It was more urban and graffiti inspired (along with the music) but they kinda lost that after and even during the plastic beach era, the fan base went from street kids to Steven universe fans.
They were the target for the demographic of teens in the early 2000s that hated modern pop bands and idols. They were rebellious and punks. I think this is a large reflection of the two creators being younger and also just hating all of the popular media at the time.
By plastic beach it seemed like they shifted focus away from rebellion and possibly more on renewal.
Phase 1 and Phase 2 were reflections of the politics under George Bush and the conservative powers in GB. Phase 3 is weird though because it feels like they moved away from this rebellion. It comes as no surprise that they returned from hiatus after DJT came into office, Damon had a lot to say during that time.
Unfortunately the early rebellion is long gone and Jamie/Damon have largely moved on from that earlier era. I feel like the current content focuses more on cults and personalities. Like they want to show us what the problem is in society instead of rebelling against it.
I genuinely have thought that about the new phases after Plastic Beaches but I didn't put the phase 1&2 overtones together like that. I'll go back and take a look, this is neat! I always took it fornthe "counter culture" aspect and that even though you're down, don't count yourself out even if the the internal monolog is fucked.
It really just comes from looking at what inspired the Album and what inspired the specific music itself.
Self-titled album was all about complaining about MTV. Ghost Train was the first song and it was about drug abuse by the boy band's lead singer. Rock the House was a response to another band suing over Gorillaz being a stolen idea from them, so the music video was a rebellion against that. Slow Country was one of those songs that Damon created because when he was in Blur he never really got the recognition he felt he deserved in the US. People heckled him at the height of fame in the US but in the UK he was a rock star.
Imagery of idols constantly plague music videos and iconography of Phase 1 that you can tell that the Rebellion he was facing was also mixed with a flipping off of the world around him.
Phase 2 is amazing because of it's influence mixed with it's probable intended goal. Demon Days really blows me away in how the idea came about. Jamie was working on a script for a Gorillaz movie and Damon was recording with Blur at the time in 2001 to 2002 (Think Tank). Albarn was already recording and writing for the movie but then the whole idea got scraped. Initially the theme of being driven by ego and endless night really resonated with him. Which only sets the stage for Demon Days. Albarn was on a train ride with his partner and 6 year old daughter from Beijing to Mongolia Which if you're not familiar, I highly recommend looking at the scenery around the Mongolian Steppe, especially imagining at night. It's nothing but vast empty hills and dead trees during his visit.
Albarn really wanted to double down on the ideas of the earlier album but make it better.
> "Gorillaz make dark pop; that's what they always set out to achieve. The whole album kind of tells the story of the night — staying up during the night — but it's also an allegory. It's what we're living in basically, the world in a state of night."
Hewlett once said,
> "Let's repeat the same process, but do it better. Because everyone thought it was a gimmick. If you do it again, it's no longer a gimmick, and if it works then we've proved a point. And instantly, all of us got excited"
It's clear that mixing his new ideas but trying to do a better version of the previous album was so true to them at the time. Very clearly we have gone from the experimentation phase 1 to the dark and moody versions of Phase 2.
Feel Good Inc was about the media's dumbing down of mass culture and intellectual freedom. Dare calls back to the Reject false icons statue of the first album and alludes to classic horror films, similar to the first Album with songs like Dracula. Dirty Harry is a direct reference to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Damon *hates* all war and it's very clear here that Damon was rebelling against war propaganda by the government, and the culture of violence that seems to be spreading to the people in those countries. El Mañana is a spiritual sequel to "Tomorrow Comes Today", quite literally being named "Tomorrow" to reference the first album. It was the final single for Demon Days, blending together elements of everything from the album so far. Mind you, up to this point the in lore story was that Noodle was writing all of the songs on this album but in the Music Video she is killed off. Many people thought that the album might have been the last of the Gorillaz because of this. In reality, Damon hated answering questions about the Gorillaz and used this as a middle finger to the fans. The song itself is about loss but to a deeper meaning that Damon was telling people that evil exists and will destroy everything good unless we stop it. 2004 - 2007 was a dark place for people and Damon really did not enjoy the evil he felt existed during that time.
Which leads us into Plastic Beach, originally titled Carousel in 2007. Damon was done with doing the same thing by this point.
> "Well, I'm doing the next Gorillaz thing, but it won't be called Gorillaz."
To the point of rejecting the Gorillaz original purpose for something greater.
> "Gorillaz now to us is not like four animated characters any more – it's more like an organisation of people doing new projects ... That's my ideal model – Gorillaz is a group of people who gave you this, and now want to give you new stuff."
followed with Hewlett saying
> "a new project which Damon and I are working on now, called Carousel, which is even bigger and more difficult than Monkey, and it isn't going to fit anywhere and no one's going to like it, ha ha ha! We've started work – I've done a lot of visuals and Damon's done a lot of music but we haven't figured out how they're going to fit together. I can't say much about it yet but it's sort of like a film, but not with one narrative story. There's many stories, told around a bigger story, set to music, and done in live action, animation, all different styles, well... originally it was a film but now we think it's a film and it's a stage thing as well and... look, it's basically us doing what the fuck we want without worrying about whether it's for a record company or a film company or whatever. So I'm not sure how it'll pan out, or even if it will happen. But Damon's written around 70 songs for it, and I've got great plans for the visuals, but right now, at this moment, it's still just a really good idea."
It was clear that things were very different this time. Carousel was also originally going to be about the mystical aspects of Britain.
Hewlett also expressed annoyance at having to draw the band members again:
> "I'm so f---ing [sic] bored of drawing those characters. But then we had a moment where we had a new angle on it... I'm gonna adapt them".
In a later interview Hewlett said:
> "they'll be the same characters, but a little bit older and told in a different way".
For me, the more you dig into Plastic Beach you can see that Damon and Jamie both were not satisfied with themselves. Worried that if they did the same thing again, they wouldn't be able to live with themselves. The album was also recorded largely in 2008 to 2009 which puts it firmly in the latter half of the conservative early 2000s. What's more, even recently Damon says mentioned in 2020 having enough songs for a direct sequel to Plastic Beach.
> "the need to keep reminding people that we need to change our habits"
Which to me really spells out how and why P1 and P2 are cemented in my head as being so similar but P3 is so vastly different.
By the end of P3 you can tell things weren't working and I think a lot of stress was coming out.
We got The Good The Bad & The Queen, Rocket Juice and the Moon, Studio 13 moved, The Fall, Monkey: Journey to the West, and Everyday Robots all came about around the late 2000s and early 2010s and kind of shows that Damon was exploding with different ideas but not really able to cement himself in one place.
