Import Anime Forums

It's all about the ratings.

If a show does well in syndication it gets to run another season.
I'm not sure why Family Guy got cancelled (twice) because it was a very intelligent and funny show.
The Simpsons has continued to evolve over the years, not being afraid at making fun of itself along with everything else under the sun.

I'm sure that the decision to import the shows aimed at a younger audience has to do with the perceptions held by network programmers that cartoons are for kids. The vast majority of people in North America equate animation with kiddy cartoons because they haven't been exposed to anything else. A lot of these people get upset when they see something like the Simpsons or Family Guy because they are obviously not for kids even though they are animated. They feel that the networks are trying to trick parents into letting their kids watch more mature content by making it a cartoon.

I'm not saying that is an intelligent, open minded, well thought out decision but it is one that I've encountered from more than one person I've talked with. I hate to generalize based on my own encounters but the people who have held these opinions have ended their education after high school. People who continue their education tend to be more open minded. Unfortunately less than 30% of the population continue on for further education. This means that the people who look at demographics for shows to air are mostly going to choose animated shows that target kids.

I wanted to make this point seperately from the last one.

hbk101 said "The strength of anime as a whole is its intricate, inventive story telling and detailed character development, which I haven't seen in most of American cartoons. These unique qualities of animes make up for its inferior visual animation quality that cannot compete with the budget of likes of hollywood and Disney stuff. Without those qualities, mind as well watch "Jackie Chan adventure" "Ducktail" "X-men" and so forth. They certainly are no worse (I'll say better) than Pokemon."

I agree that is true of a small percentage of anime. There are a number of titles that have inspired discussions about things beyond the anime itself but for the most part, the anime I've seen tends to fall into some form of formula. Lumping all anime into one category would be like lumping all Hollywood movies together into one category. You have your comedies, your dramas, your art flicks, your porn, your kid shows, your action show, and even documentaries.

Saying that one whole sub genre is "the worst anime" because it doesn't appeal to you is very narrow minded. Instead, I recommend looking at why a particular series is popular and who it's popular with. If you see a show getting great ratings and every 12 year old boy on the block is wearing the t-shirts, and playing the games you can guess that the show is intended for 12 year old boys. If you're tastes aren't the same as a 12 year old boy, that doesn't mean that what they like lacks in merit.

Quote:Originally posted by hbk101
The question is:

If you agree that there are so many simple-minded, IQ-supressing animes like Ranma and Rune Soldier out there, why do you bother watching those shows?

The strength of anime as a whole is its intricate, inventive story telling and detailed character development, which I haven't seen in most of American cartoons.

Because I like simple minded humor and I loved watching Ranma and Rune Soldier. why does it have to be intelligent and philosophical? You want that, then go pick up a book. I'm not watching anime to figure out the meaning of life. Nor do I give a flying fuck why Shinji is all alone in this world and why his dad doesn't love him. that's not my reasons for watching anime. I turned off Lain and Gasaraki two episodes in because I'm not watching anime to try and make me think. I'm there to be entertained. Nothing else.

Just because something is simple minded doesn't mean it doesn't have some inventive story telling and all that other crap. I think it took some imagination to come up with the idea of Ranma turning into a girl when splashed with cold water and back when splashed with hot water. It must be inventive, because I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Just because you're biased against Ranma does not mean you have to place it in the same category as Pokemon. Just admit that you're biased against it. i mean it's pretty obvious from reading your posts that you are. Like I said, I didn't like Lain or Gasaraki, but you don't see me sitting here bashing them. they weren't for me and my tastes. that doesn't automatically make them bad.

lain rocks! *headbangs*

I can see we're going to keep going around in circles here, so there's no point in continuing this discussion any further.

But to answer your question about recommending Ranma to someone whose new to anime . . . . Ranma was one of the first anime series that I saw and I loved it. Recently a friend of mine who usually only borrows whatever anime I had, borrowed Ranma as one of his 1st viewing experiences, and he liked it as well. We like simple humor like Ranma and goldenboy. So, yes, I would recommend Ranma to someone whose new to anime (at least the 1st 2 seasons anyways).

Here you go again comparing two things that aren't even in the same league.

Dumb and Dumber is straight out slapstick. There is no subtlety to this movie but it does appeal to people looking for base humour where there is no thinking required.

