why I don't "like anime"

[mark_n_b]

So I'll admit, I spent 28 minutes watching game damage, no quasi review or anything, but there was a section where the hosts were doing a "viewers' question" sort of thing with a question that I've heard before and makes me roll my eyes every time.

Do you like anime?

This is a dumb question. retort with a question like "what is anime?" and you get a twenty minute lecture on what amounts to "Japanese Cartoons". But the person isn't asking if I like cartoons. Which I do, I've studied and taught animation and comic illustration, so I have a lot of appreciation and respect for cartoons that is often lost on the layman.

The problem with asking "do you like anime" is that it isn't as simple as that. I hate Dragon Ball. One Piece is Asinine. I like Totally Spies, but apparently that one doesn't count. But Avatar does. And whenever I hear the term Giant Robots the concept of 22 minutes of boredom comes to my mind.

Yet Revolutionary Girl Utena and Haibane Renmei are two of the most beautiful and profound television series I can think of.

So do I like anime?

The question seems to be "do you not blatantly hate this particular form of multi-genred animated media?". Because I don't like big robots or panty shots doesn't mean I hate anime in the same way that me finding no humour in a guy kicked in the crotch doesn't mean I hate comedy.

I'm not into slapstick, no matter what I will never admit that there is intrinsic humour in kicking genitalia, and if I thought an affirmative response to "do you like comedy?" implied that the answer would have to be no. Yet, whenever I'm asked if I like anime I'm always left with the feeling that there is an implication like the one described above atttached, so I'll never say yes. And I've taught classes on the subject.

 

[Branovices]

I'm not even a huge anime nerd by any stretch and find most of the popular stuff everybody seems to love to be asinine. Yet even i've tried to explain to people that anime is pretty varied but now I've been forced to assume they just hate anything foreign. I imagine most of those people also hate any movie with subtitles.

Listening to any music not in English is met with the same derision, regardless of quality or genre.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

You don't find someone being kicked in the crotch funny?!

 

[Galletea]

I agree with you, its like saying you like films or television. Sure there are some things I like but to like anime seems to automatically put you into a particular group of people complete with all the social stigma that is involved. So although I like certain anime I don't tend to declare myself as an anime lover.

 

[MassiveGeek]

I have to agree that its hard to really explain anime. I have been a big manga and anime fan, but after about 600 different anime episodes and 50 manga books, I start to feel that its a bit to overrated, and Im starting to get sick of the whole "thing". Overused and overrated in all possible ways.
Sure, it has charming/awsome storys and interesting characters that you love(to hate), but so does games like Fallout 3 and movies like Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Anime and manga is just somewhat special becuse its so much at the same time. Its action, comedy, horror, etc etc etc etc etc. Its good, but its not necessarily THAT good all the time. I definatly choose Fallout 3 over, lets say... Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy.
That would be all I have to say now.

 

[Jav3lin]

You don't find someone being kicked in the crotch funny?!

Honestly i gotta say that everyone at some point thinks everything is funny, it just matters what mood your'e in atm and ofc if you are for instance "stoned" or "drunk" or things that include alcohol or drugs, anything and everything is funny, but honestly, i mostly like the 1970
comedy movies where the "humor cow" wasnt milked to its bones and big companies werent trying to milk it more!

 

[BigbadaBEEF]

You don't find someone being kicked in the crotch funny?!

I too find that rather worrying

 

[mattttherman3]

Well I love big robots, although their pilots seem to be giant crybaby pussies(I am talking to YOU GUNDAM SEED).

 

[Jadak]

You don't find someone being kicked in the crotch funny?!

Honestly i gotta say that everyone at some point thinks everything is funny, it just matters what mood your'e in atm and ofc if you are for instance "stoned" or "drunk" or things that include alcohol or drugs, anything and everything is funny, but honestly, i mostly like the 1970
comedy movies where the "humor cow" wasnt milked to its bones and big companies werent trying to milk it more!

No, seeing someone kicked in the crotch has always been , and will always be funny, regardless of mood or time.

 

[rossatdi]

Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Akira
Ninja Scroll
and a few others I have massively enjoyed.

