Forum - View topicWhat with the comparisons in Anime?
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Abarenbo Shogun
 Posts: 1573 |
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After seeing this VG Cats strip, it got me wondering, why do people make comparisons between anime? 9 times outta 10, I find myself wondering what they were smoking when making such a comparison.
-------------------- For example: "If you liked Cowboy Bebop, you'll love Gungrave and Samurai Champloo!!" *watches both* ........ Me: "Why did I spend money and time for a slow-ass story and the worst useage of capoeira ever?" ----------------- I'm just wondering what compells people to make such assumptions when it reality, they have nothing similar other than actors and producers? |
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x_silversurfer
 Posts: 163 Location: Hotel California |
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well, in the subject of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, they have many things in common...
For example, both are directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. If you couldn't tell, they hold similar styles to them, though they are far apart in location, storyline, etc. One could make the same reference with Speilberg films and whatnot... People make the recomendations based on how they see the anime, or by what they see in it, ie.... Macross, Robotech, and Gundam all have Robots in them, and are similar titles... a corelation can be made there. Or having the same director, like above. Or having the same musician would connect the soundtracks giving each anime a particular feel... Similar storylines, or casting, IE... Cowboy bebop, 2 guys (one a free spirit spoiler[with a crime-filled life], the other an ex policeman spoiler[with a past of betrayal]) and one girl (a loudmouthed vixen with a gambling problem), and Samurai Champloo, 2 guys (one a free spirit spoiler[born in a land of criminals], and the other an ex samurai with a spoiler[past of betraying]), and one girl (a loudmouthed cute girl with a eating problem). It is all in the eye of the beholder, but also there are many similarities that we do not see unless we look close enough. Sometimes the connections do not exist, and in that case, I agree with you. Khrim PS, I put the spoilers just incase... It just may be the old paranoia acting up, but I wouldn't want to know anything about the anime I am going to see... I hate it when things are ruined, even the slightest of details... |
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Space_cowboy64
 Posts: 337 Location: Great Britain...not all that great |
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Hmmm I’m not sure whether you know but if you wanted recommendations for anime then check out this link.
I’m not entirely sure I’m allowed to do that but if its helping someone though another anime website I don’t see a problem 
I thought cowboy bebop and Samurai Champloo were similar in some ways but not in others. The slick dry sense of humour was the same in both I thought, and Mugen and spike had some personality similarities. For example they are both hot headed and don’t give a damn about the risks. There are some other major differences like the fact they are set in completely different time periods, and where Champloo is actually on some sort of a mission / storyline, bebop just rolls along. Anyway check out the Recs from anime planet, I think they are pretty precise, but that’s just I do most of them. Hope this helps Space |
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opaquescum
Posts: 235 |
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Often in comparisons it is far better to be selective on the poster. This is the same thing you should do with any reviewer, or advisor. Take the time, and run checks on those whos recommendations you will follow. See how much in tune they are with your fealings on the subject. You would not take tax advise from just any bum you met on the street. You would go to someone you feal knows what they are talking about. So why would you just take any review. Often it is good to state upfront how you feal, and what you like, and what you do not like. Some posters are generalists. Others are more specifics minded.
For instance based on your fealings stated above. I would say you probabally are less interested in character dynamic, and more interested in setting. A better mesh for you might be outlaw star. The characters are vaguely like bebop. It is placed in the future. It might be a little cute, but you can work past those moments. Now lets say you have seen outlaw star, and you liked it. Now you have a good comparison to work from. This posters has generally similar tastes to me, or atleast knows what I like. On the other hand if you have seen it, and hate outlaw star you should say this persons tastes are not similar to mine at all, or atleast he has no idea what makes me tick. Most importantly when it comes to any aired anime. You must always attach a hype demerit to it. First most people who post here did watch it, and since they did not have to pay for it. Their views will be less hateful towards it. Unlike if someone spent 30 bucks, and feals ripped off. People are not really offtrack. They just have a limited knowledge base to work from. Lets say for example you asked for a comedy recommendation, similar to the southpark, and most posters have only seen roseanne, the simpsons, and mash. Most posters will recommend the simpsons to you. Even though it may be far off the mark. Then lets say someone comes in who saw ATHF. They recommend that to you, but most recommend the simpsons. Who do you listen to. This is why you got to apply hype demerits to anything that has a large audience to pick up. |
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joel_s95387
Posts: 1804 Location: California... The Village Hidden In The Porn |
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I think it's just a way for people to get someone else to watch the show. What better way to get people to watch an anime than comparing it to an anime that is very popular?
I don't think it's considered a comparison when a show says; "From the director of Trigun and animation from Madhouse who brought you Texhnolyze & Tokyo Godfathers", by the way this is on the back of Gungrave. This does not appear to be a direct comparison to other anime, other than the fact they had a similar crew creating this anime. |
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IchigoK90
 Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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What you have said are production values which are often placed in the summaries as a way to hype up the person buying it. They use it to persuade someone to buy the product. In alot of cases the production values are quite impressive such as the case in Steam Boy. However its just a marketing ploy in my mind. They also use production values in trailers and commercials. Its all about selling the product. That also the same case in comparisons. Comparisons are used to get people to watch series that the people feel are similar to the ones that people like. Usually in the comparisons they use either the same genre, style of the series, animation quality, music and so on. Either way its all just a ploy to increase popularity so as to make the anime more profitable. "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 |
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jousha
 Posts: 205 Location: the floating world |
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Boo! Hiss! 
