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

[Holy Bovine]

I'm pretty much with Crothian, and with the "anime is not really a single genre of fiction".

That's important for this analysis - amime is a presentation style that may be applied to any other form of fiction. So there's sci-fi anime, fantasy anime, magical girl anime, soap opera anime, etc. Each of these applicatiosn use different fictional tropes and story styles, so they don't have a unified effect on D&D as a whole.

So important and true I had to quote it!

IME D&D players in particular (and RPGers in general) don't like change. They resist it with every fiber of their being. They may say they really want 'new and different' things but really they want the same old stuff with a shiny new wrapper.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

I think the particular subset of Anime that causes these feelings to happen is over-represented on American TV. At times it has made me want to go find the writers of certain shows and perform a shaped-charge enema, but I don't blame anime as a whole because of it. There are plenty of great ideas to be mined, you just have to get rid of the dross.

I think this is one of the major reasons so many people immediately react with don't like anime when asked. Personally I will watch anime and some of it is very good, I like the way it turns up the fantastic far beyond the normal levels, still I have to be picky to avoid certain things that annoy me. But for those whose only view is what gets shown on network TV in America that taints the pool. Much of the anime shown on network TV where I am is absolute drivel and would be even if it weren't anime and they also contain frequent use of the elements most people don't seem to like. Allow me to list the elements I think cause the most problems.

Hated Anime Elements
face faults-this is probably up there near number one on most hated anime elements list and it's common on anime shows on network TV. Naruto, Bleach, Pokemon, many others that get waay too much airtime here use it to the point of nausea.
chibi animation-interrupting the show so that characaturized(sp?) versions of the characters can act out ridiculous emoticon-like sketches is annoying as hell and far too common in much of what I've seen on networks.
posing-dragonball I'm looking at you! Why do all the characters have a posing match before they fight and why does most of it have to happen on the backdrop of a featureless blue screen? Why can't they just show the fight?
naming moves/weapons/anything-dragonball again, but many others inuyasha included. Why is it that the characters all have to scream out the ridiculous names of their fighting moves? Why can't they just FIGHT, instead of spending half the scene screaming out some awful transliterated title?
angst overload-Here I'm definitely pointing at half the anime on network TV in my area including Naruto. Specifically the heroes who aren't yet fifteen and act like it, why all the involved angst over mundane things. Why must the heroes all become completely useless whenever a female becomes involved and are completely unable to just talk with the female in question?
incompetent/stupid hero-Okay Naruto is the king of this one as far as I've seen on network TV here. I mean the hero is dense as a rock, and completely incompetent right up until the moment plot requires he win, at which point he suddenly becomes much more powerful and trounces the opponent at the last minute. Then immediately goes back to being a moron immediately after.

These things seem to turn off far more people than just me, and because of their prominence in much of the anime commonly shown on Network TV here they taint all anime by association.

 

[Mallus]

FLCL is nearly a work of art

Nearly?

Cowboy Bebop feels something like the Anti-Trek, all jaded and mistrustful of our future human selves.

While simultaneously being a paean to American culture.

Anyway... back on topic. I voted 'neutral' but I'm still not convinced that (anything) anime has influenced (anything) D&D. All I've seen is anime providing players with an additional vocabulary for discussing their games. A descriptive role rather than prescriptive one.

re: the 'Cult of Youth': most anime are kid's shows. They feature protagonists that the target audience can easily identify with. This also explains why Shaft and Dolemite are black.

On an unrelated note, TMBG's "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" rocks on toast.

re: 'soap operas': my new definition of soap opera is 'Any serial drama that you don't like'.

Besides, anime influences aside, most D&D campaigns bear a striking resemblance to soap operas; the ludicrous plotting, shallow characters, terrible acting, and the inability for dead characters to stay dead.

 

[Sir Elton]

naming moves/weapons/anything-dragonball again, but many others inuyasha included. Why is it that the characters all have to scream out the ridiculous names of their fighting moves? Why can't they just FIGHT, instead of spending half the scene screaming out some awful transliterated title?

Martial Artists are encouraged to be vociferous while fighting to bring out their emotions and make them more effective.

 

[Scraht]

Lots of opinions here, it's nice to see a big passionate thread . I personally, liking very little anime (But there are a few shows I do enjoy, namely Cowboy Bebop), don't see it's influence on the older gamers, or on WOTC (Yet - releasing animed editions of Magic The Gathering killed it for good for me).

However, I have definately seen it with the younger gamers, especially when the DM's are into it. You get a group of high school students playing DnD, I would bet 5 bucks that they were all fans of anime, and more than likely it had deep roots in their game. I could see the DM describing their actions in an overly fantastic style (One that the mechanics of DnD actually doesn't support - not even epics).

There's a good chance they'll all want to play Cloud Strifes, or Uzumaki Narutos, or Uchiha Sasukes (2 angsty children, and one completely abondoned Gary Sue with almost no lasting psychological damage). I have seen groups at gaming shops doing the anime thing. Usually because of the awesome power that japanese animes and comic book characters can command with little effort.

Also, since we're talking about anime, and it's been said it's a "Media", I would like to point out that, the Japanese "Media" and "creativity" are very derivative. Very rarely do they come up with an original concept, usually borrowing extensively from some previous art form, or story, or other "Media." It's just what the japanese do, tryed and true before daring and new. It's been observed by many foreigners to japan.

