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

[Sukunai]

Ok I am hopping I don't need to explain 'jumped the shark'. If you don't get that reference this thread will be lost to you.

I have been enjoying anime since Sailormoon. That's mid 90s. Not that anime begins there, it is clearly not the beginning.

Some of the anime I like is earlier origins.

But, I have been aggressively enjoying/pursuing anime since about 95.

Along the way I have experienced the shift from VHS to DVD. I have witnessed how this impacted fan subing. I have seen the effect of the internet on fan subbing being more increasingly easy to circulate. And of course I have had plenty of exposure to the increasing simplicity of digital piracy of anime.

I've noticed that even with it being easier and easier to circulate, and easier and easier to pirate, it has still be declining all the same.
I mean, in 2000-2005 I was able to find DVD anime a great deal easier than I can today.
Today all the usual sources are less and less DVD anime.

And there is all the blather whining about moe, but I don't think moe is specifically at fault.
I've seen plenty of non moe anime that was meh too.

There seems to be something just plain missing, that was there between 95 and 2005.
I can't quite place it.
Seems to be something missing in AMVs too.
I looked through the winning AMVs of the recent contest and my reaction was a uniform, meh. Watched that video highlighting them, and didn't feel any desire to go any further. Yawn, special effects for special effects sake. Yep, you know your stuff with that program, but the end result still lacks something that was there 5 years ago.

I wonder if we have glutted the market?
Reached over saturation point?
Just one too many animes good or bad.
Done it once too often perhaps?

Oh and please don't wait for figures charts and statistics. If I learned anything from 10 years on the internet, I can both prove and disprove virtually any argument with charts and figures.
This post is all about my gut feelings. Observations first hand from my own experiences.

Anime just doesn't look the same as it once did.
No I haven't stopped liking anime.
I'm just wondering if it is time to hit rewind and start back at the beginning of my collection.

What are your thoughts on any of this?

[ZephyrStar]

Yeah, I would agree. Seems like there's less and less stuff every season that I think will be interesting, yet I also manage to find a gem or two every season. I think anime has been on the decline for quite a few years, here and in Japan. The industry is becoming very formulaic, it reminds me of Hollywood "blockbuster" stuff. It's also catering to those who will stop at nothing to own the materials that are relevant to their interests.

I think anime is on the decline in the US for different reasons, it's just the latest fad. It certainly wasn't the same when I was 15, but it seems to be a very common thing among the kids these days. It's long been said that what does great in Japan is different from what does great here, and I would totally agree with that. As such, you need research to figure out what to license and what is going to be a big hitter. The US anime industry made the mistake of licensing EVERYTHING. They weren't selective, they didn't do their research, or at least not enough of it.

While a huge fanbase now exists, I can see it going either way. People will grow out of it. There will be those of us that never do. Same thing with AMV's. I will never "retire" from AMV's. The'yre part of my blood now, for better or worse. Same with anime. It comes and goes in waves though, so maybe just when we think everything sucks, the next wave of directors and designers and companies will pop up and take the place of the old and stale. Paradigm shifts.

The proof of my fandom lies in that I am essentially "throwing away" a career in the bigtime animation industry to make my own anime, my own way. I care more about making an anime and telling MY OWN story than the money involved or "being a part of something bigger." I'm not a part of something, I AM THAT SOMETHING. Or hope to be, anyway.

[Ishbalan]

TL;DR

Everything has been done as close to perfect as it could get. There are very few ideas remaining that are worth exploring, and usually no budget to get it done right.
No good anime is being made anymore, only rehashes of old stuff worth looking into, and a decent movie every once in a while. Only seen one or two good, original AMVs this past year. What we are experiencing is a natural sociological phenomenon observed throughout the ages: the coming and going of a fad. Its going out of style.

[Kariudo]

I'm afraid that a lot of people won't get "Jump the Shark." Heck, it's even before my time. The only reason I know it is because it was explained to me a few years back.

All I see here is the law of diminishing returns. You've been exposed to both anime and amvs for long enough that the things that brought you into anime aren't as cool/awesome/exciting as they used to be. The recent slump in anime isn't helping, but it's not the entire thing. You're used to the plots and devices and you're waiting for something new and different to come along.

