| There's so many different mediums and styles for storytelling. We could be watching live action movies, going to playhouses or discussing music. Even just in the realm of animation american cartoons can be worth a watch too. Instead we're all here watching and talking about anime. Why is that? What's so special about anime that's gotten so many of us to watch hundreds of them? I don't have an answer, spoiler warning, but I have some ideas. Nostalgia is certainly a factor. I grew up watching Inuyasha and Naruto with my Dad on Toonami, but I also grew up on Cartoon Network and I'm not still watching any animation coming out of america. That also wouldn't explain it for any younger folks out there or for anyone who found anime later in life. Nostalgia doesn't keep you coming back to brand new shows year after year either. The depth and breadth of stories told is incredible. Certainly there's no shortage of tropes and cliches that fill the swarm of mediocrity we get every season, but the best are all incredibly unique. A look at the top anime according to MAL puts Gintama right next to Steins;Gate, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Spirited Away... (Gintama is 8 out of the top 30 anime. Seems legit.) and I don't think it takes much arguing to say watching Gintama isn't quiet the same as watching any of those other shows. That's not unique to anime though. Silence of the Lambs and Toy Story are both well regarded here in the states but are very different movies. It could be the types of stories that are told, but I don't have a broad enough perspective outside of anime to really say. The very fact that it's drawn is definitely part of it. While you can do a lot to create a sense of style and make something beautiful with live action, I think the range of expression you can achieve when you take away that layer of reality gives animation as a whole so much potential. (It also helps that I like the anime aesthetic in general) Anime is unique though in taking itself seriously as something that can do more than make children's entertainment. Disney and Dreamworks for example have made some genuinely great films, but I don't think we'll ever see something like Vinland Saga (which feels like Game of Thrones in comparison) or a horror like Shiki come out of them. Hopefully that makes some sense, does anyone else have any ideas? Like, why do you watch anime? |
| In general, suffice it to say, anime has a blatant cultural distinction in relation to most of our backgrounds, and it's probable that many would be simply attracted to this medium by that simple fact. In addition, anime has this sense of exclusivity, anomalous to most other forms of entertainment. It could also easily be our barrier-transcending community, or maybe its just simply the bevy of seasonal shows that we receive every few months. Regardless of what compels us, anime has become a source of entertainment for everyone in this MAL community, and has solidified itself as a medium that is here to stay. |
| Enjoy! |
| Why I ended up with anime : As entertainment, i do watch movies like life action one, western also eastern movies, meanwhile, I also enjoy animated movies, either American cartoon or Japanese anime, or whatever it is. By this case, I found the animated movies are more interesting. Mostly because there is a lot things you can't do in real life / real action movies, but you simply have it on cartoon, you can say for example like when Jerry hit Tom's finger with piano cover, makes his finger flat . I remember seeing similar scene by some comedy movie like "Man of The Mask" or what (i dont really remember what movie), but on this movie, it's just look 'unnatural'. Other example is for the character facial expressions, on cartoon, you can put your face however you want it to make it fit the scene, to look cool, funny, or whatever it is. On real-life movies, the expressions mostly limited to "Real Human Expression", I mean of course you can make a real-life movie of Luffy from One Piece, you can put his mouth as big as how it is in the anime, but probably i would find it weird. Second part, Why I choose anime over western cartoon Just quick answer, there's lot of option you can have in anime compared to western cartoon... Some cartoon i remember watching was something like Justice League, Transformer, Teen Titans, some Nickelodeon stuffs, etc . . . Personally, I would say what they make is just same. They all want to make show that people can enjoy, for kids and their family to be able to watch together, with some morale value to pass to the audience. Light stories, not much plot twist so really everyone from kids to adults can enjoy watching without putting to much stress on it. While on anime you can have more option, if you want some serious heavy story, you can have it, you want something to enjoy with family, you can have it, you want some R18 stuff to spank your junk, yes you can also get it. There is much more varieties in anime as how the show is dedicated to, and the varieties in the purpose of the show. Regardless all of it, this is just my personal opinion as how I ended up on anime, rather than Real-Life movies or western cartoon. |
