You don't need a crystal ball to see that anime is poised to make a big impact on the American market, even bigger than it's made so far. Somewhere down the line someone will make the breakthrough anime that'll push Disney and Pixar off the map. It's only a matter of time.
Me, I'm not an anime fan. I know there's been some good stuff done in that medium but there's also an awful, awful lot of kitch. I mean big, hulking mountains of it! All the cute girls with gigantic, cute Bambi eyes, cute and oh so precious hairstyles, and cute little outfits with cute little boots... Cute! Cute! Cute! Even the guys are cute! Man, I'm getting a sugar overdose here!
And how do you like anime plots ? "Ganzu, the cute princess of cutania must get the power ring back that was stolen by Power lad and his Power Pals. A fight ensues with Power Lad shooting power beams at the cute girls and their cute, fuzzy little animal friends. Eventually Power Lad and his Power Pals realize the've been manipulated by the evil Ganzuni. Another power beam fight ensues with the cute forces in beautiful outfits joining with the powerful Power Pals (also in cute outfits and hairstyles) against Ganzuni. The good guys win. " Aaaaarggghh!!!!!BTW, I didn't draw the picture of power Lad and his Powerful Beams of Power above.
Here is an excerpt from my blog, dated Nov. 4, 2004, concerning anime:
ReplyDeleteJapanese Animation was once referred to as JapAnimation, a term that has given way to the confusing moniker, "Anime" which is pronounced "Anna May." This is a tribute to Anna May Wong (1905 - 1961) an actress of Asian extraction whose acting credits extend back to the silent era. What this has to do with anything is beyond me - I told you it was confusing.
Americans first became aware of the Japanese animation industry when the TV shows ATOM BOY and SAMBI THE TIGER were first imported back in the early 'sixties. The slavish imitation of the worst aspects of the later-period Fleischer Studios cartoons made them instantly appealing to the US audience. That, and the excellent voice work!
Now-a-days, the anime shows have become so confusing that despite their popularity, no one likes them. They abound in skinny, sailor-suit-wearing schoolgirls who look like they are smuggling tennis balls in their blouses and non-existant animal hybrids. There is much shouting and sweating done by the characters. Planets are destroyed. The one constant from the early ATOM BOY shows is the excellent voice acting.
My advice is these sort of shows should be avoided at all costs. That is until the industry comes to its senses and starts hiring seasoned animation history experts as highly paid consultants. (I could learn to like Saki, I suppose!)
I hope Katie responds to this one, because she showed me actual positive and funny aspects of anime acting and graphic ways to show emotions-and funny story conventions.
ReplyDeleteI can't watch the stuff either, but I like that she finds cool things to interpret in an American style.
In conclusion, my experimentation ends here. Thanks to this site, I could immediately breathe assured that my task embodies completed and sustaining caliber. - acne treatment
ReplyDeletehey Uncle Eddie!
ReplyDeletedont like anime, huh? Well neither do I! But check this out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyGvGMa2RFg
My kids watch that stuff. The only way I can tolerate it is when I make up dialogue to piss them off.
ReplyDelete"I am Doktor Marko and YOU cannot stop me!"
Notice how all the characters talk as though they're accusing each other of something?
Oh God..Anime..The word itself implies animation but has the least animation of all! And talk about limited expressions..There are seriously only like 5 expressions the characters will ever make! There are alot of students at my school that always turn in anime influenced projects. I just cringe..
ReplyDeleteI'v Always said ya seen one ya seen em all-Stories are boring-Characters are boring-The only thing positive I can say is they are fun to mock-Thats the only time I think funny.
ReplyDeleteI still call them Japanimaton.
Anime makes me think when the term Alternative poped up for music
Dumb Dumb Dumb
The younger kids seem to love it
but the younger generation has pretty weird taste in alot of things
-Matt
When I saw the anime pictures, I thought I had the wrong blog.
