Everything You Know about Anime Is Wrong

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Superbeast

Bound up the dead triumphantly!
Jan 7, 2009
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FireAza said:
Epic Snip!
This was quite an informative post, and thanks for doing it, but I still get confused by all the terms thrown about, and to be honest even the names of most of the animes out there (though, as you will see from the list of stuff I have watched, I haven't got the impression that it is something solely aimed at children).

I don't know if I am a fan of anime yet or not - I certainly like some, be they films or series, and have purchased largely all that I have seen:

I absolutely love Wolf's Rain and Claymore, as well as Appleseed (I have both the original OVA, the newer Appleseed and Appleseed: Ex Machina). Ghost in the Shell was done quite well, but the long expo-scenes where she wanders around futuristic Tokyo do lose me a bit, and it took me a good few viewings to work out what the heck was going on. I also have Sky Blue, which I find particularly strange, but I feel that may be a dubbing issue rather than the anime itself (and is actually incredibly interesting to compare to the likes of Claymore and Ghost in the Shell, being Korean and all). I've also seen a few episodes of Elfen Lied, which make me want to buy the whole series; and a friend of my house-mate brought over Princess Mononoke, which whilst intensely confusing at times was rather interesting (if long!).

But there's an awful lot out there that I can't get into, even the popular stuff - Naruto, Bleach, Deathnote, Full Metal Alchemist, Gundam, Evangelion...they just don't do it for me (and I've never been able to get past the name of Cowboy Beebop to give it a fair viewing, try as I might).
 

thelittleman66

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Nov 15, 2011
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People don't really like anime because anime fans sometimes post long-winded speeches defending anime from non-existent threats.
 

FireAza

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Arcane Azmadi said:
Dude, you're a genius. I hope you have a blog to post this on, more people need to read this.
I actually do, started it to put these long forums posts on. It's at http://fireaza.blogspot.com/

Contradiction said:
Dear OP
The article you posted seems to be a little less than objective on the subject. So I will address the obvious issues in the order of which they occur.
1
Saying that anime is ANYWHERE near the rejection and nigh on hate that furries have dealt with is laughable. Considering further that most of the posters were anime fans I'm also quite sure that most of that 'gamer anime' crowd which has supposedly dispersed still exists.
2
'Feel free to disagree to your peril...' really...
3
The 'Haters' usaully have a good reason to hate something. I mean no one would have begun to hate Anime/Furries/Bronies until they started drawing undue attention to themselves (all three do whether 'anime is superior in story and animation to the west' 'No but I'm really a wolf inside' 'or Love and tolerance and Off topic spam'.
Deny it all you want but there are people, obnoxious people, who define themselves by something you like and will and effect, whether right or wrong, peoples perception of you and your interest (be it anthro anime or ponies).
4
'ANIME IS NOT A GENRE' okay, 'ANIME IS A MEDIUM' ohh and you were doing so well. As provided by your convenient comparison pictures I can safely say that Anime seems to under go quite a few different production methods. They vary greatly but one could also say that it had one general method... ANIMATION. ANIMATION is a medium Anime is at best a format and if not even that quite simply, nothing more or less, ANIMATIONS THAT COME FROM JAPAN.
5
Your concept of animation variation although quite valid is flawed in a few but crucial ways.
The author mentions, after the fact, that yes they are all same-samey for whatever reason (it isn't relevent). Obviously after 400+ series the author WOULD in fact know that PSwG is based on American animation and omitted that fact intentionally, belittling their point to animation variation in Anime. Unfortunately I am not familiar with the top and third images however I'd say 80% chance that they are influenced by other "mediums" as the Author would describe them.
6
Saying that 'Oh no American animation is getting better look at all the "mature shows" yeah.' Does not discredit you from the whole American animation is shit thought pattern. If anything it solidifies the concept that you discredit anything that isn't supposedly mature and edgy. Just because anime says its for adults doesn't change the fact a huge number of its fans watch childish and often immature anime be it Moe or otherwise. I won't bother with recommendations but there are cartoons that take on subjects with comedy while keeping quite a mature sub text... but cartoons are just for kids right..? Obviously mature to you is 'Monster' and 'Deathnote' which makes it seems like you simpley want something atrificially deep and edgey.
7
BoonDocks as an example for serious and mature... Related picture of Rukus... Could it be because he watches anime...
Sorry but one for the road:
Controversial and mature aren't the same thing. Just because the people are animated realisticly doesn't give its gags a 'holier than thou' quality over all the animations you listed (and some you didn't) it is simply another social commentary and satire.
8
Comapring Simpsons to FMA is unjust. Simpsons is a juggernaut even in the west don't be so petty. I doubt that many cartoons produced outside of Japan can match FMA so readiliy.

