Is Anime Healthy?

[gagagaga]

Try watching the movies, it's slightly longer with redone voice acting and the third movie is a great epilogue to the incredible ending.

I'm watchin it aaaalll

The third movie is pretty unnecessary, just saying. And all the streaming sites have is a shitty cam rip with shitty subs, so you might wanna hold off for a bit on that one.

Also, don't watch Elfen Lied. It's basically a 14-year-old boy's idea of what constitutes a "mature" show.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

You can say the same for games really but I hate most US TV and prefer anime, then again I've pretty much limited myself to anime the last few years since I don't have the time to invest in US TV, and I am few years away from 40. I tend to stick with sci fi or fantasy TV(Game of thrones is over rated btw) when I do watch TV or the horror of the overly dramactical history/discovery channels that can be interesting to watch at times tho much like a decade ago they are going south and may become unwatchable kinda like A&E did when they stopped running detective stuff.


But back to the topic at hand I find anime to be an expression of emotion more than some form of realistic thing. It gets to the core of things via absurdity or over the top expression but its the attempt at the expression I love. You can fill it to childish toys I guess sometimes the simplistic of things are better than what the adult world has to offer.

 

[TakerFoxx]

The third movie is pretty unnecessary, just saying. And all the streaming sites have is a shitty cam rip with shitty subs, so you might wanna hold off for a bit on that one.

How is the third movie unnecessary? It's the official continuation! It's the first two movies that are unnecessary if you've already seen the show.

 

[Supdupadog]

Like most vision based media, watching anime is pretty light on any movement or cardio or stuff. Matched with ingestion of carbs from the food-based food, you will more than likely obtain more fat that lose it.

So, no, it wouldn't be considered a good hobby for developing physical fitness.

 

[gagagaga]

The third movie is pretty unnecessary, just saying. And all the streaming sites have is a shitty cam rip with shitty subs, so you might wanna hold off for a bit on that one.

How is the third movie unnecessary? It's the official continuation! It's the first two movies that are unnecessary if you've already seen the show.

It's unnecessary because the show itself has a perfect, and fairly conclusive ending. Rebellion's ending is specifically designed to leave room for sequels, so it's not really as satisfying, and I'm not sure the movie really adds much to the viewing experience of the show. Still a fun watch, though.

Capcha: allergic reaction. No, my reaction to Rebellion wasn't that negative !

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Woah! WOAH! Im hooked! At first I was like "Should I really stop watching anime anne of green gables for this pink mess? Well...they did say it'd only be an hour and half investment." But Oh my God, Im not stopping. This is fun to watch. And the guns. Ha! For the record it only took 2 episodes for me. Everyone being pigeon toed is irking me though.

I was so confused when I came into this thread and read your complaints and lack of animu knowledge and I'm like "but he has a Madoka avatar..."

Also, short and simple, sometimes people just like stuff that arguably isn't very good. I'm guilty of it. I've watched and read plenty of crap I can't defend but there's something fun about certain long running series. Of course, I've never watch Naruto, not counting the fan dubbed parody spoof version or other really popular ones. There's just something fun about long running adventures. Maybe you just haven't found one that does it for you. Might I suggest Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure?

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I'm not sure I'd qualify a nation that has one of the highest suicide rates in the world as having a particularly stable culture. Rigid? Sure. Stable? Debatable.

Pick your poison. Japan also has some of the lowest rates of infant homicide about a 3 per 1000 live births compared to America which has 8 deaths out of 1000 (or even Canada with 6). This statistic is used to measure a nation's levels of child abuse which can be related to poverty, stress levels, and mental health.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

The third movie is pretty unnecessary, just saying. And all the streaming sites have is a shitty cam rip with shitty subs, so you might wanna hold off for a bit on that one.

How is the third movie unnecessary? It's the official continuation! It's the first two movies that are unnecessary if you've already seen the show.

It's unnecessary because the show itself has a perfect, and fairly conclusive ending. Rebellion's ending is specifically designed to leave room for sequels, so it's not really as satisfying, and I'm not sure the movie really adds much to the viewing experience of the show. Still a fun watch, though.

Capcha: allergic reaction. No, my reaction to Rebellion wasn't that negative !

I wouldn't call it unnecessary. I see it as an extension of the show. If the creators feel that they can still pull some interesting ideas out of the series, so be it. I feel that even with the TV series ending perfectly, there's still places you can explore with the characters and setting. It made me curious where it would go, and from what I've heard the movies take place in an alternate storyline from the show, which I guess is part of why I'm more open to the idea of a sequel.