ReplyDeleteI think this sums up the situation pretty well:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOejYrQ5P0s
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully but firmy disagree: I don't think "anime"--in the hardcore, traditional sense that is envinced by your selection of illustrations there--is ever, ever going to make any substantial impact at all on the american film scene. Not if it hasn't already(and it hasn't); it's more of a niche genre or style than many niches that also haven't taken over or made big impacts on our film production here.
ReplyDeleteJapan and its culture as far as these little graphic narratives are concerned is just so wildy different...even the breakout genius of Miyazaki--which one would think would have a chance if anything from Japan did, and should for that matter--has more or less gone unremarked here except for the larger cities and again, a niche fan base of animators and artists. I'm not saying that's how it should be, but I definitely believe that's how it will be.
I've enjoyed some of weirder cartoon things I've glimpsed from Japan--and man, there's plenty of inspirational weirdness there, but after 10 minutes I lose interest. The mainstream Bubblegum Crisis or whatever--no way. By our standards it simply IS too expressionless and odd and frankly dull, no matter how well done the explosions are. Just my humble opinion.
Hahaha! That's too funny! Power beams.
ReplyDeleteYa, the anime market is saturated with young school girls with powers etc. but there are exceptions every so often.
If anime has made a great impact across American culture, I haven't seen it. It seems limited to a small niche of the community who will probably grow out of it.
ReplyDeleteAnime is a style. Like all other art styles it will have a big impact for a few years. Over time, people will (hopefully) incorporate the best elements from Anime and discard the rest.
This site is precisely what I have been searching for ! This is precisely a small-scale library having full of books which I necessitate. - bad breath
ReplyDeleteHere's an observation that neither proves nor disproves anything...
ReplyDeleteIf I go to the local Best Buy, there's nearly a whole aisle of
"Anime" in it's own, labelled section.
If I want classic cartoon DVDs, I have to pick through the family/children shelves.
(Yep, the Looney Tunes are there all right. Mixed in with Thomas & Friends, The Wiggles, Baby Einstein, Clifford, Beethoven 7, Barney, etc. etc. etc.)
FWIW
it bugs me that its called "anime" that's the abbreviation we should be using for American animated cartoons..."Japanimation" fits so much better. All in favor to switch out these words?!
ReplyDeleteWhenever it comes to criticizing anime, it seems that there's rarely ever any actual critique but more a discussion about this stereotype that's discussed by people who've generally never even seen any of it firsthand.
ReplyDeleteProps for mentioning GTO, although it's just another terribly animated comic adaptation.
But what about Satoshi Kon?
http://www.eiga.dk/billeder/0304.jpg
What about Studio 4'C?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mindgame_yakuza.png
These aren't no-name guys who are able to make one movie before they're beaten down by the system, they're big and popular studios! Studio 4'C is on their second movie, and Satoshi Kon is on his 4th!
Which is to say nothing of the hugely varied comic industry which can sustain artists as bizarre as Hirohiko Araki.
http://www.acsolo.com/image/acimage/2005710193838976.jpg
The bug-eyed cute princess emo hero magic hole mouth crap is just the commercial aspect of the industry - it's their Cartoon Network. But saying it's the epitome of anime is like saying The Fairly Odd Parents are the epitome of American cartoon - even moreso with all the fantastically creative work that's actually popular over there. For a while, the kitsch was being beaten by One Piece of all things!
http://www.gumgum.org/spreads/spread%20(9).jpg
It always seems to me that this "most of it is really bad" mentality is just an excuse not to look into the works of another culture. The "breakthrough anime" you're talking about has already been made - there's a ton of them! And they would push Disney and Pixar off the map if America were receptive to foreign films - especially when they're butchered in the localization process.
Hey Eddie,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for Blogging away. Between your and John's Blogs, my morning reading is always fun and informative.
Now if we could just get Mike and maybe J.J. H.
to start their's I could get even less work done!
Vincent
The average anime, in many respects, is still better than the average american "cartoon" today. And it's still not as pervasive so as to not be worth looking into even if only for the differences.
ReplyDelete>>golb
ReplyDeleteNo.
The average anime is a collection of poorly drawn stills that occasionally animate very poorly on 3s. And lip sync? Forget about it.
