Anime: Why you love/hate it so much?

[TheLastBlade]

As many people would like to point out, I have an unusual hatred for anime. This is in fact not true... I just hate certain anime.

For the side that loves it: I think I'm more of a fan of older ones such as Lodoss War (even though it's clearly one of those anime that's VA aged). But I can enjoy newer ones. Summers Wars isn't one of my favorites, but there's some enjoyment here and there. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Lupin the Third: Castle of Caglliostro (or however you spell it), Miyuzaki movies, and a lot more that escapes my mind.

For the side that hates it: I detest like 90% of generic ones.... Especially the really bad sort. ******* anime like Sword Art Online is an example because I HATE a lot of anime....

What is your love/hate relationship with anime.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

I'm not a huge anime fan, but I've seen and enjoyed my fair share of it.

Love: the detailed animation, action, violence (sometimes very over-the-top), mature themes, drama, character development, long slow-burning storytelling.

Hate: lazily written English translations and a lot of "weird" stuff that I just don't understand. Due to cultural differences I guess?

 

[Victarion]

There's not too many anime concepts that really appeal to me. Or if they do, the writing turns me off. I find Naruto's setting to be fascinating, with its blend of modern technology and mysticism. The writing isn't my cup of tea, though. I love The Slayers; a fantasy setting that's more sword and sorcery than Tolkien, with protagonists who're opportunistic mercenaries. The humor's good, too.

Berserk is still king of the manga/anime scene; specifically the manga.

 

[Lord]

Just like with any other tv show i watch what seems interesting, when it comes to shonens like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Magi and Hunter X Hunter i follow the manga instead of the anime.

Just like in any other medium there are bad animes and exceptional animes, about Sword Art Online, if you not liking is the reason some think you hate anime, let me tell you that most experienced anime fans seem hate it too. I myself never watched it though.

I mostly follow the shonens, even if some can be kind of bad (Naruto/ Bleach), and now and then i check some major classic or an anime from which i hear a lot of good feedback, like Neon Genesis Evangelion.

 

[iwontsaveu]

Naruto was my first introduction to manga/anime. Since then i have seen a lot and there have been a lot i wish i never saw.

I like anime the same way i like a good movie or book. Its fun, entertaining good story, good characters etc. For me personally i enjoy korean manhwa's like breaker, or witch hunter a tad bit ore but there have been plenty of Japanese anime/mangas that have knocked my socks of.

What i hate though is when an anime or manga is over hyped and people get hate for not liking it. I also hate rape in manga, that is why even though i enjoy berserk it will not get overpraise from me.
I also hate the over abusive for no reason tsunderes, and repetitiveness in some of them.

 

[childeroland]

Hate the constant moe and other fan service.

Love the nearly boundless imagination of the best anime. What other forms of entertainment should be and are so often not. I can't think of a live action tv show with the emotional flavor of something like .hack/Signs -- a sci fi show about a gamer using her relationships in an MMORPG world to deal with the parental abuse she suffers in the real world -- or many sci fi shows or movies that combine breathtaking visual beauty, philosophy, and action like Ghost in the Shell. Or explores the subject of growing up and becoming a person as well as Hanasaku Iroha or Kids on the Slope or Boys Over Flowers, the latter of which may be the best anti-bullying primer I've ever seen, and an essay on the way antagonistic relationships can change on a dime. Or a show with pure action and comedy like Lupin the 3rd. The Matrix movies have nothing on Ergo Proxy or Serial Experiments Lain, and Pacific Rim seems extremely thin next to Evangelion. How many shows make you care as much for a group of characters by the end as Cowboy Bebop or Inuyasha or Full Metal Alchemist? Or even Black Lagoon?

 

[Tron Bonne]

I've never gotten why there seems to be an attitude of love or hate towards anime. I treat it like I treat any other form of entertainment. I will say recent trends in anime has made me watch less of it (particularly the heavy "moe" stuff), but eh, there's plenty of good and bad to be found with bits of exceptional content scattered about.

 

[Lord]

Agreed, i think some people just treat it as if it was a certain franchise they don't like instead of embracing it as just another media.

 

[Soapy]

Love: A lot of older stuff.

Hate: A lot of newer stuff.

Anime then:

Spoiler

Anime now:

Spoiler

I know it's a huge generalization, and there are probably tons of counter examples, but that's just how I feel.

 

[Lord]

The things is that the old anime everybody remembers or recomends are the good ones, forgeting all of the trash in between, and it doesn't help that for the old animes you ponly post classics while for the new you post animes targeted at little girls, the complete oposite demographic of the others you posted, i don't even from where any of those images of new anime are from.

 

[craigdbfan]

Attack on Titan & Psycho-Pass were incredible. Missing out if you haven't seen those and they definitely harken back to the anime of old.

 

[PacificBoy]

Yeah Attack on Titan is fantastic. Another which harks back to old-school anime is Toward the Terra, a sci-fi epic. Thought to mention it since I don't hear it mentioned much around here.

re the discussion here, being half-Japanese, I like most aspects of anime, a lot of times because I see myself in many of the characters I relate to, but yes, the moe can be incredibly cloying.

 

[Lord]

For me the ones who really harken back to the old, more "manly" old anime are Toriko and Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure, the later is even based on a manga hat started in the 80s and is still published today. Old anime wasn't particularly mature or better, most was actually quite simplistic except for a few exceptions, the difference is that now you also have a lot more shojo stuff (anime for girls), some are actually good, but like with any media there is also a lot of trash.

The moe stuff also seems to get the most popular animes, i blame Neon Genesis Evangelion for much of that, but that anime actually knew how to give a story and experience, and the sad main character who Otakus could use as a surrogate figure was actually well developed. Some shonens like Hunter X Hunter also some moe and "cute" designs but they serve in the favor of its world where behind the inocence is a very violent and dark world.