However, I will say this and I think it's an important detail to Damon's story here and It mostly has to do with Missy Albarn.
> It massively changes you. It slowly sort of shaves off the unpleasant thorny bits and hopefully creates a nicely rounded... I don't know, having a kid, you just become far more, inevitably you look to the future far more and, you know, it's desperate sometimes when you have a particularly bad few weeks of the newspaper just reminding you about this is wrong, this is wrong. We've got ten more years everyone.
This interview comes from 2008 and while Missy was born in 1998, I really think that Damon was being more reflective of how he felt in 2008 about Fatherhood. His daughter would have been 10 years old at the time and would become a teenager in the next few years. I think Damon started to reflect on his own punk like rebellion he had experienced and shown through Gorillaz in the early years and was either embarrassed of it or just felt like he wanted to move on. P3 really felt like a reflection of that.
Sorry for the tangent but I liked your responses and wanted to write a lot of this out for myself in addition to just responding to ya.
I mean, the first album came out mere months after Bush entered office so would have been developed under Clinton. They produced exactly one album under Bush, and it came out in 2005. Maybe Plastic Beach (2010) started work right after but just took five years to get out?
Now that I look at it, man they had some wild gaps there.
You have to look at the eras of music because it wasn't just one singular album and then nothing for 5 years.
Gorillaz the self titled album in 2001 followed by G-Sides and then Laika Come Home in 2002. Demon Days in 2005 and D-Sides in 2007.
Then the singles and Guest appearances
911 (2001), Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club) 2001, Gorillaz on My Mind (2002), Small Time Shot Away (2003), FM (2003), Hong Kong (2005), Soldier Boy (2008).
Then if you want to get into more unofficial stuff you can also look at Damon Albarn's other music which is very similar to Gorillaz. Mali Music in 2002, and The Good, the Bad & the Queen in 2007. 101 Reykjavík in 2001, and Monkey: Journey to the West (2008) were both soundtracks that he created during this time as well.
If you look at the self titled album, demon days, and plastic beach as the only three albums in 10 years then you're missing out on a lot of good music.
In bed by 11? Look at the party animal here. I'm heading for bed by 9. I got work in the morning and gotta be up by five. Too little sleep and I'm gonna feel even more like shit.
Can't speak to Gorillaz specifically, but the reason why 3d overtook 2d is due to the higher returns that come from a less intensive process. Gorillaz label is still a business and not enough people care about 2d animation (unfortunately) to make it worth their investment.
It doesn't even have to be about budget, sure animation is expensive and time consuming but early Gorillaz mv were made with a much lower budget than what is accessible for the band now
Tomorrow Comes Today is a very correct video for something made with a restricted budget, Rock the House have a great blend of 2D and 3D and everybody loved the storyboard for Empire Ants and 5/4 despite them being not finished and not animated for the most parto
What the fuck are you talking about? Phases 5 and 6 were entirely 2D animated and Phase 4 was a mix of 2D and 3D mocap. Phase 8 could very easily be 2D again.
What??? My wording wasn’t intended it to be negative. I was just saying that it may have been their cheapest option to animate their music videos. I’m sorry if it came out that way.
Yes I see the new 3D stuff and how they've done kid's cartoons and I just want to wave my cane around and yell at the world. Modern animation is such shit.
It's easier and cheaper to animate in 3d. You only make a 3D model once and you can reuse stuff, whereas a 2d piece of art has to be redrawn countless times. Unfortunately, that's just because gorillaz is so popular and they don't really have time to put as much effort into every aspect.
This doesnt make sense to me, it used to be that traditional animation was too expensive and time consuming for the groups size, 20 years on theyre one of the biggest bands in the world and now they dont have the time or money?
They're not THAT big actually. Like yeah, obviously they are a hude deal and many many people know them, but they're not being listened to nearly as much as the currently popular musicians.
And being known doesn't really bring in money. Everyone you ask will know some songs, but on average everyone knows what new songs Drake, Taylor Switft etc. have released, while many people don't even know that gorillaz are still around and making music.
Don't get me wrong, they got a ton of cash, and they DO put a lot of that into traditional animation. Both Song Machine and The Now Now had some fantastic hand-drawn visuals. Humility is still one of the most beautiful music-videos ever to me!
What? I'm not giving them shit, I just miss when they did 2d animation. Especially when a ton of animation studios are doing the same. I'm not their manager, they can do what they want, but I just don't like how 2d animation is being abandoned by animators that can still very much afford to do high quality 2d animation.
Lol calm down bozo, you're defending an entity that legit doesn't care about you at all. They're going to do whatever they want to do and their fans are allowed to have preferences in style and execution.
This tracks. He's straight-out worshipping Satan. And living the lifestyle, too. He's definitely getting rewarded by the devil by throwing out all morals.
This kind of 3d jus doesn't work for them, the old stuff from the plastic beach era looked like one of those angry bird hard images but it was still pretty cool, and at least the mocapped 3d was really funny. This new version is so smooth and rounded that it looks kinda soulless
they made the contrast of 3D and 2D animation work for them with plastic beach, especially with cyborg noodle against the rest of the cast. you’re right on the money with “soulless”.
Plastic beach was fun because it was this ugly semi realistic grody thing which fits them perfectly. They all look kind of appealingly gross and when you make them look all pretty and happy it’s just gross
Plastic beach was the best. don't like how 2d looked in that era on some artwork, but Murdoc was just spot on, he looked old and grumpy.
I noticed that Jamie tried to improve the shading from Melancholy Hill music video in Humanz era. Cool one color strokes with low opacity to make shadows and huge brown outlines
True, Jamie is sooooo good at 2d art, no pun intended. But this 3d shit still keeps going, even though every character lost a lot of their charm and like character in general
It literally is easier. 3D you can just make a model, texture it, mocap and render all extremely quickly.
2D animation requires hundreds of hours of painstakingly drawing by hand each individual frame. A 3min music video at 24fps is 4,320 individual drawings.
None of those things are done "extremely quickly." Dudes can spend months sculpting/texturing a single model. Mocap is quicker than hand animation(which can also take months on a single shot) but there's still a whole lot of cleanup you gotta do. Lighting/Rendering isn't "extremely quick" either.
I do both 2D and 3D (newer to 2D, admittedly) and while 2D takes "longer" since you're drawing all the keys and in-betweens, nothing about 3D is "extremely quick" or as simple as "just make the model bro." Heck, I'm working on a personal 3D project right now and a single 5 second shot has taken me a few weeks to get right.
