What's the appeal on Anime (Japanese Animation)?

Asking about the appeal of anime is like asking about the appeal of music: there are so many different styles and genres it would be impossible to talk about anime as a whole without making some drastic generalizations.

Well there's no shortage of shitty Anime that is romance based and would probably just be better as a live action series. But there are stories live action cannot emulate anywhere near as well and that's where anime really shines. Naruto has a spectacular story line and unparalleled character development, I highly recommend you check out the first series which doesn't have too many fillers(unlike shippuden). Another series which plays on animes strengths is code geass, another spectacular story with a lot of intriguing characters though it can be quite overwhelming with its large roster of characters(relative to the shows 50 episodes), it has more characters than it has episodes and it does have that weird girl boobage thing going on. So yeah Naruto and Code geass are my top 2.

Another one is full metal alchemist brotherhood, very well written and also has some scenes which I can't imagine being emulated live action. Death note is also pretty good though very cliche for my tastes. I've never seen high school of the dead so I can't say much about it, these are both very mature stories. These are probably my next two.

And then there's anime that doesn't necessarily move the story forward with every episode but its good watch anyway, something like Samurai Champloo for instance is very entertaining.

I would have to imagine the Japanese would have similar questions about "What is the appeal of western animation?"

I played some video games and they all had gruff military men shooting aliens. What's the appeal?

That's what happens when you judge a _medium_ by a _genre_.

What's the appeal of entertainment? I listened to some Nickelback yesterday, and man, can I say that this entertainment thing is definitely not for me.

Asking what "the appeal of anime" is in a general sense is kind of a pointless question. You said yourself that you watched some that you enjoyed and saw some that you didn't. It's the same as with anything else -- movies, books, video games, music. There's good anime and there's bad anime, and then there's stuff that is purely up to taste. If all anime was themed around high school romance and boob jokes, then something like Berserk or Initial D wouldn't even exist. Anime isn't a genre -- it's just a blanket term for all Japanese animation, and just like movies, it comes in every genre you could possibly think of.

@dcgc said:

I tried to watch "School Days" that was recommended by my cousin (who is a big anime fan), but what I saw was lame teen romance and big boobs all over.

I am very fond of low brow teen romance anime, but I'll see if i can say a few words without going into that.

In a sense anime is just very impactful in a lot of ways for me. That goes for comedic effect, tragedy, visual impact, and other things.

I think of the series i am most fond of like kyou kara maou,welcome to the NHK, Nodame Cantabile, and i imagine them losing alot of flair if translated to any other medium.

@dcgc said:

I wanted to know if this is the main theme in anime and what is its the appeal, since anime is very popular and appreciated all over the world.

Anime is a medium so you can't really say it has a theme or anything.

I'd say the stories, the characters, the animations, the fight scenes/cool moments, etc.

Not really that big of a mystery.  
It's the same thing that makes other movies or TV shows appealing to others. 

Death Note is amazing.

My problem with Japanese animation has always stemmed from the super feminine designs and the utter fucking horrid translations. Not the dubbing, the translation. They mangle the English language and say the most stupid shit in Japanese animation because the people they hire to translate are not writers. They don't get the flow of the language they're translating to, the common vernacular of the audience, they just translate and punch their clock. It's lazy as fuck and there is no fucking reason I need to hear someone talking about filling a dead chick's soul with light. I'm sure it sounded great in Japanese, but it sounds fucking stupid in English.

TL;DR - I don't know how people can stand to watch Japanese animation in its current form because holy crap are the translations terrible.

P.S. "Animation" is a medium. "Anime" is a genre within animation.

