What do you love about anime?

[Akito Kinomoto]

Since we have a thread asking what you hate about anime I figured I might as well throw in this one for the sake of balance. That and we've got too many hate threads as it is. Where's the love?

Anyway I have a weakness for "VN fairy tale romances" like Kanon 2006 or Sola. Or moélodrama as I like to call them. The only time a show of this genre didn't do too well with me was Fortune Arterial for pretending to have a much grander story than it presented. I guess this explains part of the appeal for moélodrama. They're very straightforward in their simplicity despite their semi-serious nature and rarely attempt grandiose shenanigans.

The lack of fanservice is one of its strengths as well. Now, I'm actually indifferent to sexual exploitation at worst. However, the lack of any panty shots or the like in moélodrama is a directional move I appreciate considering how the show could guarantee an audience otherwise. Showing off a character's attractiveness isn't needed to draw in viewers; the design itself usually does that.

Rounding off what makes a moélodrama a moélodrama would be how they really do resemble fairy tales. Their narratives present a meal of ideals on a plate of reality with a side dish of problems. Even if things don't work out the way you'd hope there are always little reminders about what you still have. I really like that.

So yeah.

What do you love about anime?

[NoemiChan]

One word and I believe is the most obvious reason.The Design. The big eyes, cute child like voice, the adorable faces, and on the mature side, the curves.

No need to explain much, those are simply my reasons.

[Kyuu]

Plenty of waifu's to choose from! LOLOLOLOLOL Any male who is not attracted to female anime characters is either a complete liar or is gay.

As a MAN - who's probably too old for this -- -- anime is worthwhile because the female characters look good. After all, "sex sells". If these characters are unattractive, then few and far in-between would even bother watching.

But of course. Visuals are visuals. Y'can stuff a series full of pretty anime girls -- only to come up with something that's pure garbage. Therefore, the best of the best female characters must have some kind of "substance". And no, I'm not talking about boobs. But rather, they must have some some personality or characteristics to match their "beauty".

Then create some kind of awesome story, setting, etc. Then, you have yourself a hot-seller.

===

As for females watching anime -- I can't speak for you.

[MUAHAHAHAHAHA]

Allows me to escape from reality for a moment? It gives me the childhood feeling of "anything can happen". Certain anime plots are so ridiculous and over the top but that's precisely what I like about it. It's imaginative and a world of wonders, and that in many ways make me reminisce my own childhood.

[Hiroi Sekai]

Yeah, let's stop the hate! I like this idea.

What isn't there to love? The animations actually look like they've had time and care put into them. There's a wide variety of styles and elements that just has an air of uniqueness and quirkiness to them that sucks you in visually.

On top of that, what's better than actually intriguing plots? What drew me in from the start was that my first anime Kanon 2002 actually had character development and depth- not quite like the cartoons I was watching on the telly at the time. I even love how simple slice-of-life series can put a great big smile on my face.

Characters! I sat in front of my parents' television last week with nothing to do, so I popped on Teletoon to see how cartoons were faring nowadays. I sat through 5 shows and realized that I was actually literally falling asleep. The characters had nothing to them. "I have flaming hair", "I'm a bad parody character", "I fight in space", "I am an idiot" and "I'm ruining a beloved character" sums up the protagonists of the shows I watched. Now, I compare it to easier anime like Clannad, Toradora, Minami-ke, K-ON and even freaking Animal Crossing, and I'm actually compelled to learn about them. Okay, maybe less K-ON, but even that got me interested because they properly interacted with each other and had goals.

Too much negativity: turning into hypocrite. To shift back onto the right track, I'll mention voices. I'll put it simply: on the whole, Japanese seiyuu always sound like they're greatly invested in their roles. Hit and miss for Western cartoons for me. Nothing hits the expressive excitement in Yui Horie or Shiraishi Minoru's voices, just as examples. When I first heard Horie's voice in Kanon, it was a huge flip for me.

Might as well go down the entire gauntlet. Music is subjective, like every other opinion I state here, so I'll say that I don't mind themes for Western cartoons most of the time. What I don't like is when they get lazy and just throw in a generic instrumental tune; it completely misses the point of an intro/outro sequence. Sometimes, they use the same tune in both, and that's just...bah. What I like about anime is that they almost never do this. When they do, it's often with some style and sense infused, like the Baccano opening, for example. They even expand on that by introducing character songs, multiple openings, insert songs, etc.

So yeah, to me it's a vast improvement over what's offered to me here locally. For all the naysaying I did about Western cartoons though, I give credit to them overall for sure, and there's a few that are a part of my childhood for sure.

tl;dr: I watch Western cartoons for mindless entertainment, but I often go to anime for a deep experience (at best), maybe a little mindless entertainment here too.