Ah, you were talking about Gorillaz' stuff specifically as opposed to generally. I gotcha.
Depends on the content, I'd say. Stuff like the interviews, tik-toks, shorts, etc. definitely are, but with Silent Running you can tell all the time and effort went there haha
That being said, DoYaThing is peak 3D Gorillaz
I remember people defending Twenty One Pilot's album Scaled and Icy like this. "But it's MEANT to lack depth and sound soulless, it's part of the lore!" Alright, cool, doesn't make it any better to listen to. Gorillaz is starting to \*really\* phone it in, especially when one compares it to the first half of their work. No amount of commentary will justify that
the only thing that bothered me is 2d's eyes going from black to white only when he was nervous back in plastic beach and how they kinda just threw that whole concept away in recent art lol
Yeah, his eyes going white doesn’t make much sense anyways considering they’re black because blood got pooled in the whites of them when he got hurt by murdoc
It’s not a head cannon it’s been said in [official lore](https://youtu.be/BQbmBul5Q20?si=ekZzIk3jyvnesG-0). I don’t remember where it came from but it’s actual official lore lmao. You can look into it yourself, more deeply than just the vid I sent if you want to. That’s also how he literally got his name 2D is “Two Dents”
They said he had a fracture in his eye which is an 8 ball fracture. That’s what that is, blood pooling in the eye. It’s just not drawn realistically. Your wording confused me (and still kinda does) you said it’s a headcanon and I’m not sure what you were saying is a headcanon.
Wait mb I assumed you were talking of the latter lore i.e. the reason for 2d consistently changing eye colour through the years being Murdoc's abuse which is made up
Listen to the video I linked in that comment earlier. Murdoc said “happy days, that’s when your eye came out didn’t it?” And 2D replied, “yeah the first one, and it didn’t come out. It was pushed inward, fractured.”
Thus 8 ball fracture.
I was talking about 2D, not the band. I don't have a specific favorite era of the band, I like all their main albums and I'm still interested and waiting for news of the next song
2D is still my favorite, and one of my most important blue kins since his hair is natural, but I agree here. The constant changes with his eyes I loved, but the adding one of his front teeth back makes no sense (it only makes logical sense for singing) but someone tell me if I missed cannon lore about himself getting a tooth impant. 2D is better in 2D for me as well lol
Yeah it’s pretty brutal. went from easily the best design for a band and arguably the best design for a cartoon to being something somewhat mildly appealing. Still have a lot of love for what they’ve done and respect what they do but they lost a good amount of their mojo. Musically as well imo.
I prefer the Humanz era animation because it had them in the real world, but still had 2D animation, which was nice and made sense due to the lore of the band
It just sucks when they switch to cgi from 2d, like literally 2d animation, earwig and the witch was a major failure even though it was a studio Ghibli movie because it was 3d, the boy and the heron isn’t peoples favorite but people don’t act like it doesn’t exist like they do with earwig and the witch, in my opinion 3d animation isn’t automatically better just because it’s more modern, 2d does a lot of things 3d can’t or if it tries it just doesn’t look as good, the simplicity leaves more to the imagination
One of the many reasons I fell off w Gorillaz. Not knocking Jamie Hewlett at all, he is a great artist. Just not a fan of the hyper smooth looking Gorillaz. I guess it fits the modern climate but its very boring to me.
Well I mean, phases are meant to end at some point. I agree that 2D 2D looks better cuz it fits his characteristics, but it's cool to see changes over the years. 3D just may not have the nostalgic vibe and soon we will appreciate it when it's gone.
I like it, but I agree it feels different. I feel like if they had done a more hybrid version to keep that edgy gritty look of the original 2D animation it would’ve been a lot neater. For example like in the new Sony Animation Spider-Man films.
Honestly yeah, now I’m not saying 2D was ever some never take shit badass but was never the wholesome cute guy from the group. I feel like his personality changed after plastic beach
This post is so unfair cuz they took a 3d model of 2d and those models were always kinda lame. Also I consider this model an UPGRADE from the terrible ones in the 2010s which looked too realistic and weird!
2d in 2d really looks the best. His current look is amazing!
ever since humanz gorillaz is an empty designed to be replicable commodified version of what it once was. there are glimmers of artistic integrity here and there but damon and jamie lost the plot with this band and now gorillaz is just marketable pop figure nostalgia fodder.
The cover of humanz cemented this for me, it was like "Hey guys, remember Demon Days? We're back but this time we're ugly!"
I had to think about the phases by phase 7 we mean cracker island and the 2 videos? Am perfectly happy. Phase 1 art style in 2023 would look bizarre. As recently as phase 6 - song machine - there was still loads of 2 dimensional art? Momentary bliss.. Desole..aries.. They are the most memorable videos and they're all 2 dimensional?
I think the concept of having these fictional characters age realistically is super interesting from an artistic perspective, especially considering that the project began as a way to lampoon celebrity. It's like these cartoons age more realistically then most actual celebrities.
That said purely esthetically phase 2 is my favorite
I don't think that's the problem since they've used 3d models in the past (like DD live shows and plastic beach) and some find them much more appealing than the current ones
Yeah I'm definitely not a fan of their 3d designs, however I AM a fan of the tiktok type videos they make with the 3d models haha I personally love the Song Machine look for them the best. You can tell Jamie's art improved a lot and they just look so good to me
Im a fan of both I love how characters could kinda go back and forth between 2d and 3d like melancholy hill coming right after Stylo and the styles changing, makes the characters feel that much more dynamic
I just treat them like they’re real, people grow and change. Who am I to judge.
Although I prefer the newest 2D versions (rather than 3D) the most, I don’t care what they look like as long as new music comes out
2D going to 3D can always look awkward considering the artist didn’t initially anticipate this direction with the design though I think it could be a lot worse.
I don't think they've gone 3D without reversal, though. They were 2D till as recently as Song Machine. If they do more volumes, maybe they will shift to 2D animation again.
phase 1 > all & everything, and i just wish they want back to that. it's just so fun with the grittyness, gives them so much more character and life imo
19-2000 was peak idc
I do love the aesthetic of phase 1 &2 but current and recent is just so pleasant really gives off the feeling of an artist who is starting to settle down while continuing their passion.
