Anime Why Anime?

[Lady Asphyxia]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=2]Most people who know me in real life know that I don't really watch television at all, led alone cartoons or anime. However, I've seen a couple of anime shows, but most of them seem beyond me -- so much so that I find it difficult to envision the devotion to anime most fans have. It could just be that I don't understand the backstory, and thus I feel lost in these worlds that don't really seem like reality. [img]http://otakuboards.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

So I was wondering about you, the anime fans, point of view. What is it, specifically, that attracts you to anime rather than -- oh, you know, [i]Neighbours [/i]or [i][Insert Country] Idol[/i]? [Let me make it clear that I don't watch either of those, haha]. Is it the style or the characters or...what, specifically?

I'm not posting this because I'm judgemental, or anything, heh. I'm just interested to know what you guys think is the reason you like it so much. ^-^"
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[Bloodseeker]

You've been a part of these boards long enough to become a mod... you've been wondering about anime for an awefully long time to have not really made up your mind about it.

For me, its the character and story developement more than anything else. A 26 episode long anime series has so many more hours to develope their characters, their story, and their universe than a 2-3 long movie does, and many anime take full advantage of that. The result is that anime is home to many characters that viewers are able to connect with and grow attatched too... characters like Guts, Onizuka, Asuka, Misato, and even Inuyasha and friends. Likewise, its long enough to really suck you into their worlds and keep you in them long enough to get a good taste. And the same goes for getting involved with the story itself.

That's what anime is all about for me, its what keeps me interested. Of course, good fight scenes that would sometimes be almost impossible to make convincingly in live action don't exactly hurt either.

[BasouKazuma]

[QUOTE=Lady Asphyxia][font=Arial Narrow][size=2]Most people who know me in real life know that I don't really watch television at all, led alone cartoons or anime. However, I've seen a couple of anime shows, but most of them seem beyond me -- so much so that I find it difficult to envision the devotion to anime most fans have. It could just be that I don't understand the backstory, and thus I feel lost in these worlds that don't really seem like reality. [img]http://otakuboards.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

So I was wondering about you, the anime fans, point of view. What is it, specifically, that attracts you to anime rather than -- oh, you know, [i]Neighbours [/i]or [i][Insert Country] Idol[/i]? [Let me make it clear that I don't watch either of those, haha]. Is it the style or the characters or...what, specifically?

I'm not posting this because I'm judgemental, or anything, heh. I'm just interested to know what you guys think is the reason you like it so much. ^-^"
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Hahaha, you remind me of Kasuga Saki from the anime Genshiken. She wasn't an otaku but she was pretty much constantly around otakus. Even by being around them so much she still never understood what motivates an otaku.

I like animes cuz the creators can do things in animes that are almost impossible to do in a normal live action movie or show. You can't have a guy in live action movie weild a 6 foot long, 3 foot wide sword without having it look stupid. Though stuff like that is becoming more possible just by looking at films like the Matrix and Casshern. In 5 to 10 years we will almost definitely be able to pull stuff off like that in live action movies.

American cartoonists don't take their cartoons as seriously as the japanese which is why I only really watch a handful of american cartoons, like Simpsons, Family Guy, ATHF, Sealab 2021, etc. Pretty much I only watch american cartoons that are all about comedy. I watched a few cartoons with actual plots but never really finished watching any of them. Where as I've seen every episode of Family Guy and most episodes of Simpsons ... though I haven't been watching many of the newer Simpsons episodes.

Truthfully I am becoming less interested in anime since most anime are targeted at people younger than myself. I really don't like how cutesy everything has to be, I like watching grittier anime. Anime that addresses issues, in worlds where things don't always just work out for the main character and where the lines between those who are good and evil are hard to distinguish. Where things are just not clear in general. I bet in a few years I will only watch serious anime.

Anywhodidily, what animes have you watched?

[Dagger]

What a loaded question. I have to leave soon (to see Howl's Moving Castle again, which is actually rather relevant, haha), but I'll try to give a cursory answer. Basically it breaks down to 1) the art (rather, the fact that anime is animated), and 2) the stories, not necessarily in that order. It helps that I've always been a fantasy fan, particularly when it comes to reading--and that about five or six years ago, I pretty much ran out of fantasy books which seemed worthwhile.

Which is not to imply that I don't watch realistic anime, too; I've always enjoyed animation, but I wasn't especially passionate about it until I stumbled into anime. My tastes in anime are, for whatever reason, a whole lot broader than my tastes in anything else. In many ways anime is my replacement for all the books I used to read as a kid--I still read frequently now, yet it's startlingly hard to find books I actually want to spend my time on.

