14 replies to this topic

[TORiAS_the_fallen]

I HATE this person in my advanced art class. He spews off about how anime is inferior and has no real value. He should try drawing manga-style, for once. It's more difficult than one would think.

I find that in American culture Anime is under valued as a medium. If you enjoy it you're immedeatly brannded as "Uncool" or "stupid."

I abhor ignorance. Abhor it.

I'd like to make everyone see just how much value Anime and Manga have...

For example, I was reading on the forum today about Kiki's Delivery Service and other studio Ghilbi Films on this very Fourm.... Anime reaches out to so many individuals. It's not just for childern, either.

So, what do you guys think about anime?

(It wasn't so much his opinion as the way in which he stated it. It was exedingly rude. Then he proceded to mock me...)

[Nemoide]

Well, I own over 200 anime DVDs and my apartment is decked out with wall scrolls, posters, and anime figures all over the place. I'M A FAN.

BUT to be fair, there the most popular anime tends to be stupid stuff. Fighting-based shonen series, pathetic attempts at drama in moe series, etc. I don't care if people like these things but they are not paragons of intelligence and maturity. Hearing fans explain how absolutely brilliant Yu-Gi-Oh! is will probably turn someone off anime. I don't mean to sound like too big of an elitist, I mean, I own the entire Yu Yu Hakusho TV series. But I'm not going to pretend there's anything SMART about it.

But there is a lot of really amazing stuff out there too. Neon Genesis Evangelion, Serial Experiments Lain, and Paranoia Agent for example. I cannot imagine how anyone could watch shows like that and say they're stupid.

This guy sounds like he is totally limiting himself by refusing exposure to high quality artistic works. That's his problem, there will always be folks like that and you're best off not worrying yourself about it.

[Noctourne Wonderland]

My art style has a bit of a Japanese flavour to it because I find that my manga-style eyes look better than anything overly detailed, but I had a similar experience to you, TORiAS. I was at an art show hanging around a piece I was rather fond of, and I overheard people commenting! All excited, I listened in, only to hear that it was "Anime, like all the others."

I think the style has become rather well known and oversaturated, but few people actually know much about real anime, except for a few fans of Naruto and two of my friends. One can even read Sailor Moon in the original Japanese, which is pretty cool.

[SmashQueen]

Personally, I like anime (actually, I love one in particular: .hack). Heck, even my fanmaren has her own "manga eyes" when I draw her (not really based off any other style of eyes mind you). My favorite anime is by Miyazaki and I love Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, etc. It's just too bad people don't look at other anime other than what airs in America and what 4kids translates. There's so much more outside of Dragonball, Sailor Moon, Naruto, Inuyasha, and others. They're just what were able to be translated and aired. There's a ton of anime that either aren't aired anymore or have never been aired outside of Japan that are really good.

**Deleted rant on 4kids**

That's better. Now, I may not have my walls stocked to the brim with anime, but I still enjoy it. ...Okay, I'll admit, my books are mainly .hack, novels and mangas just shoved here and there as well as Shaman King thrown in. I'm an addict. XD

I just wish people would stop being so close-minded...but if that happened we'd just about have world peace, now wouldn't we? I don't care what people say. I'm going to continue enjoying anime. If I'm "uncool" or "stupid" so be it. At least I'll be happy reading or watching the antics of the characters I've come to adore...and drawing characters. ^^

[Saifer Dracondrali]

I love .hack... as evident by my avatar, as well as abuncha other animes that I won't bother to mention... I'm considered weird... but I take it as a complement... not to mention no one wants to mess with me, lol...

[Dex la Cabra]

my entire town is like that person TORiAS, i feel for ya! D:

[TORiAS_the_fallen]

Thank you, you all made valid points.

I consider myself a HUGE .hack fan, specifically of Balmung, Crispen Freeman is an icredible voice actor, and like Legend of the Twilight the most.

I also agree that things like Yu-Gi-Oh! really DO give the rest of Anime a bad name. Things that are so obscure you either have to understand Japanese or watch with subs are really good... Some of the Animes based off Clamp's books are quite good.

And there is a genre of Anime for everyone... It's so diverse. I'll try not to let him get to me and keep drawing my Manga style art, hoping that I can attract someone to the style and help them find something they enjoy.

[Saifer Dracondrali]

Everyone I know is hooked on an anime either because A) they grew up with it or B ) I introduced it to them...
I got 2 people to appreciate it with Black Lagoon... I know I talk about it allot, but oftentimes the people who don't like anime are action-junkies... so maybe that will help you in some form or another?
I showed the first person only a couple episodes and he liked it, the next I showed all the seasons (2) out so far and she even got emotional at points

[Dreams]

For the record, I love Yuugiou. Yeah, the card battles get dragged out to silly lengths, but the characters won me over, and the overall storyline was interesting, so I was hooked. Remember that people's love of anime titles, like everything else, is only opinion - for instance, I dislike Evangelion, but I'm not going to try to argue that it "gives anime a bad name".

