Forum - View topicOtaku that watch only anime that "looks" good
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wizardz199
Posts: 112 Location: Hayward, CA |
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Have you ever met an otaku that said that they only watch anime that "looks good." I understand that humans will draw toward what is athestically plesent, its in our nature. But isnt the reason you watch an anime is not for how it looks, but how it makes you feel. Granted, when something looks beautiful it is sometimes uplifting, but if there is no good story to bakc up those beautiful visuals, whats the point?
I wanted to know how people in this form feel on this subject. |
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dirkusbirkus
 Posts: 699 Location: Manchester, UK |
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I'd imagine this isn't true for everyone. Everyone has their own reasons for watching anime. They might watch it solely because it looks great, and that's fine as a reason. What you said about people appreciating beautiful things summarises it. Not everyone watches an anime to 'feel' something... I would agree that to only watch anime for it's visual appeal would be like buying a cake and only eating the icing... But again, it's a perfectly valid reason to watch anime. And hey, if they're watching anime at all, well that's a good thing 
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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It's pretty common really, and I tend to look at Advent Children as a great example of it. The film just uses fan service to draw in people hungry to see the cast from one of their favorite RPGs again. It has almost no story, and what story it has counters the gains from the story of the game, and also recycles a great deal. A lot of the fan service is momentary only, almost as if it was an afterthought (such as the appearance of the rest of the crew who help for a few minutes, and then go away).
In the end though, the series looked good, and that seems to be everyones biggest point when they justify the film. The story was bad, even the elements put in for the fans was disappointing, but it was pretty and as a result that seems to be enough for many people. I will admit though that sometimes visual elements can detract from a series for me. An abundance of fan service tends to steer me from a series, as it's just a distraction and I could care less for it. The style used in Gankutsuou also just didn't work for me, and I found myself annoyed by it to some degree for its run. Gilgamesh also had some really inconsistent animation that, frankly, turned me away from the series more so than I already was. On the other hand, a series that looks exceptional can benefit from this to some extent, even to the point it might be forgiven for some of its other faults. In the end it's all about balance. Animation is a compilation of multiple artforms coming together to tell a story. Obviously if one of the members of the team isn't pulling their weight then the whole team will suffer to a degree. Someone performing exceptionally may also help carry the team further than they may have otherwise been able to go. Then you have the perception of the viewer; where some people might put more weight in one element than another. |
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Veoryn87
 Posts: 808 |
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That's exactly how I describe Advent Children to my friends all the time. They don't like it when I do though. 
As for myself, I usually respect the artistic choices of the team who created the show so I don't let art or character design be the main thing that I watch it for. This isn't always the case though. The character designs for Vandread kind of bugged me. Probably because of the hair. While I really like the character designs for a lot of BONES shows (Wolf's Rain, Eureka Seven), sometimes they make the noses look really weird. This is just a small annoyance though. It doesn't keep me from liking the overall designs (at least they have noses). The second season of Gunslinger Girl immediately turned me off with it's simplistic, whimsical looking art and moe looking character designs. It's hard for me to take it seriously like that. The first season had an atmosphere and level of detail that really helped the serious mood of the show. The girls also looked like believable little girls, not like cutesy anime characters. One of the reasons I started watching Gankutsuou was because of the artstyle. The artstyle is one of the main reasons why I love it, but it also had a great story to back it up. The only time visuals will keep me from wanting to watch a show is when the animation is horrible. I just can't stand action series that rely too much on still shots and recycled animation. I watch them to see action, not portraits. Eh.... Like I said, the visuals don't usually affect it that much for me. Though you may find it hard to believe after all that I said..... |
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Brendan Behan
Posts: 19 |
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As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks...
In my opinion the diverse reasons for liking (an) anime is one of its best qualities. We all have different reasons and it's not outlandish for people to put more of a premium on animation. Other folks, like myself, are attracted to anime because of the creative freedom allowed that isn't found in other mediums, and because of that place a greater importance on the story and/or characters. It's all good. |
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sanosuke32
Posts: 454 |
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Nope, not true. Advent Children was not meant to be a movie, but merely an epilogue since the game never really ended. If you thought of it as a movie, you probably didn't enjoy it, and if you expected a brand new story, then that explains why you thought it had no story. |
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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I think this is more common among younger anime fans. I've met a lot of young people [through the internet] who wouldn't watch anything that's badly animated, or anything that looks too old. I even encountered this kid who referred to Kanon 2002 as old school.
