Has Anime become mainstream in the US?

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
wow, Elfen Lied is not for 12 year olds lol. Entertaining but way to adult oriented.

Yup. I loved Elfen Lied too.

I bought the box set unseen because it was on sale. After the first 5 minutes, I was like, WTF did I just blow my money on? But it turned out to be well worth the money.

I think anime has gained acceptance in the U.S., but still isn't mainstream.


More importantly: Should we warn morning musume that uhohs is going to see them?

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: SonicIce
yea whats up with anime and bad endings?
like blue gender. everything was totally plausable in the show (considering it was in the future) but the end just didnt make any sense. so you're left wondering like what the hell?

one good english dub is cowboy bebop. alot better than most dubs at least.

Shuffle..

InuYasha..

and dont even start on Evangelion. Good Lord.. It went from fun, to emo, to holyshitwtfisthisohgodmyeyes!

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: SonicIce
yea whats up with anime and bad endings?
like blue gender. everything was totally plausable in the show (considering it was in the future) but the end just didnt make any sense. so you're left wondering like what the hell?

one good english dub is cowboy bebop. alot better than most dubs at least.

Yeah, I still don't know WTF happened in Blue Gender. It was totally awesome except for the last 5 minutes.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: foghorn67

Originally posted by: Saga

Originally posted by: foghorn67
No. Never will be unless they drop the whole over dramatic voice acting and crappy facial expressions.

Robotech and Voltron was all I could handle. Even then it was pure cheese.

If people think Robotech and Voltron are anime, no wonder there are so many ignorant misconceptions. Yes I know they are anime. But they are not MODERN anime, judging the genre by shit that old is the same as judging modern special effects by referencing Casablanca - black and fucking white and all.

I have tried watching what you call anime, and it's horrible.

Can I ask why you call it horrible?
The only reason you could have to find the entire medium horrible is because you don't like animated shows.
It would be like calling all live action shows horrible. Anime is a way of showing a story, it doesn't define the story or what happens within the show.

The Simpsons, South Park, Mickey Mouse, Airbender, Family Guy, Rugrats, Angry Beavers, Ren and Stimpy.
These are all cartoons. They are mostly pretty different. Do you hate the medium just because you don't like some of them?

I can understand that maybe you don't like most of the shows you've watched, and might not want to bother trying more shows to find ones you might consider good, but equally I could watch 20 'regular' TV shows and find them all really crappy. That doesn't mean regular TV is all crap. (Well, it is, but not because of the medium used).

And most anime is pretty crappy and cliché and not worth watching, but IMO there are some good shows, often the more quirky or the ones targeted at a less 'typical' audience (typical for anime watchers).

 

[Eeezee]

No, it has not become mainstream. Only nerds and pervs watch anime. I'm a nerd

Do you want to know why? It's because a lot of anime series are complete and utter shit. That's right, they're terrible. But for some reason a bunch of guys decided that all anime everywhere is good, so they tell non-nerds "OH you just have to say awesome anime X" and when it turns out to suck, it turns off the people who were otherwise willing to give anime a try.

99.9% of its content sucks, and that makes it no different than any other artistic medium. There are some great anime series out there, but most people will never see them because their first (and last) exposure was something shitty like Sailor Moon. Or maybe they gave it a second shot but suffered through a bad english dub of an otherwise good series.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
And most anime is pretty crappy and cliché and not worth watching, but IMO there are some good shows, often the more quirky or the ones targeted at a less 'typical' audience (typical for anime watchers).

There's my point, summarized. Most anime is awful and not worth watching. If you don't have anyone with a sense of taste guiding which series you watch, pretty soon you'll come to the conclusion that all anime is terrible.

As a medium for telling stories, anime tends to have a pretty slow S/N ratio. Anime studios turn out a lot of crap, and there are maybe a few dozen exceptions that are authentically good.

Also, you assumed that he meant "all anime" is horrible, but that's not necessarily implied when he said that anime is horrible. If he ate the most delicious turd sandwich in the world and it turned out to be pretty tasty, it would still be fair for him to say that he dislikes turd sandwiches (just not all turd sandwiches everywhere). He's not going to head down to the dog pound and stock up on sandwich fillings there.

