What is -WRONG- with Anime?

[Zeithri]

Disclaimer: I love Anime (as you can see here on myanimelist) and at first when I started to watch anime, I had no problems with all it's quirks and silliness. But, time changes and too much becomes too much.

So what is WRONG with anime today?
Well, allow me to count up the top 5 reasons and waste no more time!

---

1. Zettai Ryouiki
Being a sexually repressed country as Japan is, much like in the old times of yore showing a tiny piece of skin like your ankle turns men crazy and they'll start bouncing up and down while sounding like monkies (Just like they do when they watch sports!). Thus Zettai Ryouiki was born because clearly, every girl likes to wear short short skirts that shows one panties together with high stockings! Right, Right, Right? Wrong. But fine, some do.

But why do I hate Zettai Ryouiki so much?

BECAUSE IT'S USED EVERYWHERE!
If you know who Danny Choo is (impossible to not know), he created a character-mascot that is now getting it's own anime show. It's about a 16 year old girl who attends a futuristic school for military people and their battle outfit of choice... Is a pair of short short skirts and stockings?!?!?!

~rage~


2. Sexism
You probably noticed that I compared men to monkies when they watch sports or half-naked chicks, well, it is because there's a reason for that and most of that is either seeing your father watching sports or seeing a couple of douches go crazy over some blonde girl showing half her ass. And just like there are sexism in real life, there is sexism in fiction and Anime is NOT spared from that.

Specifically, anime itself isn't as much trying to claim outright sexism as it's trying to specifically manipulate sexistc thoughts into the heads of people as if it'd be the truth.

I have seen many anime and in some of them, I have seen one very specific line that goes something like this;
"A woman's place is behind her man"

Yes, I know it's about support but shut up and hear now..
THIS LINE IS ALWAYS SAID BY A STRONG INDEPENDENT FEMALE WHO IS STRONGER THAN THE OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE SHOW, YET SHE SAYS THAT HER PLACE IS BEHIND A MAN AND BE PASSIVE? WHAT A LOAD OF ~deep breath~

Shirou: Sabaah! Get back to the kitchen!
Saber: But Shiroouu, I have fought much much more than you. You go and make me food!
Shirou: No, Sabah get back into the kitchen!
Saber: But..
Shirou: No discussion, Kitchen, NOW-Uuurrghh! -Shirou has died-
~Smirks pleasantly~

But really, what can one expect from a country where the women, no matter how much they care about their careers, will simply throw it all away and become a housewife because some guy asks them to marry?


3. Originality
The quote "There is no originality left in our world" never clung truer than when it comes to anime.

Anime steals everything and I mean everything. I don't know any other media in the world that steals more stuff from others than the anime industry. I still fear the day I'll see a loli-version of Odin with a horrible squeaky voice actor and a really craptastic script. It doesn't even try to be original anymore, it just steals everything that is and isn't nailed down.


4. Neon Genesis Evangelion
I'm not going to dwell further into this.


5. Fan service
A naked guy here that is less equipped than a doll and a naked girl there with a sudden boob-growth that speaks of her actually wearing too small clothes.. It's fine in some occasions. I have watched Ikki Tousen and I love the first season, and I have watched Queen's Blade which is fine too I think, but then comes a show like Highschool of the Dead that spends two entire episodes on having the entire female cast naked, lusty and drunk and they want me, the viewer, to believe that nothing happens between the cast. That, is a huge amount of bullshit no matter how you view it, no matter how prude you are.

Sometimes, fan service is too much and too stupid. It is a fine and delicate line.

---

So there you have it, the top 5 things from the top of my head which I can think of that's wrong with anime today.

Don't get me wrong though, I love anime and I love Japan and Japanese, I still have many more shows to watch. In fact I am still waiting for the horrible Gundam Age to be over so I can move on to greener pastures.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and do share,
What is it about anime that you do not like?

[schlagwerk]

I blame everything wrong with anime today with Moe. I also describe it as the point in anime where the girls went from looking older than they are to looking younger than they are.
As a whole, Moe panders to the lonely, socially inept fanboy by playing off of a lot of the other things you noted.