Like people have said, you're generalizing way too much. That said, if you break Anime down to it's simplest form and the weird faces and the chibis and the 12 year olds but no its cool she's actually 2000 and whatnot, I hate it too. I can't stand all those "Teen romance" (HEY LOOK AT ALL THESE LADIES) anime, but One Piece is one of my favorite works of fiction ever. Just like with anything else, it's about finding the right ones.

people should really stop distinguishing anime from cartoons. they're the same thing - it just happens that much of the popular stuff in japan uses the same style (i tend to think western cartoons are a lot more varied in their looks, maybe it's just me). so if you think of it that way then it's just a cultural difference. and then the question isn't what is the appeal of anime, it is "why is what's popular in japanese culture not something i like?" the answer is that people are different.

(edited for mistakes)

Well this is silly. Anime varies from story to story, much like western animation, video games, movies, etc.

@dcgc said:

@Brodehouse said:

I played some video games and they all had gruff military men shooting aliens. What's the appeal? That's what happens when you judge a _medium_ by a _genre_.

So Anime is not a genre but a medium? I thought anime was a genre like cartoons is a genre for a TV show. Why is Anime considered a medium and not a genre then?

Cartoon shouldn't be a genre either, it's just a way to describe how the show is conveyed and produced. Spongebob Squarepants and Archer are both Cartoons, but putting them both in that "genre" without describing them more isn't going to tell anyone anything. Think of it like this: would you call Live-Action a genre?

Edit - To the second half of your post: I won't deny that people who would call themselves an "anime fan" have tastes that seem creepy and weird to a lot of people(for the record, I am not an "Anime Fan"). I would say that it's just that people who are more drawn to anime as a whole tend to like those things, but those are also the people who wear fake cat ears and for some reason think it's a good idea, so take that how you will. Also, there's plenty of popular stuff that isn't like that.

With anime, like anything I guess, you really need to find what works for you. There is so much shit that it can really sully your image of anime entirely and that's a shame because there are some gems if you're just willing to find them. I have almost zero tolerance of fan service bullshit and even I've found plenty of anime worthy of my time.. I just wish there were more made for adults rather than 14 year old boys. And it saddens me to say that I'm pretty sure anime made for 14 year old Japanese boys is popular among Westerner adult men. This is why I agree that anime is for jerks, even though I love anime.

http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=5117

Look at the categories for 'School Days' - this would let me know immediately that it's not worth my time. Hell, the art alone tells me that. If 'pantsu' or 'ecchi' are a category your anime falls into, then fuck your anime. The next time someone recommends an anime for you, check for it on anidb before deciding if you might be interested in watching it.

@dcgc: People who enjoy anime don't watch everything because there's no way for them to like everything. Some watch action, some watch comedy, some watch your dark dramas like "School Days". I've watched alot of anime and I don't love shows like that.

You kinda chose a really polarizing show to branch out with. Some people really like School Days (it's not just a creepy romance, it's a creepy psychological horror), and some people hate it.

As others have said, anime isn't a genre, it's a medium. Cartoons generally fall into the same tropes as they go along (slapstick humour, no real plot, two-dimensional characters), whereas you can find something from pretty much every genre in an anime. That's part of the appeal; it can be just as good as a Western sci-fi (Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell), as exciting as an action movie (Black Lagoon, Jormungand), go deep with concepts like the horrible shit people can do to each other (Death Note, Higurashi) or get down in the shit with the hordes of mindless romcoms and such that come out in our theaters every week (there are some exceptions, Toradora! is excellent). There's a lot of variation.

TL;DR: Generalizations are bad, bro. Try out some new stuff, avoid the dross.

Different animes have different appeals, just like comicbooks.

@Oldirtybearon said:

My problem with Japanese animation has always stemmed from the super feminine designs and the utter fucking horrid translations. Not the dubbing, the translation. They mangle the English language and say the most stupid shit in Japanese animation because the people they hire to translate are not writers. They don't get the flow of the language they're translating to, the common vernacular of the audience, they just translate and punch their clock. It's lazy as fuck and there is no fucking reason I need to hear someone talking about filling a dead chick's soul with light. I'm sure it sounded great in Japanese, but it sounds fucking stupid in English.

