Why do you like anime? - And why is it popular

[Fek]

A younger (idealistic and fairly ignorant) Fek had a thing for some of the older, more idealized animu like Trigun or Trinity Blood. They shared a basic story idea that involved a tortured soul trying to use some ancient and hardly understood power to be a force for "good" in the wake of a troubled/tortured past. Typically, that power was incredibly dangerous and the main character struggled to have control over it (keeping it from causing further harm). Sometimes they even failed in doing so, and the destruction the character would cause left them questioning whether or not they could ever truly be redeemed.

I actually enjoyed Hellsing for similar reasons, and thoroughly appreciated the completely different personal perspective of the main character. Instead of being what essentially amounted to a whiny bitch (looking at you in particular, Vash), Alucard had come to terms with exactly what he was and willingly submit to someone else's authority in using that ruinous power for protecting King (Queen?) and Country. He enjoyed being the monster, and understood he couldn't be trusted with the responsibility that came along with it. It left me wondering if it's better to be shackled and directed chaos lacking true freedom than it is to be (for better or for worse) ultimately free to cause ruin just as (or far more) easily as it would be to be a force for "good."

Essentially, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the inner conflict of someone with the power/will to shape things around them choosing to do so for a net positive while avoiding falling into despair, nihilism, or the corrupting seduction their power could (and did) readily provide. I found it to be a fairly good take on what growing up into a man felt like at the time (fucking edgy teenagers, amirite).

Now, all that being said: Current Fek is disillusioned with the entire genre and can't typically be bothered with anime at all. Maybe I've been introduced to the wrong series given my old interests, but outside of partial bits of Berserk and Gungrave (everything that happens before the supernatural insanity starts), nothing else has really done it for me. The staggering majority of anime tropes are just god awful to me, personally (oh boy, time to listen to inner monologue for 10 mins while nothing of substance happens..oh boy, there's another 5 mins of the female character looking all distraught repeating the main character's fucking name while he's time traveling through a 30 second bit of action for the entirety of her mantra..etc, etc). I mean, you like what you like, right? If you do? Well, more power to you.

I think I'm probably just too old for that shit, frankly.

 

[Pargon]

I like Japan's takes on visual storytelling. A good anime director will find a way to tell an intense, interesting story with visuals and supplement with music and a good script read by talented people. That may sound shallow but that's a huge advantage of the medium; consider Evangelion with its mostly-unexplained Christian imagery and psychobabble. Do you know what the fuck the bridge bunnies mean when they say that Shinji's destrudo levels are becoming critical? Fuck no, and it's such a throwaway line delivered when much more important things are happening that you may not notice it.

Thanks, Plinkett.

The point is because of what comes immediately after that, you somehow figure it out anyway, or at least to the point that it's necessary to keep up with the plot. The way that's done fascinates me and it's what keeps me interested in anime and manga because it's not something you can rely on merely as an author. You need the visual to take the reader/viewer along with you and it keeps things economical by not needing to bog every other scene down with exposition.

 

[raymond]

Because anime characters are generally more attractive than western cartoon characters and I find the moeblob slice of life shows to be therapeutic. Incidentally I don't like extremely dark and depressing anime and it slightly annoys me how common it is for animes that are usually "normal" to randomly place extremely disturbing scenes out of nowhere into it.

 

[Piss]

One thing I've wondered about for years is why anime-styled shows aren't widely accepted as proper anime if they're not specifically from Japan. Like, RWBY and The Boondocks.

The Boondocks is an ongoing story that peeks into the lives of a family in America, and the dealings with the people around them and America-centric views on racial conflict (pre-Clown World). So... it can't be classified as an anime entirely because it's made by an American? What? Then just call it Japanimation like it's 1998 again.

Speaking of which, I've always wondered if The Boondocks has a following in Japan. For all their shows and games that show off Japanese life, I'd like to think they'd be interested to see a show with a bit of American life.

 

[Apoth42]

The Manga industry gives its creators alot of freedom that simply does not exist anywhere else. They make edgier jokes, tackle crazy and even evil themes and in general just tell stories that aren't usually told. There is also an impressive level craftsmenship that goes into Manga that you don't see in many other places. Anime simply takes that niche and puts it to the screen.

