animation Why does it feel like there are more anti-anime going around?

[cider float 2,535]

In the past the internet wasn't like this but suddenly we have a up surge of anime haters that call others weaboo or whatever demeaning name they come up with. What's up with that? Is it because anime is not in it's golden age anymore?

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

I just think it is "hip" to hate things.

 

I am totally serious here, I have run into far more people than I care to count that just either find some entertainment in hating things (or pretending to), or it just somehow gives them a feeling of superiority over others to dislike it (or again, pretend to).

 

Just as people jump on the band wagon to get behind the latest big thing because their friends do, or because they see it as the popular thing to do, so to do some actively decide to "hate' something just because they think is is hip to do so, and will somehow make them more interesting or likeable because of it.

 

The days when people just liked what they liked and were done with it seem to be slipping further and further away... now it is they like what they like but only if everyone else approves or will notice them because of it.

[Flutterbattyyy 330]

Anime seems rather overrated, to be honest.

Personally I am somewhat "anti-anime;" not in a "hater" sense, but rather I don't see why its so special and thus will criticize it for its lack of quality thereof. I tried watching a few, such as Naruto, Sword Art Online, and Pokemon, but I find them lacking in the animation, voice acting, plotline execution, and comedy.

 

 

1. Animation feels lazy and "slide-show" esque, lacking fluid, flashy motions compared to MLP:FiM or most other american TV shows (I'm referring to background and foreground animation–not the fighting animation. The fighting animation in SAO looks pretty epic). In addition, the anime puppet-style animation for the mouth lip-synching and facial expressions just looks totally weird and cringey.
2. Dubbed voice acting feels awkward, cheesy, and rather fake. And while yes, subbed is supposed to be better, I don't see why I'd go through all the extra effort to read subtitles; that is just work! xD  (Personally, I'd never watch anything with subtitles).
3. Plotlines feel cheesy, awkward, and less thought out. And the story arc style just doesn't appeal to me. I love multi-parters, but only if they're 4 parts or less. Anything more feels overkill. The only kind of story arc I am okay with is a light type as seen in Season 4 of MLP:FiM.
4. Lastly, the comedy feels extremely cheesy and awkward. 

 

The only one I actually love would be Pokemon, but that is because I love Pikachu and Eevee. They are so ridiculously cute.

 

Its not that I hate anime (other than Pokemon, which I love), but rather I don't see anything special about them; they seem mediocre to me in quality. I mean, I'll watch it if I'm super bored and if somebody offers to watch it with me, but I won't go out of my way to watch it on my own. I honestly don't get how they are so popular with that niche market. 

 

I won't call others "weaboo" or other derogatory names like that, but I get why they are getting the hate. They brought it on themselves, by acting all weird, creepy, and obsessed (a problem with any fandom, to be fair). The difference with anime is that many like it for the "sexy anime girls" or "cute anime boys." (I'm generalizing here.) And society sees how they obsess over that. Its made worse with those creepy body pillows (dakimaura?).

Just to clarify my position: I don't hate anime fans at all; many are totally cool people.   But I dislike (not hate) most anime shows.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Elemental Fluttershy

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

Its not that I hate anime (other than Pokemon, which I love), but rather I don't see anything special about them; they seem mediocre to me in quality. I mean, I'll watch it if I'm super bored and if somebody offers to watch it with me, but I won't go out of my way to watch it on my own. I honestly don't get how they are so popular with that niche market. 

 

 

Well anime is actually such a huge market in a sense. I mean there are thousands of them out there, and they vary in quality and style from one to another. I can understand many people saying they are not into anime, but it kinda confounds me when they say they dislike it all... mainly because there is just so much of it out there and if you are a fan of cartoons and animation, there is usually an anime or two that will speak to you at some point. Some people just tend to assume it is all like Pokemon or all like Dragonball Z and just wave the rest of it away.

