Western Vs. Eastern

[DrgoFx]

Ok...I'm a bit sick and tired of this. But then again, this is the internet and it's bound to continue. So I'm going to express my opinion right here, right now.

Western writing, game developing, music, and animation is the same level of quality as Eastern.

There is my opinion. I will now go in dept for those that care. I have stated this in the past on this site, but I do not feel I have done so enough as I keep getting agitated by it. I don't hate Anime or JRock or Atlus or anything of the sort. One of my favorite crime shows is Paranoia Agent. One of my favorite Sci-Fi shows and games are the .hack//ROOTS[G.U.] franchise. I actually like Vocaloid and a few random KPop and Jrock artists.

With that aside, I like rock music, techno, one of my favorite bands is Norwegian. My favorite graphic novel character is Tim Drake. My favorite movie is Treasure Planet. My idol happens to be an English voice actor for Anime re-dubs by the name of Johnny Bosch, he was also in Power Rangers.

In short, I believe that Eastern is not better than Western or vise versa. I believe they both have ups and downs, I have seen a good amount of terrible anime along with terrible western cartoons and comics.

With all this aside, the only reason one seems "better" than the other is from one factor. It's origin. If you prefer Japanese media over American and you are American, that's because it's foreign to you and interests you. If you're an American liking American things, that's just you being in a comfort zone. Nothing wrong with that.

I know this won't change the internet, but I'd like to not run into someone that thinks animesk drawing is the only form of art in existence and anything else is utter shit.

 

[GrimGrimoire]

Well of course West and East are equal.
After all, the products come down to the persons behind them, not the place they come from. That is like saying that all Scandinavians are superior to the rest of the world.

But when that is said, it think this boils down to personal preferences, and not so much origin.
I am myself Norwegian, and we have very little to say when it comes to worldwide culture, and I therefore have to like most things foreign. But not becouse they are foreign, or if they remind me of home.
Hell, if I want to be within my "Norwegian confort zone" I just go outside and bathe in the snow.

I have my splitted views, as everyone else. I tend to like Japanese animation better than Western. I tend to like Western fantasy better than Japanese. I tend to like my music in English, not Mongolian. Even though if I find a really good Mongolian band I will listen to it.

TL;DR: I agree with the OP on most points, but that he is a bit off on the matter of preferences.

 

[Axolotl]

I disagree with the OP. The American animation industry is simply not on par with Japan's, just like Japan's (and the most of the world's) film industry is simply not on par with America's.

America's animation industry is not set up i9n a way that allows them to produce things on the same level as things like Paranoia Agent or Evangelion (or even Death Note) at anywhere near the same frequency as Japan can, sure occasional masterpieces like A Scanner Darkly can slip out but these are by far the exception not the rule.

But at the same time America makes better films than Japan and the rest of the world. This sin't because everyone else is less talented but simply because the number of great films that can only be made by Hollywood exceeds those that can only be made without Hollywood. So while superstars like Kurosawa can work in Japan, only Hollywood can produce films like The LotR Trilogy or Inception or Inglourious Basterds.

Ultimately some countries are just better at making certain things than others overall.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I like how by "eastern" you pretty much just mean Japanese.

 

[TheBelgianGuy]

I like how by "eastern" you pretty much just mean Japanese.

Also notice how "western" means America.

 

[Crazy]

The North and South have better economies and no starving people. East and West are outdated, get with the times.

 

[Nickolai77]

Western/Eastern cultural expression (to use these blanket terms) is of course equal, neither culture is more or less intelligent or creative than the other, after all we're all humans. Of course there are differences, and different emphasis in different areas (Japanese Anime versus American Hollywood) so wherever you prefer Western or Eastern is a lot down to personal preference.

What i would say however is that Eastern cultural expression, in the West, is dominated mainly by Japan. I've had very little exposure to Chinese or Korean cultures for instance. Western culture is largely dominated by America on the global level as well, and i'm only really familiar with European stuff because i live there.

