So what's anime like these days?

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Why dwindling market? If anything with the increasing popularity outside of Japan, online streaming and going to more demographics I can't see the market being smaller than decades ago. I won't immediately drop light novels (watch Chaika, it even has an ending) but I agree it is usually statistically worse, but it's pretty much standard YA book quality.
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You're right, of course. in terms of general appeal, anime has stayed pretty constant and popular the world over. The issue comes with the companies that make it. They treat outside markets the way Kirk Vanhouten's cracker company treats single people: Maybe the outside world enjoys anime, they don't know... frankly, they don't wanna know, but it's a market they can live without!

These days, anime producers are only interested in domestic appeal, in particular, appealing to the 18-30, single, employed japanese males who are willing to pay the king's ransom that anime dvds and merchandise cost over there. The result has been somewhat self defeating. Since they only really care about that one particular market, they pander to it absolutely, this results in diminished appeal to people outside of that demographic, which results in the domestic market for anime shrinking, which results in the producers pandering even harder to their base in order to milk more money out of them, and on and on it goes.

It's actually gotten better in recent years, with a few companies taking more risks, but for a few years there it was scary to watch.


Also, sorry if this post isn't particularly coherent... I'm on pain meds for migraines... since the weather has been so warm that my body decided it must be time for spring headaches, already. >.<

edit: also, you're the second person to recommend Chaika, so I may actually check that out! I'll let you know what I think if I do.

See, if anime has gotten greater appeal while being as you describe, it being thus is a good thing.

It's kinda like Jrpgs being westernized to target a larger audience resulting in the people who liked them not liking them any more because they lost that Japanese-only component which was what they had liked initially. Anime is like that too. Despite it being aimed at the demographic you describe, it still is liked by a lot of people and continues to grow in popularity. This indicates that despite the aim, anime already appeals to other groups too, and trying to change anime to appeal to those other groups more based on focus testing or whatever is actually much more likely to make anime less appealing, similarly to how westernized Japanese games ended up being meh for both western and Japanese audiences.


It's this weird catch 22 where you clearly see a ton of otaku-centric, in-joke laden anime being made, which logically should only be liked by a tiny amount of people, but these same shows DO get loved by a broader audience anyways, so there really need be no changes at all outside of the organic progress of the medium that happens without anyone directly pushing it one way or another.

 

[Raddra]

in my (admittedly sort of limited) experience a lot of modern anime/manga is falling in to the latest trend of 'harem/waifu'. This in moderation can be ignored with good stories but even some pretty decent stories can be drug down by its hamfisted pointless inclusion.

Theres still some good stuff out there like OPM, but you basically have to go to ghibli / madhouse for anything decent.

 

[RedmistSM]

I haven't watched No Game, No Life, so I can't speak for that, but I adore modern fanservice-heavy comedy anime like Keijo!!!!!!!!, Konosuba and Prison School. It's a good time to like that stuff, because there're lots of shows that do it well. So I can see why he's into them. But... They aren't the only thing out there either.

Here's a hot comedy tip if you're considering watching something with him that you both haven't seen: Weekly Girl's Nozaki-Kun and Haven't you heard? I'm Sakamoto. The first is a romantic shoujo comedy where the humor comes from characters looking like one thing and secretly being something else. It plays a lot with tropes in the genre, as the titular Nozaki-kun is secretly a shoujo manga author. The second is a story about the "coolest" guy in school, in theory anyway. No matter what goofy thing he does, it always makes him look awesome and solves everyone's problems, making everyone around him happier despite being frustrated by how perfect he is.

They are fairly asexual stories(Nozaki is romantic, though) and the characters are generally nice rather than mean. I think Sakamoto is pretty funny, and I really laughed a lot at Nozaki-kun. Nozaki-kun I watched with a friend too, and she was into it. Worth a shot!

Here's a trailer and an OP, respectively.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpgApmZi7dg
?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjgOD9vruTE

Edit: Lupin III(2015) might also be worth a try. It's largely lighthearted and fun, and for all that the main characters are technically assassins or thieves or femme fatales, they've all got hearts of gold and use their talents to be nice. If you've seen that old Miyazaki movie, Castle of Cagliostro, it's basically like getting a whole series like that. Though the animation isn't up to par with a Miyazaki movie naturally, and the camera can be a little up in people's faces, it still looks awesome because of how they recreated the retro style. Fujiko is also gonna seduce her way through some troubles, so there's occasionally a breast jiggle around, and Lupin's definitely got some urges. Nothing like Konosuba though. The dialogue can get a bit dull at times, but the slapstick is top notch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo8c0XJah6M A trailer for that, too.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

snip

Yes more people that like Dragon Maid. I hope it eventually branches into a bit more dragon though, that fight scene in ep2 was amazing and more dragons are never a bad thing.