 

[Khanht Cope]

I don't have source for comparison since I haven't really watched any other anime for a long time; but since a number of people are making similar suggestions and I haven't seen it come up, where do people stand on Code Geass?

I watched it a few years back after asking a friend who enjoyed anime to suggest one I'd enjoy; and I found it compeling and a pretty good quality anime that I did enjoy, although there were a few things that bothered me.

I think it's probably best suited for people aged around 18-20 and I was about 22/23 at the time, so there were a few things that felt a bit behind me in terms of sophistication but it was dark enough to where I couldn't predict where it was going and was still able to enjoy it sufficiently.

Is it something that's generally considered less sophisticated or inferior than most of the suggestions here? I'd be interested to hear some comment on that. To be clear I don't like excessively pulpy grim-darkness, in the case someone wants to suggest something for me.

Dark is fine, and there's nothing wrong with a good tradegy, especially romantic. I remember Shirley and Euphemia's deaths got to me, even though the relationships were quite ham-fisted and the girls were on the 'simple' side; that didn't really take away from it.

But what I'm not keen on is stuff with people being needlessly mean or cruel to each other without air to breath, or that spirals further into darkness and depravity instead of anything resolving properly. (how things had developed or were developing and resolving was something that bothered me a bit in the later parts of Code Geass)

Cornelia was easily my favourite *drool* and I hated how she got the shaft after season 1. Also that thing with Villetta was retarded. Lelouch was mostly dead to me after Euphemia.

 

[Ghaleon640]

You mention a lot of shonen and shojo manga, (targeted at young boys and young girls) Perhaps try some more of the adult stuff. Ghost in the shell, Baccano, Attack on Titan, cowboy bebop, Akira, (I'm including films here)heck, I haven't seen much but I think outlaw star was more adult oriented and it sounded like you liked that. Japan has a metric tonne of content pushed out all the time, and the majority of everything usually isn't always all that good. Is it so much worse than western sitcoms where ideas stagnate the same way, but pushed to the background of whatever the case is that day? (I'm thinking of House, but maybe I'm mistaken, its been a long time.) Or compared to American cartoons where nothing happens. Ever. Ever ever. Unless its anime inspired like Avatar last airbender, usually.

There is good stuff, but sometimes yeah, I agree, certain anime take too long to move on. I could talk for a loooooong while on why I think Naruto is the way it is, (I think that relationships are frowned upon in Shonen manga generally? So its something the author isn't allowed to actually let happen?) and the filler is another thing entirely since making an anime is faster than making a manga.

There is good stuff- sorry I rambled.

 

[Legomaniac91_v1legacy]

Try easing into anime with shorter series like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun (Both under 30 episodes + each have a movie). Full Metal Alchemist/FMA:Brotherhood are longer, but still really good. If you're sick of Naruto, try giving Soul Eater a watch. The character Black Star is basically Naruto in terms of personality, but the other character take the piss out of his obnoxious attitude at every opportunity.

 

[PaulAtreides]

All I'm going to say is what people have already said, you're just looking at the wrong anime. Shitty long running battle shounen (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Fairy Tail, etc.) are made for young boys around the age of 13, they're also made to get as little done in the most amount of episodes. Anime isn't as different from other mediums as people love to think. It has a lot of schlock, but there are a lot of really tight and well paced stories as well. Ones where important things happen every episode.

Two examples I'd give of longer shows that manage to avoid pointless filler and tell a real story would be the undefeated classic Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Naoki Urasawa's Monster. Both shows do a great job of keeping the story rolling at a constant pace throughout a large stretch of episodes, they are a rarity however. I'd be inclined to also bring up the excellent romance anime/manga Nana, but the fact that it was never finished makes me reluctant.

Of course as people said, shorter stuff works too. A lot of more adult oriented anime can be very tasteful (there's too many shows that overuse gore at a ridiculous level to try and feign maturity), look at the low-key but fascinating Mushi-Shi. A tough anime to watch for some because of it's slow pace and episodic format, but every episode is a really fantastic story ranging from happy ones to heart breaking. It's the kind of anime you can watch without feeling like a manchild and still stays tasteful. Also look at Planetes, a sci-fi story about garbage men in space. It has a fantastic cast of characters you're grow to love in an really cool setting (space).

