Forum - View topicA lack of Modern Action in Anime?
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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EDIT: Okay In a final attemp to salvage this topic I'm redoing the OP for a second time.
This is something I've noticed about Anime lately. There are plenty of Action Anime but very little Modern action. Meaning action as it would be in our world for the most part. Stuff revolving around Gunfights usually, and maybe Fights, but then realistic ones. Theres tons of fighting/action. But then its mostly all unrealistic stuff involving magic powers and abilities. Also, when we do see this Modern action its usually mixed with heavy Sci-Fi or sometimes magical elements. For example, Cowboy Bebop would be a perfect example of the type of action Im talking about, except its also got alot of Sci-Fi stuff too. Why is modern action so uncommon, especially in contrast to other types of action like fighting action. Also why is it that when we do see this stuff its been mixed in with some kinda Sci-Fi or Magic? Last edited by ikillchicken on Sun Jul 29, 2007 4:15 am; edited 2 times in total |
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LeoKnight25
 Posts: 319 Location: Puyallup, WA |
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I'm not sure it's a really popular genre anymore. Every time I read a review on anything with a lot of action, I see the same thing being said: "It's mindless", "It's good if you want to turn your brain off", "lacking in any real depth", "not the most intelligent thing ever written"...those types of things. I myself LOVE the action genre and revel in movies like Rambo and Missing in Action, Die Hard, the Delta Force...but, again it just seems like everyone wants something more than just action. I guess I can understand, but I too miss just straight balls-to-the-wall action. The same can be definitely said about anime. It seems that things have gotten all at once a lot cuter, friendlier and decidedly a lot less violent. That's not to say that you don't have violence or action in anime any more but, the majority aren't nearly as action related as they once were and I think it's because of the changing trends of what's good and what's not not. People don't want just action, they want more to it than that. Not a bad thing, but some "mindless" action here and there wouldn't hurt.
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Porcupine
 Posts: 1033 |
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I agree that there aren't too many action Anime these days. Well, I think there haven't been too many from the start, but I also think that the current trend is to have a lot less of these.
I think there are a number of reasons for this, but the primary reason in my opinion is cost. Animating moving scenes takes a lot of work and a lot of money. Almost all anime carefully budgets and tries to control the amount of movement in their characters. Most of the time, people just stand perfectly still and talk. I think that because of this reason, full-blown action anime are nearly impossible to produce. The closest ones that we get to action anime tend to have a lot of sci-fi elements or other elements which give excuses for the action to stop most of the time, and for talking/explanation time to dominate the show. Many anime fall into a rhythm of 1 action or fight sequence per episode, interspersed with mostly talking, which live-action movies don't have to do. Of course, with live-action movies, action scenes cost a lot too. Certainly more than a talking scene. But I don't think it is as extreme a difference as with anime. You just spend enough money, and then performing explosions and stunts and 3D CGI can be made to take quite a lot of time, depending on the directorial style. For 2D drawings, every second something is moving is a big problem, and even in the middle of action scenes many animes will try to put stationary or scrolling objects on the screen as much as possible. Big budgets help anime to animate better too of course, but anyways I just feel that it is more difficult to draw a high-quality animated action scene as opposed to generating one in real life or as 3D CGI. |
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Zewerr
 Posts: 539 Location: Tacoma, WA |
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I don't know. When you say lately, I kinda think Basilisk, Desert Punk, Speed Grapher, and maybe Burst Angel as fairly new. I think most of those are considered new here in the U.S. Basilisk simply has alot of killin', while the other three has quite a bit of guns 'n splosions! Maybe Gantz, too? I haven't seen Solty Rei, yet, but isn't that kinda action packed? But I think most of these have been released in Japan for a least a couple years now, so maybe they aren't really considered that new. I kinda consider anything made this decade new.
