Is Anime Healthy?

[SweetShark]

Actually this is the main reasons I fear to start watching an Anime TV series...and some others personal as well:
-The idiotic "I explain my new move I will use for the first time" cliche.
-The MASSIVE Fan-Service which in reality some TV shows only exist just for that.
-Dragging a specific story Arc, for VERY LONG!
-100% agree also with the relationships in most Anime.
-The "heavy" Tsundere type of characters.......I f*cking hate them!!!
-I somehow dislike little by little the Basic Anatomy of a Anime Character. I accept only the "unique" styles.

But yes, if you search a little you will see a lot of other options you may like.

But I just wanted to say something about the relatioships factor in Anime TV Shows.
Adventure Time did the relationships between characters perfect. Anime developers must take some lessons from this show

 

[SweetShark]

Read the thread, people have gone over this many times. Not every anime is shitty battle shounen made for kids.

Yes, I know, that why I said he should start looking for other kind of Anime TV Shows/Films.
Sadly the majority of the Anime follow the things I mostly dislike.
But yeah, there are some [or many if you search a lot] awesome Anime out there. Some examples for me are:
-Dead Leaves
-Red Line
-SteamBoy
-Bakemonogatari
-Death Note [I prefer the Manga, but the Anime is also good]
-Elfen Lied [Cute + Gore = My first lesson not liking everything is cute]
-GunGrave [Yes, it is base on a Videogame, but it is a pure awesome tale of a mafia family]

 

[MXRom]

Like everything else in the entertainment industry, you have to wade through mountains of crap to find the real gems.

So far one that's hooked me was Space Dandy which lampoons damn near everything that saturates anime and pop culture.

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

No one is recommending darker then black.

Chinese electric batman will garrote wire you all.

 

[Someone Depressing]

That, my dear friend, is what happens when you involve this strange creature known as a "tsundere".

They are loud, stupid, cliche-ridden hags that tend to serve as much purpose to the story as a gas leek in a nuclear station. Why do they exist?

To drag the show on for a few more seasons.

And that's how Ranma 1/2 went on for soooo damn long.

 

[metagross111]

Snip

Because it sounds like you're restricting yourself to the Shonen demographic category(i.e. shows written for young to adolescent boys), of which the most popular shows are dominated by ones that go on for ever, have lots and lots of filler, the female love interests tend to be tsunderes, and the fights go on forever. I think it's time to expand your horizons a bit. Anime is a very diverse medium with stories out there for literally everyone. Below is a handy chart of the four primary demographics.

Shonen. Intended for young to adolescent boys. Here you'll find your Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, etc. Surprisingly, technically also includes Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, and Evangelion, despite them having more in common with the Seinen genre.

Seinen. Intended for adult men. Here you'll find your Baccanon, Berserk, Black Lagoon, Madoka Magica (which I should point out is currently the most popular Seinen title while only having thirteen episodes and a movie. That's it), and...Chi's Sweet Home. Hey, I said anime was diverse.

Shojo: Intended for young to adolescent girls. Here you'll find your Pretty Cure, Fruits Basket, Princess Tutu (don't let the name fool you. This one is surprisingly dark), and Sailor Moon.

Josei: Intended for adult women. Probably the least known demographic. Here you'll find your Paradise Kiss, Pet Shop of Horrors, Honey and Clover, and Eden of the East.

Generally, only the Shonen demographic really hits the mainstream in the west, hence the assumption people tend to make that it's representative of the entire medium. But trust me, there is a ton of stuff from just about every genre under the sun out there. Some is long and plodding, others are short and snappy. Personally, I'd suggest you give the Seinen genre a shot. I'd personally recommend starting with Baccano, which only has about 16 episodes. After that, give Black Lagoon a shot. It's longer, but not nearly to the extent of things like Naruto and Bleach.

Wow...Okay so I saw most of my anime on Toonami (cartoon network) and so you seem to be 100 percent right on my exposure. Occasionally I dabbled and would just walk into a video store and pick up something new. One vacation as a kid, I accidentally picked up soft core Hentai, not know what hentai was. Everyone on the cover just seemed so happy with pink and purple hair and big smiles and cute outfits. Mom made me throw it away. If you don't mind recommending me things, I'd just like to say I don't like too much boob and upskirt shots. It's not fair of me to call the Japanese repressed but Jesus Christ. Can each individual fight be wrapped up in an episode? Not too much angst (i.e no Sasuke's please...ever).