 

There is anime that really introduces new ideas to animation in general. I remember seeing some late at night as a kid on some channel or another, and just being blown away being used to the cartoons we have here and their tendency to be afraid to subject us to any sort of violence whatsoever and treat us as if we could not handle powerful moving story-lines with deep and complex plots..

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,281]

Like Elemental Fluttershy, I find anime to be overrated as hell. This is coming from someone that adores Attack on Titan. From what I have seen, a lot of animes share tons of really annoying cliches. Many are filled to the brim with exposition, the main characters are mostly super perfect, there is always really cringeworthy humor wedged in and there is always some really, really bad dialogue. That oculd just be the translations seeming wonky to English speakers which I guess I can get by with that, but still.

 

For me, Death Note is a perfect summary of everything that is wrong with a lot of anime out there.

[Steve Piranha 28,778]

I used to watch lots of anime as a kid, but now I've lost interest in them. I exactly why, but anime doesn't appeal to me anymore . Of course, I won't joint the hate wagon, got better things to do than join one of those 

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

Any subculture (on the internet particularly) will attract a minority of people who are too loud, and too obnoxious about their interest, and who will preach endlessly to others that don't share that interest.  As those people get louder and more obnoxious, it will invariably bring about a counter-culture of people who are fed up of hearing them go on about it.

 

I personally wouldn't call myself an anime fan only because I have always enjoyed good cartoons and animated films and I feel no need to make a specific distinction based on the country of origin, a good cartoon is a good cartoon regardless of whether or not it is Japanese.

[SunsetBaconDrive 169]

I'm not gonna do that t others. However, I'm a casual anime fan now. just isn't the same as back in the day. Newer anime has bland and generic stories, despite the animation being more colorful and fluid. 

 

Negima and UQ Holder

 

That's my drug for life. No other manga comes close.

 

Dragonball Super was what really ruined it all for me.

[NotoriousSMALL 1,984]

I don't come across many people that hate anime and my entire friend group dislikes it save for one person. And don't be fooled by my Lum avatar.

It looks ridiculous and the humor in it isn't for everyone. I was gunna keep going but Fluttershy and Kyoshi summed up what I had to say pretty well.

 

And a lot of people that get called those names honestly deserve it. Obsessing over some backwards foreign culture that doesn't really like outsiders is pretty silly. Same reasons bronies and furries get hate. 

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

I used to watch anime an awful lot when I was younger, but in recent years I moved away from and only watch some on a rare occasion depending on my current mood. Somewhere along the way, good storytelling, memorable characters, and catchy music got replaced by relying too much on special effects, sexualizing female characters to an extreme, and generally rehashing ideas that have been done in the past.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

If someone gains joys from something, then someone will be there to:

1: Hate that thing that gives you joy

2: Hate you for gaining joy from that something.

 

Its social science at its most ugly.

[Trixie the Great 71]

Anime seems rather overrated, to be honest.

Personally I am somewhat "anti-anime;" not in a "hater" sense, but rather I don't see why its so "special" and thus will criticize it for its lack of quality thereof. I tried watching a few, such as Naruto, Sword Art Online, and Pokemon, but I find them lacking in the animation, voice acting, plotline execution, and comedy.

 

 

1. Animation feels lazy and "slide-show" esque, lacking fluid, flashy motions compared to MLP:FiM or most other american TV shows (I'm referring to background and foreground animation–not the fighting animation. The fighting animation in SAO looks pretty epic). In addition, the anime puppet-style animation for the mouth lip-synching and facial expressions just looks totally weird and cringey.
2. Dubbed voice acting feels awkward, cheesy, and rather fake. And while yes, subbed is supposed to be better, I don't see why I'd go through all the extra effort to read subtitles; that is just work! xD  (Personally, I'd never watch anything with subtitles).
3. Plotlines feel cheesy, awkward, and less thought out. And the story arc style just doesn't appeal to me. I love multi-parters, but only if they're 4 parts or less. Anything more feels overkill. The only kind of story arc I am okay with is a light type as seen in Season 4 of MLP:FiM.
4. Lastly, the comedy feels extremely cheesy and awkward. 