TL;DR - I don't know how people can stand to watch Japanese animation in its current form because holy crap are the translations terrible.

P.S. "Animation" is a medium. "Anime" is a genre within animation.

A lot of anime doesn't have the bad translations you're talking about. They started getting a lot better after 2000, when Dragonball Z and Yu Yu Hakusho and other such shonen animes started getting more popular. Oh, bad translations definitely still exist, but not all of them are that way.

Also, I don't know if you caught this but "anime" is short for "animation" and in Japan "anime" refers to all animation. We only call it "anime" to easily differentiate between Western and Japanese animation. Yes, it is a medium and not a genre; if it were a genre then every single anime would use some of the same tropes, ideas, and themes, which simply isn't true.

EDIT: As a side note, I do not have any interest in stuff like "School Days" and what I saw of Death Note sucked.

Sexy little girls. That and there's a variety of different anime.

Well, even though you might not have noticed it, although you cited it in your opening thread, the appeal for me is variety. Yes there are high school set romantic comedies (I happen to like those) but there are also science fiction tales, Gothic horror, criminal mysteries and absurdest satires. In Western animation, you basically get one thing. Single shot stories that can be viewed by a limited age group of 5 to 14. Nothing is produced for anyone older than that and the shows made for that group are examined for political correctness and educational value. Anime is a lot more open to different stories for a broader range of viewers. Now the market is subject to the whims of mass popularity. The same is true of video games and it explains the predominance of military shooters. In the early 2000s, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya became hugely popular with its Japanese audience and thus kicked off a wave of imitators. That style of humor, design and story became the new "hotness" for several years replacing the previous fighting-action trend, which itself succeeded all those giant mech shows from the 80's. But all things come to an end and over the last couple of years there's been a soft crash in anime as it adjusts to find a new direction. Not everything is meant to appeal to everyone, but overall there is enough to choose from that most people can find something they might like. Of course, there are people just don't like cartoons and so they're never going to like anything anime.

The appeal is that it's so different from any other kind of television or movies, especially anything made here in the US. There are so many different themes, settings, and stories that you just don't get anywhere else.

@Oldirtybearon said:

My problem with Japanese animation has always stemmed from the super feminine designs and the utter fucking horrid translations. Not the dubbing, the translation. They mangle the English language and say the most stupid shit in Japanese animation because the people they hire to translate are not writers. They don't get the flow of the language they're translating to, the common vernacular of the audience, they just translate and punch their clock. It's lazy as fuck and there is no fucking reason I need to hear someone talking about filling a dead chick's soul with light. I'm sure it sounded great in Japanese, but it sounds fucking stupid in English.

TL;DR - I don't know how people can stand to watch Japanese animation in its current form because holy crap are the translations terrible.

P.S. "Animation" is a medium. "Anime" is a genre within animation.

So, you want the translators to change the content of what is happening, to make it fit with what English audiences can more easily relate to? That's not translating. I dunno what that is. The translators do a damn fine job, even those who do it for free are pretty good. Honestly, it sounds like you've no idea what you're talking about and have ridiculous expectations. Almost any form of dubbing is terrible, regardless of the quality of the voice actors, and that's nothing to do with translators being 'bad'. It would be like watching the Simpsons or South Park dubbed in Japanese. Not only would much of the humour be lost in translation, but it just doesn't work well, because it's a dub. The problem is only emphasised by the huge cultural difference between the West and Japan. These problems disappear when reading subtitles and listening to something in the language it was made in, or through actually learning Japanese.

But from what I've seen, all of today's popular anime feels the same as the "School Days" one. I still don't understand what's the appeal to these themes. Is it because people who enjoy anime just watch everything, since it has the same drawing/animation style? I just can't grasp it, that kind of anime just feels creepy.

