Why the hate for anime? (Y da hat 4 anime?)

[RangerWickett]

I see a lot of people here getting all moany and doomsaying about anime, as if Japanese culture was personally responsible for you having less fun in your life. Is it just that lots of people here have hard-ons for Hanna-Barbera cartoons? Or are they just angry that Pokemon made more money than Maigc for a while?

Really, I mean, I know art preferences vary, and heck, I tend to dislike amateur art (especially in game books), but anime is just a different style, which generally favors less photorealism than European-derived Western art. Eastern art styles tend to be a little more flashy, a little more over the top, and for some reason there are a lot of people who just, it seems, hate that.

I can't understand it? What's so horrible?

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I can't understand it? What's so horrible?

Me? I like anime. I HATE anime fans/freaks.
Same as gamers, there are cool ones, and then the unbathed/unsocialized ones.

It just seems the "anime freaks" are so starved for people to look at
them they overshadow the normal fans.

 

[Caspian Moon Prince]

I haven't figured it out either. The only thing I can come up with is that the style just doesn't work for the people that dislike anime. Maybe it is Pokemon and a few other "kiddie" anime shows. I can tell anyone that thinks all anime is like Pokemon that that is not the case. Neon Genesis Evengelion, for instance, has an extremely deep and original story line and the art is not kiddie at all. Grave of the Fireflies is another example, it is one of the few shows to ever make me tear up and look at war in a whole different perspective. Record of Lodoss War(here it is again ) shows the D&D experience to a T...and I would recommed it being viewed by anyone that is an anime fan that is wanting to see what D&D is like.

 

[Psion]

I like some Anime. I don't like others.

I find some anime infantile.
It's obvious to me that what is funny to some Anime writers is not funny to me.
Some anime is vulgar.
I dislike some anime conventions. The less realistic the portrayal is, the less I like the art. For example, one that I really hate is when yelling, the characters' mouths wrap around their head.
I dislike the snooty overplayed arrogant villain archetype. But I think Yu-Gi-Oh pushed me over the edge on this one.

I like Lodoss War, Vampire Hunter D, Akira, and Princess Mononoke.
Ninja Scroll was merely okay.
I am trying out some Slayers right now, and I am ambivalent so far.
Robotech made me snooze. I am pretty cool on the big mecha genre as a whole.


If anyone out there, given my above preferences, would like to recommend some more, I am all ears. How's this new "rune soldier" or whatever it is?

 

[roytheodd]

I see a lot of people here getting all moany and doomsaying about anime, as if Japanese culture was personally responsible for you having less fun in your life. Is it just that lots of people here have hard-ons for Hanna-Barbera cartoons? Or are they just angry that Pokemon made more money than Maigc for a while?

Really, I mean, I know art preferences vary, and heck, I tend to dislike amateur art (especially in game books), but anime is just a different style, which generally favors less photorealism than European-derived Western art. Eastern art styles tend to be a little more flashy, a little more over the top, and for some reason there are a lot of people who just, it seems, hate that.

I can't understand it? What's so horrible?

I HATE ANIME!!!! I really and truly hate the stuff. When I was in junior high Robotech was being broadcast for the first time in the US and all the guys in school thought it was soooo cool. I watched it twice and then was sick of it. I couldn't stand it.

I do not like the episodic format, the open-ended stories, the squeaky high voices, the stupid hair, the melodrama, the way tears are drawn, the shapes of the people, the way that they freeze frame yet the art twitches, all of the movement lines, the big scenes where the hero is shown in an action pose while the scenery moves, the melodrama, the undefined powers of characters, the humor, the sex, and the fact that it's the "in thing". Add all of this crud up and all the dislikes roll into hate.

I truly abhor the art form. I truly abhor that I woke up one day and Japanimation was all the rage. Yay, now we not only have our own crap pop culture but we've got Japan's as well. I truly rue anime.

 

[RangerWickett]

I HATE ANIME!!!! I really and truly hate the stuff. When I was in junior high Robotech was being broadcast for the first time in the US and all the guys in school thought it was soooo cool. I watched it twice and then was sick of it. I couldn't stand it.