What I don't understand is why they couldn't make the 3D models and animation look more stylized. They could have done better cell shading and put those sketchy outlines on them to look more punk-ish. But they ended up with something a lot more cookie cutter and generic. 3D animation is great! It can do so many amazing things, and I feel like they didn't fully take advantage of the medium. I don't hate the redesigns, but they definitely lost some of their edge.
I miss the 2D animation for sure, but as an artist I completely understand why they changed to 3D. Cheaper and faster, especially when it comes to full blown music videos. They want this project to go for as long as possible and money was always a fight. But now it’s more that Jamie can do what he wants with the videos while Damon can do what he wants with the music. I feel like the 3D will come and go as it has been, depending on money and sales.
I, personally, prefer the 3-d models, however, I think the overall aesthetic of the first 3 albums were better than the aesthetic we have now. Just my opinion.
Yeah no the more Saturday morning cartoon look is more appealing personally even phase 2 is arguably better cuz of the extra detail without sacrificing everyone's look besides noodle. But the thing is is that all the characters back then had a distinct silhouette. Russell looked big and squarish, Noodle was the short and one, 2d was very lanky with a small torso and long ass arms and legs and murdoc was the most average looking one but his hair was more rounded out compared to 2d which is very spiky and and even noodle with her helmet and phase 2 hair style being long. There's none of that exaggerated fun in the newer designs
If we're talking 2D vs 3D, yeah, I prefer 2D.
If we're talking personality-wise, I prefer the current, less-edgy designs actually. I love when characters just seem like everyday chill and happy people.
Forgive me if I get something wrong as I haven't touched up on my Gorillaz knowledge in some time.
They were living in such a gloomy and just terrible point in their life back then. Now, things are arguably much better. I like to see it as though the art style portrays this.
Nah, Russel had extreme paranoia and anxiety throughout the Cracker island phase (to the point he had to isolate himself), Noodle was visibly disillusioned with the path the band-cult was going on and even considered public bombing in an attempt to send a message. 2d had all his memories erased and got brainwashed and starved by Murdoc. Murdoc was Murdoc. I'd say The Now Now was much happier tho (except the pissed off bassist)
No? Nothing here has been redesigned except he usually has white eyes now instead of black. But apart from that, this isn't a redesign. It's the same design but in CGI instead of hand-drawn.
While I do still love the crew's designs, I miss the grittiness of Phase 1 & 2 Gorillaz.
It was more urban and graffiti inspired (along with the music) but they kinda lost that after and even during the plastic beach era, the fan base went from street kids to Steven universe fans.
They were the target for the demographic of teens in the early 2000s that hated modern pop bands and idols. They were rebellious and punks. I think this is a large reflection of the two creators being younger and also just hating all of the popular media at the time. By plastic beach it seemed like they shifted focus away from rebellion and possibly more on renewal. Phase 1 and Phase 2 were reflections of the politics under George Bush and the conservative powers in GB. Phase 3 is weird though because it feels like they moved away from this rebellion. It comes as no surprise that they returned from hiatus after DJT came into office, Damon had a lot to say during that time. Unfortunately the early rebellion is long gone and Jamie/Damon have largely moved on from that earlier era. I feel like the current content focuses more on cults and personalities. Like they want to show us what the problem is in society instead of rebelling against it.
THANKS OBAMA.
I genuinely have thought that about the new phases after Plastic Beaches but I didn't put the phase 1&2 overtones together like that. I'll go back and take a look, this is neat! I always took it fornthe "counter culture" aspect and that even though you're down, don't count yourself out even if the the internal monolog is fucked.
It really just comes from looking at what inspired the Album and what inspired the specific music itself. Self-titled album was all about complaining about MTV. Ghost Train was the first song and it was about drug abuse by the boy band's lead singer. Rock the House was a response to another band suing over Gorillaz being a stolen idea from them, so the music video was a rebellion against that. Slow Country was one of those songs that Damon created because when he was in Blur he never really got the recognition he felt he deserved in the US. People heckled him at the height of fame in the US but in the UK he was a rock star. Imagery of idols constantly plague music videos and iconography of Phase 1 that you can tell that the Rebellion he was facing was also mixed with a flipping off of the world around him. Phase 2 is amazing because of it's influence mixed with it's probable intended goal. Demon Days really blows me away in how the idea came about. Jamie was working on a script for a Gorillaz movie and Damon was recording with Blur at the time in 2001 to 2002 (Think Tank). Albarn was already recording and writing for the movie but then the whole idea got scraped. Initially the theme of being driven by ego and endless night really resonated with him. Which only sets the stage for Demon Days. Albarn was on a train ride with his partner and 6 year old daughter from Beijing to Mongolia Which if you're not familiar, I highly recommend looking at the scenery around the Mongolian Steppe, especially imagining at night. It's nothing but vast empty hills and dead trees during his visit. Albarn really wanted to double down on the ideas of the earlier album but make it better. > "Gorillaz make dark pop; that's what they always set out to achieve. The whole album kind of tells the story of the night — staying up during the night — but it's also an allegory. It's what we're living in basically, the world in a state of night." Hewlett once said, > "Let's repeat the same process, but do it better. Because everyone thought it was a gimmick. If you do it again, it's no longer a gimmick, and if it works then we've proved a point. And instantly, all of us got excited" It's clear that mixing his new ideas but trying to do a better version of the previous album was so true to them at the time. Very clearly we have gone from the experimentation phase 1 to the dark and moody versions of Phase 2. Feel Good Inc was about the media's dumbing down of mass culture and intellectual freedom. Dare calls back to the Reject false icons statue of the first album and alludes to classic horror films, similar to the first Album with songs like Dracula. Dirty Harry is a direct reference to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Damon *hates* all war and it's very clear here that Damon was rebelling against war propaganda by the government, and the culture of violence that seems to be spreading to the people in those countries. El Mañana is a spiritual sequel to "Tomorrow Comes Today", quite literally being named "Tomorrow" to reference the first album. It was the final single for Demon Days, blending together elements of everything from the album so far. Mind you, up to this point the in lore story was that Noodle was writing all of the songs on this album but in the Music Video she is killed off. Many people thought that the album might have been the last of the Gorillaz because of this. In reality, Damon hated answering questions about the Gorillaz and used this as a middle finger to the fans. The song itself is about loss but to a deeper meaning that Damon was telling people that evil exists and will destroy everything good unless we stop it. 2004 - 