Ninjkabat's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Buster the Bunny]

It wasn't that good the first time around

This submission wasn't that good the first time around, and it doesn't look like you've changed anything substantial for this time around. I would suggest doing a lot of animation experimentation on your own, waiting until you have something that's enjoyable to watch, and then coming back to NG to submit it.

[|~Hug Me To The Skies~|]

Not too shabby

Hmmm, from this animation, and your other ones I've seen, I can tell that you know how to draw in flash. Your drawings are very good, nicely shaded, very intricate, the whole nine yards. It's just the animation aspect of your submissions that need a little work. The movement is just jerky and unsmooth most of the time, which detracts from how good your drawings are. I was thinking most of the time, "wow, he's just running in an unnatural way," or "that guitar playing looks ridig and stiff."

My suggestion? Draw your whole animation in stick figures first. That way, you can focus on the motion of the characters without having to worry about the outside detail. Then you can go back and trace over the stick figures and work on all that detail that you seem to be so good at. There isn't an art book around that doesn't suggest starting with stick figures, and I think your animation could stand to improve by leaps and bounds if you employ this technique of doing a rough sketch first, and then the final copy over it.

But overall, not bad. It was cute, it was colorful, it was... uh, cute.

P.S. you really gotta get voice actors that can speak Japanese. The American accents were killing me throughout the whole thing. It was like listening to the most hakujin person I could imaging. I'll even volunteer myself, if it means that I don't have to listen to that very thick accent ever again.

You also missed the translation in the begining, mixing up "okite" with "watashi wo mite." They were backwards.

[Up Your Nose]

Original, funny, and worthy of the frontpage

This submission is not only incredibly original, but also very well drawn and animated. You did a nice job designing characters that had exagurated characteristics which reflected their personalities. The vandal with the elongated tongue was especially solidly designed.

And the actual animation was very fluid and synchronized well with the audio. It was nice to see the blending of tweening and frame by frame animation that went on throughout the animation. Especially during the fight sequence, for some reason, the hand animations just struck me as particularly well thought-out and excecuted.

You also did a very nice job of voice acting, which I'm sure other people will take notice of as well. It fit in nicely with the stylish animation and music that use chose to use.

Overall, there was very little that could have made this animation any better. This is why I believe it should be on the front page, and why I will not be surprised when I see it there. Good job.

plentymagpies responds:

Thanks a lot, appreciate that.

[Spi-Dizzle]

Very solidly done.

Well, hmmm. You've presented an interesting little submission here. Despite the fact that there isn't really much storyline, so to speak, your character design is enough to keep interest in that character high throughout the whole movie. I think you designed him well, keeping most of the elements simplistic, but giving them a refined and elegant look when they are combined to make the "model" you use for animating.

So good job coming up with a character that's actually original and that keeps the viewers interest. On the artistic side of the submission, you also do some pretty interesting things that, while they aren't new, are very well executed. The instance that stood out to me most prominently was the section of the video where you spliced in real life footage. This in itself is nothing new, but because of the steady camera, relatively high resolution, and pretty fluid frame rate, it doesn't look awkward like other people's attempts to do the same trick.

You also surprised me with the opening "kick" animation. For some reason, your timing and use of the "ease tool" really gave your kick animation a nice solid cartoonish look. It had the timing and feeling of some other classic animators, and so that's why it struck me as extremely effective, even though it's an aesthetic that many people wouldn't normally notice or think about very hard.

So, all in all, you've given us a character that we actually become slightly interested in, and you show that you have skill when it comes to animation/video editing. I would say that's all the makings of a flash that will pass. Don't let my overall score on this review scare you (I'm rather harsh when it comes to that), I believe this submission shows promise, and I actually look forward to what you become capable of after more practice.

Keep up the good work.

Jeiji responds:

Ack! Ouchas! A five? Well I guess I earned it, but thanks. At least I have a good character...And a five for SOUND?!?! NEVER! I COMPOSED THAT BEAT! But thanks for the honest input. It bothers me more when people say they don't like my work, and are all like..."Aww, I don't like it...(retarded voice)." So now I know my strengths, and that I need to start storyboarding again. Thanks again!

[Haters of Hating Hate]

I don't get your title for it.

The Aquabats are completely and utterly awesome. I've never said it before, but, "Fiven."

Anyway, on to a more serrious matter: the review. I thought that your drawing style was nice and cute. It was definitely a style all your own, and it shows that you've gotten the hang of how to draw things in flash and animate them pretty well.