Generally speaking i prefer European music to American music, i'm yet to come across any Japanese or other east Asian bands that i've actually got into. Films wise, i like both European and American films but for different reasons (European films tend to be more creative and quirky, American films tend to have very high budgets and have that "epic" element) Japanese and Asian films i'm not all that familiar with. I like both American and Japanese animation- Japanese animation is certainly of a better quality and is more artistic, but American animation is rather bloody funny. Games-wise, prefer American, it makes more sense but i respect Japanese games. You tend not to get distinctly European games so i don't really have much of a choice here.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I agree since both cultures got their way of making stuff and are competely different from each other.
E.g. Studio Ghibli and Pixar are both great for making kids films which adults can enjoy watching. Their productions style and work schedule are competely different from each other.

 

[realist1990]

Games-wise, prefer American, it makes more sense but i respect Japanese games. You tend not to get distinctly European games so i don't really have much of a choice here.

what exactly would be a european style game? a mixture between jap and american games? or do you mean just one set in europe?

Or is it just like movies and you mean low-budget?

 

[Nickolai77]

Games-wise, prefer American, it makes more sense but i respect Japanese games. You tend not to get distinctly European games so i don't really have much of a choice here.

what exactly would be a european style game? a mixture between jap and american games? or do you mean just one set in europe?

Or is it just like movies and you mean low-budget?

There are European devs and publishes (Ubisoft, Crytek, Mojang for instance) but many of their games are made with the American or the global market in mind. Consider the Timesplitter series, full of American voice acting but made by Brit's. Or Operation Flashpoint Red River Rising, another game made by British dev's (Codemasters) but you play as US marines. Why not Royal Marines in Helmand Provence? It's must make sure sense economically for Europeans to make games aimed at the American market.

I'd suggest STALKER, Shadow of Chernobyl and the IL2 Sturmovik series may be considered "European" games because their games made by Europeans telling stories set in Europe. Like how the Fallout series is made by Americans and telling stories relevant to Americans. That said, the majority of games are largely culture-neutral, so who made them you could argue is largely irrelevant.

 

[Bradeck]

Oh yeah? What about Afghanistanimation????

 

[FireAza]

SNIP!

Basically, that's exactly what I said in this thread [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.338777-Everything-You-Know-about-Anime-Is-Wrong?page=1]

 

[DrgoFx]

I disagree with the OP. The American animation industry is simply not on par with Japan's, just like Japan's (and the most of the world's) film industry is simply not on par with America's.

America's animation industry is not set up i9n a way that allows them to produce things on the same level as things like Paranoia Agent or Evangelion (or even Death Note) at anywhere near the same frequency as Japan can, sure occasional masterpieces like A Scanner Darkly can slip out but these are by far the exception not the rule.

This doesn't really mean anything to me. It's a difference in cultural to my honest opinion, and I believe that at times, American Animation can be just as good as Japanese. Cartoons like Animaniacs and Looney Toons are very much for adults as well as children. Pixar movies are splendid to watch and experience, the only real bad movie they made was Cars 2. Show wise, Symbiotic Titan was BEAUTIFULLY animated and acted and written. Cartoon Network, I hate you for canceling that show. Samurai Jack was a brilliantly art-like show. The amount of atmosphere in that show. And of course, my current favorite show, Transformers Prime. Best Computer Animation I've seen in years, beautifully written, even the fillers have a feel of depth to me. "Oh. There are robot bugs that infest their home. What would they do? Eat metal? That means they eat the robots. cockroaches that would eat you alive aggressively. That's kind of disturbing."

Aside from all that, yes I know what I said was basically American and Japan. But I said Western and Eastern because I know there are factors from other countries. IE: China and Korea in the East and several European countries and Canada in the West.

 

[blizzaradragon]

I agree with you for the most part, but disagree with you on why people will prefer Western over Eastern and vice-versa. It isn't a matter of foreign vs home territory, but really a matter of what they bring to the table and what people prefer in their shows/comics/games/etc.

Let's take the examples of JRPGs vs WRPGs. JRPGs are very much about character drama, while WRPGs are more about rising up to be the hero of the land. JRPGs like to use ATB or turn based combat, WRPGs like to use real-time combat. Both are equally good ideas for a game's story/game's mechanics, it just comes down to what do you personally prefer.