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| I only started watching anime a few months ago, but since then I have watched basically nothing except anime. And I also recently started asking myself why I was watching so much of this medium instead of anything else. I think the biggest reason I have been watching so much anime is how easy it is to find shows that are interesting. Since there's this community specifically centered around anime, I'm able to find lots of shows I find interesting just when people mention them. There isn't really a community focused on just western live action shows in which I could, for example, watch a video on one show and then in that same video learn about multiple other shows that do horror, or comedy, or drama, or something else similarly to the show I already watched. I watch a lot of videos about anime on YouTube, and the anime YouTubers tend to mention additional shows in this way. For example, Digi-nee makes a lot of videos that focus on topics that apply to many shows. I watched Serial Experiments Lain because I heard about it in the video "Aesthetic is Narrative" and I thought the premise was cool. There's also people who do videos about all the shows coming out in a season, like what Gigguk does. Sometimes I'll watch these videos to see what he said about a show I watched, and I'll also learn about 5 other shows I need to put on the plan to watch list. Basically, because of the community, it's easy to find shows that I might be interested in. The cute girls might also be part of it |
siuol_sward said: In general, suffice it to say, anime has a blatant cultural distinction in relation to most of our backgrounds, and it's probable that many would be simply attracted to this medium by that simple fact. In addition, anime has this sense of exclusivity, anomalous to most other forms of entertainment. It could also easily be our barrier-transcending community, or maybe its just simply the bevy of seasonal shows that we receive every few months. Regardless of what compels us, anime has become a source of entertainment for everyone in this MAL community, and has solidified itself as a medium that is here to stay. I agree! I've heard a number of anime fan's say they started when they were younger because it was just so different from anything else they saw on TV at the time. Anime was my introduction to foreign media as well, it's a big part of why I have an appreciation for the art of all kinds of cultures rather than just my own. just_momo18 said: Why I ended up with anime : As entertainment, i do watch movies like life action one, western also eastern movies, meanwhile, I also enjoy animated movies, either American cartoon or Japanese anime, or whatever it is. By this case, I found the animated movies are more interesting. Mostly because there is a lot things you can't do in real life / real action movies, but you simply have it on cartoon, you can say for example like when Jerry hit Tom's finger with piano cover, makes his finger flat . I remember seeing similar scene by some comedy movie like "Man of The Mask" or what (i dont really remember what movie), but on this movie, it's just look 'unnatural'. Other example is for the character facial expressions, on cartoon, you can put your face however you want it to make it fit the scene, to look cool, funny, or whatever it is. On real-life movies, the expressions mostly limited to "Real Human Expression", I mean of course you can make a real-life movie of Luffy from One Piece, you can put his mouth as big as how it is in the anime, but probably i would find it weird. That's one of my favorite parts about animation, I find that most effects in movies don't look that good and are usually distracting. (Less so in the big budget stuff, but it's very noticeable on TV) but when it's drawn the animators can do whatever the hell they want and it all fits into the world. I also love how expressive animated faces are, it's usually very obvious how they're feeling. Mr_Chr1s said: I think the biggest reason I have been watching so much anime is how easy it is to find shows that are interesting. Since there's this community specifically centered around anime, I'm able to find lots of shows I find interesting just when people mention them. There isn't really a community focused on just western live action shows in which I could, for example, watch a video on one show and then in that same video learn about multiple other shows that do horror, or comedy, or drama, or something else similarly to the show I already watched. I think it's similar for me as well. The reviews and recommendations, especially on the Youtube side you mentioned, are where I've found a ton of great shows. Especially ones I wouldn't normally watch, though there have been occasions where it only took a single frame to hook me on a show a lot require about as much convincing as a 10-30 minute Youtube video provides. |