I find it funny how people in this thread are citing School Days as if it's a watershed in the industry. It has notoriety for its out-of-left-field conclusion and the fact that it couldn't even air its last episode for a week because there was a topical murder that week which would've made airing the episode in bad taste, but School Days is far from representative of what you can expect from Japanese animation and storytelling qualities. In fact, it's hard to say what exactly you can expect from anime -- it's like someone asking "What is the appeal on prime time television series?" because anime is pretty much as broad of a category as those one-hour shows that range from crime dramas to sci-fi thrillers that fill up prime time slots in American television.

Oh and by the way, I actually appreciated the ending of School Days because it wasn't afraid to break the genre it is placed as to exemplify the consequences of a lecherous lifestyle the way it did. A little over the top, but I liked it.

Anyway, there are a lot of places to watch anime free and legally stateside, like the website Crunchyroll, so I would suggest starting there, viewing what is popular and get a feel for where your personal tastes lie. It's difficult to make specific recommendations and stating the appeal in a way that is succinct because there is too much anime out there.

Who brought School Days up? That's fucking garbage, which is an adaptation of an eroge (porn game).

If we're talking about anime, at least talk about good ones.

@AlexanderSheen: The OP mentioned it and it invited a lot of replies.

What kind of anime would you consider good? Because every time that someone asks it eventually gets belligerent every time. I feel like what people consider "good" always boils down to the type of themes and the genres they're into, so then discussions come down to people bashing each other's tastes.

@EquitasInvictus said:

@AlexanderSheen: The OP mentioned it and it invited a lot of replies.

What kind of anime would you consider good? Because every time that someone asks it eventually gets belligerent every time. I feel like what people consider "good" always boils down to the type of themes and the genres they're into, so then discussions come down to people bashing each other's tastes.

Major is good. It is the best anime ever.

@EquitasInvictus said:

@AlexanderSheen: The OP mentioned it and it invited a lot of replies.

What kind of anime would you consider good? Because every time that someone asks it eventually gets belligerent every time. I feel like what people consider "good" always boils down to the type of themes and the genres they're into, so then discussions come down to people bashing each other's tastes.

there's good anime for all genres, if you suggest a genre then I could certainly suggest something for you

@DonChipotle: The only sports-related anime I've ever watched was Cross Game, but I enjoyed it immensely and would place it among my favorites.

I guess I'll have to check Major out, considering I've heard so much about it and I do enjoy baseball in general. Never thought I'd appreciate sports anime, but with Cross Game I am definitely open to watch more.

Great Teacher Onizuka is the Anime. Nothing else.

@EquitasInvictus said:

@DonChipotle: The only sports-related anime I've ever watched was Cross Game, but I enjoyed it immensely and would place it among my favorites.

I guess I'll have to check Major out, considering I've heard so much about it and I do enjoy baseball in general. Never thought I'd appreciate sports anime, but with Cross Game I am definitely open to watch more.

Cross Game is another one I really, really enjoy. Major I love because for as slow as the first season is (and it is SLOW), it plants the seeds for a very dramatic and character focused show. It is one of those rare shows where the protagonist, while tolerable, undergoes the least development while still undergoing a full arc. It is the supporting cast that really makes everything work. But if you do watch it, take my advice and stop after season 5. Season 6 felt more like a "Shit we have to think up shit for 26 episodes" and it suffers for it. Season 5's ending feels a lot more 'final' than the ending to season 6.

@neoepoch said:

I would have to imagine the Japanese would have similar questions about "What is the appeal of western animation?"

Animation yes. But Hollywood movies and tv are huge in Japan. Friends was one of the most watched shows!

@EquitasInvictus said:

@AlexanderSheen: The OP mentioned it and it invited a lot of replies.

What kind of anime would you consider good? Because every time that someone asks it eventually gets belligerent every time. I feel like what people consider "good" always boils down to the type of themes and the genres they're into, so then discussions come down to people bashing each other's tastes.

I think that happens because there's so many genres and series that makes everyone's taste unique. Think of it as RPG character builds. It's really elaborate.