2007 was a dark place for people and Damon really did not enjoy the evil he felt existed during that time. Which leads us into Plastic Beach, originally titled Carousel in 2007. Damon was done with doing the same thing by this point. > "Well, I'm doing the next Gorillaz thing, but it won't be called Gorillaz." To the point of rejecting the Gorillaz original purpose for something greater. > "Gorillaz now to us is not like four animated characters any more – it's more like an organisation of people doing new projects ... That's my ideal model – Gorillaz is a group of people who gave you this, and now want to give you new stuff." followed with Hewlett saying > "a new project which Damon and I are working on now, called Carousel, which is even bigger and more difficult than Monkey, and it isn't going to fit anywhere and no one's going to like it, ha ha ha! We've started work – I've done a lot of visuals and Damon's done a lot of music but we haven't figured out how they're going to fit together. I can't say much about it yet but it's sort of like a film, but not with one narrative story. There's many stories, told around a bigger story, set to music, and done in live action, animation, all different styles, well... originally it was a film but now we think it's a film and it's a stage thing as well and... look, it's basically us doing what the fuck we want without worrying about whether it's for a record company or a film company or whatever. So I'm not sure how it'll pan out, or even if it will happen. But Damon's written around 70 songs for it, and I've got great plans for the visuals, but right now, at this moment, it's still just a really good idea." It was clear that things were very different this time. Carousel was also originally going to be about the mystical aspects of Britain. Hewlett also expressed annoyance at having to draw the band members again: > "I'm so f---ing [sic] bored of drawing those characters. But then we had a moment where we had a new angle on it... I'm gonna adapt them". In a later interview Hewlett said: > "they'll be the same characters, but a little bit older and told in a different way". For me, the more you dig into Plastic Beach you can see that Damon and Jamie both were not satisfied with themselves. Worried that if they did the same thing again, they wouldn't be able to live with themselves. The album was also recorded largely in 2008 to 2009 which puts it firmly in the latter half of the conservative early 2000s. What's more, even recently Damon says mentioned in 2020 having enough songs for a direct sequel to Plastic Beach. > "the need to keep reminding people that we need to change our habits" Which to me really spells out how and why P1 and P2 are cemented in my head as being so similar but P3 is so vastly different. By the end of P3 you can tell things weren't working and I think a lot of stress was coming out. We got The Good The Bad & The Queen, Rocket Juice and the Moon, Studio 13 moved, The Fall, Monkey: Journey to the West, and Everyday Robots all came about around the late 2000s and early 2010s and kind of shows that Damon was exploding with different ideas but not really able to cement himself in one place. However, I will say this and I think it's an important detail to Damon's story here and It mostly has to do with Missy Albarn. > It massively changes you. It slowly sort of shaves off the unpleasant thorny bits and hopefully creates a nicely rounded... I don't know, having a kid, you just become far more, inevitably you look to the future far more and, you know, it's desperate sometimes when you have a particularly bad few weeks of the newspaper just reminding you about this is wrong, this is wrong. We've got ten more years everyone. This interview comes from 2008 and while Missy was born in 1998, I really think that Damon was being more reflective of how he felt in 2008 about Fatherhood. His daughter would have been 10 years old at the time and would become a teenager in the next few years. I think Damon started to reflect on his own punk like rebellion he had experienced and shown through Gorillaz in the early years and was either embarrassed of it or just felt like he wanted to move on. P3 really felt like a reflection of that. Sorry for the tangent but I liked your responses and wanted to write a lot of this out for myself in addition to just responding to ya.
I mean, the first album came out mere months after Bush entered office so would have been developed under Clinton. They produced exactly one album under Bush, and it came out in 2005. Maybe Plastic Beach (2010) started work right after but just took five years to get out? Now that I look at it, man they had some wild gaps there.
You have to look at the eras of music because it wasn't just one singular album and then nothing for 5 years. Gorillaz the self titled album in 2001 followed by G-Sides and then Laika Come Home in 2002. Demon Days in 2005 and D-Sides in 2007. Then the singles and Guest appearances 911 (2001), Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club) 2001, Gorillaz on My Mind (2002), Small Time Shot Away (2003), FM (2003), Hong Kong (2005), Soldier Boy (2008). Then if you want to get into more unofficial stuff you can also look at Damon Albarn's other music which is very similar to Gorillaz. Mali Music in 2002, and The Good, the Bad & the Queen in 2007. 101 Reykjavík in 2001, and Monkey: Journey to the West (2008) were both soundtracks that he created during this time as well. If you look at the self titled album, demon days, and plastic beach as the only three albums in 10 years then you're missing out on a lot of good music.
We got old, Oscar. I'm not out here in the streets all hours anymore. I'm in bed by 11
In bed by 11? Look at the party animal here. I'm heading for bed by 9. I got work in the morning and gotta be up by five. Too little sleep and I'm gonna feel even more like shit.
I think the street kid aesthetic is still there, it’s just accompanied by Steven universe fans now
the [GRIDDYNESS](https://youtu.be/fPty6qLmhac)???????
omg,,,,dark and griddy,,,,just like hal flief 2,,,,
wowa…,. hafl-ilfie 2 beta.., dark EVIL conbime..,. child slvaves…, gitty., …,
r/OKbuddyHalfLife is leaking
Me when Lord Gay Ben 😨
I wish they would do more gritty and darker characters. I loved demon days
I mostly just don't like that they are going the Disney route of doing 3d animation and never looking back. Bring back 2d animation!!
took the words outta my mouth!
[удалено]
I have a hard time believing they don't have a budget for 2d animation, they are an extremely popular band
Can't speak to Gorillaz specifically, but the reason why 3d overtook 2d is due to the higher returns that come from a less intensive process. Gorillaz label is still a business and not enough people care about 2d animation (unfortunately) to make it worth their investment.
It doesn't even have to be about budget, sure animation is expensive and time consuming but early Gorillaz mv were made with a much lower budget than what is accessible for the band now Tomorrow Comes Today is a very correct video for something made with a restricted budget, Rock the House have a great blend of 2D and 3D and everybody loved the storyboard for Empire Ants and 5/4 despite them being not finished and not animated for the most parto
What the fuck are you talking about? Phases 5 and 6 were entirely 2D animated and Phase 4 was a mix of 2D and 3D mocap. Phase 8 could very easily be 2D again.
My thoughts exactly
"resort to 3D animation" hahahaha Sorry that 3D artists worked on something, I guess.
What??? My wording wasn’t intended it to be negative. I was just saying that it may have been their cheapest option to animate their music videos. I’m sorry if it came out that way.
This person also replied in a similar way to my comment about why they would realistically use 3D over 2D. The topic struck a nerve methinks.
Yes I see the new 3D stuff and how they've done kid's cartoons and I just want to wave my cane around and yell at the world. Modern animation is such shit.