That being said, I like Anime. Just stop justifying your interest because all you do is make it sound like something its not. Its not some art work to be admired in a museum, it is quite simply, something that is enjoyable to the viewer.
Hookay, you're clearly baiting me, but what the hell, let's take the flame-bait:
1) I did say "seems like", obviously, no one will ever replace furries. It was a hyperbolic joke dude.

2) Like I said to the previous poster, the arrogant attitude I wrote my OP in was for humor and to be attention grabbing. Go watch Jimquisition some time for an example.

3) Sounds to me like it's the annoying, vocal fans who should be hated in this case.

4) Did you read the whole thing? I did say multiple times that anime = animation. Like I said to the previous poster, when I said "anime is a medium" I didn't mean that I think anime is a medium separate from the actual medium of animation. I was trying to imply it's simply animation, nothing more.

5) Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt was influenced by American animation? You don't say! It's not like the director, Hiroyuki Imaishi is a fan of American animation or anything!

Sorry, that was unnecessarily sarcastic. Yeah, the point of my little quiz was to show that you can't judge an animation style based on where it's made, as those images I posted don't look like they're from Japan. So yeah, obviously this means the creators were influenced by animation from other countries, that goes without saying.

6) When did I say that I think American animation is shit? I think you're reaching here dude. What I did say was that the image of animation in America changing from "stuff for kids" has only been a recent change. To think that the American animation industry has always been accepting of animation as more then "kids stuff" and is willing to use it for any genre is foolish. As I explained, America used to produce animation for adult audiences, but that changed in the 60s, and only recently, has been slowly starting to change back. Also keep in mind that I watch a LOT of American animation. And since that probably won't convince you, let me name drop a few of my favourites: Daria, Pinky and The Brain, The Simpsons, Futurama, The Tick, Earthworm Jim, Family Guy, The Critic, American Dad!, Animanics, Road Runner and Wile E Coyote, Tom and Jerry, The Boondocks, South Park, Adventure Time, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dilbert, Archer, Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law and Robot Chicken

As to "artificially edgy", when I used the previously mentioned example, I didn't mean as examples of "edginess" (that honor would go to something like Elfen Lied or Narutaru), I used them as examples of animation with the kind of exciting, dark stories America only makes as live-action. Also, how old are you? The fact you're concerned about something childish like how "edgy" something is, makes me think not that old.

7) *pinches the bridge of nose and sighs* The reason I used The Boondocks as an example is that it's funny, while also having it's more serious moments. This something that's very common in Japanese animation, which is the reason I mentioned Aaron McGruder. He's a fan of anime/manga, so he was obviously familiar with the concept that you can make a funny show, but that doesn't mean it needs to be funny all the time, it can have it's serious moments too. Besides, Uncle Ruckus is a great character, because he illustrates the double-standard when it comes to race, why should all the horrible things he says be OK simply because of the color of his skin? It's THIS kind of stuff that made me use The Boondocks as an example.

8) In that example, I was simply comparing production costs, nothing more. The Simpsons, a show with animation average by American standards costs this much, and FMA, a show with average animation by Japanese standards costs this much. Really, there's nothing more to read into this.

