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

[Kae'Yoss]

This is one of the topics that really baffles me.

We roleplayers are a subculture, one that is often misunderstood and slandered by the broad public: To them, we're often the nerds, the satanists, the social misfits. Fat old virgins who live with their parents, don't have a proper job, dress up like fantasy characters, always speak in quotes, can't talk to non-gamers and get a heart attack if a girl says "hello" to them.

Now, we roleplayers know that this isn't true. We know there are people like this, that they give the whole community a bad name, and that most roleplayers really are just like everyone else. We're no more or less religious than others (and aren't drawn to satanism or "witchcraft" at all). We're no more or less likely to have well-paying jobs, our own houses, wives/husbands and children, and all that.


Then along comes the word "anime" and many roleplayers assume that it's all icky hentacle porn and annoying pocket monsters and flying guys with 30-foot-swords. The sheer amount of prejudice and ignorance is simply staggering. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.



I personally don't have too much exposure to manga/anime/whatever (I couldn't tell them apart), but I do know Record of Lodoss War, which is an awesome show. While He-man* beats up walking skeletons and chicks with cheesy names (Evil Lynn???) and tells us that stealing is wrong, that show has character development worthy of high fantasy deep immersion storytelling D&D.

*Talk about disgusting: A blond guy runs around in pink clothes but sometimes secretly gets into some weird fetish outfit and oils himself? And the name He-man? Sounds like he'd be right at home at the YMCA

 

[Stone Dog]

IAnd as for the dialog of most of these crap burners, Naruto should be nuetered....Believe it!

The rest of your post aside, this bit here is mostly the fault of american translators trying to put together low budget voice overs as close to a deadline as possible.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Then along comes the word "anime" and many roleplayers assume that it's all icky hentacle porn and annoying pocket monsters and flying guys with 30-foot-swords. The sheer amount of prejudice and ignorance is simply staggering. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Hey, everybody needs somebody to look down upon...

 

[Someone]

I generally don't like anime. I had friends who liked it and passed me some videos and comics; I also rented some of it, and finally reached the conclusion that i didn't like it: generally I don't like the narrative (it's too slow) and the plot is rarely interesting enough. That I don't find the drawing exciting for the most part doesn't help.

(If it helps you, one of my favourite comics is Prince Valiant, and it's the anti-manga in terms of drawing and narrative)

I also don't like music. I don't buy or download it, and I don't make an habit of hearing music. That doesn't stop me for liking certaing songs of themes, and sometimes humming them. Nor I do object to some ideas derived from anime, if they are good.

That's why I voted "neutral". Bring anything into the game, if it's good enough.

 

[William drake]

What are your thoughts on ANIME's influence on D&D? (Art, combat, NPC interaction/depth, traditional fantasy concepts, etc.)

For those of you who don't know what the "anime" genre and artstyle is, here's the WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime

jh

Well, only seen it a few times. Mostly it was with those who were playing MONKS, they wanted to be like GOKU, or some other flying godlike anime character. I've also seen it with weapons...pepople wantto use things to large, or filled with numerous effects lilke somone in an anime: and they were playing a very low level hero, and they wanted it from the start.

But, mostly these things apply to newbies....and not older gamers.

 

[shilsen]

Hey, everybody needs somebody to look down upon...

By George, he's got it!

I've always found gamer elitism dumb as hell, but completely to be expected, for precisely the reason you mention. I'm not saying that's all that is going on here, but it accounts for a fair bit.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

My personal disinterest in anime is easy to explain: I don't much like animation in the first place, and I doubly dislike the overarching aesthetic of Japanese comics and cartoons.

Now, I know people will argue that Pokemon and One Piece look completely different from Akira or Spirited Away, sure. However, it's not possible to deny that they all have more in common with each other than any one of them does with Bugs Bunny cartoons, Batman: The Animated Series, or Beauty and the Beast - and whatever you want to call that commonality, that's what I dislike. Trends in the drawing of figures and faces, shading, animation processes . . . it really rubs me the wrong way.

That said, I'm sad about it, because I hear lots of cool things about manga and anime that make me want to read them. I dearly wish I could read Lone Wolf and Cub, for instance, but I could no more force myself through that story than I could through a Greg Land traced-from-pornography superhero comic like Ultimate Poiwer.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Double post . . . oh no!

 

[Sir Elton]

While He-man* beats up walking skeletons and chicks with cheesy names (Evil Lynn???) and tells us that stealing is wrong, that show has character development worthy of high fantasy deep immersion storytelling D&D.

*Talk about disgusting: A blond guy runs around in pink clothes but sometimes secretly gets into some weird fetish outfit and oils himself? And the name He-man? Sounds like he'd be right at home at the YMCA

He-Man, the Smurfs, and Gummy Bears got a lot of young kids thinking about fantasy, Kae'Yoss. Some of those purchased the D&D Basic Set when they came of age. A lot of those are in their late-twenties, early thirties; some of them even as old as D&D now.

 

[Umbran]

The bias on anime is some of the most ridiculous there is. I mean, wow, it's pretty obvious most of the people saying these things about anime have no actually experienced it with opened minds and probably base their entire opinion on the people who like anime.

Please, do not attribute motives or actions to others. The internet is a notoriously poor medium for mind-reading. You don't know why these people have these opinions. They have not told you.

Arguments to the effect of, "since you disagree with me, you must not have been doing it right" are insulting - they effectivley imply that you know "teh troof!" and all opposing opinions are factually incorrect. This is mostly a discussion about taste, for which there is no accounting. Please accept that other opinoons may have valid basis until it is clearly stated otherwise.

In general, I see signs of rather passionate opinions in this thread, on both sides. Passion is good, but please be careful about how you harness it to your posts. Please do not use it against other people.