I don't consider anime to be a genre but personally I find the majority of it pretty stupid (has anyone actually managed to make it all the way through Detonator Orgun? And serious, Naruto?)

Rather ironically I tend to enjoy them the most when it's animated in a way that you kind of forget you're watching animation.

When it comes to the more kid level cartoons the West seems to be better (although I'm sure that's just me liking it as a Westerner). I can't imagine finding better things for a kid than:

Samurai Jack
Megas XLR
Batman: The Animated Series
Justice League
Loony Toons

I know Jack and Megas are anime inspired but I think they shed a lot of the tropes that annoy within anime (good damn I hate kid heroes).

 

[Bocaj2000]

If an anime is good, I'll watch it. I would only watch an anime ment for people who like movies, not for people who like overpowered cleches. For example, I liked the first season of Bleach. I felt the main character's fear of the ghost in the house that is killing his family. I wanted to see how this unarmed human could possibly kill this monster. I continued watching because he was just a human in a ghost world, but somewhere along the line, he became the all mighty messiah and it got boring.

Cowboy Bebop is the greatest anime anyone will ever find, even if you don't like anime. Another one that can be viewed by people who don't like anime is Death Note. If nothing else, watch these. They are amazing beyond words.

EDIT: Samurai Champloo is also really good.

 

[Erana]

Awkward conversation at a christmas party:
"So what did you get for Christmas?"
*hesitation*
"An Xbox 360."
"So, do you play those... Socom things?"

*is saved by needing to refresh the hours 'durves*

Just because I'm a gamer, I'm automatically a bellicose moron...
So yeah, people are just steriotyping the anime genre like they do with video games.

 

[Blayze]

If you don't like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, there's something wrong with you.

 

[Grimrider6]

You don't like panty shots? Or giant robots? Not even giant robots giving panty shots?

Seriously, tho...

"Anime" as a mega-genre has an attached sub-culture of fans. Like any sub-culture, it has different camps... panty-lovers, giant robot lovers, "only Production IG /and nothing else!!/" types, etc., but most fans who are steeped in sufficient lore on the subject share the common bonds of that sub-culture.

So the question "Do you like anime?" really implies "Are you part of that sub-culture?" or "Do you identify yourself as an 'anime fan'?"

In the workplace, the people I make friends with most quickly are the ones who say "Yeah, I'm of a fan of (insert anime title here)". Even if it's something like Naruto or Dragonball, which I don't like personally, I'm happy to establish contact with a member of my chosen sub-culture. Hence, the question.


P.S. I still think it's kind of funny you've got an obscure one-shot character from Wolf's Rain as your avatar, given the thread subject. ^_^

 

[MaxRaine]

Yeah, I guess your point is that anime is such a huge medium that just asking if one generally like the medium is kinda vague, and I agree with that. I like some anime. The animes I like actually contain some anime that seem to turn most people to hate for some reason (i.e. Naruto, Bleach and One Piece.) But I also love more serious series like Wolf's Rain. I usually say that I am an anime lover but that doesn't mean I like ALL animes.

But I think the main thing is just like fullmetalangel said. Most anime haters have usually only seen one episode of some "commercial" anime like Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon. And based on that claims that all anime suck, this makes those that like anime annoyed because it's like tasting broccoli and claiming that all green vegetables must taste the same (in this case crappy, though I personally like broccoli =P ) Another thing is those that keep claiming that anime is for kids, those guys really need to check out more anime =P

Anyway, I guess the question people should ask is "Do you like any kind of anime?" if it's specifically Japanese animation they're interested in.

 

[Jav3lin]

You don't find someone being kicked in the crotch funny?!

Honestly i gotta say that everyone at some point thinks everything is funny, it just matters what mood your'e in atm and ofc if you are for instance "stoned" or "drunk" or things that include alcohol or drugs, anything and everything is funny, but honestly, i mostly like the 1970
comedy movies where the "humor cow" wasnt milked to its bones and big companies werent trying to milk it more!

