TMS was the the best in my opinion. Their detail, movement, and darker colors are really great. I also like how they made the bodysuit of Batman's costume look almost black instead of gray. They only did 6 episodes though, and apparently the opening theme sequence. Wish they could've done more.
Spectrum Animation I think is the best tho all the Japanese and Korean studios did the better animation. What's funny is I never knew till recently this show was animated in Japan. But it makes sense cuz I learned many American cartoons were animated in Japan. And come to think of it, this show look very anime anyway. Spectrum had really good artwork tho and very fluid.
@lisardo I don't know about the other Korean studio listed but I'd say AKOM is anything but good. Hell, they're well known for their sub-par quality. To the point that they were effectively fired from animation duties in Batman TAS.
@lisardo I've started rewatching the series via Netflix mail in. In the commentary, it was noted that Spectrum was former workers of TMS and sadly went under because they wanted to outdo TMS in the animation.
I hate anime with a passion, but its because of the writing, not the animation itself (although the generic art style they all use is painful to look at). Give the Japanese a well written screenplay and direction and they can do great stuff though.
I dislike Anime my self, but the thing is, that's what their whole market is. They do the same generic high school bull crap cartoon thing over and over, because it sells. You give one of them or a whole team a chance to do something on their own, and you get some damn good content. Look at Treasure co.ltd. They let themselves just loose with creation, and they churn out excellent products all the time.
kinda sad the animation was outsourced to asian countries constantly when there are plenty of competent artists in NA. and that hasn't changed either, only quality has gotten worse
Oh, I agree. Nobody uses American animation studios. StarToons was ahead of every animation studio, and was right next to TMS, when it came to quality. Unfortunately, Networks want cheaper and quicker cartoons, hence the rise in poorly written, extremely flat, and subpar animation in cartoons these days. You can't blame the people behind the stuff... at least, for the most part.
I loved this show as a kid, and I have seen it since growing up and admittedly some of the flow of the animation is very awkward and not necessarily better than anime or cartoons today, although clayface in particular is amazing.
Overall though, the look, the darkness, and the quality of the stories I believe is superior to subsequent batman cartoons and shows that are less thoughtful in the name of being "for kids"
I still watch this show and it is such a masterpiece of animation and dark atmosphere and it was more adultoriented ! :) I don't like how shows these days are treated like shit :( !
Thanks to these great Asian studios (and one in Spain and in Canada :D) we had a tremendous animated series that looked just as stunning as the stories they told. :)
My favorite Japanese Animation Studios are Spectrum Animation Studio (Batman TAS) and Studio Mook (SWAT Kats, Jonny Quest Real Adventures). Unfortunately, Spectrum got closed many years ago. But they took Batman TAS seriously. Producer Bruce Timm stated that Spectrum was responsible for airbrushing Mr. Freeze's helmet in every frame that featured him. Such attention to detail ultimately drove the studio to bankruptcy. But they will not be forgotten, because of what they have done.
What surprises me is why so few Japanese Animation studios don't use the quality and care that went into Batman.
I grew up as a 90's kid and this series was absolutely perfect. I cannot imagine another batman. The animation quality is superb and I say this after having been an anime fan for several years. The art style, the voices, the score, everything was just top notch. There are so few cartoons, especially ones aimed at children done at this calibur. I feel fortunate to have grown up withit
I hate to be a downer, but there a good number of BTAS episodes that didn't get the quality animation . . . try and watch "I've got Batman in my Basement" and tell me it's the same as watching, say "Feat of Clay Part II". I love the sentiment in giving the series as a whole praise, but even something as great as BTAS has it's share of stinkers.
Oh, and just in case my BTAS fandom is called into question, I own a literal piece of BTAS from Shadow of the Bat part II. ;)
No I understand that BTAS switched animation studios which is espeically apparent torward I believe the 4th season. I believe S2-3 were the best, I'm a simple fan but for the most part, I mean my comment;
For a majority of the season, the art direction which I couldn't appreciate up until now, the writing, and the animation has stood up to time in my honest opinion.