 

[gigastar]

Being somewhat less of an old guard than most of the naysayers in this thread, i say theres still good shows out there and youll simply have to acquire a tolerance for the moments when the T&A are suddenly, unreasonably the singular focus of the camera.

As for what shows im watching right now, thats pretty much just KonoSuba. That said though its one of only 2 shows i was expecting to watch while theyre airing this year. Others have been brought to my attention, though i havent gotten around to them yet.

 

[Satinavian]

Most shows are really bad. But i think the numer of good ones has been steady all the time. It is just that anime has became way more accessable and more of the mediocre and even really bad stuff gets out of Japan than before.

As long as there are still 1-3 shows per season i fing enjoyable good anime is not dying.

 

[Mister K]

Well, there seem to be a lot more anime series made than before, which obviously means that there will be a lot more straight up trash. As others have said, today anime is more of a business than it was ever before, which means studios will mostly release stuff that otaku will buy, i.e. harems/fanservice series/self-insert fantasies.

But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything actually good.

If you are looking for recommendations, I'd say watch Ore Monogatari for really sweet non-typical (by animu standards) romance.

Or if you are looking for something with over the top action and follows the "rule of cool" 100%, watch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

 

[hermes]

Same as usual. Some are good, some are only okay, and a lot are garbage. Just like it has always been.

Pretty much this.

Yes, there is a lot of garbage, a lot. It is common in commercial genres that release dozens upon dozens of new series every couple of months, many of which are more interested in merchandise or cosplay, but there are some good new things out there if you are willing to dig them from the chaff (or look for recommendations online)

 

[BrawlMan]

Similar to what Ezekiel said, anime has become way too homogenized. I don't watch as much anime as I use to, and I only look at what interests me. Of course, even back then, things weren't always perfect with anime, it's was just the "wild west" era of different genres and unique art styles during the 80s/90s/ early 2000s.

The anime I have seen recently is Michiko and Hatchin (an anime that takes place entirely in Brazil), Space Dandy, Jojo Parts 1, 2, & 3, and the newest Gundam that is airing on adult_swim. That said, you won't catch me watching Dragonball Super (same old shit that is just a glorified fan fic) and Attack on Titan (it's the Walking Dead with giant monsters). I don't have the time for manga anymore; especially after the bullshit of an ending from Shaman King. If I need any fix on anime, there are plenty of older titles for me too look at.

 

[Captain Chemosh]

I would honestly recommend the original Berserk. Yes, it's dark, brutally so, but it is a genuinely grimdark anime. I do not recommend the 2016 remake of the series, both because the writing is terrible and personally I find the art style to be very poorly done. I would also recommend Ajin, Paranoia Agent, and Kekkai Sensen (blood blockade battlefield). None of them are particularly short mind you, but they are rather well written.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

I'm...into the cute stuff.

Give me some light-hearted comedy with cute girls doing cute things and I'm happy.

Why? Because the world is a sad place. I don't necessarily want my entertainment to add onto that general malaise, so the current trends are kind of right up my alley.

Oh, also, Youjo Senki.


Kawaii as fuck.

 

[WorgenHunter]

Don't really watch any of the new anime. But I can say that the last one that really interested me (enough to buy the light novels) was Overlord. Edit: (it's fairly bloody btw, just a little warning)

 

[NPC009]

If there's a problem with anime right now, that certain trends, especially when it comes to adaptations, hog the spotlight. Looking at manga, there's no lack of good material to adapt, and we do get the occassional Rakugo Shinju, but most studios prefer something that's less of a financial risk (to at the very least create a buffer to fund original series). Right now, that'd be light novels and a lot of popular light novels tend to have the same specific target audience: otaku who're into fantasy (and like to imagine themselves as the main character in a video game).

As a result, the past few years have been saturated with series that use the same concepts, themes and tropes. So many boys/young men who get stuck in RPG-like worlds...

That said, some of these series are actually pretty good. Log Horizon shows a good understanding of what MMORPGs are and why people play them, and gameplay mechanics and strategies play a big role in the various challenges the characters face. Re:Zero takes the whole idea of 'wouldn't it be fun to be the main character in a fantasy RPG?' and uses it to gruesomely break its very genre savvy and egocentric main character.

Stuff from that genre you generally don't want to watch is stuff that revolves around wish fullfilment, like Sword Art Online or GATE.

