Forum - View topicWhat's The One Beloved Anime You Just Don't Get?
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DJStarstryker
 Posts: 140 |
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I don't normally watch shounen or seinen, but I thought they were OK if you didn't think about them too hard. I do agree that Deadman Wonderland was hurt pretty badly by its lack of conclusion though. In fact, that lack of ending, blatant advertising for the original work anime is becoming too common nowadays. I've run into it so much recently that at times it almost makes me want to stop watching modern anime. 
My most recent anime that I don't understand why it's liked so much is Kill la Kill. Normally I give every anime I watch 4-5 episodes at least before quitting it. I could only watch 2 of this. I found it ridiculously boring, it felt way too ridiculous, the main character wasn't interesting to watch, and I didn't particularly care for her blatantly fanservice magical girl-style outfit. |
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Pipoko
Posts: 165 |
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I don't agree with that AoT opinion, personally. Putting that writing part aside - disagreement and all, you're not gonna be rational in that kind of situation. You're not gonna be calm in that situation. I'd maybe understand it if it were lower stakes, but this is kind of about survival and people dying and also if they all were adults. Most of the cast are teens and kids. Later on in the manga, killing other people is added to this list. Maybe that's not entirely what the person meant (meaning it could've been just dialed down and the writing just doesn't do it for the person), but it often comes across this way when presenting similar criticism in general - to expect people to be "calmer" about it is kind of screwed up, isn't it?
I fell in love with anime because it could be so open about emotions and at it's best moments could be so endlessly human. Which is why Ghost In The Shell, specifically the series, also never did anything for me, as said in the write-up. It always drove me away with it's first few episodes. Too cold. Another series would be Cowboy Bebop, actually. It's a very strong series, and by no means is it cold like Ghost In The Shell, either, but it's not one of my all time favorites, like it seems to be for many in the western side of the fandom. Last edited by Pipoko on Wed May 04, 2016 12:00 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Z-Raid
 Posts: 132 |
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I guess for me it's Durarara! I watched the first season of the anime and it was ok, decently entertaining but nothing really great or fantastic. The characters were just boring imo (with a few exceptions, of course). When the second season was announced I didn't even bother trying to watch it cause I had zero investment in the series. And I never understood the appeal of Izaya, which is strange cause troll-ish jerk characters are usually my favorite kind of characters. Maybe he just came off as too jerk-ish rather than entertaining for me to like.
I've also learned that I don't particularly care for Makoto Shinkai's works. I've watched 5 centimeters per Second, The Garden of the Words, and Children Who Chases Lost Voices and they were all ok at best or boring at worst. I didn't feel anything for the characters, the emotional drama just rang hollow and lukewarm to me, and I probably don't have the right to say this since I haven't seen all of his romance-centered works but all of his emotional romance dramas just feel repetitive. Although I will say the animation and art for the movies were absolutely beautiful. |
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Themaster20000
 Posts: 870 |
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Totally agree with Zac,on the Ghost in the Shell movie. It's such a beautiful film visually,yet it's so damn boring. Am not asking for mindless action,but can you at least express your themes in ways that aren't through terribly written monologues.
I guess a series I don't get is Zeta Gundam and the original series,somewhat. Besides it taking forever for the plot's to get somewhere, the battle scenes every episode were draining.Most of them don't serve a purpose in propelling the narrative forward,other then being,"had to give them something to do" moments for the characters. |
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FlamingFirewire
 Posts: 467 |
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As much as I agree with you about the Endless Eight, I still firmly believe that The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya went a long way in essentially saying sorry to the fans of the property - that movie for me is far beyond else up to that point in the franchise and possibly after as well. |
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kazenoyume
Posts: 425 |
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The main kid in Grave of the Fireflies is like seven or eight? It seems weird to me to be so angry at a young child for not having adult foresight.
