Lets Talk The Big 3 (Anime shows)
- Thread starter RJ 17
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I've only seen bits and pieces of the Big 3, but out of all of them, I think I like One Piece the most, due to it's interesting world build and sense of perpetual build up and expansion of the world. Problems I have with is its filler arcs (like a lot of long running shounen).Naruto has its moments, but its fights drag on for far too long, especially in Shipuden. Here's a summation of your average fight:
1. Main characters come face to face with the villain
2. They stare at each other and repeat each others' names for about 15 minutes
3. Then they have a 15 flashback, that is unnecessary long and redundant
4. Then they fight a bit, while mostly giving monologues and stating completely obvious things about the fight in their head
5. Cue another flashback
Lather, rinse and repeat. It has inspiring moments, but they are mired by shitty anime fillers and drawn out, dull fights. Bleach is even worse in this regard and not only that, but since it recycles its own plot constantly, it doesn't know where to go and ends up recycling fights and plot elements, except with different villains and characters. How many times has Ichigo seemingly been defeated/died, only to constantly get up again and ass pull whatever bullshit deus ex machine he has rammed up his ass?
I'd probably rank them the same as the Gigguk rant:
1. One Piece
2. Naruto
3. Bleach
1. Main characters come face to face with the villain
2. They stare at each other and repeat each others' names for about 15 minutes
3. Then they have a 15 flashback, that is unnecessary long and redundant
4. Then they fight a bit, while mostly giving monologues and stating completely obvious things about the fight in their head
5. Cue another flashback
Lather, rinse and repeat. It has inspiring moments, but they are mired by shitty anime fillers and drawn out, dull fights. Bleach is even worse in this regard and not only that, but since it recycles its own plot constantly, it doesn't know where to go and ends up recycling fights and plot elements, except with different villains and characters. How many times has Ichigo seemingly been defeated/died, only to constantly get up again and ass pull whatever bullshit deus ex machine he has rammed up his ass?
I'd probably rank them the same as the Gigguk rant:
1. One Piece
2. Naruto
3. Bleach
The themes of Bleach largely involve the colors of white and black, i.e. purity and impurity. "Bleach" is closely related to "white," and to "purification" in general, which is the primary duty of the Shinigami.Innegativeion said:
In all honesty, I gave up on the anime for all three series a long time ago, and now strictly adhere to the manga. I find that the anime series for any manga in general suffers from inconsistent artwork and animation quality (Studio Pierrot is mostly to blame). On top of that, there is the filler and padding that is generally of such huge quantity and low quality, that it overwhelms the canon material with its berth.
I do believe that all three series are overrated, but no more so than any other popular anime.
I don't know any of these, and to be honest, my first guess for these were "Yu-gi-oh, pokemon, and DBZ" mostly because they were the only animes I know. My second guess would've been "Clannad, Negima, and Ouran HSHC".
I know my mom likes to think of me as some sort of anime watching fan, but I know nothing about 99% of animes.
I know my mom likes to think of me as some sort of anime watching fan, but I know nothing about 99% of animes.
I've never been a big fan of "Long Form Anime" as I call it, pretty much anything that runs for a really, really long time but more so anything that draws out its action in order to create more episodes. Like Bleach, One Piece, The 3 Dragon Ball Series', Naruto, Case Closed, Ranma 1/2, Inu-Yusha etc.
The opposite of those kind of long form shows would be something like Jojo's Bizarre Adventure which has run for years but moves quickly and "ends" its plot arcs... even if the series as a whole keeps going or The Slayers which has had 5 Series's but where each series (for the most part) has a beginning and end, though some character development and a few plot threads are retained throughout.
Though I'm willing to be a bit more forgiving to shows that are more "raw comedy" like Toriko or Gin Tama... though I've only seen a bit of both so I can't fully comment yet.
The opposite of those kind of long form shows would be something like Jojo's Bizarre Adventure which has run for years but moves quickly and "ends" its plot arcs... even if the series as a whole keeps going or The Slayers which has had 5 Series's but where each series (for the most part) has a beginning and end, though some character development and a few plot threads are retained throughout.
