AnimeSuki Forums

Asakura_Y0h · 2003-12-27, 06:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Dalton

actualy.... the line between good vs evil is becomming more and more blurry in allot of animes plus the characters get more depth and since the stories are really just based on the characters their pasts and their goals you can say the stories have improved.
An evil character doesnt always make the choice for what he is fighting for these days........... popular example is haku or something from naruto i guess.
So yeah i think the anime is getting better but thats only natural since its only natural to learn more as you go. ...... i guess more acuratly you could say its moving allong with its time

Hmm... at first I was on the opinion that character plots are less different than they were last time but after you reminded me on the Naruto's Haku note... I think I could agree with you that in general it is getting better.... But I'm still looking for that blow your mind away animation..... Or maybe there's so many that are equally good there's no apparent blow your mind away ones.... Does anyone have any opinions on this?

sumo · 2003-12-27, 12:38

anime is gradually getting better. drawing, animation techniques, background art and animation, and not to mention story wise, a perfect example is naruto. i've never been hooked on a cartoon since dbz came out for the first time. ( cartoon network destroyed it by replaying it over and over and over agian. ). Its a mix of action graphically enhanced coloring and animation with the magical world of the ninja stories which create the most bizzare and enchanting world possibly imaginable....

Ps theere are other but i have yet to find them

Sugetsu · 2003-12-27, 15:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Raiden

Now this might seem like a stupid question, but I'm starting to see more and more series that are actually good to very good, and some are easily classics (last exile, da capo, FMA, FMP, etc) right off the bat. A lot different than most anime used to be, at least in my book. A good example of this would be the last 2 years of anime. Spring 2001 I was following 1 anime. Fall 2001 I was following 2 anime. Spring 2002 I was following 2 anime. Fall 2002 I was following 3 anime. Spring 2003 I was following 8 anime. Fall 2003 I'm now following 25 anime. Now uh, doesn't that kinda say something? I'm of course using my anime habits as the example here, but I've also seen numerous others who have mentioned much the same thing about their anime collections as well. I would probubly say over the last 12-15 months the quality of the anime, the artwork, storylines, and so much more has grown exponentially in quality in my book.

What do you guys think? I'm hoping this trend doesn't let up. At least 8 of the series I'm following will be ending just after the 1st of the year and a whole new group will be coming in. I wonder how many of these I'll be picking up next?

Personally, it's my belief that the surprising rise in the number of good to excellent quality animes is partially do to the "instant stats" the anime companies are getting from numerous sources like Kazaa, TV ratings, BT, IRC, forums like this one, and much more. In turn they're finding out faster what works, what doesn't, and are very rapidly and directly applying that to all the new and existing anime's out there. All I can say is this is a huge plus for us fans.

I have been watching anime since I was in kinder Garden, my first anime was Candy Candy (1976) see my post: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=3435
Then I watched:

Cobra (1982), http://cartoons.metropoliglobal.com/...cobra_chico.rm
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,7...adventure.html

Moonligth Mask (1972)
http://cartoons.metropoliglobal.com/...ella_Op_Jap.rm

Rose of Versalles (1979 EXELENT ANIME)
http://cartoons.metropoliglobal.com/videos/oscar_op.rm
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,7...f_versail.html

Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs (1984)
http://cartoons.metropoliglobal.com/...ble_opening.rm
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,3...rider_and.html

Future Boy Connan (1978)

Heidi, Girl in the Alps (1974) http://cartoons.metropoliglobal.com/videos/heidi_op.rm
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,8...o_shojo_h.html

Vimpire Hunter (1985)

Dragon Ball (1987)

Captain Tsubasa (1984)
http://www.animenfo.com/animetitle,4...n_tsubasa.html

Saint Seiya (1986 For me the best anime show ever created).
http://www.animenfo.com/review.php?i...iya&type=anime

So yes I have enough experience to say if the anime shows have gotten better. To tell you the truth I haven't seen many new shows that have caught my attention. The only ones out there are:

Naruto,
Lain,
Full Metal Panic (it is so funny),
Scrapped Princes,
Ijame No Ippo,
CowBoy Beepop,
Samurai X,
Ramman 1/2
Hikaru No GO
Bersek
Ninja Scroll (Yeah! Bring on the sex, the blood and the brainless violent action

Ebishu (lol never seem something like this before)

Why do I choose these ones? because of one factor; their story line is very original. The other animes that I have seen do not represent anything new for me. I experienced all that with the old animes.

