The Great Love/Hate Debate.

[SephYuyX]

Anime (Video Games are also fairly synonymous) seems to be a word that is automatically tied to lolcartoon, nerdy, shitty, wtfisthisbullcrap, etc. But why?

Granted, with any popular thing, there are always negatives; IE the rampant ugly american weeaboo cosplayers, which help inforce said negative sterotypes. But what about all the good things?

What other media spawns so much inspiration and camaraderie? Do non jp cartoons spawn off beautiful orchestrated music and signing, detailed drawings, heartfelt storytelling, etc?

Hell, just the OPs and EDs are more indepth than most other things. With what else can you go to a concert to see all of your favorite anime songs sung live? Why is that a damn cartoon can produce such beautiful music and stories that bring out such powerful emotions? Is it because every kid in japan is forced to do well in school, and forced to play an instrument? Is it because the fat hikikomori want to fap to hot fake chicks?

Spoiler: show

What's your reason for liking anime?
Why do you think that anime is looked so down upon?

[Cream Soda]

What's your reason for liking anime?

No particular reason. I don't really categorize it as anime, but rather look at the individual shows. I don't really like them because they're anime, just like them because I like them and they happen to be Anime.


To add to awesome OPs, Inuyasha has amongst my favorites

Why do you think that anime is looked so down upon?

[Tymon]

I don't know how to explain why I like anime.

The only way I can think is just that I enjoy animation, but I'm also not 10 years old, so a lot of current american cartoons, insanely censored and dumbed down as they are, don't appeal to me.

I think that the negative stereotype for anime is growing smaller and smaller over time.

There's a really loud vocal minority for sure, and I really thought honestly that it was some obscure nerd niche myself (and was embarassed to admit I liked it for a while) until I found out that in reality, a huge percentage of college students watch it to some degree.

[Maguspk]

Anime is just another form of entertainment. It shouldn't need to be "explained". I like it just as much as other things like television shows/movies in the US. It'd be supremely ignorant of me to ignore a popular form of entertainment simply because it is produced in a language not native to me, and I think it equally ignorant to dislike anime for this same reason.

[synistar]

There's a social stigma of animation being aimed at children, and as a result, liking cartoons and anime is considered childish. Of course, some buck the trend (examples: animatrix, South Park.) However, people who like anime is still very marketable section, proved by people attending anime conventions and entire sections devoted to anime/manga.

Yes it has gotten more popular and the stigma is fading slowly in big part to the internet. Consequently the easy accessibility to anime today compared to 2000 and prior made my interest wane due to over saturation and eventually changing tastes. I still enjoy a few shows here and there, but I don't actively browse the torrent sites as I used to. Do browse blogs to keep me updated on whats out there since I do like a few studios for their consistent productions (eg. Kyoto animation, BONES)

Despite enjoying the good classic American cartoons, I think what brought me into watching anime was the interepisode plotlines that many American cartoons lacked. Growing up with scooby doo, Merry Melodies and the Loony toons, all those characters were one dimensional and after a while, watching the same gags gets boring. Course a few cartoons broke that trend and have been some of my favorites: Exo Squad, Gargoyles, Reboot, Transformers: Beast Wars (Canadian but whatever close enough,) Avatar: The Last Airbender (more on this shortly)

Enter college and high speed internet. Pre-2000, internet was a snail and you waited hours to download whatever titles you heard from word of mouth. Only anime I was exposed to was the stuff on Toonami and some stuff on the Adult swim block. And it was the episodic nature of anime that drawn me in. Plus tell an adolescent male that piloting big robot with a a really big gun ISN'T cool after watching Transformers. And my interest in anime only grew from there, though in the past 3-4 years has waned.

What other media spawns so much inspiration and camaraderie? Do non jp cartoons spawn off beautiful orchestrated music and signing, detailed drawings, heartfelt storytelling, etc?

As for other cultural non-anime cartoons in recent memory, Avatar is probably the only one that is very similar to anime and is oft mistaken for it. The high production value that is a classic battle of good and evil that was aimed at a kid audience actually hit an unintended demographic: 18-40 adults! Why is this? It was a weekly cartoon with a coherent storyline and an ensemble cast you can watch develop.
As for production, I'll let this video describe it. Heavy spoiler if you haven't seen the series but demonstrates good production that is close to what you see in a Shonen anime.

Spoiler: show

[aduidarnenye]

I've liked it since I was a kid in the 1980s and watched Voltron and Robotech. I like the animation style and I like the complex storytelling.

