If you haven’t seen it already, stream this short trailer for the upcoming “anime” The Five Killers and prepare to be gob-smacked. First, lets just say this looks absolutely fantastic, however, a little digging will reveal that, much like last year’s (in)famous Afro Samurai, it’s being bank rolled, first and foremost, for the North American market. So, despite being directed by Tomohiro Hirata (of Trinity Blood fame) and featuring authentic Japanese character designs by the upcoming talent Shigeki Maeshima, the script is actually being penned by George Krstic (Megas XLR, Star Wars Clone Wars) and comic book writer Mark Waid.
Ultimately, this poses an interesting question – in this age of truly global collaboration, how can we define anime? Consider the strictest application of the word, the one we all presume to use – put simply, anime is animation produced in Japan. This rule, though water-tight in theory, hardly stands up when you consider much of the low-level animation is farmed out to cheap foreign neighbors (like Korea). I know that a lot of Naruto isn’t animated in Japan, but I still think of it as anime, but why?
Naruto is written by Masashi Kishimoto and he’s Japanese, so as long as the story was conceived in Japan, we can safely say it’s anime… Actually, no, Gankutsuou (Alexandre Dumas) and Romeo X Juliet (William Shakespeare) were written by famous European play rights. Now I’m confused; magically qualifying as anime has nothing to do with the physical location of animation or the nationality of the original story writers. So, truly, what the hell is anime?
Of course, being anime has nothing to do with a cliche art-style either. Experimental animation houses like Studio 4°C rarely prescribe to the typical “bug eyes, no nose” aesthetic but regardless, their work is regularly described as anime anyway. This brings me on to the final nail in the coffin, Studio 4°C’s most recent theatrical movie, Tekkon Kinkreet, was directed by Michael Arias, an American.
The conclusion is obvious. Anime is dead; or at least, what it used to mean to fans (even 10 years ago) is dead. We need a new word.
Anime is dead
40 responses to “Anime is dead”
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I’d say “Animu” but I hate that word.
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Japanimation
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(I’m french ==> poor english)
I don’t think that because some fuckin’ non-japanese said they make Anime or Manga, their productions really belong to these only-japanese categories.
In France, there are some “BD” artists (they draw comic books) who proclame themselves mangaka, but WE (“anime elitists” like the other said ^^) don’t care !! It’s just some crap which use the phenomenon (I don’t think this is an english word =__=) and make money. I understand these artists have a certain taste for this “drawing-style” / “typical “bug eyes, no nose†aesthetic” but even if their style is heavliy influenced by JAPANESE artists, at least for me, I consider that like a low-quality comic book.
Same thoughts about anime …
Sorry again for my baaaaad english. -
I love “Jap Animation.” It sounds so noob and politically incorrect all at the same time!
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The trailer is impressive, but knowing Mark Waid is involved with the writing instils more confidence in me than it being ‘from the producers of Afro Samurai’. The man has written some amazing comic books over the years and is consistent with his awesomeness, so perhaps the important stuff like character and plot will match the big-balls animation budget.
And I see your point, but defining anime is more of an intuition than a specific set of characteristics. Anyone with moderate experience can pick out what is legitimately (in their eyes) ‘anime’ and what’s imitating the style; it’s just much harder to explain what or how. I think when something seems to have a Japanese sense to its presentation etc then it’s genuinely anime. But then the counter-arguments you’ve raised challenge this kind of rationale. I guess it’s the same to how someone can tell the difference between a name brand and a budget equivalent… -
The guy on the Five Killers website actually describes it as “fusion anime”, but then that sounds a little too much like a Dragonball Z phrase for my liking! 😉
@Aerith: Don’t worry about your English, it’s fine. It’s easier to define the difference between “global” and “authentic” manga because generally, there are less people involved with manga than with an anime series. Therefore I think manga can be defined as comics that originate in Japan. I agree that there is no such thing as drawing in the manga style, because the “manga style” doesn’t exist; generally, the art style in manga (and comics in general) swings in so many different directions. Therefore, like you pointed out, the so called “original English language manga” (or as it’s now known, “global manga”) is simply an attempt to cash in on a trendy word.
