The Chinese hit movie Curse Of The Golden Flower has made it into Time Magazine's 10 Best Films of 2006 sharing the honour with prestigious films like Borat and Letters from Iwo Jima. It is the only Asian film to have made it to this prestigious list.
However, reviews for the movie have been mixed. The movie only managed to obtain a 57% rating in the Rotten Tomatoes critic ratings. This is very much lower than other recent Zhang Yimou movies with similar themes like House of Flying Daggers
The harsh reviews did not seem to have any adverse effect on the movie's box office though... Golden Flower broke the opening week box office record previously set by super blockbuster Titanic in China. Till date, its box-office takings in China alone have exceeded the $200 million renminbi (approximately US$13 million) mark and the movie also performed above expectations in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
I have not watched the movie yet.. will post my thoughts on the movie here once I have watched it. Check out my earlier post for more interesting info on this hotly debated film of the moment.
Tags: Curse Of The Golden Flower, Chinese Movie, Zhang Yi-Mou, Chow Yun-Fatt, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Time Magazine, Best Film, Time Best Films Of 2006.
Curse Of The Golden Flower Makes It To Time Magazine's 10 Best Films Of 2006
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Golden Horse & Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards
Two major film award ceremonies for Asian films have just been held over the last 2 days in Taipei, Taiwan - The Golden Horse Awards and the Asia Pacific Film Festival Awards.
Hong Kong films again reigned at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards, which some regard as the Chinese language equivalent of the Oscars - After This Our Exile (父子) from Hong Kong took home the Best Picture award. The movie's lead actor, Aaron Kwok, won the Best Actor award the 2nd time in a row for his portrayal of an abusive single parent. Nine-year old Goum Ian Iskandar, who played Aaron's son in the film became the youngest winner of a Golden Horse Best Supporting Actor Award.
The hugely popular muscial Perhaps Love (also from Hong Kong) won 4 awards - Best Director (Peter Chan), Best Actress (Zhou Xun), Best Cinematography and Best Original Film Song.
The mainland Chinese film Crazy Stone (a personal favorite of mine) won the Best Original Screenplay award.
Check out the videos of the ceremony here (videos are in Mandarin):
Best Picture (presented by John Woo and Takeshi Kanshiro): http://www.im.tv/vlog/personal/452795/853619
Best Actor (presented by Chang Chen [who was nominated for Best Actor but unfortunately the film he was nominated for The Go Master was withdrawn at the last minute] & Karen Mok): http://www.im.tv/vlog/personal/452795/853611
Best Actress (presented by Aaron Kwok and Charlie Young): http://www.im.tv/vlog/personal/452795/853607
Over at the 51st Asia-Pacific Film Festival, South Korean films reigned supreme, winning 6 awards in total. However, the Best Feature Film award went to Iranian film The Unwanted Woman, which also won the Best Director (Tahimeh Milani) and Best Screenplay awards.
15-year old South Korean actor Lee Jae-eung won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of a teenager's growing up pains in Bravo, My Life. Son Ye-jin took home the Best Actress award for her role in April Snow (which also starred South Korean mega hunk Bae Yong-jun). And South Korean box-office champ The Host clinched 3 awards as well for Best Supporting Actor (Byun Hee-bong), Best Sound Effects and Best Editing.
Congragulations to all the winners :-)
[Compiled from news articles: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/detail.asp?ID=96083&GRP=B, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/26/content_742945.htm, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/243523/1/.html]
Tags: Golden Horse Awards, Asia-Pacific Film Festival, Hong Kong Films, Chinese Films, Movie Awards, Asian Films, Aaron Kwok, Zhou Xun, Perhaps Love, After This Our Exile, The Host, April Snow, Son Ye-Jin, Bravo My Life, The Unwanted Woman, South Korean Movies.
My Thoughts On Made-In-Japan Horror Movies
The release of The Grudge 2 recently made me realise what an impact Japanese horror movies have made on the horror movie genre this last decade or so.
When Ringu
But when The Ring
Actually I feel that the Japanese approach to horror movies is very different from Hollywood. There is usually very little special effects if you compare it with horror films from Hollywood but there is always a sense that something mysterious and terrifying is lurking beneath the surface. The atmosphere is almost always very still and quiet, with a minimum of dialogue which makes the horror, when it comes, even more shocking and unexpected.
