Many people claim I hate anime. Many people believe that I'm just a xenophobic prick who cannot enjoy something that doesn't have a fat bastard eating an apple pie and shooting all the brown people because I'm a fucking American. Many people think I'm a model railroad enthusiast who cannot survive without gritty, dark and edgy realism. I cannot deny their claims.
Nah. Thing is, I really really, REALLY like anime. The art style is pretty, the characters are very expressive, and it has a lot of potential to tell stories that literally just cannot be done with live action. That's been my problem with it though. Most anime I've seen use the fact that they aren't confined by the rules of reality to openly flaunt it in ways that don't make any goddamn sense. That, and the cultural difference between Japan and me, a hard-talkin', two-fisted American, means that what I find incredibly creepy and sociopathic, they find charming. Now, I often find myself wondering if I'm alone in this thought process. Maybe I am just a xenophobe, so I dislike it.
But that doesn't explain why Code Geass, Boondocks, Elfen Lied, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Trigun, Ouran High School Host Club, and Berserk are still among my most-cited examples of good storytelling. Frankly, I don't trust reviewers of any sort, so I turn to you Escapists. I wanna hear your opinion on this medium of creative endeavor and toss out your opinions so we may all better ourselves and the world we live in by expanding our horizons.
(FLAME BAIT: Soul Eater, Hellsing Ultimate, Haruhi, High School of the Dead, and Higurashi ain't that great in my opinion.
Soul Eater: As a son of divorced parents, I find Maka offensive. And frankly, I'm more disappointed than angry. It could have been such a brilliant satire and parody of all the biggest tropes in anime, but failed and decided to go for angsty drama.
Hellsing: This had the problem of being Trigun, but boring. Alucard was a terrible main character, and the show could have been fucking amazing if they had just thrown his red-coat, excessively large pistol-wielding ass out of the whole story and let every other character take over for him.
Haruhi: Pseudo-philosophical stupidity and an unlikable ***** for the main character who reminds me a bit too much of the girls at my school for me to laugh at since she's never shown in an ironic light, which is how you present a main character who's a prick.
High School of the Dead: Objectifies women to a rather insane degree, no good characters, and it completely shoots itself in the foot later. It's just tits and zombies and gore and douchebag characters being douchebags.
Higurashi: There's a line I have to draw in the sand when it comes to the idea of fucked up stuff. I got physically ill watching this.
EDIT: I'm looking for a specific anime. To give you an idea of my tastes, I enjoyed the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, the Tolkein books, Jurassic Park, Chronicle, Watchmen, The Ronin, The Invisible Man, Dracula, The Wolfman, and Dragon Age Origins.
Nah. Thing is, I really really, REALLY like anime. The art style is pretty, the characters are very expressive, and it has a lot of potential to tell stories that literally just cannot be done with live action. That's been my problem with it though. Most anime I've seen use the fact that they aren't confined by the rules of reality to openly flaunt it in ways that don't make any goddamn sense. That, and the cultural difference between Japan and me, a hard-talkin', two-fisted American, means that what I find incredibly creepy and sociopathic, they find charming. Now, I often find myself wondering if I'm alone in this thought process. Maybe I am just a xenophobe, so I dislike it.
But that doesn't explain why Code Geass, Boondocks, Elfen Lied, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Trigun, Ouran High School Host Club, and Berserk are still among my most-cited examples of good storytelling. Frankly, I don't trust reviewers of any sort, so I turn to you Escapists. I wanna hear your opinion on this medium of creative endeavor and toss out your opinions so we may all better ourselves and the world we live in by expanding our horizons.
(FLAME BAIT: Soul Eater, Hellsing Ultimate, Haruhi, High School of the Dead, and Higurashi ain't that great in my opinion.
Soul Eater: As a son of divorced parents, I find Maka offensive. And frankly, I'm more disappointed than angry. It could have been such a brilliant satire and parody of all the biggest tropes in anime, but failed and decided to go for angsty drama.
Hellsing: This had the problem of being Trigun, but boring. Alucard was a terrible main character, and the show could have been fucking amazing if they had just thrown his red-coat, excessively large pistol-wielding ass out of the whole story and let every other character take over for him.
Haruhi: Pseudo-philosophical stupidity and an unlikable ***** for the main character who reminds me a bit too much of the girls at my school for me to laugh at since she's never shown in an ironic light, which is how you present a main character who's a prick.
High School of the Dead: Objectifies women to a rather insane degree, no good characters, and it completely shoots itself in the foot later. It's just tits and zombies and gore and douchebag characters being douchebags.
Higurashi: There's a line I have to draw in the sand when it comes to the idea of fucked up stuff. I got physically ill watching this.
EDIT: I'm looking for a specific anime. To give you an idea of my tastes, I enjoyed the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, the Tolkein books, Jurassic Park, Chronicle, Watchmen, The Ronin, The Invisible Man, Dracula, The Wolfman, and Dragon Age Origins.
![[Kira Must Die]](https://eg-forums-escapist-data.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/data/avatars/l/68/68539.jpg?1620622912){kind=avatar}