The only thing that has improved is the graphic quality, but that doesn't really matter to me.

And By the way I just got 21, If anybody thought that I was 40 years old. lol

Radd · 2003-12-28, 20:40

I'm going to have to agree with everyone who's said that animation technology and techniques are improving all of the time, but that storywise there's not really any general improvement really happening.

I'd like to elaborate on both of these points, though.

First of all, while animation technology is getting better and better, and new techniques are always being explored, this does not mean that everyone uses them.

Akira still has the best animation I have witnessed. No other animated movie from anywhere in the world has touched what was accomplished with Akira. The animation is smooth, and full of life. The characters are detailed, yet fluid. The backgrounds are rendered with incredible care and an eye for detail, and a lot of the effects are simply mind blowing. Despite the marketing department's hype machine, movies like Ghost in the Shell just never lived up to the hype of being 'the next Akira'. The animation simply was not as well done.

We have the technology to do a lot better, but no one seems willing to budget such an endeavour. This is understandable as Akira was an expensive movie to make.

Outside of Akira, how many movies are as well animated as 'Macross the Movie 1984: Do You Remember Love?' or 'Arcadia of My Youth'? Oh, there definitely are movies that do a number on these classics in the animation department, but still many other movies and OVAs fall short.

Then there's shows like 'Ebichu the House Cleaning Hamster' and movies like Tamala 2010 that don't even try to push the boundaries of animation, depending entirely on humour and storytelling to carry the show.

Which brings us to the second part of my initial statement. There have been no real improvements in storytelling. How can I say that when there's so many great shows? Easily. There has always been exceptional shows that stand out against the crowd. There's always been a massive glut of generic, forgettable eye candy. Every so often a show like Macross or Evangelion shows up that people will be talking about for years down the line, and more often than not those shows will still stand up against the majority of crap that get's pumped out into the market.

You think that the lines between good and evil getting blurred is something recent? You must not have been paying attention. That's something that's always been there, though it tends to come and go in popularity. There will be a rise of shows that emphasize the 'grey area' between good and evil, and then those shows will run their course and shows with a definite line between black and white will become popular again.

Anime in general has been known for blurring those lines for as long as I can remember. As far back as Tetsuwan Atom and Tetsujin 28.

Much like good animation, good storytelling depends on the creators and the studios and the companies backing the creation of the show. Some people will go out a limb, experimenting with story telling ideas, like Tamala 2010. Other shows will be straight up action fests, or rehashes of older shows, meant to sell model kits and toys to a younger generation of Gundam fans.

racej · 2003-12-29, 14:00

Hi folks this is my first post on this forum.

I sum up the world of anime with formulas.
A formula is like:
1. "Sailor Moon Formula"= girls uses magic and transform to fight evil. (Card Capter Sukura, etc.) (note: there has to be at least one transformation per show to eat up air time)
2. The "Reluctant Hero Formula"= Self concious guy gets some power he doesn't want, he has to fight, but eventually he comes around and combats evil. ( Most Gundam series, Initial D, etc.)
3. The "World Savior Formula" = Someone who has some latent power that needs to be brought out by various hardships and self awarness to stop some super evil. ( like the Reluctant Hero formula but the person has to go though more hardships.)
4. "The Lucky Guy Formula" = Some poor guy has to live with a bunch of girls that all like him or hate him to some degree except for the one special girl that really loves him and he loves her but he dosen't know it yet.

These are a few of the formulas that I have made up but there is many more.
The anime industry uses thies formulas for a quick and easy way to produce an anime that according to the formula should be somewhat successful. Another way of putting it is " you can't go too far wrong if you stick to one of the formulas".

I'm a person that thinks there is no bad anime. I like all anime to various degrees.