Long story short, there is a vast world of interesting and unique anime out there all you have to do is really start digging. Too many people get stuck watching awful battle shounen and blindly think that's all the medium has to offer.

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

Like I said, there's a whole bunch of these anime based on classic books. Most stem from the late 70's and the 80's, and I don't think many of them reached the States. We got most all of them here in Europe during that time though.

They're not all from the 70's and 80's. There's actually a Jeeves and Wooster manga series currently running, if TV Tropes is to be believed. I haven't witnessed it yet, but I'm... curious, if nothing else.

OP: I've gotta back up everyone else's recommendation of Cowboy Bebop. It's an extremely good series with interesting characters who interact in ways that make a modicum of sense, an engaging overarching plot, and fight scenes that kick approximately seven fifths of the ass. The same applies to its spiritual successor, Samurai Champloo.

As for Psycho-Pass, Gen Urobutcher's (heh) other currently-major work, I personally couldn't get into it because the setting seemed too implausible. The idea, essentially, is that in the far-off future, people's emotional states will be constantly monitored and quantified, and those who have too large a "Crime Coefficient" are dubbed latent criminals and removed from general society. The problem I had was that the standards for latent criminality amount to "feeling too strongly about anything, ever," and while I understand that that's kind of the entire point of the main conflict, I can't really wrap my head around the idea that society at large would ever be so emotionally stunted for this to become a problem in the first place. Lots of other people liked it, though, and you might too. Give it a shot.

 

[DarkNazgul]

Well no anime thread is complete without someone mentioning Gosick. It is a 24 episode mystery romance comedy drama historical action adventure masterpiece. The only negative thing about it is once you watch it all other anime are forever viewed as inferior.
I haven't seen many comedies mentioned on here though so I'll give a list of those too.

Full Metal Panic - This one's got giant robots and is similar to some of the standard ones, but it's still great.
Working - Straight slice of life comedy.
Hayate No Gotoku - Anime that Parodies Anime. Extremely random and no plot (episodic comedy)
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou - Romantic Comedy (dry humor) Warning of some sexual humor/skin though.

Also if you want some tear jerking drama and romance I'll recommend:

Shuffle - One of the most heart-wrenching things I've ever seen. Highly Recommended, But Nudity Warning.
Sword Art Online - One of the best plots combined with best characters and drama I've seen in an Anime, except Gosick.

 

[Fox12]

I grew up watching anime. I remember my favorite show being Tenchi Muyo and having an affinity for sailor moon and outlaw star. Looking at beautiful people fall in love with other beautiful people while looking at the occasional beautiful transformation and beautiful fight scene was enough for me. I cried when Nephlite died in a sailor moon for me (He was my Edward). But, as I grew up, stories went from cute to tedious and, even as a child, I wondered why it took 3 seasons for a character to admit they liked or didn't like another character. As I grew and learned more about people and emotions, anime turned immature to me. Every social problem they had (which usually boiled down a girl liking a guy but not wanting to admit it so she treats him like shit and gets mad at him when another girl hugs him or kisses him or wants to be with him)) there was an obvious easy solution: for them to sit down and TALK for 5 minutes!

Seriously, the relationships in Anime seem so unhealthy. Naruto is freakin' scary. The girls are nuts and I can't sit through it. But it's not just these love stories (which they almost always have) but the filler. Ooohhh the filler. How the good guy makes a 5 minute speech about his super duper move but then the bad guy grins, counters his super duper move and then explains how he counters it for another five minutes. So, after thinking for ten minutes and relaying all of his thoughts to the audience, the good guy calls upon another super move that he didn't use originally for some reason and, although this hurts the bad guy, he dusts himself off, congratulates the good guy on his efforts, and then whips out yet ANOTHER super duper move and explains EXACTLY HOW IT WORKS!

"Oh no! What will our hero do? Find out next episode! Sike! Try three episodes from now!"

Fight scenes drag on and on until the hero digs deep down and unlocks a god power after discovering what true friendship/love/honor/family/bravery means and blows the bad guy away...for now (dun dun duuuun!).

By high school, I was over it, but it concerns me how Anime has such an adult following when seems so empty. The relationships are never healthy and the fights are slow. I think it was Yu Gi Oh that made me throw in the towel and give up trying to watch anime on tv. I hated those battles. At least Pokemon battles were quick (although I hated team rocket for fuckin' shit up and slowing shit down). Every now and then, I see something fun like Vampire hunter D, Miyazaki's older stuff, and the cowboy B bop movie but honestly, why is Anime so popular among adults? What's it do for them/you? Why am I the only one who thinks anime and JRG's are retarded and redardING?

