Why Doesn't the Escapist Have an Anime Guy?

[Wizardly-K9]

Or girl or woman or whatever? Escapistmagazine touches just about every other corner of pop culture (disregarding music, but music journalism is completely different beast altogether.) It seems like it wouldn't be too hard to hire one or two people to review anime and manga, and visit cons for the websites.

 

[Elfgore]

They did, but I don't think it was popular enough to justify a spotlight. Though quite a few people watch anime here, not nearly enough do. Especially if they are paying the reviewers. I'm not sure if the Escapist is still having money issues, but paying someone to review such a niche thing wouldn't help.

...Now if they were offering the job, I'd jump all over that shit. *cough* take the hint *cough*

 

[Rolaoi]

There's not really that big an audience probably. Anime fans tend to fall into the category of that guy with tiny statues of anime girls (me<,) and those people who haven't really watched anything past the 90's or early 00's because they only see cute girls doing cute things (i.g. "Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shells are the only animes worth watching" crowd.)

Most of the anime to review would probably not be of interest to the latter group.

 

[Legion]

Seeing as the Escapist is moving even more towards all areas of geekiness rather than focusing on gaming, I would not be surprised if they introduced it again.

From what I have seen though, the reviewers on this site tend to contribute in other ways too, with Greg Tito and Jim Sterling being examples. I think it's unlikely they would hire somebody purely for anime reviews because it wouldn't be very cost effective.

So if they were interested in bringing it back it would probably be down to an existing staff member/contributor being willing to take it up.

This is just my theory anyway.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Well if you search just a little bit you can find dozens of anime reviews on the site. Add to that the eagerness of many, many, members of the forums to jump in with answers to questions about pretty much any anime you care to name and there just isn't a real need to have a person who is formally dedicated to the task.

 

[The Wykydtron]

It would be really cool but have you seen some of the people here? They just can't stand it and will have a go and anyone who dares to say they like anime. 'S fuckin' stoopid!

Also I recognise some of you posting here as people i've had anime discussions with before, hey guys! Have I told you all that Kill la Kill is the best anime ever yet?

There's not really that big an audience probably. Anime fans tend to fall into the category of that guy with tiny statues of anime girls (me<,) and those people who haven't really watched anything past the 90's or early 00's because they only see cute girls doing cute things (i.g. "Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shells are the only animes worth watching" crowd.)

Most of the anime to review would probably not be of interest to the latter group.

You mean anime fans specifically on this site I assume, cuz that just raises a whole bunch of ?????????? if you meant it towards all anime fans out there. I kind of agree Escapist only (I can confirm some people have figurines) and yeah GitS is touted damn hard as the only thing ever worth your time. Hey I myself would have figurines if I didn't know that they would be broken within a week, my room is a danger zone to anything breakable. I don't even have a place to display them properly either, maybe i'll just buy a Core Drill necklace instead. I wonder if they've made a Ryuko glove too...

Y'know I would have told you to look for proper anime specific sites if you want to talk about anime but oh my god. Don't. Just don't. If anyone knows of any civil ones that aren't unpleasant as hell let me know.

 

[Rellik San]

There's not really that big an audience probably. Anime fans tend to fall into the category of that guy with tiny statues of anime girls (me<,) and those people who haven't really watched anything past the 90's or early 00's because they only see cute girls doing cute things (i.g. "Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shells are the only animes worth watching" crowd.)

Most of the anime to review would probably not be of interest to the latter group.

And then there is the third category:

Me, former Otaku who got better, we own a handful of merchandise but nothing egregious, we keep our likes casual but have just enough knowledge of the key players to get excited at the mention of certain names: We usually pre-date the Sailor Moon/DBZ crowd and remember when Manga Entertainment used to advertise with Celtic Frost.

 

[Queen Michael]

I'd like a manga reviewer. That's rarer, and interests me more.

 

[Coruptin]

Bc anime is for fukin nerds outa the way loser give me your lunch money you dweeb

Seriously though could you imagine how the social justice crusader crowd would react. It'd be endless bickering about how anime x is racist or sexist and the some other guys will argue anime x is actually a subversion and is actually super feminists friendly, and the holy ghost of anno and I will just solemnly shake our heads in disgust.

