Is Anime Healthy?

[Vudu]

Snip

korra often acts as if she knows better, but she is close to 20 and thats how people often are at that age. If you watch the whole series you see that her thinking of knowing better than those adults who try to guide her opens an opportunity for another adult to trick her. In my opinion Korra is portait as strong but flawed, especially when it comes to her stubbirness and her being torn between not wanting to take advice but then not knowing her way on her own.
the first season was thought out to be a standalone and is a bit messy because of that.

I guess the difference was that Aang was a humble monk who wanted to learn. He learned from adults and from his mistakes as well, never making the same ones twice. Korra, like you said, is a know-it-all and has to learn everything the hard way. And, even if someone else is completely right about something she was wrong about, she'll still say "Ppff what do you know? I'm doing my own thing" or "You just don't understaaaaaaand what it's liiiiike being meeeeeeee". The 'Aangst' (PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I Kill me!)she has makes me want to throw up sometimes. You're everything about teenagers that society hates, Korra, and you're supposed to be HOW OLD? TWENTY?

 

[Julius Terrell]

Oh and it should also be noted that adults generally tend to lose their interest in fantasy and science fiction and gravitate towards the practical. It's part of growing up. Those that don't are unusual and become "nerds" or "geeks" throughout life. Indeed one of the things that has the media reeling right now is that "geek has become cool" at least for the moment, leading to the explosion of things like super-hero movies. The bubble not bursting as quickly as it has before has thrown a lot of things into an uproar, and indeed you have a lot of well respected, serious film makers relatively out in the cold, hoping that the audience gets bored with all of this "unreality" before too long. One of the things that also seems to be moving people away from Anime is that at least for the moment there are more alternatives to Anime than there have been in a long time for that kind of material, and a lot of those alternatives are of a higher quality than some show intended to entertain teenagers for 30 minutes in the afternoon or evening.

If this had been the case shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, and the classic planet of the apes movies series would have never been made. During the earlier decades of the previous century people were far more interested in Hardcore Sci-fi and Fantasy. I think it's more about times changing and the culture changing.

I mean there was a wealth of such shows until the 80s here. I just hate what this reply entails. I think it's baloney! Hollywood just stopped focusing on these genres and only focused on what is easily digestible. I'll take my Sci-fi and Fantasy in whatever medium it can come in, but I find that animation allows for the concepts to be more fleshed out and to focus more on solid storytelling.

My dream come true would be to see the Wheel of Time become a massive anime series. Someone needs to make that happen ASAP!

 

[Do4600]

If you only watch anime meant for pre-adolescent boys, you will be expected to have the attention and maturity of a pre-adolescent boy. There's so much more anime out there, it's rather unfair to judge it all on the merits of Yu-Gi-Oh and Naruto. You have to make the jump from shows based on shonen and shojo to shows based on seinen and josei if you want maturity.

 

[Jenvas1306]

Snip

korra often acts as if she knows better, but she is close to 20 and thats how people often are at that age. If you watch the whole series you see that her thinking of knowing better than those adults who try to guide her opens an opportunity for another adult to trick her. In my opinion Korra is portait as strong but flawed, especially when it comes to her stubbirness and her being torn between not wanting to take advice but then not knowing her way on her own.
the first season was thought out to be a standalone and is a bit messy because of that.

I guess the difference was that Aang was a humble monk who wanted to learn. He learned from adults and from his mistakes as well, never making the same ones twice. Korra, like you said, is a know-it-all and has to learn everything the hard way. And, even if someone else is completely right about something she was wrong about, she'll still say "Ppff what do you know? I'm doing my own thing" or "You just don't understaaaaaaand what it's liiiiike being meeeeeeee". The 'Aangst' (PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I Kill me!)she has makes me want to throw up sometimes. You're everything about teenagers that society hates, Korra, and you're supposed to be HOW OLD? TWENTY?

exactly. you know how kids can be so reasonable and when they become teens at some point their ego overwhelms them and they turn into idiots? well that's korra for you, but she learns (the hard way as you said it) and develops to become less bitchy and less stubborn during the second season, enough so I am really waiting for the third season. just the balance between personal things and the big stories that affect their world seems to be a bit difficult o get right, but then, teens seem to think that their problems are more important than those of the rest of the world, I guess LoK reflects that mindset aswell.

as further watching advice, Miyazakis films are pretty good and different from other anime as they draw more from life, but they have more of farietails that have some lessons for children too.