In any case, if you ask me, enjoying anime becomes easier when you acknowledge there are always trends and that you will not always like them. And that there will always be crap. You might not notice all the crap, but that doesn't mean it's not there. There has always been so much crap... These are constants in pretty much any part of the entertainment industry.

I find that the people who complain the loudest (about anime not being like it used to be) are often the ones least aware of what is actually available. They just see what's popular and think everything is like that, conveniently forgetting that less than 15 years ago, anime revolved around series like Inu Yasha, Martian Successor Nadesico and Gundam Wing. Oh, and the merchandise empire Neon Genesis Evangelion evolved into. Cowboy Bebop? Considered a forgettable series in Japan. The reason Americans remember it, is because of the endless reruns on American television. Anyway, if you actually look, really look at what's being made, you'll see people are still creating all sorts of innovative, creative and awesome stuff with a ton of personality. Anything from Red Line to Flip Flappers. And like I said before, good adaptations of good material still exist and might even be more common, or at the very least more varied, than ever. A mature drama series about rakugo is nearing the end of its second season. That is a thing that is happening right now.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

That said, you won't catch me watching Dragonball Super (same old shit that is just a glorified fan fic)

And it totally lost its edge.

The fights aren't brutal anymore, no blood and everything is too flashy now.

And the new characters are abysmmal.

I still stand by that Dragon Ball GT is now better because that's how bad Super is.

I mean you can't deny GT more interesting characters in the evil Dragons like Omega Shenron and Baby.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

If there's a problem with anime right now, that certain trends, especially when it comes to adaptations, hog the spotlight. Looking at manga, there's no lack of good material to adapt, and we do get the occassional Rakugo Shinju, but most studios prefer something that's less of a financial risk (to at the very least create a buffer to fund original series). Right now, that'd be light novels and a lot of popular light novels tend to have the same specific target audience: otaku who're into fantasy (and like to imagine themselves as the main character in a video game).

As a result, the past few years have been saturated with series that use the same concepts, themes and tropes. So many boys/young men who get stuck in RPG-like worlds...

That said, some of these series are actually pretty good. Log Horizon shows a good understanding of what MMORPGs are and why people play them, and gameplay mechanics and strategies play a big role in the various challenges the characters face. Re:Zero takes the whole idea of 'wouldn't it be fun to be the main character in a fantasy RPG?' and uses it to gruesomely break its very genre savvy and egocentric main character.

Stuff from that genre you generally don't want to watch is stuff that revolves around wish fullfilment, like Sword Art Online or GATE.

I have an issue with likening Gate to SAO. I think the story of war and reconciliation and refugees and all that was actually very topical and the protagonist isn't quite as much a "hero" as he is a guy trying to do his best so he can go to a convention, not at all herolike, very actual otakulike, thus relatable. You can clearly see everyone make fun of him for having all these super top tier military credentials, they all go "how is a guy like him this or that!?!?" which is I think a similar thing to how Re:zero is self aware (died at the Tsukihime maid references in that one lol) so I think Gate is actually worth watching.

I think the premise of the series, taken straight out of Stargate but with a whole lot of anime fantasy poured in, combined with the general plot themes make that series stand out and I thoroughly enjoyed it because of those elements.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

That said, you won't catch me watching Dragonball Super (same old shit that is just a glorified fan fic)

And it totally lost its edge.

The fights aren't brutal anymore, no blood and everything is too flashy now.

And the new characters are abysmmal.

I still stand by that Dragon Ball GT is now better because that's how bad Super is.

I mean you can't deny GT more interesting characters in the evil Dragons like Omega Shenron and Baby.

Sorry, but I watched GT recently. Zamasu and the Universe 10 Supreme Kai have more personality then all the evil dragon's combined.

 

[NPC009]

I have an issue with likening Gate to SAO. I think the story of war and reconciliation and refugees and all that was actually very topical and the protagonist isn't quite as much a "hero" as he is a guy trying to do his best so he can go to a convention, not at all herolike, very actual otakulike, thus relatable. You can clearly see everyone make fun of him for having all these super top tier military credentials, they all go "how is a guy like him this or that!?!?" which is I think a similar thing to how Re:zero is self aware (died at the Tsukihime maid references in that one lol) so I think Gate is actually worth watching.

I think the premise of the series, taken straight out of Stargate but with a whole lot of anime fantasy poured in, combined with the general plot themes make that series stand out and I thoroughly enjoyed it because of those elements.