Even Butch Hartman's crap moves quickly and is lip synced properly.
When you said "You don't need a crystal ball to see that anime is poised to make a big impact on the American market, even bigger than it's made so far. Somewhere down the line someone will make the breakthrough anime that'll push Disney and Pixar off the map. It's only a matter of time."
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to my mind was "Howl's Moving Castle". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347149/
The movie was Nominated for a Oscar,
I haven't seen it yet but I hear it's beautifully animated. This could be probably the breakthrough you were referring to. It'll definitely influence alot of future anime-animators, and probably alot of American styled animators too.
Although it's a masterpiece in anime, it also looks like it suffers from some of the drawbacks you discussed in your blog, unfortunately. Not the laser beam fighting (I don't know though, I haven't seen it) but the generic, and limited facial expressions, that almost all Japan-animations seems to suffer from.
I like some anime, I thought Mind Game was really cool. But i hate so much more stuff than i like that if someone asks me if i like anime I usually go the short route and answer that I can't stand it.
ReplyDeleteIS the PowerPals out on DVD?
ReplyDeletePersonally I like Japanese animation, if I can state that "Anime" is a sub-genre that I hate, aimed purely at non-analytical kids. Pokemon, Dragonball and Inuyashu and their ilk I can live without. Hayao Miyazaki I find a lot more watchable. As for Hentai, I'd rather watch real porn.
Most easily-located Japanese animation may be annoying and can be discarded, but what remains has at least moments of greatness. Although the greatness is seldom found in funny characters doing american-style cartoony things, or in great character work, they will usually attempt some gratifying eye-candy, of a sort that you don't see elsewhere, even if the whole film doesn't hold up. I wish some of what they are doing was being done here by somebody.
What I've always wanted to know is why don't any of the characters look Japanese? They all look like Anglos.
WRONG. Anime is WHAT. IT'S. CALLED. There can be NO debate on what Japenese animation is referred to.
ReplyDeleteOh, Lord...
It was a rhetorical device to clarify what I like and don't like. Don't get your shorts in a bunch.
Secondaly, what do you mean by "non-analytical?" You mean ENTERTAINMENT isn't good enough, if has to be "arty" like Miyazaki? Please...
I mean that upon analysis, it's crap, but the kids that watch it don't care. I don't find "Anime" as I have defined it for myself to be entertaining. I find it annoying. Myazaki is entertaining not because it's "arty", but because it has actual entertaining things in it.
BUT, if Myazaki is "Arty" in contrast to Dragonball, then is Dragonball "non-arty"? I prefer cartoons with art in them, and preferably art that does entertaining things in time. This will not become the arguing about Dragonball thread.
Here Here!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh geez the humor has gone way out the window..how sad.
ReplyDeleteAll you screaming Japanimation lovers do know this is Uncle Eddie's blog right?
For Crimminy sake
-Matt
Since when are definitions of words up to personal interpretation?
ReplyDeleteEddie was talking about Anime, but his comments appeared to be directed at a sub-group of woefully under-animated TV Japanese action cartoons, and there is more out there. So I called Eddie's implied sub-grouping Anime, and others something else, because for Eddie the word Anime is already tainted.
They are some cartoony anime,like Lupin III,the only one I currently watch.You should try and find the Lupin III manga Eddie,the drawings are very cartoony and lively.
ReplyDeletehaha, Jorge is pissed.
ReplyDeleteYeah, most anime is a bore. Miyazaki is great, though. Dragon Ball is pile of steaming shit except for the first episodes, when Goku was still a kid and it was full of visual gags and funny fights. Then it went to nonstop fighting and screaming and everybody can blow up planets with a sneeze and they punch repeatedly so fast that I'd fall asleep if they stopped yelling.