@Hige: I know what you mean, I was going to say how we can often, sometimes on a base level, discern authentic anime from cartoons that are simply trying to copy the style. That said, I would describe Tekkon Kinkreet as anime, yet it’s directed by an American. I think we need to redefine the word to bring it inline with the rapid exchanges of culture, as I’ve pointed out above, what is it about anime that makes it so intangibly Japanese? Maybe it’s just the overriding influence of Japanese culture on the story telling? However, that would mean something like Samurai Jack qualifies as anime. It’s confusing! -
I agree with Hige on all accounts.
As for “global anime” (or whatever), Afro Samurai failed to impress me, along with most shows that’s been specifically tailored for an overseas audience. This may be simply because I’m not American (who seem to be the main target), but also because I’m not particularly awed by the “l’art pour l’art” nature of these shows. Behind the usually gorgeous animation and “edginess” there’s no soul, no real creativity, only lots of posturing and pandering, at least in case of the shows I’ve seen. Boring.
As for the definition of “anime” – at the risk of sounding elitist or pretentious, to me, “anime” has a kind of “je ne sais quoi” that I think originates in the cultural differences between Japan and the western world. I can’t really explain it, but nevertheless it’s there, at least as far as I’m concerned. Overseas animation can imitate “typical anime” elements such as character designs, animation style, clichés, etc., but it’s always obvious that these elements are not used in the same way as in “real anime”.
Take Gankutsuou, for example – the story of the Count of Monte Cristo has been adapted many, many times in many different ways (‘Tiger Tiger’ comes to mind as an extreme example, which admittedly also influenced Maeda), but not one was similar to what the creators of Gankutsuou concocted. It’s a very typically Japanese take on the story, what with the different focus, the different attitude to the original material, etc. etc. It’s looking at the story with completely different eyes, so to speak, and this difference is present in pretty much all anime I’ve seen, to a greater or smaller degree. Um, I hope I’m being clear.
Of course I’m aware that anime are cartoons and all that, but I like to use the word “anime” to cartoons with a certain “feel,” so to speak, and I think this isn’t dead yet. I hope it’ll never be. -
Cartoons.
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I think anime is not only defined as animation from Japan, but maybe even more so as animation made for a Japanese audience and infused with Japanese ideals and culture. In your examples, even though a lot of the animation from Naruto and other series’ is produced in Korea, the story, design, writers, etc., are from Japan, as is the manga its based on and the ideals/values it portrays. Same thing with Romeo x Juliet; even though it’s based on the Shakespeare play, anyone who’s seen the show knows that it’s vastly different and the characters act like typical Japanese anime characters most of the time. So I don’t think anime is defined solely by the style of the animation as much as the ideals, values, culture, and social aspects within it.
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Anime isn’t dead, I hope it’s not dead. It’s just expanding. You know what’s anime when you see it, like Hige said, the ability to discern what is anime, to you, is intuitive. It’s like picking out poisonous mushrooms, not exactly, but close.
In response to what the hell anime is, I’d say it’s style. It’s the style, maybe not the big eyes and no nose cliched art style, but ‘anime’ definitely has a distinct style that sets it apart from, say, Courage the Cowardly Dog (nothing wrong with Courage, I adored that dog and that show.) For one thing, cartoons are supposed to be for kids, but anime breaks the stereotypical boundary. Anime encompasses so many things that it’s so much more than just a subset of animation.
“Anime influenced animation” is what shows like Samurai Jack should be called. I wouldn’t consider it an anime, just because it didn’t feel quite like an anime. As far as I’m concerned, as long as it feels…right, I’m good. As long as it has that edge, as long as it still talks to me the same way, even if it is written by two Americans (and even if I hated Star Wars,) I’m good.
