So what is with the distain for anime?

" Most Anime makes no sense and a lot of Americans are turned off by the Japanese way of expressing emotions. "

As with everything there's a lot of shit. Doesn't mean that there isn't good stuff too. Well, at least not for me, I enjoy some of the things that are out there. More when I was younger though.

" @EpicSteve said:

" Most Anime makes no sense and a lot of Americans are turned off by the Japanese way of expressing emotions. "

Hey, if the Japanese way of expressing emotions = portraying underage school girls in minimalist clothing, who are we to argue? "

" @Tebbit said:

" @EpicSteve said:

" Most Anime makes no sense and a lot of Americans are turned off by the Japanese way of expressing emotions. "

Hey, if the Japanese way of expressing emotions = portraying underage school girls in minimalist clothing, who are we to argue? "

It's more of the constant stuttering and giggling that seems so commonplace among Japanese dialog. A lot of characters sound like they're holding in a shit. "

People are afraid they might like it

" People are afraid they might like it "

Because most people here are mindless drones who only know how to parrot the opinions of the staff. 
 
Also, as others have said, there's lots of terrible anime. Instead of doing a simple search and uncovering some good stuff, they write it all off as trash.
 
EDIT: Also, everybody has got to calm down. Those of us who like anime should just continue enjoying anime, those who don't should continue to not watch it, and smug internet people should go and masturbate to their own voices in the corner. Nobody is changing anybody else's mind, and nothing is being accomplished but making a large number of the people here look like tremendous assholes. I don't like being the "let's all get along. Why are we fighting?" guy, but this shit is ridiculous.

"I haven't seen that much anime, but what I have seen does not appeal to me:

• stereotypical to the extreme: there is always an innocent school girl-type, a modest and brave protagonist, etc.
• too weird: strange, hypersexual Japanese weirdness
• too dumb: giant mechs with swords?
• overly designed character appearances: crazy blue hair, ridiculous costumes that are simply insane
• everything on this list: http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/symphony/top-10-worst-anime-cliches/30-39734/
  

I do of course realize that this isn't consistent with all anime, but it is from what I've seen."

 Our perceptions dictate what we believe because we experience different realities. People observe and perceive things in a different way. For example, perhaps you got bit by a snake when you were a kid, and now you are afraid of snakes, then you have a feeling of fear towards snakes and people that deal with snakes. Perhaps, you were raised around snakes and got used to them after a while; you probably would not have a problem dealing with snakes, where other people are afraid of them. Past Experiences, things that are familiar to us influence things that what we like. So the point here is that some people like anime, and some people don't.
 
I like anime, but I'm not a really, really big fan of anime.

Just go on over to animevice, and have your creepy fun there.

Because it's creepy and oftentimes blatantly pedo, and it has had a huge detrimental effect on storylines in japanese games.

the people who don't like it are the people who don't give it a chance. I hate all that giggly, schoolgirl shit too, and it makes up about 70% of the stuff in Japan, but the other 30% results in some of the best pieces of art i've ever seen. 
 
You have to remember that anime is just part of the culture in japan, so the some of the very best directors and very best artists they produce don't go into film or fine art, they go into manga and anime. Really great things come out of that, even if some of the talent gets lost in the perverted, weird nature of japan (which brings in the viewing figures so some are forced to do it).
 
It really does suck when i'm really loving a new anime and some weird crap sneaks it's way into what would be an otherwise brilliant bit of animation, but there is a large number of animes when they completly or mostly avoid it, and you owe yourself to check out some of the very best anime has to offer it you're even slightly interested in art or film.

" @VelvetLore04 said:

" @Cloneslayer said:

" @Geno said:

" I like the animation, art style, plot and action but I can't stand the voices, both English or Japanese. Super melodramatic, with little gasps towards every action, it's the most annoying thing ever.  "

Ugh, I know. English dubs are horrible and some Japanese voices just grind on my ears. I always default to subs though because clearly dub teams have no budget.  "

Hey man, sometimes dubs are pretty alright. Like Cowboy Bebop. It's way better dubbed. "

Some dubs are good. Cowboy Bebop is a good dub, so is FMA. Most though.... meh. "

Of course there is some good anime, but most of the time, anime is both dumb and stereotypical as fuck  with little to no creativity.  
 