Well... everything you mentioned was aimed at children. That's like saying all of American film is shallow based entirely on your viewing of the Rugrats Movie. You do realize most anime ranges from 12-24 episodes, right? Long running shows are the rare exceptions, not the rules. I'm not a big anime person myself, but there is high quality material out there if you look.

Berserk is, frankly, the most sophisticated and subtle fantasy epic ever written. In terms of scope, only Tolkien really compares. Martins Game of Thrones doesn't even compete. If you like Epic fantasy, this is as good as it gets. Not in anime. Anywhere. The character relationships are very well done. (Disclaimer: this is a tragedy, and a brutal one. Not for people who don't like dark material).

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a mixed bag, but nobody can say it wasn't interesting. Probably one of the best character studies in all of fiction. If you like psychological stuff, this may be up your alley.

5 Centimeters Per Second was a simple but brilliant coming of age story that really captured adolescence for an adult audience, if you want something down to earth. You sound like a romance buff, so this little film would probably be good for you.

Truth be told, I find anime far better than American television, which really will rot your brain. Anime has some pretty mature themes, if you know where to look. Here's a good list of series:

 

[FredTheUndead]

I grew up watching anime. I remember my favorite show being Tenchi Muyo and having an affinity for sailor moon and outlaw star. Looking at beautiful people fall in love with other beautiful people while looking at the occasional beautiful transformation and beautiful fight scene was enough for me. I cried when Nephlite died in a sailor moon for me (He was my Edward). But, as I grew up, stories went from cute to tedious and, even as a child, I wondered why it took 3 seasons for a character to admit they liked or didn't like another character. As I grew and learned more about people and emotions, anime turned immature to me. Every social problem they had (which usually boiled down a girl liking a guy but not wanting to admit it so she treats him like shit and gets mad at him when another girl hugs him or kisses him or wants to be with him)) there was an obvious easy solution: for them to sit down and TALK for 5 minutes!

Seriously, the relationships in Anime seem so unhealthy. Naruto is freakin' scary. The girls are nuts and I can't sit through it. But it's not just these love stories (which they almost always have) but the filler. Ooohhh the filler. How the good guy makes a 5 minute speech about his super duper move but then the bad guy grins, counters his super duper move and then explains how he counters it for another five minutes. So, after thinking for ten minutes and relaying all of his thoughts to the audience, the good guy calls upon another super move that he didn't use originally for some reason and, although this hurts the bad guy, he dusts himself off, congratulates the good guy on his efforts, and then whips out yet ANOTHER super duper move and explains EXACTLY HOW IT WORKS!

"Oh no! What will our hero do? Find out next episode! Sike! Try three episodes from now!"

Fight scenes drag on and on until the hero digs deep down and unlocks a god power after discovering what true friendship/love/honor/family/bravery means and blows the bad guy away...for now (dun dun duuuun!).

By high school, I was over it, but it concerns me how Anime has such an adult following when seems so empty. The relationships are never healthy and the fights are slow. I think it was Yu Gi Oh that made me throw in the towel and give up trying to watch anime on tv. I hated those battles. At least Pokemon battles were quick (although I hated team rocket for fuckin' shit up and slowing shit down). Every now and then, I see something fun like Vampire hunter D, Miyazaki's older stuff, and the cowboy B bop movie but honestly, why is Anime so popular among adults? What's it do for them/you? Why am I the only one who thinks anime and JRG's are retarded and redardING?

Well... everything you mentioned was aimed at children. That's like saying all of American film is shallow based entirely on your viewing of the Rugrats Movie. You do realize most anime ranges from 12-24 episodes, right? I'm not a big anime person myself, but there is high quality material out there if you actually look.

Berserk is, frankly, the most sophisticated and subtle fantasy epic ever written. In terms of scope, only Tolkien really compares. Martins Game of Thrones doesn't even compete.

Serial Experiments Lain will melt your brain.

Neon Genesis is a mixed bag, but nobody can say it wasn't interesting. Probably one of the best character studies in all of fiction.

5 Centimeters Per Second was a simple but brilliant coming of age story that really captured adolescence for an adult audience, if you want something light hearted.