Anime isn't a genre... it's just a name for animation from a specific country, and animation is a medium. It's easy to explain why I like specific shows, but it's hard to explain why I like the medium; similarly, it's a little difficult to pinpoint why I like paintings in general, as opposed to simply those of Salvador Dali. I can't necessarily say "the characters" because I have in the past enjoyed series which made the characters take a backseat to the plot. I can't necessarily say "the stories" (even though I have, haha), because I have in the past enjoyed episodic or deliberately nonsensical series, or those which elevated the characters above all else.

I've enjoyed five-minute long anime (She and Her Cat) and 112 episode long anime. On my shelves I have Gravitation next to Gungrave. Do you see where the difficulty lies?

All I can really tell you is that whatever your preferences (and this is a general you), there is some anime out there which will appeal to you and/or won't totally disgust you, assuming you aren't turned off by the very fact that it's animated.

~Dagger~

[narutobleachfan]

i like the character depth, action. and i just love the look of it, its just so amazing that somedoby drew it. anime is just so different from everything else on tv. thats why i like anime :animeswea and, by the way, if u don't really like manga, why do u have an account on this site?

[kenshinsbabe]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Georgia]I personally watch anime for a few different reasons. 1. Because they're pretty much cartoons on crack (w00t for crack XD), 2. Because I get so attached to the characters sometimes. It's like I've got a huuuuuuge family. ^.^ 3. Because it's an adventure out of my ordinary life, like books. Mind you, when I'm not watching anime, I'm most likely reading, writing, or drawing. 4. Because it holds my attention better than most things.

There's my two cents. *clink* *clink* XD[/FONT][/SIZE]

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1]I like anime, because of its broad range to offer. As Dagger said, there's plenty to choose from, and I personally enjoy it being for all intents and purposes, cartoons for older people. Meaning the action, language, and events can be uncut. Plots can be very in-depth, and character development is there. They do things in anime that would cost millions to make into a movie, and it wouldn't be possible on 'regular' television with all the special effects.[/SIZE]

[Dagger]

[quote name='Retribution][SIZE=1']They do things in anime that would cost millions to make into a movie, and it wouldn't be possible on 'regular' television with all the special effects.[/SIZE][/quote]
Not to mention that one can find things in anime which would probably not fly elsewhere, regardless of how expensive or inexpensive they might be to produce.

Take [b]Koi Kaze[/b], for instance--it's a slow-paced, thirteen-episode character study which revolves around a pair of estranged siblings (one an adult man, the other a fifteen-year-old girl) who find themselve grappling with incestuous emotions & desires. The series isn't for everyone, but it's nevertheless close to brilliant: non-judgmental, thoroughly unsensational in its approach to what is a very controversial subject, subtle, painfully realistic... animated or not, one would be hard-pressed to find something similar on American television.

Even going beyond the controversy, there are types of stories in anime which could prove virtually impossible to locate anywhere else. That's another part of what attracts me to it.

~Dagger~

[Vampire_Miyu285]

i'd have to agree with Dagger with the anime isn't a genre; it's a type of animation like a normal cartoon but more cute or less choppy art style.

[Shinmaru]

[quote name='Dagger']All I can really tell you is that whatever your preferences (and this is a general you), there is some anime out there which will appeal to you and/or won't totally disgust you, assuming you aren't turned off by the very fact that it's animated.[/quote]

Yeah, pretty much. I'm not exactly a huge fan of anime, but I do appreciate that there's a wide variety of shows to watch should one want to search them out. I guess I like some anime because it's something a bit different from what I usually watch, though I do prefer Western animation overall. Like Dagger mentioned, you can find some things in anime that you just would not find elsewhere (the same is true for Western animation as well, I think). A good 80-90% of what I bother to watch on television is animated, so it's obvious that I prefer that medium much of the time. :P

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I'm not exactly a huge anime fan, but I have been steadily watching more and more of it over the past few years. Who knows when that will top off and/or begin to fall back off again. ... But that's not important to the subject.

