Comparing Anime Studios

I'm intrigued by the different reactions people get when they mention specific anime studios.

Studio Ghibli, of course, gets the most praise...but that can be unfair. Ghibli's working with high budgets on long-terms projects with plenty of time, headed by folks with decades of experience. More importantly, Ghibli's animation is about as far away from anime as you can get without aping Disney.

Similarly, Production I.G does for TV what Studio Ghibli does for movies; high production values (and high budgets), combined with high-concept ideas. I.G isn't making Asobi ni Iku Yo! or K-ON!; it's making Ghost in the Shell and xXxHoLic. However, rather than revel in anime as anime, their work seems to push anime as close to film as possible.

Kyoto Animation is arguably the most "anime-like" of all the anime studios, producing works targeted directly at the otaku market. Since most of their recent output has consisted of slice-of-life comedies, their animation quality hasn't needed to be particularly high. Interestingly, they seem to focus on drawing quality, keeping their characters rigorously on-model.

Sunrise has produced massive amounts of animation in its decades of life. The quality varies, but always shows care: even in the dark days of the mid-1990's, Sunrise paid attention to lighting and mood in its art. The Gundam cash cow has certainly helped keep it afloat.

Studio 4°C is the wild card: strange and inventive, pumping out animated acid trips like Mind Game, Tekkon Kinkreet, and Detroit Metal City. Even their most commercial work, Tweeny Witches, has an odd, dark vibe to its art. You never quite know what they'll do next, which is something I like.

There are others, of course, as well. That's one of the wonderful things about this medium; there are so many unexplored crevices.