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ikillchicken
Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Cost is one possible explanation, but then why is it that we still see tons of other stuff that would be expensive? Look at Anime thats action, but not in the sense Im talking about. Is the cost really that big of a difference? We see a pretty decent amount of stuff that falls into the actual definition of the action genre. But for some reason its mostly fighting type stuff.
Also, we actually do often see alot of this action stuff but its usually mixed in with alot of Sci-Fi elements. Why is it that stuff works but not just action? I would think that would appeal to a smaller audience, so then why can't just action that is likely to appeal to a wider audience work? Is it just that this doesnt appeal to most Japanese people? But then do we see this in Japanese Live Action Movies? If so then why not in Anime too? Last edited by ikillchicken on Sat Jul 28, 2007 3:42 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18590 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Didn't we have a different thread about this same topic sometime very recently?
I'd also want to know what exactly is the criteria for "lately" and "action anime," as I can think of any number of action titles that are either currently being released in the States or have recently been released. What are Bleach and Naruto if not action anime? Basilisk may have had a love story intertwined within, but it was definitely first and foremost an action story, as was Speed Grapher. Black Lagoon certainly qualifies, as does Hellsing Ultimate, Black Cat, and 009-1. Shakugan no Shana and Eureka 7 may not have been purely action, but was certainly primarily action. If we're willing to go back a year or more, I could probably name several more. If you're talking about series still only in fansubs, Claymore undoubtedly counts as an action series, and El Cazador de la Bruja looked like it was headed in that direction when I stopped following it. And that's only among the meager number of fansubbed series I've sampled this year. Action series are certainly out there if you look for them, and I have seen no downturn in their frequency in the past few years. I guess it just depends on how tightly one defines an "action" series. (And why should it matter if there's sci fi elements mixed in, anyway?) Last edited by Key on Fri Jul 27, 2007 6:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Agreed, the last true action series that I know of and have watched was Black Lagoon, which was awesome by the way. I really hope this franchise continues as it was highly enjoyable. There was also Coyote Ragtime Show and Black Cat. This current season though, I'm only aware of Claymore. I wouldn't really call El Cazador de la Bruja an action title personally it's been pretty boring so far, only starting to get interesting as of episode 14 or so. I've been disappointed with Bee Train on this one, I liked Madlax and Noir far more, though I suppose there's still a good number of episodes left for it to turn arround.
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ruro niko
 Posts: 109 Location: Tennessee |
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Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggen has plenty of action, as super robot shows tend to have. There's also Gigantic Formula, Heroic Age, Kotetsushin Jeeg, and some other mech series I forgot the name to.
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Porcupine
Posts: 1033 |
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None of the mentioned titles in this thread so far, that I have seen, do I consider to be action anime. Many may contain action, but they still follow the same frame-saving mostly-talking 1-fight-per-episode-the-rest-is-talking formula of most TV anime. By this I mean stuff like Shana, Solty Rei, Basilisk, and Burst Angel.
