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Hey, Answerman! [2007-02-16]

Cowboy Cadenza has it pretty much on the nose.

Seriously, if shows like Sailor Moon and Naruto weren't around, these people wouldn't even say that they have powers they saw on these series.

The fansub arguments revolve generally around Americans, Europeans and Canadians, residents in highly developed, rich countries who have the means to buy anime but simply don't feel that it's worth anything. If you live in Kazakhstan or wherever and the economy there simply doesn't support luxury goods... I mean, the licensors probably don't even care about you watching anime for free online. Well, maybe they do, but their chief concern are the people who would buy it but simply aren't because they're getting it all for free. Generally that demographic does not live in Somalia.

I've gotten a few letters like this, and while my response may be brief, I wanted to print one just to give these people a voice and express the fact that the fansub argument doesn't really include people like you. Nobody's going to condemn you for watching fansubs.

Thanks to the internet, delusional people now have a haven where they can all get together and tell each other that they aren't delusional.

As for the rant, the reason why people call them cliche is because the elements are done poorly. If they're done well, people use phrases and words like "archetypes," "traditional elements," and the like. There's really nothing completely new - even unusual things like Kino's Journey & Spirited Away can be described as "Well, it's kind of like Gulliver's Travels/Alice in Wonderland." The key is to do something interesting with those familiar elements.

Of course, actually thinking you used to be one of those cartoons is indeed pretty far out there. There's really just one thing I want to know about these people. Why are they always the cool anime characters? It's always Inuyasha or Kenshin or Sailor Moon. Where's the guy that used to be Jokken or Kimura-sensei in his past life?

And..."Luna Starbright" is just mind boggling. First of all, I want to know if that's just what she calls herself, or if she legally changed it to that.
Secondly...did she just compare Zac to Hitler?!?!?

3. Your last question is barely coherent but I think I get what you're trying to say. Normally, anime based on video games kinda sucks. I've never heard anything more than mediocre notices, even from shows like Xenosaga or Ragnarok. Maybe the day will come when someone will make a totally kickass video game adaptation but that day hasn't really come yet.

Very few reviewers are going to be out to bash a show just for the sake of it. These "overly harsh statements" you mention are often the reviewers' genuine feelings towards whatever they are reviewing. If a reviewer glosses over or minimizes an anime's flaws, then he/she isn't a very good reviewer. Ranter, you yourself say that you are easy to please, so maybe you never have any strong negative feelings about the anime you see. Also, the fact that you could watch dozens of extremely similar harem series and not be tired of them indicates that you probably don't feel the same way about cliches as the average person. You're definitely in the minority, and you've got to recognize that most reviews aren't going to seem fair to you.

Personally, I like when the word is used. If I'm reading a review of what I already know is a harem series, and the world cliche is used, then that lets me know I most likely shouldn't waste my time watching a series that is probably pretty darn similar to other anime I have watched and didn't enjoy (although I rarely if ever base my decision to watch something on a single review). It kind of works the other way, too. If someone calls a shoujo "cliche," then, as a fan of shoujo, I might decide it's something I'll enjoy anyway. Everyone probably has a certain kind of anime they wouldn't mind seeing over and over.

Unfortunatly, I have actually heard of the 'Otherkin'. Some of them refer to themselves as "Furries" although I think they started adopting the term 'Otherkin' since the term 'Furries' has come to be associated with the sexual fetish that accompanies the entire lifestyle.

*cough* Anyway, I'm surprised that there are communities for the Otakukin. (hurray new vocabulary word!). I worry that they will now be attacked violently.

What bothers me the most about what I too often (in my opinion) read in so many anime reviews is one simple thing. The word "cliche" and/or the phrase "something we've all seen before". I just can't stand to see that in practically every review I come across. I understand it can give an idea of what people who've seen these "cliches" before over and over what to expect but I find that more often what accompanies such description is low scores, heavily opinionated/subjective writing, and (overly) harsh statements about the show/volume.

Luna Wishcatcher Starbright