When I first watched The Ring at the cinema, I had such a shock from the infamous TV scene that I left the cinema shivering with fright. And I was actually worried that something will happen to me on the seventh day :-P Some people even shifted their TV sets out of their bedroom after watching the film... haha...
However, with more and more directors churning out Ringu style horror movies like a production line, I feel that the quality of horror movies these days have really fallen tremendously. For me, even Hollywood remakes of movies like The Ring and Ju-on really cannot compare to the original versions. I guess movie goers are tired of seeing the same techniques being used again and again... Could a horror movie slump be on the horizon again?
Technorati tags: horror movie, scary movie, Japanese movie, Japanese film, The Ring, Ringu, Ju-on, The Grudge, The Grudge 2.
Princess Hours - Goong
After watching the very popular Korean drama Princess Hours (Goong), I can't help but think that this drama series was created for maximum viewer ratings because it caters to both viewers who like historical drama serials like Dae Jang Geum (with its palace intrigues) and viewers who are into trendy modern comedies like My Girl or My Lovely Samsoon (complete with a spunky and cute heroine in tow).
Princess Hours, which recreates a fictional modern Korean monarchy has some of the most beautiful costumes and elaborately built sets that I have seen in an Asian drama series. It is one of the most expensive Korean drama serials ever produced, the production cost for each episode is 230 million won (about US$245,000)!
The gamble paid off handsomely for the producers as Goong performed very well, garnering almost 30% in viewer ratings when it was shown in South Korea at the beginning of this year. It was so popular that a sequel of sorts Goong 2 (Prince Hours) is currently being made but unfortunately none of the 4 major characters in Goong will be appearing in the sequel.
Although Princess Hours was based on a South Korean comic book series, to a certain extent the story reminded me of another extremely popular Chinese drama serial that was shown a couple of years ago - Princess Returning Pearl or Huan Zhu Ge Ge. The character of Shin Chae-gyung (played by Yoon Eun-hye) resembled very closely the personality of Xiao Yan-zi (played by Zhao Wei). Both characters were lively and mischievious teenagers who entered the repressed and dreary royal palace by a twist of fate but somehow not only survived the experience but even brought a breath of fresh air into the stifling environment in the palace.
It also made major stars out of the 4 fresh-faced youths who played the main characters in the drama: Yoon Eun-hye (Shin Chae-gyung), Joo Ji-hoon (Crown Prince Lee Shin), Song Ji Hyo (Min Hyo-rin) and Kim Jeong-hoon (Prince Lee Yul). Even Prince Lee Shin's best friend "Alfred" the teddy bear (see picture) has become a hit :0)
This is definitely a drama that is well worth watching.... Although the storyline is a bit too fairy-tale like and unrealistic, the effort that was put into creating the show is nothing short of spectacular and the chemistry between the 4 lead actors is also a major attraction!
Tags: Princess Hours, Goong, Palace, Korean Drama Series, Drama Serial, Korean Mini Series, Princess Returing Pearl, Huan Zhu Ge Ge.
Curse Of The Golden Flower Is Really Made Of Gold
The new Zhang Yi Mou movie Curse Of The Golden Flower which stars Chow Yun-Fatt and Gong Li is proving to be as expensive as gold...
With a budget of US$45 million - equivalent to about 2430 kg (5350 pounds) of gold - it is the most expensive movie ever made in the history of Chinese cinema.
Even the actors' costumes are as heavy as "gold", the "dragon suits" of the Emporer (Chow Yun-Fatt) and Empress (Gong Li) are about 36kilograms or 79 pounds respectively. However, they still don't have it so bad... because the Prince's (pop-star Jay Chou) costume armor is over 100 pounds (46kg), about the weight of a very slim lady :-P I wonder how anyone can move with that kind of weight on their body, much less go into battle ....
However, although the movie seems to be made of gold, it still remains to be seen if the box office will also turn out to be a golden feast although it looks likely as the other much talked about and similarly lavish Chinese period movie, The Banquet, starring Zhang Ziyi, had a sparkling run at the Chinese box-office.
Curse Of The Golden Flower will be released worldwide around Christmas.
