[Forsaken_Infinity]

Originally Posted by judasmartel

So, anyone recommend us a global MMORPG here?

@topic Welcome to Animesuki, TS (Topic Starter).

I can't really think of a truly global MMORPG. And the one that suits the purpose here would have to be free, easy to run and somewhat open ended. Nope. Can't think of one.

However, I do recommend OSU. http://osu.ppy.sh
It's a rhythm game and quite a lot of fun. You can chat and hang out all you want and you can play through a large collection of music, mostly anime or VN music at that.

Originally Posted by Tatsuyama Asuka

長文を完全に理解するには私の能力が足りません。
My capability is insufficient for understanding a long sentence completely.

You don't need to apologize for that. The fault is mine. I was kind of hoping somebody would translate my post into Japanese. I usually write like in that post so I would probably not be very true to myself if I didn't write like that. But I suppose I should give being simple and clear a shot as well. Please don't get intimidated. I will write short sentences but I will only break my paragraphs once I have a new thought.

Originally Posted by Tatsuyama Asuka

よって、理解できた部分のみの返答となる事をお許しください。
Therefore, please allow becoming the answer of only the understood portion.

No problems there

Originally Posted by Tatsuyama Asuka

私もアニメは素晴らしいと思います。
I think that anime is wonderful.

I think so too.

But anime can mean many things.

It can mean a way of telling a story. In it, the characters and the world move. They are alive. But it's not real life. People in anime can do things that we can't. And it's not just people. Things that don't exist here can exist in anime. And even those things are alive. So it can tell a story in a different way than other ways. If I read a Novel, the world and the people in the Novel are inside my head only. They are alive only in my imagination. I have to imagine even their faces, unless I am reading a Light Novel with illustrations or a Visual Novel. If I read a manga, I don't have to imagine the faces. But it is very limited in showing me movement. They all have their uses. But anime is definitely unique. And I am in love with this method to tell a good story. I like it more than I like Live Action. Live Action can't do things anime can. And actors in Live Action are always acting. They are fakes. But in an anime, the actors actually go through the story. If somebody dies in a Live Action, the actor doesn't die, only his character does. If somebody dies in an anime, they die for real.

I have a question for you. Do you watch any western animation? Western animation also has the advantages anime has over Live Action but in this part of the world, Live Action is still a better way to tell a story than an animation. In general. I believe the reason is because the general western audience doesn't think animation can tell a good story. Even the ones that are popular and tell a good story avoid dealing with complicated concepts. Most of the time, it's just fun for kids. The ones that target an adult audience rely on vulgar jokes and politically incorrect comedy. There are very few products from western animation that deal with human nature etc. Most of the ones that do that are very short and obscure. They don't get aired on TV or anything like that. Nor do they have a enthusiastic casual market. Almost always, they are watched only by a very specific audience. But despite all that, when they work, they work wonderfully. I really love them as much as I love anime.

Therefore, what I really love is animation. I love anime more than western animation but that has to do with the content more than Japanese animation being superior. In fact, most anime are produced with flawed animation. But I love the unique flair they have nonetheless. If I had to compare them, I would say that good anime bring out human emotions really well while good western animation feels more surreal. Apologies for extreme generalization.

And I shouldn't be so limited as to talk about animation from a pro-west and a pro-Japan perspective. There are wonderful animators elsewhere as well. CIS and South Asia have produced some notable shows. I don't know about the rest of the world but judging from the incredible talent shown by Chinese and Korean artists, I think they have great potential as well. But their works are very rare, especially on an international level. I wish there would be more of them.

Now, anime can also mean the collection of animated shows produced from Japan. I love this too. But I also dislike a lot of such shows. As I said earlier, many of these shows are flawed. Sometimes they don't tell a story well. Sometimes they focus too much on one thing only. Sometimes they lack coherence. So on and so forth. But despite all that, anime continue to impress me. They have their share of problems but they attempt what western animation usually doesn't. They tell us a human tale. They attempt adult themes. They tell a good story. A good story aimed at not just kids but a good story with profound significance. I do love them. But sadly, most anime don't do those things very well. I can understand why. Making an anime isn't easy. But that's all the more reason to make the ones that get made well. I hope anime shows find a balance between telling a sincere story and finding profitable exploits.