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by papermario13689

Yeah, let's stop the hate! I like this idea.

I like:

Spoiler:

If anyone sees her as a bitch, she's just misunderstood.

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Kyuu

I like:

Spoiler:

If anyone sees her as a bitch, she's just misunderstood.

I see her as a girl worth enough to be any boy's imouto.... but she'll be my waifu anyway

[Hiroi Sekai]

We need an anti-Kirino hate group. Unless you were joking.

[FireChick]

I kinda knew from a young age that anime was unlike anything that I was being shown when I was little. American cartoons couldn't compare to it. For one thing, I noticed that anime showed a lot of things that most American cartoons wouldn't even bother to touch, and this really interested me, especially after hearing about the hate being poured onto 4Kids. Anime (like the ones I saw, like Pokemon, Digimon, a little bit of Sailor Moon, Monster Rancher, etc.) have more complex and deep storylines, actually look as though a lot of care and effort put into the animation (in the olden days), the music was always awesome, and definitely made American cartoons look like junk compared to their awesomeness. I guess I just love anime for being that way...of course, I'm VERY picky about my anime (No ecchi or fanservice for me! Leave me out of it! I refuse to conform!!!), and now I know that not all anime are awesome...but my love for it will never die, no matter how much it'll fall into the disgraceful bottomless pit that is overblown moe, incest, ecchi, and fanservice!

[Kirito]

Was I like about anime are the character designs, the stories plots, setting, and how the series premise is mapped out overtime.

I really enjoy watching the protagonists life change drastically and how they adjust to it plus see what motivates them to do what they do. The thing that draws me most to an anime is the story and the characters. Setting doesn't just as long as there are characters I have identify and relate with and the story is really unique and makes you want to watch more.

[Destined_Fate]

Giant Mecha is what I love about Anime.

[Random32]

I generally like the characters. Most of the time I could care less about the plot and setting, but I need to be able to emotionally attach myself to the characters.

Another thing I like about anime, especially recently, is the number of series that just give me happy feelings inside. Maybe I don't consumer enough of other media, but I think anime is really the only media that happy fluffy feeling shows like K-On! are prevalent.

It's not as much about anime as how anime is financed, but I like how anime can cater to niche interests.

[NK_500]

Production qualities, which are many times superior than any American cartoons except Disney-Pixar and Dreamworks ones.

Also more shows aimed for teenagers than kids below 10. There aren't many American(or any non-Japanese countries) cartoons that made for teenagers although Total Drama Island(which I don't like at all) is one of the few non-anime cartoons that really made for teenagers.

Script-writing skills also counts. I don't think any Hollywood ace script-writers can write scripts for Death Note and Madoka Magica.

[Master_Yoma]

I like it because it kills a lot of time and all ecchi stuff oh striped panties are just so hot

[Triple_R]

Here are a few things that I love about anime:

1. The simple fact that there's more of it, by the dozens, coming out constantly. Even if Sturgeon's Law is correct, 10% of all anime shows that come out in most recent calender years is still a pretty large chunk of entertainment.

2. Aesthetics/style. One thing that really appealed to me as a comic book fan was anime's ability to have character attire that had that nice 'standout' feel of superhero costumes, but at the same time was actually believable as normal daily attire. Student uniforms help a lot here - A lot of female student uniforms in particular have great color and style to them.

3. Moe*, especially when viewed at a global level. Within just anime itself, there are times when moe seems too prevalent to me. But I can't think of anything quite like moe in any other entertainment form/medium that I'm familiar with. So I do think that moe gives anime a very distinct charm.

4. Theatrics. A lot of anime has great theatrics (this probably ties in a bit to the 'style' point I made before). It's honestly kind of amazing how often anime makes me think of Shakespeare. I really love shows, stories, and characters with a theatrical feel to them, and I find a lot of that in anime.

5. Enhanced Realism (that's probably the best way to put it). Anime is great at making the mundane and the everyday actually seem interesting and engaging. A lot of KyoAni works are good examples of this. Like moe, I think anime sometimes goes too far with this, but also like moe, it is a real distinctive strength for anime.

6. The sweat drop. The sweat drop actually earns an entry here all by itself. The sweat drop is sheer brilliance on the part of whoever came up with it. It conveys nervousness/anxiety/irritation in such a quick and effective and often slightly humorous way.

