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I think 90% of my gripes with how modern anime looks comes down to flat color design/palettes.
Non-cohesive, washed-out color palettes can destroy lineart quality. I see this all the time when comparing an anime's lineart/layout to its colored/post-processed final product and it's heartbreaking. Compare this pre-color vs. final frame from Dungeon Meshi's OP.
So much sharpness and detail and weight gets washed out and flattened by 'meh' color design. I LOVE the flow and thickness and shadows in the fabrics on the left. The white against pastel really brings it out. Check out all the detail in their hair, the highlights in Rin's, the different hues to denote hair color, the blue tint in the clothes' shadows, and how all of that just gets... lost. It works, but it's not particularly good and does a disservice to the line-artist.
I'm using Dungeon Meshi as an example not because it's bad, I'm just especially disappointed because this is Studio Trigger we're talking about. The character animation is fantastic, but the color design is usually much more exciting. We're not seeing Trigger at their full potential, so I'm focusing on them.
Here's a very quick and messy color correct. Not meant to be taken seriously, just to provide comparison to see why colors can feel "washed out." Top is edit, bottom is original.
You can really see how desaturated and "white fluorescent lighting" the original color palettes are.
[Remember: the easiest way to make your colors more lively is to choose a warm or cool tint. From there, you can play around with bringing out complementary colors for a cohesive palette (I warmed Marcille's skintone and hair but made sure to bring out her deep blue clothes). Avoid using too many blend mode layers; hand-picking colors will really help you build your innate color sense and find a color style. Try using saturated colors in unexpected places! If you're coloring a night scene, try using deep blues or greens or magentas. You see these deep colors used all the time in older anime because they couldn't rely on a lightness scale to make colors darker, they had to use darker paints with specific hues. Don't overthink it, simpler is better!]
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There is something that the Bat clan ignores…
It's been something since long before Batman…
Something that happened in the first years after Bruce was orphaned.
Alfred died…
Yes, the only guardian for the young heir of the Wayne family was murdered in the mansion where he lived with his ward…
And how did a former MI6 agent, a former Kingsman, die?
Simple, overwhelmed by a flock of Talons;…what? Did they believe that the court of owls did not want control of the young and traumatized heir to the Wayne fortune?
or not, they tried, of course they tried and the only way to mold the suggestible child? take custody of the Butler…
But there was a problem, the deceased Mr. and Mrs. Wayne left an unbreakable will where custody could not be contested… (there were always rumors regarding the patriarchs of the family and their faithful butler…), so they preceded the murder… but it didn't matter who It will be sent, they never returned… and the only time one returned (the lone survivor of the dozen talons on that occasion) confirming the completion of the mission…
the butler was seen the next day dropping young Bruce off at school…
The Talons were never able to re-enter… they never found the mansion alone, and when guided around they were hypnotized contemplating the Wayne grounds…
so the attacks moved to the outside of the place… but they never came closer to that one occasion… so after dozens (if not hundreds) of soldiers lost, the court stopped trying.
and do you know what happened that night?
Alfred Peniword was killed by the 12th heel, after killing the other 11… but he did not stay dead, that night he rose from the grave, burned the bodies of his attackers and buried his body in the depths of the caves under the mansion… and continued as if nothing ever happened that night….
And for years it was like that, no member of his family realized that he was no longer among the living… no visitor noticed and the secret was taken to the grave…
…Until a boy saw him with surprise and dismay in the reception area of Wayne Enterprises…somehow that boy knew what he was.
"You know, I kind of get it now," Gem says to Impulse.
"What?" Impulse says. He's nervously playing with a frozen shard in his hands. Come on, Impulse, head into the dungeon, don't be shy, you can do it. Keep hyping yourself up, you didn't die horribly last time. Ugh, he wishes he were a little less into the game, or maybe more uncomplicatedly addicted, like Gem; it would make everything easier if he thought he could either just leave or play.
"I get it now!" Gem says. "Oh, stop debating if you'll go in like that, either do it or don't."
"I'm trying, Gem!"
"Yeah, but if you aren't gonna do it, I want a go."
"You used all your shards."
"In principle!" Gem says. "It's the principle! You wouldn't get it. You don't hang out here nearly as much as I do. You don't understand, understand the vibes." She sticks out her tongue at him for good measure.
"Well, inform me of the vibes, and maybe I'll work up the nerve," Impulse says.
"It's like--I get it now," she says. "When you were complaining earlier this season about Tango not going outside, I was like, aw man, you redstoners and your caves. I'm a sunshine girl. I like trees. And bloodshed."
"Don't see how those things are related but continue," Impulse says.
"I thought you were complaining because Tango is equally lame as you are about stuff like 'going outside' and 'talking to people who don't drag him into it'," Gem clarifies.
"I go outside!" Impulse says. "I go outside all the time! I ran a rebellion! I pranked you and Pearl! I yelled at Grian! I helped cover the perimeter! I have a whole island and a giant shop! I got a job with Scar! I even went through the Rift! I don't know what you want from me, here. It's not like I'm Tango. I did things that weren't my base from time to time."
"The lady doth protest too much," Gem says.
Impulse sighs. Gem laughs and hops into the air and squeezes herself into a gap between the walls near the entrance to the dungeon. Impulse has seen her in there a lot recently; it's almost like she's a gargoyle, or an inlaid relief for the dungeon. Weird thing to think about his friends, but--
"Besides," Gem continues. "Besides. I just said I get it now."
And something about that makes the hairs on Impulse's arm stand on-end.
"You get why we have to work so hard on circuit design?" Impulse asks hopefully.
"No, I don't get the redstone stuff, that's all still stupid nerd stuff," Gem says cheerfully.
"Jock," Impulse says.
Gem smirks meanly. "Script kiddie."
"Ow, that hurts. And it's not even true. Where did you even learn that one, you just admitted you hate that stuff!"
"Lady never tells her secrets," Gem says.
"Well, if you don't understand the redstone, what do you understand?" Impulse asks.
"Just--you really could stay in here forever, couldn't you? It'd be fun while you did it! I even built a tree and everything. Not much I have to leave for anymore, is there?"
Impulse swallows. Ah.
"Except when you run out of shards," he says, after a painful long several seconds in which there's a rock in his throat and he can't breathe and he has to try very hard to find an excuse to refute that.
"Yeah, except for that. Why did Tango have to go and limit how many times we can go in, huh? If I didn't get bored halfway through the week I think I could just move in!"
And Impulse--
Impulse thinks of Tango.
"Yeah," he says. He plays with the frozen shard in his hands. It feels very cold. "I wonder why."
"So? Are you gonna run or not? I want to mock you when you die," Gem says.
"...I might as well spend them all sooner rather than later," Impulse says, and he puts the shard in the barrel. His heart skips a beat as the door opens. Gem cheers. He shakes his whole body to shake off the conversation as he goes inside. It never does, after all, to try to run the dungeon while distracted.