 

The only one I actually love would be Pokemon, but that is because I love Pikachu and Eevee. They are so ridiculously cute.

 

Its not that I hate anime (other than Pokemon, which I love), but rather I don't see anything special about them; they seem mediocre to me in quality. I mean, I'll watch it if I'm super bored and if somebody offers to watch it with me, but I won't go out of my way to watch it on my own. I honestly don't get how they are so popular with that niche market. 

 

I won't call others "weaboo" or other derogatory names like that, but I get why they are getting the hate. They brought it on themselves, by acting all weird, creepy, and obsessed (a problem with any fandom, to be fair). The difference with anime is that many like it for the "sexy anime girls" or "cute anime boys." (I'm generalizing here.) And society sees how they obsess over that. Its made worse with those creepy body pillows (dakimaura?).

Just to clarify my position: I don't hate anime fans at all; many are totally cool people.   But I dislike (not hate) most anime shows.

 

 

 

Basically this, plus the characters act in such an unnatural and cringy manner, with over the top acting, bad humor, weird body movements (it's so awkward when I see weeaboos trying to copy their style in real life)... And 99,99% of the female characters are just different versions of a Mary Sue. Innocent, loving, nurturing, cute, feminine, perfect physique etc. (by the way, their overly pitched voices - that are supposed to sound cute or something - sound really ridiculous to me, not to mention they make my ears hurt after more than 5 minutes). 

 

Most anime barely has any plot at all and if it does, it's pretty dull and just an excuse for the FAN SERVICE (boobies, harems etc or the tall mysterious handsome boys for girls shows). 

 

And the animation is pretty lazily done. The weird way they move their mouths when talking, the repetitive movements, the sloppily drawn characters in the background, the many scenes that barely have more than 1 fps... 

 

 

And yes, of course there are exceptions.   

 

 

I'm not an anime hater myself, but I can see the reason why most people think it's so cringy.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Trixie the Great

[Black Sabbath 2,484]

In the past the internet wasn't like this but suddenly we have a up surge of anime haters that call others weaboo or whatever demeaning name they come up with. What's up with that? Is it because anime is not in it's golden age anymore?

I don't think there are more who hate anime than there used to be, it's just that more people are noticing them these days.  

 

Also, since when is weeaboo a demeaning name? I mean, most anime fans call themselves otaku and that basically means the same thing as weeaboo. 

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

 

 

I mean, most anime fans call themselves otaku and that basically means the same thing as weeaboo.

 

It really doesn't.  An otaku is a person who has one single interest in life that they are obsessive about to the exclusion of all else, it doesn't have to be anime or even anything specifically Japanese.  It is an extremely derogatory term.  A weaboo on the other hand is a non-Japanese person who is infatuated with either Japanese culture in general or certain aspects thereof.

[Envy 5,998]

The internet has *always* been like this. lol

 

Although from what I remember, the term 'weeaboo' is not meant to refer to people who like/watch anime. It's supposed to refer to people who are crazy obsessive over anime, and not just that - but they worship Japan and Japanese culture (in the small window of it they have), and hate on Western animation.

 

A few years ago or so I was referred to as a 'weeaboo' for saying that Avatar is a cartoon and not an anime. That didn't make me too happy, because I was not saying that Avatar is a cartoon because it doesn't come from the "Holy land" of Japan, but simply because it is western animation, and that's simply against the definition of anime we have here in the West. ..But yes, go ahead and call Western-culture obsessed me who doesn't even have a want to visit Japan, much less live in it, a weeaboo.

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

But yes, go ahead and call Western-culture obsessed me who doesn't even have a want to visit Japan, much less live in it, a weeaboo.

 

 

OK, you're a weeaboo,

 

 

 

Well, you did tell me to.   

