Anime is dying

[firehawk12]

Well, I guess the difference between "American" fujyoshi and Japanese fujyoshi is that gay subtext is just "text" in Japan.
I don't even know what the popular gay pairings are nowadays. Angel and Spike. Kirk and Spock?

I think my point was that most anime is more about pandering than about accurately representing adolescent/teen sexuality.

 

[Santeria]

There's plenty of anime that doesn't feature upskirt shots at all, or maybe once for comedic effect.

I didn't say there wasn't. But there's a -lot- that does. Hence the statements pointing it out.

See: Hellsing, Neon Genesis Evangelion, the movies of the latter, any movie by Hiyao Miyazaki.

And most of those fall into the other criticism; pretentiousness.

You're focusing on the bad instead of the good.

No, I'm focused on the facts and personal opinion. The most notable being that the art style is just flat out hideous. The animation itself (the way the characters move, etc.) is great, I'll grant you that, but the actual style is absolutely ugly to me and the single most superficial reason why I can't stand it. Everyone looks deformed and mentally ill. Top that with the aforementioned pretentious attitudes and messages, and... I'll just pass.

Every now and then something comes along that surpasses all of that and results in a charming story, like Spirited Away. But that's the story winning out despite the art form. I still think its hideous and off-putting, but as a huge fan of mythology and fables, I like the story enough to look past that.

 

[The Castellan]

The animation itself (the way the characters move, etc.) is great, I'll grant you that, but the actual style is absolutely ugly to me and the single most superficial reason why I can't stand it. Everyone looks deformed and mentally ill.

I have no idea what that means.

 

[firehawk12]

There's plenty of anime that doesn't feature upskirt shots at all, or maybe once for comedic effect.

I didn't say there wasn't. But there's a -lot- that does. Hence the statements pointing it out.

See: Hellsing, Neon Genesis Evangelion, the movies of the latter, any movie by Hiyao Miyazaki.

And most of those fall into the other criticism; pretentiousness.

Just like any other medium, anime can range from serious stories about a girl resolving her lesbian identity (Aoi Hana) to a boy struggling with gender identity (Hourou Musuko) to a young woman trying to find her place in Rome (Ristorante Paradiso) to slice of life science fiction like Aria and to the more genre fair that you associate with the term "anime".

Similarly, If I judged "movies" by Michael Bay films or by summer blockbusters of any kind, I would never want to watch another film ever again.

If it's a question of the visual style, then I can't say I can really help you. It's not as if it's any more off-putting than American animated character design though.

 

[zakkrusz]

Then he put on the next episode, about half of which was the main (underage) character trying on different outfits in *extremely* sexual poses. That was the end of that for me.

This is getting funny.

The fact that so much of the material they use with that style of art and animation is trite and full of pedophiliac themes (don't even try to defend that -- anime has more upskirt shots of little girls than any other medium I've ever been exposed to in my life, including actual upskirt porn websites) just adds fuel to the fire of my loathing for anything anime.

~Snickers~

Congratulations, guys, you re now officially beginning to sound just like your parents.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to find those episodes to watch.

Yeah... funny thing about that, I don't need my parents to tell me not to enjoy watching children being sexualized. It just doesn't float my boat. Sorry, I guess.

I don't really see this problem as being too prevalent for anime watchers in this age of technology. It's REALLY easy to avoid that type with some simple research such as Youtube searches. Usually, the fanservice type plasters the opening, endings, or trailers with it and it's easy to spot.

 

[Trekker4747]

FYI - I said "cause seizures" not because I thought or believed this was something common with anime but as a (lame) joke on the style of animation often being very.... "kinetic."

 

[Nerys Myk]

Most of the serious Anime fans I've encountered have been women.

 

[JD]

Is the upskirt thing really that common, other than in the shows that are focused purely around fan service? Of all of the anime that I've watched so far (GIS: SAC, Death Note, Naruto, Bleach, Gurren Laggan, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, I Married a Mermaid,Heroic Age, and Soul Eater) the only one that really sticks in my mind as having upskirt shots was Soul Eater. Although I'll amit i've only watched a couple episodes of IMaM, SE and HA.