Like kuromistu said, anime’s cartoons with a certain ‘feel’. No matter how convoluted and useless the term ‘anime’ may become, as long as there’s still that ‘feeling’, anime will never die…..hopefully. O_o -
Okay, so what definition of anime do you want to use? Anime is used as an all encompassing term for animation in Japan, but in Western culture we like to use it in a more limited fashion as to describe animation originating from Japan. It is kinda like how we borrow the word “otaku” and adopt it as a general and positive descriptive word while the Japanese use it in a demeaning way. Really this is more or less just a pointless and “look at me” debate on semantics.
If we really want to continue on with this debate, then there is not a distinctive purity in anime to begin. If we accept the Japanese use of the word, then you really have look at popularity polls because some American animation like Tom and Jerry have been ranked in Japanese conducted “favorite anime” polls.
If we do not want to accept the Japanese use of the word, then take a look at the history of anime. Early modern Japanese animators will cite old school Disney animation like Snow White and Warner Bros. shorts as inspiration. The 70s and 80s saw some rather spot on adaptations of Western stories like Swiss Family Robinson, Anne of Green Gables, and Heidi. There was even anime series about Bible stories made, and we are talking about straight up adaptation and not Evangelion level bastardization of Christianity. Western music constantly makes an appearance in anime. Asides from classical music, contemporary American musicians have been used. An older example would be the ED song for the first Tenchi Muyo movie or most of the Gunsmith Cats OVA soundtrack, and anime in recent years have used Western music ranging from Duran Duran to the Backstreet Boys. We are not even going into some of collaborations the Japanese have done with the French and Italians. A person better versed than me in the history of Japanese Animation could probably list a lot more connections. In other other words there has always been a Western influence and presence in anime.
Do not forget that Japanese culture has a history of borrowing and adapting from other cultures. Anime is a reflection of that.
Anime is not “dead.” If we used your reasoning, anime died before you were probably born. -
First off, I thought I’d made it clear I was using the English definition of anime. I don’t see any point in applying the Japanese meaning because we aren’t Japanese. And I’m not saying that anime with a Western \ foreign influence is not anime. Cowboy Bebop and Trigin clearly owe a lot to North American culture, but that doesn’t mean they are not anime.
My point is that with the increasing amount of cross-country collaboration, anime, in terms of its strict definition, is dead. We’re using it to describe animation that is created in Japan, but actually, the animation itself isn’t created in Japan at all. Over the last decade, it’s moved to cheap foreign labor. So, what is anime, then? According to several of the well-worded comments above, it’s more than the geographical location of production, it’s a spirit of distinctive Japanese story telling, an intangible sense of Japanese authenticity and direction.
That leaves me wondering whether or not we can describe something like The Five Killers as anime, because technically, it is animation that is being produced in Japan, yet the story is penned by Western writers. In the strict sense of the word, it is anime, but in terms of what anime is as described in the paragraph above, it probably isn’t.
The title “anime is dead” is a reference to this clash of definitions. The English dictionary description of anime is dying, but what anime means to the fans certainly isn’t. Hence we either need a new word or to redefine what anime means to fans in the 21st century. To describe it simply as animation that is from Japan is wrong.
One last thing, the actual meaning of the word is irrelevant compared to our enjoyment of the anime itself. It’s fair to say this is a nit-picky debate about semantics – the truth is that as long as I continue to love anime, I couldn’t care less.
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To be fair, if this is considered ‘killing anime’ as a word by just describing Japanese animation, Megas XLR, Avatar and Samurai Jack should’ve already accomplished that goal to some extent.
On that note, this show does look awesome and I’m impressed at the pedigree of the guys they got to write the story/script up. -
As for “cheap foreign labor,” I never thought of the geographical location of the animation itself as the definite sign of a show being anime – after all, animation (that is, making the figures move and all that) is usually the least creative stage of the process. Even if the animation director for the episode is local, animators have to work with what they get, designs and instructions and storyboards, all of which, as far as I know, still comes from the main studios in Japan. It’s a bit more interesting when a chara/mecha designer is not Japanese (as in case of Alexander, Turn A Gundam or Innocent Venus), but there’s quite enough variation in the “genre” already that “looks different” in itself doesn’t make much difference.
