So what's the deal with anime?

[Sisyphus]

So what's the appeal? Lots of people, even some who post here, say they're really "in to" it. So what does it consist of that makes it appealing? Is it just the particular animation style? The deadpan ultraviolence? The submissive/hyperobjectified women? The pedophilia?

[YT2095]

Amines I can tell you about, Anime.... Not a clue!

[bascule]

I really liked cartoons when I was growing up. As I entered my teen years, I saw with anime a way to keep watching cartoons that, at the time, I felt better suited my age.

 

Eventually I realized anime is crap and I needed to move on... to movies, documentaries, books, etc.

[DaveC426913]

I am not into anime, so hopefully I can provide a less ... subjective ... viewpoint.

 

In the anime I have seen, the stories are astonishingly deep and dramatic with huge sweeping story arcs. Unlike western stories, which are almost invariably self-conscious (see what we did there? We made an obscure reference! And it's a cliche! Aren't we clever?), anime stories take themselves quite seriously, and it shows.

 

Thne again, I have to be careful speaking too broadly. I have not seen a lot.

[Dak]

im not really an 'anime fan' as such, tho i do like it (and all animation).

 

there are two things i mainly like about anime:

 

1/ it's special effects. once you've realised that the simplistic lines represent chareceture'd people, it can seem remarcably realistic. i wont boor you with the 'science' behind it, but briefly: the minimalistic approach leads your brain into essentially 'filling in the gaps' in the drawing, hence making it seem quite vivid, and also the charecetureisation makes everything look 'more real than reality' (sortof).

 

2/ it's random wiredness -- resultant from it mainly originating from an entirely different culture, with entirely different myths etc -- appeals to my crazy british sence of humour.

 

tho, i admit that the random rapings, and espescially the paedo, have always slightly conserned me. tho i do kinda think things are funny in inverse proportion to their appropriateness, so i kinda laugh at them anyway.

[Heretic]

Well my deal with Anime is simple. I enjoy the art style.

 

I find the characters are goofy, the plot better then most hollywood movies and the music extremely well put together. Series like Full Metal Alchlemist have few unique stories, driven by memorable characters. Series like Elfin Lied take the art to it's limits, with more drama then a soap opera, more gore and violence then a B movie, more mystery then a typical murder mystery.

 

If you don't enjoy anime, it's not a big deal. Not all anime is crap, most of the stuff imported to the US is crap because for some reason anime fans here are more about tentacle rape then anything else. That stuff is the stuff to avoid.

 

Watch a series like Full Metal since it's easily accessible, or something like Inuyasha, which is more for kids but deals with some adult situations. Noir is also a good series. It has an interesting plot, thought the character development is a little weak. Actually you know what will really blow your mind? Serial Experiments Lain. Look that up and watch it. It's crazy stuff.

 

I guess the deal with anime is it's entertainment. It's a real art form whether you want to accept it or not. It's not all about child rape or whatever your culture has convinced you it's about. It is simply a different media used to tell a story.

[Royston]

2/ it's random wiredness -- resultant from it mainly originating from an entirely different culture, with entirely different myths etc -- appeals to my crazy british sence of humour.

 

This is pretty much why I enjoy anime now and again, and the dialogue when translated to English is hilarious. I guess the unique style, and slick animation is another reason why it's so appealing...plus it's 'no holds barred' in it's content, so you have no idea what to expect next. I think Akira pretty much kick started anime to the west, and set the scene...however I'm more a fan of Miyazaki's work (Spirited Away..et.c) not really anime, but has aspects of the style and content.

 

tho, i admit that the random rapings, and espescially the paedo, have always slightly conserned me. tho i do kinda think things are funny in inverse proportion to their appropriateness, so i kinda laugh at them anyway.

 

Not sure about the paedophilia side, but anime (along with the rapings) has spilled out onto live action...'Ichi the Killer' definitely rings of anime, definitely not for kids

[ecoli]

I enjoy anime art (though I'll admit, I don't read much of it). What I don't like are anime fans. Who tend to be loud, obnoxious teens who think they're Japanese because they watch anime and listen to some j-pop music and know how to say a couple of lines of Japanese.

 

I especially hate the fact that anime has taken over 'my' sci-fi convention (I-con).

[padren]

A friend of mine harassed me until I watched Gundam Seed in its entirety. Never been an anime fan, but I was blown away by that series' plot and depth.

Human nature and conflict was done so well it deeply impacted my thinking on topics of war and human nature. The most interesting element to me is that neither side of the war was "bad" or "good" but people locked in very human fears where each side of the war contained a mix of reasonable people and some zealots, in which the escalation of violence continually pushed each side towards the idealogy of the more intolerant individuals so much so that you could almost think you were watching a real life world scenario spin out of control.

I'll enjoy any medium that can convey those sorts of complexities - assuming those complexities involve more than kids collecting animals and making them fight.

 

Other series I've enjoyed would be Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy Bebop...though they are generally more candy and style with some interesting ideas than substantial plot.

[Mokele]

I used to be heavily into it, and I still find some good. I think there's some major points that you need to know in order to understand it. First, as Dak said, it utilizes a very effective form of art, but that really only unites it as far as being text unites all books.

 

Most importantly, it's TV/movies. As such, it comes in a wide range of quality (from wonderful to atrocious), is targeted at a range of age groups and interests (kids to teens to adults), and comes in a variety of genres (sci-fi, teen comedy, western, etc). A lot of watching anime is filtering the shit from the good stuff.

