movies/tv Why is anime so popular?

[Crispy 5,565]

I don't particularly get it myself. Perhaps it lies in the combination of serious and cartoony-ness that most have. I'm fine with the former, but the latter is something I don't care for. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I've watched a few in my time. There were a few I've liked, but much more that I really haven't. Cowboy Bebop, Big O, and old-time Pokemon are the only ones that have really drawn my fancy. A major turn-off for me is the massive Japanese influence that a good amount have. Nothing against the culture or its depictions, I just find it a bit... odd most of the time.

 

In response to the question, I honestly have no idea. I guess there's just something I'm not seeing. 

 

You should try FLCL.  It's as Japan as possible, but in such a spastic way that you end up enjoying it.

 

And at six episodes, it's not a time sink, either.  

[#1 Flutterfan 174]

As per title.

 

Why is anime so popular? I always keep hearing about it and almost every pony-to human fanart is anime styled.

 

I have no idea what makes it so appealing, so I would appreciate it if someone could explain it to me.

By anime, I'm assuming you mean cartoons? Seeing as anime is no different then cartoons as they are both just motion art. Aside from cultural influences, obviously.

 

Instead of seeing anime as something separate from TV. Imagine it as TV with more grounds to explore anything. IE: It can break fictional grounds and allow flying without "Cheap effects."  If you look at the show:

 

Naoki Urasawa's Monster - It delves into the moral question of "is it right to kill even if the person in question is a serial killer?"  It goes about this question in a sort of round-about CSI kind of way. They could have made this into a Live Action, and they are (now), but it was originally a comic.

 

Why? Because the creator was good at that.

 

Why is anime popular? It's a story that is told--through the medium of motion art. Let's take the show Supernatural--replace that with the anime City Hunters--and you have a plot that could make you want to watch it. Yu Yu Hakusho is just a basic fighting show that is mixed with a "Slice of life"

 

Why watch anime? Why watch non-cartoons? 

[Gourgeist 262]

I thought a lot about this recently and came to a simple conclusion:

 

Japanese show writing > American show writing

[#1 Flutterfan 174]

I thought a lot about this recently and came to a simple conclusion:

 

Japanese show writing > American show writing

Not necessarily so--have you seen J-drama vs. K-drama vs. American Drama? It depends but K-drama is better than J-drama but I think American dramas are better than J-dramas. On the other hand, American Cartoons are a hit and miss. While Fairly Oddparents is better than bobobobo bobo bo I think the more serious Anime pose the "better show writing" than the "best" cartoons. though look at Avatar the Last Airbender. I do feel though that the japanese harness animation better, because they don't feel that animation is strictly for children which I think the American culture seems to depict.

[Moonlight 7,291]

I personally enjoy anime more than any cartoon I have ever seen, yes, including MLP. I just find the animation styles to look nicer or cuter depending on the anime. I enjoy the more creative stories more and I just enjoy the characters more. Plus, there's such a diverse range of animes from comedies like Ouran High School Host Club, to magical girl shows such as Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, to actions like Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack On Titan), and so on. I love it. 

[Princess Lona 382]

Some of the more well-versed anime fans in this thread have pointed out that any animation is technically an anime. I was not aware of that. I was under the impression that anime refers specifically to animation drawn in the general style of a manga and I think that's what the OP meant so I'll continue under that definition.

 

I never considered myself an anime fan but recently I discovered one or two animes that I like and for me the draw was not so much the style/mood/themes/whatever, but the subject matter. I love all things pirate, so naturally when I heard about One Piece I started watching it (131 episodes down, a billion to go!). Another time when I was feeling a bit heartsick I stumbled upon Itzura Na Kiss and watched the whole series in like a week.

 

But as for why others like it:

 

One thing I have noticed about the bit of anime I know is that emotions are heightened to extremes. So I believe that some people in the west really like anime because in the last few decades western entertainment and storytelling culture has become very sarcastic and many of the characters are way too "cool" so they just don't emote properly. There are few moments of genuine feels. Some people are getting fed up with it. Anime characters are almost always quite genuine when expressing their feelings, and when they are lying it is obvious so they never really lie to the audience.

 

Come to think of it, that's the very reason Shakespeare was so loved. Huh.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Princess Lona

[Tigerpop198 696]

I respectable dislike anime. I don't like it and I never will, but I won't bash you to death because of it. This is a excellent question though as why it is so popular, because I have no clue.  

[Akemi Homura 7,682]

 

 

A major turn-off for me is the massive Japanese influence that a good amount have. Nothing against the culture or its depictions, I just find it a bit... odd most of the time.

 

In what way do you mean? Japanese culture influencing whatever fanbase it's supposed to spearhead or being influenced by Japanese culture? If it's the latter, I really don't see why you would question this. These works are of Japanese origin, after all. 

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

Animation and Anime sort of work in the same way.

Both are alike in many ways, but our neighbors at Japan seem to take a few more chances.

Take Soul Eater for example.

