Why is anime so terrible?

[MacGuffin]

I don't think that Elfboy is the exception. Not every anime fan walks around referring to anime, but it seems really common to me in real life as well as here- in the few anime freaks I've encountered. It's just so disturbing to me to idolize/ try to personify cartoon characters. And, again, I know that sounds ridiculous in itself, I don't know why it's so disturbing. It looks like cartoons to me. I know that they are supposed to tell some story that people are supposed to find true in their own lives. Someone else referred to the band "Coheed and Cambria" in the same way. I just can't make that jump. It's just escapism at the end of the day, and everybody needs that in some way. (Some people need American Idol. Some people need star wars, some people need soap operas, some people need Anime, I guess.)

I love Star Wars. But I don't constantly refer to it. In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of any group of fans that constantly refers to the object of their fandom the way anime fans do.

 

[iwakar]

There are a few animes that I've been acquainted with via several... well come to think of it... FPs really that are pretty good. But my interest is passing. Their interest is more like a rabid fetish. I don't know why anime fandom inspires such... unhealthy levels of obsession frankly.

 

[The Ü™]

A lot of animes would be much better if they were made into big budget American blockbusters. Like Death Note, for example, with proper actors and above all, a proper music score.

Unfortunately, the anime in its current state is just goofy, and like all animes, hard to look at.

 

[knight]

big boobed girl in Japanese school girl uniform with great big sword is a demon slayer at night and student by day.

^i just made that up. Im sure though, there are a ton of anime that match this and maybe some hentai as well.


death note was the best anime that I have seen so far, also cowboy bebop was not too bad. I seen some others, was kind of disappointed.

ghost in the shell was good as well.

for the most part, anime falls on a simple pattern. usually the characters are not intricate in themselves

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I like the best of it, and I still mostly hate anime.

And Death Note is teh lame.

 

[Wanderer]

Hmm. Well. I enjoy anime, though I don't ever admit it in real life, and the friends I have that DO enjoy anime are similarly closeted. There IS a stigma associated with it, because well.

Most anime is crap.
Sailor Moon? Dragon Ball Z? Yugioh? Inuyasha? Naruto?
I would rather drink a bowl of warm dog snot.

for the most part, anime falls on a simple pattern. usually the characters are not intricate in themselves

Annnd here we see the TV Trope argument. Every plot can be "boiled down" into specific "tropes" - http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage
This argument applies to everything though, and I'd say much of what Hollywood pumps out is just as bland and predictable as most Anime.

Personally, I pick and choose what I watch, for Anime and for Movies. I have limited time and I don't waste it on something I won't enjoy. Twilight? Transformers 3? Sorry, I've got better things to do with my time.

One other strike against Anime is "Fan Service" - so if you're a guy and you watch Anime, clearly "you're a pervert, because it's cartoon porn isn't it!?!?!"

You would be surprised the number of times I've had to argue this one. What can I say? The Japanese are an island nation of perverts. I put it in the same category as R-rated movies, or series like "Dexter" on Showtime. I'm an adult, I choose to watch this because of the story, NOT because of "fan service".


Some anime that is surprisingly good and relatively friendly to the uninitiated.

Full Metal Alchemist & Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Though at times it is too "drama" filled. Took me till episode 4 to start getting interested.)

Cowboy Bebop (The only live action comparison I can make would be to firefly; Or rather, I would say that firefly is vaguely reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop, since Cowboy Bebop came first.)

Death Note (Will you root for the Villain Protaganist or for the ones trying to catch him? All I know is that if there IS such a thing as a death note, heaven help the world if it were to fall into my hands xD)

And lastly, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. Bar none, BEST anime I've watched. Ever.

 

[Rail Tracer]

Ehhh, I don't watch every anime that comes out... nor do I watch all the animes that are popular. Still haven't even touch Death Note yet.

big boobed girl in Japanese school girl uniform with great big sword is a demon slayer at night and student by day.

^i just made that up...

[YOUTUBE="hkA6kh5j_wI"]...[/YOUTUBE]

^but yeah, I was happily browsing through youtube when that came up.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Actually, quite a few sports threads, the difference is that in sports threads, those without interest in the sports don't bitch about it. Whilest those that don't like anime seems to have to bitch about it. ;D

I'd really have my work cut out for me if I injected my opposition to professional sports into every topic on it.

Well, elfboy is an exception.

Nothing else needed to be said. May he never be the standard.

 

[Haphazard]

Currently I've been reading/watching Black Butler, though I'm not sure which is better, the anime or the manga. They both definitely have their failings but I'm enjoying both of them. What else am I watching? Hm. Neon Genesis Evangelion Rebuild.

I do find that a lot of anime is overwrought, but then again, I found the final Harry Potter movie to be the same way. Beggars can't be choosers.

