Forum - View topicGoing from a casual fan to hardcore.
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Precisionist
 Posts: 21 |
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Going from Robotech in the 80s, Akira in the 90s, to Adult Swim & Fuse broadcasts this decade, I am finding myself drawn (Esurance pun) into becoming an obsessed fan of the genre. I know I am skirting the "no recommendations" rule a little, so I'll try to keep my questions vague.
I guess the purpose of this post is that getting into anime is like reading a book for the first time, then going into a library. I've had my tip of the iceberg experience with whats listed above, and have really been getting into it after a lot of the stuff shown on Adult Swim & Fuse. Been watching some stuff on Hulu, but feel like I am just thrashing about as there arent really any reviews there. I've gone through the ANN site and read a ton of reviews...like maybe 1% of whats out there. Wont ask for specific recommendations here but more how does a n00bie like me figure out what is worth watching vrs what isnt. I dont know how to classify my tastes for one thing. It's not really subject related like most sub-genre lists go. I've liked sci fi (mecha) anime, fighting (shounun its called?), vampire anime. I like lots of characters, love triangles, action that makes sense, heroes you want to love (but not perfect ones) villians you want to hate (but not absolute evil ones), happy endings but the occasional tragic one to (this almost feels like typing up a dating profile LOL). So not to break the board rules, what do the "vets" advise for a newcomer to do to really get a feel for what is out there, how to scan over the vast # of titles to find what they would like based on what they like in the past. Anyone using Netflix knows they have a "based on your interest in" system of recommending titles. What is the best way for someone relatively young in the genre to do that also? |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24560 |
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Hmmm, despite your clever attempt to cover your recommendation tracks, I think there's a decent chance of this thread gettin' the ole lockeroo. However, just in case I'm wrong I'll give you the best advice I can: check out Tony K's "My Anime" button. He's categorized a whole bunch of Top 10 lists: Top 10 Mecha, Top 10 Horror, etc. The guy's got some seriously good taste so you could do a lot worse than use that as a starter guide.
Last edited by Blood- on Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:24 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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David.Seth
 Posts: 453 Location: near SF |
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edit: ^^^ thats a good idea! I didn't even think of that.
I went through the same exact dilemma 8 years ago. Really, all I did was look up the "most popular" anime (of that time anyway) and I started from their. I would read the reviews and see what sounded good (you can look here at ANN, and THEM Anime Reviews is a good place too). In fact, check out the 50 most popular anime series according to ANN. |
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LordRedhand
 Posts: 1472 Location: Middle of Nowhere, Indiana |
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Well first anime is not a genre it's a medium.
With that little thing out of the way lets move to the question of "How do I become more of an anime fan?" Simple you have moved to the next step that is being offered (Hulu and reviews) What it requires is reflecting on what stories, genres, and elements you like (knowing these will help you use reviews effectively) and focusing on those first (I.E. giving them priority). I wouldn't inherently trust others on a board with the question of "What is a good anime to watch?" as invariably the answer is all of them. Now for me it's reccomendations from friends/family, reviews and finally renting/legal streaming if I'm still unsure. So I'd say write down in notepad a list of what you like and what you dislike about anime (so have one for genres, stories, elements) So for me I prefer Sci-Fi and Fantasy over series focused on "realism", I prefer series with a "darker tone" than a lighter one, and I prefer a show with little faservice than a show that has a ton of it. With those factors in mind I can go to either reccomendations from friends and family or reviews and see if that series has those element I prefer. If yes than it is a series to look for an opportunity to purchase. If not, but it is still an "okay" show (I.E. It's technically okay but doesn't have all the elements I look for or has some that I don't look for in a series) It goes into the maybe column (so then legal streaming/renting come in if I'm looking to purchase a series that falls in this category.) If it doesn't fall into the above 2 categories, I move on it's not for me and doesn't appeal to me, so I don't have a strong incentive to buy or watch. Hopefully this will help you. Last edited by LordRedhand on Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Precisionist
Posts: 21 |
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I understand I'm walking a thin line here. I'm not looking for specific recommendations with the thread, maybe more of a "how to" since the forum forbids specific recommendations.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18589 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I recommend using the Genre Search option off the Search function on our Encyclopedia tab. (Try this link.) With the ability now to do both Genre and Theme searches, and have them listed by rating, age, or alphabetical, you can get an amazing amount of flexibility on your searches. (In fact, I'd bet that even a lot of long-term forumites aren't aware of how much this feature has been upgraded lately.)
