Do you think anime in general is getting better?

[Lina Inverse]

Yes, anime is indeed getting better. Not only animation quality has improved, but also there'a also a much greater variety now, many genre mixes and unusal ideas (like the girl-on-a-hand in Midori-no-Hibi ).
All in all there are clearly more watchable and enjoyable series nowadays

[Reaver4k]

I would say Anime is getting alot better... In everthing...

What sucks is some Anime are being Limited to 13 eps, and very good ones arnt going into a 2nd Season

[Radd]

I take it a lot of people read the original post, then go straight on to writing their own post.

I also take it that a lot of people who think anime is getting better have not seen a lot of older anime, otherwise we would not be getting comments like "back in the 80's and 90's there weren't any harem shows" or "anime is getting darker and grittier".

However, I also would like to once again point out that I disagree with the idea that anime is getting worse. There are always gems, anime that stand out from the crowd and are remembered many years later. These gems are always few and far between, but as time goes on the past gets hazy, and people tend to only remember the gems. They forget that those gems did not all come out at the same time, and that there were tons of crappy anime coming out around them. It's not different than today. We get a few gems now and then, and a glut of crap.

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by DaFool

Same thing can be said of Hollywood movies. Especially my parents generation love to brag about how classic the movies of their time were.

Actually, the strange thing is I watched a few old anime after watching the new ones. For example, I watched Mobile Suit Gundam after Wing, G and a few episodes of X. I guess Turn A or Zeta should be next on my list, but I really don't have the time. Moreover, Urusei Yatsura is actually the latest Takahashi series I was able to watch, and I'm still hoping that I'll be able to catch the second season one day.

Like I said, there are still a lot of good titles in the present. But frankly, it's just too bad that some people can no longer appreciate some older titles for apprently very trivial reasons such as, "it looks ugly" or "it's old." Technically, anime has been improving and indeed there are a lot of good ones today, but it's also quite sad that because of these achievements, some titles of the past--that deserve equal praise if not more--have been utterly forgotten.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by Radd

I also take it that a lot of people who think anime is getting better have not seen a lot of older anime, otherwise we would not be getting comments like "back in the 80's and 90's there weren't any harem shows".

Hmm... can you clarify which anime you have in mind that you'd label as harem show back then in the 80's? Don't tell me Urusei Yatsura or those hentai animes The earliest harem show that somewhat fits the modern definition of this term and I can remember out of the top of my head is Tenchi Muyo, but even that is just a show with some harem elements rather than a real harem show... I think real harem anime as a separate genre only starts to appear in the late 90's to early 2000's, and then starts to have huge progresses lately, for better or worse

[leongsh]

Originally Posted by Radd

However, I also would like to once again point out that I disagree with the idea that anime is getting worse. There are always gems, anime that stand out from the crowd and are remembered many years later. These gems are always few and far between, but as time goes on the past gets hazy, and people tend to only remember the gems. They forget that those gems did not all come out at the same time, and that there were tons of crappy anime coming out around them. It's not different than today. We get a few gems now and then, and a glut of crap.

This I can definitely agree with. Anime is not getting worse, neither is it getting better. Anime has definitely evolved though. Other than that, all I can safely say is that there is definitely a glut of new anime being broadcast/released today compared to yesteryears.

I'll leave it to time to sort out the real gems and the "new" classics to add to the list of older anime deemed as classics.

[Sugetsu]

As for shonen tittles I can safely say that I haven't seen anything new that the older shows didn't already offer.

Yu Yu Hakusho

Dragon ball

Saint Seiya

Hunter x Hunter

All of these show are still my top choice over the recent fighting anime out there...

Perhaps the only action anime that I think can match up with the above listed is Naruto, but nothing else as for now.

Please, if some else here thinks that there is any recent shonen anime that is superior to the animes I mentioned, I would like to know his reasons.

[dreamless]

There is One Piece. And I don't think Hunter X Hunter can be called an old show, the story is still ongoing, also the TV series ended in 2001, that can hardly be called an old show. Also Saint Seiya Hades Sanctuary is a 2002 show, not really old.

so from roughly 1986 to 1997 you have Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya and Yu Yu Hakusho, and from 1999 to 2005 you have Hunter X Hunter, Naruto, One Piece, I don't see any quality degrade in the shounen fighting genre (albeit admittedly I'm not a fan of this particular genre)

[Kempis Curious]

This question of "getting better" has so many subjective variables... it's hard to argue with a person who thinks differently than you.

