Poll: Anime...
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Oh, HELL!Cliff_m85 said:
Ghibli are brilliant!
Totoro was one of the best movies EVER!
Those puny ash thingies were, forgive me for saying this, CUTE!
After countless efforts by many people, they have failed to convince me anime is anything more than just unrealistic cartoons with a low framerate and no one bothered to actually come up with any proper ideas. And anime fans keep rabidly hyping how it's "far superior to anything else in storytelling and character development" but I haven't seen anything that would even remotely move me. Any ideas are filtered through a strange Japanese lens, so everything is... well, very strange. Surrealism is alright, but if something wants to be takes seriously, it shouldn't try too hard with obscurities. I know it's because of the Japanese culture treats anything non-japanese as rubbis and it's the most xenophobic country in the world, but regardless, it doesn't interest me.
The visual style of anime and manga for that matter, make my head hurt. Just no way around it, it virtually gives me a headache. I don't like it, that's all.
Partly my prejudice towards anime and why I can't enjoy it is probably because of the fanatic japanophiles who think everything Japanese is infinitely superior to anything else. They'll suck up any kind of rubbish, as long as it comes from Japan. Don't get me wrong, many good stuff comes from Japan, Akira Kurosawa for instance kicks ass and I have infinite respect for Japanese martial arts, but it's the people who think Japanese kids Saturday morning cartoons are somehow deeper, more meaningful, better executed and have complex characters and a masterful plot, say, compared to Twin Peaks. Something I like to think of as a good series. And if they tell me "Beyblade" or whatnot is equally masterful, I'll compare it to the best I can think of. And that won't do justice to anyone. The more mature anime stuff(I know there's anime for pretty much every age group, it's not all kiddie stuff), aimed at adults, doesn't strike me as particularly mature or well written. "Death Note", "Helsing", that kind of stuff, (what I'VE BEEN TOLD is the "good stuff") appears to be just hyped to hell. And something else I don't understand are the teenagers who all fight. I mean what the hell. And why does everything have to have "magic" or something equally cheap as a storytelling method? As, you know, the thing to drive the story? Does not compute.
What I'm saying is, I don't really like it. I don't like it visually, the content appears to be lame and lazy and the fans try to murder me every time I say anything negative about it. I don't think there really is anime for me.
The visual style of anime and manga for that matter, make my head hurt. Just no way around it, it virtually gives me a headache. I don't like it, that's all.
Partly my prejudice towards anime and why I can't enjoy it is probably because of the fanatic japanophiles who think everything Japanese is infinitely superior to anything else. They'll suck up any kind of rubbish, as long as it comes from Japan. Don't get me wrong, many good stuff comes from Japan, Akira Kurosawa for instance kicks ass and I have infinite respect for Japanese martial arts, but it's the people who think Japanese kids Saturday morning cartoons are somehow deeper, more meaningful, better executed and have complex characters and a masterful plot, say, compared to Twin Peaks. Something I like to think of as a good series. And if they tell me "Beyblade" or whatnot is equally masterful, I'll compare it to the best I can think of. And that won't do justice to anyone. The more mature anime stuff(I know there's anime for pretty much every age group, it's not all kiddie stuff), aimed at adults, doesn't strike me as particularly mature or well written. "Death Note", "Helsing", that kind of stuff, (what I'VE BEEN TOLD is the "good stuff") appears to be just hyped to hell. And something else I don't understand are the teenagers who all fight. I mean what the hell. And why does everything have to have "magic" or something equally cheap as a storytelling method? As, you know, the thing to drive the story? Does not compute.
What I'm saying is, I don't really like it. I don't like it visually, the content appears to be lame and lazy and the fans try to murder me every time I say anything negative about it. I don't think there really is anime for me.
I don't think any fan will deny that the last decade has seen a MAJOR decline in anime quality. There have been some good shows, but most of the post-2000 stuff has been shitty fanservice. Now, back in the 80's and 90's there's was bad stuff aswell, but atleast they still tried to tell a story no matter how terrible it was.
I still love the golden oldies though. Nothing can hold a candle to them.
I still love the golden oldies though. Nothing can hold a candle to them.
Some of the animes I've seen have been really fantasical (that is, "richly imaginative", not "fantastic") and that is the real reason I am an anime fan and not just mildly interested in it.
my favorites:
Paprika
Ghost in the Shell
Fullmetal Alchemist
Evangelion
All of these have a mystical angle that I love and that I rarely find in Western shows.
my favorites:
Paprika
Ghost in the Shell
Fullmetal Alchemist
Evangelion
All of these have a mystical angle that I love and that I rarely find in Western shows.
yeah i noticed yor avatar... i actually saw Eva 1.01 and 2.0 at the glasgow film festival a while ago... they are quite good.. but so fucking different from the original Eva, especially on a conceptual level. Shinji is actually likeable nowSacman said:
i agree completely, it is a guilty pleasure, but then again what isn't? Btw, props on tao avatar, you play blazblue?Win Laik Pya said:
I love Anime.