Same thing with amvs. Everything has already been done, and you've seen it time and time again...so it doesn't seem as good as it used to. There's two parts to what's at work here:
1) At this point, it's very hard to think of something fresh, and/or groundbreaking
2) Amvs have been around long enough so that the differences between a "good" amv and "great" amv are now largely based on small nuances (in this way, amvs are similar to art.)

So I'd say that in general, anime and amvs have continued to improve over the years, but we're seeing the progress reaching a plateau (if we're not already there.)
I can't say with any confidence what I think will happen to anime, but for amvs I think they'll either die out and return in cycles or turn into an art (eventually merging with the vidding community)

[Enigma]

it reminds me of Hollywood "blockbuster" stuff.

Atleast every new anime isn't a bad remake

;'|

[CodeZTM]

Not really, I still find new and interesting things every few months. I just think it's more about the target audiences these days not being us, and the blatant lack of creativity in today's world.

[BasharOfTheAges]

Take your anime-specific theory and contrast it with opinions on film, live action television, literature, trash fiction, music, etc. for the past thousand years. You shouldn't be able to find much of a difference. Once a story-telling medium is established it often finds itself using the same general plot points, the same characters, and the same messages over and over again. That's why such concepts as archetypes exist. Once you read/watch enough of this stuff you become jaded and cynical and blather on about it endlessly as the end of our culture and people tune you out... then there's something about yelling of people to get off your lawn... the great circle of life.

[ZephyrStar]

Atleast every new anime isn't a bad remake

;'|

For srs. They start doing that and I'll take a break from anime... for 20 years. (I have to guiltily say however, there are some older series I wouldn't mind being remade with higher budgets)

For the argument of "it's all been done," I wouldn't say that's completely true. There are still infinite ways of taking existing elements and turning them into something very novel and impressive. The problem comes when the formula sets in, and everyone is afraid of breaking the mold because the formula earns money. A predictable amount of it. A new progressive idea could either be a monumental success, or fail miserably with fans.

Lemme go to Avatar, for example. Monetarily, a monumental success. In terms of story, meh, we've seen it all before. It's Pocahontas in space. Not a bad movie, I was entertained, but I got a little bored because it was very predictable. But put yourself in the shoes of a director who is spending nearly half a billion dollars on a movie. You HAVE to make back an enormous amount of money to just break even! You have to present a story that the majority of the populace will get, identify with, and understand. (Am I saying the general populace is uninspired? Yeah, I am.) </elitistfag>

[EkaCoralian]

I doubt anime itself will end up declining. I mean, I became interested in anime in 2006, back when Eureka seveN, Fullmetal Alchemist, InuYasha, and even Gundam Destiny used to play english dubbed on the television every Friday night. Pretty much all of those anime were older than the year 2006, so I think that the fad of anime itself won't die out because the amount of anime in the world, old and new, is colossal. I've been watching anime from the 80's within the past few years, myself. Now, I can't say anything for newer anime (and I agree that after 2005/2006, the industry began its gradual downfall in terms of real anime gems) but it seems to me that the anime nowadays is almost focusing on:
1. Animation (prettying it up far too much).
2. Plots based on manga plots.

I have always found myself drawn to anime that has original plots: plots that the studio themselves have thought of, rather than a mangaka. (For eg., two of my alltime favorite shows are Eureka seveN and The Vision of EscaFlowne.) Also, although shiny animation is normally a good plus, it can't be heralded without a decent plotline (one shining reason why I can't stand Princess Lover.)
I was having this conversation before with a few of my friends (and even with an English Dub Voice Actor, online xD) and it seems that we all have the same opinion. Anime should figure out what it is they did when they made such great old classics, and then incorperate it into the new stuff.
AMVs, on the other hand, haven't really seemed to go down all that much in my opinion. There might be a lot of Naruto and Bleach ones etc., and there's probably a zillion AMVs with the same song, but I don't like to compare old AMVs a lot. Its the work of a fan, so they should at least get some praise.
I feel the same way about comparing old anime to new anime sometimes, but the difference is how much confidence they have in making the anime. They have to be extremely confident to invest an idea in order to turn it into an anime. AMVs don't really rack up money, so its just different to me.

[Enigma]

ZS, Elitist fag for the win u bastid