AnimeSuki Forums

PhantomRay · 2008-06-22, 08:45

When I had my first contact whit anime, like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto and other. I never asked anything about them at first, it's like they dragged me into it, like some form of hypnosis, sometimes like staying all days without asking myself " Why do I watch such things all day ? Why is this thing so different ? Shouldn't i've been doing something except watching this ? ".

I sometimes can't remember how I got into anime, I remember SOMETHING happen, but I can't seem to recall. I just know that the big boom that made me a permanent anime devourer is Haruhi Suzumiya, but that wasn't the first anime contact of course.

Anyway the point of this topic is actually an attempt to dechiper how can anime drag the fans and expecially the non-fans/beginners into such animation/art, how do they catch your attention ? why are they so hypnotic ? how do they work ? whats the psychology behind them ? whats the secret about them ?

Even thought animes are very enjoyable, I don't consider them an addiction ( This word is to dangerous, people should use it lesser ), cause they are so easily to handle, you can watch them anytime. I can stay a lot of time without them. But still, everytime I feel very tired, exhausted from school/work from example, just watching a bit of anime recharges the battery almost instantly, cause it makes you forget about the momentary stress, worries and duty just because they captivate your attention instantly. This only works whit anime for me ( and music ). Movies, video games and other types of entertaiment don't have the same effect.

I sometimes think anime is a bunch of animations filled whit a massive number of subliminal codes, cause sometimes I end up watching some type of genres that I don't like without even knowing ( Even ignoring the mature content and the ratings ), untill I see the obvious 'sick/wrong' scenes that makes me throw the computer off the window. But still, something on the moment wanted me to see it.

Sorry for writting so much, you can all wake up now ! I was just expressing my mind and wonders.
So...why is anime so good ?

Reckoner · 2008-06-22, 14:12

Because in American cartoons boob grabs are not acceptable.

yezhanquan · 2008-06-22, 18:47

Most of the time, the Japanese voice cast don't sound like they are unwilling to be in an animated series. That's one thing. The English cartoons I enjoyed were quite mature, like Nighthood and Gargoyles.

The other is the food for thought part (again, depending on the series you watch).

Destinyblade · 2008-06-22, 18:50

The main attraction is the characters. I have read somewhere that in Japan, characters are the most important part of any anime and manga (especially in manga). Take a look at some of the most mainstream and successful anime/manga titles. Dragon Ball didn't exactly have the most original story concept ever made, yet it became one of the most popular mangas because it had a funny and lovable main character in Goku. One Piece has Luffy, who sometimes does things at random (which usually results in funny scenes), but overall, is a good-hearted character. And then there are ones like Yu Yu Hakusho, which was different because it had a delinquent playing as a hero type in Yusuke Urameshi.

I'm sure there are some fans who find other parts of anime to be more enjoyable, but an anime/manga does not necessarily have to be original or have a great story, as long as the characters are fun to read or watch about.

yezhanquan · 2008-06-22, 19:04

Many storylines had been done before. The challenge is to make the subsequent rehashing interesting in their own ways.

yoruichi fan · 2008-06-23, 01:35

well i think that they are attractive (at least to me) because
1 american cartoons just dont have plots
2 american cartoons have loud annoying voices that scream all the time
3 the animation is better in anime
4 the cultural differences make it interesting
5 they are not kid themed/directed

o i forgot to mention that they have bright colors and the differences in detail are very noticeable

Vegard Aune · 2008-06-23, 07:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by yoruichi fan

well i think that they are attractive (at least to me) because
1 american cartoons just dont have plots
2 american cartoons have loud annoying voices that scream all the time
3 the animation is better in anime
4 the cultural differences make it interesting
5 they are not kid themed/directed

Many of them are, you know. At least most of the shows I've seen have been aimed at children, or at least been child-friendly enough to work. The main exception being Claymore, which I just can't believe is a shonen-anime, considering the preposterous amount of violence and blood that seems to be present in about every episode...
Apart from that, point 1 and 3 would be the main reason I prefer anime. Of course, there are american cartoons with plots, as well as anime without them, and those can be enjoyable too... If they don't go on for too long, which seems to plague like, every american cartoon ever. Azumanga Daioh and Full Metal Panic Fumoffu were both good, but if they'd gone on forever like so many american series do, I doubt I'd have liked them anywhere near as much.

...Though at the moment, the only american cartoon with an ongoing plot I can think of is Avatar, which is quite "anime-like" as it is.