A few for me: Monogatari- All of it. I've tried to watch a bunch and it's... so obnoxious and self-congratulatory and middling. This show is a large part of what made me realize Shinbo is not a good director, and Madoka Magica being so good was a fluke (but not TOO much of a fluke, as Rebellion was bad). Fullmetal Alchemist 2003- Not the 'worst' anime I've ever seen, but certainly the most disappointing since it started out with SUCH promise before it descended into a sort of mushy casserole of storytelling and characterization. Code Geass- This series reminds me a lot of FMA 03 in its reliance on shock factor and sloppy storytelling, although Geass descends into that more often than the former. Haikyuu, Free, Kuroke no Basuke- This is entirely me based and not really a comment on the actual quality, but a show featuring so little in the way of female characters is boring to me. Similarly, a lot of Shounen Jump titles. It's not so much a reflection of their quality as they just don't appeal to me. I don't think Fairy Tale is jump, but I'd add that to the list. Ranma 1/2- So this is kind of a different inclusion. I actually really like Ranma 1/2. But I'm a huge, huge Rumiko Takahashi fan and as a fan of her, I've always been confused by the overwhelming popularity of it, particularly in the west where it outshines all of her series but Inuyasha in how highly regarded it it. I think it's her weakest serial by some measure, and I just don't get it. Urusei Yatsura, for example, is twice as funny, but it couldn't even sell enough copies to stay in print even when it was being released during Ranma's prime. I agree with Attack on Titan and Tsubasa in regards to the article itself. As for Haruhi, I thought fandom pretty unanimously hated Endless Eight? Last edited by kazenoyume on Wed May 04, 2016 12:40 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
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I prefer Barefoot Gen to Fireflies. Has the kids in war subject but doesn't have the stupid decisions or the "are you feeling guilty for being young yet?" stares. As for GITS, I think the problem with all Oshii films I've seen is he has interesting ideas & great visuals, but has no idea how people converse; so his characters tend to just talk at each other while expositing on whatever idea or theme he wants to convey in that scene.
Dunno if there's a beloved anime I don't get. There's a few I don't like but understand why others would (AoT, UBW), & a few liked to begin with but thought they went downhill by the end (Death Note, Brotherhood, Steins;Gate). There's shows like Tokyo Ghoul that I thought were crap but then again so did a lot of people so it's not really beloved. I can't get into Gintama or Osomatsu-san (the bits I liked were the bits they pulled, the bastards), but again I know that a lot of people can't so they don't really fit either. Maybe Mardock Scramble, since I see that mentioned positively a lot when it comes to recent sci-fi anime but tbh I thought it was a decent idea that turned to crap when vagina hands & gay dolphins turned up (so I wasn't surprised when nobody liked PP2). I guess a final one might be Summer Wars, which to me just seemed like the scripts for two different films (an eccentric family comedy & a kids save the world adventure) awkwardly shoved together. I liked Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but Summer Wars did nothing for me. |
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Videogamep
 Posts: 564 Location: CA |
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Mine is Fate/Zero. I didn't dislike it by any means, but the anti-climactic ending and the way it left spoiler[Saber's] plotline unresolved were a big let down. I know it's a prequel, but it should still be able to tell a complete story and not rely on Stay Night to finish things.
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terminus24
 Posts: 304 |
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't like Attack on Titan, I felt like the characters were either halfway decent or only there as Titan fodder, but what really did it for me was the combination of how intense the show was trying to be (The yelling! The constant threat of the Titans!) was completely offset by the pacing. "Okay, let's spend three episodes trying to move a rock across town!" kinda took away the immediate threat.
Another series that I can't get into is Dragon Ball. The fact that I don't like Akira Toriyama's art at all probably also had something to do with it, but on the multiple times I've tried to sit down to watch it, it felt so overly drawn out and I just got bored. |
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Nonaka Machine Gun B
 Posts: 825 |
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This probably doesn't count, because I have eked out enjoyment from it, but One Piece. There are aspects and ideas I like about it, but over time I've become able to recognize just how impersonal, hollow, and crowd-pleasing it really is. It sticks to confines of battle shonen very rigidly and the only thing separating it from others is just how loud it is. Of course it's the biggest manga of all time; it follows the rules. There's absolutely nothing divisive about it. It's the same reason CSI is the biggest TV drama on the planet. Conflict is established, the characters take down that conflict, but not before shedding as many tears as possible.