Now that I really stop to think about it, I think the thing that makes me more interested in anime than live action movies and TV shows is just the fact that it's animated. Fantasy has always been my favorite type of books, video games, and now anime, and the animation helps to convey that sense of fantasy which I enjoy. I suppose it's sort of the same reason why I prefer less realistic games over the more realistic ones; photorealistic (or close to it) graphics don't convey that sort of feeling as well for me, so in the same way, live action doesn't convey it as well as animation does. It might seem a bit odd, but I actually find that with this sort of thing, less realistic mediums are more immersive -- and thus more enjoyable -- than more realistic ones.[/color]

[Guest animefreak213]

:animesigh
[B]well..........uh...I don't know if my opinion counts for much cause you have so many replies but in case you take the time to read I'll give you my point of view. anime is the number one cartoon style because its all much less simple than the average cartoon about gay dancing bears who eat rainbow flakes for breakfast and save chocolate bars from the candy eating blorgges. I'm just saying that the story lines actually involve some form of intelligence. you get to know the character and their emotions so well from so many episodes that you can really relate to them. So depending on the genre of stories you like you can find yourself lost in a story you would love to be in. The artwork also rocks!!!!!!!!!! I draw it a lot. rock on if your interested in becoming one of the steadily growing hoards of anime fans. [/B] :animesmil

[Lady Asphyxia]

[font=Arial Narrow][size=2]Just to answer a question a couple of you have posed; not everyone on OB is into anime. For example, I came to OB because my friends were here, but neither I nor they were into anime. Another chief example is the dear Charles, who was admin [Until the lovely Dagger took over] -- he hated anime, to put it bluntly. So, yes. I've had no real interest in it until now -- which is why I ask now.[img]http://otakuboards.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

So what people seem to be saying is that the complexity and the flexibility of the genre is the attractive part. Keeping that in mind, and on the fact that I've never really seen anime, what shows would you recommend, and why? Are there any essential things that a person, like myself, should know before they step into the anime realm, or can it just be picked up as you go?
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[Semjaza]

[QUOTE=Lady Asphyxia][font=Arial Narrow][size=2] So what people seem to be saying is that the complexity and the flexibility of the genre is the attractive part. Keeping that in mind, and on the fact that I've never really seen anime, what shows would you recommend, and why? Are there any essential things that a person, like myself, should know before they step into the anime realm, or can it just be picked up as you go?
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I no longer like much anime myself, but there are a few I still strongly enjoy and would recommend for others. I think Grave of the Fireflies is the main one. Pretty much all of the Miyazaki/Ghibli movies too (although, contrary to seemingly everyone else, I think Castle in the Sky is digustingly boring).

If you have Adult Swim, I'd also recommend checking out Paranoia Agent. It's the only one of their current anime series I actually enjoy. I figure you might too since we're in a similar boat. I find that anime fans recommending things to non-anime fans tends to work out very rarely for whatever reason lol.

[Dagger]

[quote name='Lady Asphyxia][font=Arial Narrow][size=2]Keeping that in mind, and on the fact that I've never really seen anime, what shows would you recommend, and why? Are there any essential things that a person, like myself, should know before they step into the anime realm, or can it just be picked up as you go?[/size'][/font][/quote]
Well... it's difficult to recommend anything without knowing what you like outside of anime (your preferences in books or live-action movies, for example). And I don't really fall into the camp of people who maintain that certain anime should be required viewing.

I guess movies & short OVAs make a good starting point--anything by [b]Hayao Miyazaki[/b] will be at the least visually ravishing and at best pretty damn good all around. I would recommend Spirited Away and his older material over his most recent movie (Howl's Moving Castle), which I like for biased personal reasons (read: I am a whore for the book it was based on) despite the fact that it's not nearly as strong a film.

[b]Makoto Shinkai[/b] is an up-and-coming director whose two main works (Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days) have received a lot of praise. Voices of a Distant Star (Hoshi no Koe) is only half an hour long and was animated entirely by Shinkai himself, making it a stunning technical accomplishment in addition to a moving and tautly told love story. The DVD also includes an excellent animated short called She and Her Cat. Personally I didn't take nearly as well to Place Promised, but a lot of people seem to like it, and it's a gorgeous-looking movie.

When it comes to series, you just sort of have to plunge in and see what interests you and what doesn't--trial and error, basically. I could throw out some names here and there, but I can't guarantee that you'll like them--whatever shows you watch at first are going to serve as more of a litmus test (for where your tastes lie) than anything else.

Essential things you need to know... well, most importantly, [b]beware of hype[/b]. If you watch Neon Genesis Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop (or Fullmetal Alchemist, or whatever else people like to build up as the greatest series ever) and find yourself wondering what's the big deal, don't assume that it's all which anime has to offer.

I hate to be the one saying this, but there will be cases in which watching the English dub of a show is just not the best choice to make. There is always the chance that it's not the series that's really irking you--it's the dub. There are tons of good dubs out there, of course, but the variability is something to keep in mind.

