Disdain for new fantasy

[Merlion]

Took me all of six seconds to find this at random:

http://www.cgmill.com/ss/3d/20051001_anime_girl.jpg

This is the kind of rubbish I think of when I think of anime.

WARNING: Rated PG-13, but probably not worksafe.

Then you don't know very much about anime. Not to say that sort of thing isnt part of a lot of it. And even a big part of some of it. But it has no part at all in some, and only a small part in others.

 

[hopeless]

anime & d&d

anime has
Intriguing stories
Fantasy Action
Compelling Heroes

D and D should have
Intriguing stories
Fantasy Action
Comeplling stories

Anime also embraces a lot of differnet styles. To say i hate d andd becomes its becoming anime is like saying i hate ps3 because they make action games. Well if you dont like one style of action you don't have to play that style. There are plenty of traditional fantasy anime "slayers, Lodoss wars"

Louie the Rune Soldier... well except for that bit where if they break their wands they can't cast magic... but after that debacle called Blackmoor I think its an apt addition albeit I plan on using that for an eberron campaign and no the lead character of that anime series isn't a wizard or a sorceror I was kind of leaning towards a Brelish Aristocrat but haven't decided whether the character would be best becoming a rogue or a bard...

 

[hopeless]

Oh yes

The Lodoss OVA is a better D&D movie than the actual D&D movies.

More accurate too.

And the dragons in that series make those in the movies look remarkably limp.

The way they demonstrated their reactions and the difference between the dwarf and the elf spoke volumes of the background.

I believe Louie the rune soldier was based on the continent North of the accursed isle although the crsytannia series is set later its also in the same camapign world...

And that one has shifters, check it out for yourselves!

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Plenty of fans and non-fans are able to correctly tell the difference between anime and non-anime when it is presented to them, typically within the first minute (second?). This indicates that there is in fact a dimension to the artistic style of anime that is consistent across the entire collection of works. This artistic dimension, whether in pacing, character design, set design, artwork, sound, plot, characterization, or animation does exist, whether or not individuals can identify or agree on what the elements are.

That said, I do not believe that D&D contains these elements. Certainly some elements, such as animation, can't possibly be included in the game. Most of the other elements, though, are artistic in nature, and not codified in the ruleset, or even codifiable. It is possible for the artwork in D&D to contain a number of anime elements, but I haven't seen any evidence that WOTC has included them in artwork. Indeed, it appears that WOTC has deliberately made sure that official D&D art does not contain these elements, keeping it artistically distinct and non-anime in style.

So, I don't think that D&D is anime-influenced.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

They were asking for this occuance in D&D art, not in anime.

Well, "juggy" art has been a staple of Western fantasy for some time, both in the source literature and the FRPG products.

Its gotten less prevalent, however.

Most of what I've seen in the RPG market of the last few years has been niche 3rd party publishers' materials, not WotC or the major 3rd party publishers. There was a series of supplements my FLGS used to carry in which every cover featured some woman who looked like she was employed in a job that required daily use of a large brass pole...and I don't mean "firefighter."

However, there are still the occasional flashes of boobicular art- mostly with unearthly beings with an artful concealing wisp of hair, singing arm or flashing weapon- but the Wilder in the XPH is fairly chesty.

 

[RFisher]

It aired in the U.S. as "Battle of the Planets".

Loved that show.

For another example, look at the Pokemount.

I don't think anyone who uses the term "Pokémount" means, "They stole the idea from Pokémon." Rather, they mean, "I find this mechanic so silly--especially in the context of D&D as I play it--that I'm going to express that through a nickname."

It's just that Pokémon is a well known (& in certain circle, well ridiculed) entity that is superficially similar & has a name that it was easy to adapt to the derrogatory nickname.

 

[WayneLigon]

Why did Gygax name his primary character Mordenkainen instead of some anime name? Thats because the name is obviously Finnish (ask Gygax), and Gygax knows his fantasy

Probably because in the 70's, the only places you could have ever seen anime might have been at some of the larger fan conventions if you managed to find it on the track, or the few shows other than Astroboy that ever made it to US TV. For a good chunk of the 80's, you'd have had to seek it out specifically.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Personal preference style: And not, this doesn't make it wrong, just a preference.

For example: I hate the anime that have characters weilding swords with the itty bitty thin handles and the bigger-than-life-taller-than-the-character blades. I just don't like it. It bends realism in a way that I don't appreciate it being bent. Bad for me, but not wrong.

For another example: I also don't want Matrix or Crouch Tiger Hidden Dragon stlye cinematics (which are also typical of some anime) as a part of my game. I love them as a part of the movies, and the Matrix trilogy is one of my favorites. But I don't want them in my game. Again, bad for me, but not wrong.

None of this makes me a grognard. It does make me have a personal style for enjoyment.

Perfectly said, my thoughts exactly.

 

[DonTadow]

I'd rather have an inclusive system that accomodates all styles of fantasy than an exclusive system that is built off of what fantasy was 40 years ago.

 

[Mallus]

Probably because in the 70's, the only places you could have ever seen anime might have been at some of the larger fan conventions if you managed to find it on the track, or the few shows other than Astroboy that ever made it to US TV.

What if Gary and Co. were old-school anime fans! Mordenkainen might have been "Kimba the White Lion Mage", creator of "Kimba's Verdant Veldt", a spell that conjures an extra-dimensional grassland full of tasty gazelle.

I now have my next character. Thanks!