There's some anime I don't like, and there's some I do like, just like TVs and movies.

[Gulkeeva]

Well, anime can be alot of things I think, theirs so many reasons one can like it it would take awhile to put it into words.

If you grew up in japan, you grew up with anime, its pretty much an accepted part of society. Unlike the USA however, cartoons were just kids shows, it never progressed beyond that, a "kids show".

That is probably the leading thing why anime is looked down upon as its considered "kids entertainment".

Japanese anime really works at having the actors put real emphasis on their voicing for the characters, the and put alot into showing those emotions through the character also.

American cartoons don't do that, they just put out enough to entertain or be educational "short stories" spanning maybe 1-4 or so episodes at a time, while an anime will take anywhere from half the series to the entire series to really put you in depth into whats going on in the show.

That is one the reasons I like anime, is they really know how to draw you into the story, to understand each character deep down like a life long friend for some instances. Not just because its ecchi and theirs panty/boob shots (although that soorta counts for me too haha)


The musics a part of the emotion and effort one puts into the anime, it really adds to "feeling" how a character feels, or the setting or whatever else may be going on at that moment and they know that, thats why they put put alot of effort into it I believe.



Anyway to follow the posting of music...!







2 more, I think do pretty well at adding emotion to an anime.

[arus2001]

I think my general interest lied more in anime being more willing to take risks (be it good, bad, or wtf?!) in storytelling than a lot of American fare, both animated and live action. Being more artistically inclined, seeing good programs also offer inspiration, whereas if I wanted to wanted some American cartoon these days, it'd probably look like something thrown together in Flash. Sure, you've got Pixar and Dreamworks shelling out their CGI movies, but those are also often typically aimed at kids. Regardless, aside from hating art school, part of why I'd dropped out back in early 2000 was because I didn't have faith in the animation I was aiming to create had no readily accessible future. A jump to the video game industry might've been a bit of an exception, but I've never been a fan of the art styles Blizzard employs and the FPS genre just hasn't interested me at all (nevermind drawing Buff Soldier #2391 will get old).

I've never been to a con or cosplayed. I don't have any particular interest in the latter since I'm one of those jerks that feels people should try to cosplay something they can actually pull off (which basically invalidates most everyone overweight). I'm also of the opinion the industry is far too expensive to actually encourage people into investing in it. Finding various shows on Netflix is a good start toward affordability. Actual television representation is still pretty scarce and Adult Swim would rather shit on anime fans before expanding their line-up. So, in effect, it's still a rather niche entertainment despite the broad ranges of programming that are out there. I've also had some issue with the time it takes between translations/dubs. Fans can have subs out the night of an airing, but joint productions can't be done to make simultaneous releases? Video games do it, so why not this? Cut down on that gap and, artistic snobs aside, you cut down on the temptation some have to torrent because waiting 6+ months just doesn't fly in the digital age.

[Elcura]

I started watching anime for the same reason I started watching cartoons. I love art and animation, but I didn't realize the differences in style for a long time. It was just a different type of cartoon to me (especially since my first memorable anime was Pokemon, which was basically the same as western cartoons in content). But the thing I liked most was how weird and different it was. All the expressions, jokes, movement, body language and voices were different. Then came the fight scenes, stuff I had never seen or imagined before and it totally blew me away (the DBZ/Sailormoon phase - yes, I had one of those). Complex stories that last more than 1-2 episodes was also something different and interesting, as well as stories that are isolated incidents, but still help the characters grow and move forward to the finale.

These days, I don't watch anime because it's anime. I've learned I'll watch just about everything provided I enjoy it, it's another medium to tell a story and showcase some great art and animation.

As for why people look down on it? Frankly it's because anime can be very weird and culturally shocking. I've been watching anime for years and there's still stuff I see that makes me wonder wtf I just saw. I think generally there's a steep curve for people wanting to get into anime that they can't because they haven't been watching it long enough. If I want to get someone into anime, I have to start with safe stuff, the classics that I know people should like.

Remember when translators used to use Japanese words verbatim? It's just stuff like that which makes it hard to get into anime. Seeing "baka", "onii-chan", "onee-chan" etc over again doesn't help unless you know what the word means.

And one of the recent memories I have of me personally hating anime was when I went to University. There you can actually meet these people who take anime so seriously it makes you embarrassed for them. People who say "baka" in an English conversation. I'd say a great deal of people who hate anime actually hate people who like anime (though I wouldn't doubt if some just hated anime). When you meet the people irl that you've seen on forums and can confirm their existence, it's a frightening thing.