 

[zakkrusz]

No not really, at least not until recently.

Most of the serious Anime fans I've encountered have been women.

I've found generally women are more into manga, but yeah there's fans of both sexes for both anime and manga.

 

[RyanKCR]

There is a lot of good Anime:

Armitage III
Super Atragon
Paprika
Ghost in the Shell
Megazone 23
Sol Bianca
Lensman
Robot Carnival

 

[Nerys Myk]

No not really.

Most of the serious Anime fans I've encountered have been women.

I've found generally women are more into manga, but yeah there's fans of both sexes for both anime and manga.

True, you could literally trip over the women in the manga aisle at the bookstore I used to shop at!

 

[JD]

No not really.

Most of the serious Anime fans I've encountered have been women.

I've found generally women are more into manga, but yeah there's fans of both sexes for both anime and manga.

Was the no not really to me or Santa Kang?
As for women anime fans, part of what made me curious about anime was the fact that my older sister was into it for a while. I'd been kind of into it before, but when I looked at what she was watching, I found myself curious to see more.

 

[Santeria]

The animation itself (the way the characters move, etc.) is great, I'll grant you that, but the actual style is absolutely ugly to me and the single most superficial reason why I can't stand it. Everyone looks deformed and mentally ill.

I have no idea what that means.

Words are hard.

 

[zakkrusz]

No not really.

Most of the serious Anime fans I've encountered have been women.

I've found generally women are more into manga, but yeah there's fans of both sexes for both anime and manga.

Was the no not really to me or Santa Kang?
As for women anime fans, part of what made me curious about anime was the fact that my older sister was into it for a while. I'd been kind of into it before, but when I looked at what she was watching, I found myself curious to see more.

To you. I should amend that to read "Not until recently" as nowadays the anime industry is hurting because of their bad economy. Sex sells, as the saying goes, and fanservice titles actually sell really well. So they make a few of those duds that raise the funds and then use the proceeds to make something better with a bigger budget and more sophistication. That tactic is fine with me personally, as it keeps companies alive, plus I don't mind the occasional fanservice fluff series every once in a while as a distraction from the more serious stuff I usually prefer.

 

[Kelthaz]

In The Last Exile series <snip>

That looks incredible. I've been looking for a short series to wile away my Christmas vacation with, and I think this will do very nicely. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I watch dubbed anime and enjoy it. Some kiddie fare, some not, but I watch to be entertained. I get headaches with subtitles and haven't the patience or time to get into subbed at the moment. It just doesn't work for me. The last subtitled series I tried for any length was Sailor Moon. I didn't make it past episode 14.

I have very much enjoyed Durarara on Adult Swim and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

An oldie but a......well an oldie: Sailor Bubba!

That could turn anyone off anime.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Astro Boy is anime, right?

 

[Goji]

This is getting funny.

~Snickers~

Congratulations, guys, you re now officially beginning to sound just like your parents.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to find those episodes to watch.

Yeah... funny thing about that, I don't need my parents to tell me not to enjoy watching children being sexualized. It just doesn't float my boat. Sorry, I guess.

I don't really see this problem as being too prevalent for anime watchers in this age of technology. It's REALLY easy to avoid that type with some simple research such as Youtube searches. Usually, the fanservice type plasters the opening, endings, or trailers with it and it's easy to spot.

Yeah, it is, when I look for myself. It is merely unfortunate when a show I might have been interested in turns me off in that way, but I guess it turns just as many people *on* by doing that, so I won't be one to judge. Like I said, I've found a few series I have enjoyed. Just not as many as I expected. Not enough to consider myself an "anime fan", but I like what I like.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

An oldie but a......well an oldie: Sailor Bubba!

That could turn anyone off anime.

That's cosplay from Hell!