[Information derived from http://news.yam.com/udn/entertain/200610/20061013438417.html, http://english.people.com.cn/200610/06/eng20061006_309302.html]
Tags: Curse Of The Golden Flower, Chinese Movie, Zhang Yi-Mou, Chow Yun-Fatt, Gong Li.
Heroines In Modern Korean TV Dramas
When the Korean Wave first exploded from 2001 to 2003, the heroines in the most popular dramas during that period were usually sweet and gentle girl-next-door types that somehow had extremely tragic destinies. However, they still maintained their sweet smiles and stoic optimisim even in the most difficult circumstances, which of course made the situation look even more tragic in the audience's eye. Classic examples include Eun-Suh (played by Song Hye-Gyo) from Autumn In My Heart AKA Endless Love, Yun-Hee (Kim Hyun-Ju) from Glass Slippers and Han Jung-Suh (Choi Ji-Woo) from Stairway To Heaven. If you want to enjoy a good cry, try watching these dramas, especially Autumn :-P
The success of these light-hearted dramas in terms of ratings showed that perhaps this is the road to TV drama land success for Korean drama serials at the moment. However, who knows, there may come a time in the near future when weepy dramas launch a comeback with a new vengence haha....
Technorati Tags: Korean Drama, TV Drama, Korean Drama Serials, Modern Korean Drama.
South Korean Blockbuster The Host
Just watched the South Korean blockbuster The Host (Goemul),- the movie that is currently the highest grossing movie in South Korea of all time with 12.3 million tickets sold in South Korea alone.
Its a really exciting film that brings to mind other monster movies like Jaws and Godzilla, especially in the opening scences when we see the beachgoers running frantically away from the horrific river monster that suddenly appears on the banks of the Han River.
But The Host is not a normal Hollywood style monster movie, as the movie progresses, you realise that the director (Bong Joon-ho) is not trying to convey a simple story of how an ordinary family overcome tremendous odds to rescue a little girl captured by the monster... in fact the movie is a satire on the selfishness of ordinary people and the inefficiencies and gross corruption of the authorities during emergency situations. Besides the captured girl's immediate family, everyone else in the movie behaved in a most deplorable manner...
Telling examples include the scenes when bystanders (or reporters?) start snapping pictures of the family grieving for the little girl at the mass funeral or the scences when the ex-classmates of the uncle of the little girl try to capture him to collect the bounty that the authorities have placed on the family.
But, the human-like fobiles of the family's heroic attempts to save the girl brings a tear to my eyes... and provide an added dose of realism to the film, as the protagonists do not suddenly turn into superheroes when faced with danger... unlike Hollywood movies of the same ilk.
However, some parts of the movie were not explained at all, like why in the world is the mutant monster bringing human beings to its sewer lair? Why doesn't it just gobble them up? Is it in fact lonely for company or it is a one-monster cleaning crew trying to clean the river of the pollutants in the river, of which humans are a part?
Check out the great trailer from Youtube:
[Picture from http://www.solaceincinema.com/wp-content/uploads/hostt_poster.jpg]
Tags: The Host, Korean Movie, Asian Blockbuster, Asian Movie, Monster Movie.Chinese Film Still Life Wins Golden Lion!
Curse of The Golden Flower
Curse of the Golden Flower looks like its going to be a hit when it has its worldwide release in Chirstmas this year :-) This Zhang Yimou movie stars Chow Yun-Fatt, Gong Li, Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou and Liu Ye.
Check out the trailer from Youtube:
Another (longer) version of the trailer can be found on the Official Site.
Tags: Curse of The Golden Flower, Zhang Yi Mou, Chow Yun-Fatt, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Chinese Movie, December Movies.
Battle of the Red Cliff All Set for 2009 Oscars
The highly anticipated historical movie Battle of the Red Cliff (赤壁) will begin principal shooting next March and its planned world-wide release will be just 3 weeks before the Beijing Olympics in 2008! The Chinese mainland regards this movie as the most important Chinese film during the next 3 years and an Oscar contender for 2009!
The confirmed cast include Chow Yun-Fatt as Sun Yu, Lin Chi-Ling as Xiao Qiao and Tony Leung as Zhuge Liang. And it will be directed by John Woo.
Wow, this movie is set to become an epic! I am pretty sure the producers and the Chinese authorities will be putting in much resources to ensure its success so it should really be a visual feast when its shown :-)
More info about the movie can be found in my earlier post here.