KitsuneNineTails · 2008-06-23, 14:32

1) Storylines are typically more mature than your Looney Toons cartoons. Even shows for younger audiences (possibly excluding DBZ, Naruto, etc.) deal with more mature issues than we see in most American animation (except perhaps some earlier Disney and Don Bluth films). I mean, imagine if ALL American cartoons were of the Secret of NIMH quality/dark atmosphere.
2) Attention to detail (both in the art and in the story), something sorely lacking in most Hollywood films. For example, in Cowboy Bebop, gravity, physics, etc. are portrayed in a semi-realistic manner unlike Hollywood films which just use "magic" (like Star Wars 'lasers'). And you just don't see all that many continuity errors in anme. Part is the ease of the medium to detect and correct that, part is the attention to detail Japanese animators (hell, Japanese in GENERAL) have.
3) Main characters sometimes die and not all endings are happy. This lends itself to a more "dark" atmosphere, hence a more mature, realistic feeling than your Wiley Coyote getting pummeled by the road runner, yet still crawling out alive. It also adds to the intensity because you are never QUITE sure that ANYone is safe.

Spoiler for Robotech:

4) Let's face it. Cute girls, spunky heroines, studly kickass anti-heroes, master swordsmen... I think all of these have pretty broad appeal. (Honestly, I bet most Americans would really find the stereotypical anime girl cute but our masculine culture pretty much precludes anyone from admitting that). I guess this basically comes down to an interest in violence and sex, which is a pretty Freudian way to put it, I suppose.

Ciao!

Vagrant0 · 2008-06-23, 18:01

I'd vote for that plot thing for why american attempts tend to suck. Too many cartoons have totally disjointed storylines, where you don't need to watch it every week to see what happens next. Instead the same 6-8 episodes can be repeated over and over and over again in any order. Look at some of the more memorable american based cartoons; Thundercats, G.I. Joe, Speed Racer, Transformers, Gargoyles. And as you probably realized, most of those were imports. America has never really gotten past the days of Looney Toons, and Tom and Jerry, where continunity was of any importance.

Even subject matter has become less and less of an issue. Many early cartoons had political or social commentary in them, or atleast good old cartoon violence. Characters now don't get hurt, or make references to anything that anyone under the age of 10 would even acknowledge. The general depth of characters, or individual storylines has also gone down quite a bit. Take Scooby Doo for example, the series which many of us grew up watching was an hour long, and usually had 2 cases. The most recent one is 30 mins long, and has 3 cases, where the clues are next to meaningless, or are dumped all at once. And no more references to weed usage, activism, or lesbianism.

As far as characters go, there is little to no relating with characters in american cartoons. Instead we are to just watch, laugh at ther antics, and little else. There is no real emotional attachment. This is also why mimicry among kids is fairly low for these series. Whereas with anime, the characters feel more real, go through the same problems we do, have thoughts, desires, and compulsions. There is that emotional attachment. Rather than just watch, we are able to relate to what they're doing. And likewise, the cases of mimicry and identification is much higher for these series.

Anime is more art because it isn't nearly as limited as to what it can deal with, and tends to be more relevent to those watching it.

2008-06-22, 08:45	Link #1
PhantomRay ~Shoop~Da~Whoop~ Join Date: Jun 2008	This piece of art called ANIME, why is it so good ? When I had my first contact whit anime, like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto and other. I never asked anything about them at first, it's like they dragged me into it, like some form of hypnosis, sometimes like staying all days without asking myself " Why do I watch such things all day ? Why is this thing so different ? Shouldn't i've been doing something except watching this ? ". I sometimes can't remember how I got into anime, I remember SOMETHING happen, but I can't seem to recall. I just know that the big boom that made me a permanent anime devourer is Haruhi Suzumiya, but that wasn't the first anime contact of course. Anyway the point of this topic is actually an attempt to dechiper how can anime drag the fans and expecially the non-fans/beginners into such animation/art, how do they catch your attention ? why are they so hypnotic ? how do they work ? whats the psychology behind them ? whats the secret about them ? Even thought animes are very enjoyable, I don't consider them an addiction ( This word is to dangerous, people should use it lesser ), cause they are so easily to handle, you can watch them anytime. I can stay a lot of time without them. But still, everytime I feel very tired, exhausted from school/work from example, just watching a bit of anime recharges the battery almost instantly, cause it makes you forget about the momentary stress, worries and duty just because they captivate your attention instantly. This only works whit anime for me ( and music ). Movies, video games and other types of entertaiment don't have the same effect. I sometimes think anime is a bunch of animations filled whit a massive number of subliminal codes, cause sometimes I end up watching some type of genres that I don't like without even knowing ( Even ignoring the mature content and the ratings ), untill I see the obvious 'sick/wrong' scenes that makes me throw the computer off the window. But still, something on the moment wanted me to see it. Sorry for writting so much, you can all wake up now ! I was just expressing my mind and wonders. So...why is anime so good ? Last edited by PhantomRay; 2008-06-22 at 08:57.