I do not like the episodic format, the open-ended stories, the squeaky high voices, the stupid hair, the melodrama, the way tears are drawn, the shapes of the people, the way that they freeze frame yet the art twitches, all of the movement lines, the big scenes where the hero is shown in an action pose while the scenery moves, the melodrama, the undefined powers of characters, the humor, the sex, and the fact that it's the "in thing". Add all of this crud up and all the dislikes roll into hate.

I truly abhor the art form. I truly abhor that I woke up one day and Japanimation was all the rage. Yay, now we not only have our own crap pop culture but we've got Japan's as well. I truly rue anime.

Y'know, I don't like most R&B or country music, and I'm not too keen on soap operas. But I don't hate them. That's all I'm asking. Why 'hate'? Why not just say, "Oh, I don't like it"?

 

[DragonLancer]

If you are talking about Anime cartoons then I don't really like them. I find them over the top in the action sense and for whatever reason it turns me off completely.

I'm not keen on Anime style artwork either, such has begun to appear in a few D&D products. In my mind it works for games based on it such as Exalted (WW) but it isn't appropriate to the more medieval base that is D&D.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Well, I'm not as strident as Roy about it, but by-and-large I'm not wild about Anime myself (and yes yes; I know it's a medium, not a style).

But you know what I'm talking about, so spare me the semantics.

I'm not wild about most of the facets of it that Psion laid out.

When it comes to any character-driven entertainment I am a plot junkie, and a lot (lot!) of the time in my viewing experience the plot just does not track in anime.

It's quite a bit like my distaste for Image Comics back in the day--all of the effort was put into a flashy, big-titted, unrealistic art, with plot almost being a secondary concern (when it was any kind of concern at all).

I liked G-Force when I was a kid. I was pretty fond of Robotech...but all things being equal Fist of the North Star just did.not.make.sense.

and don't get me started about my opinions on "which level of Hell is low enough" for the creators of Legend of the Overfiend.

"Demons raping children" is not a form of entertianemnt I condone.

 

[Desdichado]

I see a lot of people here getting all moany and doomsaying about anime, as if Japanese culture was personally responsible for you having less fun in your life. Is it just that lots of people here have hard-ons for Hanna-Barbera cartoons? Or are they just angry that Pokemon made more money than Maigc for a while?

Really, I mean, I know art preferences vary, and heck, I tend to dislike amateur art (especially in game books), but anime is just a different style, which generally favors less photorealism than European-derived Western art. Eastern art styles tend to be a little more flashy, a little more over the top, and for some reason there are a lot of people who just, it seems, hate that.

I can't understand it? What's so horrible?

Great start to an open and throught-provoking debate, by insulting folks who don't like anime by saying they don't like Japanese culture, they have hard-ons for Hanna Barbera and are bitter about Pokemon outselling Magic. :rolleyes, please come back:

Yeah, I'm sure you'll get a great discussion outta that.

 

[Caspian Moon Prince]

I HATE ANIME!!!! I really and truly hate the stuff. When I was in junior high Robotech was being broadcast for the first time in the US and all the guys in school thought it was soooo cool. I watched it twice and then was sick of it. I couldn't stand it.

Can't say I blame ya on this. Robotech is a bastardized version of Macross with some really weird elements that was never in Macross thrown in. Protoculture...what a weird thing.

I do not like the episodic format, the open-ended stories

Describes practically every show in existense. Actually though this does not describe tons of anime...only the ones made for the younger crowd. Most tell a self contained story and then either end or go to a different story.

and the fact that it's the "in thing".

Not trying to be mean here...and I'm going to go on a bit of a rant, but I cannot hardly stand to see someone say they dislike(or hate) something because "everyone" likes it. Like it or not on your own not whether everyone likes or dislikes it.


Oh and Psion some anime that I'd recommend is: Vampire Hunter D(and Bloodlust the sequel), Grave of the Fireflies, Macross Plus, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Harlock Saga