Anime. Your opinions.

[Joe Neglia]

Not my thing.

[Nacho STAYS Hyped]

Used to be a big fan.

And then, at my school, Anime became uncool, so I stopped liking it.

Now, at my school, the only kids like Anime are the fat Twilight loving goth chicks with bacne. (No offense to any fat Twilight loving goth chicks with bacne out there.)

[i.Sarita.com]

Some of the most annoying, idiotic, worthless crap I've ever been forced to watch.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Jul 3, 2009 0:17:06 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

There's a lot about most typical animes that get brought over here that I don't like. I really dislike the excessive exposition, the overly descriptive dialogue (let US figure some of it out, writers!), etc. Even in original Japanese versions of many shows, there's some obnoxious trends, i.e. any remotely young female character sounding like a 4 year old, etc.

That's obviously not every anime, but, again, I'm referring to many of the mainstream ones that get brought over here.

However, due to all of that, that's a big part of why I found Cowboy Bebop so amazing, and why it remains one of my all time favorite shows, anime or otherwise. It went against so many of those cliches. Love it.

I enjoyed DBZ when I was a kid, but grew out of it (too repetitive), but I did grow into enjoying Trigun, which was just a flat-out fun show with a few genuinely emotional and creative moments.

Miyazaki movies rule, as well, but they almost count as their own little world.

FLCL kicked major ass, and I also have to give props to Lupin III.

To me, here is how I see it, the rest of the anime directors are like Disney and the rest of America's animation creators combined, and Miyazaki is like Pixar. EVERY film he released is great, and even is weakest stuff is still better than the rest.

Hell, I can't wait for Ponyo to come out in the US! They got the perfect dub cast. And I can understand why they changed the title from Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea to just Ponyo, cause the former is too f***ing long.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Oh, and yeah...I'm a huge anime fan. Not just anime fan, but Japanophile in general.

[Ash Kingston]

Anime is a lot like cartoons over here; there's good, there's bad, and there is stupid crap that makes no sense and/or needs to be destroyed before it spreads even more, and while the first two can vary depending on what you personally like, I think the "festering pile of snot" category can be universally agreed upon. So while I love Death Note and Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, others might dislike them for being extremely exposition-heavy (Death Note) or somewhat graphic (Higurashi). Likewise, I'm not a huge fan of Naruto (Filler Arc From Hell + Sasuke Worship = Rage) or YuGiOh (...well, minus Yami Bakura *irritational fanboy squeal*), while others find them enjoyable. It's a manner of taste.

Although I do admittedly sometimes wonder about people's taste...

[aka Cthulhu]

I like watching anime. Well, I guess I prefer it over cartoons and other stuff mostly because I grew up watching it. Like, aside from a few stuff like Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes, I barely remember other cartoons. On the other hand, I can still remember the opening theme of Voltes V.

[Johnny D]

Used to love every aspect of it, most of the new stuff is just garbage though IMO and it's nowhere as edgy as it was in the 80's and 90's. There is some great newer stuff around though, I loved Monster, Ergo Proxy and Death Note.

[Bo Rida]

I usually think the animation is pretty, however I usually lose interest in the story.

I do like Akira, Spirited Away and Pom Poko though.

[Bob Schlapowitz]

No, sir. I don't like it.

[Pagan Warrior]

The only thing I can say about Japanese cartoons in general, they're polarising. I can think of tons of regular TV shows that I have mixed feelings about, or that just fall into mediocrity and adequacy in my oppinion. But in anime, I either absolutely fall in love with a show, or I hate it from the deepest bottom of my soul.

The last anime I watched was Higurashi no koro ni and it's sequel/second season Higurashi no koro ni kai. It's sort of an ultraviolent take on a X-files meets Groundhog Day kinda scenario, starring little schoolgirls. To sum it up without giving to much away: There is a small village in the Japanese countryside called Hinamizawa. In the village, there's a curse. Whenever a person leaves the village for too long, or is just faced with hard emotional stress, they become extremely paranoid, before eventually going murderous rampage. One of the students in the local elementary school is trapped in a time loop and is forced to experience a short time before the annual traditional summer festival in the village. Every time the loop repeats, one of the inhabitants is striken by Oyashiro's curse and kills every other person involved. Then the circle repeats, and everytime the audience gets a tiny bit more information about the village, the backstory of the characters and the curse.

