Anime Thread #2

[ironchapman]

The Lupin III movie is good too - it’s a TV movie.

I think the new Last Exile is nifty too. And you know what will be best, the upcoming season of Zero’s Familiar and Seitokai no Ichizon. I absolutely loved the first season. Everyone in Japan was going crazy over the gamer girl.

I hope the Familiar of Zero series gets licensed in the US beyond season 1. I’d love to own it on DVD.

And I saw some of Seitokai no Ichizon. Fun show.

Also, one other figure shot. My latest acquisition, also from The World God Only Knows! twitpic.com/7w5mns

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Fate/Zero has been such an amazing series thus far. Didn’t think anything could top Steins;Gate this year, but F/Z’s making a serious case.

On that note, how awesome is this Saber figure? I’m seriously considering springing for it. That bike is AMAZING.

TwT So pretty. TwT

Unfortunately, I get a bad feeling that the price might give me a brief taste of having my name written on the Death Note. TwT

 

[ringil]

Why does everyone look like kids in Anime?

 

[Milliardo]

Why does everyone look like kids in Anime?

Where do you get that notion? Of course, a number of anime do have kids as protagonists, but definitely not everyone in anime look like kids.

 

[ironchapman]

Anyone here watched Sora no Otoshimono? I remember enjoying it quite a bit, even though it was a little heavy on fanservice. I found the characters fun. It’s coming out here in the US soon.

 

[ringil]

Where do you get that notion? Of course, a number of anime do have kids as protagonists, but definitely not everyone in anime look like kids.

Even the characters that look more adult appear child-like. It seems to be a characteristic of the genre. I am interested why. I have been to Japan and noticed childlike characters on ATM displays, business cards, and generally everywhere.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Anyone here watched Sora no Otoshimono? I remember enjoying it quite a bit, even though it was a little heavy on fanservice. I found the characters fun. It’s coming out here in the US soon.

I think I read the first few chapters of that but stopped when things got busy. I’ll probably read it again though. I’m curious about the true nature of these ‘angels’ and stuff.

Even the characters that look more adult appear child-like. It seems to be a characteristic of the genre. I am interested why. I have been to Japan and noticed childlike characters on ATM displays, business cards, and generally everywhere.

Because it’s moe. Moe is pretty and pretty is moe.

-signed-

A blatantly obvious fan boy of the moe-style.

 

[ironchapman]

I think I read the first few chapters of that but stopped when things got busy. I’ll probably read it again though. I’m curious about the true nature of these ‘angels’ and stuff.

Well, once you get past the comedy and fanservice, it’s actually got a pretty deep story.

My experience is with the TV series, though.

It sort of reminds me of Omamori Himari (ever seen/read that?). Comedy and fanservice, but a great story underneath.

 

[ringil]

I think I read the first few chapters of that but stopped when things got busy. I’ll probably read it again though. I’m curious about the true nature of these ‘angels’ and stuff.

Because it’s moe. Moe is pretty and pretty is moe.

-signed-

A blatantly obvious fan boy of the moe-style.

Well I thought it was pretty cool. I hope that I can get back to Japan.

 

[ironchapman]

On a side note, I’m looking forward to the release of The World God Only Knows here in the US. One of my favorite shows out there. So funny, and so many of the characters are fun to watch. I’ve got several of the CDs associated with the series and might be increasing that # soon.

 

[Milliardo]

Even the characters that look more adult appear child-like.

Just for the purpose of giving an example, Gendo Ikari doesn’t look a bit like a child, does he now?

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Well, once you get past the comedy and fanservice, it’s actually got a pretty deep story.

My experience is with the TV series, though.

It sort of reminds me of Omamori Himari (ever seen/read that?). Comedy and fanservice, but a great story underneath.

Yep, I’ve read Omamori Himari too. I was pretty much following it till school came and I ended up postponing… again. T_T

God I gotta find time to read all of this.

On the subject of fanservice manga having a surprising amount of plot substance, Negima is one more I’d like to throw out here. Trust me when I say the anime/TV versions really do not do it justice.

Sure it starts out with all the school-life/slice-of-life wackiness of Love Hina but once you start getting deeper, it becomes more and more like a really epic shounen fantasy. In fact, I suspect that’s one of the reasons why Ken Akamatsu created a ten-year-old boy as the protagonist instead of the typical loser mold often used in harem manga (Love Hina’s own Keitaro included ). It might actually be a reference to young boys often starring the main role in fantasy.

 

[ironchapman]

Yep, I’ve read Omamori Himari too. I was pretty much following it till school came and I ended up postponing… again. T_T

God I gotta find time to read all of this.

