Anime

[Las Naranjas]

Especially considering we've all most likely done it. Like abandonware, you can easily argue that it's ethically fine, since no-one is losing out per se, but it's only fair that people know that they're breaking laws.

And if you go to animesuki, download FBC.

---edit---

http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/191.html go go go!

[Esseb]

FBC is available on animesuki? Does that mean it's not been licensed? Shame.

[Andail]

I don't like anime. A friend of mine keeps pitching Naruto, but I find it extremely boring. I also watched Battle Royale 2, and I more or less longed for death while seeing it. (Although Battle Royale one was pretty decent.)

For anyone who hasn't seen Naruto, here's a break down of an ordinary episode:

1. A good and a bad character stand before eachother in an arena, ready to engage in a fight. Fifteen minutes pass while people in the audience talk about why the two fighters hate eachother, and what their special abilities are, just to remind the viewers.
2. Here follows a scene for the girls: A young female friend of the good fighter remembers their childhood together, preferably on a flowery meadow. This is where the nostalgic emotions are slapped in the face of the viewers. There will be plenty of circular, plate-sized mouths, representing laughter.
3. The two fighters remind eachother and the audience why they hate eachother, and what their special abilities are.
4. Flashback to an episode where the bad guy killed the good guy's friend. This is where sadness will be conveyed to the audience. Even though characters die all the time, every death will be followed by endless scenes of girls crying, tears mixed with stars and more flashbacks to flowery meadows.
5. Fighter one uses his special ability. It can be something along the lines of "The ten tentacles of moon-shadow" or "The secret dragon's sand-castle-whirlwind-flute". Whatever the writers fancied in their state of puerile, stoned mindlessness.
6. The next episode is plugged, with the promise of revealing the outcome of the battle.
7. The episode ends. Listen to a japanese song full of shallow clichées "Trust in the love of a loving bird of freedom, etc"
8. Next episode; start from 1 again.

This is quite an accurate description of a Naruto episode. Feel free to spread it all over the internet, to save people from the same horrors I've endured.

[Haddas]

Anything wrong with that?

[DGMacphee]

I think I watched only one episode of Naruto, switched it off, then set the remaining episodes on fire.

[Esseb]

Andail: Don't watch Naruto or Battle Royale 2 then. You'll find that people who are desperate to make other people watch anime tend to, well, not have a very refined taste. (Not that BR2 is an anime)

That said, and in fear of my previous statment backfiring, trust me and Las Naranjas and give Future Boy Conan a shot. Unlike Naruto and some other popular contemporary series (Beyblade, Pokemon etc.) it has a story arc and an ending.

[Cluey]

I don't like anime. A friend of mine keeps pitching Naruto, but I find it extremely boring. I also watched Battle Royale 2, and I more or less longed for death while seeing it. (Although Battle Royale one was pretty decent.)

For anyone who hasn't seen Naruto, here's a break down of an ordinary episode:

1. A good and a bad character stand before eachother in an arena, ready to engage in a fight. Fifteen minutes pass while people in the audience talk about why the two fighters hate eachother, and what their special abilities are, just to remind the viewers.
2. Here follows a scene for the girls: A young female friend of the good fighter remembers their childhood together, preferably on a flowery meadow. This is where the nostalgic emotions are slapped in the face of the viewers. There will be plenty of circular, plate-sized mouths, representing laughter.
3. The two fighters remind eachother and the audience why they hate eachother, and what their special abilities are.
4. Flashback to an episode where the bad guy killed the good guy's friend. This is where sadness will be conveyed to the audience. Even though characters die all the time, every death will be followed by endless scenes of girls crying, tears mixed with stars and more flashbacks to flowery meadows.
5. Fighter one uses his special ability. It can be something along the lines of "The ten tentacles of moon-shadow" or "The secret dragon's sand-castle-whirlwind-flute". Whatever the writers fancied in their state of puerile, stoned mindlessness.
6. The next episode is plugged, with the promise of revealing the outcome of the battle.
7. The episode ends. Listen to a japanese song full of shallow clichées "Trust in the love of a loving bird of freedom, etc"
8. Next episode; start from 1 again.

