Vampire Weekend's vocalist is making an anime starring Jaden Smith

[Chapinator_X]

How is this anime real if our eyes aren't real?

 

https://www.polygon.com/2017/9/7/16269106/netflix-jaden-smith-ezra-koenig-anime-neo-yokio

 

Hope my power will be back on by the time this comes out so I can see what on Earth this could be about.

[Hidden]

i see jaden is living out his dream of cosplaying as lil uzi vert.

 

http://thefader-res.cloudinary.com/images/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best/Fader_105_Lil_Uzi_RachelChandler_WEB_201606300001_cxrlrh/lil-uzi-vert-interview-the-perfect-luv.jpg[/img]

[MasqueradeOverture]

They obviously spent most of the budget on the voice cast (animation looks like shit).

[Jman]

From what I understand, this is a leftover project from Fox's old Animation Domination that never saw the light of day before Fox shitcanned the entire block.

 

That block was most notable for a brief animated adaptation of Axe Cop.  You know, the comic that's literally a guy transcribing the play of a little kid?

[Daos]

I saw some stuff on the animation domination block. Surprised any of it aired on TV it was embarrassingly bad.

 

Maybe they were just taking wild shots trying to find the next Family Guy?

[Jman]

I saw some stuff on the animation domination block. Surprised any of it aired on TV it was embarrassingly bad.

 

Maybe they were just taking wild shots trying to find the next Family Guy?

 

That's exactly what it was.  It was right before the Netflix conquest began and animation began to be bought by them en masse.

[mochi]

Why is this happening?

[mochi]

They obviously spent most of the budget on the voice cast (animation looks like shit).

[Jman]

Why is this happening?

 

It's a cheap leftover project that's already complete and has some name value thanks to the voice talent.  It's gonna attract a few filthy casuals.

[StarPanda]

I'll watch

[Jman]

Also Steve Buscemi is in it.

 

[Ric]

Looks better than a lot of the Toonami lineup.

[Jman]

Looks better than a lot of the Toonami lineup.

 

Yeah but the source...

[mochi]

Looks better than a lot of the Toonami lineup.

[The1gairon]

Also Steve Buscemi is in it.

 

 

Steve Buscemi is in anything.

[Sandstone]

Steve Buscemi has become like Samuel L. Jackson and Nicholas Cage in recent years. Though I generally like most of Buscemi and Jackson's roles this probably won't be the case though. Can't say the same about the bulk of Nicholas Cage's roles though, I like maybe 2 of them out of the 100s of shit roles he's shoveled out over the years.

[The1gairon]

I would LOVE to see Nicolas Cage in an anime.

 

I put it best quoting the director of Igor: "We got Steve, and he's like an 'actors' actor', so when he came on, were were able to get a ton of other hilarious actors on too."  It looks like his role in Neo Yokio will be tiny though.

[Sandstone]

That's because most full actors (dunno what to call it without disparaging voice acting as a whole) can't be bothered to voice animated stuff unless they are being paid big bucks and it has an underlying political or social message they want to promote to get kudos from the public.

[scope]

Ezra: "What should we put in this to make it seem like an anime?"

 

Writer: "Let's show a robot watching tennis"

[ben0119]

So is this that anime parody show that Netflix was coming out with?

[ben0119]

That's because most full actors (dunno what to call it without disparaging voice acting as a whole) can't be bothered to voice animated stuff unless they are being paid big bucks and it has an underlying political or social message they want to promote to get kudos from the public.

 

Where do voice actors fall on the totem pole with commercial actors and reenactment actors?

[DragonSinger]

I've been enjoying most of it(definitely has its flaws), but there's a lot of slowdown in episode 5 once the series starts focusing on actual plot. When it's just the main character getting into dumb shit with his friends/frenemies/family because of his jobs, it's really entertaining, but attempting a parody with a social message underneath requires more skill than what the showrunners had.

[naraku360]

I've been enjoying most of it(definitely has its flaws), but there's a lot of slowdown in episode 5 once the series starts focusing on actual plot. When it's just the main character getting into dumb shit with his friends/frenemies/family because of his jobs, it's really entertaining, but attempting a parody with a social message underneath requires more skill than what the showrunners had.

I'm happy to know it's out.

 

I'm going to go totally watch it through a completely legal means so I can make fun of it.

[Chapinator_X]

I still don't have wifi because AT&T, but it's good I have something to look forward to once they stop milking people hit by Irma of our data.

 

I guess there's also YOLOing it by watching the show in public with Starbucks wifi. That might be more fun.

[naraku360]

I guess there's also YOLOing it by watching the show in public with Starbucks wifi. That might be more fun.

Be sure to 'forget' your headphones at home for the greatest experience.

[naraku360]

That first episode was much harder to digest than expected. The plot structure was extremely generic; down on his luck protag has to overcome adversity and such, but the tone was a complete clusterfuck. I can't tell if it's supposed to be serious or if the extreme heavy-handedness of the "mature" tone is a part of a larger joke.

[Cau]

Just watched this last night, it was horrible.

 

Not even in the good way where it's so bad it's good, except for a few spots.

 

I do love the big toblerones though.