 

[Viridian]

It's a medium like any other, with its own tropes and genres. (Technically, though, it's a medium + the cultural baggage of its country of origin, but I dislike nitpicking too much)

 

[ZPowers]

I find anime unremarkable. I neither relate to the emphatic hate nor emphatic love that is felt for it. I don't know how it became so polarizing. It seems to have an average rate of quality comparable to western work.

I'm gonna second this. I've seen anime I found really dumb, some I've really liked, and several that were more than anything unremarkable. And, among those groups, I also found most (not quite all) to be a bit overrated, especially by my fair number of friends who are anime-fanboys (the the extent they are constantly on me to go to this . . . Non Des Kon or NDK convention about anime they always get a hotel room for?). Of course, I guess I could say the same about people who are dismissive of all anime as underrating it.

So yeah, it's one of those things that seems to inspire bizarre devotion or unreasonable, blind hate (sort of like, say, Twilight does). I tend to fall in the middle.

 

[Rail Tracer]

I'm gonna second this. I've seen anime I found really dumb, some I've really liked, and several that were more than anything unremarkable. And, among those groups, I also found most (not quite all) to be a bit overrated, especially by my fair number of friends who are anime-fanboys (the the extent they are constantly on me to go to this . . . Non Des Kon or NDK convention about anime they always get a hotel room for?). Of course, I guess I could say the same about people who are dismissive of all anime as underrating it.

So yeah, it's one of those things that seems to inspire bizarre devotion or unreasonable, blind hate (sort of like, say, Twilight does). I tend to fall in the middle.

People just need to be a bit more picky and look for an anime that seems interesting.

I've seen anime where not many people seem to know about and I've seen anime where everyone seems to know about. I've also avoided anime where everyone seems to know about.

The anime itself doesn't need to look all fantastic. I've seen some more simplistic and softer styles of animation done that I very much liked... like Shouwa Monogatari, Zettai Shounen[first 12 episodes],) and Kemono no Sou-ja Erin with stories that were pretty cool. If I were to ask someone if they had watch any of these series, chances are that I'll get a big "WHAT?"

Contrast that to other styles like Lucky Star (cute) and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (your typical school anime)... ehhh not enough of a story to like it much. They are more like slapstick and satirical based. And apparently, people seem to like these.

 

[Haphazard]

Another good anime to see is Mushishi. It's gorgeous.

 

[Vasilisa]

I enjoy some anime, including some that is very cheesy. But if this question were asked earnestly

Why is anime so terrible?

my answer would be essentially because it is kitsch and derivative. But formulaic entertainments surround us. I'm not the arbiter of taste here to judge what moves other people. I'm glad for whatever joy fans find in it. They don't strike me as pretentious. I do think anime fans can reveal themselves to be especially engrossed when they reference it in a majority of their comments. Yet I recognize that on the forum, I too reveal myself to have some esoteric interests that might strike others as junk. Plus for them it could be that community of knowers phenomenon that binds fans of celebrity pop culture gossip and other types of soap operas.

 

[Qlip]

*shrug* I still think the haters don't know what they're talking about. It's like hating movies because you saw Gigli. It's a medium, not even a genre. Unfortunately the fandom can be obnoxious if you're not on board, and it's really hard to find stuff that's worth watching without going through them first.

 

[Orangey]

*shrug* I still think the haters don't know what they're talking about. It's like hating movies because you saw Gigli. It's a medium, not even a genre. Unfortunately the fandom can be obnoxious if you're not on board, and it's really hard to find stuff that's worth watching without going through them first.

Exactly.

 

[mrcockburn]

Anime seems like something you'd have to invest a lot of time into watching in order to "follow it." Too much investment, too little return.

And the more rabid fans can be unsavory as well.

 

[MacGuffin]

*shrug* I still think the haters don't know what they're talking about. It's like hating movies because you saw Gigli. It's a medium, not even a genre. Unfortunately the fandom can be obnoxious if you're not on board, and it's really hard to find stuff that's worth watching without going through them first.

I disagree. Anime is not a completely separate artform like film, it is a genre. It is a style of animation, often originating from Japan. It has certain characteristics that distinguish it from other animation. You can spot anime by these very characteristics, despite the fact that it shares many other similarities with other animation genres.

 

[Qlip]

I disagree. Anime is not a completely separate artform like film, it is a genre. It is a style of animation, often originating from Japan. It has certain characteristics that distinguish it from other animation. You can spot anime by these very characteristics, despite the fact that it shares many other similarities with other animation genres.

I wouldn't even say that it's a style exactly. I really don't think the word should be taken any more seriously than 'animation from Japan'. The bulk of it does have a lot of conventions and a similar visual style. There's that Disney derivative style and for the TV shows a serial style storytelling. The same goes for American animation. Most of it will be Disney and ripoffs and the TV shows will be Saturday morning cartoons. Even so, along with He-Man and The Little Mermaid, there's Heavy Metal and The Simpsons.

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

It isn't.