 

[Vudu]

exactly. you know how kids can be so reasonable and when they become teens at some point their ego overwhelms them and they turn into idiots? well that's korra for you, but she learns (the hard way as you said it) and develops to become less bitchy and less stubborn during the second season, enough so I am really waiting for the third season. just the balance between personal things and the big stories that affect their world seems to be a bit difficult o get right, but then, teens seem to think that their problems are more important than those of the rest of the world, I guess LoK reflects that mindset aswell.

as further watching advice, Miyazakis films are pretty good and different from other anime as they draw more from life, but they have more of farietails that have some lessons for children too.

Korra's attitude wouldn't even be a big of a deal to me IF we hadn't all met Aang first! He's 10 and much better at handling things than Korra. Aang found out he had to save the world in the first season and didn't act as immature as Korra, who only had to save a city in her first season(kind of). Aang faced rejection from his crush and dealt with it. He also had to figure out how to let it go in order to do his duty and that process wasn't angsty as all. He took responsibility of his feelings. Korra is a freaking mess when it comes to liking a boy and treats him like crap when he has the best intentions.

So if The Legend Of Korra was its only thing and didn't have to follow in the footsteps of Avatar: The Last Air Bender, it 'might' be okay. But America met a child who was wise beyond his years first. Who held the fate of the would on his shoulders and took all hardship in stride. Korra doesn't hold a candle to him.

 

[TakerFoxx]

I...I'm at a loss for words. okay so I just finished Modaka. After I got a ways in, I restarted it to watch it with someone else because I was so amazed and wanted to share it. What an ending! And I'm not someone who thinks existing for eternity is a good thing. It's hell, quite frankly. So I had to hold back some tears in order to save face while watching it. I'm holding back tears now just writing about it. Anime has never done this to me. The flash back episode...Ahhh I can't talk about it. And it gives me a whole new perspective on all of those magical girl shows. Who know that Luna from sailor moon, the blonde from that mew mew show, and all those little magical girl pets were actually dicks. Who knew they targeted ten year old girls to be magic because they knew ten year old girls are stupid and would waste a wish on something dumb like a boy in order to become a slave to a higher purpose. This was a smartly written show. I'm actually wondering where to go from here. A lot of shows have been recommended but I only want to go up. Of the shows recommended to me, what would be considered 'better' than Modaka? Gahh choices..!

That's going to be tough, as Madoka sets a very high bar (it is one of the most critically acclaimed shows to recently come out), but I'll do the best I can.

If you're looking for something similar to Madoka, then there are two examples that have been mentioned already. First is Gunslinger Girl, which follows a group of young girls who have all experience something horrible that, in many cases, left them near dead and without families (specifics change from girl to girl) and have thus been rebuilt and mentally reprogrammed by the Italian government as special assassins. But rather than focus on the assassinations themselves (though those do get a fair amount of attention), it's mostly focused on the lives of the girls while "off-duty" and the relationships they form with each other and their handlers, during which they act like, well, young girls who are friends with each other. What makes this series work is that they are perfectly aware that they're being used, that they've been brainwashed, and that their days are numbered, but they're completely fine with that, making the show rather quietly tragic.

Another one would be Serial Experiments Lain, which is an oldie but a goodie. Similar to Madoka in a lot of ways, though it's more of a mindscrew than a cosmic horror story, it's about a super-shy girl who discovers that she has an online alter-ego that she hadn't known about that's the complete opposite from her. And...things get really, really weird.

