With the release of the second PV of Metallic Rouge, Studio Bones celebrates its 25th anniversary. It's a huge milestone for an animation studio, and for those of you who want to celebrate it, we'd like to present a little list of the anime that can show you this unique Bones approach to bringing stories to life through the medium of animation.
We're not going to talk about seasonal anime that often gets picked by different studios, so no My Hero Academia (Boku No Hero Academia) on this list. We focus on the works that have this Bones' essence in them and less commercial flair.
This is the lovechild of the studio, the epitome of the passion project. Back when it was released, people were speculating that Bones got their hands full with MHA only to be able to fund their production of Mob Psycho 100 — although it's not true. This heartwarming story about allowing yourself to be who you are and being honest not only with others but with yourself has been perfectly adapted from ONE's manga with a pretty unique style into animation. The fight scenes are spectacular, the more slice-of-life-y ones are simply breathtaking, as the animators did a great job of combining beautiful backgrounds and stylized characters. It's a beautiful work, both in its meaning and its execution.
If you've ever seen these Twitter posts where people are asked to share their favorite anime openings, chances are that a huge percentage of replies will be the ones from the first season of Noragami. And not because the song is great: it is, no doubt, but it's paired with amazing animation, one that follows the adventures of Yato throughout the whole series. The manga will be ending soon, so maybe we'll get the final season of the show from Bones, because the first two look fantastic: it's a perfect story for Bones, translated into the animation medium while keeping all its beauty and depth.
Yasuhiro Nightow, the author of the original manga (and Trigun, too), has a pretty unique art style: it feels rough, sometimes sketchy, sometimes with wacky proportions and odd camera angles. But hey, Bones knows how to use weird camera angles, and they utilize their composing skills perfectly in such an action-packed show. The world of Kekkai Sensen is insane, but Bones recreated it with such love and attention that you cannot help but sink into it.
An original show from Bones that was released in 2005 still looks staggering in 2023. A mix of mecha, romance, and a little cyberpunk, if you squint, with a hint of eco-thriller, this series is not just beautiful: it has even pacing in all its complexity and ties the substories together neatly. There are some vibe changes as the story progresses and starts exploring darker topics, but the characters behave believably — and are styled in a pretty realistic way. Did we say that it's gorgeous?
Wolf's Rain
A pretty dark show that became a classic, one of the earliest Bones' works, already had all the signature ticks of the studio: gorgeous and detailed backgrounds, meticulous attention to detail, smooth animation — all that immerses the viewer into the world portrayed on the screen. It's one of the original shows that doesn't have a source, so this complex fantasy world exists only in that medium. The storytelling is subtle, the pace is slow, and the deeper subtext is never in your face but always lingers somewhere. It's a captivating work, its only downside is just a bunch of recap episodes in the middle.
Feel the diversity.
With the release of the second PV of Metallic Rouge, Studio Bones celebrates its 25th anniversary. It's a huge milestone for an animation studio, and for those of you who want to celebrate it, we'd like to present a little list of the anime that can show you this unique Bones approach to bringing stories to life through the medium of animation.
We're not going to talk about seasonal anime that often gets picked by different studios, so no My Hero Academia (Boku No Hero Academia) on this list. We focus on the works that have this Bones' essence in them and less commercial flair.
This is the lovechild of the studio, the epitome of the passion project. Back when it was released, people were speculating that Bones got their hands full with MHA only to be able to fund their production of Mob Psycho 100 — although it's not true. This heartwarming story about allowing yourself to be who you are and being honest not only with others but with yourself has been perfectly adapted from ONE's manga with a pretty unique style into animation. The fight scenes are spectacular, the more slice-of-life-y ones are simply breathtaking, as the animators did a great job of combining beautiful backgrounds and stylized characters. It's a beautiful work, both in its meaning and its execution.
If you've ever seen these Twitter posts where people are asked to share their favorite anime openings, chances are that a huge percentage of replies will be the ones from the first season of Noragami. And not because the song is great: it is, no doubt, but it's paired with amazing animation, one that follows the adventures of Yato throughout the whole series. The manga will be ending soon, so maybe we'll get the final season of the show from Bones, because the first two look fantastic: it's a perfect story for Bones, translated into the animation medium while keeping all its beauty and depth.
Yasuhiro Nightow, the author of the original manga (and Trigun, too), has a pretty unique art style: it feels rough, sometimes sketchy, sometimes with wacky proportions and odd camera angles. But hey, Bones knows how to use weird camera angles, and they utilize their composing skills perfectly in such an action-packed show. The world of Kekkai Sensen is insane, but Bones recreated it with such love and attention that you cannot help but sink into it.
An original show from Bones that was released in 2005 still looks staggering in 2023. A mix of mecha, romance, and a little cyberpunk, if you squint, with a hint of eco-thriller, this series is not just beautiful: it has even pacing in all its complexity and ties the substories together neatly. There are some vibe changes as the story progresses and starts exploring darker topics, but the characters behave believably — and are styled in a pretty realistic way. Did we say that it's gorgeous?
Wolf's Rain
A pretty dark show that became a classic, one of the earliest Bones' works, already had all the signature ticks of the studio: gorgeous and detailed backgrounds, meticulous attention to detail, smooth animation — all that immerses the viewer into the world portrayed on the screen. It's one of the original shows that doesn't have a source, so this complex fantasy world exists only in that medium. The storytelling is subtle, the pace is slow, and the deeper subtext is never in your face but always lingers somewhere. It's a captivating work, its only downside is just a bunch of recap episodes in the middle.