 

 

Sorry, I could not help myself.

[SunsetBaconDrive 169]

It really doesn't.  An otaku is a person who has one single interest in life that they are obsessive about to the exclusion of all else, it doesn't have to be anime or even anything specifically Japanese.  It is an extremely derogatory term.  A weaboo on the other hand is a non-Japanese person who is infatuated with either Japanese culture in general or certain aspects thereof.

I'm not a comic buff, but I have met anime extremists at stores and they told me " I avoid "that" section." Talk about absurd and pompus. I would say the same to a comic purist who hated anime for no justified reason.

[Megas 27,064]

The internet has *always* been like this. lol

 

Although from what I remember, the term 'weeaboo' is not meant to refer to people who like/watch anime. It's supposed to refer to people who are crazy obsessive over anime, and not just that - but they worship Japan and Japanese culture (in the small window of it they have), and hate on Western animation.

 

A few years ago or so I was referred to as a 'weeaboo' for saying that Avatar is a cartoon and not an anime. That didn't make me too happy, because I was not saying that Avatar is a cartoon because it doesn't come from the "Holy land" of Japan, but simply because it is western animation, and that's simply against the definition of anime we have here in the West. ..But yes, go ahead and call Western-culture obsessed me who doesn't even have a want to visit Japan, much less live in it, a weeaboo.

A good way to piss off weeaboos is to call anime "cartoons", as if being from Japan makes it more special 

 

Anyway this pretty much got it. Weeaboo usually refers to people unhealthily obsessed with anime and Japan, and everything from America is the devil. They're also usually the ones you see throwing a bitch fit over the thought of anime getting English voice overs

 

I see Weeaboo insults thrown around a lot, but I never noticed any surge of anti-anime mentalities. There are people who dislike that type of animation, but for the most part I don't see it as much as you claim there is

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

A lot of People are bored and also they needed something new to hate, i think.

 

Or maybe its, because they are a lot of really really weird Anime. ( and even some morally wrong ones )

[Flutterbattyyy 330]

Basically this, plus the characters act in such an unnatural and cringy manner, with over the top acting, bad humor, weird body movements (it's so awkward when I see weeaboos trying to copy their style in real life)... And 99,99% of the female characters are just different versions of a Mary Sue. Innocent, loving, nurturing, cute, feminine, perfect physique etc. (by the way, their overly pitched voices - that are supposed to sound cute or something - sound really ridiculous to me, not to mention they make my ears hurt after more than 5 minutes). 

Yeah, I forgot to specifically mention this. I agree; the characters are animated in an extremely unnatural and awkward way. And the girl voices are made too "cute" sounding, which just sounds cringey.

 

 

 

And the animation is pretty lazily done. The weird way they move their mouths when talking, the repetitive movements, the sloppily drawn characters in the background, the many scenes that barely have more than 1 fps...  

 

I love the way you put this! I had a hard time describing this flaw, but you described it in a much better way. The very sloppily drawn background characters running at 1fps always seemed very lazy of them.    And all the repetitive movements (I'm basically repeating everything you said at this point.   )

I remember seeing some late at night as a kid on some channel or another, and just being blown away being used to the cartoons we have here and their tendency to be afraid to subject us to any sort of violence whatsoever and treat us as if we could not handle powerful moving story-lines with deep and complex plots..

 

Personally, I don't like how some animes get dark and gory (i.e. Attack on Titan, which I passionately hate for its gruesomeness), but I understand that is personal preference rather than quality. I prefer keeping cartoons separate from bloody, dark scenes. If I wanted to watch a show with blood, death, and serious fighting, I'll watch a non-animated movie or tv show, such as Lord of the Rings, Stargate, Avengers, etc. I prefer keeping my cartoons out of the extremely bloody styles. I am totally cool with serious, dark scenes such as in the MLP:FiM season 4 and season 5 finale, but when it gets too dark like in Attack on Titan, that is where I draw the line. Imo, cartoons weren't meant to have blood splattering everywhere and violent torture scenes.