I also hate translators who think certain basic terms (examples: Aibou, Nakama, Tsundere) don't have a "proper" translation from Japanese that keeps all the nuances of the original and thus insist on not translating it. Everything has a way to convey all the original meaning and insisting there isn't is admitting the translator's poor skills with their native language. Aside: my favorite translation for 'tsundere' is 'queen bitch'.

I don't agree with the hate for Evangelion. Nothing is wrong with the series itself (well I can't stand to watch the anime again but that's just me) but it's deconstruction of super robot series and hotblooded male leads as well as its religious symbolism for the cool of it brought about a genre shift that many series have imitated poorly since. I don't hate the series. I hate the fans and the imitators. Hating the series would be like hating The Dark Knight or Watchmen for the Dark Age of comic books & anti-heroes of the 90's. Or hating the original Gundam for real robots vs super robots. Or hating Star Wars for popularizing space opera under the guise of science fiction.
To fix this deconstruction, watch GaoGaiGar or Gurren Lagann.


I myself have greatly fallen out of love with anime (though mostly I think it was due to me getting older and thinking it creepy to still watch what anime is airing these days) and lament my time wasted on learning the art style over a real, properly detailed style and the shitty writing that 90% of the stuff that I thought was cool actually contained. For good writing, I should've read more books. <_<

[Raison D'etritus]

(as you can see here on myanimelist)

Just remembered the hard way that I'm banned from MAL.
if I get internet and start a non-troll account, I'll send you a friend request (along with Rey if he's got one yet).

2. Sexism
You probably noticed that I compared men to monkies when they watch sports or half-naked chicks, well, it is because there's a reason for that and most of that is either seeing your father watching sports or seeing a couple of douches go crazy over some blonde girl showing half her ass. And just like there are sexism in real life, there is sexism in fiction and Anime is NOT spared from that.

Specifically, anime itself isn't as much trying to claim outright sexism as it's trying to specifically manipulate sexistc thoughts into the heads of people as if it'd be the truth.

I have seen many anime and in some of them, I have seen one very specific line that goes something like this;
"A woman's place is behind her man"

Man, chicks just don't understand anything.
*nukitsuked*
But really, I think anime's just following culture more than influencing it. Look at the slutty doll kids toys they're making these days. I think it's a reaction to the market rather than a social reaction to the marketing.
In short: I think society sucks?

The quote "There is no originality left in our world" never clung truer than when it comes to anime.

Yet old ideas CAN be rehashed and amalgamated in interesting ways. Look at Steins;Gate. I really didn't expect to like it, but it's one of the best anime I've seen. (I was in the Schlag boat of hating anime up until November when I found a reliable resource [equivalent exchange=enjoying anime again cost me my faith in humanity/world, and my sanity. ] )
But, despite how great it is (to me), the best part of the story (to me) was ripped wholesale from a Guy Pearce movie.

4. Neon Genesis Evangelion
I'm not going to dwell further into this.

you have to admit End of Eva was a work of art.
Okay, you don't. But I think so, and that means it's true!
The rebuilds ain't half bad, 'neither. 'mmkay.

I blame everything wrong with anime today with Moe. I also describe it as the point in anime where the girls went from looking older than they are to looking younger than they are.
As a whole, Moe panders to the lonely, socially inept fanboy by playing off of a lot of the other things you noted.

[Zeithri]

Jul 16, 2012 15:35:33 GMT -5 Raison D'etritus said:

Just remembered the hard way that I'm banned from MAL.
if I get internet and start a non-troll account, I'll send you a friend request (along with Rey if he's got one yet).

Who is Rey?

Jul 16, 2012 15:35:33 GMT -5 Raison D'etritus said:

Man, chicks just don't understand anything.
*nukitsuked*
But really, I think anime's just following culture more than influencing it. Look at the slutty doll kids toys they're making these days. I think it's a reaction to the market rather than a social reaction to the marketing.
In short: I think society sucks?

It's one thing to follow the culture.
Then it's one thing creating those slutty dolls which enforces how the ideal woman according to certain people should be.