Zac made a joke tweet a while ago that went on along the lines of "an anime that's so good its bad" and One Piece immediately came to mind. One Piece takes zero chances; but the flipside to not doing anything wrong is you don't really do anything right either. All of the series' bright points are on the surface; that character looks cool or this scene is really sad. There's nothing underneath any of that. I don't even know how people can have conversations about OP's story, because it's all right there. Oda spelled it out for you. There's no need for further dissection. Dreams. Also, it might be too early to call it "a beloved anime," but Kill la Kill is just garbage all-around. Lame characterization and nonsensical plotting, but just like OP, the storyteller, in this case Hiroyuki Imaishi, is enigmatic. Also, just like OP, Imaishi has nothing of any value to say either, besides that girls look cute hanging from their panties. I'll give credit to Ami Koshimizu(Ryuko) and Testu Inada(Gamagori) for elevating what's on the page beyond broad character archetypes, occasionally. Trigun. It's just Rurouni Kenshin but worse. To be fair, I've never touched the manga, and the anime apparently altered a lot. it's just kind of weird how the guy who made it was Watsuki's assistant and just blatantly ripped his old boss off. Last edited by Nonaka Machine Gun B on Wed May 04, 2016 1:55 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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BVerfG
Posts: 43 |
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It has been a couple of years for me since I last watched and read Gantz, but how is it misogynistic? If I were to choose one it would be Stein's;Gate. Never understood why anyone liked it. I first watched it without any expectations and the first three episodes were incredibly boring. Then I read "ok it starts slow, but it picks up around half-time". I gave it 19 torturous episodes and then dropped it again. I don't even get what it's supposed to be. Some sort of harem? A comedy? "Just" a story about time travel? Baccano and Gintama are high on the list too and so is AnoHana. Baccano is somewhat entertaining but doesn't hold a candle to Durarara. Gintama is hit and miss, some episodes are hilarious others I don't get at all. AnoHana gave me nothing. |
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jppcouto
 Posts: 103 |
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to me it would be HxH, of course.
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5499 Location: Iscandar |
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That is actually a very easy question for me to answer. FLCL is certainly a very unique anime experience, but I have never gotten what is so great and awesome about it.
This is a fun column. Keep up the good work ANN. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1335 |
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For me, it will always be Princess Mononoke. For the rest of this post starting in the next paragraph, I simply copy and pasted my thoughts from the forum for the blu-ray review (while trimming and reformatting it somewhat), since I've said everything I wanted to before and would find it redundant to rewrite everything. So here goes:
"When I first saw it back in the day, I hated it to high hell. But lately I've come around to it--in that I don't hate it like I used to. But no matter how many times I watch it, no matter how I try to refresh myself for a new perspective, I just don't see the same movie as everyone else does. I've heard people insist this is a shade-of-gray movie where you don't know which side to root for. Every viewing, I'm watching a town of industrialists trying to wipe out the forest spirits via genocide, to take their lands and natural resources. And the forest spirits resort to the countermeasures they do for the purpose of saving themselves and their homeland. Shades of gray? What is so "evil" or "immoral" about the forest spirits defending themselves while Lady Eboshi resorts to cruel means in driving them into a corner with no way out? That's like calling the Native Americans of old "immoral" for retaliating against colonialists for directly trying to wipe them out. And no, upon every viewing as far as I could make out, Eboshi never tried making peace with them first, she went straight to war against them, and what else were the forest spirits supposed to do?This movie and its characters (Ashitaka irritatingly especially) tried so hard to manipulate me to view it in a certain way, and while it definitely worked with most people, it still hasn't worked on me, although I genuinely tried to let it. In that scene where spoiler[San was about to confront Eboshi, and Eboshi has armed widows come out and say "answer for their husbands that you've killed." All I could think about was that their husbands are dead because she was the one who declared war against the forest spirits in the first place, enlisting said men into the crossfire, forcing the forest spirits to act against her, and she tries using that as an excuse to distract any huge involvement she had while trying to paint San as the bigger villain.] Yes, Lady Eboshi has a human side with the way she gives both prostitutes and lepers a second chance at life, I totally get that. But if that's supposed to distract me from her war-mongering, it's not enough and comes across like an excuse, spoiler[and her "comeuppance" wasn't nearly enough]. The movie's ending tries spoiler[conveying the illusion of something happy or something instilled with hope, but all I could think about there was that with the deer god dead, the village has full control to do whatever they want, and whatever recovering greenery we saw will just perish later.] One other thing, all the women extras are depicted in a "strong feminist" light--but at the cost of directly depicting the male extras as a bunch of pathetic dweebs, which makes the women just come across as nasty. To me that's not entirely dissimilar to depicting the mom from Ponyo as a "strong feminist" character despite or maybe even because of her reckless driving (and childish behavior) and endangering her son for it. I'm all for strong women characters, but not like what I've talked about (thankfully it's been done better in other Miyazaki/Ghibli flims). To clarify, I do not view Mononoke as a bad movie, just an overrated one." Last edited by pachy_boy on Wed May 04, 2016 12:07 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Kyjin
 Posts: 126 Location: Los Angeles |
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I also don't get Ghost in the Shell, but I tried. It just really didn't do anything for me.
I will say that I don't have the nostalgia factor for Sailor Moon that some people do, but Crystal didn't serve as a gateway for the series for me: the live-action tv series did. I watched it at the beginning of college, and it was so ridiculous that I was hooked. |
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