2008-06-22, 18:47	Link #3
yezhanquan Observer/Bookman wannabe Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Singapore Age: 38	Most of the time, the Japanese voice cast don't sound like they are unwilling to be in an animated series. That's one thing. The English cartoons I enjoyed were quite mature, like Nighthood and Gargoyles. The other is the food for thought part (again, depending on the series you watch). __________________

2008-06-22, 19:04	Link #5
yezhanquan Observer/Bookman wannabe Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Singapore Age: 38	Many storylines had been done before. The challenge is to make the subsequent rehashing interesting in their own ways. __________________

2008-06-23, 14:32	Link #8
KitsuneNineTails 赤い狐 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Colorful Colorado Age: 46	1) Storylines are typically more mature than your Looney Toons cartoons. Even shows for younger audiences (possibly excluding DBZ, Naruto, etc.) deal with more mature issues than we see in most American animation (except perhaps some earlier Disney and Don Bluth films). I mean, imagine if ALL American cartoons were of the Secret of NIMH quality/dark atmosphere. 2) Attention to detail (both in the art and in the story), something sorely lacking in most Hollywood films. For example, in Cowboy Bebop, gravity, physics, etc. are portrayed in a semi-realistic manner unlike Hollywood films which just use "magic" (like Star Wars 'lasers'). And you just don't see all that many continuity errors in anme. Part is the ease of the medium to detect and correct that, part is the attention to detail Japanese animators (hell, Japanese in GENERAL) have. 3) Main characters sometimes die and not all endings are happy. This lends itself to a more "dark" atmosphere, hence a more mature, realistic feeling than your Wiley Coyote getting pummeled by the road runner, yet still crawling out alive. It also adds to the intensity because you are never QUITE sure that ANYone is safe. Spoiler for Robotech: I remember when Roy Fokker died, I was like... W - T - F!!! I was used to GI Joe-type cartoons where any main character was immune from all forms of death even though they were frequently in tense situations. 4) Let's face it. Cute girls, spunky heroines, studly kickass anti-heroes, master swordsmen... I think all of these have pretty broad appeal. (Honestly, I bet most Americans would really find the stereotypical anime girl cute but our masculine culture pretty much precludes anyone from admitting that). I guess this basically comes down to an interest in violence and sex, which is a pretty Freudian way to put it, I suppose. Ciao!

2008-06-22, 18:50	Link #4
Destinyblade Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007	The main attraction is the characters. I have read somewhere that in Japan, characters are the most important part of any anime and manga (especially in manga). Take a look at some of the most mainstream and successful anime/manga titles. Dragon Ball didn't exactly have the most original story concept ever made, yet it became one of the most popular mangas because it had a funny and lovable main character in Goku. One Piece has Luffy, who sometimes does things at random (which usually results in funny scenes), but overall, is a good-hearted character. And then there are ones like Yu Yu Hakusho, which was different because it had a delinquent playing as a hero type in Yusuke Urameshi. I'm sure there are some fans who find other parts of anime to be more enjoyable, but an anime/manga does not necessarily have to be original or have a great story, as long as the characters are fun to read or watch about.

2008-06-23, 01:35	Link #6
yoruichi fan Shunpo!Shunko! Artist Join Date: May 2008 Location: California Age: 32	well i think that they are attractive (at least to me) because 1 american cartoons just dont have plots 2 american cartoons have loud annoying voices that scream all the time 3 the animation is better in anime 4 the cultural differences make it interesting 5 they are not kid themed/directed o i forgot to mention that they have bright colors and the differences in detail are very noticeable

2008-06-23, 18:01	Link #9
Vagrant0 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007	I'd vote for that plot thing for why american attempts tend to suck. Too many cartoons have totally disjointed storylines, where you don't need to watch it every week to see what happens next. Instead the same 6-8 episodes can be repeated over and over and over again in any order. Look at some of the more memorable american based cartoons; Thundercats, G.I. Joe, Speed Racer, Transformers, Gargoyles. And as you probably realized, most of those were imports. America has never really gotten past the days of Looney Toons, and Tom and Jerry, where continunity was of any importance. Even subject matter has become less and less of an issue. Many early cartoons had political or social commentary in them, or atleast good old cartoon violence. Characters now don't get hurt, or make references to anything that anyone under the age of 10 would even acknowledge. The general depth of characters, or individual storylines has also gone down quite a bit. Take Scooby Doo for example, the series which many of us grew up watching was an hour long, and usually had 2 cases. The most recent one is 30 mins long, and has 3 cases, where the clues are next to meaningless, or are dumped all at once. And no more references to weed usage, activism, or lesbianism. As far as characters go, there is little to no relating with characters in american cartoons. Instead we are to just watch, laugh at ther antics, and little else. There is no real emotional attachment. This is also why mimicry among kids is fairly low for these series. Whereas with anime, the characters feel more real, go through the same problems we do, have thoughts, desires, and compulsions. There is that emotional attachment. Rather than just watch, we are able to relate to what they're doing. And likewise, the cases of mimicry and identification is much higher for these series. Anime is more art because it isn't nearly as limited as to what it can deal with, and tends to be more relevent to those watching it.