geez I'm just bein silly
ReplyDeletesorry
As if you really wanted to know:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime#Genres
The problem with your average TV anime, especially stuff like "DragonBall Z" and its ilk, is that it is largely incomprehensible. The actual drawing and painting abilities of the artists involved may be competent, but there is a total lack of characterization, limited to a great degree by the mind-numbing sameness of the designs. The two gals pictured at the top of Eddie's post are indistinguishable from the "Sailor Moon" gals or any other female characters from the dozens of shows out there these days. Likewise, every young male character is a variation on the same thing too, only they have a permanent scowl etched into their brows on the more action-oriented crap. If the Japanese would offer up more uniqueness and individuality in their character designs, then maybe their efforts would grab my interest. Though they'd also have to present some coherent plotlines to keep it. Inane David and Goliath-type battles in the desert show after show after show, ad nauseum, just don't cut it! (Sorry Jorge!)
ReplyDeleteAgain, take a look at this and have a good laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOejYrQ5P0s
Well blow me down - midgekits!! Gyack-ack-ack-ack....
Anime like Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakashu, One Piece, and Inuyasha are the bottom of the barrel. Really great anime is out there but it's just that crap like I mentioned gets way too much attention, hence the negative preconceived notions of anime in the US.
ReplyDeleteIts good to set a higher bar for animation, and funny cartoons actually being "cartoony" , but cartoons can tell stories that would probably never get told if they weren't done in animation.
ReplyDeleteI like the dragonball series, I like Evangelion , theres alot of stories that animation can tell.
There's room for everyones likes and dislikes. I like all this back and forth.
Holy Cow! People really get passionate about this subject! I'll definitely look up the names and links that were published here. Thanks for putting them up!
ReplyDeleteVincent: Thanks for the cpmpliment!
Katie: If you're reading this, I didn't mean you when I talked about purveyers of cute! When cute is done as well as you do it then I have no problem with it!
ReplyDelete(Regarding blogs) Now if we could just get Mike and maybe J.J. H. to start their's I could get even less work done!
ReplyDeleteVincent
Hi Vincent,
I already have a blog. It's here:
http://www.eyesofbroadway.blogspot.com/
But I warn you, you won't like it. I know I don't.
I also don't like anime (or whatever people want to call it).
Anime can be good. Cowboy Bebop rocks the party that rocks the house.
ReplyDelete>>soos
ReplyDeleteButch Hartman's stuff looks like crap.
I'll take solidly constructed illustrations over ugly animation any day.
American animation tries to make it look as if the drawings were done by retarded 2 year olds.
Eddie, if you're really going to check out the links, check this one. It's from that one I mentioned, Mind Game. It's really different than most anime, which seem to be happy to conform to a stereotype. In this scene the main character meets God, who keeps changing shapes all the time, some of them are very cartoony!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete"Yu Yu Hakusho, The Spirirt Detective is great! I love it! It's the supernatural ghost world plus with detective and mystery elements!"
ReplyDeleteYu Yu Hakashu is juts another Dragon Ball Z type show. There was hardly any detective and mystery in that show,it was mostly fighting and yelling. You are looking in the wrong directon of anime Jorge, focusing on only the one dimensional fighting stuff.
"Also: Rurouni Kenhin, Gundam, etc... anything Toonami aired was usually quite good, as long as it wasn't too too cut. Anime get censored to bits overseas!"
Most Toonami anime is garbage, all the shows with the bad sterotypes of anime. Adult Swim actually shows the good anime,with some exceptions.
Gabriel: I watched the Mind Game clips. They were interesting but curiously uninvolving. I'll watch them again after a couple of days.
ReplyDelete"Sure me if I want action cartoons to have action instead of existentional philosophy."
ReplyDeleteYou entirely missed my point,I am not saying action cartoons can't have action. The problem I have with Dragon Ball Z and other simualr crap is the characters are as flat as pancake,the acting is bad, and the stories are poorly done and predictable.You got to have more then the action up to snuff for good action anime. This a problem of not just in anime today but live-action films as well, they only have action but nothing else to make it truely compelling, all the same song.
I used to like Yu Yu Hakashu, Dragon Ball Z, and Inuyasha but then I realized how flat they were. I moved on to anime pandering more to adults and not just teenagers with short attention spans,I am not saying you do Jorge but that is the target audience for the shows you like. I am pretty sure you will go on to better things in anime just like I did.