On the subject of fanservice manga having a surprising amount of plot substance, Negima is one more I’d like to throw out here. Trust me when I say the anime/TV versions really do not do it justice.

Sure it starts out with all the school-life/slice-of-life wackiness of Love Hina but once you start getting deeper, it becomes more and more like a really epic shounen fantasy. In fact, I suspect that’s one of the reasons why Ken Akamatsu created a ten-year-old boy as the protagonist instead of the typical loser mold often used in harem manga (Love Hina’s own Keitaro included ). It might actually be a reference to young boys often starring the main role in fantasy.

Yeah, I was following Negima for a bit. Lost interest after a while, but I might take another look at some point in the future.

You a fan of the World God Only Knows? I really loved the anime. Wish the manga would get licensed here. I have several CDs from the series and a few figures, including Elsie and her Nendoroid.

Also, you’re from the Philippines, right? I’ve met several anime fans from there through Twitter, heh.

 

[Laudate_Dominum]

Where’s BLEACH at right now in the anime? I confess that I’ve not watched anime in ages, I got sick and tired of the fillers and jumped over to manga. Infinitely superior !

 

[Oren]

Bleach is right where Ichigo just got his fullbring as a samurai outfit. He was fighting that sword/book guy, but Ginjo or whatever his name is, stepped in and started fighting the bad guy. The filler arcs on Bleach are out of control long and I don’t watch them…still if I didn’t know any better from reading the Manga I’d think this WAS a stupid filler arc. Dirty Boots…nanda sore?

 

[Tenofovir]

Why does everyone look like kids in Anime?

Japanese people have slightly different proportions to non Japanese. So you’ll find women may have shorter legs and longer torsos. In that regard the anime characters’ proportions often look child like.

Secondly the faces of most girl characters are “cute-fied” Japanese women’s/girl’s faces. Japanese women I noticed tend to age slowly in the beginning and so a woman in her 20s may appear to be a girl in her early teens, and a girl in her early teens may appear to look like a child around 10-12.

In addition child like behaviour is seen as attractive. So giggling like a child or pouting or making funny faces - pulling of the tongue or pulling down one’s eye and winking and other such childish mannerisms are seen as attractive.

Put these 3 factors together and you get child like characters.

And child like characters are more “moe” (make you want to protect them) and that’s the appeal of most anime shows. Also younger and more innocent characters tend to be
more believable. They just don’t lie as much. They get our empathy. They also tend to be less corrupted and nicer and even morally better. We also support them more because they’re weaker yet willing to stand up for what’s right.

Sadly fan service is more and more common and for some reason the ugly concept of “lolita complex” or simply what you and I would call pedophilia is finding (or has found) its way into anime/manga. Whether pedophilia is more common in Japan is debatable but pedophilic concepts also seem more common in the anime/manga form. So much so that it is parodied and satirized in many shows too.

Thankfully overall mainstream anime shows I think are less sexual then Western shows. You will not find a mainstream Western movie without at least one sex scene but most animes only contain sexual innuendo in the most extreme and >95% have no actual sex scenes on camera or off camera. The closest you will come to a sex scene would be a hug or a kiss, or the accidental walk in of a male character into a female bath where a girl is naked (not shown completely). What follows is usually violence from the side of the female and a very sorry male who remains a virgin to the end of the series. Sex is very rare in mainstream shows. All fans would go crazy if their girl was to be violated by a male character. The typical loser single male character remains a virgin in >95% of anime shows. Guys want their favourite girls to remain sexually pure. It’s very common in anime too.

 

[CesarAugustus]

Japanese people have slightly different proportions to non Japanese. So you’ll find women may have shorter legs and longer torsos. In that regard the anime characters’ proportions often look child like.

Secondly the faces of most girl characters are “cute-fied” Japanese women’s/girl’s faces. Japanese women I noticed tend to age slowly in the beginning and so a woman in her 20s may appear to be a girl in her early teens, and a girl in her early teens may appear to look like a child around 10-12.

In addition child like behaviour is seen as attractive. So giggling like a child or pouting or making funny faces - pulling of the tongue or pulling down one’s eye and winking and other such childish mannerisms are seen as attractive.

Put these 3 factors together and you get child like characters.

And child like characters are more “moe” (make you want to protect them) and that’s the appeal of most anime shows. Also younger and more innocent characters tend to be
more believable. They just don’t lie as much. They get our empathy. They also tend to be less corrupted and nicer and even morally better. We also support them more because they’re weaker yet willing to stand up for what’s right.

Sadly fan service is more and more common and for some reason the ugly concept of “lolita complex” or simply what you and I would call pedophilia is finding (or has found) its way into anime/manga. Whether pedophilia is more common in Japan is debatable but pedophilic concepts also seem more common in the anime/manga form. So much so that it is parodied and satirized in many shows too.