 

Also, it's worth noting that's it's a form of media produced for the populace of culture which is a) a lot more educated and b) deal with censorship via the almightly remote control and watching what kids watch. As such, even shows targeted towards the young is free to examine more mature themes (Sailor Moon, a show for pre-teen girls, had a prominent same-sex couple among the protagonists in the early 90s) or just indulge in mindless violence.

 

Another thing I'd note is the lack of "gee-whiz" special effects. You can draw explosions and people equally easily, so there's less tendency toward shows/movies driven soley by special effects.

 

So that's basically it in a nutshell. The main point is that it's not some monolithic whole. Most is mediocre, some sucks, and some is truly great, just like any other media genre/style.

 

Mokele

[JesuBungle]

Idk about the other shows, but I looooooove Cowboy Bebop. Every episode is exciting. The music is also pretty good.

[-Demosthenes-]

Have you seen American TV? Sitcoms are the same twelve stories told over and over again (maybe thirteen), TV news is stupid, and American Cartoons are either mind numbingly boring, or when they aren't boring they have profanity in them (I still love Futurama).

 

PS: J-Pop is just as boring as American Pop.

[Pangloss]

My wife and I (avid movie buffs) picked up Cowboy Bebop (the movie) and some of the Miyazaki titles and enjoyed them quite a bit. My personal favorite was Spirited Away. I was fascinated by the cultural cues.

 

The only other animation I've enjoyed recently are the Pixar movies. The rest is garbage as far as I can tell. I'm sure there are other anime titles I would enjoy, but American studios are flooded with animated nonsense these days (so much so that audiences are starting to turn away).

 

Oh, I also enjoyed "Grave of the Fireflies" quite a bit. That one's not so much an animated film as it is a socio-political statement about the firebombing of Japan in 1945 -- a very emotional story. I tend to think of it as the "Japanese Schindler's List" (strictly in terms of emotional content).

[bascule]

I really, really, really liked the art. I dunno why. It certainly dominated everything I drew at the time:

 

 

(Card Captor Sakura, Meia from Vandread, Madoka Ayukawa from Kimagure Orange Road)

[GutZ]

For me the art is ok, it's more of the story and culture that I prefer. I can't stand dubbed versions of anime, most of them destroy all the culture and feel to the movie or series. Also I don't like all anime, I like mostly ones that deal with combat. I like darker anime like Berserk *points to Avatar and Signature* and the OVA of kenshin. Others like DBZ is more for corny thrills and cool affects, like a Martial Arts film. Bleach started off great but then it turned into a DBZ style series sadly.

[-Demosthenes-]

Others like DBZ is more for corny thrills and cool affects, like a Martial Arts film.

Not even! Dragan Ball had an amazing story, and Dragon Ball Z after that was even better. Dragon Ball GT was horrible though, it was exactly as you say "more for corny thrills and cool affects."

[insane_alien]

for me its just something to watch when i just feel like lazing about with my gf

[padren]

I can't stand dubbed versions of anime, most of them destroy all the culture and feel to the movie or series.

 

Oh god that is very true - I had completely forgotten about that. Not only that but the dubbed versions are usually "americanized" to the point of being acceptable content to 12 year olds - huge plot elements can be cut out. By the tone of the voice actors, it sounds like they were given a script and just dubbed it after working on "scooby doo" or some other kid's cartoon...with no idea of the original emotion or tone of either the characters or the story.

 

Glad you mentioned that because I'd be very confused why people may like it if I had only been exposed to dubs.

[iglak]

i like anime primarily because of the in-depth drama in the story. american TV/movies can have drama in them, but it's usually kind of pointless: just there to add some flare to the whole thing.

 

(good) anime, on the other hand, has drama that simply exists because that's how the characters react to the situations. because of this, animes tend to have amazing backstories for characters, and often deal with motivation and various emotions and human qualities in detail.

 

 

for an example, take Naruto. it's a very popular anime that has been out for a few years, and is not even half finished (the dubbed version is also one of the worst i have ever heard).

the main concepts are:

- loneliness is the worst kind of pain.

- pain makes people stronger (due to the determination it gives them to escape that pain).

- evil is better than nothing.

- true strength comes from trying to protect someone you care about.

 

civilized society is comfortable, but it's not interresting. subjects like this, and related things like depression or murder or determination are frowned upon for conversation. most often, the reaction i encounter is "i don't care, i just want to be happy!" or "stop thinking about it and just do it."

 

so anime becomes the only source i have available to give me any realistic sort of knowledge of motivation and emotions. sure, i could learn it all by myself, but animes give a good base and point me in the right direction to learn more. this is especially important as a teenager, when the emotional and motivational parts of my mind are growing the most.

[Pleiades]

I enjoy anime for the same reasons people enjoy live action TV shows and movies: because it’s entertaining. Anime isn’t a genre; it’s another medium for entertainment. The fact that it is part of a totally different culture can make it refreshing compared to western entertainment.

 

There are good and bad anime, just as there are good and bad TV shows. You can’t just condemn or praise the whole medium.

 

As for the violence, have you watched any American TV lately? Shows like CSI are just disgusting with all that gore.

[-Demosthenes-]

for an example' date=' take Naruto. it's a very popular anime that has been out for a few years, and is not even half finished (the dubbed version is also one of the worst i have ever heard).

the main concepts are:

- loneliness is the worst kind of pain.

- pain makes people stronger (due to the determination it gives them to escape that pain).

- evil is better than nothing.

- true strength comes from trying to protect someone you care about.[/quote']

 

Gaara (one of the characters showing some of the concepts you mentioned) seems to be an analysis of the reason why people are evil/do evil things. Is it the environment, or is it something inside of you? What else should be mentioned is the destiny vs. free will plot (Neji plot). You can find these deep concepts that are comparable to those found in classic literature.