Hideo Kojima is a video game designer who does not need any introduction. The designer has received rave reviews for his understanding of the medium and design, making him the ultimate authority in art style and animation design.
When Kojima praises a work, you know it is doing design and animation right. Kojima took to X (formerly Twitter) to talk about the recent Netflix animated series, Blue Eye Samurai. The designer was all praises for the work presented, even going to say that might be the best anime of the year.
Hideo Kojima loves how CG animation is developing
Revealing his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter), the designer was all praises for what Blue Eye Samurai has been able to achieve. He said:
Just finished watching all 8 episodes of BLUE EYE SAMURAI! Well, everything is wonderful! Everything is all beautiful! Without a doubt, the best anime of the year! It is a visual work that transcends the common sense of animation!
The new generation of CG-based animation reached… pic.twitter.com/pQT9eEIkdh
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 23, 2023
Kojima was particularly impressed with the quality of CG animation that was on display in the film, talking about how the industry as a whole saw a turning point with similar films like Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse and Arcane. He said:
“The new generation of CG-based animation reached a turning point with “Spider-Man: Spider-Verse (2018)” and reached maturity with “Arcane (2021)”, but this tv series has reached the next level!”
Kojima’s sentiments about CG animation are corroborated by the shift that Japanese and American animation is seeing towards films such as Dragon Ball Super: Superhero, which was a hotly anticipated film from a traditionally animated property that saw a brilliant entry in the franchise with a full CGI film.
Initially, Hideo Kojima didn’t like some designs in Blue Eye Samurai
It seems that Kojima took a while to come around to the designs that were used fro the characters in Blue Eye Samurai. In is X review, he said:
“At first, I wasn’t sure about Ringo, Taigen, and Akemi, I’m like “let alone the main character, Mizu!”. But as their backgrounds are told, I felt more and more sympathy for them and found them attractive.”
It seems that Kojima takes his time with design rather than letting first impressions color his opinions. Given what a veteran and expert he is in the industry, it is safe to say that he sets the benchmark when it comes to consuming animation and video games, definitely from a design point of view.