I have no idea what that word means. ----- On topic, though . . . Short answer: we're human and humans like to compare. Long answer: comparisons are really the only way to help convince or explain someone of anything the person doesn't know about. I could compare Gungrave to The Godfather and I wouldn't be wrong: gangs, guns, wars, drama, etc. But then I left out the whole Scifi aspect, doesn't make it any less true in the series' similarity to the movie. Likewise, they compare because certain styles are similar, done by specific artists, directors, etc. Example comparison: Wolf's Rain and Cowboy Bebop. Totally different style in plot and setting, but there are still enough similarities where one could compare the two: they both involve a good amount of action, the music is catchy in both (done by the same person), the character styles are similar (done by the same character creator), etc. A person searching for a new anime after watching and loving Cowboy Bebop hopes to find something as impacting as it was--people want to give comparisons and people want to receive them. Of course, some break the mold a few times (Beck comes to my mind, though I'm sure all y'all could name a bunch of "slife" --slice of life-- animes that I have never heard of). My question for you is what do you find wrong in comparisons when for many people they, like the one you've given and disagreed with, find it to be a decent if not excellent comparison? It's usually emphasized, "If you like Cowboy Bebop, you may like this." Last edited by jousha on Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jabberwock
 Posts: 92 Location: Currently attending the University of Florida |
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Well, I can see the similarities between the three, just as the people before me have already stated. I loved all 3, so maybe the assumptions are not so wrong? Really depends on the person I would say, but more-so than not I have found that the anime comparisons I have read have been pretty much correct. Maybe you should find some new places to find these anime comparisons you have been reading, or just give up on them since they appear not to work for you. As per your question, people make comparisons to help other people find related anime to ones they may have seen and liked, whether they end up helping you or not is completely dependent upon each individual person. |
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Abarenbo Shogun
Posts: 1573 |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira A similar style can be seen in the Tekken game series with Eddy Gordo and Christie Monteiro. |
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joel_s95387
Posts: 1804 Location: California... The Village Hidden In The Porn |
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I thought it was pronounced something like "Capalera", oh well I guess you learn something new everyday.
I assume you are referring to Mugen's style of fighting. I don't think I've ever seen this style of fighting with an actual sword. I've also only seen people actually use this style for rituals and other celebrations. I have to admit it Mugen's style was very fluid and did go along with the whole hip-hop theme of Samurai Champloo. I'm interested in what kind of music you listen to? I thought Gungrave And Samurai Champloo were really good series. But I wouldn't compare them to Cowboy Bebop. Maybe your friend is just an idiot, or the idiot was the one who listened to him... |
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jousha
Posts: 205 Location: the floating world |
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Thanks, Abarenbo Shogun.
From Wiki . . .
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4536 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Okay, I'll bite.
My favourite anime from recent years is still Super Gals!. I often find that some people deride it as being a Kodomo no Omocha rip-off, but I really find similarities to Kodocha to be grossly exaggerated. There are some similarities to be sure, since both series were based on manga originally published in Shueisha's Ribon magazine, so they were intended for roughly the same audience and there are some general in-house Ribon similarities with the art style (the same way Kodocha has a similar look to Marmalade Boy), both series add plenty of super-deformed comic relief to the drama, and both series have energetic, lively girls as the main characters. But the bulk of the main characters in Super Gals! are high school students some five years older than the elementary school-aged kids of Kodocha, and Super Gals! is about a gang of friendly girls into the "kogal" subculture who try to protect single-appearance classmates in their home turf of Shibuya from delinquent youth and adults out to do them wrong, while Kodocha is about a girl dealing with problems and conflicts among her classmates while juggling a successful acting career, and, while both shows have dramatic, didactic "crisis-of-the-week" interludes and love quadrangles, that's just par for the course for series intended for a tween/early teenage female demographic. I'm not saying that there was absolutely no influence on Mihona Fujii from Miho Obana, since Mihona Fujii would obviously have been aware of Kodomo no Omocha, working for the magazine in which it was published, but the similarities are overstated. Some people also call Super Gals! a rip-off of Peach Girl, but, at least with that claim, the "kogal" milieu is similar. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6900 Location: Kazune City |
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  @ "slife" -- I'm definitely going to start using that in my personal obsessive spreadsheet where I track data for al my anime by acquisition date, genre, company, fansub group, # of episodes, etc. ...
These comparisons are used in all kinds of entertainment, like movies, music, TV shows, and video games...if people like something, they usually want to see more of that. When someone posts a thread saying, "I've seen Anime1, Anime2, Anime3 ...Anime(n), what should I watch next?", the most natural/productive thing to do is to find series that are similar to some of the ones on the list, especially if the list contains a bunch of anime that are already similar. I don't know about Gungrave (haven't seen it, don't really plan to), but I think Bebop and Champloo are similar enough...ragtag teams of people having random adventures, always looking for their next meal, getting into fights, and a plot that pops up in occasional episodes before finally getting resolved at the end. That's before we get into the director, production studio, animation styles, fighting styles, and all that. I agree that one common element doesn't make for a good comparison, like the Madhouse one mentioned above...I believe Studio Bones did RahXephon and Angelic Layer, but you can't really recommend sci-fi/philosophical/mecha to a fan of CLAMP/cuteness/drama, or vice versa. (I think Angelic Layer is more about those things than about the fighting, but that's not the issue here.) Sometimes companies really stretch it; I think I saw some Samurai Gun DVDs with stickers on them that said "Perfect for fans of Samurai Champloo and Ruroni Kenshin!" (or maybe it was Samurai 7). Still, sometimes it works...NieA_7, Serial Experiments Lain, Haibane Renmei, and Texhnolyze all have different settings and stories, but the artistic similarities and the philosophy about life/existance/humanity are enough to tie them together, imo.[/quote] |
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