Which series have the best art style?

[Rockapheller]

Each and every series have introduced, less or more, some changes throughout the regions within the artstyle. Which has been your favourites so far? (Poll allows you to vote up to 2 series)

 

[ii kanji]

Original is best in this case. Were they limited with what they could do budget & tech-wise? Yes. But the character design stood out like nobody's business, and that 90s cel feel simply cannot be replicated.

My second choice, a surprise unto even me, is SM. This is because when I look back at AG through XY I see them trying to do more/better/cheaper of the same but never capturing the magic of the OS art. At least they're trying something new in this series. It certainly does stand out as original from the rest of the mire, and you feel every week that the animators really care about making their work come alive!

 

[HiroHunter]

For me its:

XY<BW<DP=AG<OS<SM

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

BW, XY and SM had distinct art styles, but same can't be said about other regions. First and last episodes of OS looks nothing alike, there is no difference between AG and DP, etc.

 

[Nicolas721]

Digitally-colored OS has a certain charm to it, the colors are very bright and things like Address Unown! are very pleasing to look at.

BW brought the bright colors back, but there are many times where it feels like it doesn't take enough risks. XY eventually took that risks with very beautiful environments, making it the natural peak of the classical animation.

 

[KyseL]

In my opinion, OS wasn't great, in fact it wasn't good, but at least it felt strong in terms of personality. As the show went on the quality improved drastically, but it lost it's personality for a sharper and more "detail for the sake of detail", which compromised appeal to a great degree.

Then we got Sun & Moon which is the first series to actually look good and not just "good for Pokémon". It compromises a bit on detail for the sake of just better drawings (a typical rookie mistake in art is assuming detail is associated with quality, which in most cases isn't true and it may even hinder how you can communicate with your art); expressive drawings, with stronger poses and better management of volume make Sun & Moon just better than everything before, besides, the style actually takes into consideration that they have to be animated, which allows for some of the best animation in the show.

 

[Alola]

XY(Z) hands down. With a little love, better production, larger budget, and no stock backgrounds, we got to see exactly what the anime could do with animation. And I was not disappointed. Ash vs Viola still blows me away to this day, seeing their Pokemon battle with the beautiful greenhouse windows in the background.

 

[Johtohfiller]

OS for the cels, AG for the warm color palette (and the colors looking better than most early digital color shows - that was an ugly era for anime IMO), XY for the camera work.

Even though I love DP it's not one of my favorites visually due to the cooler color palette (I guess that fits Sinnoh though) and some occasional cheap-looking effects.

 

[kantoskies]

I think XY had the most consistent art style but it (along with AG/DP/BW) seems too flat and bright for me. Though it was better to look at than 3/4 of AG and DP. I'm a huge sucker for the cel colored episodes and I think the early Kanto art style was super charming. Though some of my favorite episodes on a visual episode are late Kanto-early Kanto.

Sun&Moon, when a competent AD is in charge, does have some of the most visually-interesting art, especially when it comes to the Rocket trio.

 

[Camille]

Kalos, for its detailed backgrounds and lack of speedlines.

 

[Likeitornot.]

Original Series: the start of OS has a completely different technique of animation than the end of it, so for me it's a little hard to deal with it as a single unit for the purposes of this thread. There's also the factor of its age and the technology that was available to take into account, but this has to be considered for more than just the original series now. I feel sometimes the 90s art-style deployed and the 90s Sugimori-inspired style does look a little rough on the edges but it still could produce some beautiful results - for some reason, the way nature was animated, such as sunsets had such a serene quality to them. This, though not a sunset, very simply captures the wonder of such nature. I actually didn't really like Johto's digital animation but I feel I can't be too harsh on it, since it was something quite new that they were exploring. Sometimes I felt it was slightly desaturated (maybe this is just me) and the colours were a bit dull.

Advanced Generation: AG actually was a series for me that depended on whoever was the main animator overseeing the episode, although I couldn't tell who it was exactly that was my favourite for this series, I felt there were noticeable differences depending on whoever was in charge. Overall, it doesn't stand out in my mind for being memorable and this was the series that produced the infamous Team Aqua/Magma two-parter but it's not fair to base the whole series off of that very unfortunately animated piece. I think the colour scheme of the character designs wasn't very inspiring and nor were some of the designs either. The backgrounds were usually fine.

