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Forum - View topicAAA: Addiction And Appeal
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53L1N4
 Posts: 3 Location: UK |
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What's so good about animes? I know why I like them but it's still hard to pinpoint the exact reasons. I just wonder what other people think about them and why they're so appealing to such a wide range of people.
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blind_assassin
 Posts: 755 |
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Frankly, because they're meant to. It's hard to find something that attracts a lot of people to it when it's clearly marketed for one demographic. Anime covers every imaginable genre and sub-genre and appeals to every demographic. The only cartoons that originated from North America that appeal to lots of people are things like Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry and thats just because they're nostalgic for the older generation and still somewhat entertaining for newer ones.
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Danno19
Posts: 51 |
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I personally enjoy watching anime because it looks different and flows differently than the normal US cinema. But one huge factor of why it appealed to me is I enjoy the art and the limitless imagination that can be brought out with anime. I wouldn't be suprised if those are the factors for why people are attracted to anime.
*edit* You have to be open to film outside of the US, cause if I weren't a Godzilla fan, I would of never picked up Evangelion. (ADV Films released a Godzilla movie and they ran an add for Evangelion, I was like... "Woaaah, Giant freaking robots and destruction!") Akira was what did it for me, that sold me on anime. I say you have to be open minded because of people like this in my classes in the past... ME: I enjoy the movie Akira, it is an anime from Japan... (cut off immediately) TURD Student: OH MY GOD... you mean like Poke'mon?! That stuff is SO gay?! People like that won't ever be attracted to it because they have already made up their mind. They hate it. |
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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What got me into anime and still gets me today, is the fact you don't see anything like this on American TV. Anime, is on occasion, written for the lowest common denomination or for the artsy-fartsy, intellectual types. But for the most part it's just written for people to enjoy. It doesn't talk down to you, it doesn't talk in baby talk...it just is.
It can be a few things or many. It just one series you may have something that plays headgames with you, makes you cry, laugh, scream, cringe and enjoy the romance or the girl punching the guy into outer space for walking into the girls' locker room and seeing her in her panties. Anime is anime. It's appealing and addictive. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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It provides me with ties to Japan, knowing that this stuff is from over there, and it gives me sort of an identity that I haven't lost. Yes, it does not come on regular TV, if at all, and it's easy to just watch on my own player or computer.
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musashi1600
 Posts: 199 Location: Hawaii |
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I think the main reason why I watch anime (specifically, the titles I like to watch) is because I like kind of thought-provoking and enthralling fiction it can provide. It's not everyday you see something like Haibane Renmei or Millenium Actress.
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mjgeo
 Posts: 133 Location: Australia |
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What got me into anime were the continuous story lines or arcs. Good story lines that span more than 2 episodes simply don't exist outside of anime (with rare exception).
I mean, what are our (Australian) options of recent years? Lost, Smallville, Stargate and I can't think of anything else (I won't count the crappy soap opera genre). The only show that came close IMO was the X-Files, and even then I liked that show for the stand-alone episodes more than the bigger story line. In general, real-life shows do stand-alone episodes best. Anime does arcs best. And that's what I watch each show for. |
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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Like many other questions this one depends on the individual. Not many will have the same answer.
I like anime because I find it much more entertaining than almost anything I have seen on tv in the past 2 or 3 years. Actually in the past 3 years I think I can count the tv shows outside of anime that I actually like and follow(ed) regularly on one hand, Rescue Me, Dead Like Me (got cancelled), Heroes, South Park(which I've been watching for years anyway), and Famiy Guy(same as South Park). And it is not that I don't like tv, I try to watch it. I've seen episodes from all the variations of CSI and Law and Order, I've tried Nip/Tuck, Sopranos, Lost, Smallville, etc., and I've tried countless sitcoms too. And some of them were allright, but I'd rather watch an average anime than an average tv show, it's just more entertaining for me. When I think that I own about 300 anime DVD's and only 3 tv series on DVD, I know that I prefer it. But if there was more live TV that I liked I would watch that too, heck I pay $90 a month just so I can have more options on TV and still usually end up watching anime DVDs or fansubs, and even my DVR has a lot more anime than anything else. I think I'm just a fan of being entertained and as far as TV goes, right now anime is winning. Well football is a very close second. TV today is also why I have am even larger library of books and movies as well. (I probably spend way too much time and money trying to entertain myself.) Basically, to finally get to my point (sorry about the rambling post), I like almost any entertainment, but anime is more entertaining to me right now than TV. |
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daxomni
 Posts: 2650 Location: Somewhere else. |
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My first anime 'hit' was GE999. Every since I realized that there was a whole genre of this type of entertainment I've been trying to find that same feeling I first got with GE999. As already mentioned, anime's odd combination of cute and violent imagery is rather unique compared to most of what I've seen on American television or in the movies.