America doesn't have the guts to pull something like that,

[Codelyy 1,290]

I like anime because most of the animes are awesome and i also LOVE how they look

 

Not the breast part XD but just there face and hair

 

Some anime Character look really horrible but then you have some what look amazing and super cute

[Castle Bleck 19,544]

The art style and the writing, natch.

 

FIM's arguably also animesque, given the facial designs and such (I'm no clopper, and always fast-forward past such whenever reading stories that contain it, but the ponies do look cute/attractive/etc. with said designs.).

[Fox 5,331]

For someone who likes anime, usually I find the Japanese cartoon more compelling to tell a good story. The adventure genre is great because it creates a lot of unique visuals to the viewer. Humor can vary, but I don't really enjoy humor in other shows because I find it rather degrading, or something even I could do which is rather weak in my sense of humor. Like I hate Family Guy.... the humor for me is not appealing to me. I love the animation for the most part, like the designs are awesome, or kawaii as fuck. I'm just saiyan I'd rather watch anime.

[hawkflame 3,315]

So can other types of animation. And live action, we have this thing called CGI.

 

I din't see how this is something that could not be done with live action, or is exclusive to anime.

 

To me it seems the art style is the reason for the popularity of anime.

 

I don't see how these possibilities are exclusive to anime.

Yes, and we know why MLP is popular.

 

And it's not that people need a reason to like it, the question is why is it so incredibly popular?

Then why does anime have such a massive fandom compared to other types of animation?

 

Maybe it's the particular combination of all of the above that creates the special appeal?  It could be the art style PLUS the story telling PLUS the animation and whatnot that creates the appeal.  A lot of other media have one or the other, but anime seems to have it all. 

 

I mean, is there any American animation that compares to something like Gundam 00?  Not really. 

[Squeaky Clean 33]

I love anime. I love the artwork, plus the plots are typically really good. 

Why anime is different from American cartoons:

 

Nowadays, if you turn onto a channel showing cartoons, you'll find a show with strange artwork and bad humor (so stupid the show isn't even funny). They've canceled the shows I grew up on and are replacing them with these types of shows. 

 

If it's a comedy anime, it has actual, funny humor. If it's an action anime, it has awesome fight scenes. I love anime because it's a bit more... for an older audience, a lot of it is. Whereas a lot of cartoons are directed to younger kids, a lot of anime is directed towards young adults.That's what people like about anime--no stupid humor, and the artwork is nice. c:

[ReverseFaller 2,484]

I'm a pretty big anime fan myself. I guess what attracts me to anime most would have to be the story itself. The animation style is pretty appealing to me, but it's not the sole reason I enjoy the shows.

 

There are a lot of anime out there that have very well written stories. A well written story combined with decent animation makes for a great show. I also enjoy the worlds created by each anime. By watching a new anime you're jumping into a whole new world, with its own lore, and characters. I'm not really that great at explaining things, so I'll just give some examples of types of anime I enjoy, which may give some insight onto why I like it so much.

 

• Serious anime-Attack on Titan, Death Note, and Black Butler all have a more serious vibe to them. These shows are generally darker, and focus less on world development, and more on the development of the characters. In Naruto, you have the entire ninja world to mess around in. The 3 shows mentioned above focus on a smaller geographical area. You get attached to the characters very easily because of this. and it's no wonder why the 3 shows I mentioned all have very popular characters within them. These shows give you a nice, short experience of a dark story filled with the occasional humorous moments.
• Comedy-Rosario Vampire, Ah! My Goddess, Baka and Test, and Ouran High School Host Club.These shows are basically just for laughs. They can get a little serious on occasion, but they usually focus more on some bumbling idiot have girls surround him. Whether it be a harem, or a high school anime these anime are usually enjoyable. These shows aren't mean to be deep stories, they're more or less watched just for enjoyment.
• Shonen-Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball. These are the shows that never end, and have huge worlds to explore. The large roster of characters is always growing, and the main character always seems to be getting stronger. These are you classic action anime.

Watching a shonen anime is fun, because you're really jumping in deep by doing this. They're long lengthwise, and they provide a decent amount of entertainment for a good amount of time. Also, the ungodly amount of characters in some of these shonens make it hard for you not to gain a few new favorites. I enjoy watching a casual comedy anime every now, and then just because. They're easy to watch, and you don't have to remember a lot of names. Finally, the darker animes are great to get attached to. There's just something about them that I find attractive. You never really know what to expect from the darker ones. Attack on Titan is a great example of this. You never really know what's going to happen next in that show, and you're always on the edge of your seat.

 

Anyways, I've never tried to explain why I love anime so much so this is probably a rather poor description. Sorry about that. I just wanted to write something more professional looking rather than fanboying all over the place about my animes. So basically, I'm like Rainbow Dash in Flight to the Finish.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Mikami

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

I don't see it either, it is as unreasonable as (no offense) sports games.

[Dr. Mechano 633]

I think it's a lot less popular than it was in the early 2000s.

 

Here's the thing. I like some shows that happen to be anime, but I don't like them just because they're anime. I feel like, for a while, anime became a "fad" of sorts; People would be really into anime and manga series, often regardless of quality, just because of its genre. This is one of the big reasons for the western "anime boom" of the last decade, which has kind of fizzled out over the past few years.

