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Picture Drama

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Picture Drama (trope)

Picture Dramas are a variation of animated shows, with the difference that there is not much animation to behold. They generally consist of a series of still drawings, with voice actors performing the various roles, often having the "camera" move over the picture from character to character. In this, they could be seen as a form between anime and drama CDs. The emphasis is generally on the voice performances, with the pictures functioning as visual aids.

Sometimes picture dramas still contain a slight amount of animation, mostly by supposedly moving the on-screen characters around like puppets. They also tend to be produced in a different style, with Super-Deformed characters being the norm.

Nowadays most popular anime are accompanied by a picture drama and often find their way as omake on DVD releases. They are clearly cheaper to make but still offer the involved artists, writers, and voice actors an outlet for showcasing their talents—and of course generating extra revenue. Whether the stories told are part of the official canon differs from show to show, very much in line with the status of most audio adaptations.

Compare Limited Animation (using mix-and-match parts in animation, rather than having a completely new drawing for every new frame), Motion Comic (voiced, partially animated comics), and Sequential Art (a sequence of pictures without camera panning or dialogue telling a story).


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 

    Films — Animation 
  • Sound! Euphonium: Photo Session e Youkoso is a set of three shorts teaching theater manners that were shown before the May the Melody Reach You movie, which included a segment during which visitors were allowed to take a picture.
  • The Legend of John Henry: An animated adaptation of the urban legend made in the 1970s (nominated for an Academy Award) with (mostly) still pictures that evoked 19th-century photography.

    Video Games 

    Visual Novels 

    Web Animation 

    Western Animation 

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