I think that when a producer goes outside of the standard formulas and creates something new, they are taking a risk, this is what makes the anime art form grow.
Only the highest and the lowest anime producers are willing to take risks. The high ranked producers can take risks because they are all ready successful. The new or the lowest anime producers have to take risks to be succesful. The middle of the road anime procucers release some good stuff but they also produce rehashed stories with new characters.
When a unique anime is released like Planets and Twin Spica and they prove to be succesful there is a new formula created the anime art form just grew a little bit.

Yes anime is getting better because it's always evolving.

zalas · 2003-12-30, 00:23

Quote:

Yes anime is getting better because it's always evolving.

Well, it's just that maybe stories are getting better, but the actual animation quality is getting worse. Since the advent of CG, many anime are using CG sparkle to draw attention away from the really poor animation quality. I mean, in this episode of Tsukihime, I was almost laughing on the floor because when a certain character collapses, that character falls using only 1 frame, looked more like a cardboard cutout. Granted, there are studios who are animating well, but there's a lot of crap out there.

Asakura_Y0h · 2003-12-30, 00:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by zalas

Well, it's just that maybe stories are getting better, but the actual animation quality is getting worse. Since the advent of CG, many anime are using CG sparkle to draw attention away from the really poor animation quality. I mean, in this episode of Tsukihime, I was almost laughing on the floor because when a certain character collapses, that character falls using only 1 frame, looked more like a cardboard cutout. Granted, there are studios who are animating well, but there's a lot of crap out there.

Really? I didn't notice that part though but I think that Tsukihime's animation on the whole wasn't as good as some out this season... Not as fluid as it should be for an anime in these times... But I think some people might differ on this opinion because not everyone sees animes in the same light.... For me... I think the animation for Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto's background drawings are really nicely done... fight scenes for these two seem fluid enough for me so I would consider it good...

Oh by the way, regarding anime formulas... I have one.
The "All anime guy main characters are damn good looking" formula...= All the main guy roles in the animation look really handsome or portrayed as someone who has a lot of girls after him eg. Prince of Tennis and Fruits Basket.
Formula will also work with opposite effect : "All anime gal main characters are damn good looking" formula.
Note: sometimes these formulas need plot or else possibility of failure could be quite high...... hahahaha

CompShrink · 2003-12-30, 02:38

Nothing new. Having nothing new in terms of plot is... nothing new. I'm ashamed to say I don't have the exact quote, but Shakespeare said that no story is truely new, but really just a story retold, or with a new twist. Even centuries ago they had this same problem.

The thing is, you can't read/hear/watch EVERY story man has ever told. Thus some things are still original. Along with this, some people can put up with unoriginality to greater degrees. Some want everything only slightly overlaping what they've seen or "that sucks." Others can deal with repetative plot if something new is added, and by new it may be entirely new, or simply something in a combination they hadn't seen before, which may not be new to other people. Some really don't care if it's repetative, they have different names, slightly different art, "this is just like _____ it's SOO awesome."

The point is... wait I have a point? Oh, yes... that unoriginality has long existed, it's mainly about what you already know (except for the last group I described above). Also these are 3 points on a spectrum, many people won't fit exactly in one of 3 categories.

Yes there are formulas, but sometimes the formula ones can be really good, sometimes it's nice to have a mind numbing series that is just simply "cool" or funny, whatever it is attempting. Sometimes these have unexpected originality thrown in.

So, the more you see the more likely you are to become a harsh critic. Hence why many people don't agree with American movie critics, they haven't seen as much, so something may be better to them as they don't have the same comparisons to make. (There are other reasons as well).

I think I've rambled enough here... I hope it wasn't entirely pointless...

Edit: Two grammer mistakes, arg...

racej · 2003-12-30, 14:11

The studios are taking short cuts and some of the anime does have spots where the CG anime is a bit off. I think that CG is still pretty new and they are learning to incorperate it better as they use CG. I think that CG is only going to get better as they write new applications to make it easier to apply CG to anime. The Sony Playstaion was the same way, when it first came out. The graphix were only a step or 2 above the Super Nes and game play was a little rough. Over time as Sony sold more game building kits they included appications to run various engines in the game, that caused the creator to have more time to be creative with the grapix and the game play. I think that the new CG tools are only going to get better with time.

I think that CG is the first new tool for the anime industry sence it started. We are witnessing a special time in the anime world, the transition from cell to CG.