 

Oh, and I didn't quote what you said earlier, but I agree. 

Edited October 14, 2016 by Elemental Fluttershy

[joanro 247]

I don't know about anime, but I notice that most people will not play a game if it looks too "anime." For example, people will not play fighting games like the Guilty Gear or Blazblue series because of its look(even if it's a great fighting game). 

Edited October 14, 2016 by joanro

[Anneal 2,194]

Anime seems rather overrated, to be honest.

Personally I am somewhat "anti-anime;" not in a "hater" sense, but rather I don't see why its so special and thus will criticize it for its lack of quality thereof. I tried watching a few, such as Naruto, Sword Art Online, and Pokemon, but I find them lacking in the animation, voice acting, plotline execution, and comedy.

1. Animation feels lazy and "slide-show" esque, lacking fluid, flashy motions compared to MLP:FiM or most other american TV shows (I'm referring to background and foreground animation–not the fighting animation. The fighting animation in SAO looks pretty epic). In addition, the anime puppet-style animation for the mouth lip-synching and facial expressions just looks totally weird and cringey.
2. Dubbed voice acting feels awkward, cheesy, and rather fake. And while yes, subbed is supposed to be better, I don't see why I'd go through all the extra effort to read subtitles; that is just work! xD  (Personally, I'd never watch anything with subtitles).
3. Plotlines feel cheesy, awkward, and less thought out. And the story arc style just doesn't appeal to me. I love multi-parters, but only if they're 4 parts or less. Anything more feels overkill. The only kind of story arc I am okay with is a light type as seen in Season 4 of MLP:FiM.
4. Lastly, the comedy feels extremely cheesy and awkward. 

The only one I actually love would be Pokemon, but that is because I love Pikachu and Eevee. They are so ridiculously cute.

 

Its not that I hate anime (other than Pokemon, which I love), but rather I don't see anything special about them; they seem mediocre to me in quality. I mean, I'll watch it if I'm super bored and if somebody offers to watch it with me, but I won't go out of my way to watch it on my own. I honestly don't get how they are so popular with that niche market. 

 

Those three anime aren't actually a good representation of anime as a whole. You're watching long running or very popular anime, which usually vary in quality from the start to its current form. For example, the Pokemon anime was rather boring in the Kanto and Unova (Best Wishes) arc, but its Kalos (XY and XYZ) arc have been widely praised and liked. The original Naruto had way too much filler while Naruto Shippuden had bad pacing. And while SAO looked cool and all, the problem with that is that Kirito, the main character, is just too perfect, too overpowered, and lacked development (the author of the light novel series even admitted this and made another light novel series, Accel World to try to remedy it). 

 

Certain anime are indeed pretty mediocre, though, and some literally spell out cliches. But it's not that different from Western cartoons; there are some that are great and some that are just...boring and hard to watch. "Mary Sue" characters, dark and overly tragic pasts, and some annoying double standards (and I mean actual ones, not stuff SJWs make up). 

 

A bit of digging and you'll find some good anime. Fullmetal Alchemist is very popular but it's actually rather good, especially the Brotherhood remake. Watamote has been gaining popularity online, too. Neon Genesis Evangelion, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and Fist of the North Star are well known classic anime. And for some reason, Oreimo has been gaining an Internet following...with plenty of memes. Personally one of my favorite anime is Nichijou, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and Hyouka. 

[SunsetBaconDrive 169]

A good way to piss off weeaboos is to call anime "cartoons", as if being from Japan makes it more special 

 

Anyway this pretty much got it. Weeaboo usually refers to people unhealthily obsessed with anime and Japan, and everything from America is the devil. They're also usually the ones you see throwing a bitch fit over the thought of anime getting English voice overs

 

I see Weeaboo insults thrown around a lot, but I never noticed any surge of anti-anime mentalities. There are people who dislike that type of animation, but for the most part I don't see it as much as you claim there is

The only media I will watch in Japanese are foreign movies... The dub overs in japanese movies are simply atrocious. But with anime, the voice acting is good, so japanese anime with subtitles is something I have no concern for. 

