Thread by @Richmond_Lee

Today I learned that normal people DON'T live with a constant stream of cinematic anime ass light flares.

I've had astigmatism my whole life and this is blowing my mind. That image to the left is simply how lights look to me all the time. It's making me wonder how it affects artists, especially FX animators! I bet you can tell who has astigmatism based on how they draw lights!

For instance, the classic Sailor Moon transformation sequence? I bet whoever animated this had astigmatism.

This classic shot of Yamagata on his bike in Akira? One of the most beautiful visualizations of astigmatism I can think of. The way the light rolls is really accurate!

What's blowing my mind though is, in my memory Akira is full of shots like this with the pinwheeling light flare. But the majority of Akira does NOT look like that!

In my memory, this classic shot of the hovercraft in the elevator has pinwheeling light lines galore, cos that's how my eyes perceive strong lights. But the actual shot ... not there! I guess FX animation legend Shinya Ohira doesn't have astigmatism!

Here's Shinya Ohira's ICONIC wizard battle from Howl's Moving Castle. Again, in my memory it's got rotating light lines galore. But looking at it now, it's actually more of a sparkler effect. Shinya Ohira almost certainly does not have astigmatism! (GOD I LOVE THIS SCENE)

Another FX animation legend, Michel Gagne. I was so sure his work would have those astigmatism light lines, but nope! My brain is filling in the blanks of my memory!

(see more of his awesome work here!
gagneint.com/index.html)

You know who I'm absolutely certain has astigmatism tho? Hiroyuki Imiashi (今石 洋之)!

Imaishi's signature flares go beyond just stylistic conceit. As someone with astigmatism, I think this is actually how he perceives light! (cos that's how light looks to me!)

You know those iconic anime pinwheeling cross flares that Imaishi pioneered? That's what really bright light sources look like to me. If I turn out my phone light and stare right into it, it's a cross shape!
#astigmatism #sakuga

In fact, the affects of astigmatism are pretty much baked into all of Imaishi's projects! They're a core part of his art direction!

Did you know that Kill La Kill is a very accurate documentary about living with astigmatism?

In all seriousness, I don't think it's just an FX animation convention either. For instance, astigmatism-like effects were rarely used in Magic Knight Rayearth, even with all their frequent transformations!

OK one more ... you know who else uses astigmatism-like light flairs in their work a lot? Classic Capcom! (it always comes back to Capcom for me :D)

Most fighting games have impact FX that look like small explosions (KOF, Tekken etc). But Capcom's impact FX tend to be bursts of light with very unusual shapes that will feel familiar to those with astigmatism!

This astigmatism-like effect is most prominent in CVS2 (one of the greatest games of ALL TIME).

The cross shape that's emitted when Haohmaru connects with his heavy slash looks and feels so much like when I look into a bright light source and squint!
#astigmatism #CVS2

Alright, that's it for me tonight. Thanks for listening to my insane rant! Have a good one!

Oh cool that blew up (as planned hoho!😎). Please follow me for random discourse on beautiful art and games. Also please support my friend's totally rad, highly underrated indie game, @RiskSystem_Game

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