As for me, my main motivation in choosing which anime to watch has always been the story. In the past, I've watched a lot of series that were visually appealing, but those series had boring/unoriginal plots, so since then I started to disregard art and give more importance to the storyline. I still haven't watched Hajime no Ippo or One Piece or Slam Dunk because I dislike the character design, but I guess another reason why I haven't watched those series yet is because they're all lengthy. I've watched Monster though, but only because the story is really interesting. |
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Monster in a box
Posts: 671 |
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I'd rather watch a good looking show than a bad looking show. I don't think there's anything unusual about that. Even so, it seems like most anime I watch either has good animation, or good character designs, but not both. Or at least, they don't particularly excel in either category. An exception being Cowboy Bebop...
Still, I'll watch shows with bad animation if they're good. Animation is but one factor. Still, shows like Eureka Seven and Kyouran Kazoku Nikki where the characters faces seem to be drawn differently every time they appear on screen do bug me a bit... |
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Boomerang Flash
 Posts: 1021 |
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I see no reason to believe that there is any correlation between the graphic quality and the overall quality (except perhaps at the extremely bad end, which shouldn't be a consideration for seeking titles to watch). Thus, to choose only good looking shows reduces the pool of good ones one might watch, but it also reduces the pool of bad ones by the same ratio. Given the number of anime titles out there, judging a book by its cover is an excellent first approximation.
After all, why endure the 1979 graphics of Mobile Suit Gundam when Gundam Seed is essentially its 2000 remake? For nostalgia? It doesn't exist for people who didn't watch it decades ago. For historical reasons? Anime is a form of entertainment, not a set of valuable knowledge in life. For superior qualities in other aspects? That may be a good reason to watch Zeta instead of Destiny, but not the original instead of Seed. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7357 |
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I see nothing wrong with being attracted to a show because its prettier than another show. Its why I watched Noein before I watched GTO, even though I got them at the same time (for the record, I enjoyed them both equally and differently). Its rather like not wanting to adopt a one-eyed, three-legged cat at the shelter when there are animals which are more aestheically pleasing to me without checking first to see which cats are the nicest. The problem I see is when people completely disregard seeing not so pretty anime regardless of how good the actual series is when its reccomended through friends or whatnot.
My one friend loves mecha animes. She's near addicted to Gundams and Ruroni Kenshin. When I suggested that we watch some of Robotech (Macross Saga, which I got the 1980's fuzzy version of), she didn't want to watch past the 2nd episode because the series looked too bad (indeed very true by today's standards). I admit, you do have to put a little bit of time effort into Robotech's 1st saga to get payoff (at least 5-6 episodes, but after that, wow), and after I did, it became one of my favorite series of all times, but it annoys me that she dismissed it on merits of bad animation, not because she found the plot or characters dull or annoying or because the voice overs were like nails on chalkboard (which is the reason I usually avoid an anime or watch it sub-only). Sure, I can see avoiding the one-eyed, three-legged cat up for adoption, but maybe it will turn out to be just as sweet as the normal/really pretty cat when you go to pet it and you might get both (if you can). As for Advent Children, it is something that has long annoyed me. I find for anyone who is/was not an avid Final Fantasy 7 fan, AC is a borefest. Someone lent it to me and I basically just watched it out of politeness (and yes, for the eye-candy because I knew it was capable of entertaining me for 90 minutes and sometimes its nice to see very good CGI like a brainless zombie). I am an anti-FF7 fan (the story confused me throughly), and I only got to the 2nd disc of the game, so I watched the back story feature on the DVD because I was too lazy and unmotivated to beat the game. This barely helped me understand FF7 or AC either. I can usually remeber the major plot points to any series, and the main characters as well, but at this point, I don't remember anything about FFAC, not even the visuals really (I wouldn't say I have good photographic memory). I can't remember the story to FFAC either because it was just a lump of pure fan service. In the end, I got nothing. However, I have yet to meet any one person whose entire anime experience is contained within FFAC. They've watched other things or played other non Final Fantasy RPGs. I hated FFAC, but it really seems like a passing fancy for most people who saw it to me. |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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Looks are pretty important in a visual medium. A good story can work wonders provided I can stand enough of the art to get that far, but there are certain series I dislike the appearance of so much that I've never seen enough to know what the story is even like - Dragonball, Akagi and Kaiji are prime examples. There's enough anime around that I can afford to be picky.