Gabriel: I watched the Mind Game clips. They were interesting but curiously uninvolving.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same. Try The Second Rennaisance. If nothings hooks you in that, maybe you can stop looking. The story and the execution are pretty compelling to me. Furi Kuri, which I think you've commented on, had some nice work in it. Spriggan had some nice action in it. Akira I liked. Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke have some good work.
One more thought-- It's usually better in Japanese with subtitles.
ReplyDeleteI always thought the bad side of anime works in its favor as well-- that is, if you can draw one cookie cutter character, you can draw them all. It gives a lot of kids drawing confidence.
ReplyDeleteI think what keeps them fans as they grow older is that the stories, and the myth behind them, actually come from a separate culture. One they feel safer messing about in, one that seems a bit more open.
Anonymous: Interesting!
ReplyDeleteUncle Eddie,
ReplyDeleteLet me first to say that this is a great blog (like many others by seasoned veterans). I'm a young whippersnapper who was reared with classical american shorts on the airwaves and later got into anime. I still hold regard to both of them. It is true a lot of anime is wierd, and a good portion of it bad, due to the volume of it being produced. Both good and bad things draw people for unique (but not always quality stories). Same with the artwork. Some of the best anime goes into places most major mainstream American companies wouldn't DARE tread (and for those who would, wouldn't be funded). Because of budgetary constrants few anime works will approach Disney or classic shorts (most animators are mainly glorified comic artists). But there ARE animators who actually ANIMATE (just far and few between), a keen eyed bloke (think he's a Brit) named Ben Ettinger hosts a blog at http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/
called Anipages, where he keeps a look out for cool animation in anime and the people that create it. Worth a look.
If you're going to judge japanese animation on sailor moon and dragon ball Z I think it's fair if I judge american animation on Totally spies and birdman, or whatever you're showing now.
ReplyDeleteThis is obviously not the best these two cultures have made. Like most people here I also suggest you watch mind game. And not just clips, watch it from beginning till end. You want some more? How about watching FLCL, they surely have everything John.K talked about in his blog, (a diversity of expressions, creativity etc.) Or how about some Gunbuster2?(aka Top wo Nerae 2). Ghost in the shell 1(movie), All ghibli movies( but just some off the top of my head:" My neighbour totoro, The cat returns, Grave of the fireflies, Laputa castle in the sky, Porco rosso(!!). Just to name a few.
I think most stories are better in japanese animation( Monster, Death note ). I'm sick of seeing red riding hood and snowwhite being shoveled around with new characters and the same storyline all the time.
In all fairness aren't you showing us the best of american animation? then I think you should at least try some of these before you judge.
I'm certainly not picking a side but I'm just showing you some good japanese animation as you showed us some good american animation.
PS. Did you notice that all the good japanese animation is fairly new and all the good american animation is old? Just a fun fact.
I think anime, much the same way as NA animation, is only good if you stop watching the mind numbing crap that makes it to your television screen thanks to giant cable companies. If you think it's all super cute stuff and fanciful illogical stories it's because you're so put off the the perpetuated stereotypes to actually go watch some fandubs.
ReplyDeleteThis is a huge switch from all the posts telling young artists "anime is a bad influence, JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH". I don't mind if you genuinely don't like it, I only want proof that it's a well informed opinion.
The things you have to keep in mind about anime are:
ReplyDelete(1) There's a heck of a lot more of it than there is Western animation.
(2) Most of it is made by large corporations who play it safe by copying everything else that's out there (imagine that!).
(3) The stuff that gets popular over here becomes popular on the strength of anime fandom, most of whom think "quality animation" means "on model more than 50% of the time, moving or not." Plus, it being a basically comic-book-based art form, they're really more interested in the graphics and story than the motion, and they aren't necessarily the best judges of graphics and story. That's why Inu Yasha is readily available in the US, while you have to blow $45 on a direct-from-Japan region 2 DVD to see "Mind Game."
