Disdain for new fantasy

[Lonely Tylenol]

That's crazy, WizarDru. Who wouldn't like Terminator or Die Hard?!

Well, they're so anime...

 

[Henry]

Anime is an art style, not a genre.

And it's an art style that doesn't grab everyone. As noted, most of my dislikes of it actually stem from the art style as much as the plot elements. It's like if 4th Edition were to use Salvador Dali surrealist pieces as their main source of art, I'd probably be turned off to the rules in the book, even if they were good. Art (or lack of it) can heavily influence ones' impressions of the rest of a work.

 

[Umbran]

It's a valid opinion to have, but it raises eyebrows from folks who know there's more out there than that.

Well, it isn't like having differences in terminology is new - diehard fans of something will always have a more discerning eye for differences than the more casual observer. Consider the bookstores that don't differentiate between sci-fi and fantasy books, where a fan of either generally would.

 

[Rykion]

I like some Anime, but dislike a lot of Anime. I wouldn't want to see D&D with a lot of Anime inspired art. I like Anime RPGs such as BESM, but I would prefer D&D to maintain mostly European fantasy elements for its base setting.

Anime is an art style, not a genre.

I do not think it is just the physical art, but also the tropes/worldview imbued by its creators. Many cartoons have North American/European writers, but art created in Japan or Asia. Even when this art is Anime inspired, I do not think of the show as Anime. I would not characterize the original Transformers cartoon as Anime as it had western writers and directors. Avatar the Last Airbender is Anime in style, and heavily Asian in influence, but having American writers makes it feel noticeably different to anyone who watches Anime.

 

[jdrakeh]

anime: Have you seen the kind of people that are huge into anime? Scary . . .

Have you seen the kind of people who are into RPGs?

 

[Aloïsius]

What I disliked the most in 3e new style was not stuff I perceived as "anime" (or rather "manga") but comics... From my point of view, comics art style is as "alien" as manga art style. And both of them seems related.

 

[Mallus]

Have you seen the kind of people who are into RPGs?

I hear they have beards and relate more easily to wizards than giant robot pilots.

 

[Eric Tolle]

Have you seen the kind of people who are into RPGs?

At the anime con I went to this year, I noticed one major element of anime fans- they're young. Anime fans used to fit the SF/gamer/Geek stereotype, but over the last few years, as its gotten more popular, the fans look more like a skatepunk/rave/hip teen crowd. As for the gamer crowd at the local game con..."Middle-aged Linux Guru" seemed to decscribe most of them.

Wich may be one of the big understated reasons people are complaining about anime- its popular. If D&D attracts too much of that crowd, it might- heaven forbid- become popular too. And no D&D TrueFan actually wants young people involved in the hobby.

 

[AllisterH]

Another big difference is the sheer number of girls interested in anime compared to tabletop RPGs

 

[Crazy Jerome]

My personal preferences generally cause me to ignore anything that appears to be striving for coolness for coolness sake alone. Perhaps unfairly, anime strikes me that way (as do a lot of other popular things). Steam punk annoys me more, though. I can live with a certain amout of both, as long as they don't intrude too much. A characteristic art style does tend to cause such things to demand consideration, when I'd really rather simply ignore them.

Really, I'm fine with any influence, as long as the influence is about something other than being cool.