I still like Anime, but...

...maybe not as obsessive as I used to be?

Actually, I still love anime. I still get excited over some new ones in the current seasons and I still look back fondly on my favourites like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Serial Experiments Lain, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Hell, I still have a huge hard-on for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

But I found myself in recent months crawling back to Western Animation. I found myself preferring to watch a Pixar Film rather than my backlog. I began to watch some old cartoons again, one of the being 'Ed, Edd n Eddy'. Hell, I fallen in love with Gravity Falls and Tron: Uprising. I found myself waiting in agony for the next fix and I haven't even checked the current seasons. As of now, I vastly prefer Western Animation. I'm not knocking Anime and I will make time for it. I don't want it to be the "Cartoon vs. Anime" mentality. I think both are great in its own way.

It's just as of right now, my phase is geared towards western animation. I absolutely love it. I really can't wait for more.

PS: I hate My Little Pony.

@Ammish

dude its ok i have those days too i feel i want to watch a cartoon, like the other day i watched episodes of ed edd and eddy and the movie.

its sometimes best to watch other things * reality tv, soaps, ect sucks these days so i dont watch stuff like that *

i like watching dinosaur documentaries and sometimes il watch a old cartoons and i watch stuff on youtube nostalgia critic, TFS, abridged series stuff like that.

anyways sometimes you need a brake from stuff you usually like and wait til you really really really really want to watch a anime.

I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel like maybe I'm falling out of anime, but then other times I'll be like "Anime is the greatest thing ever" it's just the nature of people yer feelin' methinks. We're a changeable lot.

Yup, I will definitely go for periods where I am playing more video games instead of watching so much anime, or reading more books.

Was this thread (whilst not being a "Japan v the West" thread, as you say) actually specifically supposed to be about good Western animation, though, rather than "sometimes I do other things rather than watch anime"?

I've been going through my longest drought since I got into anime at the start of 07. It started at the end of 2011 (when I'm afraid OP, I got into FiM) and I spent most of 2012 more interested in Western LA shows and in recent months I've reconnected with Western cartoons (Adventure time, Regular show, FiM, P&F, a bit of Spongebob and I've seen the Gravity falls sneak peak so I'll be watching that when it airs).

I think I burnt myself out on anime- I tended to try as watch as much as I could so I could keep up with conversations on forums. However I don't use those forums as much nowadays, so part of that inspiration has gone. I can remember watching 10+ airing shows at a time, as well as DVD stuff...I haven't tried anything from this season (though I did recently check crunchyroll...and promptly forgot to think about what to try). From now on I'm probably going to stick to a couple of CR shows and start on my DVD backlog instead of trying to watch everything.


I have been reading a lot more manga recently though, and I did enjoy Arrietty a few days ago- I'm starting to feel the urge to watch more again.

animefreak17 said:

@Ammish
dude its ok i have those days too i feel i want to watch a cartoon, like the other day i watched episodes of ed edd and eddy and the movie.

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There's an Ed, Edd n Eddy film - since when?

There's nothing wrong with wanting to take a break every once in a while - the anime police aren't going to lynch you for it. We all have different things we enjoy to watch/do. I'll quite often bounce between anime, Star Trek, video games, StarTalk Radio throughout a single day if I have nothing else to do.

I can't see myself going cold turkey when it comes to anime for some time, and if I ever do it's usually because I've spent most of the night deliberating what to watch! Currently rewatching GITS: Stand Alone Complex so that should keep me busy for a few weeks before I spend another night pacing up and down in my bedroom deciding what to watch next.

@AntAce

there is its called ed edd and eddys motion picture show and it a fun movie.

to be honest i think its just some of us want something new something that will spark our touches for anime-

like e.g.

we all have a our starters that started us on anime like dragonball z, FMA, pokemon, elfen lied, gundam,

and theres the series that kicks ass

gurren largann
Baccano
ouran high school
lucky star
cowboy bepob
death note
NHK
trigun
angel beats
gau gai gar
one piece

it depends what you really really really really like that gave you the spark to continue, you just need a series you haven't seen yet that your going to love, or a series you haven't seen in years and your looking forward to watching again

Yea i'm like this, or just don't have time because I watch Anime so much. Sometime people need a break from anime then when you get back to it, it's the best thing ever...again.