Also, the people who usually like anime don't help at all with the perception of it. 
 
I'm quite a fan of Serial.Experiment.Lain, and Miyazaki's work, though.

" @SeriouslyNow: 
 
 Anime lacks subtext with depth.
Anime lacks philosophical gravity.

I used to love anime then I watched Cowboy Bebop and  Planetes expectations were raised too high.

Can I just bring up Patlabor really quick?
oh, and Ghost in the Shell... 
oh, and every film by Miyazaki...
 
Those are just three examples of really good anime, and one of them extends into, like 12 examples.
 
There's a lot of good anime if you know what to look for... I mean sure, you might be saying to yourself, "anime is for jerks," and you'd be right... but there's a lot of examples of good stuff like this out there.

From the albeit small amount of anime I've seen I found it it be trash. Why should I search through a medium that has no interest to me just so I'm able to cite more examples to back up my claims that anime is bad? No, I don't like anime at all and that's that. It doesn't bother me when people say they don't like videogames, man the fuck up and don't let it bother you when people say they don't like your cartoons. 

The reason people who don't like anime don't like it is because they don't want to and also because of the stupid moron fanboi culture it has that thinks retarded derivative crap like Touhou is actually good.  What I mean is this, they see some ecchi BS show about middle school girls who like to fondle each other and react appropriately by saying it is tasteless @#$@# that should never have been made but then simply decide that is how all anime is instead of looking further.  Sadly modern anime is pretty crappy, in a given season of say 10 new shows at least 6 of them are a lock to basically just be rehashed garbage.  So while I am an  anime fan I can understand a detractors reasoning for being a lazy ass and not wanting to look for the 3 maybe 4 that were actually good.  
 
By the same token american tv is the same.  Really, so that new Tyler Perry sitcom and movie is groundbreaking, innovative, and pushes the "funny black family acting like jerks" thing to a new level?  No?  Didn't think so.
 
Also food for thought.  I am a jerk and Iike Anime.  I also like ME2, Borderlands, and Giant Bomb.....   Meanwhile there is a link to another whiskey media page at the bottom there that is... well an anime fan site.  Whoops.

" @Hailinel:   Fair enough (aside from the implication that Lord of the Rings is anything but rubbish).  I was appalled to defend American cinema, and I'll surely admit that there is crap in any medium.  My issue is with the variety of crap.  The anime I like isn't that diverse.  I enjoy it, but there just isn't a lot of variety to it.  In terms of genres and settings there is a bit of diversity, but with respect to tone and execution there's a lot to be desired.    I've never come across anime that has the symbolism of Bunuel, the satire of Kin-Dza-Dza, or the introspective brilliance of Woody Allen.  I've yet to find the bombastic insanity of Lloyd Kaufman or the grotesque eroticism of giallo.  I don't mean to suggest that everything must be this lofty.  But for a medium not to have such standouts is a major deficit.  They've got sci-fi dystopia, teen angst, and action down.  But there's a lot of other possibilities that are wholly neglected in an industry unwilling to take the risks necessary to validate anime as a medium. "

I enjoy anime with substance. Films like Jin Roh, Ghost in the Shell and Akira.

Its all the same shit. Thats why. All anime is completely interchangable. The animation itself is bad, repeating stuff way too damn often. The plots are weak at best and the 'themes' are always as subtle as having your face beaten in with a rock. The characters are always clichéd. The dialogue sucks and its made even worse with the usual crappy English dubs.
 
If you like anime- you're part of the problem.

I like anime but honestly I am tired of defending it to anime haters and anime lovers.  The haters, well that is self explanatory but also to the lovers because I like my anime full of giant robots with swords, "magic girls" in ridiculous costumes, harems, super-powered kung-fu and pretty much everything that Symphony outlined in her excellent post on what's wrong with anime.  I realize most anime fans will think I have lousy taste, but whatever the reason, Japan keeps making more stuff that appeals to my tastes and I am sure that's what sparks their tizzy.  I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying that's how things are right now.  Since I'm what's wrong with anime, complain all you want, but try and keep it down...I'm trying to watch Ladies vs Butlers. ;-p

I like Myazakis stuff and Neon Genesis Evangelion. I dont really feel compelled to get much more into it though. With Myazakis movies, I feel that the West could learn a lot from them, e.g. how to make a fantasy story without the simple good/bad connotation.