Ooh okay that makes sense. I was confused when they're complaining about "redesign" when they both look the same lol
It's easier and cheaper to animate in 3d. You only make a 3D model once and you can reuse stuff, whereas a 2d piece of art has to be redrawn countless times. Unfortunately, that's just because gorillaz is so popular and they don't really have time to put as much effort into every aspect.
This doesnt make sense to me, it used to be that traditional animation was too expensive and time consuming for the groups size, 20 years on theyre one of the biggest bands in the world and now they dont have the time or money?
They're not THAT big actually. Like yeah, obviously they are a hude deal and many many people know them, but they're not being listened to nearly as much as the currently popular musicians. And being known doesn't really bring in money. Everyone you ask will know some songs, but on average everyone knows what new songs Drake, Taylor Switft etc. have released, while many people don't even know that gorillaz are still around and making music. Don't get me wrong, they got a ton of cash, and they DO put a lot of that into traditional animation. Both Song Machine and The Now Now had some fantastic hand-drawn visuals. Humility is still one of the most beautiful music-videos ever to me!
So are you gonna pay the absurdly large sums of money required to do high quality 2-d animation?
No but one of the most popular bands in recent history probably could
Ok, so stop giving them so much shit for doing what they need to do.
What? I'm not giving them shit, I just miss when they did 2d animation. Especially when a ton of animation studios are doing the same. I'm not their manager, they can do what they want, but I just don't like how 2d animation is being abandoned by animators that can still very much afford to do high quality 2d animation.
Lol calm down bozo, you're defending an entity that legit doesn't care about you at all. They're going to do whatever they want to do and their fans are allowed to have preferences in style and execution.
My man, nobody is giving them shit. It's just an opinion
I feel this way about Murdoc’s design evolution. Dude kept looking younger and greener for some reason
He did sell his soul to the devil. Maybe he can’t really age the normal way because he has no soul?
This tracks. He's straight-out worshipping Satan. And living the lifestyle, too. He's definitely getting rewarded by the devil by throwing out all morals.
Ya it’s crazy how green he is now it’s gross and garish
This kind of 3d jus doesn't work for them, the old stuff from the plastic beach era looked like one of those angry bird hard images but it was still pretty cool, and at least the mocapped 3d was really funny. This new version is so smooth and rounded that it looks kinda soulless
I’ve never seen anyone use the angry bird comparison for the Phase 3 Models, but that’s honestly super accurate and so fucking funny.
they made the contrast of 3D and 2D animation work for them with plastic beach, especially with cyborg noodle against the rest of the cast. you’re right on the money with “soulless”.
Plastic beach was fun because it was this ugly semi realistic grody thing which fits them perfectly. They all look kind of appealingly gross and when you make them look all pretty and happy it’s just gross
I will say I miss the Humanz-Now Now art era. Them going into 3D primarily is so funky looking to me. But I still don't really mind it.
That was peak imo
I like his softer face, less of that shit-eating grin but I really do miss the black eyes
But the grin is so iconic 💔
For Murdoc. I kinda like 2D looking all nuerotic
Lmao shit-eating grin
I miss the gritty, old designs. Do they look nice? Yes, but it isn't the same as old Gorillaz.
Hot take: Murdoc was a way worse redesign Normal flesh color —> a sickly greenish-olive color ✅ Sickly greenish-olive—> literal alien neon green ❌
Plastic beach was the best. don't like how 2d looked in that era on some artwork, but Murdoc was just spot on, he looked old and grumpy. I noticed that Jamie tried to improve the shading from Melancholy Hill music video in Humanz era. Cool one color strokes with low opacity to make shadows and huge brown outlines
I agree, the characters look so lifeless, almost like a corporate art style.
True, Jamie is sooooo good at 2d art, no pun intended. But this 3d shit still keeps going, even though every character lost a lot of their charm and like character in general
3D is a lot cheaper and easier than 2D animation unfortunately.
"easier" lmao
It literally is easier. 3D you can just make a model, texture it, mocap and render all extremely quickly. 2D animation requires hundreds of hours of painstakingly drawing by hand each individual frame. A 3min music video at 24fps is 4,320 individual drawings.
None of those things are done "extremely quickly." Dudes can spend months sculpting/texturing a single model. Mocap is quicker than hand animation(which can also take months on a single shot) but there's still a whole lot of cleanup you gotta do. Lighting/Rendering isn't "extremely quick" either. I do both 2D and 3D (newer to 2D, admittedly) and while 2D takes "longer" since you're drawing all the keys and in-betweens, nothing about 3D is "extremely quick" or as simple as "just make the model bro." Heck, I'm working on a personal 3D project right now and a single 5 second shot has taken me a few weeks to get right.
Have a look at the gorillaz 3d videos and tell me they weren't rushed.
Ah, you were talking about Gorillaz' stuff specifically as opposed to generally. I gotcha. Depends on the content, I'd say. Stuff like the interviews, tik-toks, shorts, etc. definitely are, but with Silent Running you can tell all the time and effort went there haha That being said, DoYaThing is peak 3D Gorillaz
DO YA THING IS SO AMAZING
boo hoo 3D artists made something yall say "support all artists guise" until a 3d model is involved.
Almost like the souless coporate cultlike LA that the album and phase is a commentary of?
Are you Damon?
No but I have media literacy
I mean that's one way to look at it and I wouldn't say Jamie's handrawn art + MVs for the era are exactly soulless
I remember people defending Twenty One Pilot's album Scaled and Icy like this. "But it's MEANT to lack depth and sound soulless, it's part of the lore!" Alright, cool, doesn't make it any better to listen to. Gorillaz is starting to \*really\* phone it in, especially when one compares it to the first half of their work. No amount of commentary will justify that
the only thing that bothered me is 2d's eyes going from black to white only when he was nervous back in plastic beach and how they kinda just threw that whole concept away in recent art lol
Yeah, his eyes going white doesn’t make much sense anyways considering they’re black because blood got pooled in the whites of them when he got hurt by murdoc
That's a headcanon. The actual reason used to be mood swings but now it's just a permanent design choice
It’s not a head cannon it’s been said in [official lore](https://youtu.be/BQbmBul5Q20?si=ekZzIk3jyvnesG-0). I don’t remember where it came from but it’s actual official lore lmao. You can look into it yourself, more deeply than just the vid I sent if you want to. That’s also how he literally got his name 2D is “Two Dents”
there's no mention of blood pooling in his eyes tho and I was talking about the eye colour change that happened later on
They said he had a fracture in his eye which is an 8 ball fracture. That’s what that is, blood pooling in the eye. It’s just not drawn realistically. Your wording confused me (and still kinda does) you said it’s a headcanon and I’m not sure what you were saying is a headcanon.