Though I'm willing to be a bit more forgiving to shows that are more "raw comedy" like Toriko or Gin Tama... though I've only seen a bit of both so I can't fully comment yet.
Eh you're not alone there, lots of people don't really like Evangelion (like me!), I've been enjoying the movies so far in spite of my... indifference to the series(though I hear Movie 3 will ruin that enjoyment... guess we'll wait and see).Arnoxthe1 said:
Speaking of Bebop... I hear it's not nearly as big in Japan as it is in North America... same thing with Trigun. Very odd... though man... I'm excited to see what Shinchiro Watanabe's new series "Space Dandy" is going to be like, looks like a return to bombastic Genre Fiction after the more mellow and realistic "Kids on the Slope".
I've only watched a little bit of the big three, but I gave up when I notice that they suffered from the same problems everyone else has said already. Nowadays I prefer to watch anime shows that only go for about 12 or so episodes per season. I find it the perfect amount to get one or two story arcs done while leaving enough for the next season, especially if they use a good cliffhanger in the final episode. Oda Nobuna No Yabou and Maoyuu Maou Yuusha are the first things that come to mind when I think of recent anime I've watched that got me excited to see the next season.
This is actually absurdly true. I haven't watched any of the Bleach anime since the end of the Soul Society arc, but in the manga, the story is actually quite tightly written and very well planned out. Everything is very intricately tied together, displays a phenomenal level of forethought and intricate planning (or possibly absurd luck), and is very, very well put together (well, up until Aizen was beaten. Everything after that makes no sense and shows absolutely none of the previous skill, quality or forethought, which makes me think it was only made because Kubo's editors and/or contract forced him to do it).Frankster said:
Bleach, if you ignore the "official filler" that started with chapter 424, is easily one of the better mangas in terms of writing and especially plotting. It's mildly annoying that they'd fuck up the anime so badly.
Well, I liked some stuff about it but the problems I saw with it just kinda dragged the whole experience down.PedroSteckecilo said:
As to Cowboy Bebop, I made a thread wondering why Cowboy Bebop was so unique [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.409821-If-Cowboy-Bebop-was-so-good#17149836]. One of the things I gleaned is that Japan, as you have already said, did not think much of Cowboy Bebop. But I'm sure that was because Cowboy Bebop is really a very western anime. Same thing for Trigun. Both have a lot of western themes and Japan, I'm sure, doesn't really care about those so.
Captcha: boogie woogie
Why that episode of all of them, captcha?
Well ..
To be perfectly honest, those big 3 shows you mention, have only relatively recently gained popularity. In my opinion, other better older series paved the way into those 3 shows that today conform the most "mainstream" wing of anime. As observed, they are way too long, which tends to lead into nonsensical filler plots, and ultimately end up nowhere. However, I actually think this commercially is a good thing in the west.
I personally like series that start and finish, they tell a well plotted out story and after that, they are done. However, a lot of the western tradition lives more from characters than from stories, this allows narratives to continue forever, showing evermore of the characters people have grown to love. It is the phenomenon that we can see with superhero comics, their branching out in universes, their infinite rebootings, and the general arc structure that promotes a certain unimportance of the story in contrast to the character's charm.
Another reason that might be important, is that Anime in the west is commercialized greatly as a teen product. And let's face it, bleach, Naruto and One Piece, deal with VERY common teen topics ( even Sasuke's angst is a pretty good move, considering the target demographic ), Cowboy bebop or ghost in the shell are much more adult oriented animes, And even with all the angst, Evangelion is too. In general, as with movies, better content usually deals with topics that are somewhat more controversial and more conflictive than best sellers, but this also means that it very well may alienate some part of the audience.
I personally watched some Naruto just when it came out, but I could see that their purpose was to create a very long running story, and I simply didn't buy into it. Bleach on the other hand left me completely cold, I expected something mildly special, but I found probably the most generic initial premise I had ever seen... Maybe it got better later, but as I said, I simply wasn't investing so many hours on something that didn't capture me initially.
As for One piece, I read a few numbers of the manga, from the start, and it seemed to me that I would have gotten into it if I had been younger ( like dragonball or hunter x hunter ), but again the number of episodes seemd just excessive.
