Japanese Animation

[Orrex]

Poll question: Japanese Animation

Yes, I know that we can all name numerous top-of-the-line examples of really, really excellent animation coming from Japan, but I'm talking about the stuff that makes it into the US mass-market. Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh and Sonic and all that god-awful shit. Not the shows that make it to the latenight slot on Cartoon Network.

So this poll is referring only to that "mainstream" push-the-product garbage.

I'd have posted a similar poll about good US vs. bad US animation, but I couldn't think of enough good current examples to make that poll worthwhile.

Poll result (10 votes)
Crap (accepting the stipulations above)	(6 votes, 60%)	Vote
Not crap (even accepting the stipulations above)	(4 votes, 40%)	Vote

[jpgray]

1. The majority of almost any artistic form is crap

Baroque music, 60s pop, painting from any period, novels, plays, whatever. I think it makes more sense to judge a genre by the best example, not the also-rans.

[Orrex]

2. Sort of, but...

If a genre is 99% crap, then the remaining 1% had better be pretty damned astonishing if we want to use it to redeem the genre. We could, for example, still say that Robot Carnival is excellent but Japanese animation on the whole is dreadful.

I mean, Republicans in general are terrible, though Abraham Lincoln was pretty cool. But we would be remiss if we judged the whole party based on his example.

[jpgray]

3. I'm not a big fan of anime

However, some of the art is technically amazing and imaginative. The stories generally leave me cold, however.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Anime is NOT 99% crap.

And even if it were, that 1% IS that damned astonishing. Watch Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Gungrave, or Samurai X.

[Orrex]

15. Well, the 99% figure was just for the sake of illustration

Here's a list of the good anime that I've seen

Ghost in the Shell
A Wind Named Amnesia
Robot Carnival
Spirited Away
some of Akira

Plus something I saw about 12 years ago with cool and gigantic Lovecraft-style monstrosities set in the age of Samurai. Wish I could remember its name.

Incidentally, I saw Vampire Hunter D and hated it. HATED IT.

But my point is that the crappy majority simply overwhelms the good minority.

Of course, YMMV.

[evirus]

4. there are some good "push the product" anime out there

my primary example im running on is the Gundam series, the product that they are pushing are snap together model kits the shows are all pretty good relating to the evils of war but it all obviously has a sci-fi feel that takes place mostly in space, but only around the earth and the moon, heres some trailers

(the orignal Mobile Suit Gundam) http://youtube.com/watch?v=P0I-fCWC_6s
(a newer series compared to the one above but taking place in the same time frame) http://youtube.com/watch?v=2mdm2-DWUe8

[TheMightyFavog]

5. Hey, blame the people on this end doing the translating.

Especailly 4 Kids. They really butcher the shows that they get their hands on. Hell, there's one show that in the original version has characters with guns, but when 4 Kids got their hands on the series, they changed the guns into bizzare props like toilet plungers and stuff.

[TimeChaser]

6. One Piece?

Some people I know did a *massive* One Piece cosplay group. And some kid went up to Sanji and told her (yeah, crossplay ) that she got it wrong, Sanji has a lollipop, not a cigarette

[TheMightyFavog]

19. Yep.

Don't really watch the mainstream stuff. When I'm someplace that has cable, I usually have Adult Swim on Saturday nights.

I miss my Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: SAC

[TimeChaser]

21. ...

How fast is your internet connection?

[TheMightyFavog]

26. Dialup.

[TimeChaser]

29. That sucks

[Orrex]

7. It's not all our fault, though!

If you watch even a few minutes of a kids' pop-anime show, you'll see scene after scene of long, slow, and sweeping pans across a row of characters standing motionless, with maybe one character's mouth flashing from closed to open in a feeble simulation of speech. And no motion in the scene, outside of that. Crap, I tells ya.

Ditto for the hyperdramatic sequence of poses shown in place of a smooth action sequence, such as when a character runs toward the camera but there's no actual motion--just a blink from left foot to right foot and back. And how many super-fantasti-dynami-frenetic leaps-across-a-blurred background do we need to see? And enough with the big white marshmallow with bright streamers, followed by a ripple of color, that they use for just about every explosion in the anime universe!

[evirus]

18. sterotyped

i beleave your wrong, i have only seen one anime that comes close to what you described, dragon ball z

[Orrex]

24. Really? REALLY? REALLY???

Here are some examples:

Pokemon
Sonic (Extreme, or something--the current Saturday morning incarnation)
Speed Racer
Marine Boy
Star Blazers
TMNT
GI Joe Sigma 6
Transformers
One Piece
Kekko Kamen

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure that there are others.

[TimeChaser]

25. ... Some of what you mentioned isn't even anime

Just American ripoffs

[Orrex]

30. Doh! Color me ignorant!

Set me straight, please! From that list, which is which? I thought that American products/cartoons drawn and animate in anime-style in Japan would qualify, but I'd be happy to update my understanding...