Once you get a few likely titles, check their Encyclopedia pages to see if the title has reviews. Other suggestions made so far are also good. You can also check out this thread for some ideas. |
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Shadowrun20XX
 Posts: 1937 Location: Vegas |
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@Precisionist:Depends on how you want to define hardcore.I have followed anime as well as video games for 27 years.Everyday single day.What would you classify me as? It depends if you follow anime in Raw,Sub or Dubbed form. Raw:You have full access to(except video that has lost to the test of time),Subbed:a little less than Raw and Dubbed:less than Subbed and Raw.All of it good,there is a purpose for all of it. Learn the different regions.Region 1 R1 (United States & Canada) Region 2 R2 (Japan & Europe) Region 3 R3 (Asia & Oceania) Region 4 R4 (Australia,Mexico) All legal releases have this label is one way,shape or form.I can tell you where all my VHS,Beta,LD's,MD's,DVD's and BD's as well as my illegal fandecks,purpletapes,hardsubs,fansubs and digisubs came from. Notice that the culture is different? You must open your mind to this culture.It has seemingly infinite things to offer.When it comes to animation it's nearly no holds bared.No Limit.Once you've seen enough of the culture,you will become tolerant to it.Take nudity for example.Try not to get obsessed or swayed by one small factor of anime.It will limit you if you judge a book by it's cover.My aunt taught this to me.If I wanted to get serious about Nippon animation,I would have to sit still,watch and understand the multiple intricacies of storytelling through animation. Love the anime you are watching? Find out who made it,and follow that company.It may lead you to more of the same,or branch you off to more titles.Yea! You are a casual fan.But,if you want to be hardcore though,you gotta do more than that.You need to be a starving anime fan.You gotta want it.Know things like where it originated from.Was it a manga before the anime? Was it an anime before the manga?Was it a Eroge game? Did it spawn a Eroge game? Are there illustrations books on it? Who drew it?Who directed it? Who were the seiyu's? Who were the dub actors? Who licensed it? Knowing these make your experience so much more enjoyable. I'll continue if you respond. |
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Precisionist
Posts: 21 |
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Great post Shadowrun, and great ideas everybody.
I have gotten to the point where I am looking up the VAs, and sometimes I can identify them in other anime without looking. I now know what JYB is (after reading the forums today). I've had some email dialog with Kari Wahlgren, talking about Saya during the airing of Blood+ (after joining her fansite and emailing I was surprised she wrote back). I am also learning the companies, directors, and distributers. While this is probably blasphemy to the purists, I really dont like any anime unless its dubbed. Just cant get into the characters the same with a foreign language, maybe that takes time though. Right now I am just a voyuer, watching as much as I can get my hands on. Eventually I think I will become a collector...there are already sets I'd like to own like Code Geass R1 & R2, Blood+, Last Exile, and some of the Ghost in the Shell stuff. I guess by hardcore I mean to get out of the mode of watching whatever Adult Swim airs and start exploring the world on my own, find good anime for rent or stream that wont make it to air time (or has already aired), and possibly collect some of the good ones (exactly like I do with books). |
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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As it was said- you now have to find what you like- that websties can help you.