I have to second this. The reason you're not really enjoying watching anime anymore is because you have grown up out of the "shonen" demographic and you're looking for series with more mature themes. By mature, I don't mean hentai or erogi or anything (though that can be part of it for people interested in those things), I'm referring to series that have more rational plotlines, interesting characters, and genuine emotions with the exception of angst. It covers more genres, instead of your traditional fighting-type series where the plot hinges on violent conflicts and unrealistic relationships.

If you're looking for more recent anime with significant quality and genre's outside what you're used to, a few series I can recommend are Silver Spoon (a slice of life series involving an agricultural high school) and Log Horizon (fantasy-type series when a game world becomes real. Conflicts are more commonly found in social interactions and diplomacy rather than violence). Not only are they incredibly fun to watch and highly acclaimed, they're short as well, either series currently topping off at about 30 episodes, and they're currently free to watch on Crunchyroll. Give them a shot, and maybe it'll give you a clue to what you might want to watch next.

 

[Ratty]

And that's how Ranma 1/2 went on for soooo damn long.

I've heard nothing even really got concluded in that series, even in the manga. That the author just said "Welp I've got enough money now, I'm done!" more or less. Don't know if that's true though.

Slayers is kind of guilty of that though, and it's one of my favorite anime franchises.

 

[tiakeravelonna]

In regards to Sailor Moon...well...it depends on what you are watching. Are you watching the white-washed American version you saw on Toonami? Or are you watching the version where a young girl loses all she has (repeatedly) and fights with all she has to gain it back using the power of friendship and love, which is the original version? The original version can be a LOT darker, especially the final season (which never saw American TV). And the manga makes the anime look tame.

Is Sailor Moon fluff? Well, yeah. I'll admit that. Is it unhealthy? No. I'd consider Elfen Lied and Eva more unhealthy than Sailor Moon (yeah; that's how recent my anime knowledge goes. I tend to pick one thing and stick with it).

 

[4RT1LL3RY]

It really depends on the type of show your watching. Back when Toonami was on, long runners like Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon were long, but seemed mostly episodic. Most of the shows I watch now focus more heavily on characters themselves and how they are with others. Having Characters who aren't flat and how actually struggle and develop are something I look for. Even if they only have a single "goal" over the course of it.

Finding any shows where people are happily together is surprisingly hard. Not every show needs to be dysfunction junction. Fan service is a bane for me but I can deal with it to a certain extent. Hot-blooded protagonist and Mecha are still my guilty pleasure. Gunbuster and Diebuster are great even if I do need to deal with fan service occasionally. Watching Kill la Kill has helped immensely in building up a resistance to it. Don't feel guilty at all about the fluffiness that is incredibly close interpersonal relationships between females with sapphic tones. *Points at Sailor Moon's Haruka and Michiru, and all of Nanoha* Magical girl shows contain that quite a bit.

 

[Schwenkdawg]

As I'm sure everyone's managed to say already, it's because you're watching the wrong things and the wrong demographic. There's a bit of cultural confusion too. The Japanese tend to not be as...vocal or confrontational on average as many westerners so, while an incredibly valid point from a western perspective (I've caught myself yelling it at the screen a couple of times), getting the characters to chill out, sit down, and have a 5 minute conversation to avert everything that happened in the plot (Lookin' straight at you Eva 3.33) is unlikely to happen. Do a little research on the more "mature" genres and anime and you should be set

 

[Tiamattt]

And that's how Ranma 1/2 went on for soooo damn long.

I've heard nothing even really got concluded in that series, even in the manga. That the author just said "Welp I've got enough money now, I'm done!" more or less. Don't know if that's true though.

For the most part, yeah nothing really changes. Although to be fair story progression was never really the series' thing, in a way it's like American comics where you'll have a bunch of arcs with new characters showing up every once and a while, and older characters getting their turn in the spotlight until the arc ends and everything goes back to "normal." (Like anything's normal in that crazy place) Or perhaps a better comparison would be the Simpsons, where no matter what crazy crap happens in the story status quo remains the same. And like American comics Ranma ended in a similar fashion, you won't be reading about them anymore but they'll still be doing the same crazy stuff they do all the time.

Not that I like when a series ends like that, but I've read enough comics and seen enough shows end pretty much the same way so I'm pretty used to it.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Anime is entertainment, fictional entertainment, the only unhealthy part of that is when people don't comprehend that it is fictional.
Same applies to books, movies, TV, magazines, songs, cartoons, ... people take this fake ass celebrity shit as gospel and get a really fucking warped take on reality, it's just fucking fiction people, they fake it all for your entertainment but it does not in any way relate to us.