One of the objective things which has changed is the availablility of anime in the west... first dubbed cartoons on the air, then VHS fansubs, then commercial dubs/subs, and now digisubs. I think these methods of distribution contributes to the perception of anime changing quality over time.

I've been around for all 4 occurences, and I must say that the TV stuff was meant for children, with very few exceptions like Robotech and Star Blazers. I can't watch that kind of stuff again. Then fansubs came out, and the stuff which made it over the ocean was some of the best of the best and meant for a more thoughtful adult, but still fun (college students). If I may, I'll make a shout out to my homies who sat in cramped dorms watching 3rd-gen copies of Ranma 1/2, Kodocha, MI, Porco Rosso, Urotsukidouji, etc. Those animes are AWSOOOOOOMEEEE!!!
Those of us who remember recall that whenever we could get a hold of anime, there was a high chance it was going to be both different, imaginative, and excellent. Nowadays, we have a much broader selection, so crap gets over the ocean.... and what's really funny... some fansubbers are releasing ancient animes that the old VHS subbers skipped. We can watch them now and say, "Ugh. Damn good thing I didn't see THAT when I was new to anime."

Originally Posted by reaver4k

I would say Anime is getting alot better... In everthing...

What sucks is some Anime are being Limited to 13 eps, and very good ones arnt going into a 2nd Season

reaver4k I was about to agree with that (thinking of the amazing goodness of MI), but I think there are a few current anime (besides "100s of eps" shonen animes) which have gone over 36 episodes. I can't think of any right now but the home page shows Uninhabited Planet Survive going long. Hmmm.. maybe your right about that. The only long running animes I'm following now are Mac 7, LoGH, Naruto (gotten boring again), Daa Daa Daa, and Mahoujin Guru Guru. Ha, all of them either old anime or shonen 100 eps.

-k

curious

[dreamless]

MONSTER has 78 episodes planned

[PlasmaFlux]

Darker and more mature anime is something new? I guess shows like Akira, Bubblegum Crisis, Hades Project Zeorymer were all just my overactive imagination.

I said increase, not new development.

I disagree with the comment on the art style as well. The old masters are always improving, to be sure, but I stand by what I've said time and again that there are generic, boring art styles (Otogizoushi, Last Exile, Project A-ko, Outlaw Stars, Slayers) in every generation, and then there's those artists whose art styles really do stand out (Leiji Matsumoto, Haruhiko Mikimoto, Yoshitaka Amano, Hayao Miyazaki).

Uh, huh, Otogizoushi and Last Exile are boring and generic? They're refined (and far more visually interesting than most fare out there), which is where the art style is going nowadays. I, for one, am extremely thankful that the BESM vogue of the early 90s is on the way out. Full Metal Alchemist, though it does have quite a bit of BESM-ing, is -very- laid back compared to, say, Kenshin. The only characters with (mildly) oversized eyes are the kids, and everyone else is more-or-less normal, which is also true of Otogizoushi and Last Exile - you're drawing lines that don't exist.

[DaFool]

Originally Posted by PlasmaFlux

Uh, huh, Otogizoushi and Last Exile are boring and generic? They're refined (and far more visually interesting than most fare out there), which is where the art style is going nowadays. I, for one, am extremely thankful that the BESM vogue of the early 90s is on the way out.

I wholeheartedly agree. No doubt Leiji Matsumoto and Hayao Miyazaki have very distinctive styles which are recognizable in their most recent animes as well as decades ago. But I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the harder to distinguish styles, such as Kenji Gotoh and Kosuke Fujishima. An eye untrained at distinguishing anime from each other might still be able to differentiate Matsumoto's or Miyazaki's character designs, but not Gotoh's or Fujishima's.

For Last Exile and Otogizoushi, their strengths are not in the character designs (though they look really nice), but in the settings.

As for Last Exile, the style is influenced by this designer (damn, what's his name...it's in the September Newtype USA with the cover of Stellvia). I wouldn't dismiss it as generic.

Same with Otogizoushi. The Heian arc art might turn some people off due to the lack of depth, but in the modern arc it meshes well with live-action photographs. Very beautiful I'd say.