This is quite an accurate description of a Naruto episode. Feel free to spread it all over the internet, to save people from the same horrors I've endured.

LMAO I like Naruto, but  thats pretty spot on.

[Blackthorne]

Very good 'script, Andail.

Bt

[HillBilly]

I don't like anime. A friend of mine keeps pitching Naruto, but I find it extremely boring. I also watched Battle Royale 2, and I more or less longed for death while seeing it. (Although Battle Royale one was pretty decent.)

For anyone who hasn't seen Naruto, here's a break down of an ordinary episode:

1. A good and a bad character stand... etc etc

THANK YOU!

That was great, and gave me a good chuckle.

Remember Pearl Harbor!(Man, that was a crappy movie.)

[Esseb]

New developments related to this thread.

And this, on animesuki: http://www.animesuki.com/doc.php/legal/mediafactory.html

Edit: New and new. December it seems.

[HillBilly]

Yeah, that's what you get for loving anime. 

[A�rendyll (formerly Yurina)]

Anime is so much-sided that it is useless to point out to Naruto only. I think that's a shame. Another example is Pokémon. In The Netherlands (my native country) a lot of people associate anime with Pokémon, which I really hate.

[Cluey]

I'm Alive???

Talk about a bump...

[jetxl]

Anime is so much-sided that it is useless to point out to Naruto only. I think that's a shame. Another example is Pokémon. In The Netherlands (my native country) a lot of people associate anime with Pokémon, which I really hate.

That would be a major step in the right direction compared to the dictionary.

[esper]

@ Cluey: Kai Doh Maru is only good if you like the anime that is totally artistic and sacrifices story and action to make a philosophical point. I consider myself to be a deep, intellectual person, but I can't stand that artistic anime crap.

I would have to say that ALL anime is glorious: even anime that I hate, such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. The reason I feel totally comfortable saying that is because the Japanese know their markets. We may see something like Pokemybutt, You-suck-oh, and other crap like that, and consider it to be just that (crap in it's highest, most unadulterated form) but look at American kids who eat it up to the extent that American stations, as has been mentioned earlier in this thread, play nothing BUT the shite anime on Saturday morning. It's no wonder, with stuff like "Loonatiks," or whatever it's called, where all the old Looney Toons characters are big beefy superheros, coming out by us. What we do come out with that works are all Anime ripoffs anyway.Ã,  Just watch the South Park episode "Chinpokomon."
Ã,  Ã, The only thing wrong with anime that is otherwise "good" is the poor quality of voice acting and dubbing. If it were not for the fact that characters go "oooohhhhhh" in between every sentence just to make up for a gap in the script, and sometimes have to say a line very quickly to make it through in time (who knew that "yah!" in Japanese was the equivalent of "Super Ultra Neutron Molecule Rocket Blast Supreme!" in English), I think it would not be quite so "embarrassing" to watch anime. I think some anime is the best stuff I've ever watched, but because of the cheesy dialog I'm afraid to watch it with anyone for fear of being made fun of for an eternity thenceforward. Rorouni Kenshin would probably be the best storyline ever (has anyone ever seen the last episode, Reflections?) if it weren't for all the chibi and oro they use.
Ã,  Ã, The first anime I ever saw was Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind, which was tremendous. The first anime I ever saw that I recognized as anime was Appleseed. I have since seen hundreds of anime, and there is no doubt: the Japanese "have the skills of an artist" that Americans don't have. We simply cannot draw machines and vehicles like they can. We don't spend as much time on our backgrounds. We don't ever even shade. We only draw things from certain angles while anime artists feel free to use any angles because the commie bastards know they can. They might draw faces funny (BESM, big eyes small mouth) but they can illustrate beautiful and anatomically perfect human bodies of both genders. They can animate action in ways that no American artist would ever dare take the time to do.Ã,  Even their crappiest shows top some of our best ones. If you ever see an American show that looks like it could top an anime, watche the credits.... Chances are ten to one that someone of Asian descent, or even a large crew of Japanese or Chinese artists were involved. Some of my favorite American-made animated movies (The Hobbit, The Return of the King, The Flight of Dragons, and The Last Unicorn, to name a few, not to mention shows like Transformers, Thundercats, and Voltron) are "all arted up" by the Japanese.