Maybe I was a bit old by the time these series came out... I think that people who watched anime through the 90's are probably expecting more interesting series, and have probably moved past the teenage fantasies that shonen anime / manga generally present. I'm not saying they are worthless, obviously. But they are just like dragonball for the newer generations. I love Dragonball, but looking back, I'm quite aware of it's sillyness.
To be perfectly honest, those big 3 shows you mention, have only relatively recently gained popularity. In my opinion, other better older series paved the way into those 3 shows that today conform the most "mainstream" wing of anime. As observed, they are way too long, which tends to lead into nonsensical filler plots, and ultimately end up nowhere. However, I actually think this commercially is a good thing in the west.
I personally like series that start and finish, they tell a well plotted out story and after that, they are done. However, a lot of the western tradition lives more from characters than from stories, this allows narratives to continue forever, showing evermore of the characters people have grown to love. It is the phenomenon that we can see with superhero comics, their branching out in universes, their infinite rebootings, and the general arc structure that promotes a certain unimportance of the story in contrast to the character's charm.
Another reason that might be important, is that Anime in the west is commercialized greatly as a teen product. And let's face it, bleach, Naruto and One Piece, deal with VERY common teen topics ( even Sasuke's angst is a pretty good move, considering the target demographic ), Cowboy bebop or ghost in the shell are much more adult oriented animes, And even with all the angst, Evangelion is too. In general, as with movies, better content usually deals with topics that are somewhat more controversial and more conflictive than best sellers, but this also means that it very well may alienate some part of the audience.
I personally watched some Naruto just when it came out, but I could see that their purpose was to create a very long running story, and I simply didn't buy into it. Bleach on the other hand left me completely cold, I expected something mildly special, but I found probably the most generic initial premise I had ever seen... Maybe it got better later, but as I said, I simply wasn't investing so many hours on something that didn't capture me initially.
As for One piece, I read a few numbers of the manga, from the start, and it seemed to me that I would have gotten into it if I had been younger ( like dragonball or hunter x hunter ), but again the number of episodes seemd just excessive.
Maybe I was a bit old by the time these series came out... I think that people who watched anime through the 90's are probably expecting more interesting series, and have probably moved past the teenage fantasies that shonen anime / manga generally present. I'm not saying they are worthless, obviously. But they are just like dragonball for the newer generations. I love Dragonball, but looking back, I'm quite aware of it's sillyness.
I have read some of the manga for all three of these and watched a good chunk of two of them. I started watching Naruto when a friend showed me a recap episode during the Chunnin exam, which looked interesting enough to make me start at the beginning. My cousin and I plowed through all the episodes we could download (wasn't out on DVD at this time) and eventually caught up to the weekly release. Somewhere during this time, I came across Bleach (I think because I was getting the Shonen Jump magazine, and it was starting to release Bleach in it). So we watched all of that too.
I followed Naruto up until the year+ of filler episodes that followed the fight with Sasuke. They just got boring and stupid, but I got a bit excited when I heard Shippuden was being planned. Meanwhile I had continued reading the manga and was enjoying it. Purchased all of the Naruto DVD's (before filler-mania) and a few collections of Shippuden, as my wife and I were enjoying watching it. Due to reading the manga, I'm much further ahead of what we own, but we'll eventually get there. Probably.
I had a major disconnect with Bleach after the Soul Society arc, as I was reading the manga and knew what should be coming next, but they had the huge Bount filler arc in the anime. I haven't seen any Bleach since then, but continued to read the manga.
One Piece just never really grabbed my attention. I would read the manga in SJ, but it wasn't the story I was excited to read when I picked up the new issue. It was entertaining, but just wasn't something that I would make the effort to obtain to keep up with it. Last thing I remember reading is some massive battle between some of the pirate lords and the navy.
I missed a couple of issues of SJ a couple of years ago and never was able to fill that gap, so I just stopped reading all of these. It is good to hear that Bleach and Naruto are nearing an end, so I may end up picking up the manga I am missing and read those.