If you're looking for something different, then my first pick will always be Baccano. There's really no way to describe this show and do it justice, but one way is to say that it takes place during the Great Depression, has a number of criminal groups that have nothing to do with each other that range from the noble and likeable, the dangerously ruthless, and the bugnuts insane, and coincidentally put them on the same train with a different reason for being there and just watch everything fall apart. It jumps from hilarious to heartwarming to fist-pumpingly awesome to downright horrifying without missing a beat. It's also very smartly written with a deliberately complex plot that takes a couple of watch-throughs to really get, but it avoids pretentiousness on account of just how much fun the writers were obviously having. Seriously, go watch it. It's great.

Also, there's Durarara, which is by the same people as Baccano and takes place in the same universe, but tells a different story with different characters (though a couple of the Baccano guys make cameos). Not...as good as Baccano, but still great in it's own rights.

Also going to re-echo Black Lagoon. This one follows a group of modern-day pirates/smugglers for hire after they've taken a Japanese businessman nicknamed Rock hostage. Things go wrong, and he eventually ends up joining the crew, and the rest of the show follows the various jobs they take while exploring Rock's attempts to adjust to his new life. I don't know how you feel about Quentin Taratino movies, but if you like his style, you'll love this show, as it's pretty much what an anime directed by Quentin Taratino would look like. Even if you don't I'd still recommend giving it a shot.

But if you want to split the difference, someone mentioned Gosick. This takes place right before WW1 and follows a Japanese student who goes to study in a prestigious academy in a fictional European country. There, he meets a very strange yet cold girl who looks like a doll and spends all her time in the library, and is apparently so smart that the local police detective often bribes her to solve his mysteries for him. This show's primarily a mystery series (and a good one at that), but also has an underlying plot regarding the girl's past that comes to play in its second half. Also note that while the girl is very much a tsundere (acts like a jerk despite having feeling for the guy), unlike the ones you've seen in Naruto and whatnot, she actually has a very good reason for her behavior which becomes a major plot point.

 

[Gigano]

Well, taking one's cues from the shitty, superficial, and ultimately superfluous animes probably isn't healthy. Then again, neither is taking one's cues from any other sort of shitty, superficial, and ultimately superfluous specimens of entertainment.

Obviously, that the medium is "anime" doesn't guarantee any sort of quality. Nor does it preclude it. Superior works exist, but they are as few and far between as with any other sort of media.

 

[Vudu]

I...I'm at a loss for words. okay so I just finished Modaka. After I got a ways in, I restarted it to watch it with someone else because I was so amazed and wanted to share it. What an ending! And I'm not someone who thinks existing for eternity is a good thing. It's hell, quite frankly. So I had to hold back some tears in order to save face while watching it. I'm holding back tears now just writing about it. Anime has never done this to me. The flash back episode...Ahhh I can't talk about it. And it gives me a whole new perspective on all of those magical girl shows. Who know that Luna from sailor moon, the blonde from that mew mew show, and all those little magical girl pets were actually dicks. Who knew they targeted ten year old girls to be magic because they knew ten year old girls are stupid and would waste a wish on something dumb like a boy in order to become a slave to a higher purpose. This was a smartly written show. I'm actually wondering where to go from here. A lot of shows have been recommended but I only want to go up. Of the shows recommended to me, what would be considered 'better' than Modaka? Gahh choices..!

That's going to be tough, as Madoka sets a very high bar (it is one of the most critically acclaimed shows to recently come out), but I'll do the best I can.

If you're looking for something similar to Madoka, then there are two examples that have been mentioned already. First is Gunslinger Girl, which follows a group of young girls who have all experience something horrible that, in many cases, left them near dead and without families (specifics change from girl to girl) and have thus been rebuilt and mentally reprogrammed by the Italian government as special assassins. But rather than focus on the assassinations themselves (though those do get a fair amount of attention), it's mostly focused on the lives of the girls while "off-duty" and the relationships they form with each other and their handlers, during which they act like, well, young girls who are friends with each other. What makes this series work is that they are perfectly aware that they're being used, that they've been brainwashed, and that their days are numbered, but they're completely fine with that, making the show rather quietly tragic.

Another one would be Serial Experiments Lain, which is an oldie but a goodie. Similar to Madoka in a lot of ways, though it's more of a mindscrew than a cosmic horror story, it's about a super-shy girl who discovers that she has an online alter-ego that she hadn't known about that's the complete opposite from her. And...things get really, really weird.