“Feels different” means more, as I think it is the case with Megas XLR or Samurai Jack – these shows simply don’t “feel” like anime, more like imitations. (Note, I don’t say all anime-influenced cartoons are bad by default – I like Teen Titans a lot, actually, and it’s pretty much the only show I’ve seen that managed to carry the anime-influenced look well, along with all the visual clichés.) Five Killers and Afro Samurai made a wiser decision: rather than trying to emulate the “anime style,” they left the design and animation to those who know what they’re doing. In this, they’re different from Samurai Jack and its ilk and are technically anime. In the technical part.
Still, animation is one thing, the show as a whole is another. To me, even though the visuals in Afro Samurai “felt” more or less authentic (IMO the animation tried too hard and went way overboard with the edginess and all that), the rest didn’t. There was this feeling of incongruity to the whole thing, like some kind of Frankenstein’s monster. From what we’ve seen so far, Five Killers lacks this, at least on the animation front, but it remains to be seen if the whole thing will feel “right.” Looking at the story and the characters on the official site, I’m not holding my breath… it seems like yet another case of “hardcore and edgy” collection of anime and comic book clichés, but who knows, it may just turn out to be a nice and enjoyable fusion, like Teen Titans.
Whether Afro Samurai and this Five Killers can be called anime or not… On one hand, I’m reluctant to call these anime, for the reasons I mentioned in my previous comment. On the other hand, I’m too lazy to split hairs over definitions and come up with new labels, especially since everyone will call them “anime” anyway. I’ll probably continue to refer to them as “anime written by Americans.” -
I don’t think you need a new word and would just make it more confusing. It’s definitely going to be less easy to define as people from one part of the world dig something the other part is doing and making a riff on that. I think that’s what makes this a cool time. I’m totally ignoring the marketing aspect of it when I’m talking about that, just the creation aspect of anime, the mindset, the soul. I also think it’s possible for something to be anime and be something else at the same time, like Afro Samurai. It’s anime, kung-fu, western, and hip-hop style. The anime and western aspects aren’t mutually exclusive. Why can’t something be anime and western at the same time? From the creator’s standpoint, I think they can be.
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I agree with super rats in that we’re entering an quite interesting time for animation. Since the rise of the internet, anime has spread the world over. Fans are springing up every day and so many of them are drawing fan-art, making AMVs and interacting like we are right now, convention attendances in the West continue to rise. I’m certain that sooner rather than later, a generation of “world” otaku are going to spring up and create their own animation; suddenly, Japan won’t be the only country producing serious animation for older age groups. We’re already seeing it with the likes of Afro Samurai and Five Killers, but I’m expecting a more grass roots movement, like web comics, many of which borrow a recognizable manga aesthetic. The animators of tomorrow must be looking at a lot of anime and thinking “right, now THAT’S what I want to do!”.
Also, kuromitsu is right in regards to the rather predictable story telling of the “fusion anime”. I mean, look at Five Killers; it’s set in a neon-tinted future, has samurai, cyborgs, is violent and sexy. It’s like a pure combination of the elements that made up the majority of popular anime released in the West during the early 90s. Afro Samurai was exactly the same. They feel more like a homage to anime than the real thing. -
This has been a “hot topic” for the past couple years I’ve noticed. I don’t know how many times its come up on some of the message boards I go to. Lots of people will get into arguments about the definition of anime when someone calls something like Nickelodeon’s Avatar an anime. “Anime,” to me, is animation produced in Japan for a predominantly Japanese audience. Something like Avatar I wouldn’t call “anime,” it’s “anime-style.” Something like Afro Samurai or GI Joe Sigma 6, to me, are American shows that were animated in Japan (you can throw things like Thundercats or Silver Hawks into the mix as well).
