Poll: Why do YOU like anime?

[ThatOneJewYouNo]

I guess I'm just a fan of it because I grew up with it, with titles such as Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon, so it caught me early and I've just grown attached to it.

Not as big of a fan as I used to, though... Meeting the people who're extremely into it really kindas ruins your theoretical high about anime.

 

[captainwillies]

Yes. I'm complaining about the atrocious quality of one MAJOR style of anime. I also discounted the non violent types and pornographic types, so what else is there? What kind of David Lynch-esque avant-garde anime could possibly convey meaning or non-shambling significance?

major? im guessing your talking about the good vs evil motif. but that doesn't apply to only anime, almost all hollywood action movies use good vs evil as well as most western cartoons (e.g. transformers, g i joe) yes there are other narratives that differ but then the same can be said of anime hence Howl's Moving Castle

if your looking for something with a good narrative watch "Monster" the anime: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3750

or Death Note.

EDIT: or stick strictly to Studio Ghibli

 

[Mcface]

I kind of just sit there complaining about how stupid it is, and how I will never understand the Japanese, and how they should go back to being Samurai.

 

[WayOutThere]

I like that it is the best play to find a "beyond reality" feel.

Paprika
Ghost in the Shell
Evangelion
arguably FMA

These shows of a way of being profound. I like that.

 

[Arntor]

I like some anime and hate a few others but I've seen enough to not say I like all of it.

 

[Julianking93]

Only certain anime. Generalizing all anime like that is like asking why do I like cartoons. There are all different types of anime for all different age groups. I tend to like the ones geared more towards adults with awesome stylized action and sexuality where girls wear belts for skirts and their tits are about twice the size of their head.

So, there.

 

[Joe Matsuda]

im not really an anime fan per say

but i loved persona 3 and 4 so heres my two cents (yay)

with anime, your favorite TV show can have epic wars & battles without "TV budget cheesyness"

 

[Blanks]

Because i can?

 

[jboking]

To each his own, but I'm curious as to why people seem to like anime so much. It's like..cartoons that look like they were made by 6 year olds that have Asian (Japanese to be specific) eyes, and extremely graphic violence.

I watch Ed, Edd, and Eddy on a regular basis. Am I weird because of it, or do I recognize that cartoons are some of the most basic forms of entertainment that avoid the flat out stupid nature of most live action television shows today. I also watch anime and cartoons because in them not every other character is a doctor or part a Crime Scene Investigations unit.

About the bold part, I hate to bring this up, but in almost every anime I've seen the eyes of the characters generally look very Caucasian in nature, so I have no clue where you are coming from with this.

 

[Chancie]

I don't really know why but I guess it's because it's a "cartoon" but much more adult and serious. The stories draw me in much more, since most of them are much more mature than American cartoons.

 

[WhiteTiger225]

It's entertaining.
Why do like shows with real people?
Because you find it entertaining.
That's why.

^ This

Anyone who watches anime because it is anime should stop wasting their time, go to a few fansites, look at a few GIFs, and be done. I only watch ones that are not stupid, assanine, or outright "(Insert name for emo main character) goes on an adventure at age (Insert teen ot tween age here) to be awesome"

The ones I do like spark originality at how they handle their subject.
Full Metal Alchemist
Ghost in The Shell
Cowboy bebop
Big-O
Samurai Champloo
DUAL! (A japanese take on "Robojox" XD)
Trigun (Wasnt TO much a fan, but it had its moments)
Death Note (some really hardcore messages in this one as well as a VERY interesting story idea)

But to me much of anime that is released is just too... stupid to be blunt. Naruto... (Yes I watched the subbed Japanese version) Now usually I am shouting at ninjas who wear all black, do magic, and have super human abilities because real ninjas were just more political assassins and that was it... But come on! FUCKING ORANGE!? A Ninja is wearing fucking or- AND BLUE!? AND PINK!? And fish net!? COME ON! And why does their training consist of arena fight- WTF!? This takes place in modern day!? ugh... my head hurts....

 

[AvsJoe]

1) I love the J-humour. Some of the shows are there are incredibly funny. FLCL is just a riot.
2) They have some great stories coming out of that country. Erufen Rito blew my mind as did Ghost in the Shell and Perfect Blue before that.
3) Yuri. I don't need to explain that one.

