The long-awaited Konami Animation project, set to feature archetypes and cards from the game itself, has finally released to a mixed reception. Although the animation quality, voice acting and the “aura” of the video, whatever that means, was generally well-received by most, the lack of a coherent narrative structure and environmental detail were definitely felt by the fans. Yet the main point of disappointment was the video’s length, totaling just 3:20, excluding the intro/outro. Fortunately, Konami Animation has addressed fans’ comments. The following is translated from their official Japanese blog post by our intern Michael, who’s studied the language for a bit:
“We thank the fans for their comments. We rejoice that the feedback praised the high-quality of animation and voice work. We have also seen many comments that the animation was as long as a turn on「MD」. To address this, we will change the duration of the next animation to fit a more active lifestyle and to better maintain the expensive animation quality the fans expect. In the future, the 「Yu-Gi-Oh! CARD GAME THE CHRONICLES」episodes will last 48 frames.”
We asked Michael a few clarifications. According to him, the MD part might mean that the animation it took as long as an opponent’s combo in a typical Master Duel match, or maybe the amount of time it takes to wait for your turn for your doctor’s appointment. Regarding the last sentence, Michael said that there is no misunderstanding – they actually mean 48 frames of animation.
Such a length would put the episode of animation below the vast majority of animated works and slightly above Michael’s grade school claymation project. “At 24 frames/second, the animation would last 2 seconds. I guess they could animate it at half frame-rate and call it an artistic choice for a Mecha show, which would double the length. Oh and I’ve heard you can use AI to interpolate every other frame, that’d make it a whole 8 seconds,” commented our intern.
Fans are cautiously awaiting for episode 2, set to release next month and feature animated moments of fan-favorite cards and moments, like the beloved Mobilize – Linkage! and the brand-new Ace = Zero, for 4 frames each.
Hahahaha. I didbt think much of the lenght intially as at first glance thought “oh this is the trailer”