@LOLitsJono Surprisingly, Bruce Timm had kind of expressed not caring as much for the original style because he sees all these things in the animation that bug him, like characters looking ugly or wearing fat, baggy clothes, and he thinks he could have done better. That's why I think one of his reasons for wanting to revamp the styles was so he could "correct his mistakes". I've only been a fan myself and I didn't create the show, so I probably can't relate to his view on the original style.
@LOLitsJono Cont: And honestly, even though I also liked the styles of Superman: TAS, Batman Beyond, Justice League, or even the revamped Batman to a degree, I just seem to find the most quality out of the original Batman: TAS out of all the DCAU shows. So yeah, I guess I'd have to have created these shows myself to really understand why Timm would look back on this one and think it wasn't as good.
@LOLitsJono I find it a bit odd when people complain about how few good shows come out of Japan, considering FEWER good shows come out of the United States (particularly since so many of them are outsourced). Guess our culture requires us to distance ourselves from anime or else be lumped into the otaku culture. For my money, both cultures have their strengths and weaknesses, when it comes to animation, and the best Japanese animators can make limited animation look beautiful.
I don't know if i'm nostalgic or Japanese animation has fell several notches in quality since the 2000's but few anime series that have come out of Japan since the increasingly mainstream acceptance of anime during the decade has kind of burnt me out of anime.
There were a lot of amazing series in the 90's like Evangelion that had great animation style, and interesting storlines. But now it's just all generic moeblob slice of life series. I liked my anime stylish and pretentious!
@LOLitsJono Plenty of great shows like that are being made. The problem is they're getting swamped in all the moe crap coming out, and then don't get picked up for American distribution. Kaiba, Denno Coil, Tatami Galaxy...they don't even have a DVD release. Good shows like Eureka Seven and Noein do get released, but are still overlooked in all the chaos.
I understand why many are burnt out, but I continue to search for good shows, and I'm convinced they're out there. They just need a push.
Also, I wonder, is Dust the same as DAST (Defense Animation Service Team)? In Japanese stuff, I've seen DAST founding member Ichiro Itano's name listed along with the Roman acronym "DAST", as well as the katakana "ダスト" [dasuto]. Since the "a" sound in "DAST" and the "u" sound in "Dust" aren't really distinguished in Japanese, could "Dust" just be a mis-transliteration of "DAST"?
Good showcase! One of my favorite things to do with this show was try to guess and see who animated each one. The actual results are always really surprising!
If I'm not mistaken there are a lot of cases where the layouts were designed by Spectrum and then sent to Dong Yang to be animated, and well they came back amazing. Sometimes you think you would be watching a Dong Yang episode and then it turns out to be an AKOM. At other times AKOM is a dead giveaway because of drawing detail.
TMS was the the best in my opinion. Their detail, movement, and darker colors are really great. I also like how they made the bodysuit of Batman's costume look almost black instead of gray. They only did 6 episodes though, and apparently the opening theme sequence. Wish they could've done more.
darthgoku135 1 month ago
Spectrum Animation I think is the best tho all the Japanese and Korean studios did the better animation. What's funny is I never knew till recently this show was animated in Japan. But it makes sense cuz I learned many American cartoons were animated in Japan. And come to think of it, this show look very anime anyway. Spectrum had really good artwork tho and very fluid.
lisardo 1 month ago
@lisardo I don't know about the other Korean studio listed but I'd say AKOM is anything but good. Hell, they're well known for their sub-par quality. To the point that they were effectively fired from animation duties in Batman TAS.
ChaosBahamut 1 month ago
@lisardo I've started rewatching the series via Netflix mail in. In the commentary, it was noted that Spectrum was former workers of TMS and sadly went under because they wanted to outdo TMS in the animation.
bigglou 2 weeks ago
what was that episode when they pushed bullock into the bat signal
megas957 2 months ago
Lol scorpion stole the scroll :D
ALEXACEDEATH 4 months ago
And thus why batman will always be cooler then Superman
nocliper101 6 months ago
its so crazy i came back and watched this after a while and it really had that anime tone just everything about it, its great :)
bluesman332 6 months ago
I always thought that the Japanese studios made the sharpest-quality animations, especially TMS and Sunrise.
