[No Name]

We are going to let this thread run, and predictions of its demise are unwelcome. If it is not your cup of tea, you may keep silence.

[tiffany Royal]

Even if all anime looked the same, like some people here say, still looks better than 99% of western cartoons. http://test.ph/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Johnny-Test.jpg

That artstyle is great, and I've actually talked to and seen more work by the artist behind that show, trust me, it takes talent. Some people think the exact thing you said about that art about the art used in anime.

And for anyone wondering why so many anime characters have so big eyes it's because they look friendlier. In japanese animation the villians have small eyes because they seem unfriendly. That's partially why they've made their own Manga versions of Superman and Batman.

[Stacy Hope]

I've seen NGE, and I quite liked it. That said, it wasn't immune to "Same old Anime syndrome". It's full of silly little perversion and "fan service" every second the giant robots aren't fighting. I liked the maturity, seriousness (part of the time), and especially the darkness, but it still had a lot of the campy anime traits that every other series has.

And American movies/media doesn't suffer from the same thing? It's just hypocritical because every entertainment media - from movies to games - usually have at least a few common traits.

[Brandi Norton]

A side note - I would like to draw your attention to http://kotaku.com/5062933/faith-from-mirrors-edge-fan+designed-for-asian-tastes article.

Also: Most successful. Thread. Ever!

[Rinceoir]

I can only predict that this is going to devolve into a flame war between non anime fans and anime fans and eventually be locked. It's the only course I believe this thread will take.

Meaningfull discussion ftw.

Even if all anime looked the same, like some people here say, still looks better than 99% of western cartoons. http://test.ph/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Johnny-Test.jpg

True, most western cartoons svck, but I'm sure that a whole lot of anime does too. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Gargoyles

[saharen beauty]

I approve of any post insulting Johnny Test. God that show's like a plague that keeps spreading to more and more timeslots.

If I had to chose to live forever with only either a selection of all American cartoons, or Japanese anime to watch, I'd go with the anime. I can't think of any long running American cartoons that are mature enough for an advlt, yet there are oodles and oodles of mature anime, despite what people seem to believe.

Agreed on the Johnny Test dislike (though I'm sure that a lot of work actually goes into the art regardless of the style).

As for "mature" American cartoons... Venture Bros. comes to mind. I mean, when you've got one character who underwent a six change and is "working" in a bar and another who routinely murders everyone in sight and then another who... well... does things that shouldn't be mentioned on this forum... yeah. Totally kid friendly.

[e.Double]

I like DBZ.

I know anime elitists hate dbz, hey mainstream or not it is a part of my childhood and i like dbz.

Any other anime i could not get into.Maybe some pokemon at it's time.

[Dorian Cozens]

I like DBZ.

I know anime elitists hate dbz, hey mainstream or not it is a part of my childhood and i like dbz.

Any other anime i could not get into.Maybe some pokemon at it's time.

It's not that anime elitists hate DBZ for being mainstream, they have just seen much better anime so it doesn't compare.

[Ice Fire]

Care to explain? Usually, this idea is the catalyst for many things and is used all the time, usually with some minimal re-tooling.

Most stories are not about people with super powers trying to save the world. Unless you meant it in the general sense of "a person or a group of people have to overcome an obstacle", which is a lot more vague than that description.

[Heather beauchamp]

Meaningfull discussion ftw.

If you have read through the thread you will have seen I have already done meaningful discussion so no need for snide remarks. But you already know how this thread will turn out.

But anyways yeah, a lot of western animation does kick ass. Futurama ftw :toughninja:

[Anthony Santillan]

I'm considering getting into Cowboy Bebop, I've heard from people I know that watch a lot of anime that it's really good so...is it? Same question goes for Trigun.

EDIT: I'm going a bit more in depth. If anyone knows any of these shows well could you please tell me a bit about Cowboy Bebop, Trigun or Outlaw Star? I've heard good things about all three, but I'd like to get some more opinions

[M!KkI]

I used to watch Dragon Ball Z, but i can't understand how anyone could watch Inyuasha, yea I spelled that wrong. The show is pretty much nudity. :yuck:

[Eduardo Rosas]

Agreed on the Johnny Test dislike (though I'm sure that a lot of work actually goes into the art regardless of the style).

I don't care how much work goes into something if it still makes my eyes bleed.

And it doesn't really matter because http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=lMCbrPC8AlM&v=ihidxSwTGlI will always represent the pinnacle of western animation (along side Avatar: The Last Airbender). Though 90's shows like Duck Tails, Gargoyles, etc are super awesome and probably a style we may not see for a very long time to come, unfortunately.

[evelina c]

Quick picture for all those saying "the eyes are always huge" or "they have silly hair"

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt145/Fearnoman777/light.jpg

Many do not have these features, but I think this is a good example. :shrug:

What about those pointy noses that could put someone's eye out?

[MISS KEEP UR]

Agreed on the Johnny Test dislike (though I'm sure that a lot of work actually goes into the art regardless of the style).

As for "mature" American cartoons... Venture Bros. comes to mind. I mean, when you've got one character who underwent a six change and is "working" in a bar and another who routinely murders everyone in sight and then another who... well... does things that shouldn't be mentioned on this forum... yeah. Totally kid friendly.

I thought about the Venture Bros many times when writing that post, and it's a really great show. But it's a comedy, as most "mature" American cartoons are. I cannot, for the life of me, think of even one American cartoon that has both been successful and has been mature without being a comedy. Yet anime is chock full of 'em.