Truth be told, I find anime far better than American television, which really will rot your brain. Anime has some pretty mature themes, if you know where to look.

You don't watch Berserk though, you read it while playing music in the background.

You do watch Berserk bloopers though.

 

[Something Amyss]

It's entertainment?

I mean, as far as empty goes, there are even less substantial Western media, so I don't see how that's a problem. I mean, it's not like we're murderers for playing video games, so why would anime lead to social problems?

Consider. The. Source.

Never!

 

[Little Woodsman]

Y'know, I'm sorry but from the complaints you list it almost seems like you are cherry-picking the *worst* series to watch.
Like most in mediums, there are anime that are fantastic, and there are anime that are crap, and there's everything in-between.
There are also a lot of anime series where when you look at the surface they are kind of "okay, that's stupid" but if you look a bit deeper they actually have a lot more going on. One of my favorite examples of this is from Pokemon. Yes, Pokemon. Go back and watch the 3rd movie again (American release title was Secret of the Unknown). Then think about what it's really about.

Spoiler: spoiler

This movie is really about a little girl trying to come to grips with the loss of her parents, and being helped through her crisis by a surrogate mother.

Wish I had time to discuss this with you further, but I suppose my main point is try not to let a few bad examples turn you away from a rich and diverse medium.

 

[mjharper]

Late, but I'll echo what others have said. It's mostly demographics. I have a shelf full of anime and none of it has fight scenes that extend over several episodes

Black Lagoon is surprising character based, IMO. Baccano! is nuts. Texhonlyze is beautifully dark (though I like the first half better than the second). I might also suggest trying out things like Spice and Wolf (economics and romance, if that makes any sense), Welcome to the NHK (life as viewed through the eyes of a social shut-in), Hellsing Ultimate (for over-the-top gore and vampires), FLAG (basically a declaration of love to photography and war journalism), Paranoia Agent (Satoshi Kon's only series, a thriller-cum-apocalypse). There's also things like Aria, Heibane Renmei, or Gunslinger Girl, all VERY different, for shows about girls who aren't just falling over some boy they can't talk to. But even the high-school thing can be done better; if you like jazz, check out Kids on the Slope, by the director of Cowboy Bebop. Pretty much anything by Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex; Moribito; Eden of the East) is worth checking out. And Mushi-shi is a series of quiet, sometimes eerie short stories, and is completely awesome.

Whaa..What? That's not supposed to happen. What are they gonna do now? My heart is a little crushed right now. But I have to know what they're gonna do next. Emo-styles doesn't look like she's about to help.

I love my job. Hell, I'm almost tempted to ask you to start a "Vudu Watches Madoka Magica" reaction thread or something.

Seconded Also, far too late. Check page count first, doh.

 

[Julius Terrell]

thanks toonami!!! New anime fans will never really understand the artform, because it is next to impossible for people to truly learn about the medium without making some pretty outrageous assumptions.

I'm so glad I discovered Japanese anime during the 80s and 90s. The Networks show shows from one genre and people assume that ALL anime shows/movies/OVAs is like this ONE show from this ONE genre. Fucking outrageous!!!

Naruto is freakin' scary. The girls are nuts and I can't sit through it. But it's not just these love stories (which they almost always have) but the filler. Ooohhh the filler. How the good guy makes a 5 minute speech about his super duper move but then the bad guy grins, counters his super duper move and then explains how he counters it for another five minutes.

and so on and so on

why is Anime so popular among adults? What's it do for them/you? Why am I the only one who thinks anime and JRG's are retarded and redardING?

Let me clear things up: adults don't watch Naruto. Naruto is pretty awful. Nor do we watch Yu-Gi-Oh, or One Piece, etc. These are anime that are written to appeal to children. There are anime with good relationships, well written fight scenes, and decent messages. The same goes for JRPGs.

If you want to find a good anime, a good rule of thumb is that 24-ish episodes is the limit. Any longer, and the show turns to cliches and filler. (There are exceptions, obviously, but few.) If you want decent relationships, watch Kids on the Slope. Engaging combat? Katanagatari, or Samurai Champloo. But don't judge the entire medium just because there's a lot of high-profile shit.

Here is one adult who thoroughly enjoyed ALL of the original YuGiOh duel monster series and has watched Naruto from nearly episode 1.

Hearing Seto Kaiba talk shit to his opponents before he put the smack down on them with his overwhelmingly powerful decks was my reward for a hard day's work. I guess I might be an oddball.