You see that level of craftsmenship with Pixar shit but thats like one studio. A western industry that adapted graphic novels would be probably thrive if it could get off the ground. Of course, graphic novels aren't even as close to Manga in popularity so getting that off the ground would be tough. I don't think the west is lacking in animators, I think it lacks an industry with an infrastructure that enables them. A guy like Harry Partrige starting a studio and pumping stuff out could get things rolling but I really dunno.

One thing I've wondered about for years is why anime-styled shows aren't widely accepted as proper anime if they're not specifically from Japan. Like, RWBY and The Boondocks.

The Boondocks is an ongoing story that peeks into the lives of a family in America, and the dealings with the people around them and America-centric views on racial conflict (pre-Clown World). So... it can't be classified as an anime entirely because it's made by an American? What? Then just call it Japanimation like it's 1998 again.

Speaking of which, I've always wondered if The Boondocks has a following in Japan. For all their shows and games that show off Japanese life, I'd like to think they'd be interested to see a show with a bit of American life.

The Boondocks is great for the reasons I mentioned above. However, it kinda kamikazi'd itself with the latest season. I liked it but it still wasn't as great. It's comedy and willingness to tackle sensitive themes was obviously muted. It basically fell back on memes and references to fill in the gap.

 

[BoingoTango]

A younger (idealistic and fairly ignorant) Fek had a thing for some of the older, more idealized animu like Trigun or Trinity Blood. They shared a basic story idea that involved a tortured soul trying to use some ancient and hardly understood power to be a force for "good" in the wake of a troubled/tortured past. Typically, that power was incredibly dangerous and the main character struggled to have control over it (keeping it from causing further harm). Sometimes they even failed in doing so, and the destruction the character would cause left them questioning whether or not they could ever truly be redeemed.

I actually enjoyed Hellsing for similar reasons, and thoroughly appreciated the completely different personal perspective of the main character. Instead of being what essentially amounted to a whiny bitch (looking at you in particular, Vash), Alucard had come to terms with exactly what he was and willingly submit to someone else's authority in using that ruinous power for protecting King (Queen?) and Country. He enjoyed being the monster, and understood he couldn't be trusted with the responsibility that came along with it. It left me wondering if it's better to be shackled and directed chaos lacking true freedom than it is to be (for better or for worse) ultimately free to cause ruin just as (or far more) easily as it would be to be a force for "good."

Essentially, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the inner conflict of someone with the power/will to shape things around them choosing to do so for a net positive while avoiding falling into despair, nihilism, or the corrupting seduction their power could (and did) readily provide. I found it to be a fairly good take on what growing up into a man felt like at the time (fucking edgy teenagers, amirite).

Now, all that being said: Current Fek is disillusioned with the entire genre and can't typically be bothered with anime at all. Maybe I've been introduced to the wrong series given my old interests, but outside of partial bits of Berserk and Gungrave (everything that happens before the supernatural insanity starts), nothing else has really done it for me. The staggering majority of anime tropes are just god awful to me, personally (oh boy, time to listen to inner monologue for 10 mins while nothing of substance happens..oh boy, there's another 5 mins of the female character looking all distraught repeating the main character's fucking name while he's time traveling through a 30 second bit of action for the entirety of her mantra..etc, etc). I mean, you like what you like, right? If you do? Well, more power to you.

I think I'm probably just too old for that shit, frankly.

Those are some pretty good opinions right there.

I've been considering giving Berserk a shot. When you say partial bits, is it basically a lot of flash and badass shit happening without too much substance? Because I sorta had the feeling that might be the case, which I'm not too opposed to (I mean I like Dragon Ball).

 

[BoingoTango]

A good anime director will find a way to tell an intense, interesting story with visuals and supplement with music and a good script read by talented people .That may sound shallow but that's a huge advantage of the medium

You mean what any other animation, or hell even normal movies do? I don't see how that's different than any other medium.

