Criticism of Anime and Manga

[Dags90]

Some people even swear they can tell the difference between coke and pepsi.

There is, in the U.S. formulations anyway. I always hate it when I get Pepsi instead.

I think it's a case of people focusing in on one similarity and overlooking everything else. It's easy to say that all Northern Renaissance Art looks the same if you specifically look at the representation of the nude female form. However, when you look past that there are some pretty radical differences. I'd post examples, but I don't want to get mod wrathed.

 

[Kimarous]

I'll take "significantly less visual variety" over "inane and hideous" any day.

Spoiler: This and this...

Easy tops...

Spoiler: This and this.

 

[SentryGun]

My major criticism of anime and manga is that there is a lack of any really different artistic styles, save the styles of traditional anime and the cutsey Hello Kitty-esque style.

You obviously haven't watched very much anime.

To me, pretty much all anime that is out there looks stylistically the same to me. Looking at Astro Boy, the first really successful anime series, the style looks almost identical to anime series today like One-Piece or Bleach.

I'm not sure what to say. Look closer? The differences are obvious. In each of them.

Compare that to American animation.

Have everyone make styles that are completely ugly and made with no intention to abide by any rules of human anatomy. That in itself has ironically become completely unoriginal.

Either that or make a show with an art style that's similar to the classic looney tunes.

Plus, almost every time there IS a show with some sort of attention to human anatomy, it's very remniscent of batman's artstyle from his show in the 90's.

Looney Tunes of the 1950's look nothing like cartoons of today like Spongebob or Ed, Edd, & Eddy. American animation today bears very little semblance of it's ancestors.

If you think anime from that time period look anything like shows made this day and age, I give up on you.

Let it be known that I am not trying to bash anime or manga and say that people who like it are studpid or anything like that. I'm only trying to spell out my perspective of how I view it. Please, if you are an anime fan, please post a response as I am deeply curious of what you think.

I'm sorry, but it sounds like you're biased against it and haven't seen very much anime at all.

I haven't much more to say, because I shouldn't have to.

Big O looks nothing like Sora no Otoshimono, which looks nothing like Dead Leaves, which also looks nothing like Panty and Stocking, which we can both agree looks nothing like the Mario anime.

*shrug*

All i can add to that is

This this OVER 9000 times this!!

 

[Kyogissun]

Hey OP, it could be worse, there are plenty of people as ignorant, but way way 'WAY' more fucking obnoxious about it than you. By that, I mean you were in no way rude or impolite. You made a statement, you realized you were inaccurate and you admitted it, rather than proceed to go on and try to make yourself still seem like you had a legitimate statement.

And just so you know, I like japanese and american cartoons equally. What's the difference? There are more JP animations I like than US animations.

...And Canada is terrible. Total Drama, Johnny Test, Stoked, 6Teen, it's all terrible terrible bullshit. Bad writing, lazy ass flash animation, mediocre voice acting and more, the people making those shows need to go bankrupt. Cartoon Network and Teletoon seriously need to stop funding those studios. And James Arnold Taylor (voice actor who voices 'Johnny' in Johnny Test) is better used in more worthwhile productions. Let's just hope AKA Cartoons (I.E. Danny Antonucci's animation studio) starts working on something worthwhile soon, maybe a spiritual successor to Ed, Edd and Eddy.

At least american animation is picking up in quality again. We had a drought of good shows for about the past five years, but shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Robotomy & Titan Maximum are making a turn around for the better.

Also, the conclusion for Ed, Edd and Eddy was fan-fucking-tastic and could not have ended better. It's just a bummer it had to end... But better it end on a high note than keep going.

Concerning animes current offerings show wise right now... it's sorta not user friendly at the moment. Lots of sub-culture/self referential stuff is going on, like OreImo or incredibly over the top kinds of shows like Star Driver and Panty & Stocking w/Garterbelt.

Lots of good stuff has aired (and is airing at the moment) though, Katanagatari and Angel Beats! have been my personal favorite shows this year. And old classic series getting new iterations like Digimon Xros Wars are around at the moment.

I'm rambling. Anime, much like any genre or style of TV, takes a while to get into. In the same way it took me a while to appreciate something like 'In Treatment' or 'Studio 60' the same can be said for a good deal of anime. Give it time and find the 'right' show and you'll learn that anime is really just like any other format of television programming like I've come to view it.

