A thought about anime

[Drew-san]

I used to love anime years ago. I watched all kinds of it and my friends did too. But a while ago I realized most of my reasoning was more of a cool, drawings, swords, magic, and stuff like that was really what was drawing my young mind toward it.

I still like some animes, but a lot of them are ridiculously bad in my opinion. I think the whole cool factor is what draws a lot of people to anime. What are your thoughts?
:souka:

[himeji]

There is no cool attached to anime here; the opposite in fact. /All/ my friends think I'm insane and don't 'get' any of it no matter how much I try to enlighten them.

At best they consider it 'kid's stuff' and at worst pornography.

No matter; I love it.

I'm more interested in the cute/funny/school/sci-fi stuff rather than the magic/swords/fighting etc stuff but I expect I'd like those too.

I'm amazed at the Japanese sense of humour; IMO some of it is so old-school British as to be unbelievable. Some Anime are simply side-splittingly funny.

Many contain much serious thought wrapped up in cute and funny packages.

I also like the sound of Japanese speech (I can't abide dubbed, especially American voices) and the Japanese attitude to life, although that can be a bit OTT in a number of ways (but they know that as many anime demonstrate).

But cool does not come into it; it's not cool here.

[Aurura]

Real friendship/ Determination of goals/ Deep concepts/ Romantic themes are the kinds of animes and JDramas I like to watch.

Japanese humor is very intriguing to witness. I like the unique way that they show emotions in animes, like the sweat drop when nervous, blue -shadowed face when scared or trying to scare someone else, the blank/hair-covered face when shy or embarrassed, the "vein pop" on the side of the head when angry. I also like the spiky, needle-like lines that move up a char's body when they get the creeps about something.

I like how anime creators find ways to make a moving story out of almost any subject -- from sports (Suzuka, Prince of Tennis, etc.) to performing arts (Princess Tutu, Glass Mask, etc.), or deep and mind-bending (Kaiba, Noein), even baking bread! (but if forgot the name of that anime...)

Recently, though, most anime has turned too dark for me to enjoy. I personally don't like animes of dark humor or just plain macabre with no humor at all.

There are some set cliches in anime, to be sure, but what form of art doesn't have its own cliches? It can take time and effort, but finding those unique, one-of-a-kind shows, but they're out there...

[himeji]

It can take time and effort, but finding those unique, one-of-a-kind shows, but they're out there...

One such is Winter Garden, a 2 episode Christmas special (J. C Staff, whose production I particularly like). If you've not seen it then, from what you say, I think you'd like it. A masterpiece, IMO.

[Drew-san]

I think you took my meaning of cool the wrong way. Not the way your friends and everyone else perceive it, or you because you like it, But for you personally.

And when I said magic, swords, fighting, and all of that I was talking about, well what you said too. It was an example of characteristics, but not the specific category of those things. >.<

[Aurura]

Not the way your friends and everyone else perceive it, or you because you like it, But for you personally.


:? Gomen nasai... I guess I just don't quite understand what you mean by "you personally", then.

Do you mean a person wanting to 'be like' what they saw in the anime?

[Drew-san]

Not what other people thinking it's cool and wanting to fit in, but you think it's cool.

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Method of making trivial animated cartoon interesting


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[totallylost202]

This is an interesting thread. It just proves that many Japanophiles actually aren't always hardcore anime fans. I think anime has become so mainstream and that is why some of the older fans are starting to worry about where it's going to end up. Personally, I was into anime because I liked the stories. They have a lot of deep meaning to them and as Aurura said, the ones where themes such as friendship, deep concepts and determination to achieve a goal are explored are very watchable. However, this is coming from someone who used to watch Hamtaro when she was 13! Ahh... those hamsters were cute. ^_^

[himeji]

I think anime has become so mainstream

Really?

I guess it depends on what you class as anime.

Would you, for instance, class W.I.T.C.H. as anime?; W.I.T.C.H. is, IMO, a superb effort at anime (mainly because Disney does not control it; which is why they, allegedly, don't like it much) but it's /not/ (IMO) anime because the real thing, no matter how poorly done, still has something about it that's different from any European/American/whatever production. Basically the real thing has to be Japanese... but W.I.T.C.H. is pretty close (it's the French influence I think because the French do anime [IMO] the second best).

Personally I'd say anime was mainstream when Chanel 4 showed something like Sky Girls (Sky showed it, I think, but late at night) around 5pm on a Sunday afternoon in Japanese, subtitles would be ok but it /must/ be the original Japanese dialogue.

I am a Japanophile (I started in the early '70s when I did a large geography project on Japan) but I'm not hard-core anime; I just like and enjoy them; so you are right in my case.

[EDI]

heh,i think the most interesting about anime is the robot. i don't like girly or porn anime. but i never like the robo hentai genre anime,that's suck. the cool robot is stained by some porn

But ironically my Japanese girlfriend like porn anime. Fortunately,she doesn't like it as much as she does before,although she still like to watch hentai anime.

