ArgentomaximusI
Ensign
[FONT=Verdana, Arial] I am absolutely appaled at the ignorance at the jingoistic nonsense which plaques aspects of this message board.The Japanese have a right to make cartoons. They certainly don't boast about who came first.
Okay, first off, the animation. Dragonball Z is over 15 years old. Compare it to late 80's American animation please, not the current stuff. Pokemon and Digimon were made during the Japanese recession, and just about every anime fan hates those two anyway. The only shows that are fairly recent are Gundam Wing and Tenchi Muyo!, and even then, they are 10 years old. Get your facts straight.
Commercial crap? Sure, I've seen plenty of Pokemon and Digimon crap, but understand this about Dragonball Z-most of the product is American. In fact, the whole reason the show appears so bad is due to idiot execs who decided to cut out all the character development and edit together all the fight scenes. Believe it or not, Dragonball is considered a classic in Japan, and even has a traveling meuseum is existence. The American version is too hacked up...
As for Gundam, the only merchandise released during the show's run was really a set of model kits which little kids couldn't assemble even if they tried. Hell, I'm 20 and I *still* find the things incredibly complicated. The MKs are pretty much the only Gundam merchandise that is really available here in the states, apart from VHS/DVD of the series. Everything else you see is probably imported.
Tenchi doesn't have much in the way of merchandise either. There's a Mcfarlane action figure of one of the characters. Yeah, real commercial. The figure wasn't even made until the show came to America.
Outlaw Star, nope?
I didn't exactly see the Princess Mononoke stuff either.....
Anyway, let's examine the shows that you people are so feverishly bashing.
Pokemon, Digimon, Ronin Warriors, Sailor Moon=crap. This point I will agree on.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial]Dragonball Z=A victim of translation and poor editing by North American distributers. Believe it or not, the original, unedited, unalterated Japanese version is a take on the "Monkey King" legend and a homage to American comic books. As for the animation, it is vivid and colorful at times, although stilted at others, but this is because of it's age. Dragonball Z debuted in 1985, it's currently in it's fouth season(1989).[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]Gundam Wing=Potrays giant robots, but unlike "Voltron" it's in a more militaristic, more realistic science fiction setting. The robot is not potrayed as the hero; it is potrayed as a curse to those who pilot it. The show contains deep political undercurrents, the character/costume design gives the impression of true drama, and the show asks..."Why do we fight?" "What is humankind's purpose in life?". There also is a continuing storyline. Once you get past the big,colorful, silly robots, you have a solid, intriquing science fiction show and human drama.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]
Tenchi Muyo=An adaptation of the Japanese legend "The Demon of Rashomon"-which BTW was about the triangular relationship between a demon, a warrior, and a princess. Tenchi Muyo takes the legend and refines it for the modern day, making the "Demon" a genetic clone, the warrior a young Japanese boy and the Princess one that is the princess of a planet. Also, add in the Norse myth about the three goddesses Urd, Skuld, and Verlandi. That's your basic setup for "Tenchi Muyo". Tenchi, is at it's heart, a light-hearted adventure, where the princess and the demoness frequently vie for the affections of the hero...with other women, including the demon's mother-an eccentric scientist, a police officer, and the princesses's sister, complicating things. In the middle of it all is the young man's grandfather, who is more than he seems, and also darker undercurrents which tie everything nicely together. Truely interesting villains, too....inspired design sense, for instance their is a culture who uses wood as the basis for their technology.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]Outlaw Star-The new show, science fiction...intriquing concepts, manages to avoid many cliches.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]As for character designs, not all anime looks the same, despite what you may have picked up by looking at other shows. Dragonball Z's characters have more roundish, C-shaped eyes, and smallish pupils, similar to early Disney style. Gundam Wing uses mostly small eyes and realistic-looking proportions. In Tenchi the character designs are more rounded, and also the eyebrows are more slanted, like traditional Asians. It should be noted that the character design changes in the third season...the animation also takes a nosedive too, but the economy crashed around that time...
So, to wrap things up, saying that all television anime is bad is a *huge* generalization. A lot of them have beautiful designs, great animation, and complex storylines that rank with the best America has to offer. People don't simply watch the shows for sex, violence, and to buy the toys...there's plenty of other stuff too. Granted, some anime is mercenary, but then again look at a lot of American stuff.