Eureka 7 doesn't even follow the 1-fight-per-episode formula and oftentimes goes for multiple episodes with nothing but drama scenes and a few humor scenes. However, Eureka 7 does have some awesomely animated action/fighting scenes of significant length from time to time, but if you look on the series as a whole, the percent of time spent fighting is only around 10% at best, the rest is still talking. I haven't seen Black Lagoon or Hellsing Ultimate though and from what previews I've seen of them, it does seem like they might be true action animes. Hellsing Ultimate is an OVA and that also helps the animation quality be better and therefore feasible to exist as a true action anime. The point about Bleach/Naruto/DragonballZ is interesting too. In some sense these are 100% action anime (moreso DBZ than Naruto and Bleach) because they are about fighting and adventuring and training to fight, at all times. But in terms of actual animation quality and actual time spent fighting and/or moving around, these types of animes usually don't meet my requirements either. Most of the time in DBZ and Naruto and Bleach, people are "fighting" but they are just standing around saying "My power level is 100,000 it is greater than yours, you can't beat me" or "This jutsu works by channeling the BLAHBLAHfor7minutesstraight". They mostly talk and stand around and nothing is usually moving or animating. And when they do fight, it is in a short burst maybe lasting several minutes, then it is time to stop again and say "Muhaha your skills have improved I see but you are still no match for my XXX powers". So I give long-running TV series like Bleach/Naruto/DBZ their own category. They are shonen animes, centering around training, fighting, and competition at all times...but still not featuring continuously moving action or fighting scenes for the majority of the show, due to the VERY large episode counts and cost reasons. I would call them fighting shows or shonen anime, but not action shows. Madlax and Noir don't even contain enough action in them for me to consider them an action-based show (this isn't the same as an actual action show which has a much stricter requirement on the level of action required). They do roughly follow the 1-fight-per-episode formula but when they aren't fighting, those Bee Train Koichi Mashimo shows have a REALLY relaxed pacing. They just drink tea, say they want to eat pasta, and wonder where is their red book, and things like that. So I call Madlax and Noir drama animes, intended more for an older audience with more relaxed and sophisticated tastes. Young kids will fall asleep watching Bee Train shows I think. I'm a big fan of Bee Train myself though and .hack//sign and Madlax are in my current top 10 animes of all-time. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I think I kind of understand what you are looking for. You mean something in which the primary point is action and violence, and lots of it. Not that there isn't anything else worthwhile (like characters or a story) but intense action scenes are the primary focus. Like an animated Die Hard (though not necessarily limited to 'realistic scenarios; vampires are okay too, it seems).
To be honest, I don't think there ever where much of the kind of anime you are referring to. They were probably mainly OVAs, which where much more prevalent in the 90s, but that was always a relatively small portion what was available. The only two anime I can think of that might fit what you are talking about are Black Lagoon and Hellsing Ultimate. |
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ikillchicken
Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Okay, I think most of you guys are majorly misunderstanding what Im staying.
Sure theres lots of stuff with "action". I'm not talking about stuff like Naruto or Bleach. Theres plent of this "fighting/action" Anime. It sems like theres very little of the type of Action anime I'm talking about. This actually raises another question. THere is quite a bit of other types of action but not much of the stuff I'm talking about. Why is that? The only thing I can think of that truely qualifys is Black Lagoon and maybe Hellsing although its kinda horror. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18590 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I agree with HitorokiriShadow, Porcupine. If that's how narrowly you're defining an action series, then you will find very few anime ever made which meet your standard, much less anything recent. The only series which comes to mind that would probably qualify are Gunsmith Cats and Gatchaman. (And if you're going to try to tell me that one of those doesn't qualify, either, then I give up.)
Really, though, I think you're defining an action series much too tightly. You're basically saying that it can't be an action series unless it's constant action, all about the action, and nothing else - and hell, not even Die Hard meets that criteria. You're just not going to see that in series based on 22-minute episodes. |
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ikillchicken
Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Am I in the wrong topic? Where on earth did I say that? Dedication to action is totally besides the point. Its the type of action I'm talking about. For example, even something like Cowboy Bebop would qualify (although its got alot of Sci-Fi stuff so it falls under the question "Why is it that when we see this kind of stuff its always intermixed with alot of Sci-Fi.") Or Id include Ghost in the Shell, and maybe Outlaw Star, Trigun, etc. (except they have the same problem.)
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Eruanna
 Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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I think what he's saying is he wants realistic action, like an action series that dosnt have any fantasy or sci fi elemtens. Like Jackie Chan, James Bond or Mission Impossible right? Thats where the comparison to Die Hard comes from. Unfortunaly I haven't actually seen... ANY action anime that didn't have fantasy or sci fi elements. Heck, most anime on my watched list has one or the other or both. I think its just because thats whats popular. People like loosing themselves to another world entirely.
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UtenaAnthy
 Posts: 694 |
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There is an upcoming series called The Five Killers by Gonzo, I saw the trailer and it looks really action packed and beautiful. Find the trailer, it may be what you're looking for, though it does have a vampire in it.
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