4th August 2006, 11:55 AM
Sure there are things you could say are problems about anime, like about anything, (for instance, unoriginality... most anime falls into a few categories, and most anime characters are quite cliched...) but if it's well done and worth watching, do those things really matter? (okay, some things about anime annoy me sometimes, but I like it anyway. ... but would it really kill you to actually put endings that make sense and conclude things on your shows? Yes? Bah... :))
As for Evangelion, it was good... very confusing at the end, but good. Not my favorite anime ever or anything, and perhaps a bit overrated just because of how many people love it so much (and it might have made more sense if I had a better knowledge of the obscure details of christian theology... :D), but interesting...
Have you seen any of either show GR put images of up? Two great examples of interesting, thought-provoking animes... I could list more, but I don't know if there'd be a point...
Anyway...
Bad things about anime:
-most animes have bad, incomprehensible, or nonexistent endings
-most anime characters are extremely cliched and can quickly be placed in their character category type. Those stereotypes are often negative -- reinforcing sexist gender roles, for one, but race too (stereotyping nationalities in ways that just are not true)... those things get to me sometimes...
-anime makers, like all entertainment companies, like to make more of things that work -- so you get lots of shows in the most popular categories and only a relative few that try to be unique (this is expected, of course, but a fact)
Why is it good then? Lists of good things are harder to make... it might be largely subjective. I can say a few things though...
-on the whole much more mature plots than most american television and certainly more mature than american animation by far (american television, for the most part, just isn't like this...)
-you can't take a happy ending at the end for granted -- they don't always happen (though there certainly are animes out there which aren't all depressing and sad at the end, it's not a near-given like it can seem at times to be here...)
-types of shows you just don't get made in the US -- if you start watching anime and come to like the kinds of shows they make, you can't get similar things, for the most part, anywhere else (this is a really important point!)
-those rare shows which go beyond the averageness and cliches of normal animes... such as Ghost in the Shell and Kino, or Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei...
Now, I do love American sci-fi shows, and would say that they are often an exception, but Ghost in the Shell (for instance) is as good as any of them... not necessarially better, but as good.
I'm sure there are plenty more reasons, but that's something at least.
As for Evangelion, it was good... very confusing at the end, but good. Not my favorite anime ever or anything, and perhaps a bit overrated just because of how many people love it so much (and it might have made more sense if I had a better knowledge of the obscure details of christian theology... :D), but interesting...
Quote:That's illogical. Either you back up your claim that I'm clueless and "just don't get it" with SOME sort of explanation, or you are just spouting hot air.
Have you seen any of either show GR put images of up? Two great examples of interesting, thought-provoking animes... I could list more, but I don't know if there'd be a point...
Anyway...
Bad things about anime:
-most animes have bad, incomprehensible, or nonexistent endings
-most anime characters are extremely cliched and can quickly be placed in their character category type. Those stereotypes are often negative -- reinforcing sexist gender roles, for one, but race too (stereotyping nationalities in ways that just are not true)... those things get to me sometimes...
-anime makers, like all entertainment companies, like to make more of things that work -- so you get lots of shows in the most popular categories and only a relative few that try to be unique (this is expected, of course, but a fact)
Why is it good then? Lists of good things are harder to make... it might be largely subjective. I can say a few things though...
-on the whole much more mature plots than most american television and certainly more mature than american animation by far (american television, for the most part, just isn't like this...)
-you can't take a happy ending at the end for granted -- they don't always happen (though there certainly are animes out there which aren't all depressing and sad at the end, it's not a near-given like it can seem at times to be here...)
-types of shows you just don't get made in the US -- if you start watching anime and come to like the kinds of shows they make, you can't get similar things, for the most part, anywhere else (this is a really important point!)
-those rare shows which go beyond the averageness and cliches of normal animes... such as Ghost in the Shell and Kino, or Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei...
Now, I do love American sci-fi shows, and would say that they are often an exception, but Ghost in the Shell (for instance) is as good as any of them... not necessarially better, but as good.
I'm sure there are plenty more reasons, but that's something at least.