[Info from news article http://times.hinet.net/news/20060828/entertainment/ab3d647a61c7.htm]
Tags: Chinese Movie, Battle of The Red Cliff, Chi Bi, John Woo.
A Movie With No Dialogue At All - Black Eyed
Taiwanese art-house director Tsai Ming-Liang's new movie Black Eyed will not have any dialogue at all! And it will have an even more daring scene than the last scene in his most recent film, the highly controversial Wayward Cloud.
Black Eyed will be one of the two Chinese movies vying for the Golden Lion Award at the 63rd Venice Film Festival starting on August 30 together with Hong Kong triad movie Exiled. Mainland Chinese movie The Banquet (Ye Yan) will also be screened at the film festival.
Black Eyed which was shot on location in Malaysia will star Lee Kang-Sheng who acted in practically all his previous productions and Chen Shiang-chyi who also starred in quite a number of his movies.
Actually, having seen a few of Tsai Ming Liang's movies like Wayward Cloud, What Time Is It There and Vive L'amour, I think to watch his movies, you really have to be very patient and just sit through the experience with no preconceived ideas of what a movie should be. There is usually very little dialogue and some of the scenes are honestly far out, for example the abrupt song and dance routines in Wayward Cloud which I really do not know serve what purpose besides generating a few laughs :-P But if you sit through it, you will come out of the experience with the images hanging in your mind... Perhaps its because his movies are so natural and still that its like you are watching someone real (ok, a strange and possibly disturbed someone) with a hidden camera and marvelling at their antics. And you may also recognise some uncomfortable truths in what the films are conveying.
Its really not for everyone, but I think its good to try to watch his movies at least once to get a totally different experience from the usual slam-bam dialogue filled films :-)
Tags: Taiwanese Movies, Tsai Ming Liang, Arthouse Movies.
Best Couples in Korean TV Dramas
Anyone who has watched Korean TV drama serials will know that the two crucial elements that define K-dramas are their romantic storylines and the chemistry between the romantic leads. These two elements are so important that they will literally make or break the drama series.
For me there were a few screen couples in Korean dramas that had so much onscreen chemistry that they became synonomous as a couple in many people's minds when they think of Korean dramas even though more often than not they were not really couples in real life.
- Bae Yong-Jun and Choi Ji-Woo (Winter Sonata) - who can forget the pure and tender love between the two lead characters in this drama that somehow reflected the pristine yet melancholic beauty of winter? This is THE drama that defined what is Korean drama for many people.
- Lee Young-Ae and Ji Jin-Hee (Dae Jang Geum) - For all the obstacles that Janggeum faced, thank god that she had the ever trustworthy Min Jong-Ho besides her. She was the perfect lady - intelligent, kind and fair of face and he was the perfect gentleman - open minded, supportive and brave. Together, they shared such a beautiful love that one can only hope for in real life.
- Lee Dong-Gun and Han Ji-Hye (Sweet 18 ) - The chemistry between them is truly sizzling in this sweet romantic comedy. Watching Lee and Han act as a couple with all their unique quirks and eccentrities is so realistic and entertaining that you can't help but wish they were really a couple. And they are ;-) In fact, this is one screen couple that is reportedly a couple in real life too :-)
- Park Shin-Yang and Kim Jung-Eun (Lovers in Paris) - The two shared a connection that made the cliched romance between a rich president of an automobile conglomorate and a poor student totally natural and just right despite their different backgrounds in the drama.
- Rain and Song Hye-Gyo (Full House) - This was the drama that showcased the comedic talents of Rain and Song Hye-Gyo (who was repeatedly typecasted in tragic heroine roles before this drama series). Strangely, the more the two engaged in hilarious "fights" and quarrels throughout the show, the more compatible they seem with each other. It was even rumoured that they became a couple after the show but both have vehemently denied the allegation :-P
Of cource there were many others that were equally notable, like Kwon Sang-Woo and Choi Ji-Woo in Stairway to Heaven and Kim Rae-Won and Kim Tae-Hee in Love Story in Harvard among others but for me the above couplings were the ones that truly made a deep impression :-)
Tags: Korean dramas, Drama Serials, Asian drama series.
The Incredible Crazy Stone !
