Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2008-03-28]
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Astraea
 Posts: 85 |
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Have you ever been ridiculed for being an anime fan?
Mostly by my sisters, who are of the common opinion that cartoons are childish. This includes my twin who often tries to argue that anime fandom is the world of the perverted and ignorant. She who has never watched any anime and has limited knowledge of fandom in general outside of her bandom circles. The fact she is a sort of a BNF there doesn't change the fact she has never watched any of the anime she's complaining about, nor participated in the kind of fandom activities she criticises me for. And yet, I fail at giving her a response beyond "I like it and it's harmless" Apparently I 'fail' at being a fan.... 
Last edited by Astraea on Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mid-Boss
 Posts: 71 |
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Nick green-lit 26 more episodes of Spongebob and 20 of Fairly Oddparents about two weeks ago. |
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DavidShallcross
 Posts: 1008 |
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I really like the closing sequence to Abenobashi. It leaves me feeling intense nostalgia for early postwar Osaka, a city which I have never visited.
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eviltimes
 Posts: 116 Location: Callisto |
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"Where's Sully?...
I let him go."
priceless |
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MokonaModoki
 Posts: 437 Location: Austin, Texas |
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Those were after my time (in a sense). I completely missed out on Voltron, Robotech, Battle of the Planets, etc., either because they were broadcast on Saturday morning, weren't broadcast in my area, or I just wasn't paying attention. My first exposure to anime was watching Speed Racer after school @ 1972-73. To me it was just a cartoon among other cartoons (and I liked cartoons then). It was my favorite, though, because it had cool car action and I thought cars were cool (but certainly not because it was Japanese, which I wasn't even aware of until @ 20 years later). Then I didn't care about cartoons at all from @1977-1985. Then in 1985, when I was in college (during the period when I was studying CS), my best friend and I took daily cartoon brain-breaks after classes before beginning another night of programming. We were watching stuff like He-man, She-ra, and Thundercats. I know for sure that Thundercats was the first show that made us realize that it was animated in Japan (we thought the use of camera-type techniques like changing focus from the foreground to the background was pretty cool for a weekday cartoon). Still didn't care... still just a cartoon. Then I didn't care about cartoons at all from @1987-1992. I was, however, very dedicated to comic book collection during that period. So I got back into cartoons again in 1992 when Fox KIDS started showing Batman and X-men on Saturday morning. That sequed into noticing other animated stuff available on cable on weekends, particularly the Japanimation block that Sci-Fi would occasionally offer. In a completely separate life path, it was also @ 1994 when I took up Japanese sword arts, became intested in Japanese culture and history, watched all the chambara that I could find to buy at Suncoast, and when that well ran dry I began checking out Japanese animation with more dedication (i.e. renting and buying rather than looking for it on TV). That would proably the first point at which I can say that I became an 'anime fan'. Since it took @ 20 years to get from first exposure to actual fandom, it doesn't fit very well with the usual "I saw ***** and it changed my life" theme at all. |
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infinitebeauty
Posts: 75 |
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Agh, I know what you mean. I can talk to comics fans about Gotham Knight and what the style could add to Batman with no problems, we could likely even segue into talking about anime in general from there. But God help me if I try and talk to an anime/manga fan about how awesome Deadpool or Runaways or Young Justice is. I get the whole 'rolling eyes' and 'American comics are only about musclebound freaks with no character development or plot' routine. Agh. Although I have had some success with getting manga fans to read the new Blue Beetle. Haven't seen my trase in 3 weeks. 
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TheVok
Posts: 613 Location: North York, Ontario, Canada |
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The kid/adult angle to the anime/American animation division is intriguing in that it could be somewhat generational. I'm old enough that I saw 'Heavy Metal' long before I saw 'Akira,' so I already knew North American animation could feature blood and guts, sex and nudity, drugs and coarse language before approaching any anime that might.
As a result, I've never had a bias against animation from any particular country or culture. I'll give it all a chance and I'm in my early 30s now. I tend to watch a lot of anime these days because, well, there's a lot of it. There certainly seem to be more Japanese animated series than North American animated series (not on North American TV, mind you, though it's come close; I'm talking DVDs here, as that's how I watch). So given that sheer volume, it makes sense there are more adult-oriented series coming out of Japan. But it's also interesting to see how adult-oriented animation is handled on this side of the pond. The shows tend to be comedies at some level. Only rarely is one predominantly non-comedic (e.g. Aeon Flux). I think this is one of the reasons Avatar: The Last Airbender is popular with fans like me. It has the dramatic gravitas we're eager for in animation after so many Adult Swim comedies. It's made for kids, but it's so good, it easily transcends the generation gap. Similarly, the Justice League shows started to do better with adults than with kids, which is unfortunately one reason they were dumped. Less opportunities for fast-food merchandising tie-ins and the like. |
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Jen526
 Posts: 124 |
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True. I guess I didn't really recognize my favorite cartoons as "anime" until I went looking for someplace to chat about Robotech on the old Prodigy dial-up service and found it discussed under "ANIME" instead of "CARTOONS" as I'd expected. That would've been early '90's for me, too, I guess... But I still count BotP and those other 70's shows as my starting point. When I found out what "anime" was, it was just putting a name and giving me more access to something that I'd instinctively loved all along and never had a word for. |
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phoenixphire24
 Posts: 260 Location: SoCal |
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You just made my day. 
