Record of Ragnarok on Netflix
Netflix has launched all episodes of Record of Ragnarok this June 17, however, soon after release, many fans of the original manga shared their disappointment on social media and Twitter.
Record of Ragnarok started in 2017 as a manga series in Japan titled Shuumatsu no Walküre. It’s a battle manga featuring various mythological figures and divinities fighting each other. An anime adapting the manga’s over-the-top scenes was highly awaited by fans.
Record of Ragnarok anime – Why manga fans are unhappy?
Sadly, the Record of Ragnarok adaption turned out to have questionable animation quality. This is a scenario we should have seen coming, seeing this isn’t the first time an “Netflix Original” anime project ends up this way.
The first signs were the series’ trailers, published some time after Record of Ragnarok‘s anime was first announced in December 2020. Those were poorly animated and were particularly disappointing besides the voice acting.
Speaking of which, one of the good aspects of the anime is the voice acting, as it features several veteran seiyuu. Including Hikaru Midorikawa (Heero in Gundam Wing) or Miyuki Sawashiro (Puchiko in Di Gi Charat). The English dub is of high quality as well and left in good hands.
Manga Vs Anime
However, besides the animation quality, which objectively isn’t that bad, one particular thing that’s disappointing is how the anime fails to adapt the manga’s iconic facial expressions. As artist @TheGoldenSmurf pointed out on Twitter, many of the characters, the female characters especially, have incredibly toned down expressions in the anime compared to the manga.
I’ve criticized stuff like the neutered expressions of Brunhilde but just to be clear: this slideshow only lasts for 15 seconds. So while it’s super stupid, the rest of the season (and of the fight) is nowhere near as bad lol.
— TGSmurf (@TheGoldenSmurf) June 17, 2021
As a whole it was honestly fine, I enjoyed it.
Why did it turn out this way?
Especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, many anime projects these past two years ended with very low animation quality. However, the pandemic only accentuated problems present in the Japanese anime industry for decades. Underpaid animators, strict schedules, or production committees raking in all the profits instead of animation studios.
At the end of the day, Netflix productions still suffer from the same problems. Record of Ragnarok is sadly definitely not the last time we see an anime like this. Nowadays, many studios are overbooked years in the future, and certain studios in particular like Mappa seems to be constantly working its animators around the clock.
As for the future of the anime industry in Japan, many believe, myself included, that it’s a lost cause and the only way for it to get better would be for it to completely stop functioning once. And restart on a better basis. Most notably without the Anime Production Committee system. Some members of the anime industry are also trying out alternatives such as the Animesupport project.