[Lisa 5,552]

Memes and edgy teens. Really, the reason we've seen the word "Weeaboo" thrown around a lot more now is because it's been adopted into that "meme culture." The one where people find the number 420 funny. And when something's a meme everyone jumps onto that bandwagon.

[cider float 2,535]

Anime seems rather overrated, to be honest.

Personally I am somewhat "anti-anime;" not in a "hater" sense, but rather I don't see why its so special and thus will criticize it for its lack of quality thereof. I tried watching a few, such as Naruto, Sword Art Online, and Pokemon, but I find them lacking in the animation, voice acting, plotline execution, and comedy.

 

 

1. Animation feels lazy and "slide-show" esque, lacking fluid, flashy motions compared to MLP:FiM or most other american TV shows (I'm referring to background and foreground animation–not the fighting animation. The fighting animation in SAO looks pretty epic). In addition, the anime puppet-style animation for the mouth lip-synching and facial expressions just looks totally weird and cringey.
2. Dubbed voice acting feels awkward, cheesy, and rather fake. And while yes, subbed is supposed to be better, I don't see why I'd go through all the extra effort to read subtitles; that is just work! xD  (Personally, I'd never watch anything with subtitles).
3. Plotlines feel cheesy, awkward, and less thought out. And the story arc style just doesn't appeal to me. I love multi-parters, but only if they're 4 parts or less. Anything more feels overkill. The only kind of story arc I am okay with is a light type as seen in Season 4 of MLP:FiM.
4. Lastly, the comedy feels extremely cheesy and awkward. 

 

The only one I actually love would be Pokemon, but that is because I love Pikachu and Eevee. They are so ridiculously cute.

 

Its not that I hate anime (other than Pokemon, which I love), but rather I don't see anything special about them; they seem mediocre to me in quality. I mean, I'll watch it if I'm super bored and if somebody offers to watch it with me, but I won't go out of my way to watch it on my own. I honestly don't get how they are so popular with that niche market. 

 

I won't call others "weaboo" or other derogatory names like that, but I get why they are getting the hate. They brought it on themselves, by acting all weird, creepy, and obsessed (a problem with any fandom, to be fair). The difference with anime is that many like it for the "sexy anime girls" or "cute anime boys." (I'm generalizing here.) And society sees how they obsess over that. Its made worse with those creepy body pillows (dakimaura?).

Just to clarify my position: I don't hate anime fans at all; many are totally cool people.   But I dislike (not hate) most anime shows.

Never understood what the animation is lacking in anime. To be honest in real life people don't make that much expressions nor do our expressions exceed our faces like they do in western cartoons so anime is sitting on reasonable terms of animation putting more of an effort of putting that into fighting animations or action animations if you're watching a sports anime. And the magic of anything on the screen whether it's a movie or anime, making people feel there is more going on with just a few slides of animation is actually an animator skill I think a lot of people are forgetting that. If you look at older movies in comparison to all this CGI stuff they can make people feel using sounds and music and they did a pretty good job of that, this skill has been lost nowadays. It's call movie magic, making people believe more than what is going is going on is a skill after all.

 

Also a lot of people that like western cartoons give good reviews on anime styled movies of a western franchise but given voice actors of western cartoons that were made by Japanese/Korean animators that do it in an anime style what's up with that? An example is Assault on Arkham or X-Men 2011 Anime (don't know the specific name). Batman Animated Series and Avatar the Last Airbender were all also inspired by anime and their styling whether storytelling or animation was done with anime in mind. Cartoons with a more serious tone seems to work well with having characters showing less facial expressions.

Edited October 15, 2016 by cider float