I am at the point in my life where I find it difficult to sit and follow any kind of series, anime or otherwise. I've got seasons of anime on DVD that I haven't even watched yet, and I've owned them for years. Currently we're watching the occasional episode of Gintama, as I read all the manga available in America and found them to be very enjoyable. It's nice because each episode more or less stands on its own, with the occasional two parter. No super long arcs, no heavy intrigue that causes you to forget what's going on if you don't get back to it for a week or so. Just fun.
I followed Naruto up until the year+ of filler episodes that followed the fight with Sasuke. They just got boring and stupid, but I got a bit excited when I heard Shippuden was being planned. Meanwhile I had continued reading the manga and was enjoying it. Purchased all of the Naruto DVD's (before filler-mania) and a few collections of Shippuden, as my wife and I were enjoying watching it. Due to reading the manga, I'm much further ahead of what we own, but we'll eventually get there. Probably.
I had a major disconnect with Bleach after the Soul Society arc, as I was reading the manga and knew what should be coming next, but they had the huge Bount filler arc in the anime. I haven't seen any Bleach since then, but continued to read the manga.
One Piece just never really grabbed my attention. I would read the manga in SJ, but it wasn't the story I was excited to read when I picked up the new issue. It was entertaining, but just wasn't something that I would make the effort to obtain to keep up with it. Last thing I remember reading is some massive battle between some of the pirate lords and the navy.
I missed a couple of issues of SJ a couple of years ago and never was able to fill that gap, so I just stopped reading all of these. It is good to hear that Bleach and Naruto are nearing an end, so I may end up picking up the manga I am missing and read those.
I am at the point in my life where I find it difficult to sit and follow any kind of series, anime or otherwise. I've got seasons of anime on DVD that I haven't even watched yet, and I've owned them for years. Currently we're watching the occasional episode of Gintama, as I read all the manga available in America and found them to be very enjoyable. It's nice because each episode more or less stands on its own, with the occasional two parter. No super long arcs, no heavy intrigue that causes you to forget what's going on if you don't get back to it for a week or so. Just fun.
I consider myself a fan of anime, but I have not seen any of the big 3 (nor do I plan to). They could be amazing shows, but I hate series that never end, and I usually draw the line at anything over about 60 episodes (Bakuman/Gintama are the only exceptions I have, but they do end). I could never justify finishing anything that long when I could be watching other shows. Also, I like a moderate amount of filler in a show if it is funny and/or done well, but when the filler takes over, I start to get very bored.
honestly, part of the problem is that you're watching the anime.
the thing about shonen anime series is that they're based on currently running, one-chapter-a-week manga. Generally, a manga series will get an anime deal when it first becomes insanely popular, which generally happens around the 100-150 chapter mark.
An average episode of a shonen anime can easily cover 5-6 chapters.... and there's the problem. Generally, it'll take one storyarc, max, for the anime to start treading on where the anime is currently... at which point the animators only have two options: either go their own way for the climax and then create their own ending (common with anime adaptions of "one chapter a month" manga, like FMA or Soul Eater) or create meaningless filler as padding.
This isn't just in the form of those filler arcs you hear so much about. To kill as much time in an episode without actually doing anything, a shonen fighting anime will pad out EVERYTHING.
All that screaming and powering up in DBZ? Almost completely absent in the manga. Filler. When they released DB Kai, an anime adaption of Dragon Ball with all the filler and padding removed, the series was only 1/3 the length of DBZ. A really famous and blatant example of padding happened in Bleach during the arrancar arc, when the animators took a single panel from the manga of Yoruichi eating a bowl of noodles, and somehow managed to turn that one panel into a THREE MINUTE sight gag.
So, the "60 episodes to finish a conversation" problem you noted comes from that. the pacing of the weekly chapters isn't wonderful, espeically not with Bleach, but not nearly as bad as their anime counterparts.
But yeah, I read all three of the titles. Try to avoid the animes, though, unless it's a fight I've always wanted to see animated, because like you my patience for filler is pretty low. XD
the thing about shonen anime series is that they're based on currently running, one-chapter-a-week manga. Generally, a manga series will get an anime deal when it first becomes insanely popular, which generally happens around the 100-150 chapter mark.