 

[n yusef]

Berserk > *

 

[RedArmy]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: RedArmy
I have watched 3 weeks, 5 days, 23 hours, and 44 minutes of Anime in my life thus far...that is all.

Sounds like someone uses MAL or AniDB

Anime-Planet, I love it. Best website layout for picking episodes and rating them.

Edit: Pertaining to this thread, I believe that for anyone that watches anime it should be required that GITS, both the series (SAC, 2nd Gig) and movies (all 4) be seen. That kind of story-writing, plot, and futuristic style is in my mind, some of the best that anime has to offer.

Also, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo...not as well known, but AWESOME styling...same with Sky Crawlers (movie)...but in a different way.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: n yusef
Berserk > *

The manga, sure. The anime is really only an introduction to the manga.

Seeing the anime and not reading the manga is like admiring the front door of an art museum but never stepping inside.

 

[ric0chet06]

I hate anime. I can't stand watching it

 

[RedArmy]

Originally posted by: ric0chet06
I hate anime. I can't stand watching it

Which begs the questions: what have you watched, and what do you consider anime?

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: EGGO
Seeing that after moving from Japan and seeing that nobody knew what it was and it became this, I'd say it's just pretty well known, but not mainstream. I remember when Sci Fi also first began to show them. It was my little haven, but then it got canceled. Can't stand what's usually shown today, though. Too many anime cliches, bad voice acting (and not the hilariously bad kind, just bad), going far too long, and endings sucking (I watched Shikabane Hime on Hulu. It was getting pretty decent and then had the most horrible ending. So horrible, you took back everything you said was good about the show).

? or ? ?

 

[0roo0roo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KksnR-cKCT8

 

[uhohs]

i can't stand most anime. the only things i'm watching are the second season of Chi's sweet home and Cooking Idol I My Mine
:3

 

[Aikouka]

Anime began to grow in the late 90's with the inclusion of teenage male series like Dragonball Z, which people began to soon realize that if they could find more shounen series like that, they could make a good amount of monies. Anime surely existed on American soil before that, but it wasn't nearly as prolific and now it's grown a lot more that it's not considered odd to have seen anime. It also helps that from the lot of teenage male-oriented anime that we've also pulled in the "pretty shit" from Miyazaki that people always comment on how breathtaking and such that it is.

The argument of mainstream is kind of silly. Some people consider mainstream to be whatever is rather well-known in an area, which is pretty much the definition. But then there are also those that separate it by what is known and not known at all... you know, like that weird, rare series from Japan that usually an anime nerd will know about but people watching Naruto on youtube have no clue about... that's the difference.

Originally posted by: SonicIce
one good english dub is cowboy bebop. alot better than most dubs at least.

Only dub that I've ever seen and thought was alright was the Read or Die OVA.

Originally posted by: uhohs
i'm going to anime expo for morning musume not the anime.

;_;

Fight on, brotha!

EDIT:

Originally posted by: uhohs
i can't stand most anime. the only things i'm watching are the second season of Chi's sweet home and Cooking Idol I My Mine
:3

Dude, Chi's New Address rocks.

 

[EGGO]

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner

Originally posted by: EGGO
Seeing that after moving from Japan and seeing that nobody knew what it was and it became this, I'd say it's just pretty well known, but not mainstream. I remember when Sci Fi also first began to show them. It was my little haven, but then it got canceled. Can't stand what's usually shown today, though. Too many anime cliches, bad voice acting (and not the hilariously bad kind, just bad), going far too long, and endings sucking (I watched Shikabane Hime on Hulu. It was getting pretty decent and then had the most horrible ending. So horrible, you took back everything you said was good about the show).

? or ? ?

Don't get why you're giving me these choices (assuming I'm reading them right as "red" or "black"?)

 

[zerogear]

Originally posted by: Saga

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner
The real question is: were they watching with jp audio and english subtitles, or english dubs?

Because dubs are horrible 90% of the time.

Sadly, so true. I can name so many dubbed series who used voice actors who absolutely slaughtered the dialogue and characters. Eva is a HUGE one, fucking Shinji couldn't have sounded like a bigger whiny fucking bitch if they tried. They needed to pick someone who's balls have dropped to accurately play a 14 year old.