I agree with CompShrink, I once read that too. Look at the Movie industry, you can name any movie today and you can find a simular plot in an old movie. I also agree that the right combination of formlas will produce an great anime if the director / creator is clever enough. I enjoy watching old anime and movies because you get to see the orgional formulas in the rawest forms.

EliteJounin · 2004-01-01, 02:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Raiden

Now this might seem like a stupid question, but I'm starting to see more and more series that are actually good to very good, and some are easily classics (last exile, da capo, FMA, FMP, etc) right off the bat. A lot different than most anime used to be, at least in my book. A good example of this would be the last 2 years of anime. Spring 2001 I was following 1 anime. Fall 2001 I was following 2 anime. Spring 2002 I was following 2 anime. Fall 2002 I was following 3 anime. Spring 2003 I was following 8 anime. Fall 2003 I'm now following 25 anime. Now uh, doesn't that kinda say something? I'm of course using my anime habits as the example here, but I've also seen numerous others who have mentioned much the same thing about their anime collections as well. I would probubly say over the last 12-15 months the quality of the anime, the artwork, storylines, and so much more has grown exponentially in quality in my book.

What do you guys think? I'm hoping this trend doesn't let up. At least 8 of the series I'm following will be ending just after the 1st of the year and a whole new group will be coming in. I wonder how many of these I'll be picking up next?

Personally, it's my belief that the surprising rise in the number of good to excellent quality animes is partially do to the "instant stats" the anime companies are getting from numerous sources like Kazaa, TV ratings, BT, IRC, forums like this one, and much more. In turn they're finding out faster what works, what doesn't, and are very rapidly and directly applying that to all the new and existing anime's out there. All I can say is this is a huge plus for us fans.

Hey, you cant expect anime to become good and stay good. There will always be certain anime that excels the best of the best. And others to surpass even that.

MuGeN_BoY · 2004-01-01, 05:18

All i can say is that new animes have too much cg and not enough story...

PocariSweat · 2004-01-01, 13:37

One thing not to forget is everything isn't fansubbed. I'm sure there's plenty of forgettable shows that don't catch the interest of the subbers, but with so many being made these days, plenty are bound to be good. Also all that competition has probably raised the bar a bit. Japanese fans are expecting quality, so I don't think a studio can easily get away with poor shows anymore.

Also CGI and technology can be a double-edged sword. On the whole they've really improved the look and quality of the animation, but sometimes there's a tenancy to use them as a crutch to avoid more expensive cell work.

mr_green32 · 2004-01-06, 13:51

I must say yes. With the more recent animes, you can definately see a visual improvement in animation quality. And for the series, I see more depth in storylines. Times have changed, and just like regular movies, quality has improved. Cheers to anime!

kj1980 · 2004-01-06, 13:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_green32

I must say yes. With the more recent animes, you can definately see a visual improvement in animation quality. And for the series, I see more depth in storylines. Times have changed, and just like regular movies, quality has improved. Cheers to anime!

"Visual improvement" does not necessarily mean "better anime."
I still say anime peaked in the early 1990s with the end of the annual "World Masterpiece Theater" animes...and by this I mean in "story quality."

And by Japanese otaku standards, we are still waiting for the "next big one." (past "big ones" were: "Uchuu Senkan Yamato," "Kidousenshi Gundam," and "Neon Genesis Evangelion.")

Kensuke · 2004-01-06, 14:22

Yamato in 70's
Gundam in 80's
Evangelion in 90's

Heh, it's only 8 years since EVA, there cannot be next "big" anime too soon.

I really wish that 3D is only a trend (and I mean 3D animations like Nemo), nothing beats hand-drawn animation. Most of the anime today is drawn by computers but at least it looks like hand-drawn.

mr_green32 · 2004-01-06, 14:31

The subject question was "Do you think anime in general is getting better?" In my opinion, yes. No, better animation does not mean better anime, but there are degrees of anime which pose different questions:

Has animation in anime improved?
Have storylines in anime improved?
Have character developement in anime improved?
Has accessability in anime improved?

