Anime. I don't get it

[TheGreenGoblin]

A lot of people who read shonen, and who are still 30+ need to grow up with their tastes. I see 23-30 year olds who read manga who should be reading something to more of their age.

You're 10 years off, my friend.

In Japan there is manga for you from cradle to grave. However, only the teen stuff is published here because that's the largest market. Eventually those people will be 30 and ready to graduate from Shonen Jump to Big Comics or June. Right now, there's hardly anything specifically targeted to that age group in English...other than Sanctuary.

And now I'm going to throttle you for suggesting something is wrong with us for still enjoying books that are heavy on action or comedy. DO NOT tell me to act my age. First of all, I don't recall any publications defining just what I'm supposed to like. Not that I'd blindly agree with them anyway. Second of all, Death Note is an absolutely stunning read that no fan of detective drama should miss out on.

Third of all, you neglect the impact of art. I like Shaman King. I like the pictures and the fabulous examples of undead culture from around the globe. I wouldn't use it as educational material but it's delightful light reading. Rurouni Kenshin is such a great read that I will have a child just to read it to him.

This actually goes back to my original point on how/why anime is thought to be so great in the first place. Even at the Shonen Jump reading level the stories treat the reader like an intelligent, thinking being and offer you challenging issues to consider as we watch the characters struggle to figure out the proper course of action. (This happens a lot in Kenshin--a Shonen Jump comic.) THAT, my friend, is appropriate for any age.

P.S.: The Police Station in Kameari Park in (Tokyo's) Katsushika Ward has been running in WEEKLY Shonen Jump for over 33 years now. Are you telling Japan to act it's age? (It doesn't look a day over 3,000.)

 

[Akira Pilot]

A lot of people who read shonen, and who are still 30+ need to grow up with their tastes. I see 23-30 year olds who read manga who should be reading something to more of their age.

You're 10 years off, my friend.

In Japan there is manga for you from cradle to grave. However, only the teen stuff is published here because that's the largest market. Eventually those people will be 30 and ready to graduate from Shonen Jump to Big Comics or June. Right now, there's hardly anything specifically targeted to that age group in English...other than Sanctuary.

And now I'm going to throttle you for suggesting something is wrong with us for still enjoying books that are heavy on action or comedy. DO NOT tell me to act my age. First of all, I don't recall any publications defining just what I'm supposed to like. Not that I'd blindly agree with them anyway. Second of all, Death Note is an absolutely stunning read that no fan of detective drama should miss out on.

Third of all, you neglect the impact of art. I like Shaman King. I like the pictures and the fabulous examples of undead culture from around the globe. I wouldn't use it as educational material but it's delightful light reading. Rurouni Kenshin is such a great read that I will have a child just to read it to him.

This actually goes back to my original point on how/why anime is thought to be so great in the first place. Even at the Shonen Jump reading level the stories treat the reader like an intelligent, thinking being and offer you challenging issues to consider as we watch the characters struggle to figure out the proper course of action. (This happens a lot in Kenshin--a Shonen Jump comic.) THAT, my friend, is appropriate for any age.

P.S.: The Police Station in Kameari Park in (Tokyo's) Katsushika Ward has been running in WEEKLY Shonen Jump for over 33 years now. Are you telling Japan to act it's age? (It doesn't look a day over 3,000.)

Fair enough.

But I have to point out that most kids won't see the culture because Shonen Jump does not let the kids show the implications of said culture embracement because they are focused more on the art and the action rather than the romance. But yes teens see that in alot of the shonen manga. But it is all the same. Boy finds quest or purpose, tries to embark on quest (whether spiritual, setting a goal or, finding something out ). It is the degree of how that same story i executed. I'm glad that you brought up both Deathnote, and Ruroni Kenshin. They are perfect examples of great shonen books with out most of the cliche that most shonen stories contain. Kenshin is a perfect example of the bad guy quitting the life and it reflects the Meji Era. More importantly, Deathnote, is something that embellishes the crime novel. But none of them have any real world significance, but they still vibrate that sense of moral instillment upon one's self. Anime is not going to do that because it is directed more toward the kids who don't know morality from molar cavity. From a matter of perspective, I see too much anime that appeals to the young'uns and does not promote real life stories. I'd rather read manga which breaks grounds, Luckily Deathnote did that. Ruroni Kenshin did that as well because Watsuki took his pre-Atomic-Manhattan-Projected roots and applied it to a great manga, with some conventions still being added on. But remember that the kids reading it are not going to see that mature level of thinking until they reach probably around 16 but they are still going to be judgemental, in reading and thinking of manga.

 

[Akira Pilot]

They appeal to people because they remind us of the cartoons of our youth, though you can get away with watching it at any age, and because it is so easy to relate to Anime characters. The Japanese are just generally better writers than westerners.