 

[nick4118]

I like anime because since it's made by a different culture with a different set of values on what is feasible, it makes for interesting stories that we just don't get the same level of variance here.

 

[Icehearted]

When I was a kid growing up (I was a tween back in the 80's) anime was like nothing else out there. When it was on TV it was either on really early or really rarely. Almost no stores carried videos, and the ones that did charged an arm and a leg (Ranma used to cost $40 per VHS tape).

When I was about 11 or twelve they were showing G Force, Robotech, Voltron, and my friends and I absolutely loved it. Particularly Robotech, I think because it was really so dramatic (for it's time) and dealt with issues you would have never seen on Thundercats or GI Joe.

These days it's so water down and "dime a dozen" that it's hard to tell what's good and what's garbage anymore. I sort of liked Last Exile and FLCL, but I don't remotely care for Girls Bravo or Please Teacher. I couldn't even get into Tenchi, and that one was pretty popular. I think in this case it might have been the type of anime I don't like. You know, the "awkward dork being romantically pursued by a baker's dozen of beautiful girls" genre. I'd take Akira or Macross Plus over that junk any day.

TL;DR
Yes I like anime, sorry for the long post.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

It's entertaining, I like the characters, progression, stories, and art style.

 

[Naheal]

I've never seen the appeal in cartoons from an entirely different culture with pop culture references that no one stateside will get and (usually) cheesy dubbing.

I watch subbed. Usually has less cut out. Things tend to make more sense and the story tends to be a bit more entertaining.

 

[Muffinthraka]

I wrote my Independant Study Module on anime at Uni, and I got a 2:1 (the equivilent of a B), the title was "Feminism in World Cinema; Feminism in Anime and Disney. I passed and now have a degree in BA Hons Media Studies and English Literature.
I am giving this information partially to show off (^_-) and also to show that I have studied anime (and manga) from a critical perspective and have researched the topic heavily.
The first anime I ever saw was Patlabor, I saw it advertised in a Space Precinct comic (yep, we're going back a long way). A few months later I saw that it was being shown on BBC1... at 2 in the morning, so I taped it. I appreciated how the movie didn't talk down to me (although I appreciate that the series is Shonen) and it is still my favourite movie.
But why anime, firstly there is the way anime portrays characters, comedy and action that is very different to the western style (although anime is based on western styles, the large eyes that are an icon of anime can be clearly seen in characters like Betty Boop and disney, manga actually adds to the realism), there is also the obseession with cute (kawaii).
To be quite honest anime takes the saturday morning cartoons, comics and Disney style and then takes it beyond the age category, allowing for a current young fanbase to become a future older fanbase.

 

[ChoklateShyt]

just as alot of people have said, its just another thing that people tend to like. its like saying why do u like football? and if u say "OH! CUZ ITS MAAAANLYYYY!" then i feel sorry for you u empty shell of a human being who only cares about his appearance. the correct answer is, becuz its FUN. if you play football to look manly and not enjoy the football part of it, thats like taking a crap and putting it in ur mouth and swallowing it becuz a friend dared you to and you didn't wanna wuss out becuz ur MAAAAANLYYYYY. run-on sentence......

Other people like it because it makes great porn (apparently).

yes apparently to many peoplez, it DOES make great porn. have you ever seen an authentic japanese video store? picture an everyday video store with everday videos. Now put an endless pit of pornography next to it. Now multiply that by the thousands. Now multiply THAT by every city in Japan. If it was possible, you can probably masturbate ur life away with this amount of porn. Im talkin 24/7 no sleep no eating.

 

[Darth Pope]

Because contrary to what seems to be the general consensus here, there are some animes out there with very intriguing stories.

 

[Dalisclock]

Anime tends to take more risks, try then live action TV or movies, I've notices, and sometimes they succeed amazingly(Though the live action Death Note actually worked suprisingly well, despite the adaptations they had to make).

I've yet to see anything like Either of the Ghost in the Shell series in a live action format. I once tried to tell someone about Ghost in the Shell, and summerized it(badly) as "Like 24, but without the filler, soap opera elements or the stupidity"

Of course, like anything else, 90% of anime is crap. The trick is finding the 10% that isn't.