Exactly right. Sometimes those "higher quality" things may lead to reduced quality, most commonly by reaching the uncanny valley.
Interestingly that does not happen in the opposite direction. When "reducing" certain stats on real footage (which is what live-action anime should do[0]) the uncanny valley is skipped. Maybe it's harder to fall into when going backwards? More research is needed.
We're really good at filling in the blanks with less data. That's why even the best animated scenes may not hit as hard as a page of manga with 6-7 panels dedicated to the scene. we imagine that scene ourselves, guided by the panels. Or why a recreation of a scene in a book can fall short to your imagination.
To contrast the above comment, video games don't let you "skip" steps these days. It's unsurprising to hear the author works at Epic Games because you get a lot less room to be experimental in that 3d real-time realm compared to any other medium like movies. When interactivity is involved, fluidity and responsiveness is key to keeping a player immersed, compared to a movie that could suddenly lower its framerate to create an ironically more engaging fight scene.
Interestingly that does not happen in the opposite direction. When "reducing" certain stats on real footage (which is what live-action anime should do[0]) the uncanny valley is skipped. Maybe it's harder to fall into when going backwards? More research is needed.
BTW, I love your books
[0] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3ZiBu5Il2eY