ApacheMan2K 7 months ago
tokyo movie shinsha (japan) seems the best
2:25 to 3:26
johnwall2wizards 8 months ago
@johnwall2wizards Strongly agreed. Overall, I think the best animation came from Japan and South Korea, and the worst was from Spain.
ApacheMan2K 7 months ago
@ApacheMan2K yea def...the japan animation was just so smooth and fluent
johnwall2wizards 7 months ago
I hate anime with a passion, but its because of the writing, not the animation itself (although the generic art style they all use is painful to look at). Give the Japanese a well written screenplay and direction and they can do great stuff though.
Mysterious0Bob 9 months ago
@Mysterious0Bob
I dislike Anime my self, but the thing is, that's what their whole market is. They do the same generic high school bull crap cartoon thing over and over, because it sells. You give one of them or a whole team a chance to do something on their own, and you get some damn good content. Look at Treasure co.ltd. They let themselves just loose with creation, and they churn out excellent products all the time.
Sneep29 8 months ago
kinda sad the animation was outsourced to asian countries constantly when there are plenty of competent artists in NA. and that hasn't changed either, only quality has gotten worse
asdsafasf3 9 months ago
@asdsafasf3
Oh, I agree. Nobody uses American animation studios. StarToons was ahead of every animation studio, and was right next to TMS, when it came to quality. Unfortunately, Networks want cheaper and quicker cartoons, hence the rise in poorly written, extremely flat, and subpar animation in cartoons these days. You can't blame the people behind the stuff... at least, for the most part.
Sneep29 8 months ago
I loved this show as a kid, and I have seen it since growing up and admittedly some of the flow of the animation is very awkward and not necessarily better than anime or cartoons today, although clayface in particular is amazing.
Overall though, the look, the darkness, and the quality of the stories I believe is superior to subsequent batman cartoons and shows that are less thoughtful in the name of being "for kids"
gambitvoleur 9 months ago
I still watch this show and it is such a masterpiece of animation and dark atmosphere and it was more adultoriented ! :) I don't like how shows these days are treated like shit :( !
I am glad i was born in the 90's ! :D
lalaxbo 11 months ago
6:03 Who knew Batman was a fanboy?
Irishflyboy255 11 months ago 2
Thanks to these great Asian studios (and one in Spain and in Canada :D) we had a tremendous animated series that looked just as stunning as the stories they told. :)
David315842 11 months ago
my child hood one was the tokeo and japan version also both of the batman voices were used in batman arkum asylum :() ;)
bunnychaser2000 11 months ago
Music Theory with Batman and Robin! You never know what you'll need it for, kids.
enedving 1 year ago
My favorite Japanese Animation Studios are Spectrum Animation Studio (Batman TAS) and Studio Mook (SWAT Kats, Jonny Quest Real Adventures). Unfortunately, Spectrum got closed many years ago. But they took Batman TAS seriously. Producer Bruce Timm stated that Spectrum was responsible for airbrushing Mr. Freeze's helmet in every frame that featured him. Such attention to detail ultimately drove the studio to bankruptcy. But they will not be forgotten, because of what they have done.
konway87 1 year ago 3
What surprises me is why so few Japanese Animation studios don't use the quality and care that went into Batman.
I grew up as a 90's kid and this series was absolutely perfect. I cannot imagine another batman. The animation quality is superb and I say this after having been an anime fan for several years. The art style, the voices, the score, everything was just top notch. There are so few cartoons, especially ones aimed at children done at this calibur. I feel fortunate to have grown up withit
LOLitsJono 1 year ago 22
@LOLitsJono the best is in the past, entertainment mostly suck these days. the 90's were the greatest.
traxlife 1 year ago 16
@traxlife That's nostalgia talking.
AliG4life 1 month ago
@LOLitsJono
I hate to be a downer, but there a good number of BTAS episodes that didn't get the quality animation . . . try and watch "I've got Batman in my Basement" and tell me it's the same as watching, say "Feat of Clay Part II". I love the sentiment in giving the series as a whole praise, but even something as great as BTAS has it's share of stinkers.
Oh, and just in case my BTAS fandom is called into question, I own a literal piece of BTAS from Shadow of the Bat part II. ;)
TheTrueLegend 7 months ago
@TheTrueLegend
No I understand that BTAS switched animation studios which is espeically apparent torward I believe the 4th season. I believe S2-3 were the best, I'm a simple fan but for the most part, I mean my comment;
For a majority of the season, the art direction which I couldn't appreciate up until now, the writing, and the animation has stood up to time in my honest opinion.