I get this, I'd say one of my biggest problems & something my mrs gets utterly annoyed with is that I keep getting new 'obcessions' as she calls it. One minute I put all my resources and time into anime then manga then comics then music, etc. It's how I've always been.

I haven't watched a lot of anime lately, mainly cause I feel like I have pretty much everything that I'd enjoy. However, I actually seem to be goin into a Gundam obsession ATM, which is driving my girl crazy. 'I must own every gundam title available'.

Heh.

I echo a lot of the things other people have already put here. Though in these past few years my interest waned because of my money problems (and also of my internet deprived existence for the past year and a bit...I went a year and half without internet and now I can't get enough of it again -_-)

That being said both anime and western animation always hold sway in my heart though I group them by genre more then where they were made, as that's how my interests go these days (i.e. some days I'll be all over fantasy games, movies etc, others it will be sci-fi)

@Animefreak you say we always hold fondness for the show that introduced us but the thing (calling it an OVA would be too kind) that welcomed me into the world of anime was legend of the overfiend... sorry to break that pattern.

OH I love overfiend it's brilliant, the old violent anime s are the best. Some people call overfiend a hentai but I don't see it as that I see it as a anime with awesome violence.

And no you didn't brake that patten.

Anyways there are some anime out there that will caught your eye and you'll be wanting more.

Sci-fi these days is crap, now if it was about aliens, robots, ect just what sci-fi used to be in the old days.

What keeps me going with anime is the story's, animation, and the violence ect, stuff you don't see in the west that's what makes anime awesome then anything else and no I'm not starting a cartoon vs anime thing cause as a kid I loved watching cartoons and enjoyed them and sometimes I wouldn't mind watching them again. But iv completely given up on live action series * unless it's a funny series like fool Britannia only fools, take outs tv naughtiest blunders stuff like that anything that makes me laugh.

First off, even if you don't think it is, Overfiend is classed as a Hentai, especially the uncut versions. Plus violence for violence's sake does not make for a good anything.

In terms of the pattern I meant I have no fondness at all for Overfiend, it left a mark on me as a child and I rewatched it many years later to find that the thing that put me off non-western cartoons for a while (god bless Pokemon, Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing) was actually, in my opinion, rubbish and wasn't worth the money I paid in order to see it again (though I did see Perfect Blue and Blood with that money so it wasn't completely wasted).

EDIT:

If you give up on live action tv though you're missing out on the good shows that are out now. Like Falling Skies, The Finder, the new season of Red Dwarf (this one may turn out to be rubbish like the Back to Earth special but I'm optimistically holding out), Bones, The Big Bang Theory, Warehouse 13, Eureka (which has sadly finished), and the latest season of Doctor Who.

animefreak17 said:

Some people call overfiend a hentai but I don't see it as that I see it as a anime with awesome violence.

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You probably didn't mean it that way but that comes across kinda misogynistic given the content of Overfiend.

@ blackwolf and sy i mean if we have a look at violence jack would that be considerd a hentai, it has rape in it but violence jack isn't a hentai it's full blown violence that's how I see overfiend.

@blackwolf jeez watching overfiend as a child I thought I was the only one lol well I think I was in my teens when I watched it on sci-fi I think

As for live action series iv completely given up on them and yes the new red dwarf will be crap cause you can't top a classic * if it's not broke don't fix it and doctor who just puts random stuff for it's conclusions, well tge new doctors nothing compred to David he was awesome. Bones was ok, warehouse 13 wasn't for me, all the others iv never watched. All the old stuffs fantastic the old red dwarf is a freaking awesome series I love it.

P.s when I first saw my first violent it blew my mind and I wanted more

Remember buffy the vampire slayer she kicked ass and 4-5 years later we have supernatural teen wolf the secret circle, if it wasn't for buffy these show wouldn't excit today I liked angle too.

There are one or two new shows I like like miss browns boys, * that show with those 4 boys in school*

But I'm a classic sort of guy all the old stuffs better.

I'm sorry If I sound like a arse head and I really don't mean to be I really don't

Oh I like walking dead I love that show I love zombie related stuff, you should of seen my reaction after watch HOTD I was hyped.

Anyways back to the topic I collect anime DVD and since I buy loads at a time it takes ages to get thought the backlogs. And I know I should lay off them but til I finish my backlogs to make another one but I get worried if a series i want gose out of print and Iv missed out on buying it on dvd. Youv seen my collection in the thread right.

