Contrast in Anime (Essay)

What if I told you that the reasons why Death Parade's misleading OP fits so well with the show, Cowboy Bebop is considered to be a masterpiece, and people develop incredibly strong attachment to over the top shows like Kill la Kill and Gurren Lagann were all related to the same thing? Contrast, while not necessary for a good anime, is a mutable technique that is not often talked about but heavily colours our opinions of anime, and creative (and non-creative really) media in general.Oftentimes people will talk about watching a show that is good (or even great) in every quantifiable regard that they can think of, and yet somehow they never find themselves getting invested. We'll use Shinsekai Yori as an example here. Conversely you often see people talking about just how invested they got in a show that they recognize is "bad" by most critical metrics. Sword Art Online will be our go to for this for the purposes of this argument. I believe that the reason for this is often how well the show uses contrast in terms of tone. Shinsekai Yori is a brilliant show on an intellectual level by just about any metric, the worldbuilding is generally acclaimed as some of the best out there and the plot builds to a final message about extremely vague spoilers... But I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about being on the edge of their seat throughout the show. In fact, it is about as common to see people talk about being actively bored by it as it is to see people praising it (I know I was at points, and the show is one of my personal favorites). Part of the reason for this is obviously attributable to the characters. While the aren't unrealistic they are rather bland (by which I mean don't have many strong defining qualities or much depth to their psychology). The thing is I can list off a handful of shows with bland characters that people often talk about being invested in (note that this is not a statement of quality to the following shows, I find some shows on this list to be very good, others I do not):Death NoteMadoka MagicaKokoro ConnectSakurasouSword Art OnlineSAO is kind of my gold standard example for this, so like I said above I'll be using it for the comparison. Sword Art Online, by most metrics, simply isn't as good as Shinsekai Yori. The plot has moments of utter ridiculousness that are simply unbelievable, and while some characters are more interesting than those of SSY, this is mitigated by the ones that are completely unbelievable (and for the most part they're equally as bland). So what does SAO have that SSY does not that leads to it generating more investment from practically everyone who watches it? The answer, as you've probably guessed, is its utilization of contrast. SSY maintains approximately the same tone throughout. From episode 1 we are introduced to the generally dark and oppressive atmosphere. Even the slice of life elements throughout the show are given a creepy edge, and the general feel of creepiness and oppression never really lightens throughout the entirety of the narrative.The beginning of SAO on the other hand is presented as "fun". We get to see people playing the game lightheartedly before ep 1 spoilers The tone then shifts instantly, and the next few episodes are far darker. SAO then constantly switches between a light feel-good vibe and a darker brooding one. In the instance of SSY it is hard to get invested in the emotions and atmosphere that we are presented with because from the get-go we are numbed to it. The creepiness in the beginning does not affect us very much because we aren't invested in the story yet, and by the time we are into the story creepiness has become the status quo. It is simply there. In SAO we don't get much out of the initial show of happiness because we aren't invested yet either, but by the shock comes around ideally one is invested in the story and it hits harder than it would have had the show opened with it. Further, as the show goes on the additional tonal shifts continue to positively impact each other with a synergistic effect. The more you are experiencing the dark brooding nature of one section the more the next breath of calm feels refreshing... which in turn increases the impact when the show turns dark again as we feel as if more has been taken away, instead of a state of loss being the norm. Now this doesn't really change my stance much on the quality of either show. I still think SSY is one of the greats and that SAO is mediocre at best. That said it's important to note that it people don't like SAO because it's bad and drop SSY because they don't understand what good is. Sword Art Online has a clear definable and intentional quality that Shinsekai Yori does not, and it's perfectly legitimate for that to affect enjoyment. Below I'll list some other examples of where tonal shift impacts investment before moving on to the next section:Cowboy BebopDeath Parade's opening (the thought that sparked this entire essay) in my mind drastically makes the show better. It's a perfect example of why people should give OPs and EDs a chance, simply because sometimes they are a very intentional part of the vibe that a show is trying to present. Death Parade is a generally dark show with very little to smile at throughout its run. The OP which presents all of the characters having fun in a way totally unlike the show is not only comedic as we know it is completely different from our expectations of the episode to come, but also serves to frame said episode so that the darkness and drama have more impact. I don't consider Death Parade to be a particularly amazing show, but the contrast with the OP alone serves to enhance the impact of the show itself and ultimately improves its quality.Neon Genesis Evangelion is an example of a show where the quality of the contrast is hard to determine, and it ultimately depends on how sensitive you are to small tonal shifts. The show is undeniably dark throughout, but the people who enjoy it the most tend to be the ones who point to the brief moments where characters are content as some of the best in the show from a critical standpoint as they are used to frame the characters and concepts. These moments serve a dual purpose, by my interpretation, as the contrast created between the characters’ inability to deal with their situations and the brief moments of clarity make both impact the viewer more. Of course, it being that these moments are understated, it’s really down to the person whether or not this actually succeeds at improving investment.Shows like Kill la Kill, Gurren Lagann, Trigun, Angel Beats, Sakurasou, and Steins;Gate all use the same formula of heavy comedy in the earlier sections that then adds gravitas to the seriousness later in the show (regardless of whether or not you think the other aspects of a given example are actually enough to make it good).Higurashi uses completely normal slice of life to set up the horror, setting up an emotionally positive status quo so that the fear/other negative emotions have more impact.Legend of the Galactic Heroes does an excellent job of contrast in terms of pacing. While subjectively how slow the show is bothers some people, it’s almost undeniable that the slow build of the plot enhances sections where a lot is happening very fast. It’s a similar experience to watching a scene in slow motion, the moment the action snaps back to real time it feels like everything is hurtling forward at breakneck pace. LotGH does a great job of timing its set pieces so as to put the viewers on the edge of their seat.For a negative example, I think that a lot of the reason that many people can’t get into generic harem shows is because everything is status quo, which means that it’s hard for you to insert yourself into the emotions of the protagonist that is literally meant for you to insert yourself into. Every critically acclaimed show with harem elements that I can think of is either to some extent a genre parody, does contrast well, and/or has a protagonist that is not self-insert.And there are plenty more examples of this. The final thing that I would like to cover is how badly used contrast can negatively impact one’s experience. This, ultimately, is the reason for two of my most controversial opinions in anime: my dislike of the endings of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Toradora (which might be enough evidence to suggest that I put more stock in contrast than others). I can’t really bring up any examples for this without spoilers, because badly done contrast is generally when the tonal shift in a given moment is too dramatic of a shift from the existing tone that has been built up through the rest of the plot. I’ll give the main examples that come to my mind below. Sorry if none of the spoiler tags are anything you can read, it’s kind of hard to frame this section of the argument in a way that’s not annoyingly abstract without examples, but examples are inherently spoilers for one show or another.Higurashi KaiFullmetal Alchemist BrotherhoodFMA:B/2003Toradora... Shit, just a paragraph over the limit. Link to the last little bit (in comments). http://ift.tt/1OZGRah