The one thing that really wasn't up to par, though, was your lipsynching. The mouth shape didn't at all match the type of consonant or vowel that was being sung at the time, and I think that it has mostly to do with your frame by frame approach to animating the mouth. I find that a much easier way to animate lipsynching is to create a bunch of symbols for reoccuring mouth patterns (like an open mouth for "uh, a, e,"clenched teeth for "ch, s, t," a bitten bottom lip for "f, and v," etc), and then manipulate those symbols frame by frame to get the words that you want.

And another thing that's invaluable is to watch yourself talk in the mirror. You have to see what the shape of the mouth is actually going to look like on a real person before you can make it look good on a cartoon character.

So that's my advice. Once again, "The Aquabats, r0ol, 5en"

xthesnarfx responds:

I know what you mean about the lipsyncing. The ressone I used the fbf mouths is because I think you can get a lot more emotion out of it and you can change it up and make each mouth flow into eachother. As for the tittle I just like nameing things oddly or randome that has nothing to do with the flash.

[Thalius Finds a Map]

Once again.

Once again, you have managed to attempt to pass something into the portal that doesn't belong there. This is not a movie that has any merit at all. It is a blank screen that you have embeded some unoptimised mp3's into so that there is a large load time.

I have a theory that you creating this Thalius serries, all of which have been the exact same crap in the exact same package, simply to laugh with yourself when they pass judgement. You rely on the large load time, your mentioning that it is a part of a serries, and your very serious 46 x 46 icon to convince people that it is a real movie. Sadly, these misdirections have seemed to work for your previous movies, probably because people don't want to wait for the 10mb to load and give your submission just any type of vote that they think is passing.

That is my theory anyway. I challenge you to prove me wrong - to prove me and the rest of the users on the portal that you sincerely believe that this is a good movie that is worthy of being on the portal. If you have any evidence that shows that you spent more than 5 seconds on it, or that shows that you really care about the final product you're submitting, please prove me wrong.

[Lab 2 - The Time Ray]

Crazy Continuity

Wow, this was well written and well animated at the same time, a feat that few cartoons on the portal can brag about. I would like to commend you on a job well done.

The way you wrote the script to follow him through time was ingenious. No plot holes or unexplained appearances. And with three incarnations of the doctor being on screen at one time, that's quite an accomplishment to run it all together smoothly.

The art was also very smooth, especially your lipsynching. The high frame rate works well for the background animation loops that you use. And yet it's not so fast that it appears jerky. So, even though your character didn't actually move much, I can tell that you have obvious skill as an animator.

The bottom line is that this is a well thought out submission that you obviously spent time on. Good job.

[Robot Theme Song DDS1]

Nice choice of music

This submission was nice and simple, which was good because it was underscored by a completely instrumental piece of technotronic super radness. I wish something more climactic had been done with the ending of the movie, but the animation was not half bad.

Maybe the audio could have been compressed some more. Actually, nevermind. The Aquabats don't deserve to have their audio compressed.

Anyway, nice simple flash. It is a good way to start out your quest to complete a years worth of flashes. Hopefully you will get better and faster as the year progresses, but I can see that you have a flair for flash, and a good enough grasp to make a good effort at a daily flash.

[Wintertime in Dream Land]

Wonderful, simply wonderful.

This animation is so amazingly good, right up there, if not better, than your ambush animation.

It's stylistic, very fluid, has a good frame rate, and has a very good script that keeps the audiences interest throughout the entire animation. This are attributes that not many submissions to the portal have nowadays, which makes yours stand out above the rest as worth watching. It is also a very nice holiday theme you chose for this animation.

Kirby fan or not, this animation is enjoyable by everyone and you should definitely continue to make more. You have an incredible amount of talent, and I applaud you for that.

[box and goo]

Interesting idea

Well, the idea is very original, and the characters are simple enough that we understand them imediately. My biggest praise is in your choice of music. It gave the submission a light airy feeling, like it was all in a dream (the white background helpped with that too).

Anyway, the only contructive critisism I really have of this flash is that you don't seem to end the sound file once the animation loop starts over. Besides that, it's a very nice first movie. It definitely shows artistic potential.

boxheadboys responds:

hey cheers 4 the positive review. in response to the music thing it did that but couldn't be bothered figuring out how to fix it as I'm teaching my self as i go. Also I'm glad to hear people liked the music, I whipped that one up myself :)