Anime - yay or nay?

[Asuras]

Nay.

 

[dragonesper]

Seems like I've bypassed the weeabo stage by quite a leap.

As earlier stated: Yes, I like anime and have my own preferences for what to watch.

There are some that just make me go WFT! like for example Nyarko-san. Sorry, but the humor was only survivable for that long until it got too rapey to watch.

Other's are just plainly typical and generic. I stopped watching Naruto for a reason and the ending in Saint Seiya Omega was just plain ridiculous. Not to mention all the typically generic fluffy cute shoujo-series...

There's of course some good, but not great series. Requiem for a Phantom was a good one until the ending. That one disappointed me. xxxHolic and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles are also good.

Then there's the gems. Oh, the gems. Natsume Yuujinchou is a rewatchable favorite~


So, to just expand on my last post: Anime is entertainment. If you don't find it entertaining then just don't watch it. Be careful to not be extremely obsessed if you do like it.

 

[☆Luna☆]

This is only tangentially related to the thread topic, but Diana's post made me feel like sharing the story about how I avoided becoming a weeaboo.

So young Jorick got into anime in middle school, and he thought it was the coolest shit around. He was initiated into the world of anime as so many American children were at the time: a few anime that were shoved on Saturday morning cartoon lineups, plus the Toonami and Adult Swim programming blocks on the Cartoon Network channel. Dragon Ball Z, InuYasha, YuYu Hakusho, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Rouroni Kenshin, Tenchi Muyo, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, and Digimon made up almost the entirety the young Jorick's anime record through middle school. He would stay up late to watch his favorites on Adult Swim despite parental disapproval and punishments, and when he did this on Friday nights he also got up early on Saturday mornings to watch the anime stuff that was to be had at that time. It caused much sleep deprivation and lots of groundings for staying up past bed time, but young Jorick was a committed little anime fan, so he kept on doing what he was doing.

Then, come 8th grade (in this school district it was the last grade of middle school, which was 6th through 8th grade), young Jorick encountered someone who was far more into anime than he had ever dreamed of being. This young man, let's call him Steve (because I can't remember his actual name), transferred into the school district in 8th grade due to his family moving across the country for parental career reasons, and he was a completely new entity in that school. Where before young Jorick had been known for being the nerd who was way more into Japanese cartoons than anyone else, Steve quickly displaced him as the king of anime in the school. Steve had the luxury of both being an anime fan and having actual money to spend on merchandise to show it. Poor young Jorick grew up below the poverty line, so he was quite envious of Steve and his anime shirts and his Goku backpack and his Dragon Ball Z action figures and DVD sets of various series. A lot of those DVD sets came with the option of watching the anime with their original Japanese voice actors and English subtitles, and of course Steve availed himself of this feature because he was a truly elite anime fan. He learned a lot of the Japanese words and used them in causal conversation, which of course set him apart from his classmates.

At first young Jorick envied Steve's possessions and apparently far superior knowledge and love of anime. He wished to emulate Steve and thus become a better anime fan himself. He tried to befriend Steve.. until a couple weeks into the 8th grade school year it became very apparent that these distinguishing factors made Steve a target of bullying from most other students rather than an object of envy as he had been to young Jorick. This was enough to cause him to keep his distance from Steve, because he didn't care to mess with any of that nonsense. Young Jorick had befriended the stoner/skater group of kids in his 6th grade class, using his wit and humor to mesh with the group despite not being a stoner or skater himself, and that had afforded him a nice amount of protection from the bullying that loner nerd kids got hit with. He stayed back and observed Steve and the growing spite of the other kids, but young Jorick remained an avid anime fan and retained a level of envy for Steve's wealth and aspired to one day be able to own such goods for himself, though he kept that on the down low once it became clear that the school had become an anime-hater zone. Steve was not deterred from his weeaboo path despite the abuse, so he remained the main target for bullying for most of the school year.

Things changed one day when Steve arrived to school very late, showing up just in time for the lunch period for 8th grade. He came into the lunch room and made a big show of pulling off a long sleeved shirt to reveal a T-shirt underneath, one which was too large for him (it was likely only offered in adult male sizes and he was a scrawny kid) and that he appeared to be very proud of. It had an image of a very sexually suggestive anime girl on it. This girl was very young, the type of character often called a loli. Young Jorick guessed her to be roughly 8 years old, and it was rather shocking and disturbing. It didn't take long for school staff in the lunch room to recognize the cause of the wave of derisive remarks (some of the more advanced kids in the room called him a pedophile and child molester, others just threw out generic homosexual slurs and the like) that were hurled at Steve, and they swooped in to take him away. The mortified look on Steve's face changed the course of young Jorick's life, because the extreme second-hand embarrassment was enough to turn all his previous envy into alternating parts pity and disgust. That shirt and the extreme awkwardness of the situation seemed to be the end path of hardcore anime fandom, and young Jorick wanted no part of that. He kept on watching anime sometimes, but that incident dulled all his eagerness to get anime merchandise and learn Japanese and so forth, and so he was led away from the path of the weeaboo by seeing the harm it wrought on another.