I was going to counter that with Frank Miller because he was inspired by manga and wrote the critically-acclaimed Ronin. I was also going to counter that with Alan Moore, but I forgot he was from England... and Alan Moore is great as writing a script. I mean he had over 4 series that he is critically acclaimed for including Watchmen and V for Vendetta, and he is not the average comic writer. He appeals to the sub-conscious mind rather than the soul. And writers from Japan do not have critically acclaimed books across the world, but then again it is understandable that Japan is a super-economy, not a superpower.
Also to comment more, you'd be surprised to find that alot of writers are looking into manga for ideas on modern japanese culture.
That and Dave Gibbons love Akira so much that he drew some fan art for it, in his own style.

 

[Rigs83]

They are basically cartoons with tits and violence. I like tits and violence and they are nice enough to involve a plot. Usually a plot that makes no sense but I digress.

 

[CosmicCommander]

Not meaning tobe a troll, but:

Anime= People with extremely wierd eyes and a horrible colour palette, running around and either:

-Destroying Pre-existing western franchises
-Solving an extremely crap magical Japanese problem.

Western Animation is Always superior!! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB0KOgKgwco&feature=channel_page]

 

[Horizontalvertigo]

Whats there to get?
Scantily clad chicks beat demons to death with over-sized swords. Genre defined.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

They appeal to people because they remind us of the cartoons of our youth, though you can get away with watching it at any age, and because it is so easy to relate to Anime characters. The Japanese are just generally better writers than westerners.

What. A load. Of bull.

There isn't a Japanese "writing gene" that makes them "better" at anything, just like the Americans, Australians and British don't have a "fighting gene" that makes them better at beating the Japanese during a war.

You want proof that Western writers can do just as well, if not better? Joss Whedon. J. Michael Straczynski. The guys who wrote the plot and scripts for Avatar.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

I don't get football.
I also don't get the hate on anime.

 

[Horizontalvertigo]

hmmm, I do believe the Japanese only surrendered under the threat of total nuclear annihilation, and that America took what it did because they just kept throwing men and machines at islands till the Japanese were over run? Yet they still managed to inflict serious casualties?
But I digress, It was a meat grinder of a war with each side having its atrocities and sufferings, it's successes and it's failures.
I found Avatar an uninspired watered down retcon of old Asian mythology, and its hardly anime, its anime westernised. Tho its true what he said, Race doesn't make a difference.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

hmmm, I do believe the Japanese only surrendered under the threat of total nuclear annihilation, and that America took what it did because they just kept throwing men and machines at islands till the Japanese were over run? Yet they still managed to inflict serious casualties?
But I digress, It was a meat grinder of a war with each side having its atrocities and sufferings, it's successes and it's failures.
I found Avatar an uninspired watered down retcon of old Asian mythology, and its hardly anime, its anime westernised. Tho its true what he said, Race doesn't make a difference.

The difference being of course, that the Allies had the manpower and industry to make "throw men and machines at it until it goes away" a viable tactic. American weapons outperformed Japanese ones on every possible level, and the IJA propagated this silly idea that the Americans and Brits were "amateurs" at war and that their "warrior spirit" would prevail, which cost the Japanese dearly when they tried to attack entrenched positions using nothing but banzai charges.

And even if the Japanese didn't surrender, they would have lost anyway. Their territories were liberated, their industry bombed back into the stone age, and most of their army defeated and either killed or captured. Yes, an amphibious invasion of the home islands would have been a meat grinder, but Allied victory would have been inevitable.

 

[CosmicCommander]

Western Animation is Always superior!! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB0KOgKgwco&feature=channel_page]

If you're into children's movies and comedy, then maybe. Otherwise, no.

I guess that is your opinion, but I find Anime usually dull boring, it can be deep and enthralling, but it is rarely the case, and, again, the colours usually used are rather ugly.

 

[Seanchaidh]

Big eyes! Japanese stuff! Fighting! Explosions! Androgyny! Overexcited children!

Yeah, I don't really like it either.

 

[Horizontalvertigo]

I'm not misinformed, just a smart arse. I know that there are many mind blowing and excellent anime titles out there. But for every one of those theres garuanteed to be several titles about big boobed anime girls killing demons with their supersonic power of love or someshit. But in essence, thats what sells, and props up half the hentai business hahaha.

and its true that the Japanese defeat was inevitable, I simply wanted to point out that even with out a "fight gene" the Americans really didn't have a good time trying to pull the Japanese out of the Pacific Islands.

 

[bladeofdarkness]

the advantage of anime over both western cartoons and normal TV/movie entertainment is simple

unlike western cartoons, anime is not viewed as something ment only for 6 year olds
and so the story can be as complicated and dark or epic as you want
you can make it a kick ass action story with people dying left and right, or a dark psychological horror story about the nature of mankind, or a sweet little romance, or a slice of life story about 4 schoolgirls creating a rock band
there is no limit to the story you can tell

and unlike normal movie or tv, anime is animated, which means you can create anything you want to add to the story with minimum cost and effort
want giant-robots/space-battle/giant-monsters/magic-powers, just add ink and you have it
you can literally create whatever world you want, fill it with as many marvelous things you want, and the cost if minimal

no "target audience age" limit, and no "prop/CGI limit"
the limit to the story you can tell, is set only by your own imagination as a storyteller

 

[JediMB]

Camera-filmed movies and shows. I don't get it.