And the line of sexism there is hairthin.

Jul 16, 2012 15:35:33 GMT -5 Raison D'etritus said:

Yet old ideas CAN be rehashed and amalgamated in interesting ways. Look at Steins;Gate. I really didn't expect to like it, but it's one of the best anime I've seen.

I have heard a lot about Steins;Gate but I find it so completely uninteresting that I haven't even bothered. And yes, of course old ideas can be improved or made worse.

Jul 16, 2012 15:35:33 GMT -5 Raison D'etritus said:

you have to admit End of Eva was a work of art.
Okay, you don't. But I think so, and that means it's true!
The rebuilds ain't half bad, 'neither. 'mmkay.

I stopped on Ep. 20.
I have not seen beyond that nor End of Evangelion except for one scene..

And it just makes me question..

Who the hell thinks that Shinji acts like teenage boys do? Who the hell thinks Shinji even acts like a human being? Okay, as a pervert yes. He stands there and JERKS OFF next to Asuka's bed!

NGE just brings me to such a rage. . .

[Raison D'etritus]

Who is Rey?

Reymon. After Karura, he's given me the most good recommendations.

I have heard a lot about Steins;Gate but I find it so completely uninteresting that I haven't even bothered. And yes, of course old ideas can be improved or made worse.

You should give it a try. I thought it sounded stupid too, but chanced it because it was recommended by some reliable sources (Karura, Rey). It's quirky at first, but the humor was, in my opinion, better than most anime--banter style.
Mid-way through there's a paradigm shift, and it becomes absolutely amazing.

Who the hell thinks that Shinji acts like teenage boys do? Who the hell thinks Shinji even acts like a human being? Okay, as a pervert yes. He stands there and JERKS OFF next to Asuka's bed!

In his defense, she was in a coma.
*smacked*
That was a joke!
But really, despite being quite disturbed, the themes in EoE, to nerds like me, were fantastic.

[Zeithri]

Jul 16, 2012 15:54:09 GMT -5 Raison D'etritus said:

You should give it a try. I thought it sounded stupid too, but chanced it because it was recommended by some reliable sources (Karura, Rey). It's quirky at first, but the humor was, in my opinion, better than most anime--banter style.
Mid-way through there's a paradigm shift, and it becomes absolutely amazing.

I really should probably, but it'll be in the future.
I have other things to watch before that.
.. Waay too many things.

Jul 16, 2012 15:54:09 GMT -5 Raison D'etritus said:

Who the hell thinks that Shinji acts like teenage boys do? Who the hell thinks Shinji even acts like a human being? Okay, as a pervert yes. He stands there and JERKS OFF next to Asuka's bed!

In his defense, she was in a coma.
*smacked*
That was a joke!
But really, despite being quite disturbed, the themes in EoE, to nerds like me, were fantastic.

Disturbing? Slightly.
Stupid? Yes.

[schlagwerk]

Jul 16, 2012 15:45:28 GMT -5 Zeithri said:

And it just makes me question..

Who the hell thinks that Shinji acts like teenage boys do? Who the hell thinks Shinji even acts like a human being? Okay, as a pervert yes. He stands there and JERKS OFF next to Asuka's bed!

It's fucked up. Even Shinji notes it.. but it actually is a bit believable if you look at everything. The kid is a hormonal teenager with major daddy issues. Then they shove him in a giant living robot and tell him he's the only thing left that can save the world. And while he's in his horny teenage phase, he's got 3 women he's interacting with regularly.. one is much older than him, one is the clone of his mom, and the last is an utter bitch.. but unconscious in a bed and Shinji can see her boob. Under all that stress Shinji cracks and finds it time to spank the monkey.

It's an incredibly cynical deconstruction of teenage boy pilots but it has its points.

[Zeithri]

Jul 16, 2012 17:00:37 GMT -5 schlagwerk said:

It's fucked up. Even Shinji notes it.. but it actually is a bit believable if you look at everything. The kid is a hormonal teenager with major daddy issues. Then they shove him in a giant living robot and tell him he's the only thing left that can save the world. And while he's in his horny teenage phase, he's got 3 women he's interacting with regularly.. one is much older than him, one is the clone of his mom, and the last is an utter bitch.. but unconscious in a bed and Shinji can see her boob. Under all that stress Shinji cracks and finds it time to spank the monkey.