[totallylost202]

Really?
I guess it depends on what you class as anime.
Would you, for instance, class W.I.T.C.H. as anime?; W.I.T.C.H. is, IMO, a superb effort at anime (mainly because Disney does not control it; which is why they, allegedly, don't like it much) but it's /not/ (IMO) anime because the real thing, no matter how poorly done, still has something about it that's different from any European/American/whatever production. Basically the real thing has to be Japanese... but W.I.T.C.H. is pretty close (it's the French influence I think because the French do anime [IMO] the second best).
Personally I'd say anime was mainstream when Chanel 4 showed something like Sky Girls (Sky showed it, I think, but late at night) around 5pm on a Sunday afternoon in Japanese, subtitles would be ok but it /must/ be the original Japanese dialogue.
I am a Japanophile (I started in the early '70s when I did a large geography project on Japan) but I'm not hard-core anime; I just like and enjoy them; so you are right in my case.

No, I wouldn't class W.I.T.C.H as anime and yes, I think it has French origins. :-) It's like Avatar. I would not class that as anime. It's a very good attempt at it but it's not true anime.
If I could give you examples, I would have to start with things like Dragonball, Inuyasha, Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon. Of course, they're for the younger audiences but they're all true anime, right? They are mainstream in the sense that over here, they have been shown dubbed* on cartoon channels and even terrestial channels (apart from Inuyasha). They have attempted to build a market on it - you can even buy plushies in certain shops. I think with more people getting interested in it, the industry is booming. It won't be long now until more adult anime is shown subtitled on Channel 4 or even ITV. Of course, when I talk about mainstream, I am only talking about anime intented for younger audiences. The more adult stuff, I admit, isn't as well-known. I suppose this, in a way, is due to our perceptions of anime generally being a thing for children, which countries like Japan do not have.

*Ahh, dubbing is another thing as well. When an anime gets (usually awfully) dubbed into English, you know it has become popular. ;)

[himeji]

> No, I wouldn't class W.I.T.C.H as anime

Like me then.

and yes, I think it has French origins.

It's an Italian manga originally (still is): the SIP version is toned down (nudity, violence etc) due to Disney but all but 2 (I think) episodes still got a PG certificate (why I don't understand but they say it's because of the 'Fantasy Violence').

...

Ah yes; there is a fair amount of real anime on children's TV. It's a pity they don't broadcast the original Japanese vocals with subtitles; but I guess that'd be way too much to expect.

It's, probably, also the reason more serious (adult) anime does not make it.

It won't be long now until more adult anime is shown subtitled on Channel 4 or even ITV

I can't agree there. IMO:

Firstly, the general English adult attitude to foreign languages on TV is apaling: they won't watch it (no audiance, no finance). Kids are different; I can always get kids, say under 14, interested in anime and they think Japanese is funny for a start but they are receptive to it and cotton on very quickly, unlike adults who, mostly IME, just dismiss it out of hand.

Secondly, and it's a little difficult to pin down; the 'sexual' undertones (even in the kid's stuff) of virtually all anime is a bit 'dodgy' for ordinary Tommy. There is quite a big cultural gap.

And lastly I don't think the ordinary ITV viewer is sophisticated enough, simple as that.

dubbing is another thing as well.

A bad thing.

Even with my limited Japanese I can see mis-translations and, sometimes, completely altered meanings.

[whatevs]

I think it's like grabbing images and far out plot lines that attract a lot of people. There's just a sort of vibe in anime that is really different from any western cartoons that draws people in perhaps?

[Drew-san]

I think it's like grabbing images and far out plot lines that attract a lot of people. There's just a sort of vibe in anime that is really different from any western cartoons that draws people in perhaps?

I agree.

It's different from the norm and in my experiences at least the usual anime fans are more of the goth-esque, well, the not popular kids. The people who tend to stray away from what everyone else is doing (rebellious).

[Derfel]

Variety definitely is a very important aspect. Anime is inexpensive to produce (ever since they quit using cells), and this makes to production of all sorts of experimental stuff possible.
Another thing I noticed is the bond between the fans and the story/characters.
Now Once Upon a Time in America is a grandiose film, but clearly more people buy Suzumiya Haruhi than Noodles figures.
Most anime is made from manga. And my opinion is that mangaka have a lot of freedom when creating the storyline and atmosphere. Its not like a film where a bunch of people sit down and discuss how the macho protagonist doesn't sell lately, and so they'll have to use the sensitive type rather.
Anime has no actors, so, no annoying actors (ok, ok, some seiyuu do piss me off, like the type that goes "boku" too often... hell, the type that even considers saying it), so people don't have an urge to puke on the screen, like when Tom Cruise appears.
And the last point would be hentai. Now, if I have the explain why its amazing, humanity has a long long way to go.

[ASHIKAGA]

.....Now Once Upon a Time in America is a grandiose film, but clearly more people buy Suzumiya Haruhi than Noodles figures.

Who knows? I don't think I'm the only one who'd be lining up to buy a Noodles-on-the-beach-in-his-B&W-stripe-one-piece-swimwear figure if it were made available.

[Derfel]

Then again, Robert De Niro isn't Sacha Cohen. :D

[Drew-san]

And the last point would be hentai. Now, if I have the explain why its amazing, humanity has a long long way to go.

Stopped myself. -_-'

[jate]

Honestly the reason why I prefered anime over other shows as a kid is because I was unpopular and thought it was a waste of time to be popular. When I used to watch shows like saved by the bell and happy days they usually gave the impression:
Yeah I know my life sucks. Can you stop rubbing it in already?

However anime never seemed to give me that impression. I always thought it was due to the lack of a high school setting where most of the desire to want to be popular takes place at that age.