Why Do You Like Anime?

Just a question I want to ask you guys.

Considering that anime has a lot of prejudices against it, with some people thinking that like it is 'beneath them', why do you guys like watching anime?

edited 8th Sep '13 11:38:15 AM by LDragon2

Cartoons have more prejudices these days... Personally.

And honestly.... I think "Anime" is a bit too general, I mean; we are talking about a entire medium here.

But in general... Most of the anime I like fall into three categories

1:They have enjoyable characters... With great development.

2:They have great action

3:They are funny.

Mind you... I have not watched many anime, but of the ones I have; most fall into one of these categories.

First!

Yeah, it's like asking "why do you like books?" or "why do you like films?".

Yeah here's what someone like DCE says:

"Some forms of Anime created have impressed me with their stories, characters and their plot points. However, most of the time, Anime has generally sucked in my opinion. It's tacky, cheaply made and offers no form of substance for someone like me."

Methinks that he isn't looking hard enough, and is making a sweeping generalization of the medium based solely on a few.

edited 8th Sep '13 11:56:39 AM by LDragon2

Isn't that like saying you like certain books but the rest are mindless drivel? Or you like certain video games but hate think the rest are mindless button mashers?

I know some people won't watch anime because they are purely in the Animation Age Ghetto, but this guy just sounds picky.

I was gonna say that.

Plus; there is such a thing as Sturgeon's Law

edited 8th Sep '13 12:40:53 PM by SaintDeltora

I like it because it's just so easy to pirate. :P

The reason I like anime...

Most anime, in my opinion, are pretty mediocre. However, there are some anime/manga created by someone visually inspired. Then you have a work with artistic merit that no other medium can imitate.

For example, Five Centimeters Per Second and Kara No Kyoukai. I think their artistic depth is hard to recreate in live-action medium.

...because I like anime...?

There's no need to ask why people like anime - it's the same as liking any other kind of fiction. The Animation Age Ghetto is a thing, so it's easy to see people judging all anime in the same manner, or very superficially.

But if asked why I like anime in general, I'd have to say that I don't have to. Anime justifies itself.

I don't need to justify my hobbies to anyone. Overall in agreement with the people who're questioning the question.

How many times have we had this thread, anyway?

edited 8th Sep '13 1:29:12 PM by burnpsy

Thread Reincarnation!

I'm gonna take the liberty of slightly shifting the question before I answer it (since as is the answer is "because," and that's not really conducive to discussion), so what I'll be answering is: What makes you like anime specifically? What is generally different about anime compared to other media, and why does that draw you in?

Well, simple enough; the answer is visual style. I'd say that film is probably better at naturalistic visuals (they'd better be, seeing as those are visuals of natural subjects), and live-action work can show a great deal of visual flare; one need only look at the Ocean's series to see how live action leaves room for a great amount of visual flair.

One need only look at Bakemonogatari to see how the medium of animation gives you the chance to go fucking nuts with your visuals, present your world in a manner completely unbound by nature; Uchouten Kazoku is a fantastic example of how the medium of animation doesn't in any way prevent the strong writing and characters that make a strong, resonant story.

why not?

Reason: The women. Nuff' said.

Because unlike most Western animation, Japanese anime tries to show that animation is a Medium, not a genre, and covers all age ranges without almost always adding in toilet humor in adult series.

It used to be because it was new, fresh and different to me, but as I grow older, I get more and more tired and even embittered by the same eternally repeating flaws of most of the stories (the emotionally stunted characters, the mostly mediocre to atrocious endings, the immaturity of most of the humor, the pandering to old cliches, the reliance on plot devices and Protagonist Power to get most conflicts solved...)

I think it needs for a reinvention, personally.

Most of the things you describe sounds like problems with shounen, not anime in general.

edited 8th Sep '13 7:16:13 PM by AfroWarrior27

Shonen is pretty mainstream, which can affect how people perceive the medium as a whole.

So the complain is legitimate.

FPS is pretty mainstream, so let's allow complaints about that specific subdivision of a medium to count against the entire medium.

No. How mainstream something is does not prevent a complaint about it from being about that specifically.

edited 8th Sep '13 7:27:14 PM by burnpsy

"Anime" isn't a medium. Cartoons, yes. But eh, I don't really like anime specifically. It's pretty broad. I do like superhero-type stuff, that's always cool, mostly.

Present a new word to replace "medium" if you're gonna argue that it isn't one.

Anime means "cartoon made in Japan". It's not a medium.

Don't side-step. As I said, present a replacement word. I did not ask for your rationale.

And how does this go against the point I was making in any way?

If you can't answer either, then it was pointless to speak up and nitpick my word choice.

edited 8th Sep '13 7:45:54 PM by burnpsy

Why does it matter how much water a complaint holds if it prevails anyway? The reason perceptions like "tacky, cheaply made and offers no form of substance" is thrown around has everything to do with the Small Reference Pools none of us are doing enough to educate against.

If shonen as a genre is carrying the biggest list of issues, then start supporting the anime that doesn't, so we can fix that ignorance.

edited 8th Sep '13 7:47:40 PM by Alucard