This is partly why people less versed in anime, and japanese culture, generally think it's all alike - because it is. You strip the genres: the magical girls, the group crime fighting dramas (Power rangers, sailor moon), sci-fi, fantasy, silly romances, and what do you have? Generally, the same thing, with only a few key differences. They're in a spaceship fighting the bad guys, or they're in the castle fighting the bad guys, or they're in the city figting the bad guys, etc... I've seen romances, where, they're fighting bad guys! A very hyperbolic arguement, true, but I don't feel like weedling out a better example.

The japanese thought process, and culture is one akin to the "Be in the group" and "Don't stand out." Notice in these animes there is usually a cast of group heroes, with usually one or two leaders? Notice the very common notion of sacrifice yourself for the good of the group? How many times in the epic fight have the weaker members given their "Energy" to the stronger leaders to defeat the enemy? Or selflessly fought to weaken the bad guy enough so that other members can take him out.

And it was also mentioned that the dialogue is horrible - yes it is by comparison. Keep in mind the Japanese language is very structured, and there isn't 400 different ways to say a single phrase (Like there is in english, which let's us get poetic). And while I *loathe* to admit it, "I will defeat you so you stop picking on my friends!" sounds horribly cliche and retarded to us, they get a big kick out of it there.

So I guess... chalk me up for a "Burning my books, abandon my hobby." Also, I was into the whole anime thing in my younger years, so I'm only half talking out my butt

 

[Wombat]

I generally dislike the generic anime art look, but that is a pretty broad statement. The big-eye-small-mouth look, the spikey bits, the lack of realism just do very little for me.

As far as the anime form goes, I enjoyed Princess Mononoke and ... that was it.

Akira? No. Fist of the North Star? No. Project A-Ko? No. Kiki's Delivery Service? No. Neighborhood Totoro? No. LA Blue Girl? No. Cowboy Beebop? No. Robtech? No.

I could keep going, but I think you see the trend...

Now how has the broad genre influenced D&D? Heck if I know or can tell. Probably with some.

I think overall there is an extreme emphasis nowdays in D&D in particular, and rpgs in general, on the visual. I think this explains the growing amount of graphics in the game books, the overlove of miniatures, etc. Personally, what I like about rpgs is the talking and the imagination, rather than the concrete visuals.

Personal tastes.

 

[Mallus]

Very rarely do they come up with an original concept, usually borrowing extensively from some previous art form, or story... snip... 'tried and true before daring and new'.

This is different from the way things work in our media how, exactly?

Generally, the same thing, with only a few key differences.

That describes all of art, pretty succinctly, too .

I've seen romances, where, they're fighting bad guys!

This illustrates the genius of anime.

 

[jcfiala]

However, I have definately seen it with the younger gamers, especially when the DM's are into it. You get a group of high school students playing DnD, I would bet 5 bucks that they were all fans of anime, and more than likely it had deep roots in their game. I could see the DM describing their actions in an overly fantastic style (One that the mechanics of DnD actually doesn't support - not even epics).

There's a good chance they'll all want to play Cloud Strifes, or Uzumaki Narutos, or Uchiha Sasukes (2 angsty children, and one completely abondoned Gary Sue with almost no lasting psychological damage). I have seen groups at gaming shops doing the anime thing. Usually because of the awesome power that japanese animes and comic book characters can command with little effort.

Yeah, because in the 80's, no one was playing D&D with magical light swords, or wanted to make their own Jedi classes, or anything like that. In the 80's, our characters were all _original_, with restrained power levels, and didn't piss off the gamers who were older than us at all.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

This becomes more true when you talk about a broader group. Anime is a pretty huge grouping of things. There are plenty of valid reasons that Anime is not someone's thing. It's not really my thing, for instance, because I have little patience for some of the archetypes, and I have a very short attention span when it comes to plot.

Yes, but anime is a lot like obscenity in that you may not be able to agree on a concrete definition, you know it when you see it. It's entirely possible, indeed probable, that you could take a representative work, change the names and the artistic style, have it recorded by native English speakers, and I'd say 'Wow, that was awesome'. Similarly, you could take Macbeth, animate it with a BESM style and high-pitched Japanese vocals, and I'd deride it as a piece of crap.

I can recognize individual components as worthy from an objective standpoint and still dislike the whole from an artistic one.

 

[hong]

I generally dislike the generic anime art look, but that is a pretty broad statement. The big-eye-small-mouth look, the spikey bits, the lack of realism just do very little for me.

As far as the anime form goes, I enjoyed Princess Mononoke and ... that was it.

Akira? No. Fist of the North Star? No. Project A-Ko? No. Kiki's Delivery Service? No. Neighborhood Totoro? No. LA Blue Girl? No. Cowboy Beebop? No. Robtech? No.

I could keep going, but I think you see the trend...

Now how has the broad genre influenced D&D? Heck if I know or can tell. Probably with some.

I think overall there is an extreme emphasis nowdays in D&D in particular, and rpgs in general, on the visual. I think this explains the growing amount of graphics in the game books, the overlove of miniatures, etc. Personally, what I like about rpgs is the talking and the imagination, rather than the concrete visuals.

Personal tastes.

tl;dr