Thankfully overall mainstream anime shows I think are less sexual then Western shows. You will not find a mainstream Western movie without at least one sex scene but most animes only contain sexual innuendo in the most extreme and >95% have no actual sex scenes on camera or off camera. The closest you will come to a sex scene would be a hug or a kiss, or the accidental walk in of a male character into a female bath where a girl is naked (not shown completely). What follows is usually violence from the side of the female and a very sorry male who remains a virgin to the end of the series. Sex is very rare in mainstream shows. All fans would go crazy if their girl was to be violated by a male character. The typical loser single male character remains a virgin in >95% of anime shows. Guys want their favourite girls to remain sexually pure. It’s very common in anime too.

A good explanation.

I agree on the fanservice part too, I remember some horrible shows from the recent seasons.

Blessings!

 

[ironchapman]

Japanese people have slightly different proportions to non Japanese. So you’ll find women may have shorter legs and longer torsos. In that regard the anime characters’ proportions often look child like.

Secondly the faces of most girl characters are “cute-fied” Japanese women’s/girl’s faces. Japanese women I noticed tend to age slowly in the beginning and so a woman in her 20s may appear to be a girl in her early teens, and a girl in her early teens may appear to look like a child around 10-12.

In addition child like behaviour is seen as attractive. So giggling like a child or pouting or making funny faces - pulling of the tongue or pulling down one’s eye and winking and other such childish mannerisms are seen as attractive.

Put these 3 factors together and you get child like characters.

And child like characters are more “moe” (make you want to protect them) and that’s the appeal of most anime shows. Also younger and more innocent characters tend to be
more believable. They just don’t lie as much. They get our empathy. They also tend to be less corrupted and nicer and even morally better. We also support them more because they’re weaker yet willing to stand up for what’s right.

Sadly fan service is more and more common and for some reason the ugly concept of “lolita complex” or simply what you and I would call pedophilia is finding (or has found) its way into anime/manga. Whether pedophilia is more common in Japan is debatable but pedophilic concepts also seem more common in the anime/manga form. So much so that it is parodied and satirized in many shows too.

Thankfully overall mainstream anime shows I think are less sexual then Western shows. You will not find a mainstream Western movie without at least one sex scene but most animes only contain sexual innuendo in the most extreme and >95% have no actual sex scenes on camera or off camera. The closest you will come to a sex scene would be a hug or a kiss, or the accidental walk in of a male character into a female bath where a girl is naked (not shown completely). What follows is usually violence from the side of the female and a very sorry male who remains a virgin to the end of the series. Sex is very rare in mainstream shows. All fans would go crazy if their girl was to be violated by a male character. The typical loser single male character remains a virgin in >95% of anime shows. Guys want their favourite girls to remain sexually pure. It’s very common in anime too.

Yeah, I tend to agree. I mean, I get why 15 year old boys would be attracted to girls their age (or near it), but when the “service” becomes blatantly just there for the audience’s eyes, I do get bothered by that. I can tolerate fanservice when there’s other factors in the show to mitigate it, such as being consistently funny, having interesting characters, or having a great plot, but shows that run on fanservice are about as hollow as you can get (and I found myself discovering that even before I really became concerned with the amount of fanservice in a show).

Even so, I find some shows with good stories hard to tolerate due to the fanservice. Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai is one of them. Great story based on a certain psychological disorder (won’t give it away, as it’s a spoiler) and one of the most interesting takes on romance and harem I’ve seen in a while, but the fanservice and even the language at times (both censored when they’re too extreme) can get out of hand.

Somewhat related to this is all the adaptations of eroge (adult games) into anime. Even when the sexual content has been completely removed, like in Fate/Stay Night or Clannad, I still find it awkward to watch them because I know the original game had certain scenes in it, but the version that makes it on the air is clean, at least. I will say this, though: it is my understanding that many eroge only have the “ero” stuff tacked on to sell more copies. I’m not a fan of sim games or Visual novels of any type and never played any, so my knowledge is secondhand at best, though.

And now for something completely different, anyone got any favorite voice actors? I’ve been liking Kanae Ito, Ami Koshimizu, Marina Inoue, Hiroshi Kamiya, and Jun Fukuyama lately, but I have several others I like as well.

 

[Oren]

Mamoru Miyano

Kazuhiko Inoue

Noriaki Sugiyama

Kazuya Nakai

Kappei Yamaguchi

Shin-ichiro Miki

I love Jun Fukuyama as Lelouch Lamperouge!

 

[ironchapman]

Also, here is a picture of my latest acquisition from Japan, a Nendoroid of Hercule Barton from Milky Holmes! twitpic.com/801eak