An average episode of a shonen anime can easily cover 5-6 chapters.... and there's the problem. Generally, it'll take one storyarc, max, for the anime to start treading on where the anime is currently... at which point the animators only have two options: either go their own way for the climax and then create their own ending (common with anime adaptions of "one chapter a month" manga, like FMA or Soul Eater) or create meaningless filler as padding.
This isn't just in the form of those filler arcs you hear so much about. To kill as much time in an episode without actually doing anything, a shonen fighting anime will pad out EVERYTHING.
All that screaming and powering up in DBZ? Almost completely absent in the manga. Filler. When they released DB Kai, an anime adaption of Dragon Ball with all the filler and padding removed, the series was only 1/3 the length of DBZ. A really famous and blatant example of padding happened in Bleach during the arrancar arc, when the animators took a single panel from the manga of Yoruichi eating a bowl of noodles, and somehow managed to turn that one panel into a THREE MINUTE sight gag.
So, the "60 episodes to finish a conversation" problem you noted comes from that. the pacing of the weekly chapters isn't wonderful, espeically not with Bleach, but not nearly as bad as their anime counterparts.
But yeah, I read all three of the titles. Try to avoid the animes, though, unless it's a fight I've always wanted to see animated, because like you my patience for filler is pretty low. XD
Ahh, by the "big three", you mean the "Holy Shounen Trinity", m i rite?
Personally, I'm a manga man. I prefer to read, and watching long TV shows just gets far too boring. I can go through so many more chapters in the time it takes an episode to get through one or two.
Yeah, I'm a busy man.
To those who doubt the credentials of One Piece lets throw out some numbers. In 2008, One Piece became the world's most popular manga series, surpassing the previous number held by the Dragon Ball series. Technically, as far as the manga goes, One Piece is more popular. Obviously this doesn't count the cultural impact of the anime, since the DB series is so much more well known than One Piece, whose anime efforts started out basly and whilst the quality has risen, it's still not at the level of the rest of the HST. So people who watch primarily anime have a bad impression of One Piece, and for good reason. The anime was utter tripe, at least to begin with.
The manga though... hoo boy, there's a different kettle o' fish.
There's a reason it's the highest selling manga of all time. True, it starts out slowly, and I likely would have never even started reading it if not for a certain reason. Once you get past a certain early point, it grabs on and pulls you along a rollercoaster that throws you out the other end.
I would say it really starts at this point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHGz4Bv3K0c
If you can't be arsed to watch that - and I understand, it is SEVEN WHOLE MINUTES LONG - the baddy of the scenario has trashed a pet food store, whose owner has been long dead. That owner's dog, however, has refused to stop guarding the shop since he believes the owner is going to come back. So despite facing off against a lion, the dog refuses to back down and is hurt whilst the store burns down. When Luffy discovers that the dog's "treasure" has been destroyed, he flips out and completely destroys the duo.
Here begins the true theme of One Piece; Luffy stands up for those who can't defend themselves, or finds themselves in impossible odds. He often finds his crew members and true friends this way, fighting for them despite having no reason to do so other than friendship. It's an emotional journey of friends, pride, and honour as Luffy and his crew fight for what they believe to be right and inspire other people within the world to do so.
At it's core, this is a child's story, and it excels in that respect. But if you allow yourself to go along with it, it'll drag people of any age along with it. It is an emotional journey, and the writing excels in that area. It's not just a dumb battle manga like some others could be accused of being. It has heart, and it has soul, and it deserves to be read or watched. Yeah, it's hard to get through some of the earlier chapters/episodes, but it picks up not too far into it and becomes truly excellent.
I could keep putting up the excellent moments from it, but I really don't want to ruin some of the great storylines for those who will give it a go. So go find 'em for yourself.
Personally, I'm a manga man. I prefer to read, and watching long TV shows just gets far too boring. I can go through so many more chapters in the time it takes an episode to get through one or two.
Yeah, I'm a busy man.