No, seeing someone kicked in the crotch has always been , and will always be funny, regardless of mood or time.

wont deny that

 

[Ursus Astrorum]

Yeah, I've noticed that the greater part of the american anime fanbase are "anime fans" that watch badly-written, horribly-dubbed english anime on Cartoon Network. Though I'm rather a fan of slapstick humor, I agree with you on many respects here. Though I'm not a diehard anime fanboy (though I am a Jphile), I've got a select few series that I love, and though I'm willing to watch more, most of them aren't worth a glance.

My personal list is as follows(in no particular order):

• -Trigun
  
  -Witch Hunter Robin
  
  -Cowboy Bebop
  
  -Samurai Champloo
  
  -Wolf's Rain
  
  -Monster
  
  -Detective Conan (Case Closed in America)
  
  -Gensomaden Saiyuki
  
  -Gundam 0079: The 8th MS Team*
  
  -Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket*
  
  -Prince of Tennis**

*-Both very well-written mecha series.

**-Yes, a sports anime. It's surprisingly well-done, though. Almost none of the characters are flat, and this is with about seven or so schools worth of teams.

 

[bad rider]

Ha guy being kicked in the crotch, classic.

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

You don't like panty shots? Or giant robots? Not even giant robots giving panty shots?

Seriously, tho...

"Anime" as a mega-genre has an attached sub-culture of fans. Like any sub-culture, it has different camps... panty-lovers, giant robot lovers, "only Production IG /and nothing else!!/" types, etc., but most fans who are steeped in sufficient lore on the subject share the common bonds of that sub-culture.

So the question "Do you like anime?" really implies "Are you part of that sub-culture?" or "Do you identify yourself as an 'anime fan'?"

In the workplace, the people I make friends with most quickly are the ones who say "Yeah, I'm of a fan of (insert anime title here)". Even if it's something like Naruto or Dragonball, which I don't like personally, I'm happy to establish contact with a member of my chosen sub-culture. Hence, the question.


P.S. I still think it's kind of funny you've got an obscure one-shot character from Wolf's Rain as your avatar, given the thread subject. ^_^

Actually if somebody quotes Naruto (I hate DBZ and Naruto the most) or the like as an anime I usually shout "HERETIC" at the top of my voice and go hide behind the nearest obstacle then proceed to peer at them angrily while pronouncing "jiii...". Even series animes should end at some point o0.

I personally really don't like action animes. The only things that appeal to me are A: made for teenage girls, B: horror made for completely sick @#&%s - I loved the hell out of Higurashi and was disappointed when I found out there was a proper story to it. I respect other genres, but the only "action" (EDIT: stuff in my eyes that has more fighting than dialogue, people will disagree ) anime that I took a liking to was GANTZ, other ones I just cant stand for some reason - I guess the whole modernizing of movies. I'm also still ashamed for watching bleach past the 1st 100 episodes, that thing just went downhill so far so quickly.

I kinda do the same thing with computergames really, Love 2 (shooter/puzzle), others ok, completely detest one (sprots 'jiiiiii!!!'...) the only exception (yes that's identical too) being Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.

Is it just me or do other people do it? I know in cultures this happens with countries living next to eachother - since this is an anime thread, I'll use the asian version and say that some Chinese people get very offended for being called Japanese and vice versa.

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

So do I like anime?

The question seems to be "do you not blatantly hate this particular form of multi-genred animated media?". Because I don't like big robots or panty shots doesn't mean I hate anime in the same way that me finding no humour in a guy kicked in the crotch doesn't mean I hate comedy.

I'm not into slapstick, no matter what I will never admit that there is intrinsic humour in kicking genitalia, and if I thought an affirmative response to "do you like comedy?" implied that the answer would have to be no. Yet, whenever I'm asked if I like anime I'm always left with the feeling that there is an implication like the one described above attached, so I'll never say yes. And I've taught classes on the subject.

Simple answer is to not give a simple answer. If you really feel the need to answer that question in a short, clipped manner, simply say "Some." and move on. The thing about it is it's a wide media. Pretend you're answering the question "Do you like television?" If yes, answer yes, if no, answer no, if some, answer some. Don't be afraid to elaborate.

Seriously, simple is best [http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/NewClassic/Kittens/RibbonKitten.jpg].