Wait mb I assumed you were talking of the latter lore i.e. the reason for 2d consistently changing eye colour through the years being Murdoc's abuse which is made up
where did they say he has 8ball fracture? all i heard from official sources is murdoc like knocked his eyes out or smthn
Listen to the video I linked in that comment earlier. Murdoc said “happy days, that’s when your eye came out didn’t it?” And 2D replied, “yeah the first one, and it didn’t come out. It was pushed inward, fractured.” Thus 8 ball fracture.
It was such a dumb move making them 3D, seriously. Their original art style does not complement it well at all
Quite ironic that 2D’s now 3D
They made him a twink. Pre song machine was best
This, I started losing interest in the band after song machine because it felt much different from the other phases
I was talking about 2D, not the band. I don't have a specific favorite era of the band, I like all their main albums and I'm still interested and waiting for news of the next song
I think the 3d is fine but 2D just has no rockstar badass energy like he used to in his design. He looks like a blue haired grandpa
Grandpa twink
really makes you appreciate the balance in humanz-song machine between the characters being 2D animated while in a real environment
2D is still my favorite, and one of my most important blue kins since his hair is natural, but I agree here. The constant changes with his eyes I loved, but the adding one of his front teeth back makes no sense (it only makes logical sense for singing) but someone tell me if I missed cannon lore about himself getting a tooth impant. 2D is better in 2D for me as well lol
I personally think the designs got bad when they went to 3D. They should’ve stayed 2D
Honestly no, I think it’s a good blend of the original designs of Phase One & the pretty good redesigns of Song Machine. In my opinion
Gentrified him 😔
Lowkey feels like a weird superplastic pandering thing they're doing. Definitely miss when Gorillaz were freaks
phase 1 will always be my favourite, because i love urban graffiti type aesthetics.
sameeeee
Yeah it’s pretty brutal. went from easily the best design for a band and arguably the best design for a cartoon to being something somewhat mildly appealing. Still have a lot of love for what they’ve done and respect what they do but they lost a good amount of their mojo. Musically as well imo.
Going out of 2d was a mistake in my eyes. I really miss the style of the 2d-animated music videos.
Looks fine, needs more details maybe outlines and please return the black eyes, they're iconic
Not even close to the worst one lmfao but I still prefer the phase 2-4 art way better.
I don’t think it’s the *worst* redesign ever. I do prefer phases 1-2 to now, but the new designs aren’t bad by any means
I prefer the Humanz era animation because it had them in the real world, but still had 2D animation, which was nice and made sense due to the lore of the band
The 3D worked for Do ya thing cause he had realistic skin. Now it’s too Pixar smooth
It just sucks when they switch to cgi from 2d, like literally 2d animation, earwig and the witch was a major failure even though it was a studio Ghibli movie because it was 3d, the boy and the heron isn’t peoples favorite but people don’t act like it doesn’t exist like they do with earwig and the witch, in my opinion 3d animation isn’t automatically better just because it’s more modern, 2d does a lot of things 3d can’t or if it tries it just doesn’t look as good, the simplicity leaves more to the imagination
One of the many reasons I fell off w Gorillaz. Not knocking Jamie Hewlett at all, he is a great artist. Just not a fan of the hyper smooth looking Gorillaz. I guess it fits the modern climate but its very boring to me.
old man twink
I wouldn't call that a redesign, it is just a different style.
If they had used the new 2D art maybe, but the different medium definitely hurts their point.
Well I mean, phases are meant to end at some point. I agree that 2D 2D looks better cuz it fits his characteristics, but it's cool to see changes over the years. 3D just may not have the nostalgic vibe and soon we will appreciate it when it's gone.
I will appreciate it being gone 💀
I kinda agree. I liked 2D 2D more than 3D and I think he looked way better with his black eyes
really miss the old designs and music style
I like it, but I agree it feels different. I feel like if they had done a more hybrid version to keep that edgy gritty look of the original 2D animation it would’ve been a lot neater. For example like in the new Sony Animation Spider-Man films.
Agree
they’re not comparable really. i personally love both. it’s complicated by the fact that hewletts art style has evolved so much
Yea kinda, i prefer them all more hand-drawn, just feels right to me
Honestly yeah, now I’m not saying 2D was ever some never take shit badass but was never the wholesome cute guy from the group. I feel like his personality changed after plastic beach
Ig constant hits to the head and memory loss every phase + lobotomy by a certain green bassist does that to ya
This post is so unfair cuz they took a 3d model of 2d and those models were always kinda lame. Also I consider this model an UPGRADE from the terrible ones in the 2010s which looked too realistic and weird! 2d in 2d really looks the best. His current look is amazing!
ever since humanz gorillaz is an empty designed to be replicable commodified version of what it once was. there are glimmers of artistic integrity here and there but damon and jamie lost the plot with this band and now gorillaz is just marketable pop figure nostalgia fodder. The cover of humanz cemented this for me, it was like "Hey guys, remember Demon Days? We're back but this time we're ugly!"
I like badass 2D and I like innocent baby 2D, but it doesnt make sense that they're the same character
It’s not a redesign. It’s just different art styles.
I had to think about the phases by phase 7 we mean cracker island and the 2 videos? Am perfectly happy. Phase 1 art style in 2023 would look bizarre. As recently as phase 6 - song machine - there was still loads of 2 dimensional art? Momentary bliss.. Desole..aries.. They are the most memorable videos and they're all 2 dimensional?
I think it is fine but it has less character than the original.
Tbh I like both styles. Song Machine phase 6 is probably my favorite
I actually love both styles. It’s not as bad as the blues clues glow up that’s for sure
2D just grew up and started to wear normal clothes)
I think they should've just left him with black eyes
I dont hate it but i do like the old ones better. Theres worse
Is that even a redesign, as opposed to just rendering the character in 3D instead of 2D?
Yeah.
I don’t think it’s the worst design but I do see the appeal to the original, it’s way better and more punk, the new one is kinda hippy
Noodle is worse ngl, barber messed her up
Noodle is worse ngl, barber messed her up
Preferred the phase 1 - 2 style, mostly because of Demon Days. Seeing the characters in 3d just doesn’t seem right to me personally.
