Animation Analysis: "Arknights - Near Light Event Teaser"

Original: • Arknights - Near Light...
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Animator Animation Music Arknights Yostar Hypergryph reacts reaction reactor breakdown

[@Piquliar]

They way they built up the hype with the pacing of the music, narrative and action in the scenes was 👌

[@lutecl2392]

One thing that always gets me in this particular animation is how well they get the feeling of desperation across during the 2D-sections. We see Flametail's (the red haired protagonist girl) expressions for a handful of seconds tops, but hot damn does it hit hard. Super nice video, love the insights on why and how the animated PVs rock so hard.

[@Kaneki3678-s7s]

Hypergryph has made many amazing 3d animations, but this Near Light one is still my favorite. It always hits me in the feels no matter how many times i watch it. It also helps that Flametail and Nearl are in my 10 favorite characters in Arknights

[@headshothunt3r414]

i think this was their first animation that genuinely gave me goosebumps and seeing it again in this video it still gave me goosebumps

[@Gamer3427]

While they've definitely put out some that are better on a technical level, and even on a storytelling level, I think this is probably their animation that just kind of comes together the best overall. I've rewatched this a few times, and it's usually my go to for showing off Arknights' event trailers to people to give them an idea for the tone of the game.

[@rabbialna7863]

iirc this is first published animation of this HyperGryph's animation studio, if you compare later animation with this one I'd like to say the later animation's lighting gives a more natural feeling. this one was released at CN's 2.5 anniversary I belive, and the Rhinelab one is for 4th anni.

[@maks-arr525]

"End Like This" MV and the Under Tides teaser were in the same style. 10 and 6 months earlier.

[@Hindshell5438]

No, the first one is under tide teaser

[@MiMuMo]

@@Hindshell5438 nah, forstnovas music video also had this...

[@rabbialna7863]

@@Hindshell5438 Oh, I fogot but I don't think gravity well was officially announced back then right?(That teaser do have gravity well vibe tho)

[@rabbialna7863]

@@MiMuMo I belive that one was made by yostar?

[@ich1277]

The funny thing is they made the song "Radiant" specifically for this animation (They first used in this animation) and then they published it as a character EP song. They really know their taste in music and animation

[@Piquliar]

Bloody hell, I did not know there was so much stuff packed into these with those impact and solid color frames.

[@Petterwass]

I'm going to like this before watching simply because its one of my favourite AK animations and I know I'll enjoy you analyzing it :)

[@YuriBo26]

This is so fun to listen to, great content dude Edit: Wow these impact frames! Literally one frame and I would''ve never noticed!

[@keion_arknights]

13:57 True, and if we're being real, during an explosion, Flametail's face skin is probably pushed upwards, like the opposite of one of those G force simulation things. Would be a tough sell to have a character look ugly for realism though, so I understand why what they did and your suggestion make more sense.

[@CatharsisYT]

Yeah unless the characters are designed to be comfortable with deformity, doing waves of force is very impractical. Especially in a product where their characters are designed to be visually attractive and make sales, it'd be VERY bold to go full Naruto Pain fight 🤣

[@CorvoA77ano]

This cutscene doesn't appear anywhere in the game. It's there to bridge the gap between two events and when this first released during the CN 2.5 anniversary, we all were collectively blown away because of how good it looked. The team working on these animations have improved a lot and have just gotten better and better at their craft. Really enjoyed this breakdown! It gave me insight into so many interesting technicalities of the animation. Looking forward to the next one!

[@headshothunt3r414]

the reason this doesnt appear in game is that its an event teaser. theres no reason to put them into the game

[@HappyLovesNymph]

​@@headshothunt3r414doesn't Ling event PV appear in the game tho??

[@CorvoA77ano]

@@headshothunt3r414 It's not just a teaser. If you read the first record in Near Light, it starts the very next day after this fight takes place in the Underground. It serves a bridge connecting Pinus Sylvestris to Near Light.

[@headshothunt3r414]

@@HappyLovesNymph pretty sure it doesnt since its a PV and i dont recall seeing any videos in game

[@headshothunt3r414]

@@CorvoA77ano ye but i always thought cutscenes are always found in game and since this isnt in game its not a cutscene as the video title says its a teaser.

[@Akane-T-012]

your breakdowns are super good...can't wait for their other ones

[@luminary69revision2]

I think the Near Light animation was the first such 3D animation Hypergryph ever did; at the very least it's the first I saw. It was simply breathtaking up until the point at 5:42. From then on I can't even describe it. When I first watched the PV I lost my shit over that sequence at the end starting at 5:42. The audio work is as phenomenal as the visuals, and I've never been able to get over the sound of Nearl (the blonde one) throwing her spear. I've always known this was god tier animation, and I'm glad I came across your channel. Typically I hate watching other people's reactions to things because I have my own thoughts, and if I happen to disagree with something I'll waste a silly amount of energy arguing over it in my head. That being said, I love hearing the technical breakdown from someone with relevant knowledge and experience, as it finally puts words to all the things I knew were amazing but didn't know exactly why, or what all went into making them amazing.

[@SoulWhiteAngel]

Love these breakdowns of my favorite animations. Also she is looking at her dead father (who we assume to be her father. We see his hand under rubble earlier)

[@Petterwass]

And I was correct; it was very educational and very entertaining both

[@loukarodrigues]

Can’t wait for Sultifera navis animation review

[@xriya7466]

I was hoping you would do this!