7. What Random32 said, although it does tie in a lot to "moe" as well. In an age when Western Entertainment can't seem to get enough of Grimdark and Gritty and Cynical, I really appreciate how anime is willing to do stuff like K-On!, Clannad, and Tamayura Hitotose on a regular basis. Again, I don't know if I can find this sort of entertainment in any other entertainment medium.


*By "Moe", I basically mean "cute girls doing cute things". It's a bit more complex than that, but I don't want my meaning to be confused with a generic "It makes me feel good", because it's much more specific than that.

[Vexx]

I could have cared less about anime in the 80s and 90s when I thought it was only "boom, bang, and shouting". When I discovered comedies, romances, and rom-coms - along with all the more subtle dramas THAT's what I like about anime.

At times, 30 seconds of a stellar moment in an anime drama can run circles around weeks of shallow tv prime time.

[Soliloquy]

I don't watch anime for intellectual discussion. I just want to be simply entertained for having a believable plot and sympathetic characters. If it tries to have messages than make entertainment, I wouldn't waste my time on it.

A big advantage the anime have over western animation is the appealing characters both the design and personality especially female characters. Western animation has one exception that would be Batman Animated Series since then all the cartoons I saw, all the characters were shallow. In anime many characters had believable motives and reasons why they act the way they do.

Even if the characters are appeared to be shallow, as long as they are entertaining and looking cute, I'd watch the anime. All I want is to be charmed by the anime I'm watching to take a break from the reality.

[Archon_Wing]

Wut... a non-hate thread? Ok, fine.

I like the over the top styles of comedy, and also the fact that they can make animated characters so great looking at times. Anime hair is the best-- it looks so ridiculous but so awesome.

Also, energy beams.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Here are a few things that I love about anime:

1. The simple fact that there's more of it, by the dozens, coming out constantly. Even if Sturgeon's Law is correct, 10% of all anime shows that come out in most recent calender years is still a pretty large chunk of entertainment.

2. Aesthetics/style. One thing that really appealed to me as a comic book fan was anime's ability to have character attire that had that nice 'standout' feel of superhero costumes, but at the same time was actually believable as normal daily attire. Student uniforms help a lot here - A lot of female student uniforms in particular have great color and style to them.

3. Moe*, especially when viewed at a global level. Within just anime itself, there are times when moe seems too prevalent to me. But I can't think of anything quite like moe in any other entertainment form/medium that I'm familiar with. So I do think that moe gives anime a very distinct charm.

4. Theatrics. A lot of anime has great theatrics (this probably ties in a bit to the 'style' point I made before). It's honestly kind of amazing how often anime makes me think of Shakespeare. I really love shows, stories, and characters with a theatrical feel to them, and I find a lot of that in anime.

5. Enhanced Realism (that's probably the best way to put it). Anime is great at making the mundane and the everyday actually seem interesting and engaging. A lot of KyoAni works are good examples of this. Like moe, I think anime sometimes goes too far with this, but also like moe, it is a real distinctive strength for anime.

6. The sweat drop. The sweat drop actually earns an entry here all by itself. The sweat drop is sheer brilliance on the part of whoever came up with it. It conveys nervousness/anxiety/irritation in such a quick and effective and often slightly humorous way.

7. What Random32 said, although it does tie in a lot to "moe" as well. In an age when Western Entertainment can't seem to get enough of Grimdark and Gritty and Cynical, I really appreciate how anime is willing to do stuff like K-On!, Clannad, and Tamayura Hitotose on a regular basis. Again, I don't know if I can find this sort of entertainment in any other entertainment medium.


*By "Moe", I basically mean "cute girls doing cute things". It's a bit more complex than that, but I don't want my meaning to be confused with a generic "It makes me feel good", because it's much more specific than that.

Very good post. I completely agree with you on all points. The fourth and fifth ones are particularly important to me. You forgot the boobs though

Another thing I like about anime is that you can see things you can't really see anywhere else -other than very big budget movies- , like mecha battles or epic fights between superpowered individuals. Although it obviously still cost money to animate this kind of fantastical battles, it's a lot easier to do than live action, and therefore, I feel anime writers' creativity is somehow less limited.

I also appreciate the diversity of anime. It can range from the daily life of a gay baker to a very serious SF drama about the rise and fall of a galactic empire. There is something for absolutely everybody.

[ahelo]

How it's able to tell stories in such a way that isn't possible in any other media? That it has a tendency to be more artistic than Western cartoons with the use of different animation techniques and a unique color palette? That it can pull off terrible sounding premises and turn it into masterpieces? that it's able to breathe life on characters that you normally wouldn't see in Western cartoons? Yeah, I have a lot of reasons. . .