So now instead of being an insufferable weeaboo piece of shit I'm just a guy who happens to watch anime now and then. Thanks Steve for giving me my first object lesson in why extreme obsession with something tends to end poorly. :D

I feel, really, really bad for Steve. He didn't deserve that.

To understand how I read this story, imagine instead of being into anime, what if Steve liked girly things and I was Jorick? First it starts with a casual interest that I didn't really have the means to express in public. Then I see someone who is able to express those things in ways I couldn't possibly, and I admire them for it. They seemed so much more knowledgeable and confident, and they didn't mind publicly displaying this. However, this made them the target of bullying. Eventually, the person takes it too far, using the girls' restroom. The resulting backlash breaks them, I knew they shouldn't have done that, and this makes me lose faith in them as a role model. It isn't like the desire goes away, but I feel like I need to keep it to myself and express myself quietly.

Why do these stories feel so similar..? What does the conclusion of Jorick's story mean about the conclusion of mine?

It makes me want to cry about how unfair it is... that just because my means of expressing myself is upsetting to others, that it makes me nothing more than a insufferable, piece-of-shit tranny...

Its not like I mean to say that Jorick is saying this about me, since the stories are different. I just got emotional, so I probably made a bit of a stretch.

 

[Brovo]

Why do these stories feel so similar..? What does the conclusion of Jorick's story mean about the conclusion of mine?

That your sexual identity is not the same as an unhealthy obsession with underaged Japanese cartoons, and anyone who says otherwise is heartless, Luna. A'ight? A'ight.

 

[Fluffy]

When I was a teen, I was obsessed with anime. Then as I got older, I found myself growing bored with it. I started to notice that just about every one of those shows are the same, and I find a lot of the personalities quite annoying. The only fun I have with it now is browsing through anime just to see what kind of boobies I can find.

 

[Icystorm]

I greatly enjoy some anime and others are annoying to say the least. I have not watched a whole lot of anime but from what I have seen many seem very similar and it is not easy to find the gems.
I am currently re-watching Psycho Pass because I am not sure what else to watch. Ginga Densetsu Weed is also very good if you prefer animals to people.

 

[Kaddoc]

There was a time and place I enjoyed anime and then like any phase during my youth, it simply passed me by. Seeing as how I voted 'no', I am once more in the minority.

I have to say, honestly, I'm not overly fond and really don't see the big deal in it. In fact I find it rather obnoxious, especially when looking for character concept art. My biggest problem with anime in general is some among its rabid fan base involved. If it's not the vicious rancor I get from political discussions at times, it is very zealous fans that makes me want to go postal and pushes me further to being an all-out misanthrope.

That being said, I am very selective on which anime I tolerate with what very few I actually enjoyed.

 

[Killjoy]

I've seen quite a few animes and over time find myself getting pickier with them...now I tend to watch three episodes of something and drop it if I'm not grabbed.

*haughty sniff*

Roleplaying anime style is okay, though. Crazy hair and eyes. Loose grasp on physics. Fun times.

 

[anonymph]

I hold anime at the same level I hold all entertainment, regardless of the fact that it's Japanese.

The first time around, I watch for entertainment's sake. If it passes that first test, then that's awesome. So I watch it again for the actual story/content/characters/plot/etc. to see if it's, not only entertaining, but fulfilling too. I repeat this process several times with everything I read/watch because I have no life, and by that point I usually know if I enjoy it or not.

I can't hold anime up on a whole different pedestal because it's animated and foreign because that's ridiculous. Anyway, being in a conversation on how much someone else and I "like anime" sounds as dumb as being a conversation talking about how the two of us "like TV shows." I can't just lump that shit together, that's called generalization and dumb.

Anime isn't for everyone (I mean, you've got art styles (which vastly range from moe to hyper-realism), animation differences, and what not to think about), but it's the same as any other TV show. There are shitty ones and there are amazing ones. Just because I don't like one TV show doesn't mean I hate ALL the TV shows. *pfft-ing trumpet noises of disdain* I still love it though.