If you're looking for something different, then my first pick will always be Baccano. There's really no way to describe this show and do it justice, but one way is to say that it takes place during the Great Depression, has a number of criminal groups that have nothing to do with each other that range from the noble and likeable, the dangerously ruthless, and the bugnuts insane, and coincidentally put them on the same train with a different reason for being there and just watch everything fall apart. It jumps from hilarious to heartwarming to fist-pumpingly awesome to downright horrifying without missing a beat. It's also very smartly written with a deliberately complex plot that takes a couple of watch-throughs to really get, but it avoids pretentiousness on account of just how much fun the writers were obviously having. Seriously, go watch it. It's great.

Also, there's Durarara, which is by the same people as Baccano and takes place in the same universe, but tells a different story with different characters (though a couple of the Baccano guys make cameos). Not...as good as Baccano, but still great in it's own rights.

Also going to re-echo Black Lagoon. This one follows a group of modern-day pirates/smugglers for hire after they've taken a Japanese businessman nicknamed Rock hostage. Things go wrong, and he eventually ends up joining the crew, and the rest of the show follows the various jobs they take while exploring Rock's attempts to adjust to his new life. I don't know how you feel about Quentin Taratino movies, but if you like his style, you'll love this show, as it's pretty much what an anime directed by Quentin Taratino would look like. Even if you don't I'd still recommend giving it a shot.

But if you want to split the difference, someone mentioned Gosick. This takes place right before WW1 and follows a Japanese student who goes to study in a prestigious academy in a fictional European country. There, he meets a very strange yet cold girl who looks like a doll and spends all her time in the library, and is apparently so smart that the local police detective often bribes her to solve his mysteries for him. This show's primarily a mystery series (and a good one at that), but also has an underlying plot regarding the girl's past that comes to play in its second half. Also note that while the girl is very much a tsundere (acts like a jerk despite having feeling for the guy), unlike the ones you've seen in Naruto and whatnot, she actually has a very good reason for her behavior which becomes a major plot point.

Gantz! That's what the series Monoka reminds me of. It's sort of the same thing though I never finished the Gantz series so I can't compare the endings. I read the Gantz manga which is about people who die and are recruited before passing over by a supernatural orb and giving super strength suits and weapons in order to kill invisible aliens. They accumulate points when they kill Aliens and, when they get to 100, they get to make a wish. It's very Gory and has that Game of thrones aspect of MAIN CHARACTERS DIE ALL THE TIME. In other words, getting to 100 is hard.

Anyway, it looks like Im going to go with Baccano because waaay too many people have recommended this one. I can't possibly pass it up. I saw the opening of it on youtube and it just looks fun.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Anyway, it looks like Im going to go with Baccano because waaay too many people have recommended this one. I can't possibly pass it up. I saw the opening of it on youtube and it just looks fun.

Seriously, it's a blast. It also has one of the best mid-show twists you're likely to find. Go for it.

 

[Zakarath]

Glad it sounds people have steered him onto the right path (I.E. away from the long-runnering shonen).

Most of my favorites are 13-26 episode long action-dramas with SF/Fantasy elements like Last Exile, Madoka Magica, Kill la Kill, Angel Beats...

Oh, and I just watched Durarara, and it was awesome. First half was better than the second, though. (especially the opening song)

 

[T3hSource]

Korra & Madoka

Have you watched the end of Legend of Korra season 2, it kind of redeemed itself once the original writers FINALLY came back to fix this shit.

As for Madoka, search for Madoka Magica: Rebellion and find a way to watch it subbed, it's out now on many various sources, you are going to be blown away again!

Also another vote for Spice and Wolf, it's quite the intellectual flexing and character investment.

Black Lagoon is just so Western inspired it belongs with all the other US made action movies, it's even better then them in many many respects.

Claymore will satisfy your Battles Blades and Babes itch, the ending just says read the manga, which is also pretty good.

