Anime, what a horrid little thing you've become.

[Char-Nobyl]

Sturgeon's Law: "90% of everything is crap."

Bad over used plot are just bad over used plots. Not much can be done about that. Cliched plots work just as well there as they do in the west.

I don't really disagree with you, but you have to keep this in mind. We in the west are really just as guilty. Western fanservice includes such things as Baywatch, Deal or No Deal (the women holding the cases), all the "men's magazines", the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, or COUNTLESS Hollywood movies. Is there really any logical place to draw the line?

As for the 8 year old look of some anime women, almost childlike cuteness is considered the most attractive quality a woman can have. Their age of consent is also 13. That's just how their culture is. I completely agree with you on the gross fetish stuff though, but it's certainly not just limited to Japan. It's just since the invasion of anime to the west, that we see the worst in them rather than the worst in our own societies. Maybe we're just so used to our own smut peddlers that we ignore them?

If you want to demand higher quality entertainment, that's fine. I'm with you on that. But we can't just point fingers at one nation's entertainment and lay all the blame on it.

Couldn't we have just ended the thread with this?

 

[Motakikurushi]

Feeling frustrated because an art form/medium shows examples of truly lacklustre, abominable 'shit' is bound to happen with EVERY entertainment medium out there. Films, Video Games, Books, there are prime examples of bad creations in each, and you'd be retarded to deny this. In fact, every time I think of 'Twilight' I want to kill something. But, as you stated, there are GOOD Anime, very good anime, anime that have inspired and enlightened me and shown what the industry is capable of. To me, anime is one of the finest forms of escapism ever devised, and some of it is truly eye-wateringly beautiful (Spirited Away and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time). You just have to accept that shit animes exist and look for the better ones. To be put off completely because Naruto exists is pitiful.

I'd suggest trying some intelligent anime. Ones that are as depressing as they are funny, and poignant, profound and enlightening as they are lighthearted and care-free. You can't go wrong with Akira, GITS, Paprika, Tokyo Godfathers etc but there are series that are admirable.

Try these: Welcome to the N.H.K. (you won't find a better analysis of anime and otakus as a negative conception than in this), Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (an intelligent, terrifying and engaging series, with a superb story) and Lucky Star (don't shoot the messanger for this, but it's an experimental anime that reflects the work of Kevin Smith and Mumblecore films - it's simply girls talking about general topics, but it's so funny and so witty that it's hard not to like it). Obviously, you can tell I like anime, but I generally don't like watching crap. Who does, anyway? Are films deplorable because Epic Movie exists? No. There are great films out there! Same applies to anime. It just takes a little exploration.

 

[lodo_bear]

Sturgeon's Law applies here as it does everywhere else, so we should expect a lot of crap.

One trouble with modern anime is that when it's bad, it's bad in such a perverted, horrifying way. We're all familiar with the massive amounts of fanservice and double-entendre in shows that should be kids' shows (Gurren Lagann is one example; great fun, great show, but why do the kids need to see nearly naked tits and hear so many dick jokes?) Then there's the truly horrible, such as the mighty, penetrating hero Rapeman [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7439] and the terrible origins of A cat is fine too [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/a-cat-is-fine-too] (it's not exactly what you think...it's worse).

Then there's the fact that anime tends to be homogeneous. Like any art form, it's got some spectacular stuff in it (some of which is in my personal collection), and like any other art form, it's also got a lot of stuff that's the same as everything else, but these days, the level of copying going on seems appalling. I'll spare you the links, but I think we've all seen the YTMNDs with the horde of schoolgirls that all have the same face. Beyond that, there seems to be a lot of pressure for everyone involved to do it all the same way. Art, storyline, characters, major themes...it kills me to see copycatting taken to such an extreme level.

Anime doesn't suffer from any problem that's unique to it, but if I had to pin its troubles on anything, I'd pin it on modern anime's particular fascination with sex and misogyny, and the large lack of originality. I have reason to believe that these apply to Japanese culture in general, so perhaps it's no surprise that anime has these troubles.

I'm not giving up my Planetes or my Miyazaki films anytime soon, but I must acknowledge that the gold is mingled with even more muck than you'd expect.

 

[spikeyjoey]

Everyone needs to watch Death note..

(not an anime fanboy- thats all iv watched- fantastic show tho)

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I have an irrational hate of anima. I understand that it's not all cheap art and angsty guys with huge hair and screachy 13 year old girls with big tits but that doesn't stop me.

Appart from Hayao Miyazaki films (Spirited Away is what Neil Gaiman would make if he was japanese) I stay the hell away from Anima at all costs.

 

[Mr.Black]

It boggles the mind how Dragon Ball Z was great fun when they were fighting Freezer but turned sour when they got to Cell.

How did it turn sour? Nothing changed. They used the same formula for every saga. If anything, it got better because they all weren't helpless little girls and actually had some decent power.