The unique flavour of anime
I'm often challenged when I staunchly choose this medium of storytelling over the vast offering of alternative visual entertainment in this hedonistic age. Why indeed? After all, I enjoy a great deal of American TV, Japanese/Korean/Hong Kong (less on the Taiwanese though) dramas/romances/martial arts and the occasional British humour. But I'd always return to my first love, anime. After some soul-searching (for a profoundly long 30 seconds), I believe here are be some factors why anime remains irreplacable for this tanuki.
Anime is diverse
Horror, harem, drama, romance, harem, mecha, sentai, sports, ninjas, you name it, anime has it. And that's only touching on the genre. There's a whole slew of other offerings like animation style, fetishes and storytelling mode etc which anime can boast of great diversity in.
Anime is nostalgic
Since I was indoctrinated with anime from young, this is one medium that channels to places in my inner being no other media can near. (Probably also the reason why I can perceive girls with eyes covering half their faces as beautiful.)
Anime is bite-size
For 20 min a piece, anime has got to be one of the most efficient visual storytelling modes (in the hands of a capable studio of course.) Imagine 3 episodes of Mai HiME = 1 ep of Heroes! Most excellent when time is such a precious commodity.
Anime is beautiful
I'm not alone on this. My wife also believes that a typical real-life human is unable to rival manufactured 2D perfection. (See also "Anime is nostalgic"). And where RL movies need to fly to New Zealand or Austria for breathtaking scenery/sets, anime just need Makoto Shinkai.
Anime is Japanese
I'm a Japanophile. No, I'm not naive about the social ills that the Japanese society is plagued with but I admire their level of cultural maturity as a people. That admiration is reinforced when I watch anime. Of course I fully understand that anime romanticised many Japanese traditions/cultural norms and behaviour. Goddesses like Shirakawa Kotori and lolis like Sumeragi Kaguya don't exist even in modern day Japan (at least for the sake of my marriage and an already very striped tail, I hope not XD). Maybe I'm just an animenophile after all.
I'm sure there's more but that's all that the 30 seconds of soul-searching afforded me. Is anime your first love? Come share and maybe I'd discover the real reason why I love anime.
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June 17th, 2008 - 10:37
Great post…it’s hard to pin down exactly why I like anime too, it’s kind of like asking “why do you like ice cream?” It’s almost easier to ask, how can you possibly NOT like it?
What amazes me about anime is the originality you get–I mean, how many series are there on US TV with never-withering sakura trees, or drills that pierce the heavens, or gondoliers on Mars? I think a lot of it has to do with the medium–with TV and movies you’re constrained by your special-effects budget, but with anime if you can imagine it, you can draw it and bring the story to life. I think that’s a big part of what keeps me watching season after season. Visually, it’s also just beautiful to look at–you can say skillful cinematography is an art form, but to me anime done well is a true moving work of art.
June 17th, 2008 - 10:53
I think there isn’t a need to state any logical reason when you like something. If the feel’s there, just go for it. On the other hand, when you hate something, there has to be a logic behind it.
June 17th, 2008 - 10:57
I like anime for the pretty girls and big explosions.
June 17th, 2008 - 12:48
Anime is a lovely medium, can’t wrong that. The creative force behind shows such as; Evangelion, Gurren Lagaan, Mai-Hime(not really creative but I just need to mention this show whenever I get even a touch close to listing my favorite shows), Bebop, Suzumiya Haruhi, NANA(lovely piece of drama right there), Ouran Host club; is just exquisite. Most of these shows if adapted into the live-action medium would fall flat(Nana turned out ok, albeit a little washed out compared to the wonderful adaptation). Anime depicts sci-fi and mecha in a better light, since movies look a little dodgy in the CG department. Subjectively speaking, TV shows tend to be much more consistent. Anime on the other hand you can’t expect to be entertained on every single episode since consistency is a problem. We’ve got degrading frames of animation with ugly designs and glacially paced stories. While TV shows usually offer insight on a weekly basis regarding their plots. This actually in itself is another weakness for TV shows they tend to find it hard to shine and be genuinely remarkable because they’re moving on one level not having the chance to surprise their viewers. They need to try damn hard to leave an awe-struck impression. Anime on the other hand tend to have their lows and their peaks. I’d rather have one not so good sashimi and one sumptuous sashimi instead of an ok sashimi over, over, over, over and over again. Of course all these thoughts are based on most and NOT all anime and TV shows, as some shows TV shows or Anime tend to fall under a different wave-length, NANA and Lost come to mind.
June 17th, 2008 - 13:20
The diversity is a key factor for me…. I can switch from Claymore to Kanon, to NGE to Bamboo blade and get something totally different each time….it’s awesome!
