DO IT YOURSELF: PERFECTLY IMPERFECT

WAI KWAN WU - Managing Editor, 3rd Year, Molecular Cell Biology

Some might call it wabisabi.

In today’s digital age, it’s not uncommon to hear quite a bit of doomer talk surrounding the modern visual landscape. There is a greater expectation for visual conformity: brands, websites, you name it, are all trending towards a sleeker, minimalized look, and we can only expect them to get increasingly more so. “Sterile” is a word that gets thrown around a lot here, especially with the onset of artificial intelligence and the contention of how that challenges the creative work of writers and artists.

In more ways than one, comparisons can be drawn towards the state of the anime industry today. Anime has done a lot of growing in its time, especially with the 00s’ bumpy transition from cel to digital animation. Even someone with very little technical knowledge can pick out the visual differences between an anime from today and an anime from two decades ago, and this comparison is not always very favorable for the former. Indeed, with the animation industry going through something of a layout crisis, and the practical demands of the industry running almost entirely parallel to the business demands of the industry, we often end up with products that are much more limited, hindered by things like sterile compositing and unreasonable linecounts. As a result, it becomes even more important to celebrate anime that are able to triumph in spite of these conditions.

One look at Yusuke Matsuo’s Do It Yourself!! would tell you nearly everything you need to know: that it’s a comfortable, vibey sliceof-life show. But, it also sticks out as being very visually idiosyncratic and distinct, so how does it accomplish this in particular? Every aspect in the visual production of DIY comes together in a harmonious blend, backed by its incredibly strong art direction that creates its immaculate atmosphere. There is a very delicate touch of humanity that pervades throughout the show, from the soft painterly aesthetic to the slight white fades around the edges to the grain-like texture that is applied to the backgrounds. The last point is particularly effective because the handmade touch that it gives reflects the idea of artistic imperfections, which plays a crucial role in the show’s portrayal of the spirit of freedom behind handicrafts. This visual cohesion allows the show to freely switch between fun dream sequences to dynamically storyboarded shots of the real world. Just as no two crafts turn out the same, no two shots in DIY look exactly alike, which makes it an absolute joy to watch.

The strongest element of DIY, however, would have to be its stylistic character designs, which are spearheaded by Matsuo himself. Incredibly kinetic and freeform, they lend themselves fantastically to making each character wonderfully expressive, while the looseness of the designs, in addition to their pencil-y outlines, becomes a centerpiece to the freedom in DIY’s visual craft. Yet, simple as they may be, the designs also hold a lot of details that accentuate the show’s main themes, and look no further than the main character herself, Yua Serufu. The little details in her design, from her half-tucked in school uniform, to the insides of her mouth that are deliberately left uncolored, are very much like Serufu herself: slightly imperfect. Serufu is clumsy and it shows in her work, but it is in those imperfections that she leaves her personal mark. It is in the bridging of these narrative elements with the visuals that makes DIY so thematically compelling.

Do It Yourself!! asks a simple question: in a digital age where everything can be made so clean and precise by technology, is there still room for the imperfections made by humans? It tells us to cherish and embrace those imperfections, that they’re worthwhile even if they don’t need to exist, and it is made entirely believable by the passion that is clearly felt behind its visual accomplishments, with a level of visual cohesion that is rarely seen in works of today. I once saw it described that behind the most spectacular anime are the most foolhardy individuals that put forward their best work despite being given every incentive not to. Do It Yourself!! is the coalescence of the most passionate work in every aspect, and among a gloomy time in the industry, that is absolutely worth celebrating.