Has anime just plain jumped the shark in it's entirety?

[Castor Troy]

90% of anime sucks. We only get what was considered good in Japan and 90% of that sucks.

I would say the decline has been caused by too much availability, the lack of time to catch up on every series, the "formula" problem, and maybe just us fans getting older in general.

Maybe others who are just getting into it think that it's getting better and better. Who knows?

[Enigma]

Some what i'd disagree, I'm still technically in the " main audience " range and i really don't enjoy most of the stuff that gets out now a days, I rather watch DBZ, Eva, Akira, Berserk, Etc over K-ON etc, Anyday.

[OropherZero]

I somewhat agree. Although comment about remakes, Towards the Terra 2007 was a remake of a 1980 anime movie, and it was fucking awesome, if they remake stuff with quality like that then I won't complain. Anyway anime still has a slight edge over hollywood blockbuster films, since anime can at least, while using the same formula, come up with a different setting and characters. Just consider, how many successful hollywood films are derivatives of marvel and DC comics these days? Its like, if they don't take a story from an existing literary medium then it will automatically fail, unless you're into those american style love comedies which I don't particularly like but old ppl these days seems to like, or they'll take a decent movie, but stretch it by making 2 extra sequels which it doesn't really need. Anyway I don't watch as much anime these days, right now I'm only watching Kimi no Todoke this season, but at least I find enjoyment in that show moreso than seeing the same actor's face over and over again. Anyway moe anime is on the rise, Japan has millions of NEETs, gotta keep the NEETs entertained at home right? But yeah I usually find AT LEAST 1 show I really like per season, and at least that show won't give me the level of disappointment I had when I watched a movie like Star Trek 2009.

As for AMVs, they will kinda die soon. The more recent shows just don't work with western music, both lyrically and the mood set in the song. AMVs in the future will only work if you continue to milk the bebop or advent children cow, somehow I don't see this happening or switch to a musical form more suited for moe anime and the like, such as jpop, touhou, or eurobeat to some extent.

[OropherZero]

Opps read ZS's post and went off-topic there, my apologies. I agree with U.S licensing too much without doing research although I'm jealous of the amount of cheap and plentiful availablity of anime in the U.S. Over here in Australia our licensor Madman Entertainment only picks up like 15 or so titles a year and really makes sure they sell. Although it makes me realise that while the general populance here is into mainstream anime which they license, I'm definitely not.

[Sora no Honou 空の炎]

I wouldnt say that every thing has been done, or that new anime isn't as good as some more classic ones. There are good, and there are bad with both time periods. I think of it like this: When you look back on anything, the ones from the past look way better than the current versions, right? Well that's because when you look back on something, you typically remember the most noticeable and often times the best from that time period. Now however, you look over the entire spectrum of stuff out there, and you see a lot of meh shows, but there are still plenty of good ones. The same way people think that their childhood is better than their current life is because when you look back you only see the significant events, not all of the so-so days that they had.

With that out of the way, looking on the more popular shows of both now and then, I would say that I prefer the more current anime, like 2000+. Both times have both good and bad shows, but I think that the animation is better, and since you have to stand out nowdays, when something is unique, it is totally different. Still though, I like some stuff and dislike some stuff from now and then. It is all a matter on perspective.

[hasteroth]

Well yeah I've noticed it to. For me it's like there are 1 or 2 good anime each season. But for the most part I can watch just about anything pre-2005 and enjoy it. I running through a mental list of anime I know that are from 2005 or earlier and so far I've thought of very few anime that I did not care for. But almost all of them are quite good, just not my taste. This doesn't include hentai or anime aimed at young children.

[Sonydjsnmix]

Nostalgia makes everything look better.

[Qyot27]

I guess I'm of the minority opinion that I don't really see a decline (except in the non-variety that the average fan is exposed to or interested in these days; CN still hasn't grown out of their 'anime-fans-are-easily-pleased-and-only-want-action-series' mentality). Good and bad are present in every era, and even what constitutes those things is subjective. I also don't get all the moe hate - I see it as the visual equivalent to the under-16 crowd's use of 'emo' to mean any sort of emotional response, histrionic or not (not to mention that they don't even know what they're talking when they use it about music, either - I wouldn't be at all surprised if kids now would label Nirvana as 'emo', I've already seen them do it to Industrial bands). It's just become a whipping boy for everything the viewer thinks is wrong with the target of their frustration. If we limit it strictly to a perception that the show is pandering, well, 1) I don't see much that hasn't already been pandered dozens of times over in the last 20 years, and 2) I'd rather it be moe than an endless litany of dull Gundam spinoffs (as if the two are somehow distinct; of course, I am in the classic Macross camp). Either the meaning has become more broad, or people are overreacting. I still find stuff I'm pleased to watch nowadays - actually, I'd say we're kind of on an uptick; the last couple of years I've found more series enjoyable than I did in the middle of the decade. Then again I'm selective in what I watch, and usually don't waste my time on shows I don't have a strong feeling I'll like.

To set this in perspective, I started out around '96, although at the time I didn't have too many avenues to watch stuff without feeling like I had to hide it from my parents. To be frank, I've been jaded about the 'culture' (read: obnoxious otaku fanboyism) since I became acutely aware of it in high school, and about the medium itself perhaps since, always - my interest in it was never about the novelty. I can tell when something is getting overrated when I see it, although that doesn't mean that whatever it is doesn't have merit and that I won't enjoy it.

The same largely applies to AMVs - the one, certain thing I lament is that comedy videos are just not what they used to be. AMV Hell can probably be blamed for that (and I'm not excusing myself here, considering I participated in 4 of them). If we extend the definition of 'comedy' to the kooky or zany fun videos, then there's still some gems that arrive every year, but the volume has really dropped off from what it was five or more years ago.

[Qyot27]

not to mention that they don't even know what they're talking about when they use it about music, either

Gah, fixed.

[OzzieAlThor79]

Nostalgia makes everything look better.

^^ This.

There are rarely too many GREAT shows on American TV or in licensed anime that come out each year.

Yes there are lots of good anime from the past just as there were lots of good TV shows in the past too. For both there was ALOT of crap too.

The reason some are feeling jaded about anime is they are runnig out of the backlog of earlier stuff that was high quality and they know it. They don't see much on the horizon that makes them think "wow, this will be AWESOME", mainly because they never have HAD to. Basically unless you are doing the fansubbing from stuff directly from Japan, you heard about just about every show from a buddy, saw it because a TV station decided you might like it or you sat at a con and watched it (and it's there because whoever is running the video rooms put it there).

That's true of all TV. It's the way things work. Don't consume so much of the medium and your appreciation for it will grow again.

When it comes to AMV's, I agree with the AMV Hell opinion to a point.

Before AMV Hell, people did comedy's exactly like it. The only difference is that they did a 60 second to 3 and a half minute long video using some funny audio and songs. So then AMV Hell comes around and does what the majority of funny AMV's did in 5 to 20 seconds-ish. Now people are less inclined to do longer audio clips because people get bored quicker now.

This is really true of most generes of AMV's now.

Now take into account the "Linkin Park Z" message. For YEARS the message here has been "BE ORIGINAL! BE ORIGINAL!". Well, the quality people agree with that and so the only way to be original with that stuff is do effect based stuff. "Look at mah video! It's SHINY!!!!!!!".

Is there ways around it? Meh, not really. Only people who haven't been doing/wathcing this for years find this stuff fresh.

I say that you make the video you'd like to see and if you do that, people will like it. The only way to get a fresh face on this is to not engage as much for a while. I personally don't watch AMV's every day or week even. Same with anime. Absence makes the heart grow fonder!