And I completely agree on the anime breakdown OP, I still watch some for the insane fight scenes(because there is nothing like it out there) but any attempts at characterization are hilariously bad and or sad.

 

[The Dead Singer]

You mention a lot of shonen and shojo manga, (targeted at young boys and young girls) Perhaps try some more of the adult stuff. Ghost in the shell, Baccano, Attack on Titan, cowboy bebop, Akira, (I'm including films here)heck, I haven't seen much but I think outlaw star was more adult oriented and it sounded like you liked that. Japan has a metric tonne of content pushed out all the time, and the majority of everything usually isn't always all that good. Is it so much worse than western sitcoms where ideas stagnate the same way, but pushed to the background of whatever the case is that day? (I'm thinking of House, but maybe I'm mistaken, its been a long time.) Or compared to American cartoons where nothing happens. Ever. Ever ever. Unless its anime inspired like Avatar last airbender, usually.

There is good stuff, but sometimes yeah, I agree, certain anime take too long to move on. I could talk for a loooooong while on why I think Naruto is the way it is, (I think that relationships are frowned upon in Shonen manga generally? So its something the author isn't allowed to actually let happen?) and the filler is another thing entirely since making an anime is faster than making a manga.

There is good stuff- sorry I rambled.

Attack on Titan and Bebop are Shounen/Shoujo, respectively.

I haven't read much of this thread but I do hope someone has pointed that the whole "Seinen/Shounen/etc" classification is gauged by little more than whatever magazine is selling the manga (Normally, anime-only franchises are not pigeon-holed into any of these categories. Usually). It doesn't matter almost anything what trait does a show have; If it's sold by a seinen magazine, it's a seinen. Otherwise, try to explain to me how does "K-On!" classify as a seinen (Yes, it is actually considered a Seinen) alongside something like Hellsing.

 

[gagagaga]

You mention a lot of shonen and shojo manga, (targeted at young boys and young girls) Perhaps try some more of the adult stuff. Ghost in the shell, Baccano, Attack on Titan, cowboy bebop, Akira, (I'm including films here)heck, I haven't seen much but I think outlaw star was more adult oriented and it sounded like you liked that. Japan has a metric tonne of content pushed out all the time, and the majority of everything usually isn't always all that good. Is it so much worse than western sitcoms where ideas stagnate the same way, but pushed to the background of whatever the case is that day? (I'm thinking of House, but maybe I'm mistaken, its been a long time.) Or compared to American cartoons where nothing happens. Ever. Ever ever. Unless its anime inspired like Avatar last airbender, usually.

There is good stuff, but sometimes yeah, I agree, certain anime take too long to move on. I could talk for a loooooong while on why I think Naruto is the way it is, (I think that relationships are frowned upon in Shonen manga generally? So its something the author isn't allowed to actually let happen?) and the filler is another thing entirely since making an anime is faster than making a manga.

There is good stuff- sorry I rambled.

Attack on Titan and Bebop are Shounen/Shoujo, respectively.

I haven't read much of this thread but I do hope someone has pointed that the whole "Seinen/Shounen/etc" classification is gauged by little more than whatever magazine is selling the manga (Normally, anime-only franchises are not pigeon-holed into any of these categories. Usually). It doesn't matter almost anything what trait does a show have; If it's sold by a seinen magazine, it's a seinen. Otherwise, try to explain to me how does "K-On!" classify as a seinen (Yes, it is actually considered a Seinen) alongside something like Hellsing.

I think it has to do with demographics. K-On is targeted towards adult men, so it goes in the seinen magazine. Same w/Hellsing even though they're as different as night and day. K-On even aired on the Japanese Disney channel!

Also, Bebop is definitely seinen, not shoujo.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Attack on Titan and Bebop are Shounen/Shoujo, respectively.

I haven't read much of this thread but I do hope someone has pointed that the whole "Seinen/Shounen/etc" classification is gauged by little more than whatever magazine is selling the manga (Normally, anime-only franchises are not pigeon-holed into any of these categories. Usually). It doesn't matter almost anything what trait does a show have; If it's sold by a seinen magazine, it's a seinen. Otherwise, try to explain to me how does "K-On!" classify as a seinen (Yes, it is actually considered a Seinen) alongside something like Hellsing.