I personally prefer a good JRPG to a WRPG(I'd play FFXIII over Skyrim almost any day for example) and you can find me watching anime like Bleach much more frequently than you'll find me watching western shows, although I do love me some Futurama and Family Guy. Again not because it's from Japan and therefor I must watch because it's foreign, but because I prefer the drama and story to blend with my action in a nice stew instead of drama being a side-order with a burger of kick-ass.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

I am a media sponge. I am very easy to please when it comes to entertainment and therefore will watch, read, or play just about anything. I also have a tendency to draw something out of any media I experience. I really don't care what culture something comes from as long as the plot and characters are at least somewhat entertaining or engaging. That being said, I have watched more anime than just about anything else other than internet videos in the past few years, so I guess I prefer that over all other types of media at the moment. Webcomics are probably a close second.

 

[DrgoFx]

I agree with you for the most part, but disagree with you on why people will prefer Western over Eastern and vice-versa. It isn't a matter of foreign vs home territory, but really a matter of what they bring to the table and what people prefer in their shows/comics/games/etc.

Let's take the examples of JRPGs vs WRPGs. JRPGs are very much about character drama, while WRPGs are more about rising up to be the hero of the land. JRPGs like to use ATB or turn based combat, WRPGs like to use real-time combat. Both are equally good ideas for a game's story/game's mechanics, it just comes down to what do you personally prefer.

I personally prefer a good JRPG to a WRPG(I'd play FFXIII over Skyrim almost any day for example) and you can find me watching anime like Bleach much more frequently than you'll find me watching western shows, although I do love me some Futurama and Family Guy. Again not because it's from Japan and therefor I must watch because it's foreign, but because I prefer the drama and story to blend with my action in a nice stew instead of drama being a side-order with a burger of kick-ass.

Yes, I apologize. I did not take that into consideration. For some reason, Japanese vs American in horror games was stuck in my head. "Why is Dead Space just not scary to me, but Fatal Frame is...?" If you take Fatal Frame 4 and Dead Space one into consideration, they're both fairly similar but also far apart. I know NOTHING about Japanese cultural, or at least close to nothing. This makes the demons I'm fighting so much more foreign to me and therefor more terrifying. You are scared of what you don't know. What do I know about the Necromorphs in Dead Space? They're spawned from humans. That doesn't strike me as foreign, they're like steroid zombies or Aliens to me. Not too original in my eyes. Other people find it scary though so to each their own.

 

[Vault101]

this is thread is just asking for an inferno

Western animation (I should say american) is unofrtunatly still stick in the "4 kids" mindset..which is unfortunate because just the thourght of what they could do...hell just look at the daker parts of disneys Hunchback of Notre dame...seriously

I disagree with the OP. The American animation industry is simply not on par with Japan's, just like Japan's (and the most of the world's) film industry is simply not on par with America's.

America's animation industry is not set up i9n a way that allows them to produce things on the same level as things like Paranoia Agent or Evangelion (or even Death Note) at anywhere near the same frequency as Japan can, sure occasional masterpieces like A Scanner Darkly can slip out but these are by far the exception not the rule.

But at the same time America makes better films than Japan and the rest of the world. This sin't because everyone else is less talented but simply because the number of great films that can only be made by Hollywood exceeds those that can only be made without Hollywood. So while superstars like Kurosawa can work in Japan, only Hollywood can produce films like The LotR Trilogy or Inception or Inglourious Basterds.

Ultimately some countries are just better at making certain things than others overall.

I think your talking more about the target audience than actual quality

if you count PIXAR you cant deny they make amazing stuff...its not any "less" because it also apeals to children

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The sky is blue.

What? I thought this was a thread about stating the obvious?

Also, Western and Eastern aren't as clear cut a divide as you may think. It does not mean 'Japan and America'.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I like how by "eastern" you pretty much just mean Japanese.

Also notice how "western" means America.

Yeah, pretty much that as well.

 

[DarkRyter]

Thinking of things in terms of "Western" and "Eastern" is rather antiquated, anyways.