Anime culture and D&D

[Ranger REG]

what? naruto is dbz for a the next generation of anime fans, and they love it. ninjas, monks. whatever....

So, Naruto is like Eberron.

Meh. I'm a FR fan. You guys are fussing over it like groupies for Menudo (and I don't want to go through that again).

 

[Faraer]

The misuse of the word trope in an attempt to appear more intellectual than you actually are is a pet peeve of gaming messageboards.

Huh? I know perfectly well what a trope is.

 

[Desdichado]

I've heard a fair amount about Hellsing, to the point that I'm seriously considering adding it to my Netflix queue. What's that one about?

 

[WayneLigon]

I've heard a fair amount about Hellsing, to the point that I'm seriously considering adding it to my Netflix queue. What's that one about?

It's pretty good. Basically, you have an organization that hunts vampires. Alucard (spell that backwards) is their most powerful agent; he's a vampire that kills other vampires. In the first part of the series, he seems to have a set of restrictions placed on him to limit the amount of power he can use. One of the central plot points of the series occurs in the first episode where he gives a young police officer the option of dying or becoming a vampire; she chooses the latter, then has to live and adapt to that choice.

 

[Elemental]

The early episodes of Hellsing are pretty good, but the anime outpaced the manga, so they had to basically make up a new plot for the second half, which wasn't very good (for me). And the ending is a bit weak, and seems to be set up for a sequel, rather than resolving anything.

The manga is a lot more violent and generally OTT (katana-wielding ninja nuns and Nazi werewolves), but I enjoyed it a lot. The anime takes a more serious, horrific tone overall, and some like that more.

Apparently, there is a new series out there, which is based more faithfully on the manga. Youtube has the trailer, so judge for yourself.

 

[Elemental]

You just can't do a lot of Anime stuff in DnD, imo. Gaara from Naruto, for example. Baddest mofo on the whole show. How could you make him a DnD character without being rediculously high level or overpowered?

Well, in fairness, there's a lot of stuff from any genre that won't work in D&D without really skewing the rules or coming up with special exceptions (Thomas Covenant and Gandalf both spring to mind). Tome of Battle does come close to letting you make a Naruto-style fighter, though.

Yeah, just doesn't fit for me. There's no "special attack" my 5th level fighter can do when he's down at 3 hit points to summon up his chi in one last all-or-nothing blast to even the odds.

Well, there sort of is--it's "wait until you're really beaten up to use all your 1/day abilities on one super attack". Of course, player characters don't work like that--if they have a super attack, they'll use it in the first round and as often as possible thereafter, because why not? That said, you're right that there's nothing that makes it a good idea to wait till you're desperate beforeusing the super attack.

 

[D.Shaffer]

Nah, can't even watch anime in dubbed. Just as with dubbed live-action, I'm drawn to the mouth movement and the dialogue that's supposed to match it. Sometimes they run through the sentences very quickly (as if there is no pause for periods).

Western animation tends to do the dialogue first, and then animate to fit the dialogue.

Anime tends to animate first and then do the dialogue. This is why most anime lip movements are just randomised open and shut mouths. It's rare (And usually a sign of a good animation budget) that the lip movements actually match up to the dialogue to begin with.

 

[Rykion]

I'm a fan of Anime style art, but I don't like many of the TV series. A lot of it, in my opinion, is that the Eastern cultural and plot conventions tend not to translate well to a Western audience. I'm a big fan of Avatar: the Last Airbender because it combines Anime style art and storyline with American writing.

My roleplaying really hasn't been effected by Anime yet. I keep planning on an Avatar inspired campaign though.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

Western animation tends to do the dialogue first, and then animate to fit the dialogue.

Anime tends to animate first and then do the dialog. This is why most anime lip movements are just randomized open and shut mouths. It's rare (And usually a sign of a good animation budget) that the lip movements actually match up to the dialog to begin with.

in America, at the art school i attended, we learn from the start from a clip that already existed and use it as inspiration for the animation, so its hard coded into Americans to animate pre existing audio.

I wonder how people in japan learn to animate?

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

So, Naruto is like Eberron.

Ok, you did not just go there, right? I think we're gonna have to have a throwdown now!

Seriously, I've never actually heard the term "face fault" before this thread. What exactly does that refer to? The giant lines in anime character heads? The way mouths are drawn? Something else?