If you’ve been keeping up with Common Side Effects (CSE), you already know it isn’t your average animated series. But you might be shocked at just how much of its irresistible style and polish you can trace straight back to two powerhouse veterans: Max Minor and Susan Shi. These two don’t just dip into the animation world — they cannonball in, leaving a wake of technical wizardry and bold creative moves. And their fingerprints are all over CSE.
Animation Heavyweights Walk Into a Studio
Let’s peel back the curtain for a second. Minor and Shi both hail from Six Point Harness, also known by cool kids as 6PH. This isn’t just any old outfit. We’re talking about the award-winning, trend-bending animation studio behind hits like “Hair Love” and HBO’s “Tig Notaro: Drawn.” Remember when “Hair Love” snagged that Academy Award? That’s the gold dust Minor and Shi sprinkle into CSE.
So, what magic do these two bring from 6PH to our favorite pharmacy-centric fever dream? It’s a lot — and none of it accidental.
Max Minor: Drawing Outside the Lines
Max Minor is synonymous with wild creativity and narrative punch. His most famous work at 6PH? “Hair Love.” Minor didn’t just light up the screen. He helped create something that burst out of animation circles and into the pop culture mainstream. Later, he got downright experimental with “Tig Notaro: Drawn,” the world’s first fully animated stand-up special on HBO. That project wasn’t some cookie-cutter TV gig. Minor helped juggle multiple animation styles in a single special, each tailored to Tig’s unique absurdist storytelling. It’s not just about pretty pictures — Minor knows how to use visuals to amplify the message, the joke, or the emotional gut punch.
With CSE, you see those bold choices everywhere. Each episode isn’t afraid to dance between moods, tones, or even visual styles. Sometimes you get slick, vibrant shots — other times, the animation veers into exaggerated, hyper-unreal territory, especially when characters’ emotions start boiling over. That’s Max Minor’s jam. He brings a “why not?” approach, always willing to tweak the visual language to fit the story, not the other way around.
Susan Shi: The Calm in the Creative Storm
Every creative explosion needs a guiding hand, and that’s where Susan Shi steps in. Shi shines when things get complicated. Take “The Great Wolf Pack: A Call to Adventure.” Here, Shi transformed a pack of theme park mascots into cinematic stars in a full-length animated epic. She corralled sprawling teams of animators, storyboard artists, and sound designers, always keeping the vision tight while still leaving room for surprises. She’s a master at creating structure around chaos.
Bringing this energy to CSE, Shi keeps the animation’s frenetic spirit in check. She’s not only an expert at project management, but she’s got that rare art-house sensibility — she knows when to let a team fly and when to steer the ship. Whether the CSE crew is cranking out a wacky montage or navigating a delicate emotional reveal, you can bet Susan Shi is at the wheel, making sure nothing falls through the cracks.
The Six Point Harness Effect
At 6PH, both Minor and Shi honed their skills on some truly unique projects:
- “Hair Love”: Oscar-winner, viral hit, and proof that heartfelt stories can break new ground in mainstream animation.
- “Tig Notaro: Drawn”: The first ever animated stand-up special on HBO. Imagine switching animation styles mid-show to match the tone of a comedian’s wild stories — yep, that’s 6PH magic.
- “The Great Wolf Pack: A Call to Adventure”: Shi’s masterclass in shepherding familiar characters through a tricky, longer format.
Thanks to these touchstones, neither Minor nor Shi is likely to flinch when things get weird. In fact, they lean in harder.
Unleashing the Full Potential of Animation
Mixing their backgrounds with the fresh weirdness of CSE, Minor and Shi basically tore up the old animation playbook. They know how to keep things consistently great, but they never get stuck in a rut.
Take a random moment in CSE. Maybe you’ll spot a visual gag in the background, or maybe you’ll get hit by a sudden stylistic shift. Minor won’t hesitate to push the show off the beaten path — he’s obsessed with making each frame pop in service to the story. And with Shi cracking the whip behind the scenes, the chaos never derails the episode.
If you ever wondered why CSE feels so cohesive — even when it’s throwing you curveballs left and right — that’s the Minor-Shi partnership at work. They collaborate constantly, and you can feel the push-pull of energetic art and meticulous organization in every episode.
Animation Quality That Sets a Standard
But let’s not gloss over technical brilliance. Animation junkies and newcomers alike notice how CSE just looks… slicker. No off-model faces, no weird frame jumps, no lazy background loops. That’s no accident. Minor’s and Shi’s years at 6PH taught them the discipline behind the dazzle.
- Max Minor’s style favors bold lines, dynamic movement, and surprising visual humor.
- Susan Shi’s oversight ensures that wild ideas don’t descend into messy or rushed animation.
- Every background detail, facial twitch, or action scene zips together with intention.
Go ahead and pause the show anywhere. You’ll catch details most viewers fly past — inside jokes, recurring motifs, or inventive color shifts. Minor and Shi value substance, but style never plays second fiddle.
Embracing the Unexpected
Animation can feel formulaic if you play it safe. But Minor and Shi thrive in the unknown. After wrangling everything from heart-string-plucking short films to totally bonkers comedy specials, they bring that same experimental spirit to CSE.
- Storylines twist and turn, splashing from humor into heavier moments — and the animation shifts gears to match.
- Music cues, quick-cut edits, and sharp timing show an awareness of animation as music: tempo matters as much as color.
- Each character move feels expressive, never robotic, thanks to their deep focus on acting in animation.
These choices don’t just look cool. They dress the story in the perfect visual suit, and sometimes, a wild costume change.
What Fans and Creators Are Saying
On social channels, animation insiders and CSE diehards point out subtle visual humor and flawless animation consistency, referencing “that 6PH touch.” Even writers for animation news sites mention the duo by name. Posts speculate that nobody but Minor and Shi could have pulled off some of CSE’s weirdest sequences without resorting to tired tropes or losing coherence. On forums, users trade GIFs and stills that highlight their favorite visual “gags within a gag”—it’s pure eye candy paired with storytelling muscle.
Some creators even cite CSE as inspiration, calling out its willingness to buck formula in favor of well-executed chaos. The word “trailblazers” crops up a lot — sometimes with all-caps enthusiasm.
A Glance Ahead: More Magic on the Horizon
What’s next for Max Minor and Susan Shi? That’s the million-dollar question. With CSE, these two animation wizards have raised the bar and then somersaulted over it. Fan whispers point at even bolder moves in future episodes, hinting at visual experiments and narrative flips. If you think you’ve seen all their tricks, buckle up.
Animation never stands still, and neither do Minor and Shi. As long as they’re steering the ship, expect CSE to keep moving the finish line forward — and pulling all of us along for the ride.
So, next time you’re watching an episode and feel that electric charge in the visuals or the seamless snap in the story, give a silent thanks to Max Minor and Susan Shi. They didn’t just show up. They transformed the show — and probably ruined other animated series for you forever.
