I can’t begin to say how sorry I am for bringing my thoughts to all of you.
Apologies to newgeekphilosopher, but as I got done writing this I felt that I wanted to know other, more experienced as well as the newer anime watchers opinion on the subject, and what better way than to pose it but as a question in the MGRR?

Okay, I’ll admit it. I consider myself a bit of a n00b to anime, as I only really got into it around a year ago. Before then, all I had to go on were pirated fansubs portraying themselves as legitamate DVD’s on teh internets, which I bought unknowing of this aggravating fact. But as I’m relatively new to anime, I’ve generally only been catching the latest series, which pretty much includes everything made after the millenium, except in some rare cases which only involve movies, OVA’s and the like. As such, I’ve been exposed mostly to the simple, cleaner style of recent years rather than the darker, gritty, more detailed style of the early 90’s and late 80’s.

This picture is courtesy of Otaking and some random person who edited it.

Otaking pretty much says that as the older anime have a larger amount of shading and detail, they look better, whereas the simplistic style of recent years is cheap and “looks like shit”. But I think that this is all a matter of opinion and what you’ve personally been influenced by. It’s the same type of thing with anime subs and dubs; the first voice actors you hear are those that become ingrained in your mind. As you watch the show, identify with the characters and learn to recognise their voices, that’s the version of the anime that you’ve gotten to know. Introducing new voices takes something away from that, and as such it’s hard to appreciate the new Western voice-actors work.

Either that or the voice-actor choices just plain suck, but what I’m saying is this theory can be applied to anime art in general. Older anime viewers would have grown up with the likes of Gunbuster, Vampire Hunter D and Bubblegum Crisis, or will have gained some of their first impressions of anime from this, so perhaps they may view this style as better compared to the likes of today. Then again, their age may also mean they’ll have seen the changes the art in anime shows went through and will have either slowly adjusted to or rejected this (as Otaking seems to have done).

Even though I realise this, I also notice that either due to the lack of old anime I’ve seen or the fact I’ve only seen recent shows, I tend to see older art in anime as slightly worse than in more recent ones. Case and point: having seen Gunbuster 2, I went back and watched the original Gunbuster, and found it very hard to get through. This was partly due to the fact Noriko’s character pissed me off (that’s for another day) but also because after seeing the, in my eyes, amazing art for Diebuster, the more detailed but static nature of Gunbuster’s art didn’t click with me. There were only few minutes where I actually sat back and went “Hey, that looks great” in the entirety of the 6 OVA series. It left me relatively unimpressed. But does that mean I’m just biased against older anime in general and think that older anime looks “dated”?

One thing that I can mention in defense of myself and in condemnation (strong word but suitable) of Otaking’s views is Hayao Miyazaki’s Laputa: Castle in the Sky, or for that matter, most of his films.

To me, that looks pretty simple, but does that automatically mean that it’s worse looking than older anime? No. Because there is one important factor yet to be addressed in detail: the animation itself. When I say this, I’m talking about the fluidity of the anime when it tries to portray moving objects, be they characters, animals or even something such as the movement of a piece of machinery or the subtle but ever present and traditional scene of wind blowing through a field of grass. Most of the time, what’s sacrificed in the detail of the art is made up for in the quality of the animation. Most of Miyazaki’s films (or at least the 8 or so I’ve seen from him under Studio Ghibli) aren’t overly detailed or shaded but the depth of the animation is amazing; everything feels truly alive, be they cities, landscapes, animals or the random monsters he comes up with. His work seems less about making characters faces emotional and more about making everything about the characters and the scene emotional; as a side note, background art is still art, and more recently background art is gaining greater detail and beauty in animation as the creators realise that viewers are paying more attention to subtle things such as this.

Though this is a random reference, you could also take a look at the segments of Clannad which were set in the other world with the girl and the robot; you can’t deny that some of those scenes were very well done and looked beautiful. He even tries to say that by extension the art from Disney is bad, citing Pochahantas (awesome movie, by the way) as an example, but I can say the same thing in rebuttal; the movie may not be detailed but the animation, as with most of Disney’s earlier feture films, is fantastic.

He writes of how more shading = better looking, but many fantastic anime directors, such as Makoto Shinkai, have begun to use variations of lighting to good effect, in their work. You even have expermental art and animation with the likes of Kaiba, which is very simple, but still looks fantastically weird. This also brings to the argument a question of style; not all anime is going to look the same. Miyazaki’s aforementioned film was made 4 years before Gunbuster, and yet the two look nothing alike as the creators of each had a different vision for their show. The same thing can be said about recent anime series and also as a lot of them are adaptations, they stick to the manga art, which in itself isn’t that detailed these days. Plus there’s also the nature of animation budget, and whether the studios want to make things look detailed or put more money into animating scenes, which I think would lead to the choice of the latter.

