considering that it’s created by Yostar Pictures and directed by two first-time directors. I am not going to stand here and say that I’m confident in this production, because I’m not. I just hope that I’m wrong and wish the best to everybody involved, as I’ll keep my eyes very close to this project, in hopes of a good quality product!
For more on the Arknights anime, please visit the official website!