| I used to watch anime with my cousin before I moved away as a kid. A couple of years ago I started getting stress from being in a foreign school, so I started re-watching Naruto. I noticed that a lot of anime revolve around friendship, which was something I had trouble with at the time. I think that because of the difference in culture or something, anime always has that 'moral of the story' at the end of an arc and I don't see that often in western shows. I don't know if it's a good thing but anime is also the best way to escape from reality for a bit. |
| I don't choose just anime. It's just one of many forms of media I enjoy. The things that are appealing about anime are artwork, character designs, sound designs and music. It looks and sounds appealing. The vocal performance is also different to films. If you compare how people speak in anime to how they speak in japanese movies, they sound theatrical - it's not necessarily "better", but is a difference that can be found in anime and I enjoy both. This is also why I am bothered when someone says "just read the manga". Manga and anime are not an equivalent experience and the same goes for "just read the book" or "just read the visual novel" (Higurashi). And if you want to watch something animated that is adult and isn't a comedy, you have to watch anime. There aren't many animations for adults outside of japan. |
Haunt-botAug 1, 2020 9:03 AM
| Shoot first, think never. |
| No one has said anything here for a while but I recently watched this video and thought it applied. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRh6xkQPR1E I definitely agree with what was said in the video. While I really enjoy Breaking Bad, for example, most of what I feel from it is just perfection. It feels like the most perfect story. However the anime I like seems to focus more on exploring specific ideas and themes instead of just making an amazing story. |
Mr_Chr1s said: No one has said anything here for a while but I recently watched this video and thought it applied. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRh6xkQPR1E I definitely agree with what was said in the video. While I really enjoy Breaking Bad, for example, most of what I feel from it is just perfection. It feels like the most perfect story. However the anime I like seems to focus more on exploring specific ideas and themes instead of just making an amazing story. I do agree with this youtuber said. I also believe that cultural difference that we grew up with allso take a major impact on that. For example, people in my country, there are lot of people like me who grew up close to animes, that's why anime culture is more fit to me. On the other hand, there is also people who dislike anime, and yes the enjoys some drama or movies instead, and i believe that's the culture they grew up with. But there also lot of a 'goody two shoes' who watch drama, and enjoy some popular anime, even not as much as we do. I guess that's also the culture difference when the grew up. Also I want to put up this comment from the youtube video that really stand out for me : My main problem with Western TV shows is that unlike animation, a lot of cinematography and camera placement in your average western show is incredibly boring. A lot of shows feel like it's just following the characters around and listening to conversation after conversation expecting the actors to fill out the time for them, and a lot of times just leaves a boring looking visual. It also doesn't help that a lot of shows don't try to have an aesthetic and just try and be in the real world, and I don't find that interesting at all. Visual communication and style is what really draws me to animation, and anime brings that and the interesting premises that I also enjoy. comment by youtube user "Local Raven khimeraQ" |
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just_momo18 said: Also I want to put up this comment from the youtube video that really stand out for me : My main problem with Western TV shows is that unlike animation, a lot of cinematography and camera placement in your average western show is incredibly boring. A lot of shows feel like it's just following the characters around and listening to conversation after conversation expecting the actors to fill out the time for them, and a lot of times just leaves a boring looking visual. It also doesn't help that a lot of shows don't try to have an aesthetic and just try and be in the real world, and I don't find that interesting at all. Visual communication and style is what really draws me to animation, and anime brings that and the interesting premises that I also enjoy. comment by youtube user "Local Raven khimeraQ" That comment makes a lot of sense. All anime has to have an aesthetic just based on the fact that it is anime. Even if it has the most bland directing it still might have nice color choices or something you can like. Meanwhile a live action show with bland directing is just going to look like real people talking. It's definitely possible to not have this in live action though, for example Breaking Bad has a lot of cool camera work, experimental presentation, and transitions that make it more interesting to watch. There just need to be more creative shows like Breaking Bad |
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