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

[Stone Dog]

I also spied a Final Fantasy anime at Target, but I was too afraid to pick it up. Does it do my beloved game series justice? Or are my fears founded?

If you mean having to sit through long summoning sequences that are only interesting the first time you see it, then it meshes perfectly with the game. Seriously though the FF fans I know are into it, but I just had a hard time watching the thing. The animation is an odd sort of cell styling and the story really creeps along. Borrow or rent it if you can first, just remember that it usually takes a few episodes to really get going in most series.



Some one above refered to Rune Soldier Louie. It is a riot. It is rather like a light hearted version of Lodoss War with a few more D&D jokes slipped in (the party is a fighter, thief, cleric and wizard for instance and "adventuring" is going into ruins to find treasure).

 

[Desdichado]

Now I consider myself a rather large anime fan, and I dislike incoherent ramblings about how horrible anime is.

Much as I dislike incoherent ramblings about how wonderful and enlightened it is.

First off you'll find that a lot of anime fans, myself included, always enjoyed the artform. I have been collecting anime since 1996... far before it was getting wide spread acceptance anywhere outside Japan. Finding and buying things I wanted was nearly impossible, because the market simply wasn't there.

Non sequitar. Beside the point.

Now with the populaity of anime series I personally dislike, Yu-gi-oh, and Pokemon chief among them, finding things I want, like the Record of Lodoss War TV series, or Berserk Manga, suddenly becomes a much more managable task.

See, I actually don't mind Pokemon. Used to watch it with my kids, before they grew out of them. At about age 5 or so. It was reasonably entertaining for a kids show, though.

I think that anime often gets a bad rap because people can't seem to wrap their minds around a form of media that address all other genre's of television. You'll find hardboiled action dramas, romantic comedies, melodrama, children's shows, slap stick comedy, and yes even porn. I don't like every aspect of anime, but I know where my tastes lie and I buy within the genres that appeal to me... you'll not find any episodes of Dragonball Z or Pokemon gracing my video collection.

See, that's just plain ludicrous. First of all, television is the media, anime is a visual and storytelling style that encompasses many genres. But saying that anime non-fans can't get their heads around anime because it addresses all genres of television is just plain wrong. That's like saying we can't get our heads around television because it has so many genres. It's a completely ludicrous position to take, and that's why I don't like ill-concieved anime fans that show up and pretend like anime's something really special when all it is is a style of animation and storytelling. Because anime is just a style, I find it perfectly acceptable to say "I don't like that style, therefore I don't really like anime" without some half-assed excuses about "I just can't get my head around anime, because it's just so rich and expansive and special, like an episode of Blossom." :rolleyes, damn I've missed you today:

With that in mind making the blanket statement that you hate anime comes across as ignorant. There's more to it than the stuff you can see on the WB or Reruns of Dragonball Z. If you were to open your mind just a little bit and scratch past the surface I'm sure you'd find something you would like, and I doubt you would even have to investigate obscure series to find something you like.

Save it, pal. I've really tried to like anime. I know a lot of people that like a lot of other things that I do that swear by it, so I've watched a lot of the highly recommended ones. The best I can say for them is that the best of the genre is mediocre -- and by far that is the exception. The rest of what I've seen is so much worse. It doesn't do to paint with an insulting brush and assume that anime is so frikkin cool that the only way people can not like it is because they are ignorant. :rolleyes again:

 

[Desdichado]

It is neither. It is not a medium because there is anime TV shows, movies, and even OAVs(a small series of videos or DVDs)..as well as manga(comic book) forms. Nor is it a style since there is a wide variety of styles within the heading of "anime". "Anime" is a general term for animation that comes from japan.

Also, it is not cartoon. Calling anime cartoons is like trying to say Heavy Metal is a cartoon. Cartoons signify a children's series.

Animation is the medium, anime is a general term for a certain grouping of animation, and then there are many styles.

You've really got your labels mixed up. Cartoon is an animated video medium. Anime is a cartoon. Manga is not anima, manga is manga. Which is also not a medium, as it's a style of comic book.

 

[Desdichado]

I dislike a majority of it. But there is some that I simply LOVE.

I'm a cyberpunk junky, so the titles shouldn't come as much of a surprise -

my fave: Ghost in the Shell.

Honestly, whenever I hear people complaining about anime, I watch it again, and decide that people are too busy placing labels on the whole style instead of individual works within it.

I don't like anime in general, and Ghost in the Shell is one I've seen. It's not too bad, but it's not a Holy Grail of cyberpunk either; the pacing and storyline actually tend to drag it down at times. (Although what the heck is the Holy Grail of cyberpunk now that I mention it? Last time I watched Bladerunner I thought it was horrible even though I had great memories of it from earlier.)