So, after all this, what’s my point?

What I believe is that, though I’m more prone to seeing newer animation and art in a more favourable light, this doesn’t mean that I think older animtion is “dated” or looks crap. Anime from different generations each have their own unique appeal and you can’t just claim one is greater than the other as each of the individual aspects that make them up can be appreciated by different audiences, where some might pride one aspect over another. You also have different types of animation, so you can’t just group them into “New” and “Old”.

If if it sounds strange that I barely merit the appeal of older anime, it’s because I’m biased as I haven’t any older anime (excluding Miyazaki’s) and I’d like for other anime viewers to enlighten/agree/argue with me. I personally prefer more recent styles of animation.

But what do you think? Old, new, both, or are those types of classifications irrelevant?

Why is he even there?

The 3rd Round-Robin topic is this:

The concept of “the other guy” in shoujo plot lines: In a shoujo cliché, the main couple faces many obstacles on their way to TRULUV. One of these obstacles is “the other guy”. And “this other guy” happens to embody all the qualities of the ideal male. And yet in the end, he is rejected for the original guy, even despite the original guy being an asshole, hurting the girl with his antics, and having blatant flaws.

First of all, I’ve never really enjoyed shoujo anime because I hate cliché shit – I prefer watching unpredictable shows because most typical happenings bore me stiff, and I like anime with a large cast so that the plot just doesn’t revolve around a couple of characters I might eventually get fed up with. And that’s why it’s rare for me to pick up a shoujo series, simply because although you get some sweet romance (er, corny much?), everything eventually becomes no fun, the ending pairing becomes obvious and the main female lead grows irritating. I still can’t believe I’ve seen all of Fruits Basket and actually didn’t die of boredom watching it.

So Tohru chooses Kyo in the end over Yuki. Of course, Tohru probably chose him because he needs her more than Yuki does, so would you call this love with a tad of sympathy, or just pure love? I hate guys that act like jerks, like Kyo, but heck, in anime you don’t really give a crap – you think they’re cute since they can be sooo good-looking – but in real life they are in fact, extremely annoying (oh, I know alright). Perhaps Tohru really did choose Kyo because he’s so opposite to her and he holds so many issues, and maybe that’s also what attracted her to him. Somewhat like Tohru, I believe that there’s good in everyone no matter how bad they are, but while trying to unveil Kyo’s “mask”, Tohru may have stumbled across this innocent and lonely side of him that made her realize how much happiness she could give him, be it a lover or a friend or rape. Perhaps, when we offer happiness to others, we feel so much more worthy and accepted in society that the person we can make so happy in life is the person we’d rather live the rest of our lives with.

For sure if a guy pisses me off, I wouldn’t even take another step near him. I’d perhaps try to help him some time if I’m certain that there’s some issues in his life, but will definitely end up giving up, or I’d just let him figure his own problems out. It ticks me to see people acting like shit to others because of what’s happened to them in the past (get over it already), but my life’s not that bad either, so I have no real say I suppose, and I guess if you’ve been so badly treated way back, it’s understandable too. I really don’t understand how long such a thin plot (typical shoujo) can drag out for, and why the two main guys can be so alike in all shoujo series all the time? Why does there have to be a “nice” guy – why can’t one be super intellectual and the other real sporty? Yeah, I don’t think it’d work out nicely either.

I think the purpose of the “other” guy is to show that even hopeless assholes have a chance of getting a love life and that being “nice” doesn’t mean that you’ll get everything you want. The “nice” guy shows more understanding and is prepared to accept the fact that the girl he’s in love with is happier with the asshole guy because she can offer more to him than she could ever do for the “nice” guy. The “other” guy is also there to create competition and increase fangirlism, debate among viewers about who the main chick will end up choosing, and to get people like me angry that the assholish guy gets picked by the girl instead. The “other” guy can also be there to make us pity feel sorry for him, and well, a shoujo wouldn’t be a shoujo if the “other” guy isn’t in it. Eventually, the “other” guy always moves on and it’s a message for those people in similar situations that just because you think she’s the one, the world may not agree with you. I always think after watching a shoujo cliché: Why the asshole? He treats you like shit, so why? Is it because assholes are more risky in life, that they are dangerous, exciting and because they don’t care what others think of them, which makes these girls feel more comfortable around them and not embarrassed?

