Forum - View topicAnime Basics 101: Answers to Questions.
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lilredphoenix
Posts: 156 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii |
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Hi everyone, I am very much a novice to using the internet, let alone a computer...I know, I know I admit I did crawl from under a rock.
..Ha ha...but I am trying here. So I wanted try out some sites and maybe get some of my questions answered. I have been a huge longtime anime fan since the mid '80's collecting all kinds of series from all different genre and no matter how much I think I seem to understand what goes on in a particular show/series I just some times sit there and shake my head asking myself "why do they do this" What does it mean?" Is it a cultural thing, is it their society dictates this, is traditional and that's how its done? What? What? What? So I thought what better way to find out the answers to these some times confusing questions I thought who better to ask than other hard core/die hard fans such as yourselves? If anyone else has questions they'd like to ask or know the answers to some of the questions being asked, jump right on into the discussion please because at this rate I am going to need a wig soon from pulling out all my hair!!!! But let me start it by asking this: Why is it that most anime created whether it be an older series or something very current does the characters always seems very young like grade schoolers or even in high school, why not adults? Does artist/creators think "Today's Youths are tomorrow's super heros? Does artists/creators all think like that because there are a lot of series like that, and after a while even though it is pretend some of it should be believable right? Or maybe not? What do you all think? Other Ques: What is the definition of a tsundere or emo character? What labels an anime as a shonen or shojo genre? What are all the genre catagories out there? Is Mecchaconsidered a sub-catagory of Sci-fi or its own catagory? Are there alot of strictly comedy anime other than Sgt. frog and Shin Chan? Last edited by lilredphoenix on Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 19138 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The thread concept here is sound, so I'll allow it. Since the General Questions stickied thread is typically used exclusively for IDing anime these days, we can use this thread to consolidate general questions which commonly come up. I may even get around to indexing the thread if it catches on.
To respond to the first posed question: there are a lot of theories about this. At least part of it has to do with teens and kids being the target audience for the majority of anime titles, so naturally they will features main characters in the age range of the target audience, even if it means them taking on improbably great responsibilities. (Think Spy Kids.) Even otaku-focused titles aimed at college age and older audiences have maintained this focus because that's simply been the accepted standard. Some have also proposed (and there is evidence to support this) that the focus on teen and younger characters is a reflection of the general Japanese perception that the best years of one's life are the teenage years, the period when people in Japan are perceived to have the greatest freedom (since, upon becoming adults, Japanese are more tightly-bound by societal conventions). This is a view very contrary to the way it is in most Western countries, where transitioning into adult life is typically seen as gaining access to greater freedom, but it does explain a lot of things about the way things commonly work in anime. |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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Also to explain why children, ie young adults, are commonly used as main characters and the school setting to be the primary setting in most anime is because anime evolved on the premise of "what works."
In current anime we see many recurring themes and standards used which could have been made obsolete with the onset of digital animation technology and the growth of anime into the successful industry it is. But it still retains many elements such as making schools a very common setting. The original reasoning for that is because a school setting provided many solutions to make animation cheaper and faster to produce. For example, everyone wears the same clothes and they wear those clothes every day (uniforms). That alone eased the burden on animators greatly back when cels were each individually hand drawn. But of course anime doesn't use cels anymore, computers make them unnecessary, but most anime still takes place in schools and everyone is still wearing the same clothes. But you can't put adults as the entire character lineup in a show about school kids. |
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Darksorrow29
Posts: 412 Location: United States |
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To also answer the OP , young grade schoolers or high schoolers are still maturing physically and mentally. It's one way they can show growth and development.
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lilredphoenix
Posts: 156 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii |
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That does make alot of sense. If the standards and underlining themes sells why ruin a good thing. It also seems like it can give viewers a bird's eye view of what it may be like for young people and children in Japan of course still thru the vision of the manga artists and anime creators.
This could give the viewers a slice of J-pop culture or way of life for the people as a society and how it seems thru anime. Next Ques: Why the Tsundere or emo? |
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TheSwedishElf
Posts: 300 |
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Tsundere, to me, tends to be a very disturbing archetype, actually. And a bit of a dangerous one.
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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Well, in my book tsundere characters on paper sound great. A female character that hides her caring nature by being agressive can make for some great stories, as the main interest slowly reaches the dere behind the tsun as their relationship deepens and grows.
But I think a lot of stories end up using the tsun as physical comedy fodder with the dere part used to excuse comic abuse on the protaganist. And I'm not a fan on this, I just find wanton physical violence in those kind of stories not appropriate. |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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That's a rather poorly phrased question, especially since most people's definition of emo has little relation to Tsundere. But my main point here is what exactly are you asking. Are you inquiring about the appeal of tsundere characters, or something else? |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 8015 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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It's typically employed in the comedy, slice of life and romance genres to add humor and make you laugh. Although lots of guys are attracted to women who could could kick their ass or engage them in verbal banter too so in that regard it can make appealing characters. |
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lilredphoenix
Posts: 156 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii |
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Thank you Docas_Aurelia for pointing out to clarify my question better .
to clarify the ques. yes, I was asking what is the appeal fact there on Tsundere or emo characters in anime pre se, there always seems to either have one or the other in the cast of character line ups. As several of the other posters stated already, it could be the character's personality & attitude description, part of the plot or story line development and offers a meride of possibilities for episode development which makes alot of sense since there could be alot of back and forth infighting between characters. Last edited by lilredphoenix on Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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Why is there emo characters? Take a look at Sasuke from Naruto... now think about how much money the franchise made just because of him.
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lilredphoenix
Posts: 156 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii |
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Well said, I agree with this. I am noticing more and more of this type of behavior showing up as new anime series/ova's hits the stores; once in while on a particular series if that is the development of the plot/storyline is welcomed but it continues to be a underling theme for alot of shows is being used as you stated. |
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darkhappy1
 Posts: 495 Location: PA |
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I think creators know that the inclusion of tsundere or emo characters provide wish-fulfillment for their target audience and will lead to a boost in sales. After all, it's nice to think of your crush, who shows disgust or no interest in you, actually liking you deep deep deep down. So yeah, a general win-win for both sides. (I'm not including the people that can easily spot and are tired of those types.)
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