Has anime gone downhill in quality recently?

N

neptune2venus

Hunter
I'm throwing this up as a general discussion point.

In your view has anime recently been giving great quality titles or is something of a lackluster moot point?

For me personally, I struggle to find titles that I'd want to watch. I might just have my rose tinted spectacles on permanently, but when I began searching through the recent anime releases for the UK market a few days ago - there was nothing really that caught my interest. Infact, the most 'recent' anime I did buy was the Akira Blu-Ray release!

Back in the boom days of pre-2005, there was a lot of choice and now anime just seems (in my opinion) to appeal to otaku with the increase of cute 'moe' artstyle and less creativity. I realise this is probably due to a lack of money in the industry and the anime bubble 'bursting'.

Am I the only one that feels this way? Perhaps I'm being more jaded with age. Thoughts?
 
I think anime on the whole is just fine, and this current season has some real crackers (few of which I have had time to watch properly lately!). It may be that the recent UK releases have been a bit weak as a lot of the quirkier stuff has ended up sub-only overseas and been passed over by Manga UK, as harder economic times have hit the US companies. The things now being dubbed are often the safer bets which will sell well, which has affected the variety we get over here as well.

Before Beez disappeared off the face of the earth they put out some decidedly non-moe and extremely good niche titles here. What sort of things do you like? Perhaps we can point you in the right direction!

R
 
I think anime is beginning to claw it's way back out of the abyss. I felt this way for a while (certainly WRT the otaku pandering moe trend), but there was always plenty of old stuff for me to watch instead.

Recently though? Moribito, Eden of the East, Baccano, Spice & Wolf and Redline spring to mind as excellent things produced recently. And now the new Lupin series which appears to be made of awesome... I think things are looking up.
 
Good points raised.

Yes, I've picked up a few Beez titles such as Escaflowne and Witch Hunter Robin. I expect good things from them!

I guess I'm quite into niche anime that has to have drama, a bit of action and added bonus points if it is psychological in any way.

My favourite anime include:

Revolutionary Girl Utena
Noir
Perfect Blue
Sailor Moon
Key the Metal Idol
Glass Mask
Oniisama e

I don't mind mecha anime as long as it has a good story and has a somewhat serious tone. (But not Neon Genesis Evangelion! Couldn't stand Shinji.)

I'm probably just picky more than anything else. :) From the current anime season showing, I think Ozma was probably the only one I might be interested in.
 
im going to say not really i think anime is doing well in titles maybe its your tastes maybe there isn't more genres that your in too.

or maybe you just need to try and get in to the newer titles
 
ayase said:
Recently though? Moribito, Eden of the East, Baccano, Spice & Wolf and Redline spring to mind as excellent things produced recently. And now the new Lupin series which appears to be made of awesome... I think things are looking up.
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Thanks! I have heard Moribito is decent so I'll check that out! I might give the other titles a go, will see.

animefreak17 said:
or maybe you just need to try and get in to the newer titles
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Hopefully!

I think the general creativity has gone out the window and sticking to formulated stuff just chokes the industry. It may improve over the next few years. In the meantime, I look forward to remasters/re-releases! :p
 
neptune2venus said:
ayase said:
Recently though? Moribito, Eden of the East, Baccano, Spice & Wolf and Redline spring to mind as excellent things produced recently. And now the new Lupin series which appears to be made of awesome... I think things are looking up.
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Thanks! I have heard Moribito is decent so I'll check that out! I might give the other titles a go, will see.

animefreak17 said:
or maybe you just need to try and get in to the newer titles
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Hopefully!

I think the general creativity has gone out the window and sticking to formulated stuff just chokes the industry. It may improve over the next few years. In the meantime, I look forward to remasters/re-releases! :p
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newer titles are nice but id like some old classics

sailor moon
cardcaptor
ect
 
My immediate reaction is: no.

Not because there's anything especially amazing I've seen to convince me otherwise, but because anime as a medium is neutral, it's all down to individual shows, studios and creators. Not to mention, many of us will have gotten into anime comparatively recently in terms of how long anime has existed and thus there's a perceived wealth of fantastic titles (which there are of course) from the 80's up to the present. It's easy to forget though that for every A* anime there's probably 5 mediocre ones and 5 more down right crappy ones.

I think it's less a case of rose-tinted specs and more like horse's blinders. Naturally history is written by the winners, so we tend to only really know about the better anime of the past 20-30 years, poor quality shows tend to fall into obscurity unless their awfulness is of noteworthy levels to the point they're "so bad they're good."

Just my view on the matter =3
 
This is a hard question. I do find stuff I want to watch each season...but its never as much as I would like. When I see the preview guide that gets posted on here (the one with a picture that sums up the show and a paragraph about it) my reaction is generally blah. There seems to be way to much stuff that that think is either made for pervs or is about 4 cute girls doing cute things. Both of which I find dull dull dull)

I always think 'Where are the Robots? Where are the Motorbike's? Where are the spaceships? Where is the stuff that made me a fan?'

The thing is I cant tell if its just now that its 80% crap 20% gold or its always been like that. Pre streaming, unless you knew your way around fan-subs, we would only see the top grade stuff as nobody got much of the garbage. Now with streaming you can see almost everything.

I do agree that the UK market has been a bit disappointment recently. With Beez down the pan I don't know who is left to get the kinda of shows I like to the UK
 
The short answer is "absolutely not" and possibly "this is just a commonly held theory amongst a portion of any non-short term fans of any creative medium".

The longer answer is pretty hard, I suppose, without just listing "these shows" (I might do that anyway).

Do you specifically mean post-2005? Post-2000? Post-Akira?
 
