Anime Thread - 2012

[A Black Falcon]

Tecnhi Muyo isn't just A harem show, it is pretty much THE protypical harem action show. I can't think of any before it nearly as important to what the genre has become.

As for why it's a harem show, all the girls like the guy. Harem animes on TV rarely have any ACTUAL relationships -- those are for the porn VNs or whatever. Harem animes are about a guy surrounded by girls (or a girl surrounded by guys, for "reverese-harem" shows for a female otaku audience). The point is to have a variety of characters, each fitting into the usual stereotypes, so that the audience can choose who they like the most and buy character merchandise and the like. :P Just like Tenchi, many harem animes refuse to ever actually pick a canon couple -- non-endings which resolve little are more common. If you actually say which girl (or guy) 'wins', then the story ends and the people who liked the other characters might be upset...

Oh... that's a weird take on it. I just thought of it as "wacky sci fi adventures" with a cast of misfit guests that just kept growing around him. I mean, he never seemed to act like he was a great lord over some harem. Usually, he just seemed put out. Now, his parents, if I remember right, that's another matter.

If the guy actually was "lording over the harem" then it'd probably just be some porn thing; TV animes don't do that kind of thing unless they create a situation where while the guy wants a harem he can't or won't actually act on it with anyone because TV anime almost never has actual sex or relationships in it. So the guy is a perv and claims he wants a harem... but is actually a nice guy and doesn't REALLY want to do anything with most of the girls for now, or what have you. You need some kind of contrived situation (or series of situations) to keep any actual relationship from forming, pretty much ever. This doesn't apply to everything of course, but it's very common stuff, stupid as it is.

As for reverse harem shows, from what I've see they're somewhat similar to the ones with male leads just with the gender ratio the other way around and such, just with more of the guys saving the MC girl; Japan is sexist of course, so in male-lead shows the guy saves the girls... and in female-lead shows the guys save the girl. Blah.

I'm sorry ABF, but most of this anime looks like utter garbage.

Most anime is pretty dumb, yeah. I can't argue with that.

Is there ANYTHING creative being made there any more?

Like many things, but probably worse than some, anime is a field that relies heavily on regurgitating stereotypes in minutely different ways.

Also, I just hate this trend in "comedy" wherein the male protagonist accidentally falls on a female lead's breasts. Is that even a joke, outside Benny Hill? What's the joke? They all seem to otherwise reuse the exact same tired old joke playbook. American cartoons are guilty of the same thing, but at least that's just intellectually offensive. This is offensive to basically anyone who's ever actually talked to another human being in their lives. Not to mention there's some huge values corruption going on. Every time some character says "take responsibility", they're using it WRONG! It's usually something like "innocent child of someone I hate, learn to take responsibility for actions you have no control over, for which I hate you", and the protagonist NEVER CALLS THEM OUT ON IT, and even APOLOGIZES. Is this a thing in Japanese culture? I can't imagine it is, because Studio Ghibli movies never seem to do this.

Once a thing becomes common in anime, lots of animes will repeat it because tossing back common themes is a good way to get viewers, or something. I agree that some of those usual anime jokes aren't particularly funny.

One thing that's worth remembering is that most anime is made for the otaku audience in Japan. The animes air late at night or early in the morning, and the DVD/BD sets sell for high prices with few episodes per disc. Sales are not high, but they're just enough to keep the industry going. Most animes are not actually popular, stuff like Ghibli movies aside; manga is more popular in Japan than anime by far.

Your descriptions basically say all I need to know, and that's "I'll stick with studio Ghibli".

That's unfair, not all of the anime is bad! Sure, I do find plenty of mediocre or bad stuff entertaining (and others not), but it's not ALL bad or I wouldn't watch it. For the most obvious example, anyone who liked Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, or Inuyasha definitely should watch Kyoukai no Rinne, because it's by the same author and just like those shows is great stuff. :)

It's been well-documented that ABF will watch, and occasionally enjoy, even the most base anime, so it really shouldn't come as a surprise that a non-anime fan would look at what he's watching and wonder if all anime is merely a wasteland of karp.

I wouldn't say THE most base, there are plenty of really awful garbage I don't watch, but sure, I enjoy bad animes sometimes when they're a kind of show I like.

As for the other part of your post, Wagnaria [season 3], Seiyu's Life, and Non Non Biyori [season 2] are both good comedies that aren't reliant on sexual humor. Gatchman Crowds [season 2] and Rokka - Braves of the Six Flowers and good scifi and fantasy series, respectively. Then there's Actually, I Am..., which is a decent throw-back to mid-90's supernatural harem shows without the sleazyness of more modern variations. School-Live is an interesting anime with a great twist.

Blood Blockade Battlefront is a really great series from this past seasons, I would recommend it without reservation.

I haven't watched any of these. :p