Some people will say “all animation is anime.” Well, that kinda defeats the purpose of distinguishing anime as a separate “form” of animation, doesn’t it? Outside of Japan we use the term differently, so it always kind of irks me when I hear people say that. It’s definitely become harder to define with all these companies trying to cash in on the anime style, but to me the definition remains the same. Of course, everyone has their own definitions, so that’s where the gray area comes in. -
[…] and why Anime is American. 1, […]
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an·i·me [an-uh-mey] ~ n ~ A synonym of “Japanese animation”, meaning animation created after the Japanese style, created in Japan, and/or exhibiting characteristics of the Japanese style.
I think that’s all we need. Now to beat Websters until they update. -
[…] Afro Samurai “anime”? Yes. Is The Five Killers “anime”? Yes. Are they exclusively Japanese productions? […]
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The whole “all animation is anime†thing absolutely annoys me. Unless you live in Japan, it’s pointless and confusing to apply a foreign definition to an English word. Often, the end result is simply a cynical attempt to make money out of a popular phrase. That said, I suppose the whole “scene” is moving towards Hidoshi’s definition; an era where any one any where can create “anime” simply because their character designs have big eyes or whatever. I’m glad that more diverse animation, inspired by anime, is surfacing, but to call it anime too seems somewhat misleading.
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Eh, don’t misunderstand — I don’t have any want for it to be applied willy-nilly. I think there will be a point where it conflagrates across the market (it’s already starting to), and then die down enough for some sense to be made of it. But I think it’s important that some definitions be worked out now, so that we aren’t floundering when the companies are done jamming product in our asses.
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Interesting discussion going here it seems. Well, I’ll just throw in my 2 cents as well 🙂
Anime is indeed becoming harder to define, especially with the process of globalisation. As Beteszi said, what would have easily defined anime 10 years ago would not be so accurate today, and what would define anime today would no longer be true in another 10 years time. Anime, much like other things, evolves along with the rest of the world.
Hidoshi’s definition is probably at the core of what defines anime right now, but who knows, in another 10 years no one would be able to tell the difference from one to another except by language lol -
This has to be one of the most intersesting anime topics Ive read in a while.
While reading it the otaku in me really didint like where it was going but having finished it all I can say is,that by the definitions you stated,anime is indeed dead.
The more I take your points into account the harder I find it to actually define anime.
In fact,scarilly,having taken this topic into account, there really isint a definitiojn for it without generalising it into all animetion,which we all know isint true.Right?
Well,actually when you consider that anime is simply the word the japanese use for all forms of animation then anime as we define it simply cannot be right.
I think its our turn to come up with our own word to describe animation from japan or simply re-define the meaning of anime. -
Yup nowadays, Anime name should be changed to Anigen or Aniverse.
Aniverse – involves more out of the kind features other anime didn’t possess in the past years. Which the reason for changing the Anime term to this one since it’s more advance form of anime.
Lucky Star and Hayate No Gotoku are recent gag-comedy anime, what made Konata(Aya Hirano) and Nagi(Rie Kugimiya) famous, the new batch of seiyu’s are going… Retirement for the likes of Megumi Hayashibara…. last anime song she sang Happy Life from Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight
What made Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya a big hit not only a Japan but whole world?
What made Deathnote popular even it’s over (both manga and anime) people still go crazy for it?
Mecha cult now worshipping Code Geass, what made this differ from Gundam and other mecha anime?
How the likes of Genshiken, and Welcome to the NHK pulled some people’s heart out?
Did Jigoku Shoujo, Blood+, and When Cicada’s Cry have pulled a shock on you?
Comedy revolutionize through the likes of Full Metal Panic:Fumoffu, School Rumble, and Seto no Hanayome. How do they keep the intensity of comedy increasing sometimes getting low and differ from the old school comedy anime.
What made Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach popular? followed Akira Toriyama’s success -
forgot to mention Gurren Lagann are also included in the now Mecha worshipped list…
joined Code Geass.
forgot to mention Nodame Cantabile included in the likes of Genshiken and Welcome to the NHK.