Wow this topic exploded since last night, though it seems that people are just repeating the same points over and over again like ever internet argument. Let me just say this. 
 
The people don't like anime are the ones who don't bother to wade through the crap to find the good stuff, because even though ever medium contains a bunch of crap there in not very many good systems to allow the good stuff float to the top for American viewers.  
 
The people who do like anime recognize that 99% of it is crap (like every other medium) but are either willing to wade through the crap, of have found someone with similar tastes who they can get recommendations from.  
 
Have fun arguing! 

" @Shadow:   Honestly, I think it's near impossible to have a discussion about anime on this site without some chucklehead busting in with the old "for jerks" line simply because there are a lot of people that don't necessarily hate it, but they're apathetic toward it and are only able to contribute dumb jokes.  It doesn't help that Ryan has stated his own disdain for the medium on multiple occasions on Giant Bomb, so of course people can't think for themselves but feel like they have to emulate the opinions of the staff, as real or exaggerated as they may be. "

And I understand that a lot of the hate is backlash against what's popular, but how many people who bash on Naruto haven't watched a single episode of it?  I watched it with my son and thought it was pretty damn good.  It was the people who insisted on telling me things happening in Shippuden when I was on episode 30 which frusterated me more than Naruto as a series itself.  Naruto as a series was fine, the idiot fanboys who need to flex their muscles on things I hadn't seen yet were not so good.   "

I still have yet to watch Akira. Have it on my DVD shelf... should probably get round to watching that tonight.

" @ChristOnIce said:

" @Hailinel:   Fair enough (aside from the implication that Lord of the Rings is anything but rubbish).  I was appalled to defend American cinema, and I'll surely admit that there is crap in any medium.  My issue is with the variety of crap.  The anime I like isn't that diverse.  I enjoy it, but there just isn't a lot of variety to it.  In terms of genres and settings there is a bit of diversity, but with respect to tone and execution there's a lot to be desired.    I've never come across anime that has the symbolism of Bunuel, the satire of Kin-Dza-Dza, or the introspective brilliance of Woody Allen.  I've yet to find the bombastic insanity of Lloyd Kaufman or the grotesque eroticism of giallo.  I don't mean to suggest that everything must be this lofty.  But for a medium not to have such standouts is a major deficit.  They've got sci-fi dystopia, teen angst, and action down.  But there's a lot of other possibilities that are wholly neglected in an industry unwilling to take the risks necessary to validate anime as a medium. "

You say you haven't found any, but I have a hard time believing that you'd actually tried looking. "

The more I read his stuff, the more I think he's just a troll who gets his willies by poking at people who enjoy stuff because he actually is too far up his own rectum to actually enjoy anything properly himself.

Purists would kill me for this, but I'm all about Cowboy Bebop and DBZ.

I don't believe that the majority of the people posting their distaste for anime in this thread have ever seen anything other than Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, or Bleach.

The exact reasons why a lot of people don't like anime seem to be pretty complex but I think at the heart of the issue the overall problem may be that what appeals to an Eastern audience can be very different from what appeals to a Western audience (and vice-versa).

" I think the reason that people have a negative attitude towards anime is the perceived typical anime audience. I watch anime, and I enjoy the anime that I watch, but I would NEVER hang out with the people in my university's Anime club. Half of them style themselves after their favorite anime character, and the other half try to talk like their favorite anime character, kya!! "

" @Asurastrike said:

" I think the reason that people have a negative attitude towards anime is the perceived typical anime audience. I watch anime, and I enjoy the anime that I watch, but I would NEVER hang out with the people in my university's Anime club. Half of them style themselves after their favorite anime character, and the other half try to talk like their favorite anime character, kya!! "

Agreed. Sometimes I'm scared to admit that I watch anime. "

The stuff out there that isn't super-stereotypical is usually amazing, but there's so much crap out there to wade through to get to that content. It also seems like the longer a show drags on for, the worse it gets. Maybe not the most original examples here, but I can immediately think of three shows that were pretty awesome starting out, have become really popular even here in the States, and got so horribly ridiculous after just one season that I stopped watching. Naruto, Bleach, and to a much lesser extent, Death Note (it certainly took longer for that show to go downhill).
 
