Anime How do you feel about the Mainstreaming of Anime...

[XxmagentaxX]

I hate how anime is starting to get into the mainstream...
Cuz then we get self proclaimed anime know-it-alls, when in reality they dont know jack.
And then another problem we get horrible dubs and horrilbe editing, and it takes all of the Japanese culture out of it.
Because its a part of Japanese culture not American or whatever. They take all of the great cultural jokes out and add something totally stupid for kids to get.
Then it will also be just a phase, and then when everyone gets over it, they'll think the people who still like anime and have liked long before it was ever mainstreamed will be thought of as some loser or something.

[Magnum Apex]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Forest_Pixie [/i]
[B]I hate how anime is starting to get into the mainstream...
Cuz then we get self proclaimed anime know-it-alls, when in reality they dont know jack.
And then another problem we get horrible dubs and horrilbe editing, and it takes all of the Japanese culture out of it.
Because its a part of Japanese culture not American or whatever. They take all of the great cultural jokes out and add something totally stupid for kids to get.
Then it will also be just a phase, and then when everyone gets over it, they'll think the people who still like anime and have liked long before it was ever mainstreamed will be thought of as some loser or something. [/B][/QUOTE]

[font=trebuchet ms][color=darkblue]Actually, thanks to anime growing in America, horrible editing and bad dubbing are becoming less of an issue. Anime in America is getting better and better. There will hardly be any demonic jobs ala FUNimation. Just look at one of the most recent additions to Cartoon Nework: [I].hack//SIGN[/I]. The voice acting is great, and there are hardly any changes. Companies are even releasing better versions of their popular anime, like Pioneer with Akira.

The higher demand for anime has caused more companies to get involved in the industry. The increasing competitive market forces these companies to put more effort into the quality of their product, so they can get a bigger piece of the pie.[/color][/font]

[XxmagentaxX]

But have you seen Inu Yasha?? They killed it! Same with Outlaw Star! Cn edited the poor things to be barely recognizable.. well that is only 2 examples.
I just really hate it when studios do that to perfectly good anime.
and Yea .hack//Sign is a pretty decent dub

[Syk3]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Forest_Pixie [/i]
[B]But have you seen Inu Yasha?? They killed it! Same with Outlaw Star! Cn edited the poor things to be barely recognizable.. well that is only 2 examples.
I just really hate it when studios do that to perfectly good anime.
and Yea .hack//Sign is a pretty decent dub [/B][/QUOTE]
Those are probably some pretty bad examples, as they were done a while ago. I have to say, though, Cyke conveyed what I was thinking perfectly. Lately, I havn't really seen any bad dubbing, as more companies have been joining the dubbing process [i]because[/i] anime is going mainstream. That would contradict many of your statements, and others who still believe that not mainstreaming is the way to go. I think it was really DBZ that started this whole thing about how dubbing is bad...just look at Trigun and Cowboy Bebop.

I don't see why your worried about culture. If it's a Japan culture, then you might not even get the joke or situation. Another great reason to dub an anime is to able to alter the dialogue slightly so that you can relate it to your own culture.

[Arkadyz]

Well Asuka I guess i could try watching some of my eva DVDs with subs on i suppose and give it another try...Its just something about having to read little lines of text while watching the show...I dunno :D

Yeah while where talking about anime the same sort of things can be applied to manga...Viz used to charge way too much for theres but then they got competion from Tokoyo Pops nice little 10 dollar price tags so viz had to lower theres and everyone wins...Same principle with anime :cool:

And i dont think the dub work on some series is bad...Some of it is very good to me (bebop comes to mind)

And ill second that exicted to see trigun...It was alittle wacky but it really seems to have started hitting its stride (love that wolfwood ;) ) too bad that ive missed a couple of eps...:bawl: Oh well hopefully ill catch em again when it loops back :naughty:

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]I don't really understand why anyone would care if anime went "mainstream". The more popular any genre of art becomes the better it is for fans as a whole. Granted, we may get overloaded with a lot of what I call "rubbish anime" (ie: any of the "mons") but there is already quite a bit of that being produced. The more popular anime becomes, the more able and willing production companies and studios will be to produce higher quality work.

Regardless of how popular anime becomes, there will always be two classes of it in my mind. Those shows that are more of a cartoon, made to appease the masses, and those created by artists who wish to express their creativity.[/color]

[Braidless Baka]

Really I think "mainstream" isn't a bad idea. In the UK anime is EXTREMELY hard to come across. I have several friends who like DBZ, Pokemon, Digimon etc. The only one I've ever cared for being Pokemon (which was "mainstream" and helped me into anime along with Gundam Wing... another "mainstream" anime... They said to me "Yeah, I like anime" and I asked them what they liked. They could only name those three. A few months on, I've given them anime they had never heard of and they can't get it off me fast enough O_o Subs, dubs, edits they really don't care. In fact one of my friends is actually more of a guru on Outlaw Star than I am... And I gave her the stuff in the first place. The education is going well ^_^

So, yeah, mainstream is a REALLY good idea... *kicks CN hard* Show me more anime!! O_O!