To those who doubt the credentials of One Piece lets throw out some numbers. In 2008, One Piece became the world's most popular manga series, surpassing the previous number held by the Dragon Ball series. Technically, as far as the manga goes, One Piece is more popular. Obviously this doesn't count the cultural impact of the anime, since the DB series is so much more well known than One Piece, whose anime efforts started out basly and whilst the quality has risen, it's still not at the level of the rest of the HST. So people who watch primarily anime have a bad impression of One Piece, and for good reason. The anime was utter tripe, at least to begin with.
The manga though... hoo boy, there's a different kettle o' fish.
There's a reason it's the highest selling manga of all time. True, it starts out slowly, and I likely would have never even started reading it if not for a certain reason. Once you get past a certain early point, it grabs on and pulls you along a rollercoaster that throws you out the other end.
I would say it really starts at this point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHGz4Bv3K0c
If you can't be arsed to watch that - and I understand, it is SEVEN WHOLE MINUTES LONG - the baddy of the scenario has trashed a pet food store, whose owner has been long dead. That owner's dog, however, has refused to stop guarding the shop since he believes the owner is going to come back. So despite facing off against a lion, the dog refuses to back down and is hurt whilst the store burns down. When Luffy discovers that the dog's "treasure" has been destroyed, he flips out and completely destroys the duo.
Here begins the true theme of One Piece; Luffy stands up for those who can't defend themselves, or finds themselves in impossible odds. He often finds his crew members and true friends this way, fighting for them despite having no reason to do so other than friendship. It's an emotional journey of friends, pride, and honour as Luffy and his crew fight for what they believe to be right and inspire other people within the world to do so.
At it's core, this is a child's story, and it excels in that respect. But if you allow yourself to go along with it, it'll drag people of any age along with it. It is an emotional journey, and the writing excels in that area. It's not just a dumb battle manga like some others could be accused of being. It has heart, and it has soul, and it deserves to be read or watched. Yeah, it's hard to get through some of the earlier chapters/episodes, but it picks up not too far into it and becomes truly excellent.
I could keep putting up the excellent moments from it, but I really don't want to ruin some of the great storylines for those who will give it a go. So go find 'em for yourself.
ehhh... honestly, I'd say bleach is the most grounded of the three, considering it's the only one that takes place on Earth. XD the first arc is actually pure urban fantasy. A kid who can see ghosts temporarily gains the powers of a grim reaper, and juggles his muggle life with protecting the populace from evil spirits.clippen05 said:
It gets progressively more fantasy-elemented after the first arc, of course, but I don't see how anyone could accuse it of being less grounded than the other two.
I only really watched Bleach, though stopped after the start of the last filler season and have stuck to the manga ever since. Also its the only one of the three who's anime is actually over, to my knowledge, I heard some one say it was just on a break or something to. *shrugs* who knows, don't care, reading it now.RJ 17 said:
as for the other two, One Piece, can't stand the art style, and from the clips I've seen every thing about it seems intent on being various shades of unending stupid. So I've totally skipped it.
and lastly Naruto. *sighs* it pains me to thing this is how people will see Ninja for a time. In my short time with it, wasn't really a whole lot of real 'ninja action' going on. It was basically DBZ with the screaming replaced with sign language and talking, it's like they can't fight and talk at the same time or something, and I found that annoying. Speaking of annoying, the characters. Our main cast was rather, I donno, but the more I watch the more I stopped caring about any of them, to the point where I really don't care how much better the second series is, I saw nothing in the first to make my care about any of it character wise.
everyone should watch the following:
Burn Up, Bubblegum Crisis (original or 2014), Neon Genesis Evangelion (just because...), FullMetal Alchemist, Dominion Tank Police, 3x3 eyes, Project Ako.
Everyone should also really, REALLY, REALLY watch:
Excel Saga.
(for the uninformed its an anime that pays almost lip-service to the Manga (with the original writer's blessing), with good reason, that is basically a parody of all anime, manga and animation tropes in existence... and is almost Python-esque in its randomness in places. However, you don't need to watch a lot of anime to 'get' it and its hilarious!)
Burn Up, Bubblegum Crisis (original or 2014), Neon Genesis Evangelion (just because...), FullMetal Alchemist, Dominion Tank Police, 3x3 eyes, Project Ako.
Everyone should also really, REALLY, REALLY watch:
Excel Saga.
