Apologies for getting back to you so late, but I don't really have much to say other than "real". I'm surprised you got nothing out of Chainsaw Man and The Simpsons. CSM feels like something very few are just *indifferent* to, and I'm dismayed that The Simpsons couldn't at least get some chuckles out of you (assuming we're talking, like, seasons 3-8).
I'm gonna give the dude in the screenshot a little grace, though. Obviously I don't know either way how he watched it, but I wouldn't be surprised if his confusion can be attributed to the English dub, where "Christina" just sounds like a random name if you don't account for how the Japanese would pronounce it/how it's adapted in Japanese.
For the rest, yeah... Clannad's definitely a stinker and Violet Evergarden's worldbuilding is pretty haphazard. Satou's definitely a character whose mileage varies depending on how much you can personally relate to him/what he's going through. Unfortunately (sans some of his more... depraved traits), I relate to him immensely. It's hard to imagine that anyone who's logged over a month of anime is completely fine.
I definitely get what you mean with proper discourse dwindling. It's frustrating wanting to discuss themes, pacing, design, narrative structure, etc,. and being met only with debates on who's the best waifu or some other nonsense. Observations tend to be mind-numbingly shallow.
I'm not sure I agree with your art vs. "art" dichotomy, though; it doesn't account for works that would be, by your own definition(s), both (NGE *especially*, Dragon Ball, The Matrix series, Star Wars, The Simpsons, Chainsaw Man, etc.,). And, regardless of quality, I think any work has just as much of a right to exist as any other, barring truly abhorrent stuff like lolicon shit or, I dunno, The Birth of a Nation.
Still, yeah, weebs gonna weeb. I'm gonna sound like such a pretentious twat for this, but I can't help but feel that what I observe in their watch patterns/commentary/biases is a very odd gullibility. A show can ask anything of them and they'll go along with it, no questions asked. I don't feel like my own disbelief is that hard to suspend, but a little bit of narrative/thematic/contextual foreplay always helps.
What causes my suspension of disbelief to shatter seems to barely put a dent in theirs. I'd ask them to be more discerning with what they're watching, but they're not here to be challenged, which is fine. I just wish it didn't lead to there being a dearth of more actually interesting and challenging stuff.
The problem with introducing objectivity to the whole "eye of the beholder" thing is that it kind of just... doesn't matter. It's an expression strictly concerned with one's own thoughts and beliefs. 1+1=3 is objectively wrong. For anime, sure, some characters can be drawn off-model, the perspective of a background can get borked, the shot composition can be tremendously flat and boring, and characters can be soulless reiterations upon previous, slightly less-soulless and more original characters, but none of that has to impact how much somebody likes the work holistically; in their own mind. One man's "peak" seasonal can be another man's reason to end it all.
I mean, like, people can enjoy whatever. The vast majority of weebs being infantile morons is nothing new, but it just chaps my ass when someone will look you dead in the face (or, y'know, pfp) and unironically try to tell you that the most wretched, nonsensical, incompetently written and boring piece of shit you've ever watched is "actually peak". I love art; it's all subjective, but a lot of the highest-rated shows on here, by like any other conventional measure, are total dogshit.
I doubt I'll ever "grow out" of anime, but a lot of what's popular/loved in the modern day does make me question its appeal. I like it because, in a way, it's an abstraction of reality; what usually limits live-action doesn't exist here, so creators can go wild with how they portray things and tackle themes. I mean that only in a visual sense, though. It irks me endlessly that this same "abstraction" keeps only being applied to the writing of these shows.
Instead of deep, deftly written and complex characters people can analyze and come to appreciate on multiple levels, we're given bullshit waifus who're more like a series of obnoxious quirks tied up with a single prevailing "mood", for lack of a better term - Maomao being a perfect example. A lack of media literacy, or just lame media preferences? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but definitions of "beauty" vary wildly from person-to-person.
All of this is to ultimately say thank you. I put a lot of work into my reviews/rants :)
I added the fifth Garden of Sinners movie because it does not have any nudity or sexual content in it, and at the time I did not recall many sexually provocative scenes within the series as a whole, however, it would be worth putting a warning about the third movie in particular, so thank you for telling me about it! I appreciate your dedication to help me improve the interest stack.
Now that you mention it I feel like I can remember something like that, but that aside I completely trusted you in your first comment! Thanks for telling me anyway though, I appreciate it!
All Comments (17) Comments
Apologies for getting back to you so late, but I don't really have much to say other than "real". I'm surprised you got nothing out of Chainsaw Man and The Simpsons. CSM feels like something very few are just *indifferent* to, and I'm dismayed that The Simpsons couldn't at least get some chuckles out of you (assuming we're talking, like, seasons 3-8).
I'm gonna give the dude in the screenshot a little grace, though. Obviously I don't know either way how he watched it, but I wouldn't be surprised if his confusion can be attributed to the English dub, where "Christina" just sounds like a random name if you don't account for how the Japanese would pronounce it/how it's adapted in Japanese.
For the rest, yeah... Clannad's definitely a stinker and Violet Evergarden's worldbuilding is pretty haphazard. Satou's definitely a character whose mileage varies depending on how much you can personally relate to him/what he's going through. Unfortunately (sans some of his more... depraved traits), I relate to him immensely. It's hard to imagine that anyone who's logged over a month of anime is completely fine.
I'm not sure I agree with your art vs. "art" dichotomy, though; it doesn't account for works that would be, by your own definition(s), both (NGE *especially*, Dragon Ball, The Matrix series, Star Wars, The Simpsons, Chainsaw Man, etc.,). And, regardless of quality, I think any work has just as much of a right to exist as any other, barring truly abhorrent stuff like lolicon shit or, I dunno, The Birth of a Nation.
Still, yeah, weebs gonna weeb. I'm gonna sound like such a pretentious twat for this, but I can't help but feel that what I observe in their watch patterns/commentary/biases is a very odd gullibility. A show can ask anything of them and they'll go along with it, no questions asked. I don't feel like my own disbelief is that hard to suspend, but a little bit of narrative/thematic/contextual foreplay always helps.
What causes my suspension of disbelief to shatter seems to barely put a dent in theirs. I'd ask them to be more discerning with what they're watching, but they're not here to be challenged, which is fine. I just wish it didn't lead to there being a dearth of more actually interesting and challenging stuff.
The problem with introducing objectivity to the whole "eye of the beholder" thing is that it kind of just... doesn't matter. It's an expression strictly concerned with one's own thoughts and beliefs. 1+1=3 is objectively wrong. For anime, sure, some characters can be drawn off-model, the perspective of a background can get borked, the shot composition can be tremendously flat and boring, and characters can be soulless reiterations upon previous, slightly less-soulless and more original characters, but none of that has to impact how much somebody likes the work holistically; in their own mind. One man's "peak" seasonal can be another man's reason to end it all.
But anyway, whatcha think of NHK so far?
I doubt I'll ever "grow out" of anime, but a lot of what's popular/loved in the modern day does make me question its appeal. I like it because, in a way, it's an abstraction of reality; what usually limits live-action doesn't exist here, so creators can go wild with how they portray things and tackle themes. I mean that only in a visual sense, though. It irks me endlessly that this same "abstraction" keeps only being applied to the writing of these shows.
Instead of deep, deftly written and complex characters people can analyze and come to appreciate on multiple levels, we're given bullshit waifus who're more like a series of obnoxious quirks tied up with a single prevailing "mood", for lack of a better term - Maomao being a perfect example. A lack of media literacy, or just lame media preferences? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but definitions of "beauty" vary wildly from person-to-person.
All of this is to ultimately say thank you. I put a lot of work into my reviews/rants :)