LOLitsJono 7 months ago
Oh yeah, my favorite story arc was Clayface. Oh my god, such a sad and amazing story in two episodes, in a childrens cartoon no less!
LOLitsJono 7 months ago 2
@LOLitsJono Surprisingly, Bruce Timm had kind of expressed not caring as much for the original style because he sees all these things in the animation that bug him, like characters looking ugly or wearing fat, baggy clothes, and he thinks he could have done better. That's why I think one of his reasons for wanting to revamp the styles was so he could "correct his mistakes". I've only been a fan myself and I didn't create the show, so I probably can't relate to his view on the original style.
A113Pixar 7 months ago
@LOLitsJono Cont: And honestly, even though I also liked the styles of Superman: TAS, Batman Beyond, Justice League, or even the revamped Batman to a degree, I just seem to find the most quality out of the original Batman: TAS out of all the DCAU shows. So yeah, I guess I'd have to have created these shows myself to really understand why Timm would look back on this one and think it wasn't as good.
A113Pixar 7 months ago
@LOLitsJono I find it a bit odd when people complain about how few good shows come out of Japan, considering FEWER good shows come out of the United States (particularly since so many of them are outsourced). Guess our culture requires us to distance ourselves from anime or else be lumped into the otaku culture. For my money, both cultures have their strengths and weaknesses, when it comes to animation, and the best Japanese animators can make limited animation look beautiful.
bahji9 7 months ago 4
@bahji9
I don't know if i'm nostalgic or Japanese animation has fell several notches in quality since the 2000's but few anime series that have come out of Japan since the increasingly mainstream acceptance of anime during the decade has kind of burnt me out of anime.
There were a lot of amazing series in the 90's like Evangelion that had great animation style, and interesting storlines. But now it's just all generic moeblob slice of life series. I liked my anime stylish and pretentious!
LOLitsJono 7 months ago
@LOLitsJono Plenty of great shows like that are being made. The problem is they're getting swamped in all the moe crap coming out, and then don't get picked up for American distribution. Kaiba, Denno Coil, Tatami Galaxy...they don't even have a DVD release. Good shows like Eureka Seven and Noein do get released, but are still overlooked in all the chaos.
I understand why many are burnt out, but I continue to search for good shows, and I'm convinced they're out there. They just need a push.
bahji9 7 months ago
@LOLitsJono moe has ruined everything.... : (
Devilbat74 6 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@LOLitsJono What about Science Ninja Team Gatchaman? *Battle of the Planets/G-Force*
Devilbat74 6 months ago
@LOLitsJono There are bad and good American animated shows, and there are bad and good Japanese animated shows. Generalizing never makes sense.
AliG4life 1 month ago
makes me wish Disney still had a Japan studio. With the popularity of Anime style shows
goddamn could you imagine that? a Japanese anime with a DISNEY budget??
empyreanlc 1 year ago
Also, I wonder, is Dust the same as DAST (Defense Animation Service Team)? In Japanese stuff, I've seen DAST founding member Ichiro Itano's name listed along with the Roman acronym "DAST", as well as the katakana "ダスト" [dasuto]. Since the "a" sound in "DAST" and the "u" sound in "Dust" aren't really distinguished in Japanese, could "Dust" just be a mis-transliteration of "DAST"?
TServo2049 1 year ago
Good showcase! One of my favorite things to do with this show was try to guess and see who animated each one. The actual results are always really surprising!
If I'm not mistaken there are a lot of cases where the layouts were designed by Spectrum and then sent to Dong Yang to be animated, and well they came back amazing. Sometimes you think you would be watching a Dong Yang episode and then it turns out to be an AKOM. At other times AKOM is a dead giveaway because of drawing detail.
RobochaoXX 1 year ago
Ironic that the episode dealing with a foray into Japan is drawn in Spain.
Silverknight16 1 year ago
Blue Pencil, Spanish name is Lapiz Azul, they were in Madrid, Spain.
TServo2049 1 year ago