Poll: How many on the Escapist dislike anime?

[ThunderCavalier]

tbh, anime seems to strike that threshold where the entire genre has something specific that hits everyone's appeal.

Ranging from mindless action, such as Gurren Lagann and Dragonball Z...

To deep, psychological shows (Death Note, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Bokurano) with some hints of comedy to spice them up (Code Geass)

To zany comedy and cutesy affairs (Shugo Chara, K-ON!)

To heartfelt romances (Toradora!)

To shows that just start making fun of the genre in particular (Lucky Star).

It really is that one genre where you will find SOMETHING to like, even if you're against everything Japanese. If you look hard enough, you'll find something.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I love anime. Been a huge fan since I was 4. I'm not sure why, but Eastern culture always appealed to me more than Western culture (Although that doesn't mean I don't like Western cartoons.) I seen some fantastic shows, a lot of decent shows, and a few shows that are truely terrible, worse than anything most of you have seen. I'm not super critical about anime either, but then again I'm just not a cynical person. It take a lot for me to actually hate a show. Even the bad ones I don't hate.
As for the "Big 3", I am completely indifferent. I don't watch Bleach, Naruto, or One Piece, so I can't hate any of them (although I heard good things about One Piece. Can't say the same thing about the other two.)

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

For those of you who do enjoy anime, feel free to list things that turned you onto it for people who may be curious about it.

I started about 3-4 years ago after my grandfather passed away. Oddly, I started with Neon Genesis Evangelion, because I heard that it was really good and whatnot, and honestly, it wasn't bad, but by no means one of my favorites.

Surprisingly, I've found that some anime, over the top powers and such aside, seem to have more human characters than most of the other shows I've watched, but you kind of have to dig deep for them. A lot are same-y and stereotypical, but if you find a good one, they tend to be pretty good.

On my list of pretty good ones are; Black Lagoon, Code Geass, Berserk, Claymore, Ergo Proxy, Toradora!, Clannad, Ergo Proxy, Spice and Wolf, and a handful of others. I liked Shuffle! too, but mostly because it was cute, and the guy ended up with the girl I wanted him to, and it's the only anime that's ever happened in, so I'm a little biased on that one. Well, Toradora! did too, but you saw it coming from a mile away. XD

All of these I've watched more than once, and I've read a lot of the manga for them, and as usual, the manga seems to be much better and sometimes quite different from the anime.

 

[Robert Ewing]

I both love and hate it.

I love it, because it's awesome, and it's the closest format I've found to telling my ideal stories in any given area, be it sci-fi, romance, action, w/e.

I hate it, because every single form of anime, harem, shounen, heinen, shouju whatever has at least 10,000 different animes with exactly the same plot.

For example, ALL ecchi anime I've seen include the following.

An episode based around the beach.
An episode based around cooking
An episode based around a train station
An episode based around reuniting with a childhood friend

It goes on, they are so shockingly similar. And you can bet your little woolly socks that any anime chick with green hair will be called Midori (Japanese for green) and a character with blue hair will have 'ao' in his/her name (Japanese for blue)... If you've watched any sort of anime, you will know what I'm talking about ¬¬

They are over done to the point of insanity... BUT I STILL LOVE ANIME SO SO MUCH <3 WHY CANT I STOP WATCHING IT?

 

[Chalacachaca]

I don't mind it, actually I really don't think I'm too much into animation. Sure, there are some anime that look gorgeous (Ghost in the Shell, Akira) as well as there are dozens of other kinds of animations with the same level of artistic value (Persepolis, Fantasia).

Though, the only anime I'm fond of (or should I say manga) are Dragonball and Rurouni Kenshin, and I used to watch Saint Seiya as a kid too.

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

I like anime (some of my favorite works are by Satoshi Kon, Hayao Miyazaki, and Katsuhiro Otomo), but there's a ton of shit, and I definitely know where people are coming from when they point to certain anime trends and call them crap.

Of course, that applies to every medium, and I would encourage that everyone give it a chance and maybe they'll find something they like.

I'm not watching much anime nowadays. I've seen a lot of the good stuff, and I feel like the walls of mediocrity are closing in on me. Time to jump ship to Swedish horror films. Not that I ever watched it exclusively anyway.

Disclaimer: don't necessarily go by what's popular. Remember, Twilight is popular.

 

[Stammer]

I hit "Dislike" because while there are a couple anime shows that I have liked in the past, I'm not exactly convinced that anime has ever done anything better than other animation.

And like many things a lot of my distaste for the style comes from the way its fans treat it. I know a number of people that just take their fandom WAY too far. Liking another culture is fine, as is disliking your own, but pretending you are part of that culture and completely ignoring other cultures is kind of a dick move.

 

[VanTesla]

I like anime/cartoons, but over the years I have only watched a few series and only watch shows that have an actual conclusion. So many anime that come from ongoing or unfinished manga makes me less likely to give it a try unless I hear good reviews. I only watch them if the story, and characters appeal to me. Anything that Hayao Miyazaki creates I can enjoy.