Another bonus of anime is that there are genres that they just won't touch over here in America. I love Sci-Fi, fantasy, paranormal, etc.... None of these topics are ever touched by American producers, but it is commonplace in Japan. Shows like Outlaw Star, Macross, Witch Hunter Robin (one of my all-time faves), Trigun, Robotech, Fullmetal Alchemist, Paranoia Agent, and Cowboy Bebop break the genre barrier, and these are just Americanized shows you can see on Adult Swim.Ã,  If you go into some of the more Japacentric shows and movies, like Harmagedan, Tokyo Godfathers (which is, by the way, good, for those who were asking), Nausicaa, Appleseed, MD Geist, etc... You get into a whole new world of excellence.

And we won't even go into the fact that the Japanese dominate the video game scene. Every video game you ever liked was probably Japanese... Even Mario (but wasn't he Italian?)... When Microsoft said they were coming out with a system, no one thought it would succeed because it was an American based company with no Japanese backing. The only reason it did well was because Bill "The Dominator" Gates has a monopoly on everything... And it still stands to reason that awesome games like Halo and Halo 2 are only awesome because of the level of graphical quality and the amount of bitticks you get to kick. There really is minimal storyline, and all the "futuristic" elements are textbook replications of other successful science fiction (which was probably Japanese to start out with).

I still feel nerdy watching it, but who cares as long as I like it?Ã, 

[A�rendyll (formerly Yurina)]

I agree a lot on Epser.on to the next "lecture"!

Anime is so great because it also has very good points at emotional scenes. I'm not only referring to romantic/dramatic/sad/etc. scenes, but also to chibi's. They always have a chibi for every emotion, which makes anime very funny. Not every anime uses chibi's, but anime without them can also make very good expressions.

I like the drawing style very much. It's detailed, good at anatomics, and the characters are always drawed in the same style as the story is written in. Dat means by example: in serious anime the characters look serious. I like that a LOT.

[Mordalles]

i also aggree with esper.

im a big anime fan. 1st i saw was evangelion, and i didnt realized how well it was animated until i saw it recently again.

then there is berserk, arguebly the best anime series ever! it is my favourite. no animation ever, no matter what style or country will ever beat that. and im not just talking about art here, but about story, characters, plot and everything.
cowboy bebop is another brilliant series, great teacher onizuka, hellsing. golden boy is the funniest animation ever. especially without the subs. furi kuri is awesome.

i aggree that western animation just doesnt cut it when compared to anime. and i hate that all western animation is meant for little kids.

of course, there are so many anime series that is really just boring and drags on. but when it is done right, theres no animation better.

[Las Naranjas]

Dude! I mean, I like Eva, but if there's one thing that Gainax has never done it's animated well. They're much more of the recycled still shots and limited animation school, interlaced with gratuitous fan service [chrissakes, 14 y.os dude!]

[Akumayo]

So much anime, but only one studio stands out in my mind:

GENEON

I loved Paranoia Agent with every inch of my soul, and Samurai Champloo is pretty good.

[TheYak]

Hell, since the thread's ressurrected, may as well run with it.  Paranoia Agent did kick much ass (the RPG-ish episode I could've done without), and Samurai Champloo provided enjoyment throughout. 

The trademarks of animé are also some of its inherent shortcomings.  Due to low-budget studios and many episodic shows, cels are recycled.  Often it works with the plot (flashbacks, staredowns, repetitive slayings) but it can get damned tedious when watching them to spend half the time being reminded of what happened a week ago.

I mocked animé for some time, but the reason I like it now is that animation's become one of the Japanese staples.  As such, they range from dramas, to action, to comedy, to shows for little kids.  For every 10 series I check out, I may only continue watching 2, but of those two, one is often a real gem.  It's interesting how many imports that get English dialogue treatment were tripe to begin with, those that aren't are often killed with awful low-budget actors.