Although I've heard people badmouth anime, I've more often heard people praise it to ridiculous extents. Quite frankly, I don't think anime is the be-all-to-end-all, nor do I think it's superior to American animation, or any other animation. It's a unique art style, and it has definitely changed the animation world. I love the realistic look in films like Akira and Metropolis, and more than anything, I love how anime storylines have no limits. Culturally, it's almost hard to believe anime came from Japan, a place steeped in tradition and formality. Even though there have been some amazing American and European cartoons, it seems few and far between to the ideas behind most Japanese animation.

FYI, when I went to school for animation, there were several teachers who wouldn't allow us to draw in anime style. The one literally denied it was an art form, because most of the time the animation is done so cheaply (and it is - some stuff is like 2-frame movement). But I didn't see why we had to create something non-anime just to be "original". I would think as long as you're not plagerizing someone else's character, but being creative and doing what comes naturally, that you're being original anyway.

[apti]

eh... I was a huge fan of anime in my mid teens, and I still take time out to watch series I think are worthwhile, but my main beef with the genre is everything's so damn GENERIC. I adore stuff like Mushishi or Nodame Cantabile that actually departs from the standard shonen tournament fest-harem-fluffy shoujo categories that damn near everything falls into, but that stuff makes up about 5% or less of what's available. The vast majority of it is visual spam and I hatehatehate it. Mostly I stick to manga these days. I can understand completely where that guy's coming from-- so many people who want to become artists are only interested in drawing saucer-eyed waifs and it's annoying. They refuse to try anything else, so they never grow. I really sympathize with all those high school art teachers, a huge part of becoming an artist is to try out different genres of art styles and see what you like, what works or doesn't et cetera.

bah humbug.

[TORiAS_the_fallen]

Though I respect both of your opinions I have to disagree with you.

I apoligize for saying that about Yu-Gi-Oh, and was thinking about it. Perhaps things like these could be considered "Gateway Animes" that interest people in the genre? But only to the open minded.

Thinking back on it, what really made me angry was that he was insinuating that all people who like this anime are stupid and can't draw any thing else. This isn't true. I draw in the Manga style not because I can't draw other styles, but because I find it beautiful and astetically atractive. I also disagree that most shojo animes are a certain way and most shonen are another. While there are some extremly generic things out there (Mew Mew Power, for example), that is also true of Western comics and Animation. Superman, Batman, Spiderman... they're all the same, yet there are people out there who would argue otherwise.

In the end, it is all a matter of opinion, and, as a very opinionated person, I am going to respectfully disagree with you and say that Anime is an interesting style and brings joy to people of all ages.

[Nemoide]

As an undergrad, one of my friends in the University's art school managed to convince her professors that anime-style can count as art using a Yoshitoshi Abe art book.

And I just applied for a reviewer job at Anime News Network. I'm thinking this would be pretty fantastic!

[Noctourne Wonderland]

And I just applied for a reviewer job at Anime News Network. I'm thinking this would be pretty fantastic!

Good luck! That sounds like a great job.

[Penelopi]

I always got the impression that a majority of American kids like anime, manga, and basically anything Japanese, even to the point that many prefer it to American or Western media and think Asians are superior to Caucasians. Though this impression slightly miffed me, I have nothing against this form of art and read a lot of manga myself. It could be that I was mistaken this whole time because I always hung out with a certain crowd. A lot of my friends tend to find out about good anime or manga before myself and introduce me to them. However, my anime-watching has been limited severely because I have limited money and don't bother finding them on the air (if they are on American tv). You're right, TORiAS, people often don't look past stuff like Yu-Gi-Oh. I think that, without my friends showing me these more obscure series, my experience would still be limited to Pokemon.

[TORiAS_the_fallen]

It varies area to area.

Where I live, for example, there is a high concentration of Skater and Punks who are not open minded. They look at fat, slow, me, and see a nerd. Part of the fact that people don't like this genre may actually be my fault, because I'm not a very well liked person, partly due to my opiniated and obstinate nature. At least, in my school.

Regionally, however, I still find that there are not many people in this area who openly profess liking Anime and Manga. Online? Sure, but Anime is seen as publicly degrading up here, and if you like it, you're branded a "dork or nerd." You're ridiculed and rejected for your interests. It's not a very fair system.

I find, in other places, this isn't true. Anime is accepted as an artform and a valid means of entertainment. I leared this from several online friends who were childhood buds of mine and moved away to other states. Where they live, many people enjoy Anime and Manga.

I did have a really good experience recently, however.

I was sick not too long ago (as some of you know, with H1N1 -Swine Flu) and the doctor I saw was an Anime fan. He showed me some of the Manga he kept in his office and we talked about the things we had in common. I imagine that his collueges probably thought he was immature because he watched something that was viewed as being for kids, but I thought he was cool, and am very glad I met him.