Corra said:
I always think 'Where are the Robots? Where are the Motorbike's? Where are the spaceships? Where is the stuff that made me a fan?'
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It's true that there has been a disappointing lack of good non-mecha sci-fi, probably since the end of GitS: SAC. I guess it just isn't the "in" thing any more - Especially noticable casualties being dark future and post-apocalyptic stuff. But again, the recent emergence of things like Darker Than Black and Mardock Scramble does give me a bit of hope that the future isn't going to be all cute/sexy girls doing cute/sexy things.
 
It's a little different. There's less Western money going into the anime industry, so the anime industry caters less for the type of shows that have typically been more popular with Western audiences.

Broken Blade, out next month. Mardock Scramble, out last month. Rideback, Redline, HotD, Eva 2.22, Darker than Black 2, Tatami Galaxy, House of Five Leaves out last year - there's been plenty for those not particularly interested in cute schoolgirls. Most of those have been released Akira, I think, so you definitely look into them.

Also, sorry for the list. I hate lists but sometimes they are a necessary evil.
 
ilmaestro said:
The short answer is "absolutely not" and possibly "this is just a commonly held theory amongst a portion of any non-short term fans of any creative medium".
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That's a much more succinct way of what I was trying to say, so thank you XD
 
Nope. Anime is, and always has been subject to Sturgeons Law (90% of it sucking).

Difference is, back in the 90's and early 00's, the only shows being distributed (by Toonami and VHS fansubs) were the "best of the best" shows. While, today, nearly everything is available (through Crunchyroll and downloadable fansubs).
 
Sure feels that way, doesn't it.

Back when we had Beez, ADV, MVM, Revelation, and Manga in the market, we'd get a great variety of shows on DVD, there was something for everyone. It seemed that the companies used to use the fan service big sellers to subsidise and take a chance on the niche shows.

The market downturn means that the competition in the market has vanished, with just MVM and Manga left, and Manga gets the lion's share of the licenses, finding it hard to make even the crowd pleasing fan service make a profit, especially as they try and make Blu-ray work. So niche shows are still being made, they just aren't making it to DVD in the UK.
 
I would say no to that.

If you were to say that to me around (2008-2010) then I would be less enthusiastic in saying that. MangaUK I feel are mostly, still releasing anime around this time frame that are around average to good (Baka and Test, Corpse Princess, Sacred Blacksmith, K-ON). Only to rarely release a fantastic series (Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood) but they did bring out some great films to counter that (Redline, Evangelion: 2.0, Eden Of The East).

Of course, Beez were releasing some of the best TV series in that time frame instead (House Of Five Leaves, Tatami Galaxy, Durarara!!)

I think it's when we get to later this year and next year when UK anime releases will improve, there has been a lot of great series in 2011 and this current anime season in-particular, here is my list:

2011
Madoka Magica (MangaUK license)
Mirai Nikki (KazeUK license)
Persona 4: The Animation (KazeUK license)
Un-Go (KazeUK license)
Tiger & Bunny (KazeUK license)
Blue Exorcist (MangaUK license)
Steins;Gate
Bunny Drop
Mawaru Penguindrum
Ano Hana
Fate/Zero (included S2 atm)
Hourou Musuko
Chihayafuru

(Currently In)2012
Nisemonogatari
Ano Natsu
Daily Lives Of High School Boys
Lupin III
Space Brothers
Eureka Seven AO
Kids On The Slope

So I hope some of these great series get license here, one day.
 
Most of what I would have posted has already been noted, but I would add that I think the op would appreciate Michiko to Hatchin. Although it has a similar setup to the Bee Train 'two women looking for something' trilogy, it has rather more depth of character and none of the pacing issues.
 
I see there is a definite overwhelming majority here that thinks today's anime is doing just fine (which it probably is!). It's good to discuss varying opinions! However, the time period I was meaning where I think there has been a sharp decline is post-2005/2006 onwards.

Yes, I'm sure there has been some good anime since then and I realise there can't be triple A anime out all the time, but if there was a direct comparison being made between then (pre 2005) and now, there probably is a difference. Anime caters and is marketed towards those with the money and more of the newer anime than not - shows this is the case.

Professor Irony said:
I think the op would appreciate Michiko to Hatchin. Although it has a similar setup to the Bee Train 'two women looking for something' trilogy, it has rather more depth of character and none of the pacing issues.
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Thanks! I'll give it a go once I'm finished with the Bee Train trilogy. :)
 
I have been watching anime for nearly 15 years. My boyfriend is a very causal fan and has only seen a tiny fraction of what I have. I watch something and roll my eyes at how cliche it is and how much it is ripping off something else. He will watch it and think its the best thing since sliced bread.

When you have seen to much of anything I think it makes you cynical and harder to impress.

It's true that there has been a disappointing lack of good non-mecha sci-fi, probably since the end of GitS: SAC. I guess it just isn't the "in" thing .
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I adore a bit of sci-fi/cyberpunk etc, and if somebody sat me down in front of that sort of show I would be able to judge it fairly. I have no interest in moe or 'cute girls doing cute/sex things' shows, so if somebody showed me that sort of show I wouldn't know if it was a good or bad show for its genre, I would just dislike it because its not what I am interested in seeing.
 
I honestly don't believe there is an abyss per se. What I think that happened is that during the so called "anime boom" there was a lot of shows to be watched that were not so recent at the time. Let's say that each season has one or two shows that really shine through. These shows might actually have a "long shelf life", therefore you'd have all the 90's decade and 00's decade to catch up with and once you finally did, there will be not that many titles that interests you. I'm mostly done with the catching up with the older titles and out of the recent licenses, there's very little that I actually like, but there's always a couple that do in every season. Lupin in the current one is definitely awesome, for instance.
 
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