I thought Shinji was pretty whiny in the Jp version too

Watch MONSTER and 20th Century Boys. Elfen Lied is... meh.

Couple of series I like:

Ergo Proxy
Witch Hunter Robin
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Mushishi
Ghost in the Shell
Wolf's Rain
Eureka Seven

And just for fun series I love Kaleido Star

 

[Fritzo]

No. It's horrible.

 

[zinfamous]

Not just for crappy edited adult-swim shows anymore

as opposed to? ....


let's hope not. the less mainstream anime remains the better off we are as a culture.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: zerogear

Originally posted by: Saga

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner
The real question is: were they watching with jp audio and english subtitles, or english dubs?

Because dubs are horrible 90% of the time.

Sadly, so true. I can name so many dubbed series who used voice actors who absolutely slaughtered the dialogue and characters. Eva is a HUGE one, fucking Shinji couldn't have sounded like a bigger whiny fucking bitch if they tried. They needed to pick someone who's balls have dropped to accurately play a 14 year old.

I thought Shinji was pretty whiny in the Jp version too

Watch MONSTER and 20th Century Boys. Elfen Lied is... meh.

Couple of series I like:

Ergo Proxy
Witch Hunter Robin
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Mushishi
Ghost in the Shell
Wolf's Rain
Eureka Seven

And just for fun series I love Kaleido Star

A series with an excellent really far-out story. But good God the whining and bitching got to me sooo bad.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: EGGO

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner

Originally posted by: EGGO
Seeing that after moving from Japan and seeing that nobody knew what it was and it became this, I'd say it's just pretty well known, but not mainstream. I remember when Sci Fi also first began to show them. It was my little haven, but then it got canceled. Can't stand what's usually shown today, though. Too many anime cliches, bad voice acting (and not the hilariously bad kind, just bad), going far too long, and endings sucking (I watched Shikabane Hime on Hulu. It was getting pretty decent and then had the most horrible ending. So horrible, you took back everything you said was good about the show).

? or ? ?

Don't get why you're giving me these choices (assuming I'm reading them right as "red" or "black"?)

Aka or "red" is the first "season"

Kuro or "black" is the second "season"

Did you watch Kuro?

 

[KMFJD]

We used to get robotech 1-3 back in the 80's on local tv....voltron etc

 

[lifeobry]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
A series with an excellent really far-out story. But good God the whining and bitching got to me sooo bad.

Eureka Seven is so good.

For fans of anime and newbies alike, I have to recommend Baccano! Show has style.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Can I ask why you call it horrible?
The only reason you could have to find the entire medium horrible is because you don't like animated shows.
It would be like calling all live action shows horrible. Anime is a way of showing a story, it doesn't define the story or what happens within the show.

The Simpsons, South Park, Mickey Mouse, Airbender, Family Guy, Rugrats, Angry Beavers, Ren and Stimpy.
These are all cartoons. They are mostly pretty different. Do you hate the medium just because you don't like some of them?

I can understand that maybe you don't like most of the shows you've watched, and might not want to bother trying more shows to find ones you might consider good, but equally I could watch 20 'regular' TV shows and find them all really crappy. That doesn't mean regular TV is all crap. (Well, it is, but not because of the medium used).

And most anime is pretty crappy and cliché and not worth watching, but IMO there are some good shows, often the more quirky or the ones targeted at a less 'typical' audience (typical for anime watchers).

:laugh:
"You can't say all anime is crap, but I can say all regular TV is crap"

 

[ZetaEpyon]

Mainstream, eh... interesting question.

In the sense that a large percentage of people would now have some idea what you're talking about if you say you watch anime, then yes, it's probably sort of mainstream. However, you also have to consider that there's virtually no anime shown on TV anymore (even Cartoon Network/Adult Swim has stopped airing everything as far as I know), and the local anime licensing and distribution companies are dying. Geneon (Pioneer) died last year, and just this week CPM filed bankruptcy. People know what anime is, but they aren't buying it in large part anymore, as was the case during the popularity peak around the early part of this decade. Still, with the prevalence of internet sources (both fansub and legitimate streams), it might not be out of the question to still call it mainstream in some sense.

My 2c