Too many times in recent months, after falling for all the marketing hype and finally watching a "hit" movie in the cinema, the only feeling that I have after I come out of the theatre is one of regret, i.e. regret that I have actually spent hard earned cash to buy a ticket and valuable time to watch something that I would not even watch on TV. But the Chinese movie Crazy Stone (疯狂石头) is definitely not one of these movies. In fact, I can safely say it is the best movie that I have seen this year.
Set in the Chinese city of Chongqing, the movie is about how a motley group of thieves, including a "professional" thief from Hong Kong try to get their hands on a precious emerald pendant that is being guarded by an ex-cop with a urinary tract problem (interesting huh?). What ensues is a highly complex madcap adventure where the thieves try to steal the "stone" by all sorts of crazy unimaginable ways but are somehow foiled at every turn by the ex-cop and his bumbling colleagues (sometimes most unwittingly)... but really the movie must be watched to fully appreciate the beauty of the storyline :-P
This relatively low-budget movie with no famous stars defied all expectations and has become the highest grossing local film in China this year. The movie uses plenty of close-up shots and fast camera angles to create a hyper kinetic feel (think Brazilian movie City of God) and unexpected surprises are a dime a dozen. Another technique the director (28-year old Ning Hao) frequently employed is to show chronological events out of normal order. For example, in one particular scene, we see a canoodling couple being disturbed by a motorcyclist slamming into their car door. But in the next scene, we see that motorcyclist racing down the road before he hit the car ! For me, what attracts and sustains my interest, besides the rollercoaster-like storyline, are the characters which are unbelievable cunning yet at the same time, extremely human...
That is not to say that the movie is without flaws, some parts are just too coincidental to be believable but all in all this really is a fun movie and highly entertaining to boot :-) Watch it if you can!
[Picture from: http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/mmsource/images/2006/06/20/crazystone-4294-1.jpg]
Tags: Crazy Stone, Chinese Movie, Heist Movie.
11th Golden Bauhinia Awards
At the 11th Golden Bauhinia Awards held on 13th August, Peter Chan's Perhaps Love has emerged the big winner with 7 awards including Best Director, Best Actress (Zhou Xun), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song. As expected, Johnny Toh's superb triad movie Election took home the Best Picture prize and lead actor Simon Yam was named Best Actor. Anthony Wong won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in the exciting Jay Chou racing movie Initial D and Teresa Mo nabbed the Best Supporting Actress for 2 Young.
Check out the detailed award results here :-)
Tags: Golden Bauhinia Award, Hong Kong Film Awards.
The 45-second Japanese Dorama Serial
Heard of a drama serial that lasts just 45 seconds per episode? Yes, there is no typo, it's not 45 minutes, it really is 45 seconds. And it will star popular Japanese actor Toshiaki Karasawa who played the ambitious Dr Zaizen in The Great White Tower (Shiroi Kyotou) and Japanese actress Ryou.
The 45-second drama series August Rainbow (direct translation) which starts broadcasting in Japan today, is an experiment by Japanese TV station TBS to see if a drama that is as short and sharp as a commercial can address the problem of perpetually low ratings in Japanese dramas recently.
The story of August Rainbow, set in the year 2045, takes place in a world that is suffering from the severe after-effects of global warming, i.e. the whole planet has become a desert so much so that even the beautiful multi-colored rainbow that we have now has become black :-P The dorama, which is part of the Green Film Project, hopes to serve as a warning of what could happen if mankind does not change its current ways and global warming spirals out of control.
Well, although I really applaud what the producers of the drama are trying to achieve, I can imagine the difficulties in trying to follow such a short drama, hey I could miss one important episode if I just happen to switch on the telly just 45 seconds later :-P And since the whole series is 10 episodes long, it will just take around 7+ minutes to finish it :-P
Sigh, no wonder I find time getting faster and faster as the years go by haha.
[Compiled from news articles: http://news.yam.com/chinatimes/entertain/200608/20060811168056.html, http://www.daily.co.jp/gossip/2006/08/07/0000084984.shtml]
Tags: Japanese Drama, Dorama, Toshiaki Karasawa.
Question From John Woo
Yahoo! Answers is now accepting answers to a question from the famous director John Woo ! The question from the man himself is: Our fascination with comic superheroes is time-tested. Why do we continue to relate to them?