In Naruto, Sakura is obsessed with Sasuke even though he acts real cold to her. Why is this so? I’ve no bloody idea – like I said, how could you like someone without really knowing them, plus the fact that they couldn’t care less about you? That’s just insane … but I’ll be dead honest that if I watch an anime, see a badass guy, I may go head-over-heels in love with him, but it’s totally different from real life. You know, perhaps it’s because the mangaka likes the badass guy so they let the chick end up with him and ditch the “nice” guy. If you look deeper into a shoujo cliché, then you may get this message that the badass represents the sinful people, the “nice” guy represents the rightful people, and the main chick represents a saviour. Because really, who is it that needs more help? The sinful or the rightful – like Jesus who reached out to those who need healing, like Jesus who ate with a tax collector? We donate to the poor, not the rich. We help the blind, not those who can already see. The “other” “nice” guy is content, and besides, he probably knows that he deserves better than the girl who left him for the asshole guy.

My first real contribution!

Before I delve deep into the topic, please note that there were various topics to choose from and you can imagine why I chose this particular one. First, “The Rabbit Hole” had me thinking killing bunnies off, and second, the topic was the only one I really understood. So anyway, I’ve joined the AGRR and I’m probably the only useless member of the club since my replies are only worth a couple of meaningless words. Seriously, we were all wondering what topics should be discussed, everyone thought really hard on it and gave hot suggestions, and all I asked was if we could talk about food.

So how much do I appreciate anime and what good or bad does it do to me?

I watch anime because it’s my life and if I don’t watch at least one a day I’m gonna suicide like the bunnies–no I’m kidding. I enjoy watching anime because it helps the creativity side of my mind and helps my Japanese speaking skills improve. Also, it’s fun and a great way to kill time, sit back and relax to your heart’s content. My parents tell me off all the time but that doesn’t stop me from watching, but I still do know that I shouldn’t watch, let’s say, three episodes in one day on a normal school day because that would mean I’m delaying my homework. Anime also brings me closer to a few friends but some of them roll their eyes at the mention of it because, well, they don’t like anime at all.

However, because I’ve been friends with some of them for so long, they’ve come to appreciate anime and sometimes watch it with me. But they’d make the wackiest jokes out of it and complain about some of its retardedness. By watching anime, it also helps me write better fantasy stories because anime is broad and is almost like reading a book, except your eyes are glued to the screen. I go through a lot of phases where at one point I’d think that anime is no fun at all, and I’d get addicted to watching dramas and listening to music and watching movies instead. However, I’d always find my way back and thanks to blogging, I don’t go through those kind of phases any more because I know that there are shitloads of people out there who also enjoy anime.

Sometimes watching anime means escaping reality, but heck, I love my life anyway. Whenever I do get pissed at something or someone, I watch anime in order to get over it. But there are times when I’d like to escape from reality for just a second because reality doesn’t offer so much and there’s a limit to what each individual can do. Sometimes after watching an episode I’d think over about my previous anger and I’d often wonder why I got so boiled up in the first place. The thing is, I hardly get pissed at anyone and when I do, I get over it within minutes because it’s probably not that big of a deal. For me, I’m trying to accept life (I’m too lazy to go on a rebellion like Lelouch) and things the way they are and I’d normally be the wrong one, so watching anime, in a way, helps me realize my mistake.

Anime does help me escape from reality because it can be so unrealistic, but sometimes it helps me reflect on my actions and I think: Crap, maybe I was too harsh on her, or something. Especially when the theme focuses on friendship and forgiving. Some anime increase my knowledge in certain areas as well, which is good because I normally daydream through my classes anyway. Watching anime makes me think that anything can be possible and that if I really try, maybe my life can be as fun and interesting as the characters’.

There are times, like Hinano, when I come home after going out with my friends that I think: Crap, I need to blog yadadada or watch shit and shit. It gets me agitated at first because I’d be too lazy and sleepy to, but then I’d start reading other blogs and tell myself that I can do it. After a while, I’d think that it was worth it to go out with my friends first because they’re really important people in my life and I wouldn’t want to ever forget them, ever. Anime can make me forget important and minor things, so it’s more of a hobby than anything else. I try restraining myself from watching too much because it’s nice to get out and become closer with your friends every once in a while.

Watching anime can sometimes exclude you from certain groups (because you’d be watching that instead of the tv like “everyone else”), and make you an outcast at times, but it’s probably just because those people are very opinionated and don’t like too much of one thing. I’d agree with that in a way because I’d get pissed if everyone loves the same book and talks about it non-stop. First, because it gets tiring to hear the same darn shit over and over again, and two, because you haven’t read it before it makes you feel left out. This is why I try avoiding talking about anime a lot in school, particularly because midnightrose is about the only chick I know that even bothers watching anime. Everyone else pays more attention to the tv, MySapce, Bebo and Azn dramas to even care.

Oh and we’re setting up a PodCast thingy and looking for helpers if you’re interested~! Thanks otou-san!

Fear the pink ball!