Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

What episode are you on? Because while I'm only a few episodes in and it has been entertaining, I haven't seen anything really amazing so far. I don't know if that's just difference in tastes or I'm just not far enough in yet.

Oh my G-d how did they do that!

I'm constantly tempted by that one since it's on the bottom of the page when I watch Sgt. Frog. Yet it's everything I don't like about anime. Weird. Also, unless they're held in tiny balls (tee-hee), I'm sure Pokemon's a bad example to use.

I'm willing to bet they're held in similar devices that have to be opened with a really fiddly little thing around the back.

I'm watching Gurren Lagann at the moment. Just made it to episode 4. It's a bit weird, I must admit. Simon is terribly annoying, Yoko is clearly fanservice, and the gay guy is borderline creepy. Kamina is probably the only good character to come of this show thus far. Oh yeah, and their attacks with Gurren Lagann are pretty cheesy and weird. But for some reason, I really want to watch it to the end.

Something about it just makes me want to keep watching, but most of the other stuff stated above is making me ask myself why I even started watching it in the first place. I'm probably gonna end up finishing it within this week, though, just because Kamina is so bada**. :3

If you like Kamina, wait until you see Simon in the latter half.

Finished series 4 of Bleach yesterday. I think what's more annoying than the bounts is Ichigo constantly being on the edge of death and then miraculously finding the strength to go on. Sigh.

One thing I'm glad about is that anime producers aren't trying to "westernize" their shows. They aren't redesigning characters to look more western.

The opposite is true with Japanese game companies, they are trying to revamp their franchises so they appeal to westerners more (redesigning characters so they look more "hardcore", outsourcing development to western studios). Why can't they just leave their stuff alone? The Japanese don't need to try to appeal to us, they can exist comfortably in their own niche.

I'm so glad Japanese animation companies aren't doing this. They are sticking to their foundations. Could you imagine if Pokemon was redesigned to look gritty and violent? Remember the American Godzilla movie? The live-action Dragon Ball Z movie? Both went so far away from their foundations that they barely resembled the franchises they were trying to represent.

Why is everyone so obsessed with westernizing everything? That defeats the purpose of cultural differences. Not everything has to be the same style, creativity comes from all places.

Last I checked, as far as gaming goes, Capcom is the only one westernizing their Japanese franchises, based on advice from Inafune. Everyone else is either making new franchises or not even bothering. Unless I'm missing something, of course. That's because the western market for games is more lucrative than the Japanese market. However, the western market for anime is almost nonexistant, so anime creators aren't really gonna bother westernizing their anime when there's so little guarantee for success either way (with that said, more western shows such as Cowboy Bebop and Fullmetal Alchemist have done notably better worldwide than other shows).

As for the movies, it's usually either a last ditch attempt to have some amount of popularity in the west, or probably just for kicks. Can't confirm any of that, but that's my guess at least.

Nevermind, episodes 12 on have been pretty awesome. Now I'm officially addicted to this show.

But here's the thing, if Capcom westernizes their Japanese games, then they will be just like us. You won't be able to tell the difference between a Capcom game and an EA game. They'd give up their uniqueness just so they can copy Epic, BioWare, etc.?

And anime is very popular in America, I don't know where you got that from. The reason anime is popular is because it's different from American animation. The same should also be said about Japanese games, but apparently Capcom doesn' think so. Japanese games are a niche product now (in America), but that hasn't stopped Atlus and Xseed from publishing them over here.

Anime really isn't that popular in America, seriously. Out of the 100's of kids I meat at school, elementary and High-School, I've must have met at least 10 that even knew what anime was. Then again I've only been to one decent school. The other 2 were sketchy.

Really? If anime isn't that popular, then why are Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto, Digimon, Beyblade, etc. all big hits on TV? Why are bookstores populated with manga? Why does Netflix have it's own dedicated anime section? Dragon Ball Z is still one of the most popular and influential anime series of all time.

Anime has it's fans, for you to completely deny that means you are out of touch with what people like. Anime is a big part of pop culture. Look at American cartoons like Powerpuff Girls, Teen Titans, Scott Pilgrim, Jackie Chan Adventures, etc. Those were greatly influenced by anime and manga.

Warner Bros., Microsoft, and The Wachowski Brothers all collaborated with a bunch of anime studios to work on Batman: Gotham Knight, Halo Legends, and The Animatrix, respectively.