Check it out here and give your answer, your valuable input might have a big influence on his next movie :-)
Tags: John Woo, Comic Superheroes, Yahoo Answers.
Help Make Blogs More Visible
There are by some estimates more than 3 million weblogs. But most of them get no visibility in search engines. Only a few "A-List" blogs get into the top search engine results for a given topic, while the majority of blogs just don't get noticed. But this posting could solve that. Let's help the smaller blogs get more visibility!
This posting is GoMeme 4.0. So far we have tried 3 earlier variations. Our first test, GoMeme 1.0, spread to nearly 740 blogs in 2.5 days. This new version 4.0 is shorter, simpler, and fits more easily into your blog.
Why are we doing this? We want to help thousands of blogs get more visibility. How does it work? Just follow the instructions below to re-post this meme in your blog and add your URL to the end of the Path List below. As the meme spreads onwards from your blog, so will your URL. Your blog will be part of the pat for everyone downstream from you. That way they can see where they got this message from. Everyone in the Path List below benefits in a similar way as this meme spreads. Try it!
Instructions: Just copy this entire post and paste it into your blog. Then add your URL to the end of the path list below, and pass it on! (Make sure you add your URLs as live links or HTML code to the Path List below.)
Path List
1. Minding the Planet
2. East Asian Movie and Drama Blog
3. (your URL goes here! But first, please copy this line and move it down to the next line for the next person).
(NOTE: Be sure you paste live links for the Path List or use HTML code.)
Best Jet Li Movie Of All Time
Before Jet Li, when one thinks of this famous martial arts master, the image that comes to mind is Kwan Tak Hing's Wong Fei Hung (picture below right).
However when Tsui Hark made Once Upon A Time in China in 1991, the audience were so pleasantly surprised by Jet Li's balletic kungfu moves under the brilliant direction and cinematography of Tsui Hark that from then on he became Wong Fei Hung!
Actually, if you compare Jet Li and his other contemporaries in the Chinese action movie industry like Jackie Chan, you will realise that Jet Li's moves are more fluid and graceful whereas Jackie Chan's seem more fast paced and dramatic. However there is no denying that Li's kungfu looks and most probably is just as powerful as Jackie Chan's :-P
Once Upon A Time In China wasn't the first Jet Li movie I watched, in fact I had the good fortune of watching his very first movie The Shaolin Temple which was released in 1979/80. However, being his first movie, I felt his acting then was not very polished although his kungfu moves were just as good. But in Once Upon A Time in China, you can see that his acting had matured a great deal. This is most obvious in the way he essayed the shy romance between Wong Fei Hung and his Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan) which was so sweet and delicate that it will put a smile on your face :-)
Once Upon A Time was so popular that three sequels were made. They are all all well worth watching if only just to watch Jet Li execute his spectacular moves!
[Pictures from YesAsia and http://www.kit.nl]
Tags:
Kungfu Movie, Jet Li, Chinese Movie, Wong Fei Hung, Martial Arts Films.
The Changing Faces of Anime Characters
Have you noticed the changes in how anime characters are drawn since the art form started in the 1950s in Japan? In the early days, the characters were round and cute and had a strong Disney influence. They were also simpler in shape and not all that humanly realistic. For example, observe how Astroboy and Doraemon were drawn.
In the 70s and 80s, slim delicate characters with extremely large starry eyes became the norm. Even male characters had really beautiful large eyes and slim frames so much so that sometimes you can't tell whether they are male or female until you hear them talk :-P
In the late 90s, realistic character drawings became more common due to the influence of "realistic" anime like Ghost in the Shell, i.e. eyes became smaller and body shapes became more realistic (but male characters were generally still more androgynous than manly). Only Anime made with younger children in mind bucked this trend and still followed the earlier "cuter" styles.
Recently, it seems that cute characters are making a comeback in anime... But with more stylised exagerrated body shapes that are used as a tool to highlight the character's personality. A greater variety of body and facial forms also seem to be the norm, for example, in the anime Desert Punk, it can be seen that different drawing styles were applied for the different characters, the most obvious example being the huge difference between Kosuna and Sunaboozu :-P
However, it seems that even with the greater prolification of anime now, none have managed to reach the popularity of early animes like Astroboy, Doraemon and Kimba... Perhaps time to go back to simple designs?
Tags:
Anime, Character Design, Cartoons.
