@ Crusader: Now I was definitely unconvinced by Last Exile’s CG, and I’m not entirely converted to Frontier’s (I prefer Zero’s, which might be because of its OVA production). I’m sure you’re right about scale. VOTOMS rather invites Starship Troopers comparisons – didn’t Heinlein describe the Troopers’ suits as something like an armoured gorilla?

Fair point that the VOTOMS ‘verse isn’t nearly as awful as 40K’s (which is probably the epitome of a sci fi universe you wouldn’t want to visit), though war does seem to be an ever-present reality for Chirico. War-weariness is a running theme in all the parts of the franchise that I’ve seen.

@ Michael: Sorry about your comment – I’ve had a look in the blog’s spam folder and I couldn’t find anything by you. I think another reason IGLOO’s CGI stuck out more for me was that the show is well-know for being all-CG, so I was primed to view it critically. Whereas Soukou no Strain is ‘just another anime’ (I think we agree that it’s a good one – I just finished rewatching it today).

@ concretebadger: Maybe I’ve played too many computer games, but I think I find CGI more alienating – motion-capture notwithstanding, I can’t say I was fond of Appleseed’s human movement.

Good point about the different effects of CGI on super and real robots, and I certainly agree with you about the handling of mecha in Gasaraki/. I’m not especially well-versed in super-robot anime, especially not stuff that uses CG mecha. I’d note that the bad CGI in Demonbane definitely makes the show better.

@ 21stcenturydigitalboy: Maybe CGI is one of those facets of anime where it is useful to look at the studio. Dunno about Gonzo being universally awful, though, bits and pieces of the CGI in Gankutsuou were pretty good.

Of course, Fate/stay night is in a class of its own. Whoever did that should’ve helped with the dragons in Gonzo’s Dragonaut, too – I’m sure there would’ve been an immeasurable improvement . . .

This does apply to ’super’ robots rather than realistic ones though – Gasaraki would probably have lost some of its realism had the mecha not been drawn with the charmingly flawed conventional means. In that case, CG mecha really would have had a detrimental bearing on the intended effect of making them feel like a part of their environment.

I’m just saying that Soukou no Strain had unobtrusive CG and igloo also had these, too.

Grr.

I did not get the sense of grim future where there is only war from Pailsen Files given how they still have health care and the doctors seem to be doing their jobs. Even the bases looked well kept and clean, it was regimented but not that grim. The commanders care about their grunts for the most part and the conclusion of the invasion of Monad did leave an impression.

At least the juxtaposition of CG with the rest of the animation wasn’t so bad since they fought mostly buttoned up in their Scopedogs along with their Balarant enemies.