Why was Gunbuster's last ep in B&W

B

Billary

New member
How come Gunbuster's last ep is in black and white. was it for an artistic approach, or was it money problems. I just want to know because I like the show.
 
Let me ask you this; is it actually cheaper to paint cells in monotone?
You are using the same equipment, painting with the same amount of manpower, and use the same paintbrush...

You might as well suggest a black dress would be cheaper than a red dress.

(p.s. You are not the first person to ask this. There were many before you.)
 
Knowing Gainax, it was a little of both.

But it looked awesome in black and white, do you not agree? You really appreciate the amount of detail that goes into the art when it's in black and white. Super classy cinematography.
 
Also, I've heard that's about when Anno bailed out of the production because he because fed up with Tsuda's complaining, though the back story behind all that is a little obfuscated.
 
Yes, but one works better than the other. Popsicle stickmen reeks of cheapness, aesthetically. The Black and White Gunbuster episode is very, very, well done visually, and almost plays out like an old black and white war movie (complete with retro-40s Hollywood music).
 
Watched the last episode again and I still contend this is visually and stylistically one of the greatest episodes in anime history. I remeraber wondering why nobody else has tried doing more anime in luscious black and white. Without colour (or rather, with only a black and white palette), you can really appreciate the art and design work that goes into some of these anime productions.

I think a lot of people may misunderstand the amount of effort that went into this episode. People think, "Oh, they just draw it up and don't colour it." But there's a really subtle use of greytone here. This isn't like doing live-action black and white-- you still have to actually paint in the tones, even if it'll come out black and white when filmed.
 
I really wish it was in color.

Money. They probably were low on funRAB by the last episode. The same thing happened with evangelion (same studio) and we ended up with the crap last two episodes. Luckily they went back and did it right by remaking those eps in to a movie. I highly doubt it was for artistic reasons since only the last episode is bw.

"Let me ask you this; is it actually cheaper to paint cells in monotone? " Yes, I'm pretty sure this is a lot less work. Manga and comic books first pages are just color but the rest are bw for money saving.
 
Black and white was on purpose for artistic reasons. This was actually the most expensive episode, due to the animation.

This was an OVA series. That means showing T and A is perfectly fine since it's never on TV.

This was colored in Gray-scale with a black-and-white camera. Which is more expensive, btw.


Kare Kano WAS a budget reason. They suck at managing 25+ episodes. They're absolutely marvelous when dealing with a 6 episode OVA (FLCL, Diebuster)
 
That's entirely different. PRINTING in B&W uses completely different set of paper, ink and printer, compared to color printing. On the other hand, animation in B&W uses the exact same set of equipment, paint, and manual labor.
 
That was less "budget" and more "Director on board." If I remeraber correctly, he quit Gainax after 2chan commented on the episode.
 
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