It's an incredibly cynical deconstruction of teenage boy pilots but it has its points.

No, it is not beliveable for a second unless that boy happens to be the biggest pervert ever to have lived. It's about as believable as to think that nothing happened between the characters in Highschool of the Dead.

[Kuro-chan]

When I ran an anime show for a couple years at a university, there was a much greater demand for anime from the 90's early 2000's. There was also a demand for stuff that was more focused on storylines and less on moe and excessive annoyances. So, it was possible for me to show stuff like Risky Safety, Sugar: A Snow Fairy, The Third, Le Chevalier D'Eon and other stuff to a group of people you would probably never consider showing that sort of material to.

Of course, they wanted stuff that was fun as hell to watch too, like Black Lagoon.

[michaelchaoslord]

1. I don't mind mini skirts, or scantly outfits but when every show has its characters designed the same it gets really old. I also hate it when stupid situations arrive that show close ups on panty shots or a boob jiggles, but hey sex sells I guess.

2. Its Asia so most women are mistreated poorly or don't have very much rights for themselves and the men who make anime probably are most likely single and don't know much about women and how relationship works. Without respect for one another then its not a good relationship. Like why have a relationship grow in a serious where the development only happens in the end or not at all.

3. Anime haven't really been original since the early 80's. Most animes got most of the ideas from something else and mix it with a different plot and design. Examples: Star Trek+Anime=Yamato, Starship Troopers+Yamato+ WW2+Psychics =Gundam, Hayao Miyazaki+ Rpg= Final Fantasy (older ones anyways).

4. I've never like Evangalion and after looking up info to understand it I still don't like it. I know they're trying to make it have symbolism and meaning but I think they gave poor examples on it. They never explained why children have to ride the sophisticated robots?

5. They're only for fun cause seriously boobs don't work that way.

I Don't hate anime, I just don't like where its going. I've watch the Macross movie last week and thought it was a masterpiece, and compared to today with computers and with more resources you would think there would be better show out.

[Raison D'etritus]

Jul 16, 2012 17:10:44 GMT -5 Zeithri said:

Jul 16, 2012 17:00:37 GMT -5 schlagwerk said:

It's fucked up. Even Shinji notes it.. but it actually is a bit believable if you look at everything. The kid is a hormonal teenager with major daddy issues. Then they shove him in a giant living robot and tell him he's the only thing left that can save the world. And while he's in his horny teenage phase, he's got 3 women he's interacting with regularly.. one is much older than him, one is the clone of his mom, and the last is an utter bitch.. but unconscious in a bed and Shinji can see her boob. Under all that stress Shinji cracks and finds it time to spank the monkey.

It's an incredibly cynical deconstruction of teenage boy pilots but it has its points.

No, it is not beliveable for a second unless that boy happens to be the biggest pervert ever to have lived. It's about as believable as to think that nothing happened between the characters in Highschool of the Dead.

Actually, if you're familiar with modern American culture, the vast majority of boys that age, sadly, would have done more.

[yotaka]

Jul 18, 2012 3:46:20 GMT -5 michaelchaoslord said:

They never explained why children have to ride the sophisticated robots?

Actually, they do; it's kind of a major plot point.

[RyuKisargi]

I think anime in general is progessing. Badly.

I miss the rough styles of stuff like Record of Lodoss War and the Ys anime, which I re-watched recently before trading in my iPad.

[Trebia]

I say the same.
There are only very few actual anime that are original, and have no fan service, but we can count them with the fingers of the hand.
About the sexism, Japan has always been a macho country. One of the things why I left to read Bakuman, was this, because I can´t endure it.

[glennmagusharvey]

I'm amused at how "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is a reason all by itself. Though if it's supposed to refer to how people endlessly mention and discuss it, I think an updated list may replace it with Puella Magi Madoka Magica.