Though to comment on the fanservice: the boobs must be voluptuous tumors because I swear those things get bigger with every scene.

Anime roleplaying is still strange to me though.

 

[☆Luna☆]

That your sexual identity is not the same as an unhealthy obsession with underaged Japanese cartoons, and anyone who says otherwise is heartless, Luna. A'ight? A'ight.

Thx, perspective resets are always nice.

 

[dragonesper]

@K1LLJOY you do the 3 ep test too? I actually do a 0:1:3 test
0: Do the summary interest me? If along yes then give it a shot.
1: Is the hook episode good to a degree? If yes, watch the next episodes.
3: Can I still enjoy the humor, characters and plot by the third episode? I have now a series to watch.

Of course if I grow tired of it along the way then I drop it.

 

[Asuras]

I'm a bit more impatient. If it hasn't caught my attention within the first few minutes, I generally drop it.

 

[redblood]

Then there's the gems. Oh, the gems. Natsume Yuujinchou is a rewatchable favorite~

You are officially my favorite Norwegian!

K1LLJOY you do the 3 ep test too? I actually do a 0:1:3 test
0: Do the summary interest me? If along yes then give it a shot.
1: Is the hook episode good to a degree? If yes, watch the next episodes.
3: Can I still enjoy the humor, characters and plot by the third episode? I have now a series to watch.

Of course if I grow tired of it along the way then I drop it.

I have a 0:1:3:5:6 test xD

If I'm still unsure after the third episode, I tend to watch until episode 5 or 6, because by the time a series has gotten halfway through or 1/4 through (depending on if it's a 10-13 or 24-26 ep series.) it should have shown something that hooks me in enough to make me really want to continue. There are exceptions though. I did continue glasslip even though NOTHING happened in it EVER. But because the story's summary made me think something interesting was in store for the plot, I decided to finish it I: Nothing happened. Nothing. Nada. Should have dropped it. There have been other times when I haven't followed my 6 episode trial and it ended better than expected. I thought so many times that I should drop Garo the animation, but now I am so glad I stayed with it cause it got really good eventually. (Well, I thought that it got good at least.)

But usually, I do keep to my 0:1:3:5:6 test (and usually I drop stuff within 3 episodes). So I have probably trashed series that have become good later on and I have probably trashed series that never would have interested me at all. I rarely stop watching after I've passed the 6th episode, especially if I have less than 6 episodes left before the anime is finished. (I'm obsessed with completing series I've started even if I don't like them o.O So if they have 6 or less episodes left I tend to finish them just to get rid of them, (7-9 is a gray area, it can go either way), if I have like 10+ episodes, I force myself not to bother until I eventually forget about the show xD)

So yeah, the 3 episode system is usually great :D

 

[Hatsune Candy]

I love the art style of anime, it is my absolute favorite. But beyond maybe a few YouTube videos every now and again, I barely ever watch any these days. I had a few I was into back in the day, namely: Angel Beats! Huge fan of Angel Beats! right here. Nowadays, I simply just just don't have the time to dedicate to watching the stuff anymore, sadly; as much as I would like to, I've got much better things I'd rather be doing. Life is too short to waste it watching a bunch of anime, yo; so instead I'm spending it playing video games. I'm totally not being hypocritical at all here.

 

[Kestrel]

Do you like anime is like asking do you like American cartoons. Or films in general. So obviously I have a mixed opinion. Some is great. Some is shit.

 

[Aqacia]

I enjoy anime and as of currently have seen 49 shows. When it comes to me and anime i stay clear from super long shows or shows with a lot of fanservice as thats just not my thing. I adore the anime style and some shows are just great while others are simply shit (Akikan for example) which now i don't put up with anymore. When i was younger and only just discovered anime i would watch pretty much anything that got my attention and even when it was shit and i wanted to drop it i just finished watching it for the sake of saying "i gave it a try" now that i'm older i drop shows quite often and very early on.

There are all kinds of shows i enjoy some of my favorites being Haikyuu, Durarara, Noragami, Nagi no asukara, Madoka magica and Toradora. Haikyuu is a example i often bring up when it comes to anime that inspire me. The show while being a sports series i don't often have a lot of interest in has got not only my attention but watching and even rewatching it still gives me a feeling that i want to draw something i'm not that great at but want to become great at. And the series just makes me cry, inspires me and gives me that boost to carry on doing something i enjoy.

While my other favorites are just there for entertainment and just were enjoyable in my eyes that they managed to get on the list and stay there for quite a bit of time now. But even thought i seen so much anime in no way or case am i obsessed i simply watch when i'm feeling like it and only have 1 poster of Clannad.