What are your thoughts on ANIME's influence on D&D?

[mmadsen]

Can we enumerate what anime's influences on D&D have been? Besides some of the "dungeonpunk" art, I'm not sure what to attribute to anime.

 

[Nifft]

There have been some positive influences even from the most icky kind of Anime.

So, all in all, I'm going with "it's good".

Cheers, -- N

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Agreed. I guess the root of my anime-dislike is that I don't understand japanese culture well enough to understand anime. I do understand american culture, having been steeped in it from birth. However, I wouldn't say I'm a fan of the superhero genre as a whole either. There's simply too much that I find uninteresting. However with anime I've seen at least seven or eight films and over twenty episodes of various types. I found all of those uninteresting as well.

Well, then I'll advise you to give one more anime a try: Gankutuou. This anime isn't rooted in Japanese cultural assumptions, but in French ones - it is a retelling of "The Count of Monte Christo" in a futuristic Paris.

If nothing else, it ought to give you some very good ideas for a really nasty villain. I know it did wonders for my game...

 

[Psion]

I've yet to see face faults in any D&D art or a great preponderance of bishounen-type characters, and no sign of schoolgirls chasing them.

What I have seen is positive feedback and realization of standard fantasy concepts, sometimes given new spins.

So yeah, I could see there are negative elements that I don't want in the game, but despite grousing, I'm just not seeing it being there.

 

[The Hound]

I voted neutral, because I haven't noticed any influence by anime on D&D in general or the games I play in. I think there has been a lot of ingluence in the other direction, though, There
are many popular anime based on the basic D&D-type adventure party in a fantasy world setting.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Agree here, I've never liked the fact so much anime involves characters who are just too damned young. they haven't had Time to become that skilled. Luckily most of the people I play with figure starting characters should at least be about mid-way between adulthood and middle age(human equivalent mid-twenties at least).

If I remember AD&D 2E correctly, human characters tended to start in their teens back then as well - and that was well before anime became that popular in the Western World. And I don't know how things were in earlier editions of D&D, but I don't think they were that different.

Thank you but NO. This is the second big disagreement with much anime. I'm sick of angst, too much angst already. I blame this on some element of Japanese youth culture I wish could be exterminated totally. If you want angst go play Vampire.

There's nothing wrong with a little Angst now and then. Granted, I prefer it of the variety "I gained rulership over a few hundred thousand people. If I screw up, many of them will die!" variety, but still...

 

[I'm A Banana]

What's bad about the influence of other types of fantasy in D&D?

D&D already contains elements of fairy tales, swords-and-sorcery, epics, poems, nonsense rhymes, judeo-christian imagery, and even elements it pulled out of it's own arse backwards. What damage could another trope thrown into the broth possibly do?

Saying it's bad is like, to me, saying Science Fiction's influence on STAR WARS is bad because my noble knights of justice should be clomping around in horses not flying around in spaceships...

....but I *like* genre-bending.

 

[Thunderfoot]

It blows CHUNKS!!!!!

I hate Anime with a passion unkindled in the bowels of Hell. When it was just Macross, it was okay; Voltron, I can handle it; Freedom Force 5, we are starting to get a little overboard with the big eyed crappy drawings. Every frickin' cartoon on Saturday and at least two or three on the weekdays, somebody tell me why animatators felt the need to stop drawing humans that look like humans? And as for the dialog of most of these crap burners, Naruto should be nuetered....Believe it!

When someone starts talking about furries at my campaign table I give them the anime warning talk, stop before you offend the G.O.D. (Game Operation Designer). If the continue, I hit them with 1,000,000 1/1,000,000the hp lighting bolts. It does 1 hp of damage but they must make 1,000,000 saving throws for every piece of equipment they own. Are you all startin' to see the picture here.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Anime does not influence my D&D at all.

What it does to YOUR D&D is another matter.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Every frickin' cartoon on Saturday and at least two or three on the weekdays, somebody tell me why animatators felt the need to stop drawing humans that look like humans?)

"I yam what I yam, and that's all I yam."