It's a shame that there are so many shitty anime series though. But Cowboy Bebop is one of the best series ever.
It's a shame that there are so many shitty anime series though. But Cowboy Bebop is one of the best series ever.
I SHALL DEEM THIS WORTHY OF BEING QUOTED!Casual Shinji said:
There has been no Cowboy Bebop of the 21th century.
I didn't like Lain myself. Reading my comment above you'd think it be one of my favorite shows ever but it just never went anywhere for me. It seemed like it was wierd just for the sake of wierd.Sacman said:
I like the ones that get to the point. Naruto and Bleach, for example, had decent premises, but were then ruined by a convoluted story that dragged on and fucking on, punctuated by dozens of filler episodes. Cowboy Bebop and Black Lagoon are far better, as they're more focused on telling a story, rather than presenting a bunch of characters and doing random shit with them for five years.
I used to enjoy some Anime. Some.
I REALLY REALLY HATE the whole claim that "Japanese are the kings of animation" when you see alot of it that looks like this
Its the low framerate universal dubbing technique where the mouth just widens and collapses until the dialogue has been done. Very lazy.
One of my favourite Anime's was Akira and mostly because of the facial movements when anyone spoke. Granted alot of the time it wouldnt match up but at least the characters didnt look like mindless automatons. The problem for me is that its over saturating itself with badly rendered work. I really LOVE Animation and voiceover work in such a field but anime has to work VERY hard to impress me anymore now.
Far toooooooooo much falls into anime cliche now and embrace it. Example being the "Hero and villain rush at eachother, screen does explosion effect and hero and villain are motionless facing away from eachother.....villain slowly falls to the ground beaten", Boring and even some of my favourite do it but because its so overdone my eyes roll out of my skull. Plenty more is similar.
I prefer to read the Manga to most of the stuff I watch anyway.
I REALLY REALLY HATE the whole claim that "Japanese are the kings of animation" when you see alot of it that looks like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MBVgxdiA-w
Its the low framerate universal dubbing technique where the mouth just widens and collapses until the dialogue has been done. Very lazy.
One of my favourite Anime's was Akira and mostly because of the facial movements when anyone spoke. Granted alot of the time it wouldnt match up but at least the characters didnt look like mindless automatons. The problem for me is that its over saturating itself with badly rendered work. I really LOVE Animation and voiceover work in such a field but anime has to work VERY hard to impress me anymore now.
Far toooooooooo much falls into anime cliche now and embrace it. Example being the "Hero and villain rush at eachother, screen does explosion effect and hero and villain are motionless facing away from eachother.....villain slowly falls to the ground beaten", Boring and even some of my favourite do it but because its so overdone my eyes roll out of my skull. Plenty more is similar.
I prefer to read the Manga to most of the stuff I watch anyway.
Its just a medium to work in. There is good and there is bad. It is the same as saying books as bad. Up is in the same medium, but doesn't mean that all animation is good. Thinking anime is bad because of one product or good because of one product is wrong. That be the same as thinking every game out there is bad because of Madden, or thinking every game is good because of Tetris. Each medium has its good, bad, and ugly with every kind of medium. I know anime has sh*t as well as gems.
Anime is just like any other medium from any other country. There's a lot of crap, there's a fair body of "good", it never translates perfectly into other countries/cultures.
In general, there are a few key ingredients for it to be considered "good" (in my opinion):
1)Great action. (i.e. something is actually happening most of the time. I'm looking at you DBZ!)
2)Powerful story-lines that don't get too melodramatic or stupid.
3)Solid sense of humor or well-timed comic relief, without getting too stupid. (it's a fine line)
These guidelines apply to almost any entertainment form, but Anime is usually the best balanced when it works and the worst violators (by FAR) when it doesn't. Naturally there are a few exceptions...
All I'm saying is: it's not all bad, and it's not all good either. Averages out to a solid C+
In general, there are a few key ingredients for it to be considered "good" (in my opinion):
1)Great action. (i.e. something is actually happening most of the time. I'm looking at you DBZ!)
2)Powerful story-lines that don't get too melodramatic or stupid.
3)Solid sense of humor or well-timed comic relief, without getting too stupid. (it's a fine line)
These guidelines apply to almost any entertainment form, but Anime is usually the best balanced when it works and the worst violators (by FAR) when it doesn't. Naturally there are a few exceptions...
All I'm saying is: it's not all bad, and it's not all good either. Averages out to a solid C+
I'm an anime fan. Not a big fan, but I do like a fair few shows. For example, Cowboy Bebop, Vampire Knight and Bleach I find enjoyable, but there are plenty that I don't. Oh, and Studio Ghibli films - I love 'em. Every one I've seen is wonderful.