Amazing how year 2006 and year 2007 have changed the world of anime by storm. -
They said rock and roll was dead, too…
Some genres have become giants in their own right…. -
Is the definition supposed to be based on the art style or animation production?
How about going in a different direction? Anime is animation that was primarily produced for Japanese audiences, meaning it employed the Japanese language as the main method of communicating with its audience.
Or maybe I just cracked my head open and blurted out an idiotic thought. xD -
Why is there a need to categorize or reclassify something which never held any commonality in the first place?
Simply classing it as “animation” seems far simpler, less concieted and dissapate the slightly xenophobic connotation that the term ‘anime/japanimation’ holds.
Fact is even 10+ years ago programs like ‘The Moomins’ and ‘Transformers’ were never comfortably placed under the term “anime”.
Anime hasn’t died, it never really existed in the first place -
@SoS: I’m not sure if it’s fair to say that 2006/07 have “changed the world of anime”, it’s all too fresh in our memories right now. The real test will be what you can remember say, a couple of years down the line. I mean, thinking about 2003/04, only a handful of anime immediately jump to mind; Planetes, Fullmetal Alchemist, Wolf’s Rain, Samurai Champloo and Gankutsuou are the ones I remember. I have to think harder to remember something Tsukihime, which at the time was very popular amongst otaku but seems to have faded in terms of popularity and general acclaim.
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This is a quote copied from wabi-sabi’s blog (which is linked above: comment 29), but is also a reply to Pizzaguy’s comment and whomever else it may concern!
“Why should we be tied to saying, “That’s anime” and “That’s not anime” when it would make everyone’s lives easier to narrow things down a bit and say, “That’s a kid’s show” and “That’s slice of life.””
We need to define something as anime because, for whatever reason, we’re fans and have come to appreciate anime for an apparently intangible Japanese quality. There’s a reason why I enjoy watching something like “sayonara zetsubou sensei” compared to “south park”. Both could be classed as “comedy”, but I would much rather watch “sayonara zetsubou sensei” because I’m an anime fan. Therefore, I need to define my fandom.
Anime, as I see it, defines cartoons by Japanese people. Quite clearly, in general terms, it’s a flawed definition. Looking at Hidoshi’s arguments, he is claiming something like “Avatar” and “Teen Titans” is anime, which frankly, I think is bull shit. I don’t prescribe to the idea that anime can be defined by it’s aesthetic design; if people do consider the above series anime, then, as was my original argument, “anime is dead”. -
I suppose I’m a bit too late to the discussion, but I think I have two cents to contribute to the conversation as well.
I think the feeling of anime is the style of story telling and how characters are portrayed. In most anime I’ve seen, with the aid of cliche and various other techniques, the directors intend audiences to empathise with the characters, and immerse themselves in the storyline quickly. I suppose that part of the reason why cosplay came to being.
Fantasy for example, instead of the Western Tolkienian epics, Japanese (anime) fantasies often portrayed characters with techniques such as comedy, cliche (e.g. mask, blond = aristocrat) that represents their personalities, etc.
Most imitation anime feels fake because it imitated the visual style, the theme, but not the storytelling ability. Anime has a distinctive story telling style… who else in the world would have such fascination in the characters development in highschools?
But I think the rest of the world is slowing learning that as well. Not just the visual art, but the story-telling is slowly seeping into other media. Firefly, for example, when I first saw it, it had a very “anime” feel to it, some might even say Whedon stole it from Cowboy Bebop among other animes.
Since I hold a profound hatred to the usual bug-eye cliche, and enjoyed a more western inspired style (Blades of the Immortal, Claymore, FMA, Blame! series, Planetes etc. they usually look less exaggerated in manga form as well)… I’m actually looking forward the western adaptation of anime story telling instead of the superficialness that’s rampant at the moment.
ohhh bug eyes, unrealistic giant puzzle sword, crazy blue hair, 50000000 psi unit, and must go save the princess from the evil Mokukuku emperor… sigh. -
I would like to comment on something this person says…
“Aerith. says:
I understand these artists have a certain taste for this “drawing-style†/ “typical “bug eyes, no nose†aesthetic†but even if their style is heavliy influenced by JAPANESE artists, at least for me, I consider that like a low-quality comic book.