[Radd]

Originally Posted by dreamless

Hmm... can you clarify which anime you have in mind that you'd label as harem show back then in the 80's? Don't tell me Urusei Yatsura or those hentai animes The earliest harem show that somewhat fits the modern definition of this term and I can remember out of the top of my head is Tenchi Muyo, but even that is just a show with some harem elements rather than a real harem show... I think real harem anime as a separate genre only starts to appear in the late 90's to early 2000's, and then starts to have huge progresses lately, for better or worse

Why not Urusei Yatsura , probably yhe grandmother of the genre? Tenchi is most definitely another early "harem" show. Some others off the top of my head:

El Hazard (all but a harem towards the end, same crew though)
Ranma
Masion Ikkio
Fiushigi Yugi

I will concede that "harem" anime as it's becoming is changing, especially as more and more of these shows are coming either directly from, or inspired by Japanese dating sims.

I said increase, not new development.

PlasmaFlux, my mistake. Still, I would only agree in so far is that we are seeing an increase in the amount of anime being made overall. I would not say that we are seeing a greater percentage of this sort of anime over others.

Uh, huh, Otogizoushi and Last Exile are boring and generic?

Ok, boring is simply my personal take. Generic on the other hand, I stand by that statement fully, as more and more anime is taking a turn for this westernized style of anime. While there are differences between different artists, these differences range from very distinct to minor quirks. This overall look to anime is what BESM was to 80's anime, the 90's were the transition period. When one or two artists stand out with such a style, it is unique, when it becomes all the rage and we see a glut of such shows, it becomes generic. If everyone drew exactly like Leiji Matsumoto, I'd complain about it just as much.

Also, I should mention that I rather like many of the designs in Last Exile, both mechanicle and clothing, but that is a completely seperate characteristic from the drawing style itself. Just in case anyone is confusing those aspects.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by Radd

Why not Urusei Yatsura , probably yhe grandmother of the genre? Tenchi is most definitely another early "harem" show. Some others off the top of my head:

El Hazard (all but a harem towards the end, same crew though)
Ranma
Masion Ikkio
Fiushigi Yugi

I will concede that "harem" anime as it's becoming is changing, especially as more and more of these shows are coming either directly from, or inspired by Japanese dating sims.

well, it seems you take "harem anime" as too broad a term. But then still saying Urusei Yatsura being harem is a bit far-fetched since there are only two girls consistently romantically interested in the male lead. Also if you think harem anime is such a broad term, then maybe EVA, Nadesico and RahXephon are all harem shows?

[kujoe]

While such anime aren't exactly "harem," they have nevertheless helped build the foundations from which harem anime sprang from.

Some similarities can be noted. However in Urusei Yatsura's case, it's more of the male lead who's interested in all the women and not the other way around. Fushigi Yuugi on the other hand, is harem anime turned around its head--or rather, you have one female lead and a bunch of young men.

[dreamless]

hmm... ironically, the male lead of current days harem shows are almost always the complete opposite of Moroboshi from Urusei Yatsura. Actually I'd love to see a harem show male lead having the same personality as UY's Moroboshi, instead of all these overly kind, indecisive, irresponsible, hypocrite losers nowadays

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by dreamless

hmm... ironically, the male lead of current days harem shows are almost always the complete opposite of Moroboshi from Urusei Yatsura. Actually I'd love to see a harem show male lead having the same personality as UY's Moroboshi, instead of all these overly kind, indecisive, irresponsible, hypocrite losers nowadays

There's Goldenboy.

[音楽は死んだ]

Originally Posted by dreamless

hmm... ironically, the male lead of current days harem shows are almost always the complete opposite of Moroboshi from Urusei Yatsura. Actually I'd love to see a harem show male lead having the same personality as UY's Moroboshi, instead of all these overly kind, indecisive, irresponsible, hypocrite losers nowadays

Ah, so your looking for hentai then

[Ending]

Do you think anime in general is getting better?

After watching some more recent releases (like Inuyasha) and then comparing them to older ones (like Dominion Tank Police), I think they have taken steps forward. Animation quality is generally taken rather good, thanks to computers, and the voice-acting very good. Hopefully we will see in the future some richer and more realistic soundscapes too, knowing that computers can also manipulate sounds -not only graphics.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by 音楽は死んだ

Ah, so your looking for hentai then

lol, even hentai animes nowadays often have loser male leads... Oh great Dark Schneider, we are awaiting for you to bring happiness and salvation to half of the world population