[TheMightyFavog]

32. TMNT is American

As is GI Joe Sigma Six, IIRC

[Giant Robot]

34. GI Joe Sigma Six is done in an anime style

But I couldn't tell you what its true country of production is (even I don't watch that). Suggests its up to the original poster to decide if he wants to count them or not in this poll, as they are anime-ish, but maybe technically not anime, in that they are not from Japan.

[Throd]

8. Crap times infinity cubed!

I hate that style with a passion that borders on unhealthy

[Orrex]

11. Now *that's* what I'm talking about!

And I was going to rail against the creepily and inescapably pedophilic vibe of so much anime, but then I remembered Disney's Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and other, so...

[Giant Robot]

9. Wants to say its crap

But secretly watches Yu-Gi Oh when no one else is around....

[Orrex]

10. Doesn't that make you feel all dirty inside?

[Giant Robot]

14. I feel so cheap and used....

Actually I think most of anything is crap, and the mass marketed anime is especially true of that.

(Don't be judgin' me man!! )

[REP]

31. You Think That's Bad?

I used to watch "Duel Masters" - but mostly because the dub was so bizarre I couldn't figure out if it was a straight translation or if the translators had gotten really bored* after the first few episodes.


*or high

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

12. Mainstream "push the product" anything is crap.

Really not a fair poll.

[Orrex]

16. Feh. This is The Lounge--no such thing as a "fair" poll!

[TimeChaser]

17. I guess you'd have to define what's mainstream

Zatchball, Pocket Monsters, Yugioh, Beyblade (although, admittedly, I know a lot of people who like the original or Pocketmonsters and Yugioh) and whatever else arn't really that much worse than a lot of the crap made for kids from any country.

Then there's the stuff that's only made bad by dubbing. One Piece, Naruto (possibly BLEACH in the future. I hope not )

[Giant Robot]

20. Meekly raises his hand...

I watch Naruto too....

Feels like I am in a crappy anime 12 step program.

Hi my name is Jason and I watch Yu-Gi Oh.

[TimeChaser]

23. Dub Naruto?

I've heard it's not as bad as the One Piece dub, although there are enough cringe-worthy voices (compared to the original for me) to keep me away.

I'm up to the massive amounts of filler (episode 140 or so) and I think I'm going to wait until the main plot picks up again before watching more. I believe Cartoon Network has said they won't be showing the fillers, since what happens durring them isn't considered canon, and they're just really boring to me.

[Giant Robot]

27. Head down...yes dub Naruto

It is pretty bad, but I do think One Piece is much worse. Really can't stand to even watch that. Although the sketches in the opening sequence are pretty cool looking, that is about as far as I last.

[TimeChaser]

28. If you'd like

I can direct you to places where you can find subtitled versions online

[Giant Robot]

33. Meh...

If you think that makes a difference I usually have some free time to watch fun things....

[TimeChaser]

36. Here

http://www.keiichianimeforever.com Has some things online via You Tube (although, really, if you search YouTube you'll find a lot of anime)

http://realitylapse.com As a ton of downloads, including all of Naruto and BLEACH (which I'd recommend if you like Naruto)

Edit to warn that if you do choose to watch, the first Japanese opening song for Naruto sucks beyond belief, that's a generally accepted fact

[Giant Robot]

37. Gives her a big hug for having my back

Has heard a lot of good things about Bleach but has not seen it yet. And on YouTube today I watched the first episode of Genesis Climber Mospeada and some Ultraman so YouTube rocks.

[RandomKoolzip]

22. I'd rather watch my own genitals removed by wolverines

than watch ANY anime, even the "good" stuff. I hate that melodramatic, stiff, insulting shit. Even the real skilled, craft-heavy Anime still looks like fuckin' "Voltron" to me. And I associate "Voltron" with dorky kids with B.O. pretending they're ninjas or samurais or some stupid shit. Ugh.

It's just a subjective thing, though...I mean, apart from Star Wars, I hate pretty much ALL sci-fi and "fantasy" shit, especially all that Dungeons and Dragons nonsense.

Give me real people, acting like humans, in realistic situations, and I'm happy. Reality is far more bizarre and rich than any fantasy realm anyways.

But that's just me...YMMV.

[Love Bug]

35. Love Miyazaki. "Meh" on most of the rest.

[Tenseiga]

38. hmmm....

As anyone could reasonably deduct from my handle, I'm a big Inuyasha fan. I have my complaints about it, but the depth of the show is astounding. I've been thinking about doing a series of writings on the serious social issues addressed (quite entertainingly) in the show.

I'd like to say the Adult Swim stuff refernced (and maligned) by the thread starter are quite entertaining... which is what Adult Swim is in the business of doing. Too bad they've also been pushing the abortion known as Tom Goes to the Mayor on its viewers.

[Orrex]

39. Hey, welcome to DU!

[REP]

40. Inu-What?

[TimeChaser]

41. Hey

Welcome to DU