The show has an offsetting habit of switching between cute innocent moe fun and psychological and violent horror, which always takes you offguard and delivers shock moments. The violence itself isn't very graphic, but the fact that it's almost always little children beeing maimed and killed makes it very effective in being disturbing. The characters start as your generic clishee anime stock, but quickly become very fleshed out, the majority of them also very likable.
All in all, I love the show. I can reccomend it to anyone who enjoys horror and doesn't mind moe animation style.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

I don't know. Some are good, some are bad, some are meh, like every media. I don't get why people act like you can only love every anime or hate them all.

[Soultastic]

Jul 3, 2009 1:09:07 GMT -5 OblivionSorceress said:

I love anime. I also like a branch of that called hentai. ;D

[aka Cthulhu]

Jul 3, 2009 7:05:26 GMT -5 Pagan Warrior said:

The only thing I can say about Japanese cartoons in general, they're polarising. I can think of tons of regular TV shows that I have mixed feelings about, or that just fall into mediocrity and adequacy in my oppinion. But in anime, I either absolutely fall in love with a show, or I hate it from the deepest bottom of my soul.

The last anime I watched was Higurashi no koro ni and it's sequel/second season Higurashi no koro ni kai. It's sort of an ultraviolent take on a X-files meets Groundhog Day kinda scenario, starring little schoolgirls. To sum it up without giving to much away: There is a small village in the Japanese countryside called Hinamizawa. In the village, there's a curse. Whenever a person leaves the village for too long, or is just faced with hard emotional stress, they become extremely paranoid, before eventually going murderous rampage. One of the students in the local elementary school is trapped in a time loop and is forced to experience a short time before the annual traditional summer festival in the village. Every time the loop repeats, one of the inhabitants is striken by Oyashiro's curse and kills every other person involved. Then the circle repeats, and everytime the audience gets a tiny bit more information about the village, the backstory of the characters and the curse.

The show has an offsetting habit of switching between cute innocent moe fun and psychological and violent horror, which always takes you offguard and delivers shock moments. The violence itself isn't very graphic, but the fact that it's almost always little children beeing maimed and killed makes it very effective in being disturbing. The characters start as your generic clishee anime stock, but quickly become very fleshed out, the majority of them also very likable.
All in all, I love the show. I can reccomend it to anyone who enjoys horror and doesn't mind moe animation style.

Likewise, if you like Higurashi, I recommend Umineko no Naku Koro ni. It's made by the same creator of Higurashi -- less moe, and probably has as much mystery/horror as Higurashi.

[B.B.M]

You want MY opinions on Anime...I studied Art and Animation in college for Three years, I had to study forms of Animation from all around the world from Russia to France. I also had to study Astro Boy for nearly a year and a half. and animate a five-minute stop-motion cartoon. so I know about Animation.

In my eyes, Anime is no longer what it was many years ago. These days, Most Anime is more focus on Otaku subculture, then on Story. Credit to some of the not-so-popular cartoons, they still have focus on story. If you don't focus on Story, then it's going to suck, and the viewer will have no idea what's going on. People wonder why Naruto, One Piece and Bleach are popular, it's simple, because they have a story/Plot. Naruto is based on a Ninja in training, One Piece is based on a gang of pirates, Bleach is based on shinigami from the Meiji period. They might not sound like the most epic story/plot, but it gets the job done. But with the rise of the Otaku Subculture, is going to fall back down with the others.

[Just Jay]

Jul 3, 2009 2:34:14 GMT -5 Ash Kingston said:

Anime is a lot like cartoons over here; there's good, there's bad, and there is stupid crap that makes no sense and/or needs to be destroyed before it spreads even more, and while the first two can vary depending on what you personally like, I think the "festering pile of snot" category can be universally agreed upon. So while I love Death Note and Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, others might dislike them for being extremely exposition-heavy (Death Note) or somewhat graphic (Higurashi). Likewise, I'm not a huge fan of Naruto (Filler Arc From Hell + Sasuke Worship = Rage) or YuGiOh (...well, minus Yami Bakura *irritational fanboy squeal*), while others find them enjoyable. It's a manner of taste.

Although I do admittedly sometimes wonder about people's taste...

You pretty much nailed it. I like anime, but I don't like every single out there just because it is anime. Just like animated cartoons here, I don't watch them simply because they're animated. I like ones that appeal to me. I loved Dragonball Z for its action, same with Yu Yu Hakusho and its clever plot. Outlaw Star was another fun one for me, as well as everyone's favorite Cowboy Bebop. I haven't watched any of the new ones admittedly, like Bleach or Naruto. Maybe I'm a bit outdated. I'm just a sucker for the classics I suppose.