 

I think fans these days tend to be a lot more selective of what shows they watch, and while there are definitely a lot of great anime and manga out there, there's so much more poorly-written, poorly-characterized garbage overshadowing it. You really do have to sift through the dirt to find the diamonds, as with any form of media.

[Golurk 468]

 

 

You should try FLCL.  It's as Japan as possible, but in such a spastic way that you end up enjoying it.

 

I've seen it through a couple of times. It gave me quite a few lols, but it'd still only be a last resort, if-nothing-else-is-on sort of thing. It's not something I'd flock to.

 

 

 

In what way do you mean? Japanese culture influencing whatever fanbase it's supposed to spearhead or being influenced by Japanese culture? If it's the latter, I really don't see why you would question this. These works are of Japanese origin, after all. 

 

 

It's not that I'm questioning it; as you said, it's to be expected. I just find over-saturation of it to be unappealing. Hence why the few that I mentioned have relatively little direct Japanese influence. I have nothing against it, I just don't really understand many of the in-jokes that are there. And the few that I do, I don't really find funny.

 

I just don't really find them too terribly entertaining under most circumstances.

[Gone Airborne 22,008]

Because they just so happen to be awesome like that? What more reason should I give? If you like anime you like it and if you don't you don't... Everyone likes different things you know. 

 

I like anime if the story line sounds interesting and usually anime has some really nice visuals and the like. 

[~Asuka <3~ 867]

It's fun to watch.   If I think a form of entertainment is enjoyable, I'm going to watch it.    

 

That's pretty much it.  

[Dddrgn 450]

For me, anime is an addiction, it's actually the only TV I watch besides MLP. It's popular because it often has amazing stories and beautiful animation, whether it ranges from romance/slice of life shows like Clannad all the way to comedies like Baka and Test or Sgt. Frog. It's so much more diverse than other animation I have seen, which is part of why I love it - as well as the art style.

[Inazuma 53]

You wanna know why anime is so popular? It's because anime producers doesn't treat their viewers like bi****s! That's why. I mean if there is anime with blood, guns, and gore they'll show it. Here they get a conniption if a guy dresses like a girl. Or heaven forbid throws a punch. I mean yeah now a days censorship is only slightly better than it was in the 90's. But really anime acts like it's telling an actual story, whereas cartoons these day is random crap thrown together. Don't believe me? Okay here are some examples: Cowboy Bebop. When you watch that, it feels like you're watching a story: they smoke, guns are fired, people are shot, they bleed, they die, action happens and even when there is no action it gives you something and at the end it gives time to reflect on what happened. Now when you have something like Adventure Time or Uncle Grandpa both fifteen minute shows; it barely feels gives you much of any thing before it switches to commercial. Robot Chicken gets away with this because that's the way it was designed, random comedy thrown together. And when they do show a series more than thirty minutes long; they go out of their way to dumb it down or make sure the series is short enough that you don't have time to really appreciate it. Don't believe me? Then why did shows like Young Justice and Green Lantern end so abruptly? Why did they cancel the new Thunder Cats? And why was 90's Spider-man censored so much? And speaking of censorship two words: 4Kids. They weren't even trying with that. The censorship was so poor and the characters so out of character it was an embarrassment and insult to not only the series but the viewers themselves. In fact that's one of the many reasons why I like MLP. Even though it was designed for the young-lings they don't treat them like brain dead Hogmonkeys. Even though there are episodes that are better then others at least it had a story. Magical Mystery Cure the exception. Which is why our best stories are written and put into comics. If you still don't believe me I have more proof: Disney Channel. Where is the animation? Give me back my animated stories!!!

 

 

[Shanks 10,817]

American cartoons have had a considerable decline in quality in the last 15 years or so but anime has not seen such a decline and a lot of great cartoons end up getting cancelled such as Young Justice, Green Lantern and Thundercats (2011). But anime has not suffered from this for the most part because it dosen't assume its audience are a bit of drooling idiots who will watch anything no matter how far it has been dumbed down. And it dosen't assume that just because something is for children is an excuse to dumb it down, does it mean every anime is going to be a masterpiece? No, but it is a different culture one that respects animations as a legitimate art form worthy of respect which is something that American culture has had for a while and in some ways has gotten stronger but you wouldn't know that from the crap that is spewed out nowadays.

[Guest]

Their aesthetics, their visuals and their complex story telling, which still made some sense in the end.. at least in most anime movies. Just take a look at FX:

 

Akira.

 

That ending had to be the most twisted ending i've ever seen in a motion-picture, but it still made sense. And it was a stunning piece of art.

 

tl;dr = GO WATCH AKIRA!

Edited December 24, 2013 by Guest

[Cantankerous 106]

Many anime tell good stories and I like storytelling. While, yes, it would be too simplistic to make a blanket statement that medium doesn't matter, that's what it comes down to for me. 

 

I suppose you want a more compelling explanation though. The immediate explanation that comes to mind is that the popularity is a result of having much more limited options when it comes to the variety of stories that are told using animation in the west, so people flock to anime to get what they're missing out on here.