I dont understand what the big deal with camera-filmed movies and shows is, other than Seinfeld, i just dont understand what its about

if you please enlighten me about why everybody loves it, that would be nice

 

[Nicragomi]

I dont understand what the big deal with anime is, other than .hack, i just dont understand what its about

if you please enlighten me about why everybody loves it, that would be nice

The only anime I've really liked were the one's I've grown up on, like Gundam, Dragon Ball and DBZ, and there have only been small handful of new ones (like Death Note and Code Geass) only because I like the mind games that the antagonist plays with the protagonist.

Not sure why people go crazy over anime, some I can understand because of the story, but really, like Yahtzee says about JRPGs, they are "about androgynous teenagers killing Satan" or some form thereof.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

the advantage of anime over both western cartoons and normal TV/movie entertainment is simple

unlike western cartoons, anime is not viewed as something ment only for 6 year olds
and so the story can be as complicated and dark or epic as you want
you can make it a kick ass action story with people dying left and right, or a dark psychological horror story about the nature of mankind, or a sweet little romance, or a slice of life story about 4 schoolgirls creating a rock band
there is no limit to the story you can tell

and unlike normal movie or tv, anime is animated, which means you can create anything you want to add to the story with minimum cost and effort
want giant-robots/space-battle/giant-monsters/magic-powers, just add ink and you have it
you can literally create whatever world you want, fill it with as many marvelous things you want, and the cost if minimal

no "target audience age" limit, and no "prop/CGI limit"
the limit to the story you can tell, is set only by your own imagination as a storyteller

Clearly you do not watch as much TV as you think.

As early as 10 years ago, there were western cartoons marketed towards the "14 and older" demographic: Aeon Flux, Batman the Animated Series and Beavis & Butt-head are prime examples. Even 60 years ago, the idea that cartoons were "just for kids" was absolutely ludicrous: Bugs Bunny in fact, was popular with American G.I.s in Europe, along with Batman and Superman comics.

The idea that "cartoons are for kids" is an idea propagated after the 1950's when stricter censorship laws came into place, forcing all sorts of print and broadcast media to start cutting a lot of the more heavy-handed content out. It's only after the 1970's that the laws started to get more relaxed, and the stance shifted more towards the "liberal" side of the scale, and even then they had to watch what they'd broadcast.

 

[bladeofdarkness]

the advantage of anime over both western cartoons and normal TV/movie entertainment is simple

unlike western cartoons, anime is not viewed as something ment only for 6 year olds
and so the story can be as complicated and dark or epic as you want
you can make it a kick ass action story with people dying left and right, or a dark psychological horror story about the nature of mankind, or a sweet little romance, or a slice of life story about 4 schoolgirls creating a rock band
there is no limit to the story you can tell

and unlike normal movie or tv, anime is animated, which means you can create anything you want to add to the story with minimum cost and effort
want giant-robots/space-battle/giant-monsters/magic-powers, just add ink and you have it
you can literally create whatever world you want, fill it with as many marvelous things you want, and the cost if minimal

no "target audience age" limit, and no "prop/CGI limit"
the limit to the story you can tell, is set only by your own imagination as a storyteller

Clearly you do not watch as much TV as you think.

As early as 10 years ago, there were western cartoons marketed towards the "14 and older" demographic: Aeon Flux, Batman the Animated Series and Beavis & Butt-head are prime examples. Even 60 years ago, the idea that cartoons were "just for kids" was absolutely ludicrous: Bugs Bunny in fact, was popular with American G.I.s in Europe, along with Batman and Superman comics.

The idea that "cartoons are for kids" is an idea propagated after the 1950's when stricter censorship laws came into place, forcing all sorts of print and broadcast media to start cutting a lot of the more heavy-handed content out. It's only after the 1970's that the laws started to get more relaxed, and the stance shifted more towards the "liberal" side of the scale, and even then they had to watch what they'd broadcast.

dont confuse dual demographic appeal with what i'm talking about
bugs bunny ?
Batman the Animated Series ?
beavis and butt-head ?
i'm not talking about slapstick comedy stuff, or the stuff thats fun to watch when you are high, or the stuff that has superheroes in it
i'm talking death note, and monster
i'm talking about stories that are marketed SPECIFICALLY for an adult audience, because it would go over children's heads

and while there HAVE been some improvement in thinking lately (avatar is a good example)
these improvements are derived from the TV exectes looking at how anime is sipping in, and trying to copy it
sometimes they get the point, often they dont
usually they dont because they still think of it as either "its for kids, but adults might like it too" (avatar, teen titans)
or "its for adults, so we need as much violence and sex as possible" (heavy metal FAKK 2, Aeon Flux)

if they can just get it into their heads that you dont HAVE to be all blood&guts about every story in order to make it adult oriented, things might improve
till then, anime is pretty much the best game in town for that