In regards to B.B.M's post, I definitely agree with that. Another thing that I've noticed is that animators largely depend on the use of computer technology to animate their cells. I personally hate the use of computers. I mean, I don't mind a little here and there, but to largely depend on the look is almost a step in the reverse direction. It almost seems cheap to me.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Jul 3, 2009 11:57:38 GMT -5 B.B.M said:

You want MY opinions on Anime...I studied Art and Animation in college for Three years, I had to study forms of Animation from all around the world from Russia to France. I also had to study Astro Boy for nearly a year and a half. and animate a five-minute stop-motion cartoon. so I know about Animation.

In my eyes, Anime is no longer what it was many years ago. These days, Most Anime is more focus on Otaku subculture, then on Story. Credit to some of the not-so-popular cartoons, they still have focus on story. If you don't focus on Story, then it's going to suck, and the viewer will have no idea what's going on. People wonder why Naruto, One Piece and Bleach are popular, it's simple, because they have a story/Plot. Naruto is based on a Ninja in training, One Piece is based on a gang of pirates, Bleach is based on shinigami from the Meiji period. They might not sound like the most epic story/plot, but it gets the job done. But with the rise of the Otaku Subculture, is going to fall back down with the others.

Well there is still some good story telling series. Like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. If it truly does stick to the manga, it is going to be EPIC, cause to be honest, the story in the manga is the best story in any manga I have ever read.

But I can understand where you are coming from. I mean f***, all of Japan, plus the internet went batshit insane waiting for the new season of Haruhi.

Of course, the thing is, most of the countries outside of Japan focus only on the anime. The truth is, not a lot of Japanese people actually CARE about anime. They mostly care about the manga, which are the true canon of those series.

It is like how Harry Potter fans all love the books, but a lot of them hate on the films because they have to cut so much out to make it within 2 to 2 & 1/2 hours.

Oh, and BBM? Can you please post your story of how you....*ahem*...pwned...that group of anime fans that the real anime fans hate to hell and back?

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

I love a bunch of anime shows.

Not addicted to the genre as a whole (I usually don't watch a cartoon just because it's from Japan), but I'll happily check something out if the word of mouth intrigues me.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Jul 3, 2009 12:10:50 GMT -5 Just Jay said:

Jul 3, 2009 2:34:14 GMT -5 Ash Kingston said:

Anime is a lot like cartoons over here; there's good, there's bad, and there is stupid crap that makes no sense and/or needs to be destroyed before it spreads even more, and while the first two can vary depending on what you personally like, I think the "festering pile of snot" category can be universally agreed upon. So while I love Death Note and Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, others might dislike them for being extremely exposition-heavy (Death Note) or somewhat graphic (Higurashi). Likewise, I'm not a huge fan of Naruto (Filler Arc From Hell + Sasuke Worship = Rage) or YuGiOh (...well, minus Yami Bakura *irritational fanboy squeal*), while others find them enjoyable. It's a manner of taste.

Although I do admittedly sometimes wonder about people's taste...

You pretty much nailed it. I like anime, but I don't like every single out there just because it is anime. Just like animated cartoons here, I don't watch them simply because they're animated. I like ones that appeal to me. I loved Dragonball Z for its action, same with Yu Yu Hakusho and its clever plot. Outlaw Star was another fun one for me, as well as everyone's favorite Cowboy Bebop. I haven't watched any of the new ones admittedly, like Bleach or Naruto. Maybe I'm a bit outdated. I'm just a sucker for the classics I suppose.

In regards to B.B.M's post, I definitely agree with that. Another thing that I've noticed is that animators largely depend on the use of computer technology to animate their cells. I personally hate the use of computers. I mean, I don't mind a little here and there, but to largely depend on the look is almost a step in the reverse direction. It almost seems cheap to me.

I agree. Here is what me and my friends agree on with computer animation in anime/manga:

1) Anime that has hand drawn and CGI put together at the same time looks HORRID.
2) Anime that use CGI should either:
A) Be 100% CGI
B) Have the hand drawn and CGI separate, like VanDread. All the scenes in space are CGI, all the scenes inside ships/on planets are hand drawn.
3) Manga actually look better with CGI backgrounds, like D. Gray-Man, Gantz, and Negima!.

[Mr. Emoticon Man, TF Fan]

I tend to only like the really popular stuff, like Dragonball Z, One Piece, and Naruto. The rest either bores me or confuses me.