(4) The TV anime production process is a strange and baffling conglomeration of production units, independent contractors (many of whom work out of their houses), and overseas outsourcing. The result is that the quality of work can vary wildly from one episode to the next, or even within the same episode. There are Sailor Moon episodes (especially in the SuperS season) with cartoony action and draftsmanship that would knock your socks off, often back to back with episodes where they can't get the head sizes right.
The two anime series that I'd recommend an animation artist to check out are, oddly, the same ones that John K took the majority of his anime post illustrations from: Maho Tsukai Tai (English title: Magic User's Club) and FLCL (a/k/a "Fooly-Cooly"). The former is rather dripping in cute doe-eyed teenagers, so you might wish to steer clear, Uncle Eddie, but it's the same production team that seems to come up most often on the credits of the "good" Sailor Moons. The latter is a wonderously bizarre and creative coming-of-age story, a brief and pointless switch to "South Park" style at one point notwithstanding. ("Because the animators asked me if they could" explains the director in the commentary track.)
I second the strong recommendation for "Mind Game" -- you have to see those clips in context to really get what's going on (subtitles help as well). Ask Steve at the Archive about it. ;-)
And of course, Satoshi Kon and Studio Ghibli, but you already know that . . .
anime is not pronounced "anna may" you stupid american clods, nor is it a tribute to anna may wong (whomever that is!!!)
ReplyDeleteit is pronounced "ah ni meh"
ask any self respecting japanese person...
you guys might complain about the lack of lip-synching in anime but Steamboy had it. There are exceptions to the stereotypes that you guys have mentioned. I too didn't like anime at first because of the overly stylized characters and lack of movement but then i discovered other stuff.
ReplyDeleteMost anime is derived from the comic books/manga. Cheap corporate guys will take advantage of the popularity of the comic and make into a low budget TV series. Best thing of all for corporations, the storyboards, script, and design is already made. Hence, you get mostly shit out there. I'm not a huge anime fan as I was before. It's too saturated and sugary right now. My stomach or appetite for it has gotten bad from it. Like in any medium or artform, the whole concept gets stretched out thin until it finally snaps. Then, it'll re-solidated over the years for the next boom. Anime is just annoying hot trend now. I'm sure western cartoons will get back at it's feet.
ReplyDelete95% of anime is shit.
ReplyDelete95% of american animation is also shit.
The only thing that is different is exacly WHAT it is that is bad.
In anime it is, as stated, the often stale expressions and the underanimation. the storylines are not too hot most of the times either.
In american animation it is mainly the lousy storylines. (hey, take a bunch of CG animated animals, have them bounce around for 1 1/2 hours and add some "jokes" -instant fucking hit!)
Being that I'm an anime fan, I felt the need to put in my own two cents.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, I'm not the stereotypical fanboy (sweating, typing half 1337/half typo's, utilizing numerous argumentative fallacies, etc...).
For me, Anime is the perfect type of show. It combines the impossibilities of animation (making the scifi/fantasy genre just that much cooler), with adult stories/plots (note: not to be confused with hentai, or other forms of pornography).
Think of every animated show aimed for a “more mature audience”. What do these all have in common?
Family Guy
Simpsons
South Park
Robot Chicken
Harvey Birdman
Though a limited list, you’ll notice they’re all classified under one label: comedy. No real, serious stories. After all, if Stewie, or Kenny, started spouting off the philosophical aspects of genocide, or the facets of a timeless coming-of-age-story, would you take him seriously? Probably not.
This is not, of course, to say that all anime is good.
Far from it.
Unfortunately, most Anime that's readily available to America is the same.
It's the “cookie-cutter” theory; if Poke'Mon does good, then introduce Digi'Mon. Essentially, the same thing, right? The kids’ll eat it up.
After all, trying to market a new product is a risk...and risks are bad, right?
So, before you slam on Anime, try to look outside of the norm.
Ignore Dragon Ball Z, and go for Paranoia Agent.
Drop FLCL, and enjoy Beck.