 

[Nightshine]

I used to be very much into anime, watched Bleach ritually each and every week the latest episode aired for about 2 years. Which lead me into other animes, I guess I bought into the whole "oo Japanease culture thing". I never used to watch live action stuff.
Now though, atleast in more recent times, I've only been interested really smart stuff, like Baccano, Durarara!, Code Geass, Black Lagoon they're mostly animes which really don't fall into the whole trend of fan service every time a Girl character comes into frame (Code Geass more of the exception I guess). I absolutely loved baccano! and Durarara! they're both told in a pulp fiction like style.
Tordoara was the best Romance that I've seen, most animes usually have inconclusive plots because the main character has a few women after him and the writers don't want to favour any women over another so that when it ends, it sort of like "life still goes on" but nothing major or important has happened.

I've still watched a lot of the cult ones like Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Evangelion (never again), Dragonball Z.

Now though, since I'm a bit older my interests have shifted more towards nothing I guess, I don't even watch TV shows any more, I've got some new animes which I've downloaded which I still have finished yet (Gantz and some other crap)

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Huzzah for hating an entire form of media!

They're just cartoons. It's hardly a separate medium from any other style of animation. Not everybody has to enjoy or appreciate cartoons. If you want to assign some special extra value or significance to them, good for you, but don't expect everyone to.

Aaaaand that's the exact argument they use against gaming. "It's just a game."

I don't know what argument you're talking about, but games are "just games." Video games aren't for everybody, and if they're not your thing, you can pursue other interests for entertainment.

Good. Will laugh my ass off if I ever see you defending games, after all, they're nothing special.

 

[CAPTCHA]

It's just a genera. Some's good, some's not so good.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Most anime shows are aimed at children and pre-teens so I can't say I hate it when I'm not even in the intended demographic.

That's not entirely true. There is plenty of anime that's made for adults, just the fact that it's animated makes it seem childish. There's plenty of thought provoking stuff that's quite applicable to an adult audience. but much of it is rather childish. lol

OT: I love anime. I've been having more and more trouble finding good series' that are really engaging, though, as I've watched most of the good ones I've found.

I think he's referring to the children's show aspect. While there is an abundance of adult anime shows out there, there is still magnitudes more that is aimed at children. Most of them don't get localized though, so the older audience shows make it through the filter since they sell better in other countries.

 

[Robert Sanders]

With a few exceptions, I generally dislike anime. Most of what I see are a bunch of whiny prepubescent kid's with magic ball's and cards battling the forces of "not very niceness." Also, the girls have these high pitched voices that make my ears bleed, and that's before they scream. If you add in the Bugs Bunny type cartoon face gags that pull you from the more serious moments, the habit of striking runway model poses before a fight, calling out each attack before you perform it, and powering up just to take out the garbage as every damn thing they do has to be filled with super awesome sauce.

 

[Doctor Glocktor]

Gurren Lagann is the only anime I've ever enjoyed. And even then, it had its fair share of flaws.

 

[Monty McDougal]

I like the art style but most of the time it is just ridicules, vulgar, and boring. Halo legends is a good example. What sucks sucks and what is good is really good.
Mostly, I hate the people that live and breath this stuff. They are extremely creepy most of the time. They just sit in the corner drawing strange anime cartoons.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

The thing that helped me into anime is Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's not anime; it's western animation all the way. But the animation is inspired by Japanese animation and the show is just plain good. It's a children's show that has some of the best characterization, world development, and storytelling prowess of any show I've ever seen, and simply manages to be kid-friendly throughout. A truly incredible show.

I just watched through that show and finished it a few days ago and I was literally depressed for a few days. Not because it was bad, but because it had ended.

I'm anxiously awaiting the new one coming out next year. I need it to fill out more of the story of Aang.

I have never had a bigger crush on a fictional character than I did on Katara.

 

[Sewer Rat]

I think dislike is a little to strong a word for me. I can see why some people like it so I don't hate it, it just isn't for me. It is just to sexualized for me, I haven't seen a single anime (even a childrens anime like Pokemon or Yugioh) which was not filled to the brim with fan service, panty shots, heaving breasts, and 10 year olds with the physical characteristics of 16 year olds. Frankly I just cannot look past that and it really takes me out of whatever story the anime was trying to tell.
It really just isn't for me.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Dislike it.

I just don't like the art or storytelling style I see in anime. And anime fandom itself is just far to much fun to mock and jeer at.

 

[Vankraken]

I dislike anime primarily because I do not relate well to eastern (Japanese) culture. There are some elements of anime that I find appealing (Mechs!) but most anime that I have seen always feel lightweight on the combat and get too entrenched in the personal conflicts that the characters are struggling with and its all about the inner strength/potential of the characters that matter more than just blowing shit up with firepower.

I can't even begin to relate to the whole sexual repression theme that seems common place in many anime.