No Right Answer: Best Animation Style Ever

[SilverUchiha]

Anime suggestions: Death Note is always a good one to experience. Toradora is fun, but it is predictable and very high-school-drama-ish... Um... Rurouni Kenshin is one of the older, less flawed anime to look into and I rate it very highly. I wanna say High School of the Dead, but for everything it does right, there are at least two things that it missteps and does wrong. I'd say look into a couple episodes, but it likely won't change your mind. Another one by the same guys as Death Note is Bakuman. It's a pretty simple story but it is told pretty well, if you ask me, and worth checking out. Warning, it starts out slow, but it does start getting good after a few episodes set up the overall concept.

Now... as to the argument. I love how you guys focus on Disney being the only people who have Western animations when you left out Hanna Barbara and Warner Bros. I mean, seriously! Looney Toons, Animaniacs, Scooby Doo, any DC super hero cartoon, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'd even argue that Nickelodeon's attempt to make their own anime (Avatar: The Last Airbender) is superior in quality to a vast majority of anime of I've seen). I like both anime and western animation, but I have to argue that western animation more often has better quality. It's only in recent years that I've seen the quality of anime get really damn impressive.

 

[SilverUchiha]

And that's it. Apart from that, what has the Western animation stable produced of note over the last 15-20 years?

Invader Zim, Angry Beavers, Hey Arnold, Rugrats, Doug, Camp Lazlo, X-men, spiderman, etc

You know what? I'm going to sound like a total elitist douche, but I don't care. Those are all kids shows. Hey Arnold, Rugrats and Angry Beaver were all entertaining, and I had a lot of fun watching them as a kid, but that's the point. They were written for kids. Holding up Rugrats as a high point of Western animation doesn't give the genre any credit. It simply shows how little the West has been willing to invest in animation as a viable adult medium, one which can tackle serious, heavy issues. The only issues I remember from Rugrats and Hey Arnold were 'How can we skive off school today?' or 'What would happen if we hid Angelica's doll?'

X-men and Spiderman? Please. They were badly animated, poorly written shows designed purely to keep kids staring at the telly box first thing on a Saturday morning. Can you show me a single episode of Spiderman, X-Men, Rugrats or Doug which can claim to have handled the same topics as Evangelion or Revolutionary Girl Utena?

Um... how could they handle the same topics when they are in completely different realms of reality and storytelling. That's like asking us to give you an example of when Batman covered the same topic as Sonic the Hedgehog (or vice versa). They are a bit too different to really compare properly.

 

[Dead Seerius]

Let me tell you a story. Years ago when I was about 8 my dad went to the video rental store to get a movie called Spirit (I think it was about a horse). Instead he came home with Spirited Away. Not wanting to waste the money we spent on renting the movie, we watched it. About an hour or so into the film I was crying in my room because some crepy-ass monster guy had just EATEN a guy through a mouth in his STOMACH. That movie has scarred me for life and Pokemon (original season of course) is just about the only anime I have ever seen and it will probably remain that way. I just dont know why they gotta make it so damn WEIRD. And yes, I know there are cultural differences but seriously? Stomach-mouth? C'mon.

 

[marurder]

I humbly suggest "Perfect Blue" and "Ghost in the Shell" - the series, not the movies.

 

[Alar]

I'm surprised Dan didn't get another point at the end there when talking about how eastern animation does deal with some very adult issues sometimes, and I don't mean just sex.

Good episode, guys.

 

[Urameshi13]

Dan, one word: Baccano!

 

[Gatx]

Where the hell did Dan's first point come from? All he said was he watched Akira, and it turned out his description fitted Akira. That's hardly reinforcing his point that ALL anime have that plot.

Also I think his analogy at the end about Arabs and terrorists could be interpreted in an offensive way.

 

[DarklordKyo]

You'll try anime that're suggested with an open mind huh? Very well then, I put forth Welcome to the NHK, a personal favorite, onto the chopping block. It's a very good commentary on the negative sides of being a geek as well as being a nice character study of people crazy enough to attempt suicide or stay in their homes for four years straight.

I would also like to recommend Bartender. Essentially, a nice mature series of stories (Count of Monte Cristo mature, not South Park mature) about real people and their real problems (much better than it initially sounds).

 

[Francisco Aguirre]

Even though I love my anime, and can't get enough of it. The west has My Little Pony: Friendship is magic...That's kind of hard to top. Even though I'm willing to admit that it's used as a marketing tool to make us buy there toys, it's still a good show.
Also I think you should try out Neon Genesis Evangelion. Either the season or movies, though the movies try to mash a lot of the story into one small hour space, it's still good.
And if you have the time, My favorites include Chaos;Head, Higurashi no naku koro ni, Gantz, and Elfen Laid.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Wow, you can almost hear the elitists coming out of the woodwork.

 

[Extragorey]

I've always wondered; does Anime mean any animation from Japan, or does it mean a style of animation that originated in Japan?

Because were it the former, a Japanese animator could create a Western-style animation and call it Anime.
And conversely, were it the latter a Westerner could use the "Japanese" style of animation and call it Anime.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

The big "rain drop" as you call it is supposed to be a sweat drop and it usually signifies exasperation. You'd have to be an idiot not to be able to figure that out, esp. considering when it appears the character usually has an exasperated and/or annoyed expression on their face to go with it.