[Queen Asuka]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Syk3 [/i]
[B]I think it was really DBZ that started this whole thing about how dubbing is bad...just look at Trigun and Cowboy Bebop.[/B][/QUOTE]

[color=hotpink][size=1]I agree with that. But of course, DBZ isn't the only dubbing that is horribly bad. Trigun, I must say, is the best dubbing I've ever seen. Other series, no matter what series it is and how good the actual content of the series is, still falls short, in my opinion. In this case, look at Fushigi Yugi, Sailor Moon (GAH, it's horrible!), or Nadesico.[/color][/size]

[Genkai]

Hmm..... I'm also afraid parents migth think it's a fad and dislike it, or even worse, kids using it as a fad and then tossing it out until it's not col anymore.. Hmm

[Guest otajo_yao-25]

I think mainstream anime has taken over the real anime. Hello Kitty, pokemon, digimon, and Dbz has brain washed a lot of kids into think that iswhat anime is. How did this start? How can we stop it? Im new to anime but i certainly am not a fan of this generic/ friendly version of anime.

[James]

[color=#808080]I also think people are misinterpreting the idea of "mainstreaming anime".

By being exclusive, anime fans are only making the situation worse for themselves. As has been said; a large reason why animes like DBZ are so popular is because other kinds of anime are not nearly as readily available to the audience (whether it be kids or adults).

I personally feel that DBZ is a pretty silly show. And in my opinion, it sits on the lower end of the anime scale. However, I also recognize that the so-called "mainstream" who watch it don't necessarily have the kind of choice that more knowledgable people have.

If you are knowledgable about anime in general, it won't do you [i]any[/i] good sitting there and complaining about the proliferation of animes like DBZ and then [i]resisting[/i] the mainstream proliferation of more "exclusive" animes.

It is actually better for all sides that anime becomes more widely accepted. Or, if you like, "mainstream". Does that automatically mean that anime has to lose any of its charm or quality? No, of course not. And some see the idea of "mainstreaming" as being equivalent to a loss in quality. It's like "Oh, darn...we've lost that one to the masses, so let's find another one that hasn't been touched by the dirty hands of dubbers". It [i]is[/i] elitist, but I also think that it's plainly ignorant.

Let's face it. We all want more anime. We all want more [i]options[/i] and variety within anime. And we all want a greater array of high quality anime appearing on our shelves. So how do we encourage that? We encourage that by providing DBZ fans (and fans of other series like Pokemon or something) with the opportunity to learn and accept other types of anime. It has to be a positive process.

However, if you want to further limit the availability of high quality anime...and if you want to [i]encourage[/i] poor dubbing and lousy translations, then continue with what you're doing. The more you exclude people and the more you resist a proliferation in anime, the more difficult you make it for anime companies to justify high quality and numerous conversions and International releases.

Really, it's common sense. I think all anime fans should be on the same page here. Whether you like DBZ or whether you like .hack//SIGN; you still have something in common -- a respect and appreciation for anime (regardless of the specific series). Rather than using the franchise as a divisive issue, we should use the common love of anime as a way of empowering ourselves and expanding the available market so that anime producers will see reason to release anime that may otherwise never be seen outside Japan.[/color]

[Ryo the Tamer]

I'll ignore the Digimon bashing(hopefully you're only talking about the dub, then I agree with it).

I'ld like the mainstream of anime, beacuase of many reasons people have already named. But the kids at my school seem to think DBZ is American and they have no idea what anime is. I'ld talk to them, but everytime I do they just hurl me into a wall.

So I'll stick with waiting for better animes to come and for them to get curious. Good animes have already started coming out.

I'ld also like more good animes to come, because I have no way of getting them otherwise.

Note: I didn't read anything on this page besides the first 3 posts.

[Guest otajo_yao-25]

Personally I like Digimon, but it is mainstream. I also agree with what James said because If Gundam or Trigun were more accesible it would be mainstream. I also agree with him when he said that all that like or love anime whether it be dbz, digimon, or yu yu hakusho. We all have a celebration of anime and it means different things to different people.

[vegeta rocker]

it has a good side as well as a bad side.....there are lots of examples.
one example, prices for anime go up as the popularity soars....it's expensive enough!
another example, it takes the fun out of it to see it everywhere. Most people i know are into anime because it is diffrent and interesting.

I guess i would go with undecided. Who knows what the future may bring? Maybe one day we'll all be telling our kids about when only a few people knew anime. And they'll laugh at us and say how silly we are, and run off to go watch Evangelion: The Shinji Chronicles, A rock musical.

[kiddy_phenil]

i wouldn't worry too much about it, there seems to always be an anime boom each decade.. or the past three atleast..