When you take the positive adjectives out of this sentence it describes any movie, show, or cartoon:

"A director will find a way to tell a story with visuals and supplement with music and a script read by people"

 

[Niggernerd]

I like anime that resonates with me on a emotional level (Welcome to the NHK,Oyasumi Punpun,FLCL, Steins;Gate)
As well as anime that just make me forget my meaningless existence (Mecha)

I can't find that with western animation because it's all garbage that panders to exceptional children unlike some cartoons from the mid 90's to mid 2000's (notably Batman,Batman Beyond,Justice league, Samurai Jack)

The style, how the Japanese insert their culture in their work even if it's just a little is fascinating to see, the music and just the concepts of many of the stories are exciting.
The thing with anime is there's a lot for kids but there's more for adults. The creators understand that so they make series that are philosophical and deep thoughts to try to help you (the viewer) grow as a person which is something I can appreciate with any form of media.

Also big fucking honkers, thicc thighs, and PHAT booties are straight fire yo.

Spoiler: The holy trinity

 

[mr.moon1488]

1: Escape from the non-stop political crap of western entertainment (e.g. if there's a gay character, they don't exist purely to promote "LGBTQ2V***8dopvmpomcv" issues like they do in western entertainment)

2: Normally the humor is actually funny. (In most western adult oriented cartoons, it's 90% fart jokes.)

3: The art is actually normally really pretty. Even in western cartoons I liked as a kid, the art wasn't very appealing.

Spoiler: Ed Edd n'Eddy

4: The characters normally aren't flat, and do change a lot as the story goes on.

5: Normally there isn't a purist good v.s. evil dichotomy in eastern story telling. In eastern story telling, quite often the antagonist has a very valid reason for doing what they're doing. This is a lot more mature way of looking at the world as irl, there haven't been many conflicts where one side is clearly "evil," and the other side "good." Normally when this is attempted in western entertainment, it's just silly, and the antagonists' reasons, or methods just don't make any sense.

6: Anime isn't afraid to have multiple protagonists, and can often times do this very well. Who's really the MC in Fairy Tail? Who's the MC in Batman?

7: Big jiggly anime tiddies

As far as manga goes, I'm honestly starting to enjoy Chinese comics, and Manhwa more. Manga is getting bad about something getting popular, and then everyone else ripping them off.

 

[Fek]

I did like Castlevania, but you know, anime is anime even if it's not drawn by Japanese people. Maybe one day we'll routinely get western animation that doesn't have a moron character making jokes about jews to make anti-antisemitism seem dated, who knows.

I didn't mind that until it kinda went right the absolute fuck off the rails and followed characters (the viking? guy, and "one of the writers loves torture porn" plot armor bitch) that had no business taking over the story. I thought it really just crashed and burned as it went on, sadly.

Those are some pretty good opinions right there.

I've been considering giving Berserk a shot. When you say partial bits, is it basically a lot of flash and badass shit happening without too much substance? Because I sorta had the feeling that might be the case, which I'm not too opposed to (I mean I like Dragon Ball).

So there are enough iterations of Berserk that I can safely say "I'm not sure." The one I watched (The Golden Age miniseries..three movies) had enough downtime between things happening that I'm not sure you'd care for it if you're looking for a higher tempo action show. The action itself tended to be satisfying when it did happen.

I didn't watch all of it, but someone had me try out one of the Fate (maybe Zero? fuzzy on it, apologies) series that seemed to have more action going on than much else. Not sure if that helps you.

 

[Sīn the Moon Daddy]

Because she's my lithium flower, duh.

 

[Coleman Francis]

I've watched a couple episodes of Sailor Moon, thanks @Cosmos,

That's a little girl's show. What's next, the my little ponies?

 

[Niggernerd]

Because she's my lithium flower, duh.

Ah, Motoko, the only cygril that makes me big thunk about cyberspace with my dick

 

[Recon]

I don't actually like Anime per se, I just happened to watch Akira when it came to Blockbuster video back in 1990 and I've been trying to recreate the experience ever since.

 

[kadoink]

Different story structure than what we usually have in the US, different types of characters culturally, and most important, less faggotry...unless its Jojos Faggot fest.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Well, I'm an animation fan in general and like the fact that anime is something that grows with you, rather than being relegated to either for kids or comedy like most of western animation.

But I'm also drawn to the styles of anime specifically and what can I say? I love Japanese culture, it is what it is.

Even the more disreputable types of anime like the fanservice shows is entertaining to me the way say direct to video b movies from the 1980s are entertaining to some people, even when it's bad, it's still fun.