The Big Lebowski is a comedy masterpiece that combines many forms of comedy to make a well crafted movie. From the dream sequences to the almost believable outrageous characters, The Big L stands out in it's field.

I could understand if you compared Dumb and Dumber to Something About Mary or American Pie or even Shallow Hal but I fail to see the relation between it and the Big L.

I gave you the benefit of the doubt when you lumped Ranma in with Pokemon and Digimon. Now that you've put The Big Lebowski in the same realm as Dumb and Dumber I know you to be a luddite in need of some basic cinematographic education.

You are a step ahead of the masses in your knowledge that some anime are worth watching. I look forward to discussing it more with you once you are able to make informed comments about a subject.

Whoa!!!! what just happened. All that kids posts got deleted so now it seems like me and Zagotto have been speaking to ourselves this entire time. Do we have the power to completely delete our own posts? and even if we did, why would someone go and do that?

Whoa, very odd. I guess maybe his feelings were hurt? :confused:

I was a bit harsh with my last post.
I can see how I might have hurt someone's feelings.

I've got to learn to reign in my temper some times.

Quote:Originally posted by Zagatto
I was a bit harsh with my last post.
I can see how I might have hurt someone's feelings.

I've got to learn to reign in my temper some times.

What, the post above my last one? You call that harsh? Please, don't make me laugh. That wasn't harsh at all. That can't be what did it. Besides, even if you scared someone away, they would just stop posting in that thread. Noone goes and deletes all their posts.

Well... he still has three posts in the forum in the "what you're watching" thread. His account looks like it might be shut down too because his account isn't set up to receive any private messages either.

Whatever happened, it looks like he's gone.

I'm glad to hear that I didn't drive you off. I wasn't aware that you could delete entire posts like that.

You continue to amuse me with conflicting statements.
You say you deleted ALL of your posts because your last one mentioned Hollywood movies (along with anime) but you then make your new posting a list of your favourite anime series within the "WORST ANIME" thread. I do believe there is another thread somewhere about the best anime available. I even agree with all of the titles you've mentioned that I've seen.

Then you mention:
"Worst by any means:
There are actually animes I hate a lot more than kiddy stuff. These stuff I absolutely despise.
Animes with gory and sensless violence. Like guts ripping out and brain getting blown off for visual enjoyment and for no other apparent reason. You know which ones I am talking about.
Some might get angry, but these are pure garbage."

Which is another genre that you dislike due to personal reasons. You don't actually mention any titles and then you go on to label all anime with gore and violence as garbage. The key word to that sentance in my opinion is "enjoyment". That means there is a core audience that enjoys some anime with gore and violence. Within that genre, there are titles that are better than others at what they do. Ninja Scroll is certainly gory and violent but is still enjoyable due to the quality of its production. Sword of Truth on the other hand is also gory and violent but stands out as one of the worst movies I've seen due to incredibly poor production values.

"Too silly for me list:
Ranma and the likes of simple-minded, badly drawn comedy
Pokemon, Digimon, Dragonball, Yu-Gi-Oh"

If they're too silly for you to list then why did you list them?
And are you lumping Ranma in with those others again just to bait people?

It really is just a matter of taste, unless it is in the case of Arjuna, because that show is crap.

How do you feel about the guy in AKIRA that was shot to peices trying to protect the litlle boy? That shows how deeply he wanted the little boy to escape. It wasn't a gratuitouse gore seen and yes it was there to show "the horrors of the future" but do you honestly think because a movie with that in it is garbage for having it in there? You said above that stuff isn't necessary. Even in a war movie. (This is how I personally took that statement from the way you wrote it) If a movie about Normandy doesn't have a few gross shots in it and it's about the frontlines then why bother watching it? It becomes a great movie because they show WHY war is so terrible. Watching someone have their head taken off from a mortat shell really gets the point across to me that war SUCKS! If it was just a bunch of shots of people getting shot offscreen and edited out or whatever the case, the movie loses it's impact! In a tragic movie such as Akira, the viewers don't truly get the feeling that something terrible is happening without the gore and violence. It's ok not to like a movie because of the violence but to say the movie is garbage because of the violence in a genuinly good movie is just thoughtless and arrogant.

That's what I thought you meant. Well said my friend.