I give props to any and all anime of the past. Without a start, there can be no future. Anime these days have seen much improvement in amy feilds. I'm not saying any year or decade of anime is better than another because my knowledge and experience doesn't warrant that type of judgement. But, in answer to the question, yes, I do feel that anime in general is getting better.

stormy001_M1A2 · 2004-01-06, 15:05

This is strictly my personal opinion, but production quality is improved a lot since 1980s.

But I agree with some posters here that story telling and focus is still the same, the flux is good and bad interwined with each other.

People still talk about Akira,Gundam, Eva and Miyazaki's movies. That is the testament of their staying power. 5 years from now, most anime fans will forget shows like Kiddy Grade, Scrapped Princess or Stellvia.

Just some 2 cents from me.

LK_LoA · 2004-11-09, 23:16

One genre that seems to be new for anime is the slice-of-life anime. By this, I mean "nothing big happens". eg. Kita e, Kokoro Library. Nothing fantastic or supernatural happens.
Because nothing 'big" happens, these stories are much more character-based and personal.

hooliganj · 2004-11-09, 23:48

I don't know about that. I thought The Blue-Green Years was entertaining enough. And the oldest anime still in production is Suzae-san, which is essentially a sit-com about a typical japanese family. "Slice-of-life" isn't really a new kind of story.

DaFool · 2004-11-09, 23:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormy001_M1A2

People still talk about Akira,Gundam, Eva and Miyazaki's movies. That is the testament of their staying power. 5 years from now, most anime fans will forget shows like Kiddy Grade, Scrapped Princess or Stellvia.

These shows had multiple chances to be introduced to a new audience, first as theatrical, next as VHS, then as DVD, then as DVD limited ultimate collection box special edition.

The newer shows that just came out only got the plain DVD treatment.

I'm not a veteran by any meants (otaku-ness being only 5 years old), but I think that art and availability are all improving. The CG when first introduced were jarring, but they are integrating better now (the comments I refer to were posted nearly a year ago) As for character development and story, it depends on the order a newbie gets introduced to anime. For example, I watched RahXephon before Evangelion, so after watching the "derivative" with better animation I don't think so much of the "original".

2004-01-06, 15:05	Link #37
stormy001_M1A2 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	This is strictly my personal opinion, but production quality is improved a lot since 1980s. But I agree with some posters here that story telling and focus is still the same, the flux is good and bad interwined with each other. People still talk about Akira,Gundam, Eva and Miyazaki's movies. That is the testament of their staying power. 5 years from now, most anime fans will forget shows like Kiddy Grade, Scrapped Princess or Stellvia. Just some 2 cents from me. __________________ My Anime Blog

2003-12-27, 12:38	Link #22
sumo がんばってください Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: home/ miami beach Age: 39	anime is gradually getting better. drawing, animation techniques, background art and animation, and not to mention story wise, a perfect example is naruto. i've never been hooked on a cartoon since dbz came out for the first time. ( cartoon network destroyed it by replaying it over and over and over agian. ). Its a mix of action graphically enhanced coloring and animation with the magical world of the ninja stories which create the most bizzare and enchanting world possibly imaginable.... Ps theere are other but i have yet to find them