Anime for sure has its own stereotypes like other “Western” TV shows (ie. ridiculous amounts of moe, teenage anxst, akwardness around sex-talk, shounen power ups etc.) but because of the sheer variety of material, I can–most times–overlook the predictable features
Only one part of your post I disagree with 1 ep. of Mai HIME is *not* equal to one episode of Heroes……..I SOO don’t understand why so many anime fans think HIME is goood…….
I understand it on the intellectual level….cute character designs/personalities (Natsuki and Mai are pretty awesome) and the whole should I save the world or my loved ones thing……but (for me at least) it wasn’t the emotional gut-wrencher everybody makes it out to be…….I dunno, I just didn’t connect with the characters on the same level as say Elfen Lied or Honey and Clover……
Now THOSE episodes=1 ep. of Heroes for sure!
Disclaimer: It must be said I don’t watch many bishojou series
@ Stripey: In case you didn’t read my comment in your last post the Combined Community Codec pack should fix your Quicktime woes
June 17th, 2008 - 14:41
The diversity in anime is what I like the best, possibly. There are a good number of shows I can watch as an adult without having to dumb it down to the target level audience. US cartoons seem to really be for elementary kids because the characters, dialogue, plot, and so forth are not complex.
June 17th, 2008 - 18:13
Woot, Hong Kong soap operas (either modern or wu xia type of setting) are awesome. Great acting too compared to local scene. Dont ask me where I’m from, just guess lah.
Pen and colourings are the Creators to many of the anime’s materials. So, its easier for anime to gather all the casts and effects to deliver the story with minimal distortions (like…real live action using cartoon character…that’s a bit out of sync for me…extend that to ugly special effects).
Lesser time is spent on thoughts like “wtf is that fake looking explosion??” so more attention is given to the story or scenics.
Not to mention, maybe its my character, some of the colour scheme combination truly makes me go “utsukushii~”. Ahm….i forgot if that’s how its spelt.
June 18th, 2008 - 01:43
Sadly, I’m not contributing to the diversity of the comments by saying it’s the surprising diversity of everything that ISN’T in traditional TV that makes anime win. Seriously, there’s probably something for everyone here who’s willing to give anime a try.
June 18th, 2008 - 05:17
i probably like anime since it’s romanticized which really gets to a romantic like me…
June 19th, 2008 - 08:17
Thanks for all your thoughts miina!
Many of you spoke my mind only a lot more eloquently or succinctly (As with Sojourner san 
) Pardon my sloth as I reply the comments thematically rather than personally.
On diversity: Indeed, as mentioned, special effects cost a lot more to integrate with humans than 2D folks in the anime medium. Plus, sci-fi/medieval set/costumes would drive up any budget while the wildest anime setting wouldn’t dent the budget too much.
On episodic delivery: I think it’s a great challenge to deliver an episode in 20 min than 1 hr. A 20 min ep needs to do all that an one hour ep does in much less time. It need to fulfill the expectations of the viewer, able to stand on its feet as an ep and yet contribute to the overarching plot. Which is probably why a 20 min anime ep well done gets more kudoes than an 1 hr RL series
June 19th, 2008 - 21:33
good write up, now I can use this article when ppl ask why do I watch anime
thumbs up
June 19th, 2008 - 23:33
At first I just really liked the art, that’s how i got into anime. The big eyed characters drew me in. Eventually though I got to appreciate how wonderful a storytelling medium anime is and now appreciate anime other then for it’s stunning art, although it still plays a big part lol!
June 20th, 2008 - 05:16
Damn. I have to post about this one. You are a genius.
June 21st, 2008 - 07:17
I think you summed up all out feelings pretty well there. Nice job
June 21st, 2008 - 12:01
ron~: Heh, on diversity alone, you’d be able to have plenty to convince the non-initiated that anime is worth a look.
However I’ve learnt that this medium, wonderful as we love it, is not for everyone. Their loss XD
holyman282: Wholeheartedly agree!
Rakuen: Looking fwd to your post!
Viny: Thx! But I’m sure there’s loads more.
August 10th, 2009 - 11:36
Not just US cartoons (which sometimes have a fair amount of subversive acidic humor)… US *prime time* television has been dumbed down to the point where I can barely watch an episode of *anything* without at least a handful of “wtf?” or “who wrote that line?” or “did someone think that was a mystery?” … etc etc etc.
Even if it isn’t just crap writing …. its so toxic and negative that I have to go outside.
I suppose in our booming idiocracy, its becoming too much to ask that writers actually.. you know … have a clue about their subject matter. Or maybe write something not hyperbolically anxiety-inducing.
Its quite easy flip the tv off and pull up the latest anime file … or just read.