[The Stig]

And one of the recent memories I have of me personally hating anime was when I went to University. There you can actually meet these people who take anime so seriously it makes you embarrassed for them. People who say "baka" in an English conversation.

Experienced this lots back in school. Then the serious business argument over it, i.e. who's stronger Goku or Vegeta... /cringe

Nowdays for those that say anything about anime, if they watch Simpsons/Family Guy/American Dad/etc then I will typically categorise it in the same, or if someone doesn't know what it is, I'll use those American series to draw the example.

Don't forget the Studio Gihbli films! I normally recommend people to watch them too! Don't know if they can be classified as Anime, but otherwise I'll put it as the JP equivalent of Pixar/Disney despite it being none 3D

[Rivero]

Anime (Video Games are also fairly synonymous) seems to be a word that is automatically tied to lolcartoon, nerdy, shitty, wtfisthisbullcrap, etc. But why?

Granted, with any popular thing, there are always negatives; IE the rampant ugly american weeaboo cosplayers, which help inforce said negative sterotypes. But what about all the good things?

What other media spawns so much inspiration and camaraderie? Do non jp cartoons spawn off beautiful orchestrated music and signing, detailed drawings, heartfelt storytelling, etc?

Hell, just the OPs and EDs are more indepth than most other things. With what else can you go to a concert to see all of your favorite anime songs sung live? Why is that a damn cartoon can produce such beautiful music and stories that bring out such powerful emotions? Is it because every kid in japan is forced to do well in school, and forced to play an instrument? Is it because the fat hikikomori want to fap to hot fake chicks?

Spoiler: show

What's your reason for liking anime?
Why do you think that anime is looked so down upon?

I love anime because it manages to express emotion that normally actors fail to portay. Anime is more moving and captivating because there isn't that bias people tend to hold with actors. You can't really fail at acting in anime (sure voice-work might suck but thats not usually the case), you enjoy the character for who he is and not just like lets say for example I really like Jim Carrey as an actor so if he did a subpar job I wouldn't be so upset about it compared to a guy who disliked Jim Carrey.

Animes are all about enjoying the characters for who they are and you can't really mess that up if you have a brilliant story/setting/music/etc.

As for question number 2, I think anime is looked so down upon because there are multitudes of "animes" that are demeaning, weird, childish, etc. It's one of the same problems the video game industry tends to face, the difference being video games appeal to a bigger audience while most people who enjoy anime have a certain affection towards Japanese culture/society or hell, even the language.


tl;dr: animes own and I've never enjoyed a drama movie or series nearly as much as I enjoyed animes like Lovely Com/Nana/HnC as an example.

[Odin'sLaw]

i've always liked cartoons when i was a child and as more Japanese stuff was put on t.v (i'm the pokémon & dragonball z generation) as i got older toonami was brough onto the English airwaves and i got to watch a bit more anime, as i got older and the internet been more useful for anime addiction i'd get to watch some great shows like Cowboy Bebop and FLCL and some of the more "main stream" bleach naruto and one piece, a few years later sadly as my grandfather's health got worse i'd stay up at night and watch over him which let me quietly watch Ghost in a shell (didn't really like) and bleach (at 3am it was there Japanese showing of the anime's) to be frank i've told me friends before i like anime because even with the best special effects you can't get some of the idea's into real acting, i also like manga and must have 200+ in my room, i love art and design and if i could come back and do it over i'd possible try my hand at art instead of doing different trades

and if your wondering where the nerdiness started well look no farther then Secret of Mana and super metroid, my dad got me a SNES for my 3rd christmas so 18 years later here we are

[SamanosukeShiva]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[EagleCeres]

Why I like Anime? As many other anime aficionados (not just lovers) can attest to, PRODUCTION VALUE

Musically: more often than not, you have a few catchy 30-90 second song looping throughout the episode(s) setting the tone, but once you get into the plot or the true story line, you fully structured soundtrack; sometimes with character image songs and in most cases either a famous (or up and coming) artist doing the Opening/Ending songs to whatever series you're currently watching. You don't see that kind of investment to most american cartoons unless it's a feature length film, and in those cases, they just either got the artist to make a song for the movie or they license the rights to a few songs that match the story's theme (I'm looking at you Disney)

Visually: ok, honestly, this one can be all over the board... you can have quality animation (Ghibli, KyoAni) that puts most Disney films to shame; then there's the throwback to classical japanese/samurai overly shaded stuff, and then there's the "so much pastel, i think i got diabetes" art style... heck if anyone saw Panty & Stocking last year or Gurren Lagann a couple of years back, they can attest to the different waaaay out there art styles... but they fit the story. Most of the time with american cartoons they either follow they Disney School (cute), the Warner Brother's vs Hannah Barbera school... or the newer "we're like anime, only not" school that plays too much on stereotypes and tropes to get viewers.