[Kwai]

Question becomes... what is anime? =P

[Guest shadowwave]

What is anime?
Anime is actually the Japanese short for animation. Which is a film or video wholly or partially created by photographing drawings, sculptures, or other inanimate things in sequence to create the illusion of motion. Animations are also generated by computers. Originally, developed in Japan and Characterized by stylized colorful art, futuristic settings, violence, and sex. And each is characterized by its demographic.

What?s the background of censorship for kids?
Networks in this country got the belief that animation is just a kids-only format beginning in the late 60s/early 70s, around the time that Peggy Charren and the Action for Children's Television group she founded became ZEALOTS (fanatically committed people).Basically, ACT's mission of industry censorship called for boycotts on networks that airs programming they feel is corrupting the youth. ACT also gave the network guidelines to set their programming by.

Nickelodeon was built in 1970 and has had made a presence and an impact on children?s entertainment worldwide. The Nickelodeon programming philosophy promotes high-quality and non-violent productions that are from a kid's point of view, with equal gender appeal, humorous, diverse, involve real kid experiences and feature strong characters and good stories. Research insights found that kids and parents like the high-quality, non-violent and pro-social Nickelodeon programming philosophy Kids Love it! Parents relied on nickelodeon to make Kid Appropriate Animation Dubs for their children to watch.

Currently The head of Viacom networks Nickelodeon Herb Scannel (also owner of Viacom?s nickelodeon of MTV, MTV2, Comcast - on demand, Showtime, Blockbuster Video, CBS, TNN, Comedy Central, half of UPN) and the head of kids WB-TV Jamie Kellner are the ones that believe animation is a kid only medium. Your probably familiar with Jamie creative decisions such as cancelling Animaniacs, Elmyra pinky and the Brain and dedicated to pokemon.

The head of Kids WB-TV and former VP of Viacom/nickelodeon Jamie Kellner had decided to pass a law in the Congress called the Children?s Programming Act that limited certain networks and distributors to edit animation during the day. And only allow some adult programming at night. Forcing distributors, to, in a sense, take out the parts of the story inappropriate for children. In a sense commercializing animation for kids, rather than free marketing it like in Japan.

Media groups started giving campaign donations or in this case use bribery and extortion in this case to politicians in the FCC to get their vote on censorship laws, to extort and limit the rights of freedom of expression restricting the rights that distributors are entitled too.

[kiddy_phenil]

yeah, anime really isn't just japanese animation, but all animation in general, but us english speaking people have such a wonderful way of bastardizing words so that it can take on a whole new meaning. as most anime fans know by now, you wouldn't tell a japanese person that you're an otaku, or you'll get some strange looks..

[radicaledward1]

I agree i hate mainstreaming! The little kids...wannabe anime freaks get soo annoying asnd talk like they know everything about all the animes...even though they only think anime consists of DBZ, Sailor Moon, and pokemon. They are in a completely differnt world than true anime freaks...and mainstreaming cause the world of anime freaks to enlarge and enlarge until it is so over grown...the world starts to loose the oldest member...the anime freaks from the begining!

[Kwai]

Yeah, well, the little kids will grow up and will start liking the 'real' anime. And everyone once started from liking simple marketing animes so I wouldn't worry about the little kids taking over and only looking at low-quality rubbish anime. They will learn :)

[WW2]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Oradriel [/i]
[B]Yeah, well, the little kids will grow up and will start liking the 'real' anime. And everyone once started from liking simple marketing animes so I wouldn't worry about the little kids taking over and only looking at low-quality rubbish anime. They will learn :) [/B][/QUOTE]

I hope your right. Personally, I'm getting tired of little kids becoming obsessed over watered down mainstream anime. I think it gives anime a bad name, making it seem it's only targeted to little kids. (Why did they have to do this to Kenshi?! WHY?!)

This is bad because if some kid starts watching "real" anime, you just know some parents out there will become offended. They might start some movement against anime due to its violence and adult themes. That would totally suck!

But thats just my opinion.:glasses:

[Manic Webb]

I honestly don't think any kind of movement against anime will go anywhere. All of the mature stuff that goes on TV is clearly rated either TV-PG or TV-14 and the videos in the stores usually say "13 and Up" or "16 and Up." Well, that's in the US, at least.
If you can't stop your kids from watching something that is labeled outside of their age demographic, who's fault is that? The company who made it? The company that imported it? Or the parent who doesn't pay attention to what their kids watch? Exactly.

So Kellner is the a-hole who took my precious Animaniacs off the air! I thought it was strange when KidsWB suddenly took off all of their original WB cartoons and replaced them with dubbed anime and DC heroes.

[Kwai]

I assume you're talking about Kenshin WW2... I agree that its made for the public since there is hardly any blood in there, but you still have to agree that its pretty good(though the OVRs are just awesome). And the adults doing some movement against anime is pointles, like Endymion said. In the end, they themselves are to blame. And besides, they can't shelter their kids from the real stuff out there forever :devil:

[kiddy_phenil]

well, atleast censor laws are gettin looser, we all remember how back when gone with the wind first came out, many kids weren't allwoed to get see it because it said dadadum....damn!...