Anime The elements of anime

[Anime Elf]

What elements make an anime good? For instance, if you were to make an anime, what would be, say five elements that you would be sure to include (ex. hammers, sweat drops, endless dialogue, romance, big explosions, etc.)?

[Dagger]

It depends on one's genre(s) of preference, really. Hammers or sweat drops would be wildly out of place in Monster...

Obviously it would be nice if everything had gorgeous animation & artwork. I can overlook mediocre or downright poor production values if the story or characters are good enough, but if I could magically conjure new anime out of thin air, I'd want them to have OVA or movie-quality animation, regardless of length. And I'd want them to be in widescreen. Greedy of me, maybe, but I guess this thread is about ideals anyway.

I could mention stuff like action, melodrama, etc., but at the same time, I'm not totally sure that I even know what I value the most. While I get revved up over action-heavy series, my favorite shows really couldn't be described as that. I suppose one thing that strongly appeals to me is the inclusion of fairy tale motifs or themes. Revolutionary Girl Utena and Princess Tutu are two anime that do this incredibly well. At the same time, it's not as though an anime needs that to be good, haha.

I like it when series are structured to be thought-provoking and to challenge the viewer's expectations, but not to the point of sacrificing character development or becoming completely incomprehensible. It's hard to reduce that kind of factor to a single "element," though.

Going back to what I said at the beginning, what makes a great mecha series is very different from what makes a great bishoujo drama or a great magical girl series. Yeah, it's important to have reasonably complex characters and a reasonably complex story, but I don't think you'll find anyone who'll say he'd rather have flat characters and a boring story. That's self-evident.

~Dagger~

[Dark Neko-Chan]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Hmmm... I'd say... a good plot... something that's complex, but you can understand what's going on if you miss several episodes (like Fullmetal Alchemist. I mean, the few times I've attempted to what Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, I'm completely lost. :animeswea ) Also it's kinda heavy, and deep, occasionally lightened by a character like Ed-kun, who is insulted by anything. And something that's kinda odd; like the chimeras that follow Greed, you seen the gecko thing? He's weird.
And good artwork. I always love it if they have awesome animation (like the opening theme to Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex. That's really all I watch as I can't follow the plot, but I love it. It's so cool. :animesmil Or the Final Fantasy graphics.)
Hmm... A cool sounding opening theme, like "Ready, Steady, Go" in Fullmetal Alchemist and "Oversoul" in Shaman King (which 4kids cut out and stuck the poor show with something that sounds like a talk show opening!:animeangr) Come to think of it, all the Fullmetal themes sound cool, opening and ending...
At least [B]one[/B] spazzy character. Like Hughes in Fullmetal Alchemist (yes, I am aware that I am using a lot of FMA examples- I love the show.) or Largo in MegaTokyo [url]http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=103[/url] (he's the one with hair that sticks up in the air. Yes, I am aware that this is not an anime, but a web comic, but it has been published as a manga by Dark Horse Books.)
At least one tragic character. I like sad junk- I like the feeling of getting sad after seeing an anime or reading something. A character like Faust-kun- his story's so sad... You just wanna hug him... But I wouldn't advise that 'cause he's a tad psycho... :animedepr
And something that's not really necessary, cool costumes. Like what CLAMP does with their female characters- I dunno if you've seen the outfits, but they're, like, the ultimate cosplay![/COLOR]

[animekid17]

[QUOTE=Dagger]

Yeah, it's important to have reasonably complex characters and a reasonably complex story, but I don't think you'll find anyone who'll say he'd rather have flat characters and a boring story. That's self-evident.

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]i'd say that opinion really depends on what you consider to be "flat" or "boring".

because I know I love animes that i've seen people on here trash. i'd say "good" elements depend solely on what the viewer is into.

thats all.

[haru sakurai]

i think, for the most part, the series has to make you [b]care[/b]. you need to care about the characters and the world they're inhabiting-- something about them has to connect with you, interest you. everything else, varying 'cool' factors, visual quality, action, plot development, sci-fi, characterization... if you don't care what happens to the world or to the people, you won't keep watching, and you won't care if the story progresses. i guess the way that would be defined it 'humanity' or 'interest factor,' and that can only be judged by the viewer themself.

[RedSkyCoffee]

[SIZE=1]Hmm ... A good plot, fighting, humor, good art {Art of the anime or whatever ..}, and ... I donno, I can't think of anything else xD[/SIZE]