[mochi]

I mean the only animes on netflix I've ever found to be worth watching were, Little witch Acadamia, the Seven Deadly sins and Kuromukuro

 

I'll be blunt

 

I'm still waiting for Netflix to produce a gay anime (as I've said a million times)

 

since I'm pretty sure we're ever getting another Yuri on ice is if it's produced to appeal to a viewer market OUTSIDE of Japan like YOI was

 

I don't HAVE to only watch gay stuff, but if I had the OPTION to watch a gay romance over a million heterosexual ones, I would, that's all I'm saying

[The1gairon]

Lord knows the Japanese studios won't produce a "gay" anime like Yuri on Ice. That was a once-in-a-blue-moon deal and it took a director with a secure bit of acclaim to do it.  It needs to be made by a company like Netflix, or Crunchyroll (yes, Crunchyroll is going to have its first produced anime this season). 

 

I LOVE Toblerones. But I get the impression it was very random in the show.  We're supposed to accept it becauuuuse...... the main character likes it???  You can't just be random for random's sake!

 

And yeah.  Netflix NEVER EVER advertises anime they get! At all! In any way, as opposed to how they do with their live-action series!

[PokeNirvash]

I LOVE Toblerones. But I get the impression it was very random in the show.  We're supposed to accept it becauuuuse...... the main character likes it???  You can't just be random for random's sake!

[DragonSinger]

That first episode was much harder to digest than expected. The plot structure was extremely generic; down on his luck protag has to overcome adversity and such, but the tone was a complete clusterfuck. I can't tell if it's supposed to be serious or if the extreme heavy-handedness of the "mature" tone is a part of a larger joke.

 

Most of it isn't serious except for parts in relation to

the inequality in Neo Yokio and the scenes pointing out that Kaz is an absolute jackass, which all failed in execution.

 

 

I can tell that the show was aiming for a Clueless vibe and ended up more like a bad 90's cartoon. That's probably why it didn't bother me so much. It's terribleness is nostalgic for me, even the giant Toblerone bar which I've had the joy of holding when I was a kid.

[naraku360]

Just watched this last night, it was horrible.

 

Not even in the good way where it's so bad it's good, except for a few spots.

 

I do love the big toblerones though.

"I love sports!" was the best line in the entire first episode. That's all I've watched at the moment, though.

 

I also love Jaden's completely indifferent ramblings about the "death" of his relationship.

[Cau]

"I love sports!" was the best line in the entire first episode. That's all I've watched at the moment, though.

 

I also love Jaden's completely indifferent ramblings about the "death" of his relationship.

That is how he does most of his dialog.

[Chapinator_X]

Just watched the first episode and got a kick out of it. It took the wealthy uppercrust vapidness of Clueless and mashed it up with some pre-teen anime fan's Newgrounds creation. It has as much to do with anime as Totally Spies, but much like that show, it revels in how absurd its creative decisions are such as its love affair with the bourgeois NY high fashion scene and classical music. Hiring Jaden was icing on the cake with his love of self-important monologues about the emotional state of humanity, but spoken through the indifferent, spotty delivery of an amateur VA with a Voice Acting Alliance account. It revels in its pretentious cast and dialogue, but with the script, animation, story, and acting of a Deviantart creator's passion project.

 

This is not a good show by all accounts. There are a few people who are really eating up their roles like Jason Schwartzman. The other characters are, for the most part, voicing as if they're playing themselves. The only times it stood out in a good way were those random Richard Ayoade appearances where he plays along with the terrible script by cheerfully delivering every line as a salesclerk. Whoever voices Helena stands out particularly as just as bad if not worse than Jaden.

 

However, I got many laughs from the "so bad it's good" vibe the show gave me, like where Kaz is interrupted from sleeping in his own custom made grave to lecture an old man about spraying his late wife with her favorite perfume because it is out-of-fashion, Kaz trying to calm down the possessed Helena by taking in her designer jacket, the field hockey game, or the catty rivalry between Kaz and Archangelo. Jaden's monologues about his crumbling emotional state were great too, especially undercut with the dry responses from "one of our finest actors," Jude Law.

 

I'd be convinced that this could've been made as a cheap live-action show or with more Westernized art, and nothing would've changed. The anime aesthetics are present to look as hip and trendy as the show's personality, but because Totally Spies went out of fashion more than a decade ago, the whole show feels like it was made as a joke. Where it was made less for entertainment and more as something to air muted on an LCD screen in a high fashion designer store as if it's artwork by Takashi Murakami or Sebastian Masuda to act as visual candy while they spent their fortune on the newest couture. For further reference on what I'm talking about, see FFXIII's Lightning modeling for Louis Vuitton, the Gucci campaign with Jolyne Kujou of JJBA, Kanye West and Gwen Stefani's 2006-2009 love affair with Japanese artists, and other things. Its anime/manga/JRPG influence have no bearing on anything other than the colorful, stylized aesthetic fitting well with the vision of lively high fashion. However, the TS similarities make it less like Harajuku Girls and more like Derelicte from Zoolander.

 

In the process, I feel like I ended up sounded pretentious writing this, but it's what first came to mind once I finished the first episode. The TL;DR version is that this is a terrible show that I had alot of fun laughing at/with. I'm looking forward to seeing if it gets any better or worse, but in comparison to other really terrible shit that's shown up on Netflix lately, I had the most fun with this shit.