Berserk is one of the oldest Seinen still going on to this day, you can start with the anime(NOT THE MOVIES, fuck those) and read the manga in the beginning. If you thought Madoka was dark, this is relentless.

Studio Ghibli is the Japanese Disney, but their films are bloody emotional artful and with some serious adult themes, despite being kid friendly.

Also I recommend doing something like this: bookmark this thread and make a text document on your desktop with all the titles mentioned in this thread.

MOAR LISTS:

http://animu-mango.wikia.com/wiki/Anime_Recommendations

http://redditanime.wikia.com/wiki/The_massive_%22I_just_got_in_to_anime%22_recommendation_list

Spoiler: 25 recommendations vid

 

[PaulAtreides]

Do you really think that I don't know that last airbender and LoK aren't made in japan? Their animation style is just way closer to anime than to cartons.

I'm not sure where you think Avatar was made, but I do know you said it's anime. Which it isn't, that statement is blatantly false.

Anime is often seen as an art form, where you hardly ever could say that about cartoons.

This is irrelevant and pointless statement. Anime is the Japanese word for Animation, it is used by us to describe Japanese Animation in a way that separates it from other animated media. Lumping Avatar in with actual Anime just because you think it's similar defeats the entire purpose of using the word Anime as a non-Japanese person yourself.

And cartoons aren't art now? So animation made in one country is art, but animation made in other isn't? Do you know anything about Ralph Bakshi? Don Bluth? Are you going to say they aren't artists solely because their animation was made outside of Japan?

If you showed LoK to someone who didn't know, they would think that its anime.

You're right here, if I showed it to somebody who had no idea what they were talking about they'd be ignorant. This doesn't mean you can make the same mistake without being ignorant yourself.

Key differences to most mainstream anime is that its drawing style looks less lazy to me (characters actually have different faces and bodies and arent just colored and styled differently), its way of handling relationships is also way different.

This is entirely dependent on what you're watching, don't make assumptions. A lot of anime characters are the exact same face with different hair, look at 90% of what KyoAni produces. And the "way of handling relationships" in many anime is absolute toss, try any harem anime appealing to a lonely male audience. I feel like you're judging the entire non-Japanese animation scene based on how you feel about Family Guy or something, expand your knowledge or remain ignorant.

So not mentioning it just because of where its from seems a little redundant to me.

You said watching Korra would restore his faith in anime, care to explain that statement for me? How can watching an American cartoon restore his faith in anime? Anime is Japanese, period, so mentioning cartoons is irrelevant. If you want to say OP might enjoy Avatar, sure. But you claimed it was anime. You said it was the best anime of the 2010s. Which is misinformation and it's stupid.

 

[Jenvas1306]

btw, the original word for japanese anime was japanimation as it came up in the 70s, now using that word for something that doesnt come from japan would be silly and today you usually only find it when someone wants to clarify they are speaking of anime from japan. some call animated series or movies that are in anime-style anime-influenced animation, but none has or could really make rules if anime has to be from japan to be called anime or not, that is up to personal definition. For a lot of people anime is a style of animation that focuses on the visual style and realism rather than on the animation of motion.

Key differences to most mainstream anime is that its drawing style looks less lazy to me (characters actually have different faces and bodies and arent just colored and styled differently), its way of handling relationships is also way different.

This is entirely dependent on what you're watching, don't make assumptions. A lot of anime characters are the exact same face with different hair, look at 90% of what KyoAni produces. And the "way of handling relationships" in many anime is absolute toss, try any harem anime appealing to a lonely male audience. I feel like you're judging the entire non-Japanese animation scene based on how you feel about Family Guy or something, expand your knowledge or remain ignorant.

why do you agree with me in a way that sounds like you are disagreeing?
you agree about the designs of many anime characters and the way relationships are written badly in anime and then call me ignorant for having the same opinion as you? I was talking about anime and some of the stuff thats bad about the cheap mainstream anime

So not mentioning it just because of where its from seems a little redundant to me.

You said watching Korra would restore his faith in anime, care to explain that statement for me? How can watching an American cartoon restore his faith in anime? Anime is Japanese, period, so mentioning cartoons is irrelevant. If you want to say OP might enjoy Avatar, sure. But you claimed it was anime. You said it was the best anime of the 2010s. Which is misinformation and it's stupid.