Spoiler

the actual answer is that it's neither, it's a dumb cartoon get over it

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Bc anime is for fukin nerds outa the way loser give me your lunch money you dweeb

Seriously though could you imagine how the social justice crusader crowd would react. It'd be endless bickering about how anime x is racist or sexist and the some other guys will argue anime x is actually a subversion and is actually super feminists friendly, and the holy ghost of anno and I will just solemnly shake our heads in disgust.

Spoiler

the actual answer is that it's neither, it's a dumb cartoon get over it

While I do agree that some conversations are stupid as all hell (Japan has different standards of sexuality so do try to understand that before jumping on), to simply say that something is dumb and just leave it at that does any form of media a disservice. Media, consciously or subconsciously, can affect people in many ways so to not discuss things that may be problematic could stifle improvement. I've ranted on and on about the increase in mediocre harem and slice of life shows and how many shows seem to be pushing ecchi and moe but I do also think that some anime are worth discussing on thematic levels.

OT, the introduction of an anime guy could happen. My questions are A) what is his point of reference in terms of introduction, thematic requriements and the like as well as B) how much moe bull is he able to shallow before quitting because you would need to develop a bit of a tolerance to it. I myself would love to do small reviews on the forums but I would end up pissing a lot of people off given that I completely disregard moe and harem shows as thematic garbage.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

There's not really that big an audience probably. Anime fans tend to fall into the category of that guy with tiny statues of anime girls (me<,) and those people who haven't really watched anything past the 90's or early 00's because they only see cute girls doing cute things (i.g. "Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shells are the only animes worth watching" crowd.)

Most of the anime to review would probably not be of interest to the latter group.

And then there is the third category:

Me, former Otaku who got better, we own a handful of merchandise but nothing egregious, we keep our likes casual but have just enough knowledge of the key players to get excited at the mention of certain names: We usually pre-date the Sailor Moon/DBZ crowd and remember when Manga Entertainment used to advertise with Celtic Frost.

I would also argue that the recent decade has given rise to two more categories.

One is the type of fan that only watches anime because of the fact that they create so much cute stuff or self-insert shows that makes them feel good

The other is the reaction to the former type. They are similar to the second category and are trying to advocate the production of fresh and mentally stimulating IP and are also able to like shows in the present decades instead of being isolated to the 90;s and early 00's.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

They did, but I don't think it was popular enough to justify a spotlight. Though quite a few people watch anime here, not nearly enough do. Especially if they are paying the reviewers. I'm not sure if the Escapist is still having money issues, but paying someone to review such a niche thing wouldn't help.

...Now if they were offering the job, I'd jump all over that shit. *cough* take the hint *cough*

All right, you want to take up the position

Two questions:

One, when did you start getting into anime and how much have you seen? this will give us a reference point of your tastes

Two,(my own personal), what is your stance on the current production of moe and self-insert shows?

 

[Coruptin]

While I do agree that some conversations are stupid as all hell (Japan has different standards of sexuality so do try to understand that before jumping on), to simply say that something is dumb and just leave it at that does any form of media a disservice. Media, consciously or subconsciously, can affect people in many ways so to not discuss things that may be problematic could stifle improvement. I've ranted on and on about the increase in mediocre harem and slice of life shows and how many shows seem to be pushing ecchi and moe but I do also think that some anime are worth discussing on thematic levels.

When you start endlessly trying to justify your love of something so inconsequential it gets rather silly. If you are actually stressing out because someone doesn't like a cartoon the way you do, I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that you are tripping up over a dumb cartoon.

 

[Rellik San]

OT, the introduction of an anime guy could happen. My questions are A) what is his point of reference in terms of introduction, thematic requriements and the like as well as B) how much moe bull is he able to shallow before quitting because you would need to develop a bit of a tolerance to it. I myself would love to do small reviews on the forums but I would end up pissing a lot of people off given that I completely disregard moe and harem shows as thematic garbage.

Point of reference: His own culture but understanding the points of why certain genres are a certain way, thematic requirements would be just a simple and plain talking heads style discussion with a box pane showing clips.

B> I can handle more or less anything, high octane mecha action, ultra violent samurai period piece or yes, even the dreaded moe harem BS.

I never consider harem a theme, it's always more of a setting to me, for example Tenchi Muyo is about space pirates, energy beams and sword fights, it's just framed in the make up of a harem show.