Themes: Slice of life, Drama, Sports, Epic adventures... with Anime I've seen series take rehashed movie story lines and give them a depth and wealth of interest that I cant help but want to watch the whole series (specialy with sports series). While they may contain some moral values and deep thought into what it means to be young/alive/part of xyz activity, they dont bludgeon you to death with a specific way to reach the character's goal; heck even friendly/rival characters show different methodology and different reasoning to reach their own similar/oposing goals. Even the really big bad guys have their reasons for being magnificent bastards. I don't tend to see it that well defined with american cartoons... then again, most of the time, they do it for the lulz or because "that's the way things are".

Branding: sure you will be seeing this a lot in the states, but seriously... for those older of us, who DIDNT want a full set of Voltron (Go-Lion) die cast lions? or the full squadron of Robotech (Macross) Skull/Vermillion veritechs? Or even the original Optimus Prime (or the Megatron Gun) die cast transformer (fsck plastic!). Or plushies from your favorite series. Where I'm going here is with long lasting quality products that may start as toys but eventually become valuable collectibles. Sure you will see them on both sides, but the sheer amount of products out there to support the series/company, not just a quick way to cash in to the popularity of said cartoon/animation (i'm looking at you naruto headbands).

Now, why has it not been able to shake off the stigma of being looked down upon?
There's a lot of factors:
- Classic Otaku culture... you know like comic book guy from the simpsons, and maybe a bit of the legions of watered down fanboys/fangirls. I've been to my share of conventions, and while the community is great, we can be rabid defenders of our likes and strong opponents of dislikes.
- Remakes and adaptations... as good as they are/can be, they always suffer of localization errors and messages "lost in translation". If you haven't been into anime for long you wouldn't pick up on regional/classical in jokes or character types unless they were explained like "Bokke-Tsukkomi" characters or what a Tsundere is.
- Some stuff is just plain weird... and it's always going to affect someone's sensitivities, not everyone will look at Crayon Shin-chan and think "this is kinda like South Park!" or look at whatever Moeblob series is in session and think past "it's so cuuuute!", heck takes some real dedication to be a fan of Sentai Hero Series or Super Robot series with their burning passion (TM) and senses of justice.

But it's out there and there's something for every taste. Just gotta hope we get less butcherings of series because they're not representative of everyone (ugh cardcaptors)... or to make them more palatable to the mainstream audience (lol pokemon/digimon censorings).

[Kerberoz]

I don't see how someone can like or dislike an entire medium. Most anime is shit, just like most movies, most live-action TV, most books, most music, most Western cartoons, most paintings, most video games, etc. I only judge individual works. I find that most people who say they "like anime" in general are the stereotypical embarrassing weeaboo fucks.

[Odin'sLaw]

i took it as "do you like it in a general sense of the term"

[Sylvrdragon]

Anime has more potential than Live-Action stuff IMO. Every aspect of an Anime can be controlled whereas Live-Action stuff, you sometimes just have to settle for what you've got.

Instead of relying on the actor/actress to be able to play the full part, they just have to be able to sound it. From there, you just need to make sure your artists know how to DRAW the part.

You don't have to buy props or pay stunt actors or rent sites to film your big action scenes. Your story can be wrought with Magic and Lasers and mythical creatures and whatever the fuck you want because special effects are just more ink.

The best part is that, since it's so much cheaper than live-action, people are free to be more creative, and (as was posted above) take more risks. Granted, this means we get flooded with a lot of bad stuff, but it's also more good stuff (and still has a better ratio than books, which are even cheaper!).

As for why Western Culture tends to look down on it, I would say it's because the US is so rich. We just have access to more mediums of high-quality entertainment. Despite their expense, we have no shortage of live-action shows and movies of acceptable quality, so we don't really need to seek other forms. And you DO need to actively seek them to find them. The US isn't really an "Expand your horizons" type of nation; it's more "Don't fix it if it isn't broken" type, hance, what is outside the norm will likely remain outside the norm.