I was most recently watching Toaru Majutsu no Index, and all I can say is that I'm sure it will end up the same way. It was getting a little boring after about the 6th episode. Like most Anime, the intro music was by far the best part. It seems to follow the same pattern of ever-escalating super-powers and angsty teenage boys and girls who really need to drop pretenses and just have sex (and not wait 'till the last episode of the 7 season series to do so). It doesn't have to be straight-up hentai, but damn it, I'm sick of shows where you know exactly which two characters are going to hook up but they never do. I get enough of that in my real life.

anime over the years, has just changed from something unique, so an over saturation of same shit different pile.
 
what also helps me not like anime is the fans.

Back in the 90's I used to watch anime, when there were adult shows for adults like Perfect Blue and psychological mindfucks like Serial Experiments Lain, or thrilling collections of mini-stories like Memories.  They had actual stories about actual characters, and would stand up in theological and artistic merit arguments just like any film or piece of literature.
 
However, since the popularization of anime it's become just a sea of sunday morning shit, with the same cliches and AWSUM POWRS that have been described in posts of yore.  And no, peppering in a bunch of swear words and dismemberment does not constitute an adult theme - thats just more stuff only a 14 year old would find appealing.  Haven't watched anime for many many years, and I'll never go back.  It's now garbage, the Narutos of the world have destroyed that whole scene and made it completely impossible to even talk about anymore. 

" Back in the 90's I used to watch anime, when there were adult shows for adults like Perfect Blue and psychological mindfucks like Serial Experiments Lain, or thrilling collections of mini-stories like Memories.  They had actual stories about actual characters.    However, since the popularization of anime it's become just a sea of sunday morning shit, with the same cliches and AWSUM POWRS that have been described in posts of yore.  And no, peppering in a bunch of swear words and dismemberment does not constitute an adult theme - thats just more stuff only a 14 year old would find appealing.  Haven't watched anime for many many years, and I'll never go back.  It's now garbage, the Narutos of the world have destroyed that whole scene and made it completely impossible to even talk about anymore.  "

I used to be really into anime. Namely shows like Tenchi. But then I kind of grew out of it. Which is not to say that anime is something for childish personalities, but as I matured, I for one just lost interest in a lot of it. I still like Cowboy Bebop, though.

" I just want to know why it is that so many people on the site can't stand it.  I'm looking for something other than "because it's stupid" or "anime is for jerks" or other long-repeated attempts at being funny.  Sorry I couldn't put that in a way that didn't make me sound like a dick, but does anyone have a legitimate answer?  I mean it's fine to just not be interested in anime, but so many people on this site seem to have absolute hate for anyone even remotely interested in it.  "

Well my position on Anime is the same as my position on Japan. Love the old-school, hate the new school. Anything after the 80s is pretty dumpy, anime wise with a couple exceptions. The main problem is really that they've been getting lazy and abusing cheap CG and keyframes. Watch one anime show from today, then watch like.. Akira or something. Notice how the mouths actually form words and letters instead of being just open or shut? Notice how there's more than like 10 frames of animation per second? Yeah.  
 
Japan's cultural landscape went to shit around the same time too, spending too much time sloppily imitating western culture. Now their youth are brasher than ever, and waste their time with shitty japanese Britney Spears' copies. They have a great cultural history that's being cast aside. This is getting reflected in the quality of the anime as well. Rewatching the K-1 fighter Musashi retire the other day reminded me of that old school culture of respect that used to be so prevalent. Talking to a few people who've worked at embassies in Japan have noticed it too. That's just globalization for ya, but yikes has it wrecked good 'ol Japan's culture. Times are changing, I guess.

different people like different things 
i do not like anime because it is for pedophiles 
peace out