I think it has to do with demographics. K-On is targeted towards adult men, so it goes in the seinen magazine. Same w/Hellsing even though they're as different as night and day. K-On even aired on the Japanese Disney channel!

Also, Bebop is definitely seinen, not shoujo.

You're both right, actually. The anime, which came first, is classified as Seinen. But since the manga adaptation was serialized in a shojo magazine, it's classified as shojo, despite there not being much difference in the content. It gets weird.

 

[sumanoskae]

You know the concept of a stereotype? Every complaint you've leveled against these specific anime can be directed towards any other medium as well.

You yourself made comparison to Twatlight, but it wouldn't make much sense to dismiss all of literature because you've read some crappy books.

Consider watching some anime outside the run of the mill Shonen and Magical Girl variety.

Some suggestions: Madoka Magicka will appeal to you if Sailor Moon makes you sick; Fate/Zero is one of the greatest stories ever told in any medium, IMHO; Code Geas is fantastic, even if it's second season drags on a bit; Death Note is to Shonen as Madoka Magicka to Magical Girl; Gankutsuou: The Count of Monet Cristo is fantastic, there is almost nothing wrong with it; Samurai X (The Rurouni Kenshin OVA's) is perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on.

Get through all that without being moved and I'll accept that you have some kind of bizarre, arbitrary aversion to specific styles of animation that prevents you from enjoying a good story.

The idea of treating Anime like it's own genre seems kind of silly; all it really means is "Cartoons from Japan". It only follows the tropes it does because people ascribe them to it; there's no reason Anime has to be different from any other kind of animation.

Honestly, being biased against all Anime strikes me as willful ignorance; unwillingness to seek out other potential entertainment when one thing doesn't work.

I had a friend once who said they didn't like movies because they only ever saw bad ones, I told him that he had nobody to blame but himself; he complained about how shallow Hollywood made it's big budget movies, but these were the only films he ever bothered to watch.

 

[Belaam]

there was an obvious easy solution: for them to sit down and TALK for 5 minutes!

I have to point out that this is true of pretty much every story ever that is largely focused on characters relationships with each other. Romantic elements from those in Romeo & Juliet on have all just needed a short, honest conversation. It's hardly a problem unique to Japan.

For me, there are a few simple tricks to finding good anime. There are exceptions to the list, but generally you'll find better anime if it meets at least 3/4 of these:

1) Something rated 18+ that is not rated that for the fan service (or at least exclusively for the fan service).

2) Not set in a school.

3) The protagonist has a non-comedic character flaw.

4) A completed story arc every few seasons or a completed story arc for a short series.

As others have said, hitting Crunchyroll and watching an episode or three of anything that sounds like it might interest you is probably a good move. You'll quickly get an idea of what is worth sticking with and what is not.

 

[Dr. Cakey]

A lot of shows have been recommended but I only want to go up. Of the shows recommended to me, what would be considered 'better' than Modaka? Gahh choices..!

There's nothing.

Uh, I don't mean that as a criticism of anime, but in terms of the "objective" (add air-quotes as necessary) parts of storytelling, Madoka is all but flawless.It's very likely you'll find things you like more...eventually...because People Like Different Things.

If you're interested in seeing more from the same writer, he wrote the novel of which the Fate/Zero anime is an adaptation. Fate/Zero's a bother because it's a prequel to Fate/stay night, and while it makes a solid attempt at being standalone, the Fate universe is...complicated. Also, as far as I'm concerned, Fate/stay night is one of the worst things ever written, although I'm more or less alone in that sentiment. Fate/Zero, however, is an excellent work. Urobuchi can feel a bit cold or detached from his characters, which might be unexpected considering how emotional and intimate Madoka is.

He's also written the anime Psycho-Pass and Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet. I'd consider them weaker than Fate/Zero and Madoka, but they're still solid works at their worst. He's also doing story composition for an anime which will be airing this summer, called Aldnoah Zero.

I think it was Yu Gi Oh that made me throw in the towel and give up trying to watch anime on tv. I hated those battles. At least Pokemon battles were quick (although I hated team rocket for fuckin' shit up and slowing shit down).

How dare you good sir!

YGO is kind of great for a lot of reasons, but one thing I like about it (particularly the sequel series: GX, 5D's, Zexal, and the current series, Arc-V, since they don't have to slow themselves down to align with ongoing source material) is that it makes excellent popcorn material, since most of the show is battles, and the later series feature battles which move at a good speed.