Forum - View topicThe bias against American animation.
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IncompetentOverlord
 Posts: 139 |
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I'd like to know where the bias against american cartoons comes from in the anime community. Sure, the quality of home grown stuff is by and large less than that of the japanese market, but there are definitely examples that shine through the muck.
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Shawn Shaolin
 Posts: 111 Location: New Jersey |
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There really shouldn't be a bias towards American animation, but those who claim American animation is weak are the jilted Japanophile otaku who thinks everything from Japan is better. Yes I an a huge fan of Japanese anime. I'm also a huge fan of American animation. I've enjoyed every DC comics DVD put out in the last three years. DVDs such as Public Enemies and Justice League: Crisis on two Earths.
Being biased toward American animation usually means you'll be missing out on something good. I respect all good animation, no matter where its from. |
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Flame-G102
 Posts: 104 |
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Mainly because recently it seems like home grown animation has gone down in quality. But thats just personal opinion. I dont have cable, so I really cant judge since I dont know all thats out there. But I see stuff like "Mucha lucha" "chaotic" and most of the kids shows on Cartoon network, and I go
: \ I personally feel that weve gotten too used to other countries making the cartoons for us and us just localizing them. Buuuut, the whole matter is one big argument of personal opinions to have one solid answer. |
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ShinobiX
 Posts: 889 Location: NY |
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didn't know one existed.
Well no actually now that I think about it there isn't one in the American anime community. We grew up watching American animation and we all like trash shows like southpark, family guy, and the simpsons. Think you got ur facts wrong. We all loved Hey Arnold, Sponge Bob and Avatar. This may be a stretch, but in terms of animation Americans prefer their own. That notion goes with every other country. Idk think it has something to do with how each country's animation reflects their nation's culture the best. People tend to be patriotic unknowingly which leads to biasness. This is generally speaking. Like with everything else exceptions exist... |
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IncompetentOverlord
Posts: 139 |
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Umm... Not all of us. I'm talking about stuff like the DCAU and Pinky and the Brain, and the more experimental stuff that MTV used to show. I love Avatar, Spongebob, Invader Zim, and Ren and Stimpy, but those are practically the only shows that most anime fans have seen.
P.S. Also, the Disney stuff and Popeye, both of which I think are underappreciated. |
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Shadowrun20XX
 Posts: 1936 Location: Vegas |
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The differences themselves speak louder, than any words any forum user here can convey. Look at what is on here, and look at whats on in Japan.
Morals, comedy and shock value are all we can seem to come up with. So that is what's on. Not to mention commercial after goddamn commercial. Americans consider animation for kids and nothing more, so since animation will never be taken seriously, many many people have migrated elsewhere for their fix. I'm curious as to why you would ask this? I'm familiar with animation from 1930 up to 2010. What program or answer did you delve this question up from? There are so damn many anime titles out there that I'd bet most of you can name maybe, a handfull of the mainstream stuff. What titles are you thinking of comparing? Disney?, Looney Toons? Hanna-Barberra? 70's animation? 80's animation that had help from Japan, Hong Kong and Canada? 90's animation? CG movies? Assorted Cartoon Network titles? Bias? Sure. I've never liked tired ol' superheros or the good guy, bad guy fantasies. That shit was old before you or I were born. It's pure fantasy. Japanese animation offers just about everything else. I like blood, guts, nudity, and every other risque situation you can think up that American animation will never offer.
You ask anyone "What are the Japanese known for ?" Videogames, Animation, Sushi and any other common stereotype you can think of will come up. That's what they do, and are respected for it. Americans on the other hand, won't finish most projects if it doesn't make enough money.(Samurai Jack) Money, money, money. Bias? Yeah, Americans once again getting by on the bare minimum of talent, to try and bring in more money. Always running after a franchise, rather than proudly telling a story through animation.
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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My main gripe is that it's usually not serious enough for me and I prefer serious stuff, so I usually don't enjoy much domestic animation because there's too much comedy in everything or the plotline is too episodic or thin for my tastes. I can watch something and make predictions and they usually are what happens because they aren't as creative. Also my 3 favorite genres, science fiction, mysteries, and romance are not seen too often in domestic animation. Now, I don't boycott it or anything, I love some domestic stuff a lot, (Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles, Gargoyles, X-Men and others) but the variety of anime generally suits my tastes better.
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Shadowrun...I'm not going to argue with your personal preferences. However, some of your comments demonstrate a complete and utter failure to grasp even the most basic idea of how the anime industry works.
Anime has comercials too. That's how TV shows work. If you buy the DVDs, obviously the commercials have been removed. This is true for American animation.
This is just a silly, borderline racist stereotype with no basis in reality.