On the comedy side, I'd say Ranma 1/2 is probably the closest thing to an anime that I can recommend. It's actually fairly well done and reasonably funny.

Honestly, I think a lot of the problems I have with anime are related to the fact that I'm not Japanese, and I simply don't "get it." There are a lot of subtle cultural references in most of what I've seen in terms of the way plots evolve, the ideas explored, etc. I'm not saying that it goes over my head, although I'm sure a fair amount does, but it also doesn't interest me as much as something that I can relate to more easily.

And a lot of the raving anime fans I know are frankly Japanophiles of the worst sort -- the kinds of kids that fervently wish they were Japanese. They swallow up everything Japanese just because it is Japanese. I don't get that either. Japan seems like a nice enough place, and I have it on pretty good authority that being nerdy in Japan (i.e., having hobbies like most of us do) is seen in a better light there than here in some ways, but I don't see Japan as the Mecca of cultural expression in the world either. It's a culture like any other, with things I agree with and things I don't. Same as my native culture, except that at least I'm more at home there.

 

[MDSnowman]

You know Dyal for someone who hates anime so much you'd think that you'd simply wash your hands of it an go about your life and not spend precious time whining about how everyone who likes it is wrong.

You don't hear me whining about NASCAR

 

[Desdichado]

If you think I "hate anime so much" you obviously haven't read what I posted. Another reason to roll my eyes at anime fans who jump at a chance to rave about it, regardless of context.

Also, I don't go out of my way to rant about anime, but the whole purpose of this thread is to specifically ask why folks don't like it.

 

[Mog Elffoe]

I recommend 'The Castle of Cagliostro'

Samurai Jack. I especially recommend the episodes with the Scotsman.

I love both of these. Castle of Cagliostro is probably my favorite anime.

 

[Halivar]

Thinking that crappy tentacle-rape hentai you saw once represents the artistic boundaries of anime is like saying that cheap porn you rented last week speaks for all North American cinema.

Somebody buy this man a drink! Impeesa, I give you a (+5, Insightful) in my heart.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The worst thing about Anime in general is the Fans themselves....

And many would agree that anime isn't that bad, but there's quite a major problem with the most hardcore anime fans, the otaku in general. They're among the worst types of geeks ever. They're horribly annoying, painful to be around, and completely socially inept.

 

[Dragonblade]

Having lived in Japan and being married to a Japanese woman, I can perhaps bring a little perspective.

Animation in general is more accepted as a form of entertainment for both kids and adults in Japan. Whereas in America, animation is pretty much considered kids fare.

However, I would still say that 65% of Japanese culture considers anime fans just as nerdy and socially outcast as probably 85% of Americans do.

That being said, you can't really lump all anime together. Sure, those who don't like it and aren't too familiar with it can do that, but anime is pretty diverse as a form of entertainment.

There is anime for children (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc.), there is anime for families ala Disney (Kiki's Delivery Service, My neighbor Totoro), there is porn anime, there is over-the-top insane super-power wielding anime (Dragonball Z, Fist of the North Star), cyberpunk (Ghost in the Shell, Akira), and so on.

I'm not a big anime fan, but some of it is rather good, IMO. Anything by Miyazaki Hayao is on par with or exceeds Disney in terms of thought-provoking stories and family entertainment. Ninja Scroll is cool as a D&D esque Asian fantasy flick that takes place in a mystical Japan. Fist of the North Star is basically a story of Justice League level superhumans in a blasted post-apocalyptic wasteland. Think Road Warrior with Superman. No its not Shakespeare. But its a killer beer and pizza movie to watch with your friends. Even you watch it just to make fun of its over-the-top superpowered heroes. And the quotes! Man, I haven't see the movie in years but we still quote it at the game table!

Macross Plus is an excellent Top Gun style story set in a future sci-fi universe. It also has some interesting themes dealing things like man vs. machine, the nature of love, and artificial intelligence.

Some anime is really hard to understand unless you know the backstory. Akira, for example, is based on something like a 2000 page manga series. All of that condensed into a 2-hour movie. If you don't know the manga, the movie will probably be pretty opaque to you.

Anime excels at the cyberpunk genre. I'm not a big fan of cyberpunk because I don't buy the evil corporation dystopia nonsense. I don't really care for anime such as Ghost in the Shell. Although, even I have to admit its a very cool movie as far as cyberpunk goes.

So even if you think you hate anime, I'm sure that somewhere is an anime that you might like or at least tolerate simply because its so broad and diverse.

But some anime is great to watch in a MST3K sense with your friends. We watch Dragonball Z sometimes just to laugh at the bad guy who spends 10 minutes charging up enough chi energy to nuke a planet from orbit, and then get his butt kicked by the little kid with the spiky hair.