2003-12-28, 20:40	Link #24
Radd Just Married, Oct. 28th! Join Date: May 2003 Age: 45	I'm going to have to agree with everyone who's said that animation technology and techniques are improving all of the time, but that storywise there's not really any general improvement really happening. I'd like to elaborate on both of these points, though. First of all, while animation technology is getting better and better, and new techniques are always being explored, this does not mean that everyone uses them. Akira still has the best animation I have witnessed. No other animated movie from anywhere in the world has touched what was accomplished with Akira. The animation is smooth, and full of life. The characters are detailed, yet fluid. The backgrounds are rendered with incredible care and an eye for detail, and a lot of the effects are simply mind blowing. Despite the marketing department's hype machine, movies like Ghost in the Shell just never lived up to the hype of being 'the next Akira'. The animation simply was not as well done. We have the technology to do a lot better, but no one seems willing to budget such an endeavour. This is understandable as Akira was an expensive movie to make. Outside of Akira, how many movies are as well animated as 'Macross the Movie 1984: Do You Remember Love?' or 'Arcadia of My Youth'? Oh, there definitely are movies that do a number on these classics in the animation department, but still many other movies and OVAs fall short. Then there's shows like 'Ebichu the House Cleaning Hamster' and movies like Tamala 2010 that don't even try to push the boundaries of animation, depending entirely on humour and storytelling to carry the show. Which brings us to the second part of my initial statement. There have been no real improvements in storytelling. How can I say that when there's so many great shows? Easily. There has always been exceptional shows that stand out against the crowd. There's always been a massive glut of generic, forgettable eye candy. Every so often a show like Macross or Evangelion shows up that people will be talking about for years down the line, and more often than not those shows will still stand up against the majority of crap that get's pumped out into the market. You think that the lines between good and evil getting blurred is something recent? You must not have been paying attention. That's something that's always been there, though it tends to come and go in popularity. There will be a rise of shows that emphasize the 'grey area' between good and evil, and then those shows will run their course and shows with a definite line between black and white will become popular again. Anime in general has been known for blurring those lines for as long as I can remember. As far back as Tetsuwan Atom and Tetsujin 28. Much like good animation, good storytelling depends on the creators and the studios and the companies backing the creation of the show. Some people will go out a limb, experimenting with story telling ideas, like Tamala 2010. Other shows will be straight up action fests, or rehashes of older shows, meant to sell model kits and toys to a younger generation of Gundam fans.

2003-12-29, 14:00	Link #25
racej Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Washington Renton Age: 65	Hi folks this is my first post on this forum. I sum up the world of anime with formulas. A formula is like: 1. "Sailor Moon Formula"= girls uses magic and transform to fight evil. (Card Capter Sukura, etc.) (note: there has to be at least one transformation per show to eat up air time) 2. The "Reluctant Hero Formula"= Self concious guy gets some power he doesn't want, he has to fight, but eventually he comes around and combats evil. ( Most Gundam series, Initial D, etc.) 3. The "World Savior Formula" = Someone who has some latent power that needs to be brought out by various hardships and self awarness to stop some super evil. ( like the Reluctant Hero formula but the person has to go though more hardships.) 4. "The Lucky Guy Formula" = Some poor guy has to live with a bunch of girls that all like him or hate him to some degree except for the one special girl that really loves him and he loves her but he dosen't know it yet. These are a few of the formulas that I have made up but there is many more. The anime industry uses thies formulas for a quick and easy way to produce an anime that according to the formula should be somewhat successful. Another way of putting it is " you can't go too far wrong if you stick to one of the formulas". I'm a person that thinks there is no bad anime. I like all anime to various degrees. I think that when a producer goes outside of the standard formulas and creates something new, they are taking a risk, this is what makes the anime art form grow. Only the highest and the lowest anime producers are willing to take risks. The high ranked producers can take risks because they are all ready successful. The new or the lowest anime producers have to take risks to be succesful. The middle of the road anime procucers release some good stuff but they also produce rehashed stories with new characters. When a unique anime is released like Planets and Twin Spica and they prove to be succesful there is a new formula created the anime art form just grew a little bit. Yes anime is getting better because it's always evolving.

2003-12-30, 02:38	Link #28
CompShrink getting in comps' heads Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: #ToTan @ irc.chatsociety.net	Nothing new. Having nothing new in terms of plot is... nothing new. I'm ashamed to say I don't have the exact quote, but Shakespeare said that no story is truely new, but really just a story retold, or with a new twist. Even centuries ago they had this same problem. The thing is, you can't read/hear/watch EVERY story man has ever told. Thus some things are still original. Along with this, some people can put up with unoriginality to greater degrees. Some want everything only slightly overlaping what they've seen or "that sucks." Others can deal with repetative plot if something new is added, and by new it may be entirely new, or simply something in a combination they hadn't seen before, which may not be new to other people. Some really don't care if it's repetative, they have different names, slightly different art, "this is just like _____ it's SOO awesome." The point is... wait I have a point? Oh, yes... that unoriginality has long existed, it's mainly about what you already know (except for the last group I described above). Also these are 3 points on a spectrum, many people won't fit exactly in one of 3 categories. Yes there are formulas, but sometimes the formula ones can be really good, sometimes it's nice to have a mind numbing series that is just simply "cool" or funny, whatever it is attempting. Sometimes these have unexpected originality thrown in. So, the more you see the more likely you are to become a harsh critic. Hence why many people don't agree with American movie critics, they haven't seen as much, so something may be better to them as they don't have the same comparisons to make. (There are other reasons as well). I think I've rambled enough here... I hope it wasn't entirely pointless... Edit: Two grammer mistakes, arg...