[@zerotrig8331]

actually didn't notice thew hole screen turns blue but I did notice the impact frame of black and white (usually) in other media/videos such as the HI3 Himeko fight with Kiana in her harsher form when she did a big wide swing there are some more used but all from HI3 but as far as I can recall, I don't think I've seen it done anywhere else...... not in any anime that's for sure but not hard to imagine it happening in fight scenes it expresses the weight of the action afterall

[@tenshi6293]

Honestly, I get overwhelmed by your... knowledge and capacity over animation, by I have to disgress at 14:00. It's kind of a lame argument from me, but you can't really use your typical human as a reference. Not only this specific character has a lot more reflex and speed, but to put on perspective the prowess of some character out there, one's fire magic desintegrate her clothes, yet she remain untouched, and other can withstand artillery shelling thats several times bigger than our own. *ALSO, major point. She is infected, and a knight at Kazimiers. Literally little makes you more used to hopeless struggle.

[@SPEEDY4004]

that was released before the actual event and looked like some kind of final boss fight but in the event only mentioned in a few sentences as "that happened"... 😂 but the event had enough great moments on its own would be interesting to see once a 2nd take on it after you know 100 % of its context etc... mfg Olli

[@jillstingray8828]

Wanted to add something. Characters in Arknights are not exactly "human". As you can see, they have animal traits and also they have animal constitutions (well partially). We had an event were humans from Rainbow Six Siege came to Arknights' world, and they were surprised AK still uses bows/crossbows. But Tachanka (one of the human characters) couldn't even pull the string of a crossbow, because it was extremely heavy and tense (Look up Schwarz if you want to see the crossbow). So yes, for a human, it would have made a lot more sense for the character to have a mouth open in the explosion, but AK characters are not human, they have a different constitution (heck she survived that explosions while her body is practically intact).

[@CatharsisYT]

Not a bad take, but it's not so much a constitution thing as it is an visual payoff thing. Being thrown back by a force is a show of transfer, and retaining facial tension kills some of that energy, making the impact lose some oomph. They even do this in the action of shows like Invincible, where the characters involved are basically Superman on crack. If the explosion was strong enough to send them flying, yeah it'd very likely kill an average human comparatively, but retaining tension after a kinetic release is just poor visual language. Otherwise the force subconsciously reads as a minor inconvenience where they'll just stand back up and shake it off. As a result, the following shots showing her struggle to maintain composure were lessened. At very least it should've shown her expression loosening during that slow-mo to show she's struggling to hang on as a result. That's what i would've done personally if that were my shot.

[@jillstingray8828]

@@CatharsisYT I see. I am not an animation expert, but from a viewer perspective, it nailed it for me.

[@kingjoee6821]

​@@CatharsisYT well he don't mention but Flametail(the girl with red hair) she have some sort of art with can short of low the impact she take by control air around her so yeah in the story she also jump from very high building with that art

[@EXoDuZ302]

ah a classic btw one that might not be requested as much but is still VERY good is phenomenal agents from arknights

[@AgsNfz]

This content is super cool!

[@gigaslave]

This animation takes place right before Near Light starts. Nearl talks about putting her new kit through its paces, referring to this scuffle, and Platinum manages to get a night off from Roy and Monique once they found out she fought the Radiant Knight and had to pull back.

[@Mikazuki-senpai]

Notifications let me down and sent it to me 40 minutes late :( This animation is quite old and you can really see the progress from the latter animations, I'll keep on writing the comment as I go through the vid The use of the abberation is pretty cool and I love how you pay attention to the details Wow I didn't even notice the impact frames when I was watching it before Another amazing animation breakdown! As I said before, i like how you pay attention to the details and I'm looking forward to the future breakdowns! Be it arknights or not

[@Piquliar]

That part about her eyes not bring focused was fascinating. I get it but I can't explain why or what makes it in focus or not in focus as I can't draw to save my skin lol.

[@EXoDuZ302]

just to point something out this is entirely original this scene did not appear in game and is in fact a bridge between 2 side story seasons that is meant to show what flametail (the knight with red hair) and her group has had to go through in the background of the first story

[@kallistikaleid]

Pretty much my current favorite Arknights animation. At the very least, the most memorable to me. That song Radiant is so simple and repetitive, but I still get so hyped for it.

[@akitamatsu4467]

I don't even know those frames existed lol

[@XenoflareBahamut]

10:45 looks sus

[@bloodred255]

so did this animation make you want to pull for Nearl the Radiant Knight, Flametail or otherwise spend money on this gatcha game?

[@CatharsisYT]

Nothing ever could tbh 🤣 I don't touch gacha stuff for multiple reasons

[@bloodred255]

@@CatharsisYT some people have religion. others have a higher calling. they have Gatcha.

[@CatharsisYT]

@@bloodred255 I don't have either. I have animation. The one true king

[@SPEEDY4004]

to each their own though AK is still a game that works great as just free to play to without investing any money mfg Olli

[@alicjacaban2226]

This ark in anime willbe legendary🐎✨😎.Arknights is just epic.lf you mix Warhammer fantasy with xenogears you will get Arknights.its wery dark but awesome story

[@ohthatswild1755]

I'd love to see your breakdowns for both the Last of Me and the End Like This shorts if you could!

[@somethingeasy333]

As much as I love the animation, i always had a few problems with this video. One of my main issues is that they were a wee bit TOO gratituous with the slo-mo. Its everywhere, and sometimes it feels a bit too much. Also, the shot at the end with the clashing energies, where Nearl launches her swordspear, the energy looks more like a plastic fixture than flowing energy, and when it clashes with platinum's powerful arrow, the energy is a bit too consistent and doesnt distort enough to sell the collision.