*dons flame-proof suit*

thelittleman66 said:
People don't really like anime because anime fans sometimes post long-winded speeches defending anime from non-existent threats.
Oooh, meta :D
 

grimgor42

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Mar 15, 2011
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DIDN'T READ, LOL!!! Here's a tip: watching anime = OK! Being a loser otaku = GET MADE FUN OF!! its a very mean and simplistic view, and not even technically correct, but using it in terms of how you let others view you will still make all the difference.
 

michael87cn

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Jan 12, 2011
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I've really enjoyed this thread, thank you OP. A lot of your points hit home with me.

As a teenager in the 90's, gaming and anime were my life. I don't have a lot of money so I don't quite have 440 different anime available to me... but I have some favorites of my own.

I think what I like about anime most, is that its different, and it dares to be creative. Television bores me to tears. Its all police, court room, or "I had an affair! Oh yeah? I had two!" dramas.

If american TV would bring back the greats, like Babylon 5, Star Trek, etc. (not just science fiction) I might have something new to watch..

I have also noticed a recent distinct lack of quality in anime... sadly, one of the worst elements of it is its attachment to perversion. But, I digress. Nothing is perfect and anime, while not for everybody, is at least something I'll always have.
 

mirror's edgy

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Sep 30, 2010
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Always good to see people who support a medium they like holistically, though trying to convince online cynics and shut- in genre fans will not likely succeed through the internet. Have you ever seen Jesuotaku's anime reviews? She reviews a pretty diverse lot of series with a view that seems quite similar to yours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxOBLcGSsD0&feature=plcp&context=C3ea8fdeUDOEgsToPDskLfBYOqBQGw2edsvMyVv1U_ Paranoia Agent review if you're interested.
 

robert022614

meeeoooow
Dec 1, 2009
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The one big gripe I have is for some reason I hate reading manga and like a zillion anim series end right in the middle of the story and everyone tells me it continues in the manga!
 

FireAza

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Aug 16, 2011
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michael87cn said:
I've really enjoyed this thread, thank you OP. A lot of your points hit home with me.

As a teenager in the 90's, gaming and anime were my life. I don't have a lot of money so I don't quite have 440 different anime available to me... but I have some favorites of my own.

I think what I like about anime most, is that its different, and it dares to be creative. Television bores me to tears. Its all police, court room, or "I had an affair! Oh yeah? I had two!" dramas.

If american TV would bring back the greats, like Babylon 5, Star Trek, etc. (not just science fiction) I might have something new to watch..

I have also noticed a recent distinct lack of quality in anime... sadly, one of the worst elements of it is its attachment to perversion. But, I digress. Nothing is perfect and anime, while not for everybody, is at least something I'll always have.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

As to your final point, yeah, there's a fair amount of smutty anime coming out (again, we can blame the core young male demographic for that). But at the same time, there's more anime being released in general than there used to be. I'd wager that the ratio of smut to actually good stuff is the same as it's always been, only now you have to dig under more T&A to find it ;)

mirror said:
Always good to see people who support a medium they like holistically, though trying to convince online cynics and shut- in genre fans will not likely succeed through the internet. Have you ever seen Jesuotaku's anime reviews? She reviews a pretty diverse lot of series with a view that seems quite similar to yours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxOBLcGSsD0&feature=plcp&context=C3ea8fdeUDOEgsToPDskLfBYOqBQGw2edsvMyVv1U_ Paranoia Agent review if you're interested.
She's reviewing Paranoia Agent? I like her already!
 

Mikeyfell

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Aug 24, 2010
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FireAza said:
ANIME IS NOT A "GENRE". IT'S A "MEDIUM"
The world would be a better place if everyone knew this fact.

Chapter II: Anime Is Better than American Cartoons!
"AH! HA! HA! HA! Oh wait, you're serious? Let me laugh even harder." That's a quote from Futurama
This made my day.

Nice article. I already knew that stuff though.
 

