05-09-2023, 06:26 PM
(04-04-2023, 06:05 AM)Guest Wrote: [ -> ]There’s a bigger problem with overwesternization of anime (Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Scott Pilgrim anime) than there is with “overappealing with the most gross aspects of Japanese culture” nowadays.
I agree.
(04-04-2023, 06:05 AM)Guest Wrote: [ -> ]If you haven’t watched at least 500 anime, you aren’t really qualified to talk about it.
I disagree. The only thing that matters is understanding the spirit— which can be understood through Japanese movies, games, etc. It is a running current in what they do, and it's the part that matters. As Anthony said, habitually consuming anime does not increase your ability to understand it. Your point would only be true after mine, someone who already gets it who has then seen 500 anime, may understand minutia better than someone who has not, but without first capturing the spirit they will never capture the minutia.
(04-05-2023, 07:14 AM)a system is failing Wrote: [ -> ]First thing I object to is the reduction of anime to a synonym of "beauty" and the West to a synonym of "ugly". I'm warning you, you don't want to do this, there is nothing worse than when people reduce all quality down to the simple capacity to be pleasing, or any other SPECIFIC trait, this is how you end up with kitsch, and an artistic atmosphere dominated by kitsch, well, in many ways this is a big problem with our media and entertainment here in the West.
Although it is often as simple as: Japan = Pretty, West = Ugly, this is true and I second that this be avoided for the exact reasons stated.
(04-05-2023, 11:27 AM)parsifal Wrote: [ -> ](04-03-2023, 05:42 AM)PIGSAW Wrote: [ -> ]The aspect of "sociability" within "anime" is the most important one here. It is the difference between "Weeb" and "Weeaboo". A "weeb" is a poser, next in line of "fake nerds" following fake gamers:
Weeaboo are cats, who've abandoned the false world for the real one:
[fascinating images]
"Weebs" are spiritual peasant conservatives who have become aware that "liking anime" can be a stand-in for a personality, who are now attracted to signaling (this is the only thing normalfags do, everything is performative which is why everything they touch turns to shit). A "weeb" is then easily understood as someone obsessed with the idea of being SEEN as a weeaboo, rather than being one.
interesting thread. the only thing i want to add is an observation on these weebs: you would think that someone who is obsessed with anime and anime characters would want to imitate them in his or her style of dress, but in practice they mostly wear things like graphic tees with anime-based designed or adorn their belongings with numerous anime-related pins and stickers (even when it's rather easy to dress like an anime character). those images you posted are a perfect example of the inverse; people who see themselves in the same light as their obsession and wish to embody anime rather than signal it.
I'm cherry-picking, obviously (though you might be surprised how much quality there was, especially due to photography and fashion trends)— but I'm not doing so with the intent to lie (I'm not), just to render with actual (now) historical artifacts the exact point you describe perfectly.
The "weeb" as I described it did exist back then as well, teenage Millennials in graphic t's with hats n' shit covered pins (though due to zeitgeist, mainly graphic design trends, all of this junk was a -lot- cooler). The key difference to me, is that this was considered "broke". The pictures I posted are a (very small compared to what I'm drawing from) highlight reel of what everyone wanted to achieve, to be— an anime character in real life (music video trends of the time greatly assisted the existence and proliferation of this desire).
Again, the issue is one of signaling. To signal to the source, to want to be like the spirit, the source, the creator, whatever— this is basically oppressed now, due to social 'development' (degradation) which rewards posers (this was an issue back then as well, but because anime was "new" in the West, it was the best it could be due to scale) because of unnatural (though most likely unavoidable) subcultural expansion (which becomes erosion).
(I primarily blame Tumblr for this, the mainstreaming of academic life onto too-broke-for-college Gen Y and Z (which should've been what saved them). Obsession with "media literacy", having to "denounce" artists because they're "bad people", on and on and on.. such tedious faggotry.)
Y'know, "I liked anime before it went mainstream!"
As always, the "hipster" is correct.
The best example I have 'on hand' (in memory) of a Millennial "covered in pins faggot" is not anime (and I'm pretty sure these furfags are Xennial anyways), but aesthetically it's close enough (not to anime, but to 'fandom culture' as a distinct and repeating aesthetic/subculture, she does have a Naruto Akamaru satchel (not that Naruto is a good example of anime, it's always been normalfag shit, though it does have 'anime' inside of it), probably from Hot Topic, though she doesn't like that because it's "anime" but because it's "a dog bag"):
This is more-or-less what "broke" anime fans looked like (but again, better, because anime shit was edgier and underground, which attracted better/weirder artists), the ones who weren't pretty or creative enough to 'embody the spirit' as you said.
The less attractive one is F2M now, shocker!
(04-07-2023, 07:16 AM)Guest Wrote: [ -> ]I agree, anime is overrated. I liked it when I was a teen but as I rewatch them ( due to a lack of good anime ) and as I grow and become more intelligent and sensitive I realize anime was never all that good.
You have become insensitive and mistaken it for growth (or mistook that you were ever sensitive in the first place).
Gb2/bar & enjoy "gf", faggot.
(04-09-2023, 01:46 PM)Hamamelis Wrote: [ -> ]Ever since I've saw my first anime at age 8 or so (Dragon Ball), the most striking thing to me was how badly it compares to the mangas. Apart from high effort japanese animation, anime seem to be mostly driven by the desire to reduce production cost as much as humanly (bugmanly) possible.
This is an important point. When I was a teen/early 20's I primarily sought out OVA, ONA, movies, and odd series (like the ones I posted) or experimental shorts which were notably higher effort/quality (and with more distinct styles, i.e., higher artistic value). I always looked down on the people who would watch "seasonals" or follow extremely long series (One Piece, Naruto, etc.) because they were not bothered by the lack of quality in these things, so I (correctly) considered them to be posers (although the Asians, particularly Jungle, who liked these things were fine, because they had a natural + to "anime" logic).
(04-09-2023, 01:46 PM)Hamamelis Wrote: [ -> ]That there is a whole subculture in the West who identifies by their consoomption of anime, and that they scoff at Western animation (like Rick & Morty, to name a controversial example), has always struck me as laughable.
Correct.
(04-09-2023, 01:46 PM)Hamamelis Wrote: [ -> ]In the aughts, I suspected that this is mostly a function of anime being a niche, exotic interest that had synergies with being pathologically online in a time when this was still uncommon. It has now been normified and even 'woodified.
Also correct.
(04-09-2023, 01:46 PM)Hamamelis Wrote: [ -> ]To be clear, all the Ghiblis I've seen were fantastic, Ghost in the Shell is one of my all time favourites, and I liked Akira despite their deviation from the manga. But those would not count as anime, I guess. The only serialised anime I enjoyed watching was JoJo. If somebody were to ask me if animes are worth the time, I would direct him to manga instead, which are in my eyes the height of impressionistic visual storytelling, in ways that Western graphic novels only rarely achieve.
Incorrect. "Anime" is a quality not a medium (the medium is animation). As you and Anthony stated before, habitual consumption of anything reduces it to nothing. "Anime" is a spirit, most commonly seen in Japan, which can be found in any medium, including reality.
When I say this, I am not saying "all Japanese things are anime" because that is not true— I am saying specific things in all areas of Japanese life and media are "anime", and even things outside of Japan can be anime, because it is a type of "logic" or spirit.