For me it's allways about how they incorporate the elements, some anime is just made to sell, while other can transcend that and use it in their favor.

 

[PacificBoy]

For me it's allways about how they incorporate the elements, some anime is just made to sell, while other can transcend that and use it in their favor.

Yeah, I think for the more current animes, it's a big ask for anyone who either isn't into or familiar with kawaisa to get past it.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Love: A lot of older stuff.

Hate: A lot of newer stuff.

Anime then:

Spoiler

Anime now:

Spoiler

I know it's a huge generalization, and there are probably tons of counter examples, but that's just how I feel.

I think there is a lot of truth to that generalization, but I think a lot of the anime of old look came more from the fact that Japanese culture was really influenced by Western movies and style back then.

 

[Soapy]

Well, damn. I guess it's our fault then. We need to make more awesome movies!

 

[Tron Bonne]

Lol, yeah. I think the director of Akira (I believe it was) even said he felt that no one really wanted Japanese aesthetics anymore at one point in the 80s. I think Eva changed that. Well, it was more than just Eva I guess, but it was one of the first to bring back a lot more traditional design choices and aesthetics that a lot of the industry thought were too outdated. The artist who did the designs at the time was thought to be very passe, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

[Victarion]

In the case of Berserk...I just think Guts is a great hero, and Miura doesn't shy away from depravity when it comes to the villains. Guts backstory transcends shock value, because we see it used to develop his relationship with Casca. I was heartbroken at the fate of Casca and the Band of the Hawk. Berserk is the only manga to provoke that kind of response for me.

 

[DarkKnight]

In the case of Berserk...I just think Guts is a great hero, and Miura doesn't shy away from depravity when it comes to the villains. Guts backstory transcends shock value, because we see it used to develop his relationship with Casca. I was heartbroken at the fate of Casca and the Band of the Hawk. Berserk is the only manga to provoke that kind of response for me.

Agreed 100%, I'm a huge fan of Berserk. Cant wait for the new unseen films release. Its such a strong story, one of my favorite ultimate Good Vs. Evil. stories as well, I'll never forget when I got introduced to this as my friend said "you have got to see this" then I was upset when the anime was unfinished so I started reading some of the mangas.

As far as what really got me into anime, I would say the first three true anime series and movies I seen were DBZ, Akira and Cowboy bebop. DBZ was fun, got very repetitive, but was very fun to watch.

Cowboy bebop really got my attention as the action sequences were superb, I couldn't believe how well they were able to catch the motion of the martial arts fighting scenes and the story was great, who dosent love a good future western inspired story t:

Akira, believe it or not is not one of my most favorite animes, but its a classic, I do own it in my collection and still enjoy watching it, but Berserk, Cowboy bebop, Trigun and Gungrave are my top favs I'd have to say.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I liked Berserk for awhile, but it just became really drawn out and repetitive. I quit reading around the time Guts went into this fairy filled forest or some ****. At that point, it just felt like it was going nowhere.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I hate how they treat girls in some of these recent shows
Monsters, but when a tough bad guy comes, they are helpless/useless/damsel in distress

As a few said here, it's like any other form of entertainment, some is good, some is bad

 

[Red Mask]

I liked Berserk for awhile, but it just became really drawn out and repetitive. I quit reading around the time Guts went into this fairy filled forest or some ****. At that point, it just felt like it was going nowhere.

That's how I felt with 24 and Lost. But there's an ending somewhere over the horizon.

 

[Red Mask]

I hate how they treat girls in some of these recent shows
Monsters, but when a tough bad guy comes, they are helpless/useless/damsel in distress

As a few said here, it's like any other form of entertainment, some is good, some is bad

Yeah, the misogyny is there. But when a show is good, it's great.

That being said, Gundam Unicorn has one of my favourite heroines of 2013: Mineva Lao Zabi. I would have chosen Asuka in the Evangelion 3.0 but her part wasn't big enough IMHO.

 

[Lord]

I hate how they treat girls in some of these recent shows
Monsters, but when a tough bad guy comes, they are helpless/useless/damsel in distress

As a few said here, it's like any other form of entertainment, some is good, some is bad

Yeah, i also hate when that happens, and most of the times they even give the girls healing powers to make an excuse for how she is being important too, i think this is extremell obvious with Shonens, expecially Naruto where every female character became a healer (even though not all of them had suited abilities for that). Though i do think Dragon Ball did a relativelly good job with female characters, while Bulma was easily the weakest, she was also one of the most compelling and useful ones in the series thanks to her inteligence. (in least before Cell Games, after that i don't remember her being used much again).

Even with One Piece, where the female characters are also a lot of fun, and have good personalities, it's kinda weird that in both their personal arcs, they had to be "rescued" by the rest of the characters (Aarlong park and CP9), though the same also happened at some point with most other male characters, so i wouldn't say it's exactly a problem, what bothers me more there is the constant increase in boob size for the female characters, Eichira Oda is getting crazy with the female bodies in such a way that they're starting to all look the same

 

[craigdbfan]

Both male and female characters are often highly sexualized. I feel both Americans and the Japanese do this. Obviously the Japanese do it to a greater extent but often times characters that are sexualized also have an incredibly powerful side to them as well.

It's an odd dichotomy to say the least. I think it's far more jarring in anime thus why people get turned off by it whereas American comic books/superheroes have a relatively more modest approach. Again, I'm using the word modest when propping up any given American superhero/comic book from Marvel and DC in comparison to any given shonen/senin from Shueshia and Kodansha.

I'm a big fan of both and when you get down to some of the common tropes, cliches and plot decisions they're alarmingly pretty similar despite the difference in visual approach.