A Shadows Age

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Mar 30, 2011
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rob_simple said:
A Shadows Age said:
rob_simple said:
Would you please drop the whole 'Japanese Animation' thing and just call them cartoons.

As someone who watches anime the same way I do everything else (i.e. without caring what other people think about it) threads like this warrant a heavy dose of 'This is why we can't have nice things.'

Why do you really care what 'ignorant' people think about your hobby?
Because those ignorant people have something called a vote, and votes make laws...
Yeah...That's great and all but, surprising as it may seem, politics seldom take into account whether or not you think Naruto is good.
I think you might be confused, because that would be an inherent part of the point I was getting at, politics isn't about critical thought, or about any individual's opinion it's about popularity... I was trying to say that the more chances you take to try to convince people who don't care or are opposed to a certain subject the greater the chances that you're going to change someone's mind. And if it's someone who hates whatever the topic might be, as long as you make your points clear, the worst you can do is to not change their mind.

So to put it simply, I care because I want to watch and do what I want (within reason obviously) without getting thrown in jail for whatever stupid bullshit they come up with next.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Jul 18, 2009
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boag said:
Casual Shinji said:
Elmoth said:
Alright then. . . give me an example of a japanese manga that is similar to Watchmen or Hellboy.
Berserk

It's still ongoing and it kinda sucks now, but volume 1 to 22 is absolute gold. Given you don't have a weak stomach.
Just because Guts is running around with a new crew, and it takes months for a new chapter doesnt mean it sucks now.

People have just been spoiled that they were able to breeze through the entire Golden Age arc, without having to endure the months it took between chapters.

If this was 20 years ago, people would be complaining about how shit berserk is because nothing ever happens and its just people talking all the time, when the first arc showed guts battling a demon slug.
I really don't mind the new crew at all. I actually think that Miura handled the page time of each character very well.

Three things I dislike about Berserk now, which all started after the Tower of Conviction arc:

1) Farnese's character shift. She was probably my favourite female character in the whole story because she was just so darn fucked up and complex. She's filled with fears, but instead of fighting them she chooses to give herself over to them in the hope to find comfort and peace of mind. It even fuels her sexual desire to the point where she mastrubates at the thought of people burning alive at the stake. So it's pretty clear that that shit runs pretty deep.
But then after the Tower of Conviction she simply decides to not be fucked up anymore and becomes the shy and demure heroine who tries to find the power within herself. *barf* She basically becomes Orihime from Bleach.
Then it gets even better when she wants to be trained in magic. Not out of the insane, twisted curiosity brought on by fear she used to have, but because of genuine admiration. And this girl was as aggressively religious as they come. For her there was no way but the Vatican way. Sure, it was out of fear and confusion, but if it runs deep enough to fuel your sexual desire you don't just switch that off.

2) Guts' mild manners. Now I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss Guts' old cruel self just a little bit, but it goes beyond that. He just seems to have lost his passion. Whether he was a cruel mad dog killer, a little kid trying to impress his "father", or a raiders captain, there was always a fire and an energy to him and this kinda disappeared in and around volume 23. This is only a minor dislike though.

3) The Berserk armor. Words cannot discibe how much I fucking hate the inclusion of this stupid thing and how it almost totally destroys what made Guts such a compelling charater, but I'll try anyway.
To put it simply, the Berserk armor adds a deus ex machina situation to Berserk when the story was always above that sort of thing. Guts' struggle was so involving because he's a human being taking on the forces of hell with his own strength alone; No magic or demonic curse like in Naruto or Bleach, but his own muscles and training. Sure, it was an inhuman strength, but he earned it throughout the many years on the battlefield. Whatever didn't kill him made him stronger, and he had encountered many horifying creatures who seemed way out of his league. But through cunning, strength, and pushing himself to his physical and mental limits he ultimately conquered his opponent, usually at the expense of his sanity.
From the moment he got raped as a child to the moment he was pinned down by demons watching Casca get raped by his former best friend turned demon god, he vowed to never let any opponent get the best of him ever again, no matter the cost. Even if it meant going insane, or losing his arm he would never let anyone dominate him whether it be human, demon, or god.
The Berserk armor ruines all that, because now whenever Guts is in a situation he can't handle he just swithces on the armor and he just breezes through the fight like it was nothing. No tension, no sense of gratification or victory, nothing.