Same thoughts about anime …”
Soooooo, let me get this straight….
If I am not Japanese and
the art I do is concidered low quality
because I chose to be influenced by Japanese artist?
I happen to be in the United States…so does that mean I
am only allow to be inflenced by other artist from the United States?
See if this is the case, then they need to change art history classes
to only include the country that you are a citizen of.
Then I guess there would be no more art classes in the USA….
concidering many of the old great masters are not from here..
Does this include looking at art from countries, because I
may just be influenced.
I suppose, purist such as yourself, will only be happy when wallls
seperate all countries and we burn all the books.
Forgive me but I don’t want to live in your world, a world devoid of art,
where only blank walls stare back.
So, either all can play with style or nothing.
Which would you like?
To me an animation is animation, why does where it’s from matter?
if you like it, watch it, if you don’t, don’t watch it.
Really it is not hard. I do it all the time….
But I have a question of the purist:
Why are you rude about it?
When I go into a bookstore,
why not just ignore the manga form books not from Japan?
Rather than getting all snippy about it and complainning…
and if you see someone drawing in a Japan influenced style…
instead of bothering them and telling them they have no right to draw that way…
why not walk away? last I heard most artist do not force people to look at their work.
Anime is the Japanese word for animation…that’s what I figure.
sorry for the rambling that was not what you were looking for. -
Five Killers looks cool. I’m hoping it’s going to be more than that *crosses fingers*
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Originally Posted By Aerith.(I’m french ==> poor english)
I don’t think that because some fuckin’ non-japanese said they make Anime or Manga, their productions really belong to these only-japanese categories.
In France, there are some “BD” artists (they draw comic books) who proclame themselves mangaka, but WE (“anime elitists” like the other said ^^) don’t care !! It’s just some crap which use the phenomenon (I don’t think this is an english word =__=) and make money. I understand these artists have a certain taste for this “drawing-style” / “typical �bug eyes, no nose� aesthetic” but even if their style is heavliy influenced by JAPANESE artists, at least for me, I consider that like a low-quality comic book.
Same thoughts about anime …
Sorry again for my baaaaad english.Your english is fine, mate.
Best damned english text written by a Frenchman, I may add. -
I have a question… so I am half Japanese and half White and was born and raised in japan. I recently moved to America and for the past four years of my life have been working on a Manga of which I wrote part of in Japan, and part of in America. The first very just basic concept art I drew for it was made in Japan but now the true final stages of the designs are being finished in America where i now currently live. My mother went to an animation school in Japan and she is the one who taught me how to draw Manga since the age of four. So when my Manga is published, would it be considered true Manga or because I am half, and because part of it was created in the states does that mean it is not true Manga?
-Mr. Koyasu -
NDCoggshall, I couldn’t have said it any better myself! I completely agree with you, and feel the same way about everything you said.
-Mr. Koyasu -
Art = The expression of something from within the human sole. it has no form, it is anything and everything.
Mr. Koyasu -
What does everyone else think art is?
Mr. Koyasu -
Lots of you keep continually using Afro Samurai as an example for an is it a true Anime or not and are saying this because you think its American or something? I just want to point out that its creator is Japanese and the comics that it comes from are Japanese and the story is written by the creator…. who is Japanese.
-Mr. Koyasu -
Anime is anime if people believe it is anime. A salesman might stick an anime sticker on a DVD, that people do not consider anime, or put the same DVD in the anime section but people will still not recognize it as anime because they do not believe it is anime.
btw anime kinda full of fillers these days. Plus the animation quality is failing so much that even the kids animated educational shows look better.
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