straightforwardly | 335 | rec-cember, week four

I’ve been going back and forth as to what my final

rec_cember theme should be, and I’ve once again decided to do something slightly different. I think it’s probably obvious that I love sharing recs, and it’s probably equally obvious that the vast majority of those recs are fic recs, because fic has always been my main focus in fandom.

But this time, I think I want to rec some animatics. Specifically, animatics made for the songs from EPIC the Musical. Back during the height of my EPIC obsession this past spring/summer, I was watching many, many of the animatics on youtube, and I had the intention of making a recs list of my favorites. Obviously, I never got around to that, but it’s been lingering on my mind, so… why not now?

For these recs, I’m drawing from a list of recs I sent to a friend on discord back in August, and arranging them in the order of where the songs fall on the tracklist. There are thirteen recs in total.

“Warrior of the Mind” by gigi

This is a partial animatic, only covering Odysseus & Athena’s first meeting in the song, but it is very funny and cute <3 Featuring the failed high five! For those of you who may not have watched as many EPIC animatics as I have, this is a detail that comes up in a fair number of “Warrior of the Mind” animatics, and I’m very fond of it. The framing of the “I can see you” line in this one also always makes me laugh.

“Warrior of the Mind” by WolfyTheWitch

Odysseus’ adult design isn’t my favorite here, but otherwise, I adore this one. I love how the artist handles the transition to the flashbacks—so, so cool!—and the flashbacks themselves are so great. And I love, love, love how Odysseus reacts to his high five being left hanging in this one.

“Puppeteer” / “Done For” / “There Are Other Ways” by gigi

Placing these all together because it’s all one story arc and I think that’s the best way to watch them! A few comments on the specific songs:

• The take on the “don’t worry, Circe’s got you” line in “Puppeteer” was excellent, in a “this has forever changed how I hear the line when I listen to the song now” kind of way.

• The animatic for “Done For” is only a partial animatic, but what’s there is very good. I love Circe’s expressions!

• “There Are Other Ways” is hands-down my favorite of the three—it has made every other interpretation of the song feel off to me simply because they weren’t this one! This song was always a favorite for me, but there’s just so many wonderful details packed into this animatic that makes me love it all the more. Also: Odysseus treating Circe’s bed of seduction like a therapy couch, 10/10, no notes

“Legendary” by gigi

One of my absolute favorites! I don’t like many of the animatics for “Legendary”, usually because I don’t like the Telemachus designs—why does he so often look like a twelve year old???—but this one very much works for me. What I especially love about this one is all the details about Telemachus’ daily life that gets packed into it—his duties, his longing for adventure, how it feels to have the halls filled with unwanted guests. Also, this is hands-down the BEST interpretation of Telemachus’ "Le-le-legendary line". No spoilers, but it is very cute. <3

“Little Wolf” by Duvetbox

Hands down my favorite designs for Antinous and Telemachus, and it really conveys that odd Vibe I get from their interactions just right. I have watched this one many times.

“God Games” by Amiti

There are many, many animatic for “God Games”, which of course translates to me having a fair number to rec. What I like about this one:

• the way all of the gods have these glowing, inhuman eyes!
• the way Artemis is chilling next to Apollo during his portion of the song (look, I am a simple woman: Artemis was my childhood and lifelong fave, and I’ve always been weak for sibling dynamics, so this is a path straight to my heart)
• APHRODITE/ATHENA HANDHOLDING. it is admittedly brief, but it definitely did something to my brain
• Aphrodite’s design in general, as well as how the introduction to her part of the song is handled
Hera’s section!! I love her knocking Heracles off the shelf, haha.
• Athena’s final plea! Some animatics portray it as her launching a final full-scale attack, but that doesn’t ring true to me—this is much closer to how I actually picture it

“God Games” by gigi

What I like about this one:

• Zeus’ intro is very cool, & makes it really feel like he’s the supreme ruler of the gods
how everything is staged—the background with coliseum, Athena leaping from one pillar to next—great sense of motion and staging!
• Hephaestus’ forge, the way Athena dodges & dances around the obstacles
• Aphrodite also has a great intro in this one! That seductive poise, yes <3 And then the transition to the Ares’ portion, and the hourglass motifs + battle there!
• “never once has he cheated on his wife” is my favorite line in this song, and Hera’s reaction to it in this one is amazing <3 ditto Zeus’ face and posture when the camera flashes to him immediately afterwards, haha. Truly a, “WHAT did you just say???” moment.
• Ares protectively stepping in front of Aphrodite when Zeus gets pissed at Athena is very sweet

“God Games” by Noir.Hyacinth

What I like about this one:

• when Zeus introduces each of the gods, they get their own little fighting game-style intros, and the little titles they get are very funny to me. especially Aphrodite’s and Ares’!
• one of my favorite takes on Ares! His design, movement, and energy are on-point. And Athena gets SCARY when she turns the tables on him, in a way that I really like (her face! HIS face!)—and Aphrodite saving him!
• a great take on the “so many heroes” line, imo even better than the one where she knocks Heracles off of a shelf <3
• another great take on Athena’s final plea!! With bonus golden ichor pouring from her body, yesss

“God Games” by Xeingo

What I like about this one:

• it’s simply a very solid take on the song! though the Zeus design isn’t my favorite
• while it has a similar art style like most of the animatics do, when the characters are introduced there are brief flashes to fully colored, fully detailed designs for them, which is neat
Apollo as a freckled sun god!
• another fun Ares versus Athena battle
• an EXCELLENT Hera intro, one that makes her feel more like the queen of the gods instead of just another one amongst their numbers

“Hold Them Down” by BigFatBreak

This is such a cool animatic. I actually nearly exited the screen early on in the video the first time I watched it, but then something made me keep watching it instead, and I’m so glad I did. It takes a lot of inspiration from ancient Grecian art, and it has this continuing motif/visual metaphor with the suitors that I’m just obsessed with. Also, the EYES. Hands down the most unique animatic I’ve seen.

“Odysseus” by Duvetbox

Hands down my absolute favorite animatic, period. There was a period of time—as in literal weeks—where the last thing I would do before bed was watch this animatic. I have seen it so, so many times. I love everything about it. I love the framing, the art and colors used, how the lines of the song are interpreted, the excellent character designs… And the way this animatic ends—absolutely obsessed with it.

Content warning: for anyone who, like me, cannot handle eye injuries, I would recommend closing your eyes for a few seconds after the “you don’t understand, this man plans for every fight” line.