I don't dislike everything from volume 22/23 on though. I actually really liked how the concept of magic and witches was done. It felt way more interesting and involving then anything I've ever seen in Harry Potter.
 

rob_simple

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A Shadows Age said:
rob_simple said:
A Shadows Age said:
rob_simple said:
Would you please drop the whole 'Japanese Animation' thing and just call them cartoons.

As someone who watches anime the same way I do everything else (i.e. without caring what other people think about it) threads like this warrant a heavy dose of 'This is why we can't have nice things.'

Why do you really care what 'ignorant' people think about your hobby?
Because those ignorant people have something called a vote, and votes make laws...
Yeah...That's great and all but, surprising as it may seem, politics seldom take into account whether or not you think Naruto is good.
I think you might be confused, because that would be an inherent part of the point I was getting at, politics isn't about critical thought, or about any individual's opinion it's about popularity... I was trying to say that the more chances you take to try to convince people who don't care or are opposed to a certain subject the greater the chances that you're going to change someone's mind. And if it's someone who hates whatever the topic might be, as long as you make your points clear, the worst you can do is to not change their mind.

So to put it simply, I care because I want to watch and do what I want (within reason obviously) without getting thrown in jail for whatever stupid bullshit they come up with next.
And I will say again: What does this have to do with caring who likes your hobby?

I'm all for fighting ignorance in terms of race, gender equality or sexuality etc. but it really doesn't matter if people who don't watch Japanese cartoons think they're all big eyes and schoolgirls skirts getting blown up.
 

Archer666

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thelittleman66 said:
People don't really like anime because anime fans sometimes post long-winded speeches defending anime from non-existent threats.
Oh yeah, and this^.

Its like furries. Okay, you like horrible pictures of animal-people hybrids, good for you. Please don't flaunt that EVERYWHERE, talk about it non-stop and we'll be buddies.

Its also the reason I decided to distance myself from the anime community. Its alright to have a hobby, its not alright to obsess about said hobby and let it taint everything you do(I speak from experience. Used to have around 40 gunpla models on my shelves and a shitton of manga that cause the planks to almost break, then I realized "Hey...this is going a bit too far...").
 

charda11

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Jul 25, 2011
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Fantastic post. Thank you for clearing up the misconceptions people carry about anime. I may just steal this the next time I'm defending a series. ^.^
 

Syzygy23

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Xirema said:
Syzygy23 said:
SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Yeah, well, no.

If you want to write a complete guide on anime make in more objective next time. A love letter to anime from an anime fan wont convince me of anything.

By the way, 8 of the 13 images you posted picture little kids. Way to go.
^this

What the fuck is with Japans' media and WAY too young girls? I don't know about them, but the rest of the world considers that borderline, if not outright, pedophilia.
The explanation I heard (may not be accurate) is that Japan (And many other eastern cultures) treats sexuality differently than we do. Sex is treated less in terms of morality (Not to say morality isn't a factor, just that it is less so) and more in terms of societal responsibility. Combined with the fact that the age of consent is lower than in most developed countries, and that high school students are treated more like young adults/college students would be here in the west, and you end up with a level of sexuality that people from western cultures find uncomfortable.

And to be fair, there's a lot of stuff we do in the USA that seems completely insane to foreign cultures. *coughSOPAcoughGunPossessioncoughNeedIgoOncough*
Yeah, I can understand they might be all "They're allowed to own GUNS?!? EVERYONE THERE MUST BE DEAD." I used to be like that myself. After you get mugged it tends to change your attitude, though.
 
Apr 29, 2010
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Reading that post has reminded me that I need to finish Monster, Bakemonogatari, FMA: Brotherhood, and so many other series.