Nostalgic Anime Retrospective No.2] "Platonic Chain" was produced at the dawn of CG animation! Platonic Chain" depicts the near future of the mobile internet.

Veteran writer Keisuke Hirota recounts his nostalgic anime works in " A Middle-Aged Anime Writer's Retrospective of Nostalgic Anime. For those who are familiar with that era, it will bring back memories, and for those who are not, it will be a good opportunity to learn about new works. This time, we will focus on "Platonic Chain" produced in full 3DCG in connection with the theatrical version of "Expelled from Paradise," which became a hot topic this winter due to the high quality of toon shading (cel-animation style 3DCG).

In "Expelled from Paradise" (2014), I thought, "Cel-look CG animation is pretty good! (2014), many of you must have noticed anew the appeal of toon shading.

However, it is only in the past few years that toon shaded CG animation, especially CG of beautiful girls with a celluloid look, has been perfected.　When looking back on the history of cel-look CG animation, one work that should never be forgotten ...... is "Platonic Chain". The TV animation version was broadcast from October 2002, but in the fall of 2001, the year before that, the pilot films (5 in total) could be seen on the Internet (in "Cafe Creators", produced by ACiD). (Produced by ACiD). At the time, the Internet was in the pre-Web 2.0 era, there were no social networking services such as mixi, and the situation was bleak. If we say "when Yoshinoya copy-and-paste started to be popular on 2channel," it may remind you of the atmosphere of that time.

The "Platonic Chain" was not revolutionary simply because of its cellular look. Motion capture was used to make the cel-shaded beautiful girl characters perform as if they were in live-action. If the actions of the actors were captured using motion capture data, the camera work could be done at will. Long one-cut shots are also possible. Moreover, it is even possible to create blurred images that look like a hand-held camera. The characters have a celluloid look, but the camera work looks like live-action ......, which is what was new about "Platonic Chain. Moreover, the area where the characters walk is made in 3DCG, so the background also moves following the camera. However, the texture of the screen is cel animation style. This was new.

So, how was CG used in commercial animation in 2002?　The OVA "Macross Zero" was released just in 2002. Macross Zero" was the first time that the variable fighter Valkyrie became a full 3DCG. The Valkyrie was covered with painting-like textures that looked as if they had been painted on with a brush (i.e., it did not have a cel-look). Furthermore, CG was used for the backgrounds, but the figures were hand-drawn.

Other than the Satellite production, GONZO's OVA "Battle Fairy Yukikaze" was also released in 2002. In "Yukikaze," too, the characters were hand-drawn, while the mecha were CG. Considering this, moving characters by CG was a rare pattern at that time ...... for an animation work.

However, it was actually attempted in the game world. Tokimeki Memorial 3" was released at the end of 2001 on the PlayStation 2 platform. The game was released at the end of 2001 on the PlayStation 2 platform, but the characters were 3DCG and moved around with a celluloid look. Technically, however, the game was not yet technically complete, and the movements were somewhat unnatural (keyframe animation called "tezuke," rather than motion capture). Another game, "Blue No. 6: Time and Tide" (2000) on Dreamcast, a prequel to the GONZO-produced OVA "Blue No. 6" (1998), was partially animated with cell-look CG characters. ...... The gap between the still hand-drawn characters was so strong that the total balance of the game was poor. (The games of the time were very ambitious, for better or worse, and I would like to look back on them when I have a chance.)

Tokimemo 3" and "Platonic Chain" (pilot version), which moved cel-look beautiful girl characters in 3DCG. The fall and winter of 2001 was a special season when both of these two works appeared at the same time. The excitement of "Will all beautiful girls be replaced by 3DCG from now on? and "If so, I don't like it! I was a mixture of "Will all beautiful girls be replaced by 3DCG? The reason for this is that unlike today's environment where information flows without asking, the Internet at that time was quite unfriendly. The voices of a distant star" is an OVA that was released in 2002, but it was not in the era of "advance distribution on Nico Nico Douga" or other such cleverness. I was interested in it, but there was no way to check the contents. So I just watched the trailer on the Internet and bought the DVD out of the blue. Who is this Makoto Shinkai? What is this, an independent production? Let's just buy it!" Looking back on the year 2001, we sometimes call it "the burst of the IT bubble" or "the IT recession. That cold, cold, empty air ...... was certainly unsettling, but there was also a sense of fulfillment, as if I was walking across an open field in search of information.

In the TV version of "Platonic Chain," the main characters, who were junior high school students in the pilot version, are now high school students. The film attempted to portray a light and bright sense of the future as an extension of the popular customs of the 1990s, such as Kogyaru and cell phones (not smartphones, of course, but gara-kei). However, the times were pushing them further into recession. The film is also endearing in its "slipperiness," which is a bit old-fashioned, even though it was intended to be cutting-edge in its sense of style, and in the cheap CG workmanship that looks cheap nowadays. If you find it in a corner of a book-off store shelf, please pick it up gently.

(Text by Keisuke Hirota)



＜Introduction
This is a shibuya-style story about three high school girls who use cell phones and the Internet as personal broadcasting stations. Based on the novel by Watanabe Kohji of "Andromedia" and "Blackout. Shibuya in the near future, in front of Hachiko. The place is still overflowing with people. Hitomi is about to be late for cram school, so she calls her friend on her cell phone and asks for a ride home on her bicycle. A man overhears this exchange and calls out to Hitomi...