If you want to label an entire style, with no regard towards genre or popularity, go ahead.
You won’t be the first.
First of all, note that I haven't slept in ages, so expect some minor gramatical mistakes. Also, English isn't my first language, but that's a really cheap excuse.
ReplyDelete"So, before you slam on Anime, try to look outside of the norm.
Ignore Dragon Ball Z, and go for Paranoia Agent.
Drop FLCL, and enjoy Beck."
From what I've seen, Beck seems like something about some unoriginally designed Japanese teens forming a rock band; while it might be entertaining and worth a watch, it doesn't seem like much of a FLCL killer. Especially since it's a completely different genre.
FLCL was, in my opinion, truly a masterpiece. What made it famous was the way it appealed to pretty much all audiences. It was filled with random, 4th wall-breaking humour, giant robot battles and shiny stuff; things that mostly appeal to the mainstream 'teenager with a short attention span' audience. On the other hand, if you DID look past all the shiny stuff and idiot humour, you could find some pretty deep messages. The animation was also really fun to watch and well done, something really rare in anime.
"Anime like Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakashu, One Piece, and Inuyasha are the bottom of the barrel. Really great anime is out there but it's just that crap like I mentioned gets way too much attention, hence the negative preconceived notions of anime in the US."
I'll give you DBZ, Inuyasha and YYH, but definitely not One Piece. At least the original, non-butchered version. While it's obviously aimed at a younger audience, it's still a fantastic show that truly stands out from all the other mainstream childrens' anime. First of all, it has its own style, with only slight influences from Akira Toriyama's works. (whom the artist is a huge fan of)
The cast of characters and the whole series' world seem like they had tons of effort and creativity put into them. It's also fairly deep and sentimental at times without becoming too emo (like Naruto) or overly preachy (like Paranoia Agent).
I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's ever doubted 'mainstream' anime/manga. A few Youtube clips won't really help either; just watch the first few subtitled episodes, untill some of the main characters are introduced.
"Most anime is derived from the comic books/manga. Cheap corporate guys will take advantage of the popularity of the comic and make into a low budget TV series. Best thing of all for corporations, the storyboards, script, and design is already made. Hence, you get mostly shit out there."
Not quite; while most adaptations are terribly cheap, watching an animated adaptation of the comic is often a more entertaining experience. Take One Piece for instance. Toei did a really crappy job with the animation, but the voice acting and music makes up for it. I just take these adaptations as an alternative to the Manga; if I want high-quality animation I often turn to obscure stuff like Mind Game.
As for recommendations, I think One Piece and Shinobuden are worth a look. The latter DOES star some cute, Bambi-eyed main characters, but the animation style is very lively with some really cartoony facial expressions. It's also pretty much a parody of modern anime, and it makes fun of most of the cliches you mentioned. It's not meant to be "arty"; it's like the Japanese equivalent of shows like Ed Edd n' Eddy.
Just note that mainstream things aren't always bad if you approach them with an open mind. All this coming from someone who used to hate anime more than anything when it came to animation.
I don't agree with it so very much. I'm not an anime fan, but I think they have good ideas and their style suits me. On the other hand, you probably have only scratched the surface of anime. Maybe onli 30% of anime is the cute-magic-scoolgirl stuff. Most of it is very different and the gathegorys vary from Shonen(for boys) to Yaoi(man on man love)and are directed to 5-80 year old people. And also I think they are not dull or motionless. These cartoons are full of emotions and feelings and if you are the kind who looks for stoopid hit-em-in-the-face-with-a-cake jokes (there's nothing wrong with that, coz thats how the cartoons originally were meant to be)then anime just isn't your cup of tea. But there is a lot of good stuff out there and in my opinion it is getting better by the minute.