It's also much easier for me to suspend disbelief when the characters are represented so simplistically to begin with. In the case of live action television or motion picture performances I'm often distracted by what I consider to be poor acting or poor camerawork, but with anime I seem to have a different mindset and I don't get quite as caught up with such minor details. Watching with the Japanese language track and subtitles also helps to mask any bad acting since I can't easily distinguish between good Japanese and bad Japanese voice acting to begin with. That being said, I still think there is still much more 'bad' anime than 'good' anime. Series like Fushigi Yugi give me a little sliver of what I first felt when I saw GE999 as a young boy so many years ago. Getting that feeling back is desirable enough to me that I'm often willing to trudge through lots of poor anime in order to find the rare diamond in the rough. I guess that's why I'm still into it. Like most folks I go through phases where I lose almost all interest in anime, sometimes for years in a row, but eventually I come back to see what else is available. At one time my desire to watch anime was also partly driven by a strong interest in Japan and Japanese culture as well, but this has lessened over the years as I've had a chance to learn more about Japan. I still enjoy seeing the world from the Japanese perspective through the anime medium, but I'm not nearly as awed by it as many fellow anime fans seem to be. I'm also concerned about where Japanese culture has been heading in recent years as overly nationalistic and even racist propaganda seems to be coming back into vogue in some areas of Japanese culture. Japanese sensibilities also appear to be rather indifferent toward the protection of whales and other issues that I consider to be important. I'm not anti-Japan by any measure, but neither am I pro-Japan and I sometimes second guess my anime related purchases when the Japanese government makes a move toward increasing militarism or weakening of environmental protections. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16983 |
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Well I agree with the above mentioned statements. Anime covers such a wide selection of plots and genres it's very hard to not be able to find something you like. There's something for really everyone. Be it young, middle aged, or older adults. My dad really liked Steamboy and Howl's Moving Castle. For every mood you're in there's a wide selection to choose from.
Now, my personal reasons for liking anime are a bit deeper then this. I'm an only child. I'm a cop's son, not a lot of people wanted to hang with me growing up. Figured I would ruin the fun. I also liked to read, hence I must be nerdy of course. So my childhood was a very lonely one. My refuge was books. I would read anything and everything. Cartoons were nice, and so were games, but my passion was reading. That and cooking. For me, anime had much more depth and story to it then normal cartoons. Once I realized what anime was I began watching and reading as much as I could. For me it was like all those books put on the tv and brought to life. It made being alone all the time much more bearable. |
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53L1N4
Posts: 3 Location: UK |
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Wow this all so interesting!! Everyone has so many different views on this, compared to the people I know. It's really strange as well because many of you are obviously not in your teens and I am, so I find it rather surprising that so many older people enjoy it. I know that's just me being close minded but I haven't been watching anime for a very long time and virtually none of my friends know what it's about D:
It's funny because I myself have thought Japan to be the way animes characterize it but I don't want to go all the way to Japan and find that it's quite the contrary?? Does that make sense? Out of all the animes I've seen, a lot of stuff is so fantastical and it would ruin it for me if I discovered Japan to not be like that in any way. MM.. thanks anyway for everyone's thoughts etc etc. This is my first post thingy so it's nice for people to have bothered!
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adonais
Posts: 302 |
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For me anime is just my favorite form of escapism, and an entertaining hobby. There is something about the mindset of the creators of japanese anime, however, that often endows it with a particular kind of fascinating quality, which I have not found elsewhere. I can not put my finger on exactly what it is - and I would not presume to try - let's just say that there's something special about anime and leave it at that
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bluepita
 Posts: 465 |
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Psycho, you put my feelings much better than I could. One thing I really enjoy about anime is the sheer variety. I may have to wade through a ton of bad anime to find it, but there is always something to fit my mood. If I want something to think about, it's there. If I want sheer mindless entertainment, it's got that too. A check for drama, for comedy, for romance, action. There's one other thing (in addition to pretty much everything everyone else has said). I haven't seen that much anime. Maybe 80 or so series and movies. I've probably seen ten times that in American tv and movies (considering my vast age ). This means every single storyline isn't a repeat of something I've seen somewhere, in general or details. I mean when I watch a sitcom, I can tell you that the basic set up is almost exactly the same as so and so show from a long time ago. Hell, even the actual event 9 times out of ten came from I Love Lucy. So, anime has an originality to me. I just haven't seen enough to automatically think "Oh here we go again." I know that will happen eventually, and I'm not looking forward to that day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the fact it is animation allows more possibilities and keeps it from getting too stale. I try to avoid shows I hear are seriously cliched just to preserve that new feeling. Until then, it's all new to me. 
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1371 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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US TV sitcoms are all the same - nowadays. Reality TV blows. Cartoons are too funny lookin'. Only things on US TV I pay attention to are either sports or the news - and maybe a couple TV "dramas" like Law and Order.
In short, anime is very entertaining; and there's a type of anime for everybody. As someone has said - variety! Furthermore, because of that variety, some "worlds" are conjured up in the various anime series. Producers can come up with all sorts of settings (places) and make them look "real". Therefore, viewers can get immensed in them. They either feel the series or actually want to be in it. 
At a couple points - I thought anime was nearing the point of stagnation - where everything looks the same. Standard story formulas (and the like). Nevertheless, something always ends up standing out (from the rest of the pack). |
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DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
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It's pretty simple for me- I like animation. I like the total escapism of it (becuase let's face it, I'm not meeting any 2-D people on the street anytime soon.
)
If I turn to my local market for animation, what do I get? Kid's shows. Lots and lots of kid's shows. And the occasional "we're doing this for grown-ups, so let's pack in lots of pointless blood, sex, and all-around evil-ness" video, usually stumbled across by my sister. This is not especially appealing to a 23-year old who still runs out of the room if she finds a spider. (  )
Anime provides that nice balance of maturity and content in the animated form I love. So it dominates my viewing habits. *shrugs* It's just what I like, I guess... |
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