(for the uninformed its an anime that pays almost lip-service to the Manga (with the original writer's blessing), with good reason, that is basically a parody of all anime, manga and animation tropes in existence... and is almost Python-esque in its randomness in places. However, you don't need to watch a lot of anime to 'get' it and its hilarious!)
Arnoxthe1 said:
Bara_no_Hime said:
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFAuronFtw said:
Get this through your skulls. "Big 3" means popularity, not quality.
Someday you will know what the word "pretentious" means. But that day, it seems, is not today.Ishigami said:
Odd that you say that and then, in the previous paragraph, you mention Madoka Magica, which...you know...came out in 2011.Ishigami said:
I don't know if I would recommend Kon, though. Oh, all his movies are excellent (except Paprika), but they're not "entertainment" movies for the most part (even though they're enjoyable). Maybe I'm not explaining myself very well?
Let's take these one at a time. First of all, they're not wildly popular this year. They were wildly popular last year. The death of televised anime in America means that interest has canted toward shorter series, although the revival of Toonami may renew interest in long-running shounen series.Bara_no_Hime said:
One Piece is the highest-selling manga. Ever. Japan does not have a "Big Three", it has a Big One. Piece. To quote Fate/stay night, "It's so important it breaks the scale. No, more like it's the scale itself".
Crunchyroll actually has a topic somewhere that updates every month or so with the viewership percentages of anime. The first several entries are always the same. First is Sazae-san, which is pretty much the longest-running anything ever (it started in 1969). The second is something else that's never left Japan, can't recall what it is. Third is One Piece. Fourth and fifth are a toss-up, in that it's either Naruto then Bleach, or Bleach then Naruto (not any more, obviously, since the Bleach anime ended). Occasionally something big like Code Geass or - I assume - Attack on Titan pushes itself onto this level for a couple weeks, but that's it.
Reading manga sales numbers is also fun. They're ranked by sales in the current month rather than overall sales, so you look at the list and One Piece is like fifth. Then you realize it's a volume that came out months ago that's still on the top 10 and it's actually sold over a million copies.
There are men, and there are gods. And then there are pirates.
Now hopefully we're on the same page, more or less.
Okay, you've gotten two answers. They're both wrong, but they make a lot more sense than the truth, so you may just want to believe them and ignore mine.Innegativeion said:
Tite Kubo's original intention was to have the characters use guns, not swords, and he was going to call it "Snipe". Someone - his editor, probably - suggested swords instead, which he decided was a good idea, but then he had to change the name, obviously. He considered calling it "Black" or something similar because of all the darkness, dark shinigami robes, etc. then he thought about calling it "White" to evoke black by contrast. He though that was too boring, so he went with "Bleach".
I told you it wasn't going to make sense.
It's true, there was once a time when almost all things anime were genius. The year was 2011.Mick P. said:
Hollywood has never farmed its ideas from anime.
I'm glad you at least have the sense to not throw Evangelion to the curb, but I imagine your enjoyment of it stems principally from a sense of pretentiousness than an appreciation of its actual merits. If Ghost in the Shell is representative of anime in its "genius" days, then those days can stay in the past where they belong.
And bro, if we had any ability to properly judge how we should be spending our remaining days, we wouldn't be posting in this forum. We would be in the Peace Corps.
As for your edit, there are a variety of reasons older anime isn't sold, but I'm going to highlight one people have an odd habit of overlooking. You know that meme of crappily drawn and animated Spiderman sitting in a hospital bed, and it says "This post/topic gave me cancer"? Pre-90's anime is like that, but worse. Drawing is expensive, you know, even when you're paying your in-between animators below minimum wage.
Actually Trigun is (or was) very popular. That is, the manga was, not the anime. It started in 1996 and didn't end until 2008. I haven't read the manga, but from what I understand the tone between the two is very different. The anime is a bit schizophrenic as it transitions from comedic to somber, but the manga is very much a straight-ahead action drama. It also gives out information very quickly instead of dribbling it out gradually and subtly. Now based on description alone the anime's way of doing things sounds better to me, but the two are definitely different beasts.Arnoxthe1 said: