Who else here just does NOT understand anime?

[ZombieNixon]

At all. I simply for the life of he cannot understand what about anime appeals to people. I don't hate it with the burning passion of a thousand suns, I just don't get it.

Am I alone?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Me....big dewey eyes just never held anything for me.

:hi:

[rockymountaindem]

2. I don't get it and I DO hate it with the passion of 1000 suns.

Well, maybe not :)

It just seems so bizarre and not worth anybody's time.

[Zomby Woof]

3. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!!!

I have always *ALWAYS* despised that shit! Used to call it "japanimation". It's butt-fuckin' UGLY and LAME. Those doey EYES, and the overwrought, glossy "style" is just so much dross.

Rejoice! For you are NOT ALONE. I am serious as shit here.

[ZombieNixon]

6. Thank you!

[lildreamer316]

10. The old comic illustrators are turning in their graves.

My dad was a huge fan of the old comic style;and was quite an illustrator himself. I inherited his love of good illustration. This stuff "has no soul".

[JackDragna]

24. No soul, eh?

This shows you're pretty much judging anime, as are the people above you, based on Yu-gi-Oh, Pokemon and other mass-produced cartoons for children. Go turn on the Saturday morning U.S. cartoons and see how good the animation there is. Then, go watch something like "Appleseed," "Ghost in the Shell" or any number of other Japanese movies or television shows. The animation in the better Japanese shows has infinitely more soul and attention to detail than pretty much anything being produced in the United States.

[Webster Green]

4. Nope! (n/t)

[ofrfxsk]

5. I don't get it either.

It seems like it's the fat 50+ perverts who enjoy it the most. They need to be locked up in a rocket and shot into outer space with no oxygen.

Is that too harsh?

[madeline_con]

7. No, you're not alone.

It's lame and takes up far too much space on the web that could otherwise be used for something worthwhile, like cats in Halloween outfits or unicorn appreciation boards.

[lildreamer316]

8. No clue.

Totally lost.
And then some ppl get into anime PORN. Now THERE's weird for ya.

[the_spectator]

9. Not alone. I think it might be a generational thing.

I remember first seeing Japanese-made TV cartoon shows in the late 1970s. My family was living in Hong Kong, and they started appearing on the English-language channel, dubbed into English. As a 10, 11 year old kid, I was distinctly non-plussed. My reactions were 1)why are Japanese people making their cartoon characters look "white"? 2)why are the eyes on those characters so ridiculously large, and the noses so tiny?

Kids these days are majorly screwed up. So no, I don't understand "anime" -- but then, I don't understand cutting, "pro-ana" or "furries" either!

Single, Childless -- and Relieved!

[ZombieNixon]

11. I'm 18!

I grew up in the purported "anime generation." and I've never understood why people like it. And don't even get me started on "furries." :shudders in horror:

[Zomby Woof]

12. Not to threadjack you..

But I think "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" sucks monkey chunks. That is also an unaccountable "hip" and lame piece of crap too. I just felt like saying that after the feeling of liberation I got that others do not like japanimation too. :D

[ZombieNixon]

20. Never seen it, so I can't give any feedback on that front...

:shrug:

It is a liberating feeling, tho'.

[Flaxbee]

51. lol! I've fallen asleep in the first 10 minutes both times I've tried

to watch "Rocky Horror"... I don't understand the hype, either.

And I was just wondering about anime the other day - it just totally does not appeal to me at all, at least what I've seen of it. I'd be willing to give "Ghost in the Shell" (I think that's the name) a try or any other quality film, but regular old big-head/big-eye sappy creatures do nothing for me.

[NRaleighLiberal]

13. Was Speed Racer the earliest example? How about Clutch Cargo?

And, no, I don't get it at all...then again, I don't get reality shows either, or most box office hit-aimed commercial movies....

[Nevernose]

63. Astroboy, I believe, was earlier

Though Speed Racer was the first shown widely in the US.

And I can still hear the theme song: Go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer GOOO! We'll just hope that there was a translation problem...

[ThoughtCriminal]

14. Well, there's crap, and then there are movies like

Ghost in the Shell.

[Guy Fawkes]

38. Steamboy is great, too.

[ThoughtCriminal]

58. Just saw that last week.

I did enjoy it, but the long battle scene got a bit tedious.

[Zorro]

15. Let me give one possible explanation

In Japan you'll see a lot of anime books and adults reading them.

It was explained to me that because Kanji is rather complex even to the Japanese, these books are a way to use Kanji in a graphical context to introduce new words into the readers' vocabulary.

Apparently the artwork has taken on more significance than it was really intended for, and has grown its own fan base independent of the original intent of anime.

But I don't get it, either.

[bridgit]

16. there's very likely too much anime out there...

there's every reason to conclude that 94~97% of it is superfluous bubblegum tripe; not one by one, but you really need to pick through your anime just to fine that one that will make some sense if any imo though to add to the any possible breakdown in translation it is an oriental means of conveyance so :shrug: what can you do

http://www.centralparkmedia.com/catsoup

[lildreamer316]

17. I'd rather have these:

(ALfonso Aspiri)

(Thomas Fleming)

[KitchenWitch]

18. No,

I am ambivalent about anime.

[AlCzervik]

19. There are 2 anime movies i like, i'm not sure if i actually understand

them totally but the rest of it i don't get at all. My daughter will try and talk me through soemthing she's watching and in about 5 minutes my eyes start glazing over and she says "Never mind Mom, it's complicated"

[ZombieNixon]

23. That's the entire thing, right there

There's an obscene amount of complexity to accomplish a goal of telling a story I could do in about five sentences, otherwise.

[AlCzervik]

31. yes, way too many details and i don't have the attention span for it

[JackDragna]

21. To say you don't get anime..

..is like saying you don't get books written in Russia or television shows made in England. Granted, there's some anime which will seem strange to non-Japanese merely because non-Japanese do not understand the cultural idioms in the programming. There's also anime that, like everything else made as entertainment anywhere, isn't very good or is targeted to kids. When anime is good, however, it is excellent. The writing, attention to detail in the plots and voice acting is often of a much higher quality than animation produced in the United States. Believe me, not everything anime is made of spiky-haired freakjobs, bad pornography or giant robots.

[ZombieNixon]

26. Apparently I haven't seen the "good" ones, then.

I especially don't like the voice acting, since there seem to be two voices in all the anime I've seen: "male" and "female" and very little variation within.

Now, I've read Anna Karenina. It was a pain in the ass, but I "got" it. I don't get why anyone would read it twice, but that's another story. And britcoms are some of my favorite shows. Just thought I'd drop that.

Believe me, not everything anime is made of spiky-haired freakjobs, bad pornography or giant robots.

News to me. :shrug:

[JackDragna]

30. Do you listen to the origina Japanese or the English dubbing?

I've done some voiceover work. The English dubbing is terribe, but the original Japanese is great. Their studios make the voice actors work together, unlike American animation houses, where people are often reading lines by themselves in studios.

It's good you've read Anna Karenina and seen British sitcoms, but that still doesn't invalidate my point. You have clearly not exposed yourself to enough of the genre to have an informed opinion. I was once pretty much like you before a friend of mine showed me some of the stuff he had in his collection. I am pretty picky about my entertainment and found the good Japanese stuff to be excellent. The characters have depth, the plots are entertaining and the writers do a good job of avoiding cliches.

If you want some suggestions as to where to start if you're seriously interested in seeing something decent, I can give them to you.

[ZombieNixon]

34. Some of both.

Granted, w/ the Japanese stuff, I was too busy reading subtitles or not understanding any of it to pay attention to the voices.

It's good you've read Anna Karenina and seen British sitcoms, but that still doesn't invalidate my point.

Wasn't really trying to prove a point, just kinda rambling.

Besides, I don't really care for the drawing style, anyway.

I didn't really expect this thread to take off like it did, but oh well.

[Elidor]

50. I'll take some suggestions

I've heard Spirited Away is good, though I've not found a copy of it yet. How about Kayazaki? Is he good?

I've never been able to decide wether to rent Animatrix, because some people hate it so passionately, while others think it's great.

[AlCzervik]

33. The one that you might enjoy is "Spirited Away", that's one of the 2

i actually enjoyed but again didn't totally get it but it's a good movie.

[yellowdogintexas]

36. actually any of Kayazaki's films are extraordinary

the art is not the strict Anime Style, he truly is in a class by himself.

We own all of his stuff that is currently available on DVD. And repeat watch it regularly.

Some of the Anime is just plain hilarious..like the "Slayers" series and "Haunted Junction"

Master Mosquiton and Vampire Hunter D are others that my daughter introduced me to that I have enjoyed.

[yellowdogintexas]

56. correction to above post. glaring typo: It is Myazaki,

not Kayazaki.

[chookie]

22. Me too

I also don't understand the appeal of Quentin Tarantino. I know he is a respected director, but I don't get him at all and hope someone will explain him to me some day.

[JackDragna]

27. Tarantino writes gritty, unabashedly aggressive movies for adults

There's his appeal. When everyone else is dumbing down their movies and tuning down the violence to get 13-year-olds into the theater, he's producing adult movies with a visual flair few can match. He's also a master at setting a good pace for his films and developing interesting characters.

[henslee]

28. I agree. Tarentino loves cinema and gets it. And he does screw

up sometimes but hey, he goes for it.

[the_spectator]

35. I disagree somewhat.

I don't see his sensibility as particularly "adult." I think it IS rather the sensibility of a geeky adolscent obsessed with movie trivia and cartoonish violence.

I'm not a violent person at all. But I remember when Tarantino got big back in the '90s, and he was interviewed all over TV (even on Charlie Rose.) Is he not the most annyoing man ever???? I had fantasies of running into him on the street somewhere, (hey, it could happen, I'm around NYC) sucker-punching him, then kicking his teeth out while he's down, then asking him "Hey, why aren't you laughing? Where's that famous 'dark' 'ironic' sense of humor?" as he rolled around whimpering on the ground, spitting out broken teeth and blood...

and I'm NOT a violent person!
----
As we seem to be getting onto "trendy things I hate" as often happens in threads like this, let me say, I also hate foodies. Well not "hate" them like I hate Tarantino. I just find them to be the ne plus ultra of ridiculosity. Try it this way: remember that thread recently that gave us all some great laughs, the Weight Watchers recipe cards from 1974? Where every dish seemed to include MACKEREL and PIMENTO? NOTHING HAS CHANGED PEOPLE: now, it's just "ceviche" rather than mackerel, "cilantro" rather than pimento.

[Elidor]

48. While I don't fantasize about beating him, he IS annoying

Verbal diarrhea, non-stop talking and introspecting on himself and his glorious muse. I decided long ago that I would never watch another interview with him, because I've heard every thought he's capable of producing, all in a five-minute span.

[Swede]

47. Have you seen Sin City?

My guess is that Tarantino directed the Bruce Willis vs. the Yellow guy segment. I loved the whole movie.

[shugah]

25. all it takes is an open mind

;-)

anime can be great, can be crap, can be deep, can be silly, can be... well, there is so much anime it really covers any story genre you can imagine - and then some ;-)

obviously you are not alone - i'm shocked by some of the responses on this thread - but if you are really fussed, i am sure that you can find some anime you like - if you want to take the time to find it. there really is something for everyone (we have 3 generations of anime watchers in our fam).

i highly recommend watching subtitled anime (not dubbed) and also not looking at what is shown on kids tv as any kind of representation of real anime. adult swim has some good stuff on from time to time, but, unfortunately, it is dubbed, which can really take away from the overall quality.

[ZombieNixon]

29. I'm not THAT bothered.

Actually, I'm surprised that this thread garnered the responses it did. I was kinda stating a thought of the evening and figured it would sink like a stone, like most of my threads do.

It's just that a good deal of my friends in HS were big time anime watchers, which was something I never got into. The fact that I sat between Steve and AJ in most of my senior year classes meant that I would hear hours upon hours of endless conversations about anime, which was quite bewildering, since my response to anime has always been a distinctly heartfelt "meh..."

[JackDragna]

32. Good to see someone else here defending good anime.

I don't even own any myself, but I've seen some great stuff.

[nuxvomica]

37. I am confounded by it myself

I also don't hate it but I can't seem to get interested in it. I've seen one such movie that I really enjoyed but it's probably not really anime. It was Japanese and animated -- the title was a single long word beginning with "M". :shrug:

edit: I just remembered the movie was "Princess Mononoke".

[ZombieNixon]

39. Follow up...

A thought occurrs. What I find kind of disturbing is that the type of following anime had acquired here in America seems kind of cultish. I know people who:

A) Spend every waking moment of their free time watching anime
B) Walk around in public with the classic "catgirl" ears and tail on
C) Believe is it their sacred duty in life to acquire yet more anime, even though they already have entire rooms in thir houses devoted to the stuff

I do live in a small isolated town, so pop culture phenoms arrive here late and incubate at an alarming rate and become extra concentrated among the populance, so I might be drawing the wrong conclusions.

[Evergreen Emerald]

40. Anything Japanese is popular with preteens and early teens

My daughter and her friends take Japanese language, they are in anime art class and write Manga (japanese comic books). I do think it started from the exposer as children to pokemon. They are also into Japanese music and have lots of CD's straight from Japan.

I guess it is at least an interest in something other than drugs and sex!

[ZombieNixon]

42. You think that would carry over into adulthood?

Most anime addicts I know are at least 18...

[Evergreen Emerald]

44. They have a plan to travel to Japan after they graduate

Or for a semester abroad. The interest may wane, but they certainly are creating a foundation for a long lasting interest with the language classes and studies of the social aspects of Japan.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

41. It's their culture, not ours.

I'm not trying to be isolationist here, but it's the truth. There's a lot about any Asian culture that simply goes over the heads of us Westerners. And that's perfectly normal.

The anime/manga medium contains a large amount of crap, that's true. So do American TV shows, movies, and comic books. The trick is the same: find the good stuff, if you can, and filter out the rest. This is difficult for us to do, for a couple of reasons.

First, there's the culture gap I mentioned before. It only makes sense that something that appeals and resonates with lots of people in Japan, wouldn't have the same effect on a North American audience. And a lot of stuff that passes through their "crap filter" doesn't get through ours.

For another thing, most Westerners have very limited exposure to the medium. Anime and manga cover a much broader range of stories and genres than American cartoons and comics, and very little of it gets exported to this side of the world. Most dealers can ship you just about anything you want on special order, but if you don't already know what you're looking for, you'll be overwhelmed.

And we don't have a choice in what anime/manga we're exposed to, either. We see what the Japanese and American entertainment companies want to show us. They pick and choose titles that they think will appeal to fanboys (and the stereotypical fanboy in Japan is an even bigger pervert than he is here), and to young children, whose crap filters are still developing. And stuff that'll sell a lot of merchandise, of course.

So, what we Westerners see of manga and anime is (a) written by and for a culture very different from our own, and (b) cherry-picked from a mixture of what they like and what they think we'll like. And to top it all off, a lot of it is badly translated from Japanese to English, sometimes to a point where the context is completely lost.

Frankly, I'm surprised we understand this stuff as much as we do.

[jonnyblitz]

43. I watched some gay soft porn anime for the first time last week

i found it amusing. all the characters look western instead of asian, yet it's in japanese with subtitles. the sounds they made while having sex sounded like they were in serious pain. it was a complete hoot while stoned. other than that I have not really been exposed to it because I don't have that much interest in cartoons.

[ZombieNixon]

49. LOL Now that is a specialized demoraphic appeal!

[jonnyblitz]

52. it was funny as hell.

the english subtitles were like something off of engrish.com.

the title of the movie translated to "my sexual harrassment" and it was about a younger guy who was trying to climb the corporate ladder in this software firm in tokyo and he had to sleep his way to the top with all the older executives. there was an executive in the company that was pimping him out to the other execs. he ended up in boston working on some project with MIT. other then that campiness of this particular story, i don't see what all the big whoop is over anime either. :shrug:

[Sapphocrat]

57. I don't think it's that specialised...

Gay porn anime, I mean. I had to research anime for a Web project, and discovered a gigantic subgenre of boy-on-boy and girl-on-girl anime (I think they're called Shojo-Ai and Shonen-Ai, respectively, but don't quote me on those names).

Now, I think both of those feature pubescent/pre-pubescent (read: dangerously underage) characters -- so they're not adult gay or lesbian porn... Anyway, the point is, I don't think the demographic appeal is all that narrow. ;)

Btw, add me to the list of those who detest anime. I've tried the usual list of "recommended" stuff, and -- while I can forgive bad dubbing (hey, that's what makes Godzilla movies good!) -- I cannot abide by inanimate animation. Not only do I hate the style of the drawings, but you can stare at the damn screen for ten minutes without seeing anything move.

Sorry, anime-ites, but I don't think it's a cultural thing so much as I think it's just ugly.

(As for the big eyes... Who wants to be reminded of those black-velvet oil paintings of horribly emaciated, giant-eyed waifs found in every shop in Tijuana during the 1960s? That's exactly what anime characters remind me of. And they give me nightmares.)

[EstimatedProphet]

45. Me-everyone looks like elves in anime

[miss_kitty]

46. I don't care for it

I think the art sucks the animation sucks, the voices suck, the characters suck the storylines suck-but that's only my opinion. Doesn't mean it REALLY sucks.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

53. As one who has been exposed to Japanese culture over the

past 28 years, I know that there's a lot of crappy anime and a lot of crappy manga.

Yet when it's good, it's very, very good. I'd suggest some of the realistic anime, such as Grave of the Fireflies to start with, and possibly Spirited Away, if you want to try some fantasy anime. Even the stodgiest member of my former Sunday afternoon movie group liked Spirited Away--the imagination shown in Miyazaki's (not Kayazaki's) artwork is impressive.

The manga that have shown up in English translation are not the best of the bunch. I enjoy going to manga stores in Japan and paging through unfamiliar titles to see the often highly realistic artwork.

[trackfan]

54. Animation style varies by era and provenance

I love cartoons, and I am not a particular fan of anime. As a matter of fact, I don't like 1930s cartoons that much compared to others. I still like some cartoons of all styles and dislike some of all styles. I like some anime. I don't know wny we should make a sweeping judgement about anything. Let's enjoy anything we enjoy, and let others do likewise.

[Dukkha]

55. most anime reminds me of 80' Saturday morning toons

Horrible pointless crap made primarily to push merchandise to kids watching. Particularly the whole trading card game thing.

[deadparrot]

59. ooh, good...me!

I like fantasy and everything. I'm a geek in that regard, but I never got into anime. :shrug:

[BlueIris]

60. I hate anime. It puts me to sleep. Every time.

Used to drive an ex of mine up. the. wall. because he loved it. I can't stand it.

[Nevernose]

61. Like anything else: when it's good its good

And when its not, it's not.

I can think of plenty of crappy poets, painters, writers, rappers, rockers, etc. who just plain suck.

It's not the genre I hate, it's the shit that 95% of people buy.

[Montauk6]

62. I used to be a big Speed Racer fan, that's about it.

Come on, you didn't get a kick outta Sprydell and Chim-Chim?

EDIT: Oh, and I almost forgot about Kimba, the White Lion; those two goofy hyenas whose entrance was always a fingersnapping jazz routine, "My name is Tom. His name is Tab."

[DerekG]

64. Watch "Grave of the Fireflies"--the "Schindler's List" of animation

Yeah, that giant robot/telepathic teen/neo-noir tripe turns me off, too. I've seen enough clenched teeth, bulging eyes, and drawn out proclamations ("Tetsuooooooooooooooo!") to last me a lifetime.

But watch "Grave of the Fireflies" (the most powerful anti-war film ever made) or "Millenium Actress" (a haunting love story), and come back to apologize for denigrating the entire medium.

You'll thank me someday.

[ZombieNixon]

65. I never denigrated the entire medium.

I don't really understand its appeal. My reaction is ambivalent. Meh. I never said "anime sucks." It just doesn't do much for me. I feel the same way about rap. If it didn't exist. I probably wouldn't know the difference. I can claim no responsibility for other posts in this thread.