If you want a list of recently aired shows (Past 2 to 3 years) according to genre, I can give some suggestions. I'll also recommend some currently airing stuff if you'd like, but be aware I'm very fond of drama/slower paced shows and rarely care for the over the top or comedic stuff, unless I really like the premise.

Also, to the guy who was 'slamming' HSotD, it's a guilty pleasure thing. If you didn't like the animation, content or whatever, get over it. It doesn't make it a bad show, it just doesn't appeal to you. The show is by no means 'fantastic' but damn it if it wasn't a great one.

And that opening... Just a real off the fucking chain kind of song for a sort of off the chain show.

 

[General_Potatoes]

Great another thread about not liking anime. Anyone other than me tired of these kinds of threads?

 

[mr_rubino]

And now from the Escapist Forum Newsdesk:

Surprising noone, the anime/manga fans could offer nothing to a man criticizing anime art styles except repeating "Haha you stupid inferior round-eye" and posting collages of random contextless images which answer nothing except "There are indeed some differences between varying shows" (which was not the question of course, but once again, discussion is impossible on a discussion board).

 

[mr_rubino]

Great another thread about not liking anime. Anyone other than me tired of these kinds of threads?

Opinions that are not my own threaten and scare me, so I try to avoid speaking to anyone whose views diverge from mine.

 

[Xianthos]

Great another thread about not liking anime. Anyone other than me tired of these kinds of threads?

Lack of reading comprehension ...

Read again and let your brain work on it. And after you have done it post again.

Its not at all about liking or not. Its about the artistical style of anime.

 

[Shia-Neko-Chan]

And now from the Escapist Forum Newsdesk:

Surprising noone, the anime/manga fans could offer nothing to a man criticizing anime art styles except repeating "Haha you stupid inferior round-eye" and posting collages of random contextless images which answer nothing except "There are indeed some differences between varying shows" (which was not the question of course, but once again, discussion is impossible on a discussion board).

That would be because the only criticism in the original post was about lack of differences between anime art styles. o_o

 

[Kyogissun]

Great another thread about not liking anime. Anyone other than me tired of these kinds of threads?

Lack of reading comprehension ...

Read again and let your brain work on it. And after you have done it post again.

Its not at all about liking or not. Its about the artistical style of anime.

Both are equally diverse, american animation is just more easy to get away with different styles because it variates in the 'type' of characters, that is say, inanimate objects made real (eg: ATHF), inhuman/semi-human appearances (Robotomy, Regular Show, Spongebob, Chowder, Flapjack) and human (Adventure Time, Ed, Edd and Eddy, Dexter's Lab, Johnny Bravo).

You see american animation experimenting with more inhuman kinds of characters more than anime does, primarily due to a lot of anime... being stories about 'people' and occasionally having a demon or monster tossed in every now and then, but often adopting human appearances... A show like Otome Youkai Zakuro comes to mind, also an example of the fairly diverse art styles that anime/manga can have.

And now from the Escapist Forum Newsdesk:

Surprising noone, the anime/manga fans could offer nothing to a man criticizing anime art styles except repeating "Haha you stupid inferior round-eye" and posting collages of random contextless images which answer nothing except "There are indeed some differences between varying shows" (which was not the question of course, but once again, discussion is impossible on a discussion board).

i lold.

+1

*looks at avatar*

Anyone... Feeling a pot calling the kettle black situation here right now? I'm not saying anything other than that someone with a PHF avatar... Really needs to contribute something more to the thread other than an 'lol' statement.

Not wanting to start an argument or fight mind you, just... Be careful what you say, that show was kinda a really poor example on Adult Swim's part of what the mindset was concerning anime during the time they put that together.

 

[instantbenz]

I've been a part of discussions like this in an illustration class and even as an art student it's difficult to explain the differences without visual assistance. The thread has a few good examples, but I can understand the difficulty of not completely seeing it right away. The biggest point is that there are so many stories that are similar (I dare not say 'the same') such as DBZ and Naruto (loud, obnoxious lead with golden hair and can transform (transformations are big in the genre)). Anyway, the plots can be similar, but artists are REALLY trying to differentiate themselves and to ignore that is kinda ... well, mean. Believe me, before more research it might all look similar and, as stated before, be telling a similar story. But, there are people in the business trying to stray from the norm.