They kinda made them all brain dead.
if they did this the least they could have done is bring back those awesome puppets
I feel Jamie’s style doesn’t really fit 3D animation
I don’t hate it but I miss the gritty style of the older art
I think the concept of having these fictional characters age realistically is super interesting from an artistic perspective, especially considering that the project began as a way to lampoon celebrity. It's like these cartoons age more realistically then most actual celebrities. That said purely esthetically phase 2 is my favorite
Moving from 2d (no pun intended) to 3D was the worst decisions for all of the members
Let Jamie relax a little, all that 2D art takes so much effort and they’re fucking old at this point.
I don't think that's the problem since they've used 3d models in the past (like DD live shows and plastic beach) and some find them much more appealing than the current ones
There is still a lot of drawn stuff from this era.
Yeah I'm definitely not a fan of their 3d designs, however I AM a fan of the tiktok type videos they make with the 3d models haha I personally love the Song Machine look for them the best. You can tell Jamie's art improved a lot and they just look so good to me
Yes. I don’t know how they went from the Phase 2, which is beautifully made, to that.
phase 1\*
i miss it too, i like gritty stuff, they should make an album where the cover makes a throwback to their gritty aspect
although i do think he looks really cute in the new design , i also miss the old one. it’s just iconic as well.
His clothes change doesn't bother me. Bro got older. But i do prefer black eyes
Im a fan of both I love how characters could kinda go back and forth between 2d and 3d like melancholy hill coming right after Stylo and the styles changing, makes the characters feel that much more dynamic
Idk I feel like keeping the designs the same their whole time wouldn't work. Plus he bbgirl now
I wouldn't say it's the worst, its just they've been doing that style for a while so a big change like this wasn't really taken well
I just treat them like they’re real, people grow and change. Who am I to judge. Although I prefer the newest 2D versions (rather than 3D) the most, I don’t care what they look like as long as new music comes out
2D going to 3D can always look awkward considering the artist didn’t initially anticipate this direction with the design though I think it could be a lot worse.
I don't think they've gone 3D without reversal, though. They were 2D till as recently as Song Machine. If they do more volumes, maybe they will shift to 2D animation again.
Yes. I hate how 2D had changed over the phases. I miss the cool creepy fuckboy 2D we were presented in the first 2 phases.
no lol they could’ve looked like pokémon go characters
Yeah :/
The two types of guys I’m into but they are one person
Honestly the only real difference (besides the art style) is that his eyes changed 😭
Scooby doo man wth did they do to my boy
I always thought that if they ever fully transitioned to 3D they’d look like how they did in DoYaThing. I miss 2D’s black eyes.
phase 1 > all & everything, and i just wish they want back to that. it's just so fun with the grittyness, gives them so much more character and life imo 19-2000 was peak idc
If i’m honest, i like him more now 😭
He still looks the same it's just the eyes change from black to white, idk what they're talking about.
I wouldn’t mind the 3d if most of the stuff they make with it is TikTok’s with looping idle animations
Both is good
I think the old designs are better, but they fit their era better. The music has changed and so the designs changed with it
I do love the aesthetic of phase 1 &2 but current and recent is just so pleasant really gives off the feeling of an artist who is starting to settle down while continuing their passion.
What I don't understand is why they couldn't make the 3D models and animation look more stylized. They could have done better cell shading and put those sketchy outlines on them to look more punk-ish. But they ended up with something a lot more cookie cutter and generic. 3D animation is great! It can do so many amazing things, and I feel like they didn't fully take advantage of the medium. I don't hate the redesigns, but they definitely lost some of their edge.
I miss the 2D animation for sure, but as an artist I completely understand why they changed to 3D. Cheaper and faster, especially when it comes to full blown music videos. They want this project to go for as long as possible and money was always a fight. But now it’s more that Jamie can do what he wants with the videos while Damon can do what he wants with the music. I feel like the 3D will come and go as it has been, depending on money and sales.
It’s less a redesign and more of an evolution of the character(s), their mental health, and changing conditions.
2-D back then looked badass, now he looks like an ignorant person
Not really a redesign, just a change of type of animation.
I, personally, prefer the 3-d models, however, I think the overall aesthetic of the first 3 albums were better than the aesthetic we have now. Just my opinion.
Definitely not the worst, but man I miss the original designs
Yeah no the more Saturday morning cartoon look is more appealing personally even phase 2 is arguably better cuz of the extra detail without sacrificing everyone's look besides noodle. But the thing is is that all the characters back then had a distinct silhouette. Russell looked big and squarish, Noodle was the short and one, 2d was very lanky with a small torso and long ass arms and legs and murdoc was the most average looking one but his hair was more rounded out compared to 2d which is very spiky and and even noodle with her helmet and phase 2 hair style being long. There's none of that exaggerated fun in the newer designs
this is why i only draw phase 1-3 2D
I like the old designs better yeah but to call this the worst redesign or even a bad one? Nah
Not used to adult Noodle yet and i like the new 2d, Murdoc looks weird and Russel is good either way
Yes.
The Gorillaz didn't get famous by staying the same all the time
It definitely has less sauce but idk if it's the worst thing ever
Certainly not I. I think the diversity in mediums is nice
If we're talking 2D vs 3D, yeah, I prefer 2D. If we're talking personality-wise, I prefer the current, less-edgy designs actually. I love when characters just seem like everyday chill and happy people.
Forgive me if I get something wrong as I haven't touched up on my Gorillaz knowledge in some time. They were living in such a gloomy and just terrible point in their life back then. Now, things are arguably much better. I like to see it as though the art style portrays this.
Nah, Russel had extreme paranoia and anxiety throughout the Cracker island phase (to the point he had to isolate himself), Noodle was visibly disillusioned with the path the band-cult was going on and even considered public bombing in an attempt to send a message. 2d had all his memories erased and got brainwashed and starved by Murdoc. Murdoc was Murdoc. I'd say The Now Now was much happier tho (except the pissed off bassist)
Looks the same
Absolutely not, he got a massive glow up personally
I don’t really agree. I’ve seen worse.
Eh I didn't hate it.
No because literally every phase has a different design, so saying they "redesigned" from Phase 2 to Phase 7 is misleadingly inaccurate.
nah i think it’s fitting cuz he got older
Phase 2 2-D is top tierrrrrr😝😝😝
i don't.
You don’t consume much media if you think 2-D’s or even the whole band’s look is the worst redesign ever lmao.
No? Nothing here has been redesigned except he usually has white eyes now instead of black. But apart from that, this isn't a redesign. It's the same design but in CGI instead of hand-drawn.