The shows you mentioned were definitely huge hits. I didn't mean all shows that are anime aren't popular. I meant most people don't know what anime itself is. Most kids assume Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh are just another cartoon.
_{Scott Pilgrim isn't a cartoon. I would die of joy if it was.}

Oh ok I see your point. It's amazing how ignorant the general public is. They really can't tell the difference between anime and American animation?

Anime is more detailed, character designs are more realistic (somewhat), the way everything moves is completely different than American animation, there is a greater emphasis of perspective, and cinematic angles are more intense. It's a completely different style.

That's... a pretty dumb argument. South Park has a different style to Tom & Jerry, which has a different style to The Simpsons. Which is a different style to Pokémon. How is someone unfamiliar with anime supposed to think "OH THAT'S CLEARLY ANIME AND NOT WESTERN" by looking at it? Sure, if all Western animation looked the same, then something clearly distinct would raise question as to its origin. But Western animation already covers a range of styles, so to the average Joe, an anime is just a cartoon in another style. And it's really not that distinct a style when contrasted with the kid's TV it usually sits alongside on mainstream Western screening. I can't say I ever, as a child, thought to myself "oh hey Dragonball Z is on next, look at how different it looks to all the other cartoons on this cartoon channel of cartoons." Because it didn't, really.

Are you serious? Anime has a style all to it's own. That's why cartoons like Teen Titans, Powerpuff Girls, etc. all try to copy it.

I watch cartoons often, and I can clearly tell the difference between Dragon Ball Z and American animation. There is a certain way the characters look and move that gives it away, the way their lips flap up and down when they talk. The animation is extremely limited, but the art is so detailed that you hardly notice it.

Watch Afro Samurai, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Pokemon, One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist, etc. and compare it to Batman: The Animated Series, SpongeBob, Ren and Stimpy, Futurama, Fairly OddParents, etc. There is a huge difference between Japanese and American animation.

You just answered yourself. Western shows sometimes mimic anime style. All the more reason to not note a visual distinction if you're unaware of them beforehand.

Alright look, the short way through an inevitable argument:

Do anime have one distinct style?
Yes, largely speaking. There's variations, but for the most part, anime is anime.

Do Western animations have a distinct style?
No. Western animation covers a huge scope of distinct styles.

If I throw a distinct style into a soup of distinct styles, will I be able to pick one out as being more distinct than all the others?
Do I seriously have to answer this? Open a bag of Skittles, take out all the ones that came from Batch #6842 in the factory. Can't do that? Oh. But it's easy. Batch #6842 were the red ones. See I knew that beforehand, I talked to the factory operator. You didn't. How ignorant of you. Silly boy. Go sit in the corner and learn Skittles Distinction.

You're right about western animation having a large variety of styles. The medium has evolved greatly since the "Golden Age" of Hollywood animation (the 1940's through the early 1950's).

And you're right about anime having a distinct style.

No more arguing, this thread might get locked.

#1. Sadly, Digimon is basically a dead franchise in America. If Pokemon didn't exist, there's a good chance that Digimon would still be around. And that's the part that really makes me sad.

#2. While manga and anime do share things in common, they really aren't the same beast. Yeah, this is an example of Japanese culture becoming more commonplace in the US, but it isn't an example of anime becoming more popular.

#3. Scott Pilgrim is not an American cartoon. It's a Canadian comic book. Kind of missed the target by the whole nine yards, did ya?

#4. Ah, now the Animatrix is a very interesting case. The first four of the nine shorts were written by the Wachowski brothers, but they had no real control over the direction or animation style of the shorts. The other five shorts almost have no influence from the Wachowski brothers whatsoever.

Yeah, from my general observations, most people really don't know what anime is, and half the people who do know what it is just think it's all tentacle rape porn, or something weird like that. Again, anime is super niche outside of Japan, and therefore they're not gonna bother westernizing shows when there really isn't a market for it. With that said, western companies do westernize some shows, including the show I'm watching, Sgt. Frog. And thank G-d, because otherwise I wouldn't get most of the references _{not to mention getting to experience outdated pop references like "Video Killed The Radio Star". Hhhmhm-hm-hmhm, such a good song. Too bad I can only remember one line.}