Samurai Jack ran for 4 seasons. With the exception of a few big name shonen properties, an anime is lucky if it gets two seasons. In fact, most don't. I could list literally dozens of anime that end completely inconclusively after a single season. Why? Money. Unfortunately, in the real world neither America or Japan exist as some happy artistic paradise where shows are produced for their merit rather than their profitability. In fact, the anime industry is infamous for it's shoe-string budgets, and short shelf life. Unless something is a monster hit, it is more often than not, quickly canceled and forgotten. The stuff that does run long term does so precisely because it is extremely lucrative. |
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zgripţuroicǎ
 Posts: 140 Location: Newburgh, NY |
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I consider anime better than US domestic animation because it more often covers subjects and plots I'm interested in. If I see a show from the US I think I might enjoy, I'll watch it. However, most of what I've seen consist of shows targeted towards children and comedies. I rarely get into American comics as I simply don't find the style aesthetically pleasing very often, and many of the plot lines strike me as silly and contrived. I can't tell you that Watchmen sucked, as I didn't see it. However, I can quite definitively tell you I don't feel as if it holds any interest for me. I tried reading the book, and simply didn't care about any of the characters, so I doubt he movie will be that much better. Akira, on the other hand, got me hooked from the start. Does that mean Akira is a better movie than Watchmen? Not at all. It just means that I enjoyed one and didn't find anything interesting in the other. When I say anime is better than US animation, it's a purely subjective statement, not a hard fact.
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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Wel, I think its a matter of perspective. For us Americans, we get to see all of the animation we have to offer, from Spongebob to Avatar. However, for most anime fans, what we get is screened by others, be it licensors of just lack of available sources. So while we get the good anime and the bad cartoons, there is that sense of bias that most fans get.
Also, its cool to like anime, its DEEP and MYSTERIOUS! |
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Shadowrun20XX
Posts: 1936 Location: Vegas |
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Last edited by Shadowrun20XX on Mon Apr 12, 2010 11:26 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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ikillchicken
Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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One Japanese family you knew once had a lot of artistic talent and from this you're concluding that all Japanese are naturally amazing artists? Well...I don't want to make accusations but honestly, yeah. That's exactly the kind of baseless, illogical assumption that is behind most racist stereotypes.
What I'm saying is that you're being absurd. You're tossing some extremely nasty accusations at not just American animators but Americans in general. However, in reality these things apply every bit as much to the anime industry as they do to the American animation industry. I would hesitantly agree that anime is a bit better than western animation especially as far as TV goes. It isn't because as you're essentially saying: Japanese are just better than Americans though. |
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Shadowrun20XX
Posts: 1936 Location: Vegas |
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I just finished Rainbow, LilPri, K-ON!! and Shin Koihime Musou ep1. I just realized that anime still holds my attention at 30 years old, while things like Ben10 and.....Adventure Time, do not. Western animation just isn't as entertaining as Japanese animation. Um...to me anyway.
Sure comedy like Simpsons, Family Guy, Superjail, The adventures of Flapjack and Ugly Americans hold my attention , but it is because they have shock value that I'm even there at all. Adventure Time... yeah, I'll stick with anime.
I appreciate animation of all kinds from flash to homebrew. CG to the latest Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks movies. I just tend to gravitate towards more adult ideas, that seem to come from Japan more often.Though right now it's getting harder and harder to say that with the direction anime is going. What in our age group (20-30) is there right now, from western animation? Anything? Anime tends to be for every age group, no matter how we try to label it. Last edited by Shadowrun20XX on Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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dewlwieldthedarpachief
 Posts: 751 Location: Canada |
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Precisely because American animation rarely if ever tackles several things I'm interested in: sci-fi, horror, and violence.
There was a time I didn't really acknowledge anime and got my kicks out of the Batman cartoon that was running in the mid-nineties. I liked that show a lot; it had giant bats and machineguns and mad scientists. I also enjoyed the Spider-Man show that was on from time to time for it's periodic sci-fi elements as well; venom being a fun example of that. It's just that as my young mind became aware of other things that had the zany, out-there elements of fiction I became interested in those and left American animation behind. I think we all know that anime is, if anything, more often than not technically inferior animation. There's a lot of corner cutting for your average TV show, and this is even evident in lower budget OVAs and films from time to time. No, the reason people like me are into anime is for the content. The day American studios start pushing out some compelling animation that's aimed at people that can color inside the lines I'll be interested but when would they do that and why, I do wonder. EDIT: Oh, and for the record I have a fcking psychotic hatred for everything Nickelodeon has ever produced. That stuff is my kryptonite. Maybe that and my general apathy for whatever was coming out of Cartoon Network prompted me to find cartoons were the exploding head was onscreen and not my own. I know this is an American forum and we have to be tactful about matters of education but it's also worth mentioning Japanese culture too. If you find it the least bit interesting that's another reason to be into anime; this does not in and of itself condemn one's relationship among mature individuals. It's also rather incredulously that I see usage of the word "Japanophile" on the internet. You might disagree with their views but the people detailed in the wikipedia article here are a far cry from the cheeto-stained, greasy, interpersonally inept anime troglodites that people attribute to be "japanophiles". Get a grip, or at least a dictionary. |
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ShinobiX
Posts: 889 Location: NY |
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[Mod Edit: This level of venom, opinionated soapboxing and trolling will not be tolerated. You do not say "this is how it is and you can't debate it" because if that were the case the topic wouldn't even exist. We've known for centuries that the Earth is not the center of the universe and yet somehow you still think you are. I'm afraid you do not define what is and is not, and if all you're going to do is come in to a thread and say "this is what it is and that's it" with only generalizations that aren't even remotely true, then you're done here; trolling is not acceptable and your post has no other apparent purpose. - Keonyn]
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