To be honest I think a big appeal behind most anime is that you get the feeling the creators behind a series just want you to have a good time, there's no political BS and there's no sense of cynicism, even when it's something schlocky or derivative you can tell it's made with an honest desire to entertain you behind it, unlike a lot of stupid western movies and TV shows that clearly holds the audience in contempt, especially in the SJW era.

So it's rare that I don't get some entertainment value from whatever I watch, but of course a lot of it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but there's a wide enough variety of anime out there that I think anyone could find at least a few things they'd like, saying "I don't like anime" is akin to saying "I don't like movies", there's too much of it out there for that to be a fair statement.

 

[Niggernerd]

there's too much of it out there for that to be a fair statement.

I agree, I think the problem is most western audiences see fan service anime come out of the wood works more than ones with actual concepts,character development etc etc
You saw a lot of normie fans when DBZ was at its peak of popularity (cell saga)
It was action packed and cool af.

We hardly get those anymore (not in a creation sense but sent to the west) and if we do the MC are just all powerful and plot armored the fuck out and/or have a harem.

OPM is basically the DBZ of the modern era, it's popular with normies because it's over the top with action and not jiggly titties and embarrassing to watch if anyone catches them watching it.
Subbing also turns people off because they want to watch rather than read.

I guess it depends if they want to look for said shows but I don't think they want to rather they see what's out and base their judgement with that

 

[scorptatious]

Well, I'm an animation fan in general and like the fact that anime is something that grows with you, rather than being relegated to either for kids or comedy like most of western animation.

But I'm also drawn to the styles of anime specifically and what can I say? I love Japanese culture, it is what it is.

Even the more disreputable types of anime like the fanservice shows is entertaining to me the way say direct to video b movies from the 1980s are entertaining to some people, even when it's bad, it's still fun.

To be honest I think a big appeal behind most anime is that you get the feeling the creators behind a series just want you to have a good time, there's no political BS and there's no sense of cynicism, even when it's something schlocky or derivative you can tell it's made with an honest desire to entertain you behind it, unlike a lot of stupid western movies and TV shows that clearly holds the audience in contempt, especially in the SJW era.

So it's rare that I don't get some entertainment value from whatever I watch, but of course a lot of it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but there's a wide enough variety of anime out there that I think anyone could find at least a few things they'd like, saying "I don't like anime" is akin to saying "I don't like movies", there's too much of it out there for that to be a fair statement.

It does say a lot about something when I would rather watch a stereotypical harem anime than a show that's caught up in the SJW mentality.

One knows what it is and tries to have fun with it, the other just feel disingenuous and is just exhausting to watch.

They're both shit, but one is easier to clean up.

 

[The Last Stand]

The surface level, "obviously for children", is a lot of what airs on TV. It's usually shounen crap, involves tournaments, powering up, and people punching each other. The americanized dub voices are annoying and the animation is shitty. I'd characterize stuff like Sailor Moon and Ronin Warriors and Naruto and Dragon Ball Z etc. into this category. This is generally the normie opinion on anime.

The Boondocks is great for the reasons I mentioned above. However, it kinda kamikazi'd itself with the latest season. I liked it but it still wasn't as great. It's comedy and willingness to tackle sensitive themes was obviously muted. It basically fell back on memes and references to fill in the gap.

As for the Boondocks, that's because the creator of the strip and previous seasons weren't involved that season. It's coming back apparently, with the creator, so hopefully it will retain the original glory.

Another thing I wanted to ask: how would you describe anime art style? Some anime like Bleach, One Piece or Naruto use action sequences while others focus on character development. Somebody mentioned Steven Universe, how is that classified as anime? Same with the Boondocks,

 

[Gravityqueen4life]

got into it while i was young and during the late 90s and 00s, a lot of good shit came out. also thanks too the internet, it got alot easier too get a hold on so you didint have to watch tv with terrible dub, having too wait for new seasons too come out or pay 10-15 dollars for a dvd with only 2 or 3 episodes on it. now days i have trouble watching anime more and more since i find most of it to be boring or sub-par to the shows that i watched in the past.

i have also gotten more into manga since its a lot quicker too read it and i find the art very appealing too my eyes.