Do You Like Anime?
 

I for one, do not like anime. Here's my views on it.
Anime is much like the hip hop trend, but on the internet. It seems like everyone on the internet likes anime because it's what's cool on the internet. Not only this, but the action and style of anime bothers me. The people are often too cheery, unrealistic, and tend to act in a way that no one would ever act in real Life. All animes share these types of charateristics, and I suppose that's what makes them anime. I don't understand what everyone likes about anime, in my opinion, it sucks.
Now for the reason of this thread. If you like anime, please post your favorate show and specific reasons as to why it's good. Doing so will enlighten people of good anime shows, and it will put into context the concept of anime, possibly making me understand why it's so good a little more.

Edit* I just pulled a stupid move and put the parentheses next to the No option. The parentheses in the poll are supposed to be next to the "Yes." option.

~Lightknight

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

No.(Please post your favorate show and specific reasons as to why you like it so much)


Shouldn't the sentence in parentheses be on Yes?

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

Anime is cartoonish. Realism and non-realism are a part of any cartoon. Think about the Sunday Comic section of whatever newspaper you get. There are a bunch of unrealistic comedy comics, but there are also the realistic serious comics.

My opinion is that you cannot just "not like" anime. That's impossible. It's an entire genre that spans an entire collection of what interests people. There's no way you can hate every single anime ever made. It's just not possible.

Therefore, saying "All animes share these types of charateristics, and I suppose that's what makes them anime." is entirely false. I can list off dozens of anime that don't play on huge eyes, wacky hair, and crazy things that cannot be done in real life and that are actually good.

I don't think there's a reason for this thread to exist, but I'm not going to lock it anyway.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

Not all of them are like that.

Its not like all anime are supposed to be realistic.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

yes sahreebob XD

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

Did you read the part of my post that stands out...? >_>

Squeek, yeah, I messed up I noticed when writing this. What I meant to say is that I don't see what's so great with the style of anime, and could anyone enlighten me. I don't quite like the kind of personalities the characters usually have, it's not like cartoons in Sunday papers really, except that it's animated. The style is very different from my experience.

~Lightknight

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

The concept of anime is to create a world that people can relate to without having it be realistic at all. The reason characters have huge eyes it to accurately portray emotion. With small eyes, it's very hard to show all of the emotions a human face can display.

Of course, as I said before, not every show does this. Take my favorite show for example. One Piece does not use the generic huge eyes with four reflective light points or whatever. The eyes are very unique. The men just get normal-ish eyes. Maybe two or three different styles based on the shape of the iris/retina/whatever. The women get slightly more detailed eyes but still nothing too wacky.

There are some overused personalities, I'll give you that. Most generic shows have the reserved character who is shy and gets embarrassed easily. Then there's the exact opposite with the extrovert character who places a lot of emphasis on syllables (which, when written, basically have tildes and holds all over the place). There are a lot more, but whatever.

Again, this doesn't happen in every anime. I agree that it's overused, but at the same time, if you counted all of the shows that had these types of characters, I bet it wouldn't even account for 10% of all anime.

You're basing your opinion on stereotypes and just a handful of shows.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

Yes i like anime. Since you did not ask, I will not tell you why :wink:

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

Brothaice I did ask why and I asked for people to post what their favorate show is.

Squeek, in a way yes I am basing it off of stereotypes from a handfull of shows. Although most animes display emotion in the same sort of way. I don't mind how it's drawn at all really, just the way most characters act. It has bandwagon written all over it.
I don't really know where this is going anymore. Pretty much everyone isn't reading my first post about describing their favorate show if they like anime. I thought it would clear up the stereotypes for me.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

Anime is all right I guess.
Well, I only like Dragon Ball/z and Inuyasha, and thats because I grew up with it.
As for the rest of the anime out there, it doesn't interest me.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

I have liked anime since I was five I am now ninteen so I haven't jumped on the band wagon. I like almost all the anime I have seen.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

I don't like Anime. No specific reason why, but it doesn't really appeal to me.

It's like asking why I don't like country music or why I'd rather read than watch tv - the answer is "just because."

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

You do realize that your "bandwagon" arguments are completely baseless, right?

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

Actually, the use of large eyes came from copying American animation from the 1930's.

Also, "anime" as a genre unto itself is a western concept...due to the fact that anime is a Japanese export.

"Do you like anime?" doesn't really mean much because there is a wide spectrum of subgenres that it encompasses. I don't like shounen/shoujo anime...but there are some series that I absolutely wouldn't live without.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

I for one, do like anime. Though, it would be hard for me to place why for some of the ones I like. My favorites by far, however, are Bleach and Eureka Seven. The former, I'm not really sure why I like it. Maybe it's just because I like the story skeleton "Unassuming guy gets superpowers, owns stuff, gets owned, trains with some other guy, owns the stuff that owned him, rinse and repeat." I guess it's just because of the variety of the personalities and abilities presented. In Bleach are some of the most unique ideas I've seen.

As for Eureka Seven, the story, in my opinion, cannot be topped. I could care less about the whole "mech" cliché that runs rampant in Japanese manga and anime. The story is leaps and bounds above anything else I've ever seen. It's highly in-depth, with irony (somewhat predictable at points), drama, comedy, etc. It's also quite inspiring, to tell you the truth. Character development in the show is amazing. Three characters in particular change drastically throughout the series' 50 episodes. The main male character changes from being reserved, shy, and clueless into a responsible and courageous person. The main female character changes from being someone with no knowledge, no common sense, and little emotion, to, arguably, the most passionate character in the series. A third character, the leader of the group which is followed throughout the story, begins as rash and irresponsible, but develops into a true leader by the end of the series.

And if that isn't enough, the last episode alone is enough to make me love the series. The average anime series finale usually consists of a conclusion to a fight or crisis, followed by an episode-long resolution. This resolution, however, rarely gives any sort of insight into the causes of the crisis or explanations for what occurred. The characters' futures are also left completely unknown, with no way to accurately guess what happens.

In Eureka Seven, however, the two-part finale is, in itself, a crisis from beginning to end, with a resolution at the very end of the last episode. Everything that occurs is explained and wrapped up to the point where you can understand it completely if you think a little bit. The characters' futures are nearly certain, though nothing comes out and says "Character X went on to live happily ever after and have Y children who become Z profession..."

Another aspect of the final episode is something that should've happened halfway into the series. The finale is the ONLY episode in which it occurs, and when it finally does happen, a sense of happiness and relief sort of rushes over you, as if to say, "FINALLY!"

Bottom line:

I like Bleach but I can't say why. Most likely because of the large variety of personalities, abilities, and appearances with ideas I could never think of.

I love Eureka Seven, for the story above anything else. It is done impeccably, with everything that makes up a good drama/comedy (comedy in the theatrical sense, as in a play with a happy ending). Everything is fully explained and detailed, so that you don't have to go hypothesizing and guessing and being angry about how you don't know how something ended up. The last episode resolves the series perfectly, stopping at a point where it would seem logical for the characters to resume normal lives. The events that transpire should've happened long before the finale, so that when it finally does occur, you feel that much more satisfied.

In my opinion, Tolkien, Twain, etc. don't hold a candle to the writers of Eureka Seven. I could not ask for a better story, and that is why I love the show.

EDIT: One more thing...

If I'm not mistaken, you're referring to the characters' behavior being unrealistic. While you may dislike this, for whatever reason, I happen to enjoy it quite a bit. It's the same thing with sitcoms. Just to use a modern one...how about "The New Adventures of Old Christine?" Tell me one person who would really act like that in life. The entertainment value comes from imagining what it would be like if people really DID act like that. Idiocy (a feature common to all sitcoms) breeds hilarity, simply because it's entertaining to subconsciously compare that idiocy to something occurring in life, even though it really won't. Anime is similar in that most people obviously won't act the way the characters do, but it's entertaining to consider the possibility of those characters existing in real life.

For another comparison, take "The Odyssey," by Homer. Odysseus and Penelope both represent an ideal person (the ideal man, and the ideal woman, respectively). If you can name me one woman who will remain faithful to her husband for 20 years, even though there's a 99% chance he's dead, and with hundreds of suitors destroying her wealth, then I'd be glad to hear it. As for Odysseus, name me one man who will sail for 20 years just to try and get back home, even though there's a 99% chance his wife is dead or remarried, and almost no chance of his survival anyway. These kinds of people simply don't exist in real life. The entertainment comes from the actions of the characters as they would pertain to a real life situation.

In essence, the kind of anime you describe, with characters acting unrealistically, is not unique to anime. Any sort of story with an ideal person (or the opposite, as in the case of a lot of sitcoms) will consist of characters whose behavior is unrealistic. However, this is still entertaining, because we love to imagine that kind of behavior in real life, even if we don't do it consciously.

It all comes down to whether or not you like it when characters act unrealistically. Personally, I have enough of real life, in, well, real life. If I can watch a TV show to see how ideal people would act, or how total idiots would act, then I'll do it, simply because too much of the real world bores me.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

I couldn't begin to explain why I love anime. I would be here all year.

I voted yes.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

Anime is weird. Not dissing it but I just like it because... well I don't really know why but like, they make the "people's" mouths look like a triangle, I just think it's strange :P

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

I like anime sort of. I read some comics and watch some shows but I don't totally like. I like Naruto. Shino's my favorite character. I might go on talking like this forever but I'll make room for other posts.

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

wooooooooww some are you people are "dissin" but i love anime. i mean its just cute with there big shinny eyes lol ok but no really people i like anime its a cartoon for god sake!! if you hate anime, you hate cartoons -.-

Re: Do You Like Anime?
 

I like anime, though, I think I'm starting to get sick of the anime they're airing in America. It's relatively boring (i.e. Trinity Blood >_>, s-CRY-ed)