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Goodpenguin
Posts: 457 Location: Hunt Valley, MD |
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MokonaModoki wrote:
That's actually not that off-beat a story. My father did a lot of business in Japan/Asia and would always bring back chambara/Jidaigeki movies. I feel safe to bet at one point I was the biggest (and probably only) 10 year old Shintaro Katsu fan in all of New Jersey, or at least Stone Harbor. I became fluent in Japanese (my standard Cantonese for my beloved kung-fu/Wuxia has never worked out so well) and a voracious watcher of Japanese movies long before I ever noticed anime in my later teens. Even then, I came to anime through cult films and sci-fi~fantasy influences from late 70's/early 80's (Heavy Metal magazine, Cerebus, etc.). I guess like some of the older fans on here I've never really 'got' the jousting of American/Western cartoons and anime in the minds of fans, as they've always (or often) seemed to be two different beasts with their own strengths and weaknesses to me. I do think it's somewhat ironic that I hear the moniker/mantra "It's not for kids" repeated so much over the last few years, when if anything anime seems to have gotten more young teen/tween focused then ever. Last edited by Goodpenguin on Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Cicatriz
 Posts: 66 Location: Reno, Nevada |
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I'm totally the opposite right now. I've started getting into reading Marvel and have stopped reading much manga [Bleach and Sugar Sugar Rune are basically I'll I read now. Everything else tends to be boring and cliche these days. Not like Bleach isn't, but whatev']. I feel soooo elitist when I'm looking at American comics and I see 'manga cows' sitting there reading the newest Fruits Basket. That's just my elitist nature though, I guess.
As far as endings go: Shamanic Princess,Kaleido Star, and what kind of Franz fangirl would I be with out ParaKiss? I can't find a link to "Clever" from El~Hazard, but that too. Last edited by Cicatriz on Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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jel123
Posts: 108 |
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Yeah, really the Answerfan that referred to "Old School Toonami" made me laugh! Maybe us old people ramble too much to put together a good Answerfan reply 
Same here Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion were among my favorites (along with Flintstones and Jetsons) back in elementary school. Then not much anime until the "modern era" of [as] and downloads. "Life" by YUI Bleach ED #5 Missed OP from last week (I blame it on my advanced age)-; "Nesshou!! Rabuge Night Fever" from Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18188 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Hey, I grew up on Johnny Quest, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Tom and Jerry, and the original Scooby-Doo, which in retrospect was sometimes surprisingly edgy for American-produced kid's fare at that time. (The newest incarnation is far inferior.) Heck, I was a big fan of Smurfs and Gummi Bears back in the day. (Yes, youngsters, GB actually had a cartoon series for a couple of years. . . come on now, who else in their 30s can still remember the theme song? "Gummi Bears/bouncing here and there and everywhere/I'll bet you they're beyond compare/they are the Gummi Bears!") Occasionally I pop a look at current new American cartoon productions and realized that I've aged past being able to appreciate most of them, although I can imagine liking something like Kids Next Door when I was younger. That hasn't happened with anime. I have long thought that American animation has a big edge in movies, though; I'd stack Prince of Egypt up against even the best anime movie in terms of quality execution.
Anytime someone tries to get uppity about manga over American comic books, I just point to things like the production values on Marvel Comics' Unlimited lines. The use of color just blows away anything Japan has ever produced. Few manga-ka could match the best work of writers like Chris Claremont and Alan Moore, either. (I'll put X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills or The Watchmen up against any manga volume/series ever printed.) |
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CloverKuroba
 Posts: 506 |
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I find anime elitism to be extremely annoying, and I'm glad I'm not alone. Not all anime is "adult", "mature" or "deep" like many fans make it out to be. There are many anime just as childish as these "kiddy American shows" some despise. And there are a lot of shows racier or deeper in meaning than the average anime as well. I think there are a lot of great American animated shows; people just don't give them a chance or find them inferior if solely to "feel special" like as it's been said in the column. As for me, give me Futurama over Naruto any day of the week.
And as for my favorite anime endings, I have a ton. But one I love in particular at the moment is Toki no Kioku from Please Save My Earth. So hauntingly pretty. |
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Furudanuki
 Posts: 1874 |
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Does this ring a bell for anyone? "Overture, curtain, lights! This is it. The night of nights. No more rehearsing or nursing a part. We know every part by heart!" Yes, I remember watching "The Bugs Bunny Show" and "The Flintstones" back when they were airing on prime-time television. Does that count? 
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