ReplyDeletewell eddie ,
ReplyDeletein the case of dbz it started as manga or an uncut japaneese comic book and i hope you realize the original dragon ball comics were more refressing than what they would do at disnies and more like clampett's in a sense that Toriyana sensei's works were cute and demented at the same time ex.bulma or just dirty like kame sennin! as time went on however toriyama began to draw more serious fighting stories moving away from journey to the west! Toriyama is more like us americian artists in the sense that he rarely threw anything out , but when he got tired of humor he moved to action, in the anime (which sucks) the humor originally intended fails to come across because the Toei animation censors wouldnt animate the obscene nudity ect. in the manga which they used as their storyboard anime of dragon ball sucks but the creator driven uncut manga rules! read shonen jump graphic novels! Oh yeah make more ren and stimpies !
if you are going to diss it at least pronouce it prperly a-ni-me. just like it has been spelt. it has nothing to do with the chinese american actress anna may wong. also the shwo was called astro boy. not atom boy.
ReplyDeletejesus effing christ, my past recommendations were horrible. Shinobuden? Anyone who harbors a dislike for anime should stay the hell away from that
ReplyDeleteAlso I can't believe I called One Piece "deep". What the hell was wrong with me?
ReplyDelete"Ganzu, the cute princess of cutania must get the power ring back that was stolen by Power lad and his Power Pals. A fight ensues with Power Lad shooting power beams at the cute girls and their cute, fuzzy little animal friends. "
ReplyDeleteYou knoow, I´ve seen a lot of anime, and I could say that there are worse storylines, like by example:
"Sinichi, the angry and vengenful suprestrong hero have to save his big-breasts girlfriend that gets naked and raped for no apparent reason, of a gang of evil punks that rape her and torture innocent people. Finally the hero kills all the villains in a very violent way and everyone happy"
Examples: Fist of the North Star, Violence Jack (yawn)
But I agree taht some are good, as those made by Satoshi Kon and Mind Game.
If you look around ,there are actually some really Cartoony and Fun Animes out there.
ReplyDeleteof course, you have to look past the stereotypes. (And the realities)
Anime really can't be bunched up as a single genre. sure they might all have the same basic Character proportions and "Style", but that's really where the similarities can end.
Some Anime is really talky, and doesn't do anything at all cartoony or animated. Even if it's well drawn, it's not very exaggerated.
Some is everything a cartoon should be. sometimes you have to wait for the cartoony stuff to come along, but when it comes, it comes in heaps.
the Anime you're thinking of it mostly ether the Kids stuff or just the bad stuff (in the "Fantasy" Genre that's become the only identity of Anime)
I recomend you, to watch, FLCL, SErial Experiments lain, ergo proxy, and samurai champloo, This are very beautiful anime series; here in Mexico anime has caused a big impact, but the greatest series are a litte undergound.
ReplyDeletehmmm the examples you showed are pretty teeth clenching. i'm not generally an anime fan either, but i use to be.
ReplyDeleteback before every second teenager didn't ramp and rave about like they were the ones to have discovered it, and that they wish they were born japanese.
but i still watch some japanese animations and appreciate them. I'm a big fan of Tezuka, Miyazaki and FLCL is okay. to put it short, not all japanese animation sucks.
and i agree with you, kitsch (you could probably even describe it as camp) is pretty affluent in anime. like from tezuka. "so bad it's good"
I'd like to show you an online encyclopedia article about a character from "Bleach" with a super-crazy design:
ReplyDeletehttp://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/Mayuri_Kurotsuchi
If you click "Image Gallery" at the top of the page, you will see more images of this pile of scare.
If anyone's read all the way down here, here's an intro of an anime that is, i think, truly original and cartoony--
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EBZS5DesKQ
Sugarrush: Wow! Nice! Thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteSure thing! There's also some funny frame grabs from the show on this blog
ReplyDeletehttp://aalong64.blogspot.com/2012/07/pink-jacket-lupin-8.html
and lots of information about the artists on the anipages website.
http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php/lupin-iii-part-3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWySUrjIdqs
ReplyDeleteHi again Eddie! I put together some clips by the funniest animator of the show I linked before. Hope it brightens your day!
Suggarush: Thanks much! It's been a couple of days since you sent the last links and I still haven't had time to try the new links but I will, I promiseI
ReplyDelete