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Does anyone besides me watch Japanese animation?

Tharkun said:
Ok, so tell me what are some flaws in Anime? :D Hey you asked :)

Some of the flaws in anime....well, being the huge fan of it that I am, I have to say I haven't found many. But the again, it is more a matter of oppinion than anything. I think that sometimes the makers of a show ruin it by adding things that needn't be there. For example; I was channel surfing and I found an anime. As I got into it I realized that it had a great plot line, intriguing characters, plenty of good artwork...But then they had to ruin it by adding sweat drops. And I don't mean the little ones that pop out during puberty, I mean the ones that only Japan can make that take up more than half the head. But like I said, it's a matter of oppinion, And mine is that anyone who doesn't loke anime isn't fit to live on this earth!:mad:
:D just kidding!:p After all, I live in Utah for God's sake, NO ONE here likes anime.
 

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Sure, anime has its flaws. It's often derivative and unoriginal, but that goes for any kind of medium (TV, books, movies...).

Some really good series get cut off before the story is finished. But that also happens all the time in TV and comics.

Sometimes things don't translate easily from Japanese into American, and something gets lost or completely mangled in the translation. That's not so much a flaw of anime as it is a limitation of translation.

The very fact that it's animated causes many Westerners to completely misunderstand it as a medium. That's a fault of the audience, though.

Some series aren't terribly concerned with consistency. For example, in Dragonball Z, characters are often using new powers/techniques that they haven't before, which isn't that bad, but they also seem to forget about powers that there's no reason they shouldn't use. Like, why doesn't Piccolo use his tri-form technique more often? Again, this is a flaw that's hardly limited to Japanese TV.

I can't really think of any flaws that are exclusive to anime.
 

Coming into this discussion late:
I haven't actually watched the two Evangelion post-series releases (one of which, I think, is a reworking of the final three episodes, and the other the capstone to the series). Essentially, they are the producers kicking you between the legs, if friends are to be believed. They were apparently somewhat irritated by fan reactions to the final three episodes to the series.
I just watched Evangelion start to finish last month, including the final movie (End of Evangelion).

Basically, the deal is that the final two episodes of the series were abstract. Experimental. I guess most of the audience didn't really like them. (I still only sort of know what I saw. After the stuff with Kaoru, it's all a little...what the heck.)

So, the movies recap the series (well, about half of Death and Rebirth is a jarring, wonderful recap of the entire series), and wrap it up with brutality that is much harder to watch, but easier to make sense of. Oh, and I do mean brutality - whoever compared it to getting kicked in the groin wasn't kidding.


Oh, question:
Anybody else here seen Sexy Commando? And if not, why not? :)
 

Tharkun said:
Ok, so tell me what are some flaws in Anime? :D Hey you asked :)

Heh. I didn't ask for it, I said you didn't.

Anime's flaws are even more personal than it's strengths. Everyone feels differently, particularly on this topic. That said, here's a quick list of a few.

Repetition The Japanese love nothing more than a formula, and copyright laws in Japan aren't quite what they are here. Like Evangelion? Don't worry, if it was popular, you'll see ten series next year that are essentially rehashes of it, thematically and visually, if not exactly. What's that? Stick a hot alien chick in a guy's closet and it's funny? How about if she's a goddess and brings her sisters? How about six alien women who are all warm for his form? Maybe put him in a boarding house with a bunch of girls...and remember, the guy always has to be noble, pure and intimidated by women so that he completely resists all of their advances.

Resistance to innovation: Oh, it happens, all right. But it's always a minor miracle when it does. When a show does innovate and succeeds, it gets coopted by every show out there. Evangelion is an innovator, for example, but it still uses giant robots and anime sci-fi elements to do it. This doesn't mean there aren't some innovative stuff out there, and it's become more prevalent, but truly unique shows are rare, compared with manga.

Different Cultural References and Preferences This is a purely non-Japanese issue, of course, but it still applies. The Japanese have no problem with ambigous endings, in general, but American audiences find them maddening. Take Kishin Corps, for example: the alternate WWII tale with giant robots....where do the aliens come from? What's their agenda? Don't know, never gonna know.

The Japanese have a different comfort level with different images. Some things, such as causual nudity work both ways. It allows for mature story-telling in one venue, but much more immature representations of women, in particular, and sometimes awkward lewd sexual references which seem innappropriate to American audiences.

Cultural references can be odd or just perplexing to the uninitiated. The aforementioned 'giant drop of sweat' to illustrate apprehension and awkwardness is not as hard to discern as, say, the instant nosebleed that virgins get when having powerful sexual thoughts.


There are some others, but I'm rushed right now. :) Even so, I love anime. Have for over 20 years now. But certain things show up as trends, and there hard not to notice.
 

Enchantress said:

And whether I am yaoi-deprived is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!:mad:
I'm already hating myself in advance for asking this, but what is "yaoi", and what are the effects of being deprived of it? I'm guessing it's something crotch-related - please, god, let me be wrong.
 

Tewligan said:

I'm already hating myself in advance for asking this, but what is "yaoi", and what are the effects of being deprived of it? I'm guessing it's something crotch-related - please, god, let me be wrong.

yaoi or shonen-ai = male homosexuality

yuri or shoujo-ai = female homosexuality
 

WizarDru said:

Cultural references can be odd or just perplexing to the uninitiated. The aforementioned 'giant drop of sweat' to illustrate apprehension and awkwardness is not as hard to discern as, say, the instant nosebleed that virgins get when having powerful sexual thoughts.

Oh, is THAT why Tenchi Muyo is always getting them?!
 




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