Imma just say:

He could also be referring to the Eva-like devices girls wear on their heads sometimes in mecha/sci-fi shows, or the similarly-shaped hair clips girls sometimes wear that are of ridiculous size.

Plus, assuming he is referring specifically to sweatdrops: considering sweatdrops are pretty isolated to anime, someone wouldn't necessarily be an "idiot" if they saw it once or twice and didn't get what it was, exactly. It's lot like real people have massive perspiration fits whenever they're annoyed (well, most of us don't). It's something you learn the significance of as you become more acclimated to the style.

And even if it wasn't, it doesn't help anyone to act so pompous just because someone didn't get a trope from a niche art style that you know more about.

Forgive me for coming across as pompous, but it just seemed extremely obvious. I mean surely even if one is not familiar with that style, it shouldn't be hard to figure out what the sweat drop is supposed to signify given the facial expression of the character at the time. And depending on the tone of the show in question, it should also be rather apparent that it's meant to exaggerate the emotion being expressed. It's the same as when characters cry geysers (or waterfalls, or even bubbles in some cases [don't understand that one}), it's exaggerated for comedic effect.

 

[MorganL4]

Dan, if you want to see the best anime has to offer, then do as Chris suggested, watch Hayao Miyazaki. Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away are my recommendations....... yes you are going to have the ridiculous fan service anime too, but western animation had to deal with stripperella and Drawn Together, so yeah, there is going to be tasteless crass shows on either side. and as far as your Pixar argument, goes..... The guy in charge of that studio loves Miyazaki's work so much, that on the aforementioned films he has put a personalized message just before the movie plays if you get the dubbed DVDs. So if your primary argument for western animation loves Miyazaki's eastern animation then you owe Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli a shot.

I've always wondered; does Anime mean any animation from Japan, or does it mean a style of animation that originated in Japan? (and thus Westerners could, for example, use the same style of animation and call it Anime)

There was this show called Avatar: The Last Airbender. Over it's three year run ( and to some extent still today) this issue was ferociously debated. The show is done in an anime style, and yet a couple of white Americans made it (btw to my earlier post about Miyazaki, Appa was based on the catbus, which is friggin awesome) In the end no ones mind was really changed, some say you can be a westerner and make anime others claim that if you are not Japanese you are SOL.

 

[Frozengale]

Here's a list of Anime that suck yet people will tell you it's the best thing ever:

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Bleach
Naruto
Steins;Gate (This one I might concede, but I'm 4 episodes in and it sucks so far)
Dragon Ball, Z, GT


Anime that I actually think is worthwhile:

Angel Beats
Paranoia Agent
Paprika
Princess Mononoke
Fullmetal Alchemist
Code Geass
Spirited Away
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

 

[MorganL4]

I just thought of the ultimate west vs east animation question.......

Catbus vs Magic School Bus........ which is cooler?

I don't think I have an answer.

 

[Aureliano]

Huh. Somehow I was expecting the team to come down on anime's side today, but I think this was a legit debate.

Also, one needs to note that a bunch of the 'western' animation gets done in the east. Venture Brothers, last I checked, is made in Korea. And is awesome. Anyway: I'm with Dan. I have seen way more anime that makes me want to throw a brick at the tv than any other kind. It's not all bad, but there is an incredible amount of samey stuff out there. Western animation seems, at least from my experiences of it, to have much more variation.

 

[Cain_Zeros]

@Dan: Elfen Lied, partly cause its good, partly cause there's non of the sweat drops and such you hate, and partly cause its short clocking in at 13 eps or so.

I'll admit that it's a good series, but American's First Anime it is not, what with... Well, the entire damn thing. Honestly if he's gonna go with something violent, I'd be more likely to suggest Afro Samurai, although that's almost cheating, considering the heavy Western influences.

 

[beniki]

Congratulations, Soviet Heavy, you won this week's secret contest. For standing up against the hate and reminding them that this is a comedy show, and for pointing out that I had a disclaimer at the end. Your prize is an extra week of life. When you are in your 80's, you can thank us!

You kind of had to see the hate coming. The only fan base more rabid than that of the anime clan is that of the Nintendo clan. Mighty will be the clashes of hate when their fandom is called into question.

It's true though. There is significantly more amount of crap anime than there is Western animation... so much so that I can't honestly say if there's any anime I've enjoyed in the past two or three years. But that may be because I grew out of their young male target audience.

Wolf's Rain is worth a look though. Weird premise, but beautifully told. It's about a pack of stray wolves coming together to find paradise at the end of the world. It gets weirder from there, but the emotional punch it has is impressive. And it has a rocking intro.

If you're looking for the best example of 'the hero's quest', look no further than Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan. One of the weirdest shows you will watch, but the scale alone will blow you away. It literally starts off in a cramped tunnel, and ramps up in tension and drama to far beyond your imagination. Might be a little too bizarre in terms of style for you to get into though. But that was probably the last anime to give me shivers.

And.. er... can I get an extra week of life too? I don't really want it, but just imagine what that'll sell for on ebay.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Anime used to be good, you know, when it was actually well animated.

When we still had people like Katsuhiro Otomo, Koji Morimoto, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Seriously, what the fuck are these guys doing? Now Satoshi Kon is dead and Hayao Miyazaki is getting too old to work the way he used to.

But in all honesty, both Western and Japanese (traditional) animation suck now thanks to the digital age.