What do you like the most about anime?

A

AnimePicks

Completely Average High School Student
This is a discussion for all Otaku! What do you like the most about anime? Is it those cute sparkly eyes, brightly coloured hair, or the ability to spurt blood five feet in front of them.

The thing I like the most about anime is its huge catalogue of genres and general themes. There is literally something for everybody!

Oh and what kind of fan would I be if I did not mention that cute drawing style chibi.

Write up yours below, I would love to see what you all think.
 
The complete freedom to do virtually anything.

Seriously, Films are limited by actors and many other constraints, Anime is limited by almost nothing. Particularly in the plot department. I may not be a fan of some Anime Genres, but the simple fact that they can and do exist is something which always draws me back.
 
Having dropped the requirement for a narative structure.
Ending up at times totaly self referential.
Having the ability to do anything in terms of setting, not being held back by special effects or need for any sense of realism.
 
I like that a great deal can be accomplished with relatively small budgets, while at it's best the uniformity of animation can create a sense of immersion live-action often lacks. Live action CGI aspires towards photorealism but often fails to convince, jarring with real actors and backdrops. Anime (when it's done right) can throw in robots, spaceships, monsters etc and somehow maintain plausabilty.

Essentially - lack of realism in style allows for a stronger, more believable and often fantastical atmosphere to be established.
 
i like the massive variety of genres and the fact there are little to no limitations, animation can easily made to be surreal, i also enjoy the fact that emotions and facial expresions are exaggerated in ways that are impossible to do live action
 
Like most people here, i like anime for doing things that live action simply cannot do. But i also feel that you have a much larger cast of characters than what you would ever get with live action and the stories are better for it.
 
A good example would be that physics are non-existent in anime whilst live-action you are rather limited to what you can do. How many Shounen series have you seen where characters jump extremely high distances? lol
 
Jayme said:
Maybe in the 1940s that would have been difficult, but people and jump and fly on a low-budget television series now-a-days.
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Yes but that requires a budget, whereas as making an anime character jump up a building almost costs as little as making them walk down a street. Anime also allows for absolutely any viewing/camera angle you can think of. Also, live action is bound by real world physics. Anime is not, which allows for more impressive/insane looking action sequences and whatnot.

Those are just a few things.
 
I understand flare of animation and the general fact its animated. Why does the budget concern you?

And, characters flew on "Heroes" and jump (and fly) miles on "Smallville". They are in the middle of space on "Stargate" or "Battlestar". It's hardly real-world. Most television shows don't get the insane action shots every episode, but films definitely do. "Inception" looks pretty insane. There's even some mecha in "District 9" and "Avatar".

I just don't see, in this day and age, a huge difference between what restraints there are between both.
 
Jayme said:
I understand flare of animation and the general fact its animated. Why does the budget concern you?

And, characters flew on "Heroes" and jump (and fly) miles on "Smallville". They are in the middle of space on "Stargate" or "Battlestar". It's hardly real-world. Most television shows don't get the insane action shots every episode, but films definitely do. "Inception" looks pretty insane. There's even some mecha in "District 9" and "Avatar".

I just don't see, in this day and age, a huge difference between what restraints there are between both.
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I'm not talking about physics in context of the world in which the story is set in live action. I'm talking about the physics in our world that scenes are shot. Live action is still bound by real world physics, regardless of things like super powers.

And why do I bring up budget? Animation can do anything better than anything live action can do and isn't constrained by things like stunts, repeating shoots, which allows for the budget to go towards more visually impressive scenes.
 
Avatar etc. are playing with 10-100 times as much money as an anime series to do that. Anime cost the same for 100% SFX as it does for 100% realistic everyday, with no stunts etc.

Result total directive freedom with far less budget constraint. It's still constrained but not anything like as much as films are.
 
Story and character development play a big part for me. I know there are many shows where characters don't go that far or their development is just fighting or competing against more powerful opponents, but there are also shows where the characters show real growth and development and really make you want to follow them and find out where they would end up. I can't remember the last live action thing I really got emotionally involved with but there have been quite a few anime to one extent or another.

Anime also manages to make stories and the characters that tell them believable even though in live action they would just come out looking stupid evidenced by the failed animation to live action re-makes.
 
Jayme said:
I understand flare of animation and the general fact its animated. Why does the budget concern you?

And, characters flew on "Heroes" and jump (and fly) miles on "Smallville". They are in the middle of space on "Stargate" or "Battlestar". It's hardly real-world. Most television shows don't get the insane action shots every episode, but films definitely do. "Inception" looks pretty insane. There's even some mecha in "District 9" and "Avatar".

I just don't see, in this day and age, a huge difference between what restraints there are between both.
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It is not just about if it can work or not. Can you imagine watching something like CSI and some other character jumps across your screen carrying a banana? In anime this is acceptable, in other forms of media, not so much.
 
AnnaMay said:
Jayme said:
I understand flare of animation and the general fact its animated. Why does the budget concern you?

And, characters flew on "Heroes" and jump (and fly) miles on "Smallville". They are in the middle of space on "Stargate" or "Battlestar". It's hardly real-world. Most television shows don't get the insane action shots every episode, but films definitely do. "Inception" looks pretty insane. There's even some mecha in "District 9" and "Avatar".

I just don't see, in this day and age, a huge difference between what restraints there are between both.
Click to expand...

It is not just about if it can work or not. Can you imagine watching something like CSI and some other character jumps across your screen carrying a banana? In anime this is acceptable, in other forms of media, not so much.
Click to expand...

Could you imagine watching Ghost in the Shell (frequently compared with CSI) and some other character jumping across the screen carry a banana? I'm pretty sure it would be deemed unacceptable.
 
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