As I see it, anime is not different from movies. Both can do multiple genres, but that doesn't mean they do.

@dcgc: A lot of anime leans on very specific tropes. If you enjoy those tropes, you will generally enjoy the anime. The writing of those tropes tend to be a differentiating factor. As an example, I tend to enjoy the 'shonen' formula of anime, so I have a soft spot for Dragonball and One Piece. However, I really don't like Naruto or Fairy Tail. All of these shows take a fairly similar tone: a young kid goes on a journey and finds friends and adventure along the way. The difference is what I think of the story, the setting, the characters, and the inevitable fight scenes. Essentially, it is a taste and preference issue on a slightly more subtle level.

Panty and Stocking is the only thing you should care about ever. Don't let the name fool you into thinking its some sort of ecchi anime is legitimately one of the fucking best shows out there now. God, July 10th come faster. I needz mah DVD. Really wish they had a Blu-ray Release. =(

@jewunit: Man, if you like shounen then fall season is going to be like porn for you.

Also; School Days is the absolute worst. Don't trust your cousin!

EDIT: Like others have said, anime has the exact same appeal as movies and western TV shows have for me. Good story, good settings and good characters exist in all mediums.

@Danteveli: I've also heard of that one on declarations of the "best" anime as well as the aforementioned Major. Never watched either, but I can imagine them being incomparable in terms of the qualities of storytelling and animation, which is why I find it difficult to engage in discussions as to "what's some good anime" recommendations.

@Animasta: I understand that; I was actually asking the question rhetorically to help push the discussion to persuade the OP with regards to the "appeal" of anime and I guess it's working to an effect since people are now name-dropping titles that are "actually good."

@Petiew: Definitely seen that among people's favorites as well, so I'll probably give a look sometime.

@dcgc Your cousin probably didn't do you any favors pushing School Days since your reaction to it makes it sound like it doesn't align with your interests (and I'll admit it's definitely not even high-tier anime in terms of quality as much as I liked its ridiculousness). Others in this thread nicely exemplified the appeal of anime to them, and basically it boils down to them finding personal gems in the variety of anime out there due to their personal interests. In any form of media, that's what it usually comes down to. Your question is almost like asking "What is the appeal of video games?" so hopefully this thread helps your understanding of anime better.

All the people saying "waah it's a medium, how can you explain the appeal of it" are kinda missing the point. Anime isn't a medium, animation is. Anime is a style within that medium, the OP wants to know the specific appeal behind that style.

If I had to guess, anime fans like the high level of detail that the style can afford. Backgrounds tend to have lots of neat little details as do most important characters. Of course the drawback is that 90% of anime is pretty lazily animated, that is to say sliding keyframes around a background. So detailed drawings, stiff animation is my take on anime. There's exceptions like anything, of course. Popped in Cowboy Bebop and it's nice to see when they actually take the time to animate stuff. But typically if it's a never-ending series like Naruto, you're gonna see some Hanna-Barbera levels of lazy animation.

The other half of the appeal is probably the same reason anyone is drawn to weird Japanese stuff. I've never been able to explain that one for myself.

@MikkaQ: I think that itself is debatable; there have been a lot of discussions with regards to the nature of anime and whether it is large enough to be a medium (and I personally find it justifiable myself) but I digress as debating whether or not anime is a medium won't contribute to the discussion.

I agree with your statement in terms of animation quality, however. Even that quality gets lost with some of the series I've seen out there. I've watched a lot of anime though, so I know better than to place it at the fault of what I address as a the medium of anime and know what animation studios to avoid.

It's a very sectioned market unlike western ones. Basically you have a bunch of sub-genres that appeal to different demographic within what would look like a sub-genre in the west. This classifications have names like Shonen ( for kids, mostly male) Seinen ( For young adults and up) , Shojo ( for girls), etc.

Naruto is a Shonen, Berserk is a Seinen...for example. There's further sub-divisions. "School Days"being the kind that is more about love stories for teens, hence the boobs.