Diamond and Pearl: unfortunately made use of some not aesthetically pleasing CGI during its appeal rounds and this was incredibly jarring. Overall, it does remind me of Advanced Generation in many ways, not too memorable in terms of style and some bland character design choices.

Best Wishes!: An attempt to rejuvenate the artstyle in the anime, look more like Sugimori's evolved style as it had become rather than what was it was when the show first begun - BW was quite, in a word, vibrant. Everything seemed to glisten and sparkle - what I did like with this series was how nature and sceneries were drawn, the bushes in particular were gorgeous. The buildings however had this very artificial quality to them - they looked like they were almost made out of a set and this was quite noticeable when they visited the Village of Dragons, the cabins didn't look like they were built from authentic wood which I don't think was the image the animators were trying to convey.

XY: very stylised, very polished kind of traditional shounen style, more angles - more dramatic shots. I can appreciate the increase in quality of the animation, but it's not my favourite artstyle either. Still, there was a definite improvement from Best Wishes on the way buildings were drawn, that was appreciated. I think the art style fits the narrative and tone of the series like a glove, which is what you would like a style to do.

SM: An artstyle that from the beginning seemed to be divisive in the fandom, people either initially liked or hated it, it seemed. I always one of those who enjoyed the art style, it has such a buoyancy that brings out Ash's cheerfulness and enthusiasm but also breathes life into nature that is quite different to the way in which the Original Series laid it down in such a serene way but one that I appreciate. The artstyle is quite flexible for dynamic expressions and characterisations which is something that drew me to mainstream Japanese animated art in the first place. Like XY, I think the art style is perfect for the series that it is in. It's hard to imagine SM in XY's style and vice versa, which makes me appreciate the versatility of the Pokemon anime and its art.

My favourite? Sun and Moon.

 

[Likeitornot.]

@Rockapheller fair enough, I was going to say the majority had such a style but I do think the two styles are quite different so I would have to take that into account.

 

[Gabo2oo]

XY all the way. I mean look at this:

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

There’s something I just really liked about the OS style, especially around Master Quest. XY(Z) had a great style also that really showed off what the animators could do when they had the technology and budget to do so.

 

[Matleo]

for me gen 4 and 6 animes, but some pokemon moves were also good animated in the past .
Loved also gen II and III for league battles and gyms animation styles and lenght of battles, full 3vs3 , 6vs6, 3vs3 and that double with Julian... love when we see strategy and good battles.

 

[Melfice]

XY(Z) by far. The battles looked amazing.

 

[KrisiChiki]

My favourite are XYZ and SM.

In my eyes XYZ was the peak of the classic “Pokemon anime art style”. I loved the lack of generic, stock backgrounds during battles and the lack of action line overuse we used to have. XYZ battles looked great in general. They had some interesting choreography and camera work. They were a joy to watch.

On the other hand, the art style began feeling stale and stiff by the time we reached Gen VI. I recognise that the art style evolved over time, but it didn’t deviate too much. It was still the classic Pokemon anime style for the most part.

I had mixed feelings regarding the SM art style until I watched it in motion. The new art style has added a lot of personality to the series which it was lacking. I love how expressive the characters are. I love how much effort is put into giving us fun animations even during filler episodes. The animators are clearly enjoying working on the show.

Alas, SM’s artstyle isn’t without flaws. Some characters look great in this artstyle, even better than their original designs, but there are a few characters whose SM design is not quite as successful.

I also feel like they don’t put a lot of effort into the battle animation and choreography even though they are clearly capable of delivering in that aspect. I know this is partially the fault of the writers who are responsible for the content, but I really miss the battles from XYZ. After all, Pokemon battles are one of the reasons I watch the anime.

 

[Almonds]

XY/&Z. The battle animations were very detailed and effective in delivering the impact of each and every blow. The dynamic camera angles led audiences to be immersed in the battle and offered different perspectives on how the next movement is going to be carried out.

 

[Ricbolog]

DP. Classic style with modern quality animation
EDIT: I like digitally colored OS and AG as well

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

XY, I love the shading and details looked so realistic and I liked how they made the characters more mature. I mean Ash’s XY design is pure fire