~Dagger~

[Rick Hunter]

Well to answer your first question the reason why I like anime. Is primarily based on the fact that there's some great story telling, character development, and philosophical thinking in various anime titles. That you wouldn't normally be allowed to see in America do to the excessive violence or in more important cases mature themes that are presented in various works. Unfortuantely with American oriented animation its always geared toward the younger audiences and is consider a child's show. With anime all those aspects and influnces from the west are thrown out the window anything that may be too contraversial for american cartoons to cover anime does all so well. Whether it be political corruption to suicide they cover each topic flawlessly something that american animation fails to do. Also there's a distanct aspect about their animation styles that draws interest in me.

I could go on and contrast art styles and why things are drawn in certain ways but I won't rant off topic.

[QUOTE=Lady Asphyxia][font=Arial Narrow][size=2]
Keeping that in mind, and on the fact that I've never really seen anime, what shows would you recommend, and why? Are there any essential things that a person, like myself, should know before they step into the anime realm, or can it just be picked up as you go?
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Well to be honest with you it depends on what type of regular films you like? It's not really that easy to pick up on any anime title. In order to enjoy it you'd have to find a certain genre of films you like. Whether it be political corruption, drama, horror, suspense. If you give some examples of stuff you like to watch I'd be happy to give some recommendations in that genre. I know more then my fair share of stuff...>.> most people know that.

Also as Dagger meantion it's very important not to fall into hype, there's a lot of anime titles these days that people see the need to recommend and call classics. However you'll soon find out the most popular stuff is not always the best. Obscure anime titles usually are better. But that's just my opinion.

[Sage Kaley]

The hype thing is one reason I'm afraid of watching EVA. I've read the manga and like it enough but honestly with everything I heard about how incredible the anime is I'm nervous. I just really want to see Kaworu heh...

Hm things you should know before watching. Well make sure you keep Dagger's words in your mind about over hype. Don't get me wrong, I love Cowboy Bebop and other hyped animes but I didn't go into the shows with the hype. I went into Inuyasha knowing the hype and I don't enjoy that series as much, it didn't live up to the fans' words. That's just me though.

I don't know what type of things you enjoy but let's see. Dagger is right to reccomend Miyazaki's work. I love Kiki's Delivery Service myself, cute little story.

I'd recommend Haibane Renmei also. It's softer and more focused on the characters and story of 'angels' living in a walled in town. Serial Experiment Lain is interesting, I saw it on TechTV. See, my leanings are towards stories that really baffle me though or are just mysterious. It depends on what you like. If you like action or comedy or romance...just try a few and see what you like ^^

Oh and to answer the original question of this post...I like anime for the art style, the stories and the characters. Pretty much the same reasons I like any show. I like anime though because there are things I never see done on TV or stories I never see explored. I never see romances like Gravitation's for example. Nor do I see weird things like in Paranoia Agent. I like all the new stories I get from anime. (although I admittedly like manga better, I'm a book type more than TV)

[Killer7]

I am into it because of pretty much everything. Great music, animation, and story create a wonderful experience to watch, and something you won't forget. Also cool characters and alot of development, make you feel like you actually know the people.

[Yukina123]

[QUOTE=Lady Asphyxia][font=Arial Narrow][size=2]
So I was wondering about you, the anime fans, point of view. What is it, specifically, that attracts you to anime rather than -- oh, you know, [i]Neighbours [/i]or [i][Insert Country] Idol[/i]? [Let me make it clear that I don't watch either of those, haha]. Is it the style or the characters or...what, specifically?
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[COLOR=DarkOrchid] Because it's the history and style of the whole genre. ^_^ It's what makes it what it is. The drama and the storyline are completely different from any other kind of show. I mean, could you see [Instert Country] Idol having supernatural powers and falling in love? Sometimes it's just the art. It's an escape from every day life. Or even a book that depicts the actual dealings of people today. There's just a magic that Actors and Actresses can't portray. Maybe it's the allure of the ability of the artists to create such emotion. Or maybe it's just the sweet fight scenes that you can't do without 50,000,000 sticks of dynamite and a fire-proof cast. lol. It's really just a matter of perspective. ^_^ Hope that answered your question.[/COLOR]

[kayutori_sama]

Anime. Why do I watch it? Unique storylines, beautiful art, and out of this world humor. Have you ever seen a countries history depicted well by an animated show? I've only seen it done well by anime. There are all types of anime, something for everybody. So it's nearly impossible to say you could not find a genre that intersted you. Animators in Japan take anime quite seriously. Animators in America are just doing the Saturday morning line up stuff (not to say that all American cartoons are bad) When was the last time you saw a psychological thriller like [I]Paranoi Agent[/I] made in America?