bmwracer wrote:Yow, there seems to be a consensus on how average Steamboy is... Is it because it's being compared against Otomo's famous/classic Akira or Miyazaki's stuff?
Sure, why not compare it to those? Miyazaki is probably the gold standard to which any big anime will be compared. And Akira was Steamboy director's other well known movie.
I don't find Steamboy to be a bad movie, just not as compelling as the others mentioned. Another reason is that I don't find the steam technology background to the story that interesting. It featured some fantastic contraption called the "steamball", which I thought was kind of silly. But I think they had to come up with some "tech" factor that could also be used in a somewhat comical fashion. Hence "steamball". Meh.
Another anime (series) that took place sort of in the same time and place is "Nadia: secret of Blue Water". I would actually prefer that over Steamboy. It had more daring adventure, more interesting personal relationships, better villains.
It also was sillier too, in parts, but it was aimed at a young audience.
I also wish they chose to use a more vibrant color palette. I think they chose muted tones, grays and sepias to give an older time period look. But I like bright flashy things.