You can't judge a whole genre, or medium by a few examples. That's like saying all science fiction movies suck because you've only seen "Battlefield Earth!
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Okay, first off, the animation. Dragonball Z is over 15 years old. Compare it to late 80's American animation please, not the current stuff. Pokemon and Digimon were made during the Japanese recession, and just about every anime fan hates those two anyway. The only shows that are fairly recent are Gundam Wing and Tenchi Muyo!, and even then, they are 10 years old. Get your facts straight.
Commercial crap? Sure, I've seen plenty of Pokemon and Digimon crap, but understand this about Dragonball Z-most of the product is American. In fact, the whole reason the show appears so bad is due to idiot execs who decided to cut out all the character development and edit together all the fight scenes. Believe it or not, Dragonball is considered a classic in Japan, and even has a traveling meuseum is existence. The American version is too hacked up...
As for Gundam, the only merchandise released during the show's run was really a set of model kits which little kids couldn't assemble even if they tried. Hell, I'm 20 and I *still* find the things incredibly complicated. The MKs are pretty much the only Gundam merchandise that is really available here in the states, apart from VHS/DVD of the series. Everything else you see is probably imported.
Tenchi doesn't have much in the way of merchandise either. There's a Mcfarlane action figure of one of the characters. Yeah, real commercial. The figure wasn't even made until the show came to America.
Outlaw Star, nope?
I didn't exactly see the Princess Mononoke stuff either.....
Anyway, let's examine the shows that you people are so feverishly bashing.
Pokemon, Digimon, Ronin Warriors, Sailor Moon=crap. This point I will agree on.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial]Dragonball Z=A victim of translation and poor editing by North American distributers. Believe it or not, the original, unedited, unalterated Japanese version is a take on the "Monkey King" legend and a homage to American comic books. As for the animation, it is vivid and colorful at times, although stilted at others, but this is because of it's age. Dragonball Z debuted in 1985, it's currently in it's fouth season(1989).[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]Gundam Wing=Potrays giant robots, but unlike "Voltron" it's in a more militaristic, more realistic science fiction setting. The robot is not potrayed as the hero; it is potrayed as a curse to those who pilot it. The show contains deep political undercurrents, the character/costume design gives the impression of true drama, and the show asks..."Why do we fight?" "What is humankind's purpose in life?". There also is a continuing storyline. Once you get past the big,colorful, silly robots, you have a solid, intriquing science fiction show and human drama.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]
Tenchi Muyo=An adaptation of the Japanese legend "The Demon of Rashomon"-which BTW was about the triangular relationship between a demon, a warrior, and a princess. Tenchi Muyo takes the legend and refines it for the modern day, making the "Demon" a genetic clone, the warrior a young Japanese boy and the Princess one that is the princess of a planet. Also, add in the Norse myth about the three goddesses Urd, Skuld, and Verlandi. That's your basic setup for "Tenchi Muyo". Tenchi, is at it's heart, a light-hearted adventure, where the princess and the demoness frequently vie for the affections of the hero...with other women, including the demon's mother-an eccentric scientist, a police officer, and the princesses's sister, complicating things. In the middle of it all is the young man's grandfather, who is more than he seems, and also darker undercurrents which tie everything nicely together. Truely interesting villains, too....inspired design sense, for instance their is a culture who uses wood as the basis for their technology.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]Outlaw Star-The new show, science fiction...intriquing concepts, manages to avoid many cliches.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]As for character designs, not all anime looks the same, despite what you may have picked up by looking at other shows. Dragonball Z's characters have more roundish, C-shaped eyes, and smallish pupils, similar to early Disney style. Gundam Wing uses mostly small eyes and realistic-looking proportions. In Tenchi the character designs are more rounded, and also the eyebrows are more slanted, like traditional Asians. It should be noted that the character design changes in the third season...the animation also takes a nosedive too, but the economy crashed around that time...
So, to wrap things up, saying that all television anime is bad is a *huge* generalization. A lot of them have beautiful designs, great animation, and complex storylines that rank with the best America has to offer. People don't simply watch the shows for sex, violence, and to buy the toys...there's plenty of other stuff too. Granted, some anime is mercenary, but then again look at a lot of American stuff.
You can't judge a whole genre, or medium by a few examples. That's like saying all science fiction movies suck because you've only seen "Battlefield Earth!
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YOU must be watching the wrong anime! What anime have you seen?
