why do *you* watch anime

[Ileia]

For source for AMVs.

[Toecutter]

To an extent, some anime is a lot better than American tv. I mean, how many different versions of Law and Order, CSI, and Star Trek do you have to come out with? Then again, you could make that same argument against how many Gundam alternate universes and how many mech shows that rip-off Eva?

Really, it's the same with the fictional stuff I watch on tv: it has to be sci-fi with a well-developed plot, which is significantly lacking here. Though not many people like to do sci-fi, which doesn't make any sense to me. How can you stay satisfied just watching drama and comedy, since very few shows that have action in them are truly action shows to begin with (it's just drama putting angsty people in action sequences).

Finally, the show has to have a villain you can root for (like the Cylons, especially when the only human without "issues" is Lieutenant Gaeta). How many times are the heroes/heroines in anime so stupid compared to whatever weird sci-fi monsters, opposing rebellion forces, or corrupt organizations that you find yourself wishing the villains would win instead? It has to be a lot for me, and the villains can't just always wear red and black like they do in Disney films. There have to be motives and depth to the villains, so you can only defeat the bug when you understand the bug.

[freddy12354]

I watch it because i like the stories and i like worlds filled with magic, dragons and so on.
I also think that the draws look good, and anime is more funny than most other shows and as said before everything can happen in a anime story!! i just simply love the mix

[Evangelion Unit 01]

Brain needs anime.

But seriously for the stories and the relationships the characters share with one another.

[Rorschach]

Well, what I like about anime is that people can do anything in anime. Illegal? Immoral? Impossible? Whatever it is, someone can be shown doing it in an anime.

There's a flipside to this wonderful aspect of anime, though, which is that just because the characters can do these things doesn't mean they have to. You can show people being ripped to shreds and spray the screen with blood and fill your story with unimaginably vile pornography and blasphemously evil material if you want, but the anime companies don't seem to think we actually *need* to see this stuff to be convinced that yes, this cartoon is for a more mature audience.

Here in America, you actually can do most of these things as well... but only in live-action films (usually rated R), and only with very expensive special effects, and then only if it appeals to a very broad audience. (Otherwise, the makers of your movie are out a hundred million bucks.) Also, a lot of Hollywood's writers seem to think we won't get that this stuff is for a mature audience unless it's got at least one thoroughly gratuitous sex scene or someone getting splattered in a fight. Meanwhile, for some reason, people who ought to know better by now still seem to think cartoons are only for kids. Nevermind the success of the two Shrek movies, or The Incredibles, or even Antz and Over the Hedge.

You're just looking for a little skin and a few cheap laughs? Fine: here's fanservice galore and lowbrow comedy in Love Hina. You want a mature story with a little more sex and violence than usual, but not too much? Fine: here's Perfect Blue. You're an antisocial pervert looking for something sickening that's utterly degrading to either sex? Fine: here's... well, pick whatever tentacle hentai it is you perverts watch; maybe it's a gay tentacle hentai; whatever. Some online anime site warned me what was in it your sick porno cartoon in advance, so *I'm* not going to be tricked into watching it.

Looking for something lighter and sweeter and more family-friendly? Try watching Kodomo No Omocha and bust a gut laughing. Looking for something that'll make you wonder whether someone slipped you some LSD in your drink? Try Serial Experiments Lain. Christian characters who aren't cardboard cutouts? Hey, look: it's Trigun! If you want a little bit of everything, there's always Cowboy Bebop. Whatever it is you want, anime can dish it up for you.

That's not just in theory, either: whatever you want, anime will dish it up to you. Every once in a while, we get something weird and controversial like Taxi Driver here in America. In Japan, they can turn out something like Taxi Driver (Kite, anyone?) every week if there's enough niche demand for it. They manage to turn it out often enough as it is: if as few as a thousand people are into something, there'll be a manga; ten thousand, and there'll be an anime. They've got what you want.