www.wikipedia.org - read about history of anime, get to know what words used often in reviews mean, look for literature about M&A http://www.animenfo.com/ - reviews by users, sometimes can be helpful www.anime-planet.com -recommendations with short description. I personally don't like it, but some users find it useful www.myanimelist.net -here you can make a list of watched animes, rate them and find some reccomendation, and people with similar tastes For example my list: http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Eire ---- And my little advice: don't expect great show every time you watch new series- try not to think what you have heard. I found my favourite series by accident- usually it was just an interesting screenshot. Of course I don't say that you shouldn't read reviews- but read them carefully, paying attention on what writer takes as advantage and disadvantage of the show: for example someone can say that "Guin saga" have strange dialogues with sounds like taken from Tolkien's books- but I personally like this way of speaking. And remember: 90% of everything is a crap. Anime too. After you got into it a little you would see the same motives, stereotypical characters, toons of annoying fanservice. Be ready that after 3 years you will be happy if you find 2 shows per season which you can watch without yawing. Show that will be worth re-wathig happens once for some years. But this 10% with you start and finish smiling is worth looking for. Good luck 
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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If I were to do this, I wouldn't be in anime today. It's astonishing to see just how much of it has changed from the old school days. I'm not a big fan of mecha, but shows like Burst Angel and Full Metal Panic have done wonderfully to include them, but not over utilize them. Another example: magic. I often strayed away from these in old school because many were filled with the same "It's time to change into my wonderful costume!" scenes over and over and over. I hate that. One thing I've found that does remain relatively consistent is learning who the key players are who helped make the anime. Directors (both the series and art), production crews, animation studio, writers, and even actors can make or break an anime. Many are still in the business churning them out, so if you remember a few series you enjoyed, try tracking down other things they've worked on. The "anime tree" will often lead you to other talent, which you can run with by reading reviews or watching clips to see if you're interested. Personally, I read reviews only to get a foundation of what others may like. I often find my tastes are a little different, so if someone doesn't like it, this means I'll love it. If you want to see this in action, read up on Elfen Lied. A perfect example of either "love it or hate it" which will leave you wondering if you'll enjoy it. That, you'll have to discover for yourself.
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belindabird
 Subscriber Posts: 134 Location: Minneapolis |
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One other thing that might be helpful after getting a few more titles under your belt is to find reviewers who generally mirror your tastes. That way if they rate a series highly, you'll have a good chance of liking it as well. There are multiple reviewers at this site, as well as hundreds of anime blogs online with people who review whole series, blog about episodes as they air, or talk about anime in general, and that might be useful to you.
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no.8
Posts: 3 Location: philippines |
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I've started out when I was still in grade school.I've search every part of our country just to look for reviewers on tittles I should watch.It was kinda hard.You see you need to spend a lot of money and time.
I find myself liking mags and things related to that. This genre really rocks and i don't care how many people dislike this genre for as long as I enjoy it and I love collecting stuff with regards to it. What got me hooked on this genre was when the time my father gave me my first action figure,it was a character from dragonball to bad my cousin broke it and I can't remember the appearance of the figure. Up to this time I'm still researching for more things related to it and I'll keep it up until the earth runs out of life. the spoiler fanatic _no.8 |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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One source I have come to respect is the Meta Anime Review Project. It compiles reviews across several sources, somewhat akin to an anime-only Metacritic. Some interesting overall scores are given, but they all stem from genuine articles.
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Poke around forums and blogs and miscellaneous anime websites and find out what shows people are buzzing about, bring up constantly, or hold in high regard, and pretty soon some names will be popping up so repeatedly that your curiosity will probably get you to check it out anyway. If you like it, great; if you don't, you've just learned some valuable information about what you don't like.
Branching out to other aspects of anime fandom naturally comes with curiosity and interest. When you start watching more and more, you'll notice the same studio names popping up, and you'll start hearing the same voices you've probably heard somewhere else before. Then you'll look them up and if you like their work, will probably become fans. Basically, if you're interested in anime and curious about it, you'll easily become a more "hardcore" fan without even trying. Like they say, the otaku didn't choose to become an otaku, he just became one before he knew it. |
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DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
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There are no 'steps' to becoming a hardcore fan, becuase there's so many different aspects of fandom. I doubt the yaoi-loving girl with a bookcase full of material can tell you the Super Robot Wars origin material like the mecha obsessee can- but that doesn't nessecarily make either of them less 'hardcore'.
I think starting with a good top 10/25/50 list is fine, you'll at least be introduced to the more notable titles out there (regardless of whether or not you like them.) Watch the trailers on the discs (or the reccomended video links on hulu) to find other things to watch too. If you've got it in you to be hardcore, it'll happen. You'll like a particular show's art and look for artbooks. You'll like another shows music and look for soundtracks. You'll start to notice and remember names of folks involved in things you enjoy. Just don't push it- it is quite possible to be a dedicated, longtime casual fan. The important thing is to have fun with it all. |
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