 

[Mau95]

What about the guy who was shown some anime by his friend and only watches stuff occasionally? He wouldn't mind (he'd only watch from time to time though)

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

While I do agree that some conversations are stupid as all hell (Japan has different standards of sexuality so do try to understand that before jumping on), to simply say that something is dumb and just leave it at that does any form of media a disservice. Media, consciously or subconsciously, can affect people in many ways so to not discuss things that may be problematic could stifle improvement. I've ranted on and on about the increase in mediocre harem and slice of life shows and how many shows seem to be pushing ecchi and moe but I do also think that some anime are worth discussing on thematic levels.

When you start endlessly trying to justify your love of something so inconsequential it gets rather silly. If you are actually stressing out because someone doesn't like a cartoon the way you do, I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that you are tripping up over a dumb cartoon.

That much is agreeable, but that's a matter of people picking their own battles. People want to justify their love of anime, fine, I think it's needed given the bad rep we have but perhaps we do go too far

 

[Elfgore]

They did, but I don't think it was popular enough to justify a spotlight. Though quite a few people watch anime here, not nearly enough do. Especially if they are paying the reviewers. I'm not sure if the Escapist is still having money issues, but paying someone to review such a niche thing wouldn't help.

...Now if they were offering the job, I'd jump all over that shit. *cough* take the hint *cough*

All right, you want to take up the position

Two questions:

One, when did you start getting into anime and how much have you seen? this will give us a reference point of your tastes

Two,(my own personal), what is your stance on the current production of moe and self-insert shows?

My taste shouldn't really matter, nor the date I started watching anime. I do a small review of anime in the user review section here, I come at shows from a purely unbiased standpoint. I have two scores for anime, one is my personal score as a viewer and another as a reviewer. I gave my two favorite anime of all times a six and seven out of ten.

The moe genre has as much right to exist as Attack on Titan or Cowboy Bepop. Just because you do not enjoy them, doesn't mean others find it awesome. The self-insert shows, I never even heard of that from anyone besides yourself. You last time pointed to Ichika from Infinite Stratos, who I agree is a very dull and boring character, but I've never personally done this and I've never talked to a fan of the show to see if they have. Can you give me some more examples of these characters? It would really help to get an idea of what you mean.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Oh, I thought this topic was on about a mascot, not a reviewer. I'm mildly disappointed now.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

They did, but I don't think it was popular enough to justify a spotlight. Though quite a few people watch anime here, not nearly enough do. Especially if they are paying the reviewers. I'm not sure if the Escapist is still having money issues, but paying someone to review such a niche thing wouldn't help.

...Now if they were offering the job, I'd jump all over that shit. *cough* take the hint *cough*

All right, you want to take up the position

Two questions:

One, when did you start getting into anime and how much have you seen? this will give us a reference point of your tastes

Two,(my own personal), what is your stance on the current production of moe and self-insert shows?

My taste shouldn't really matter, nor the date I started watching anime. I do a small review of anime in the user review section here, I come at shows from a purely unbiased standpoint. I have two scores for anime, one is my personal score as a viewer and another as a reviewer. I gave my two favorite anime of all times a six and seven out of ten.

The moe genre has as much right to exist as Attack on Titan or Cowboy Bepop. Just because you do not enjoy them, doesn't mean others find it awesome. The self-insert shows, I never even heard of that from anyone besides yourself. You last time pointed to Ichika from Infinite Stratos, who I agree is a very dull and boring character, but I've never personally done this and I've never talked to a fan of the show to see if they have. Can you give me some more examples of these characters? It would really help to get an idea of what you mean.

I tend to see any harem protagonist with some element of self-insert: the type of character in which we want to be in his position because he barely does anything and yet women rush him down. I sadly can't name any but I guess the guy in Noucome (his absolute choice should not get him anyone) or Kamijou Touma (his horrible luck and stupidity magically get people to like him for some pissing reason) would be considered them. Basically it's just a character with no real flaws or flaws that paradoxically actually get him people.

Maybe it's just my own kneejerk reaction but I tend to find harem protagonists boring or completely passive and the fantasy the shows sell don't improve my perception of them either: Oh, with barely any effort on your part, tons of sexy women flock to you. It's like the hero gets the girl thing only without any of the heroics.

As for my distaste for moe, most of the shows that people prop up as bastions of moe are stuff like K-on or A-channel which have no dramatic tension, no conflict, and are nothing but just cute girls doing cute things and I just smack my head in boredom. When I look at anime, I see a medium that is able to challenge people's morals and view of the world by making situations and worlds that don't exist in real life but reflect something in humanity; the moe stuff squanders that potential just to make us feel nice and comfy.