And that brings us to another thing anime can mean. The animation industry in Japan. There isn't another country in the world where animation deals with complicated topics on a seasonal basis. There certainly isn't a centralized animation scene which attempts so many genres elsewhere. There isn't a single another established animation scene with the volume of audience anime has. And to manage to keep producing such wonderful titles despite all the problems is an amazing achievement. But I keep hearing bad things about the industry. I hear that animators are underpaid and badly treated even within the industry. I hear that there are budget concerns all around. I hear that the industry no longer has a hold on mainstream Japanese audience. I hear that the industry is supported only by a passionate group of otakus who are seen as scum by society. I hear that the future of the industry is bleak. I don't know how much of this is true. But I certainly hope that the anime industry figures out a way to connect with the mainstream audience. I would think that pandering to a specific audience to the degree that some shows do now is ultimately suicidal but I don't know the full picture. I just pray for its continued success in the future. I will do what little I can when I can to support it but that isn't much at all.

Originally Posted by Tatsuyama Asuka

私がアニメを見る目的は2つあります。
There are two purposes that I look at anime.

1つは、漫画の単行本が出版されている場合、それを買うかどうかを見極めるためです。
The 1st is for discerning whether he buys it, when the book of comics is published.

すなわち、アニメを見て面白かったら原作も読もうと考えます。
That is, anime is seen, and if interesting, I will think that an original will also be read.

2つめは、原作の漫画を既に読んで内容を知っている場合、アニメとなって動き、話す様子を楽しむ ためです。
The 2nd is for enjoying signs that become anime, and it moves and talks, when original comics are already read and the contents are known.

私以外の日本人の中にも、同じ考えを持つ人はいるでしょう。
Probably, there are those who have the same idea also in the other Japanese.

Indeed, after seeing an anime, people are more likely to give the original work a chance. I do that.

And yes, enjoying a story come to life on screen is very appealing.

I would think there are indeed.

Originally Posted by Tatsuyama Asuka

ですが、基本的に皆それほど深い考えを持ってアニメ鑑賞に臨んではいないと思います。
But,I think that anime appreciation is not fundamentally faced all with so deep an idea.

大抵の人々は絵やあらすじ(概要)、または出演している声優などから興味を持ち、アニメを見るのだと思いま す。
Most people get interested from a picture, an outline or the voice actor that is appearing, etc., and think that they see anime.

I agree. I don't think what you look for in anime is very deep either. But I agree that most people don't care about even that. And that is fine as well. Casual audience is to be respected as much as any other. Nothing wrong with people watching anime because they like the art or the sound effects or the voice acting.

Originally Posted by Tatsuyama Asuka

日本人にとってアニメや漫画は既に文化として根付いています。
Anime and manga have already rooted as culture for the Japanese.

よって、私たちはその存在や、漫画を読むこと、アニメを見ることに対して疑問を抱く事はないの です。
Therefore, we do not have a question to the existence, reading manga, and seeing anime.

I wonder about that. It doesn't seem like the mainstream society appreciates anime all that much?

Originally Posted by Tatsuyama Asuka

アドバイスありがとうございます。
Thank you for the advice.

是非、機会があれば挑戦してみたいと思います。
I would like to challenge, if there is an opportunity by all means.

No problem. I hope you do challenge and that you don't give up. It's always wonderful to see the world from a new perspective.

Now, just to provide context for you, here is a rough sample of animation that I like from outside Japan.

Spoiler for Death of Ace.:

This is a powerful scene from the Justice League, a popular show from a while back that featured a bunch of superheroes fighting to protect the Earth. There isn't much complicated dialogue in the scene but what happens is that one of the heroes, Batman, is told to kill a young girl to save the world. See what he does for yourself.

Spoiler for The Lighthouse.:

This is a short movie that tells a powerful story about human nature and about the value of a community. It was done in the free and open-source 3D animation and design software, Blender. Go to http://www.blender.org/ for further information. No dialogue at all in this one.

Spoiler for Sintel:

Sorry to include another movie done in Blender but I just love this. It's a short adventure story of sorts. Has a strong emotional impact for a movie of this length. Has some short dialogue but it works just fine without knowing what they talk about.

Spoiler for Oceansize:

Students did this. I believe the language is French. I remember watching and liking other works from French students but I can't remember the titles.

Spoiler for The Backwater Gospel:

I can only wish western animation like this one would one day air in TV like anime does in Japan. It's rather extreme so I apologize if anybody gets offended over this.

Spoiler for Meena:

This is from an educational show by UNICEF. It deals with the problems kids face in South Asia. Most of the workforce was South Asian. This particular video is in Nepali. The show is available in many other languages as well but I think this was the original. For something produced way back in the day, this show is still used all around South Asia and some nearby countries to reach out to an otherwise illiterate population. UNICEF did similar projects for South America, South Africa and Kyrgyzstan but I like this project the most. Both because this has had more of an impact and because it is better as a standalone work of animation.

etc.