The protagonist of GATE is very much a typical wish fullfilment character. Just look at this:
-He's an otaku (just like the readers/viewers! instant connection!)
-But he's also totally awesome at being a soldier and he ends up saving the day several times
-There's a small herd of young (and 'actually 700 years old') girls surrounding him

It's not similar to Re:Zero at all, because his interest in otaku stuff never actually impacts his life in a negative way (beyond being at the wrong place at the wrong time - which turned out to be for the best anyway). At worst, other characters joke about his hobbies. At best, it turns into diplomacy, because some foreign princess turns out to be a fujoshi.

Meanwhile, Subaru is pushed into a lot of painful situations, ranging from brutal deaths to ugly reminders that he is not the main character to the people around him. Scenes like the one where he desperately wants Emilia to understand he's doing it all for her hurt to watch, as they should.

Re:Zero holds up a mirror, GATE does not.

Just because the author has a boner for the JSDF and thus 'realism' doesn't mean the story is all that balanced when it comes to how the main character is presented.

If you're going to watch GATE, watch it because you want to see a modern military take on an ancient dragon. That shit is actually pretty cool.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I have an issue with likening Gate to SAO. I think the story of war and reconciliation and refugees and all that was actually very topical and the protagonist isn't quite as much a "hero" as he is a guy trying to do his best so he can go to a convention, not at all herolike, very actual otakulike, thus relatable. You can clearly see everyone make fun of him for having all these super top tier military credentials, they all go "how is a guy like him this or that!?!?" which is I think a similar thing to how Re:zero is self aware (died at the Tsukihime maid references in that one lol) so I think Gate is actually worth watching.

I think the premise of the series, taken straight out of Stargate but with a whole lot of anime fantasy poured in, combined with the general plot themes make that series stand out and I thoroughly enjoyed it because of those elements.

The protagonist of GATE is very much a typical wish fullfilment character. Just look at this:
-He's an otaku (just like the readers/viewers! instant connection!)
-But he's also totally awesome at being a soldier and he ends up saving the day several times
-There's a small herd of young (and 'actually 700 years old') girls surrounding him

It's not similar to Re:Zero at all, because his interest in otaku stuff never actually impacts his life in a negative way (beyond being at the wrong place at the wrong time - which turned out to be for the best anyway). At worst, other characters joke about his hobbies. At best, it turns into diplomacy, because some foreign princess turns out to be a fujoshi.

Meanwhile, Subaru is pushed into a lot of painful situations, ranging from brutal deaths to ugly reminders that he is not the main character to the people around him. Scenes like the one where he desperately wants Emilia to understand he's doing it all for her hurt to watch, as they should.

Re:Zero holds up a mirror, GATE does not.

Just because the author has a boner for the JSDF and thus 'realism' doesn't mean the story is all that balanced when it comes to how the main character is presented.

If you're going to watch GATE, watch it because you want to see a modern military take on an ancient dragon. That shit is actually pretty cool.

This is kind of what I meant. Otaku stuff isn't all that relevant in Gate, it's more about dragons vs tanks and the whole fantasy refugee situation so even if the protagonist "is an otaku" as we're told, it doesn't really come up enough to make it be a focal point of the story. Subaru actually expected to have super powers when he first came into the fantasy world and he often breaks the fourth wall talking about this or that so in his case, he stumbled because he was treating the fantasy wold like a game. In Gate you just have a modern military fighting fantasy beings and every now and then there will be some random joke. You didn't have the protagonist thinking he's a hero or expecting to use magic, he just acted like a normal soldier like everyone else did. Even if we know he is an otaku, he doesn't really behave in a way which makes this be wish fulfillment, unless we want to say that otaku just wish to be riajuus deep inside, which I don't think this show is going for lol.

Basically, the protagonist doesn't really feel like a stereotypical otaku, he's just a normal dude who likes anime and manga and stuff, and he also has other aspects to him, like a real person. I think that's way more interesting than just a caricature of a hardore fan. I don't see this as wish fulfillment that is specifically tied to otaku and not to just any random dude, especially not in the same way SAO is aimed at gamers. There's a much greater degree of separation between his otakuness and his being skilled at other tasks. Usually, shows aimed at glorifying otaku traits do so by making your amazing otaku skills be the key to solving the problems plaguing this world. Gate doesn't do that, his otaku skills just let him I guess not be as amazed by fantasy races and be more at ease conversing with them than average, nothing all that significant ever comes out of his being an otaku. His military training is what ends up mattering.


Finally, only one of them was 900 years old, the elf girl was only 180ish and the mage girl was actually 15 lol.