The problems with the japanese anime industry are desolation and lack of motivation, mass produced and cheaply animated animes (that rather use iconography than actual expressions) are becoming a bigger part of it. outdrawn and exaggerated actionscenes are more common than actual depth and sophistication. The OP was disappointed exactly with those things. Does it not give hope to anime fans that there isn't just the japanese anime but that more parts of the world slowly start their own anime(-styled) industry with new ideas that might even influence the japanese artists in return?

Ill repeat, the term anime is used also for anime-styled animations from other countries than japan. Last time I checked the term anime has not been trademarked like certain cheese names.
The argument for keeping it exclusively for japanese animations is usually that it would rob anime of its cultural identity, but as I explained before, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Nouw]

Yeah Kikokugai the Cyber Slayer WAS pretty rad I agree.

Funny you mention that, I've had it bookmarked for ages. Should I give it a try?

It's every dumb cyberpunk movie AND every dumb Chinese crime/revenge movie.

Great fun, highly recommended. Bit heavy on the rape though.

Not convinced a visual novel could pull off cyberpunk and Hong Kong action but I'll give it a try. Better have a kickass soundtrack...

 

[Richard Dubbeld]

Any anime whose story is primarily concerned with romance is almost always destined to fail, unless it is a parody or has real critical elements on the genre (I'm thinking Mysterious Girlfriend X).

Romance is always best as a secondary motivation (Bakuman).

Harem anime is the worst, at least American TV has at the very most about 3 love interests per season, and stagger their appearance through the season so they only just overlap.

Winry and Ed from FMA Brotherhood will always be my favourite love story in anime. Mostly because it feels natural and complements the main plot nicely.

 

[Richard Dubbeld]

I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that most anime is just an extended teaser for the manga it is based on...

 

[Zontar]

Give me a concrete example.

Well, it's the entire premise of the Real Robot Genre, the most prominent example of this. Starting with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, the genre became an overnight success and almost immediately overshadowed the Super Robot Genre, which it does to this day. (though this was helped by the near death of the Super Robot Genre from 1995-2008 thanks to Evangelion, which was itself a realistic deconstruction of the genre. Though a massively overhyped one which isn't nearly as good as most fans would have you believe).

I could also list specific examples, but that list would be far too long.

 

[Zontar]

Give me a concrete example.

Well, it's the entire premise of the Real Robot Genre, the most prominent example of this. Starting with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, the genre became an overnight success and almost immediately overshadowed the Super Robot Genre, which it does to this day. (though this was helped by the near death of the Super Robot Genre from 1995-2008 thanks to Evangelion, which was itself a realistic deconstruction of the genre. Though a massively overhyped one which isn't nearly as good as most fans would have you believe).

I could also list specific examples, but that list would be far too long.

So you're saying a sci-fi story of giant colourful robots that look like plastic toys and are only piloted by teenagers.... a story about monster angels attacking humanity.... a story about a shy kid who for no actual reason and with no training becomes a pilot of a giant robot and has all pretty girls fall in love with him (one of which is a clone of his mother apparently)....

.....are realistic?

I think we have a different definition of realism here. Even if we set all the fantasy elements aside, the story STILL has nothing of realistic.

It's called suspension of disbelief. By the standards of Western media, all the examples I mentioned fall on the harder side of the "realism/fantasy" scale. I could give you countless examples on things which are considered realistic that are just as out-there as those stories.

Some examples include:

-Every Comedy ever made.
-Every action movie ever made.
-Every story about investigations and/or crime ever made.
-Every movie about super heroes ever made.
-Every war movie that isn't a documentary ever made.
-Every sports movie ever made.
-Anything staring Nick Cage.

And so on.

What makes something realistic isn't the ability to show something as it would happen in real life (nothing that people make as fiction would pass that criteria), what makes something realistic is the ability to trick you into thinking it is within the realm of possibility for it to happen, if a logical set up is given and the execution pulled off.