It's different from trying to find a common denominator. In this case Anime/ Manga are able to find an audience with specific taste and needs. So there's a chance you'll find something you'll really really love because it was made specifically for you.

That causes some weird things to happen too.

@CaLe said:

@Oldirtybearon said:

My problem with Japanese animation has always stemmed from the super feminine designs and the utter fucking horrid translations. Not the dubbing, the translation. They mangle the English language and say the most stupid shit in Japanese animation because the people they hire to translate are not writers. They don't get the flow of the language they're translating to, the common vernacular of the audience, they just translate and punch their clock. It's lazy as fuck and there is no fucking reason I need to hear someone talking about filling a dead chick's soul with light. I'm sure it sounded great in Japanese, but it sounds fucking stupid in English.

TL;DR - I don't know how people can stand to watch Japanese animation in its current form because holy crap are the translations terrible.

P.S. "Animation" is a medium. "Anime" is a genre within animation.

So, you want the translators to change the content of what is happening, to make it fit with what English audiences can more easily relate to? That's not translating. I dunno what that is. The translators do a damn fine job, even those who do it for free are pretty good. Honestly, it sounds like you've no idea what you're talking about and have ridiculous expectations. Almost any form of dubbing is terrible, regardless of the quality of the voice actors, and that's nothing to do with translators being 'bad'. It would be like watching the Simpsons or South Park dubbed in Japanese. Not only would much of the humour be lost in translation, but it just doesn't work well, because it's a dub. The problem is only emphasised by the huge cultural difference between the West and Japan. These problems disappear when reading subtitles and listening to something in the language it was made in, or through actually learning Japanese.

Riddle me this: How does a sub in English get rid of the translation problems when a dub couldn't? It's the same thing, except you're reading the lines in a sub and hearing them in a dub. He's talking about how a direct translation doesn't really work so well. He isn't talking about changing the storyline, he's talking about making the lines sound good and make sense in English - this can easily be an issue with either subs or dubs since subs deliver - or should deliver - very similar lines to the ones spoken in a dub. Some things will always get lost in translation, so unless you actually know Japanese and are watching it in Japanese, you're going to lose something in translation. Without fail, it happens every time something is translated into a different language.

Also,

The translators do a damn fine job, even those who do it for free are pretty good.

By "free", do you mean a fansub? If so, take a gander at this.

EDIT: Yes, I know there are a lot of good subs out there, both official and fan-made, but subs have their issues just as much as dubs do. At the end of the day, it's a matter of preference.

@believer258 said:

By "free", do you mean a fansub? If so, take a gander at this.

Shouldn't Fate/Stay Night's "People die if they are killed" be among those, too? I heard that statement was the least eloquent way Shirou's statement could have been translated but I might be wrong since it was so long ago.

@believer258: and sometimes paid subbers get it wrong too. Most of them do pretty good jobs though.

@believer258 said:

Also,

The translators do a damn fine job, even those who do it for free are pretty good.

By "free", do you mean a fansub? If so, take a gander at this.

There are good fansubs (HorribleSubs, Commie, gg, Mazui, etc...), and of course there are bad ones, like come on.

@EquitasInvictus said:

@believer258 said:

By "free", do you mean a fansub? If so, take a gander at this.

Shouldn't Fate/Stay Night's "People die when they are killed" be among those, too? I heard that statement was the least eloquent way Shirou's statement could have been translated but I might be wrong since it was so long ago.

The timesink that is TVTropes taught me that, while awkward, there's some kind of context there that makes it work better. I don't remember how, so don't ask; Google for it.

@Animasta said:

@believer258: and sometimes paid subbers get it wrong too. Most of them do pretty good jobs though.

True, but the fellow was making a very, very unfair and untrue point towards dubs and bringing up subs as a perfect counterpoint, when they both have their issues. At the end of the day it's a matter of preference and not of "what's right" or whatever.