I think its only natural to get burnt out after a few years. Every so often I will just run out of stuff that interests me and I stop for a while.

I think its good to mix up what you are watching and look at other genres or mediums, no matter if its games, anime, western animation or live action. If you just consume one thing I think it just leads to boredom. You cant really appreciate what is great story telling and direction if you have only watch one certain kind of show.

I think everyone gets that way with any interest. It starts out as this brand new shiny thing that you obsess over and must find out everything you possibly can as fast as you can. You quickly work your way through all the best stuff and are then left to wallow in "all the rest", finding huge disappointments and delightful surprises alike. I think what happens is that we begin to pick and choose what we think we'll like rather than attempt to devour everything that comes along. It can begin to feel like burnout though, if nothing is comiing along that tickles you the same way things did before, but what you can do is then look for some shows you may have missed in the past that are similar to your tastes or keep your interests balanced by delving into something else. I'm a huge film freak (as anyone who's seen the film thread since my arrival will know) so I've always got that to keep me balanced, I'm also a fan of Western animation both new and old.

There's actually been some really great stuff out of the West in recent years; Avatar: The Legend of Korra was good, even if the ending was rushed (not started watching the 2nd "Book" yet, the orignal series is even better though), DC's output has been excellent, the early 90s Batman and Superman Animated Series', and more recently with their animated films (Batman/Superman: Public Enemies, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Batman: Under The Red Hood, Young Justice series). The less said of Marvel in recent years the better, their output has never reached the dizzying highs of their early/mid 90s with X-men, Spiderman and a decent season of The Hulk and Iron Man each. I even own the complete "classic" Ben 10 and Ben 10: Alien Force, Generator Rex was decent too from what I watched. One of the best animated shows in the last few years, that was criminally cancelled after one season, was Sym-bionic Titan by Gendy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack), lot of anime influence as with most of his work. Undoubtedly the best Western animated show of all time is The Venture Bros, though that is now being run close by the awesome Archer and brilliant Black Dynamite The Animated Series (the original film is probably one of my all time favourite comedies too). The Tick is an absolute must watch also.

It is kinda weird that the DC animated stuff has been consistently better then Marvel's animated output which peaked in the 90s. I mean Green Lantern: First Flight is a much better watch then the Green Lantern movie. However for me the Marvel movies have been better then DC's stuff (I'm not a huge fan of Nolan's realistic batman...in fact i'm not a fan of realistic movies in general. I don't want to see things that could happen, I want to see things that can only happen in the movies like superpowered heroes or aliens)

@Animefreak, It's still hentai though, it has far more sex in it then Violence Jack, in fact Overfiends premise and themes revolve around sex. Plus I was eight when I saw Overfiend.

As regards to western TV again you need to give more stuff a chance, there's a pilot I want to see based on Red Fraction for instance.

BlackWolf said:

It is kinda weird that the DC animated stuff has been consistently better then Marvel's animated output which peaked in the 90s. I mean Green Lantern: First Flight is a much better watch then the Green Lantern movie. However for me the Marvel movies have been better then DC's stuff (I'm not a huge fan of Nolan's realistic batman...in fact i'm not a fan of realistic movies in general. I don't want to see things that could happen, I want to see things that can only happen in the movies like superpowered heroes or aliens)

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In terms of the live action movies I'll agree that overall Marvel have been better, however I don't think they've done anything quite as close to Nolan's Batman trilogy. The companies took two different approaches; DC/Warner went with a realistic (as a guy in a bat suit possibly can be) version and Marvel have tried to bring more of the original comic book feel to their films and both have worked tremendously well. In going different ways they've actually ended up going for two different demographics among the non-fan general populace, DC aiming a bit more mature audience and Marvel the kid/teen range. It's actually been interesting in that respect but in all honesty that's all going to change. Simple fact is that not every comic book character is suited to being as serious as Batman and Warner have seen how well Marvel have done and are intent on recreating that success. Expect the Batman reboot to be toned down and a bit lighter so that he can fit in with a Justice League crossover, something Nolan practically forbade. Ironically the Marvel films outwith Marvel's hands are looking to actually copy Nolan's Batman instead of the other Marvel films, with The Amazing Spiderman clearly trying to be more like Batman Begins.