I enjoy anime because it's something I can have on in the background, catch a few scenes, and still follow while I'm working on illustrations (inspiration) or homework. My girlfriend hates how over dramatic things can be but she watches other goofy crap so we're even .

 

[Kyogissun]

EDIT (Fucking broken forum not loading my post ~_~)

 

[Kyogissun]

I enjoy anime because it's something I can have on in the background, catch a few scenes, and still follow while I'm working on illustrations (inspiration) or homework. My girlfriend hates how over dramatic things can be but she watches other goofy crap so we're even .

American TV can be just as overdramatic and such as anime. However, I have to be honest in saying that titles like Clannad or White Album, for the most part, don't stoop to Grey's Anatomy or Soap Opera levels of drama.

Oh and it helps that they keep themselves from breaking like 20-50 episodes and tend to 'end' things before they get too ridiculous or contrived and drawn out longer than necessary.

Just remind her that next time you watch something like that.

American animation just needs to throw away the preconcieved notions that 'cartoons are for kids' and try for more sophistication and I'm willing to bet a lot more anime fans will be trying the american series.

OR at least adopt the concept of making 'all ages' shows more often.

...Again, people here who've been burnt out on american animation, please watch at least ONE of the following:

Regular Show
Adventure Time
Robotomy
Sym-Bionic Titan

I'm sure everyone here will find something they like.

 

[Kyogissun]

(Removed to combine into above post)

 

[steelguy17]

I just wanna say that if your opinion of a show, not just anime, is based on appearances is very shallow. A show should be based on its story depth, and character development.

That's just my 2 cents worth thought it needed to be said, because art style is nothing without story and characters to back it up.

 

[Direwolf750]

The fact that you believe that there aren't different art styles in both somewhat telling of your lack of research and depending on your definition of anime and manga. Anime and manga seems to only have a few styles because that is what is translated, because that is what sells. There are as many different styles of manga (not so much anime) as there are those willing to draw a picture and a story. This is a very difficult thing to explain without a wall of text entry, so I would request that before I delve further into this topic, please look up shojo, shonen, senin and jose. Those are the four predominate "age groupings" and each one tends to have it's predominate style, but it doesn't mean that all follow this rule.

Also, if your definition of manga and anime extends to other cultures, manwhas have very different styles, and other cultures each have their own take. Again, this depends on semantics rather than opinion.

This is far too big a topic to summarize, explain, defend, or attack on a forum. Essays would have trouble explaining this topic, so please excuse me if I resign myself to suggesting research rather than providing it.

 

[General_Potatoes]

Great another thread about not liking anime. Anyone other than me tired of these kinds of threads?

Lack of reading comprehension ...

Read again and let your brain work on it. And after you have done it post again.

Its not at all about liking or not. Its about the artistical style of anime.

Okay i'll edit it. Another thread about not like the artistic style of anime and manga. Isn't this just getting a bit old? There i changed it. Thank you for pointing out my posts flaw.

 

[Choppaduel]

And now from the Escapist Forum Newsdesk:

Surprising noone, the anime/manga fans could offer nothing to a man criticizing anime art styles except repeating "Haha you stupid inferior round-eye" and posting collages of random contextless images which answer nothing except "There are indeed some differences between varying shows" (which was not the question of course, but once again, discussion is impossible on a discussion board).

i lold.

+1

*looks at avatar*

Anyone... Feeling a pot calling the kettle black situation here right now? I'm not saying anything other than that someone with a PHF avatar... Really needs to contribute something more to the thread other than an 'lol' statement.

aha! you fell into my trap. I, having nothing important to contribute to this thread(that hasn't been said already) deduced that by posting a "lol" comment (which is a lol with that statement not at it, in case you were wondering) I would give some else a chance to complain and artificially lengthen the thread! prepare for circular arguments!

... nvm. alright fine my two cents: I enjoyed Dragonball (manga) & I liked Cowboy Bebop (cept for the main plot episodes) & I loved Trigun (anime, not the manga). most of the time I find anime/manga to be overly dramatic without cause, or too depressing, or concerned with cultural elements that I don't (and don't want to) relate to. It has nothing to do with the art style, or production quality: only with setting, plot, and themes.

and who doesn't want to have perfect hair forever? amiright?