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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It's still a movie, any way you look at it. I'm well aware of the fact it's meant as an epilogue, it's quite clear from the start of it that knowledge of the game is all but required. It's an epilogue told in a movie format though, like it or not. Even as an epilogue it still failed completely. It didn't really continue the story, but rather it undid the story and then rehashed it in a quicker, flashier fashion. I don't even think it was meant to be an epilogue either. I'm pretty sure Square meant it as a cash-in to feed off the die-hard fanbase who were so in love with the idea of more FF7 that they would just stand in line. Unfortunately for them we weren't all fooled. FF7 is still one of my all time favorite RPG's, but frankly, that movie just didn't pull it off. Even the fancy animation didn't hold up to well when it came to movement, and Bahamut looked like one of the plastic looking monsters we remember so fondly from Power Rangers. I wanted to love it, and given the amount of time it was delayed I was incredibly excited when it was released. It would have taken a lot to disappoint me with an FF7 movie, and sadly Square found a way to pull it off. |
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selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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While I'd agree that there's not a causal relationship between animation quality and script strength, you'd probably have a hard case to say that they're not correlated. For me at least, I've watched a good deal of anime, and my patience with the mediocre ones has shortened noticeably. I can sit through a show with a mediocre script if the art and/or animation is pretty, or occasionally I'll sit through a poorly animated show with a good script. Realistically though? The latter is nigh impossible to find for two reasons. If a show has a good script it'll almost certainly be awarded a budget large enough to allow the animation to keep up with the story. The other reason is a much less optimistic opinion, anime generally aren't well written. They're watchable, and I generally like to watch anime (or I wouldn't be here), but I can probably only name a dozen or two shows that I thought actually had great scripts. I've found that I am far more likely to enjoy a show that looks pretty than one that is not; since it's one of the aspects that effects how much I enjoy a show, how can I reasonably not include it in the selection process?
Grow up. I didn't want to dignify you with a response, but to dismiss an extremely valid view point because it doesn't fall in line with the preconceived notions you have just exposes how immature your position is. I suggest you wait a few more years before so you can recognize the difference between fact and opinion. |
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Veoryn87
Posts: 808 |
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Eh. I still don't get the visual complaints for Advent Children. I still think it's one of the best looking 3D animated movie out there (Wall E looks like it's going to beat it by a long shot though). What is it about the movement that makes it look weird? And..... Bahamut looking like a Power Rangers monster....? I'll just assume I'm blind. In fact, the complains about the animation in 3D animated anime I often times hear from the reviewers and some other members in this site, is one of the things I can't seem to comprehend. I just don't see the choppiness or awkward movements that others seem to see. Maybe I don't care as much or I just don't have the eye for 3D animation that I do for 2D. |
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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The movement really seems inorganic at times. When the camera is really focused on a slow moving character then the obvious focus on the details diminishes this. The rest of the time, however, the movement just don't seem natural. As for Bahamut, the way he was textured and the way it was skinned on the model just gives it too much of a painted on look. In fact, when I watch the movie with people who haven't seen it, I have yet to have a single person not mention the poor job done on Bahamut, so it definitely gets noticed.
I don't either, I'm actually very forgiving towards CG animated films and enjoy them quite a bit. My problem with AC is that they seemed to put so much focus towards making the perfect Barbie dolls that they rushed the movements and secondary characters/monsters. Advent Children does look great, in still frames, but it just seems lacking when they put those pretty images to motion. Of course, as I noted with Bahamut, there are instances where even the texturing and modeling just doesn't seem to work. |
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