The short reason why I like anime? I'm going to put this on a bumper sticker:

"Anime. It's got what I want."

[Richard J.]

Well, what I like about anime is that people can do anything in anime. Illegal? Immoral? Impossible? Whatever it is, someone can be shown doing it in an anime.

There's a flipside to this wonderful aspect of anime, though, which is that just because the characters can do these things doesn't mean they have to. You can show people being ripped to shreds and spray the screen with blood and fill your story with unimaginably vile pornography and blasphemously evil material if you want, but the anime companies don't seem to think we actually *need* to see this stuff to be convinced that yes, this cartoon is for a more mature audience.

Here in America, you actually can do most of these things as well... but only in live-action films (usually rated R), and only with very expensive special effects, and then only if it appeals to a very broad audience. (Otherwise, the makers of your movie are out a hundred million bucks.) Also, a lot of Hollywood's writers seem to think we won't get that this stuff is for a mature audience unless it's got at least one thoroughly gratuitous sex scene or someone getting splattered in a fight. Meanwhile, for some reason, people who ought to know better by now still seem to think cartoons are only for kids. Nevermind the success of the two Shrek movies, or The Incredibles, or even Antz and Over the Hedge.

You're just looking for a little skin and a few cheap laughs? Fine: here's fanservice galore and lowbrow comedy in Love Hina. You want a mature story with a little more sex and violence than usual, but not too much? Fine: here's Perfect Blue. You're an antisocial pervert looking for something sickening that's utterly degrading to either sex? Fine: here's... well, pick whatever tentacle hentai it is you perverts watch; maybe it's a gay tentacle hentai; whatever. Some online anime site warned me what was in it your sick porno cartoon in advance, so *I'm* not going to be tricked into watching it.

Looking for something lighter and sweeter and more family-friendly? Try watching Kodomo No Omocha and bust a gut laughing. Looking for something that'll make you wonder whether someone slipped you some LSD in your drink? Try Serial Experiments Lain. Christian characters who aren't cardboard cutouts? Hey, look: it's Trigun! If you want a little bit of everything, there's always Cowboy Bebop. Whatever it is you want, anime can dish it up for you.

That's not just in theory, either: whatever you want, anime will dish it up to you. Every once in a while, we get something weird and controversial like Taxi Driver here in America. In Japan, they can turn out something like Taxi Driver (Kite, anyone?) every week if there's enough niche demand for it. They manage to turn it out often enough as it is: if as few as a thousand people are into something, there'll be a manga; ten thousand, and there'll be an anime. They've got what you want.

The short reason why I like anime? I'm going to put this on a bumper sticker:

"Anime. It's got what I want."

You are officially my favorite poster on this thread. Absolutely everything that I would have posted is right in your post. You are dead on right. Especially about how writers over here think they have to put certain scenes in a series or it won't be "mature."

Your Trigun reference is perfect too.

I salute you. I agree with you. Everything you said x2.

[bum]

Well, what I like about anime is that people can do anything in anime. Illegal? Immoral? Impossible? Whatever it is, someone can be shown doing it in an anime.

Books were doing that a loooooooooooong time before anime or any other moving picture was.

[Orangel]

Hmm,

The Imagination of some of the anime creators is wilder than anything anyone could've dreamed of. It's practically paranormal. Yet still, no matter where you come from, you can identify with it. Universal.

'nuff said.

[*inverse*]

I'm a fan of animation in general, but anime is really just a fun hobby for me. I like the variety of genres and stories, and it's nice to watch something animated that isn't directed at a younger audience. Naturally, I enjoy collecting & watching the DVDs, and editing music videos.

Also, aside from my sisters, I don't know anyone else (my age) who likes anime the same way I do. Where I live, most the "fans" are teeny-boppers that play with Yu-Gi-Oh cards and watch anime on YTV

[Otohiko]

For source for AMVs.

Yes, that applies to me far too often, sadly