[Tyler F]

Most stories are not about people with super powers trying to save the world. Unless you meant it in the general sense of "a person or a group of people have to overcome an obstacle", which is a lot more vague than that description.

And neither are most animes....

Stereotypes ftw?

[Kill Bill]

But anyways yeah, a lot of western animation does kick ass. Futurama ftw :toughninja:

A lot? I'd say there are less than 15 western cartoons that I actually enjoy... and they're all comedies. Complain about anime being about all the same ol' big sword swinging but I don't see many non-comedy western cartoons.

[Brooke Turner]

What about those pointy noses that could put someone's eye out?

In Yu Gi Oh, everyone had crazy hair styles. Especially Yu gi, he had like 4 colours on his head. lol :mohawk:

[Dalley hussain]

A lot? I'd say there are less than 15 western cartoons that I actually enjoy... and they're all comedies. Complain about anime being about all the same ol' big sword swinging but I don't see any non-comedy western cartoons.

Avatar's pretty good.

[Lizs]

And American movies/media doesn't suffer from the same thing? It's just hypocritical because every entertainment media - from movies to games - usually have at least a few common traits.

I'm not going to argue there. Family Guy, the Simpsons, to an extent Futurama, and a lot of sitcoms,all play off of "retarded family", which is pretty played out by now. My problem is, that anime has a different kind of common trait, that I find incredibly dull and annoying. I occasionally laugh at stupid American shows; But I've seen way too many panty shots and way too much ADHD fueled Japanese school girl "comedy" that I am utterly sick of it. American culture has a lot of crap in it (reality TV, which I refuse to watch) and so does Japanese culture. The difference is, my culture makes more sense to me than Japan's.

I'm considering getting into Cowboy Bebop, I've heard from people I know that watch a lot of anime that it's really good so...is it? Same question goes for Trigun.

EDIT: I'm going a bit more in depth. If anyone knows any of these shows well could you please tell me a bit about Cowboy Bebop, Trigun or Outlaw Star? I've heard good things about all three, but I'd like to get some more opinions

Google "anime that doesn't svck" and look for the one that has lots of cursing in the URL. I think that guy hits stuff pretty spot on. I disagree with his thoughts on Outlaw Star though. It's pretty kiddie-ish, but it's still worth a watch.

[asako]

Agreed on the Johnny Test dislike.

As for "mature" American cartoons... Venture Bros. comes to mind. I mean, when you've got one character who underwent a six change and is "working" in a bar and another who routinely murders everyone in sight...

That's mature content, but I don't think it's what makes shows good. Granted Venture Bros. is pretty awesome still, but I think it's awesome for reasons other than the fact that they have blood and swearing. It's humor is what makes it good, and that's generally a sign of good writers.

I think some of the reasons people like Anime is because they enjoy the writing and storytelling presented, which more often than not contains messages of friendship, emotional development, protecting the little daily things in life...lots of very human things. In contrast I find that western cartoons have much more superficial stories and writing in them. You don't find ANY character development in, say, Scooby Doo. It's just not touched on for many reasons, the most important being that they're not continuous narratives. Very few cartoons in the west carry on a narrative past one episode, and two episode story arcs are "specials". Anime often carries a single plot through all 24 (or however many) episodes.

There's nothing that prevents either medium from straying from this, but the stock of decent story-told-over-whole-series western cartoons is far shorter than the stock of one-plot-per-episode Anime.

[Devin Sluis]

But it's a comedy, as most "mature" American cartoons are. I cannot, for the life of me, think of even one American cartoon that has both been successful and has been mature without being a comedy.

Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was exactly what I had been looking for in a western show for the longest (which is why I watch anime): Story and a timeline. Shows like Samurai Jack had a story, but no timeline, they just jump around at random attempts to get back into the past (in Samurai Jack) with random encounters that never resolved the show (although the movie they are making WILL end the story). Avatar had a story (which is awesome), progression, and a very fun episodes here and there to keep things fresh. The final fight with the Fire Lord is possibly the most awesome fight I have ever seen in any show, movie, book, comic, or whatever. Its just so well animated and led up to perfectly.

[xxLindsAffec]

And neither are most animes....

Stereotypes ftw?

When did I ever say anything about anime being like that?

[Maria Leon]

Most stories are not about people with super powers trying to save the world. Unless you meant it in the general sense of "a person or a group of people have to overcome an obstacle", which is a lot more vague than that description.

Basic Formula:

1. Person (usually a younger person in a situation such as poverty or simply obscurity) overcomes their situation or is drawn out of it by a greater evil (World destroying demons, evil wizards, corrupt businessmen, etc.)
2. That person then (usually) will find a person or group of people willing to help him. (train him, accompany him, etc.)
3. After "adventuring" awhile, they will usually come across a dark secret or other important information that makes the situation seem doomed/more difficult/hopeless.
4. The main character will mope around a bit, but then find that he/she truly has: A. Had the power all along, be it in the form of a super power, secret ghost mentor, hidden enchanted weapon that was their [insert friend/relative here]'s posession. or B. Find out that they can get the power/mentor/weapon by questing for it.
5. Kill the big bad, story end.

Edit: This is kind of general, as are most things. This formula is usually redone in an attempt to make it seem fresh.
Also: Some things may be incorrect/out of order. I typed this pretty quickly and with only my eyes as spellcheck.

[Gemma Archer]

In Yu Gi Oh, everyone had crazy hair styles. Especially Yu gi, he had like 4 colours on his head. lol :mohawk:

I can hear it now

Yu gi oh is a punk rocker,Yu gi oh is a punk rocker, yu gi oh is a punk rocker yeah