I need your help, Yea Forums. I need to know if there are other cartoons with soul. Because out of the quite literally thousands of cartoons I've watched over the years, only W.I.T.C.H. and Oban Star-Racers qualify.
Now, to be fair, there are a couple of other shows that *tried*. Book 2 of TLA comes close at times, but the non-Ehasz writers - not just Bryke! - completely ruined that. Samurai Jack could have qualified, if only it weren't utterly episodic first, and season 5 weren't so terrible.
Even if a show has "great" writing (well, you can't beat W.I.T.C.H. obviously, but there are plenty of cartoons with more talented writing than Oban's), soul is something else. Even shows like Avatar are generally made with a (stupidly American) "that would be SO COOL" mindset, not a "this is the right thing to write because I *believe* in my passion project".
Hence while you may appreciate some awe-inspiring moments and even entire episodes, the audience does not completely connect with the characters on a deep, meaningful emotional level. Watching the final episodes of both W.I.T.C.H. and Oban leaves you, the discerning viewer, not just in stunned silence but also in deep thought about what in the world you just watched. Not even Avatar comes close to giving you that feeling.
If you don't think Looney Tunes has soul you're an idiot
Ryan Harris
There are plenty of cartoons with soul W.I.T.C.H Fag. Go watch Over the Garden Wall
Isaiah Perez
Clarence had just one bad episode and even it was greatly written
Easton Rivera
I want to impregnate every single W.I.T.C.H
Brody Gutierrez
Don't confuse creativity with soul, user. The shorts considered classics are mind-blowingly creative especially for the time - but that's "just" artistic talent. They weren't serious passion projects where every detail was pored over to create something that I call emotional beauty.
>Go watch Over the Garden Wall I did like two years ago - it was shit on just about every level. Even made a thread on it: desuarchive.org/co/thread/93362982/
Hudson Harris
>CalArts shit I'm gonna go with a hard NO on that one.
Jaxon Long
Steven Universe is superior to both of those shows in every possible way with more soul in one episode than either of those entire series
Leo Turner
Congratulations - you may have just written the lowest-quality Yea Forums bait of all time.
And W.I.T.C.H. is absolutely a passion project too. It's just that Oban had only 1 showrunner with a single vision from the start, while W.I.T.C.H. had 3 just for the show, to say nothing of the comics source material. But W.I.T.C.H. had almost infinitely more talent working on it in just about every area. Oban only surpasses it in sheer emotional beauty, and arguably also worldbuilding.
Ethan Powell
Have you seen Code Lyoko? It's made by Thomas Romain who co-directed Oban.
Logan Butler
Why is this retard still alive
Blake Mitchell
I gave it a try. Not only is it incredibly childish, but the dialogue is somehow even worse than Oban's, which makes it quite painful to watch.
Also, even if later episodes mix things up a bit, the plot seems incredibly repetitive/formulaic with a single-minded villain with one goal. In Oban every race was different and completely unpredictable, which made even the less plot-heavy episodes quite interesting.
If you think I'm missing something, let me know - I might give it another shot at some point, but I'd really need some motivation to get through the slog that is the individual episode writing.
John Brown
I thank God every day that i’m not as shit taste as witchfag
Bentley Jones
W.I.T.C.H. fag... we just had a W.I.T.C.H. thread not too long ago that barely even had you in it
William Brown
Do you think I spend all day every day monitoring a board that literally hates me?
Adrian Peterson
I'm with you on OTGW user, I just don't understand the love for it. I watched the entire thing and it all seemed so cookie cutter.
Justin Scott
Yes?
Jaxson Myers
There was a period of time when that was not too far from the truth, I admit.
Also, it seems to be episodic/formulaic. I'm so tired of those generic fantasy cartoons that seem like they were manufactured on demand
Luis Sullivan
>I'm so tired of those generic fantasy cartoons that seem like they were manufactured on demand Funny enough, I'm tired of cartoons that follows long arcs.
Carson Baker
Why don't you watch anime if you only watch shows with high stakes and continuity
Liam Walker
That's probably because you've been watching too many current "cartoons", which tend to use lorebait as a crutch to cover up their absolutely shit-tier writing (they don't actually have writers anymore even, just storyboarders).
As with many things, balance is key. A great dramatic show (obviously this doesn't apply to comedy etc.) has a complex, intricate plot stretching over the entire duration of the series with interwoven arcs, while at the same time having well-written individual episode stories that don't force you to watch the whole show to enjoy them.
Come to think of it, you just made me realize that W.I.T.C.H. and Oban are pretty much the only cartoons that really excel in this aspect. Interesting.
Evan Foster
You have terrible taste.
Hudson Smith
Nah. You and the rest of Yea Forums are brainwashed by mainstream American shit (emphasis on shit).
Andrew Jackson
Not even here for the main topic of the discussion. I just want to know if Oban Star Racers gets better. Asking cause I watched the first three episodes and the pacing and writing seemed terribly erratic for something I only see praise for. I didn't quite dislike it, but I didn't get any fulfilment from it and the execution was kind of awkward. Does that change?
Easton Morales
Avatar has more soul than your shitty show, Witchfag
Jordan Gonzalez
I felt very similarly when I started watching Oban. "It gets better" may be a meme but if it applies to any show, it's this one. Remember: OSR excels at two things, emotion and worldbuilding - and you can't do either quickly.
As for the praise, it gets that here for the exact same reason W.I.T.C.H. is despised: it's all about the narrative. Oban is the product of a single French guy's long-term vision, where he fought the studio bigwigs for years and finally got the show he wanted, albeit with a single season and on a network nobody had in the US. Oh, and it's also technically both anime and Western animation, because he made sure it was animated in Japan per said vision. So OBVIOUSLY it must be the greatest thing since sliced bread, how can it not with a backstory like that?
Luke Jones
Alright, I'll hop back into it. Thank you.
English dub is ok right?
Austin Murphy
I watched it in English. I heard the creator of the show considers the English version just as official as the French one - and the mixed English/Japanese OP is definitely the original, not the French one with the same music.
Bentley Anderson
So fake anime?
Jayden Smith
>Animated in Japan >Fake anime
Wyatt Perez
>So fake anime? No, retard. Avatar is "fake anime" but contrary to morons like it's virtually soulless - the few embers of soul Ehasz tried to put into Book 2 were quickly extinguished by the other, run-of-the-mill writers. Teen Titans is also "fake anime" and has no soul whatsoever, not even a hint of it.
And that's despite the fact that both shows have far better writing than Oban.
Jace Rodriguez
Good point haha
Joseph Jenkins
Everyone in this thread is a stupid fag except for me
Christian Jackson
And who are you, may I ask?
Austin Long
This is about the most autistic shit I've read in this autistic board. Go watch an anime you unwanted child.
Justin Foster
Go find some more and leave us far away from your shit taste in everything