2003-12-30, 14:11	Link #29
racej Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Washington Renton Age: 65	The studios are taking short cuts and some of the anime does have spots where the CG anime is a bit off. I think that CG is still pretty new and they are learning to incorperate it better as they use CG. I think that CG is only going to get better as they write new applications to make it easier to apply CG to anime. The Sony Playstaion was the same way, when it first came out. The graphix were only a step or 2 above the Super Nes and game play was a little rough. Over time as Sony sold more game building kits they included appications to run various engines in the game, that caused the creator to have more time to be creative with the grapix and the game play. I think that the new CG tools are only going to get better with time. I think that CG is the first new tool for the anime industry sence it started. We are witnessing a special time in the anime world, the transition from cell to CG. I agree with CompShrink, I once read that too. Look at the Movie industry, you can name any movie today and you can find a simular plot in an old movie. I also agree that the right combination of formlas will produce an great anime if the director / creator is clever enough. I enjoy watching old anime and movies because you get to see the orgional formulas in the rawest forms.

2004-01-01, 05:18	Link #31
MuGeN_BoY <--- Lolita Complex Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Australia Age: 39	All i can say is that new animes have too much cg and not enough story...

2004-01-01, 13:37	Link #32
PocariSweat ポカリが？どんな動物ですか？ Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: あんたの頭の中	One thing not to forget is everything isn't fansubbed. I'm sure there's plenty of forgettable shows that don't catch the interest of the subbers, but with so many being made these days, plenty are bound to be good. Also all that competition has probably raised the bar a bit. Japanese fans are expecting quality, so I don't think a studio can easily get away with poor shows anymore. Also CGI and technology can be a double-edged sword. On the whole they've really improved the look and quality of the animation, but sometimes there's a tenancy to use them as a crutch to avoid more expensive cell work.

2004-01-06, 13:51	Link #33
mr_green32 Member Join Date: Jan 2004	I must say yes. With the more recent animes, you can definately see a visual improvement in animation quality. And for the series, I see more depth in storylines. Times have changed, and just like regular movies, quality has improved. Cheers to anime!

2004-01-06, 14:22	Link #35
Kensuke Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Finland	Yamato in 70's Gundam in 80's Evangelion in 90's Heh, it's only 8 years since EVA, there cannot be next "big" anime too soon. I really wish that 3D is only a trend (and I mean 3D animations like Nemo), nothing beats hand-drawn animation. Most of the anime today is drawn by computers but at least it looks like hand-drawn.

2004-01-06, 14:31	Link #36
mr_green32 Member Join Date: Jan 2004	The subject question was "Do you think anime in general is getting better?" In my opinion, yes. No, better animation does not mean better anime, but there are degrees of anime which pose different questions: Has animation in anime improved? Have storylines in anime improved? Have character developement in anime improved? Has accessability in anime improved? I give props to any and all anime of the past. Without a start, there can be no future. Anime these days have seen much improvement in amy feilds. I'm not saying any year or decade of anime is better than another because my knowledge and experience doesn't warrant that type of judgement. But, in answer to the question, yes, I do feel that anime in general is getting better.

2004-11-09, 23:16	Link #38
LK_LoA Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004	One genre that seems to be new for anime is the slice-of-life anime. By this, I mean "nothing big happens". eg. Kita e, Kokoro Library. Nothing fantastic or supernatural happens. Because nothing 'big" happens, these stories are much more character-based and personal.

2004-11-09, 23:48	Link #39
hooliganj Team Player Join Date: Apr 2004	I don't know about that. I thought The Blue-Green Years was entertaining enough. And the oldest anime still in production is Suzae-san, which is essentially a sit-com about a typical japanese family. "Slice-of-life" isn't really a new kind of story.