Anime

[Snys93]

I have one if only one beef with anime.

 

Caution! Enter at own risk!

 

~YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED~

 

ITS ALL THE SAME F*CKING THING!!!

I know that seems wrong, but damn! So far all the anime I've seen is exactly the same as the last one I've seen. Sure, they can be funny, violent, with endless crude boob humor and constant unfunny sexism, plots involving demons or some weirdass non-western sh*t with swords and guns. But its absolutely unbearable!!!

I don't know, does no one else see this? Granted the animation is different, but its the same damn thing over and over AND OVER AGAIN!!! I can't imagine even porn movies being this repetitive.

[Xortberg]

I have one if only one beef with anime.

 

Caution! Enter at own risk!

 

~YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED~

 

ITS ALL THE SAME F*CKING THING!!!

I know that seems wrong, but damn! So far all the anime I've seen is exactly the same as the last one I've seen. Sure, they can be funny, violent, with endless crude boob humor and constant unfunny sexism, plots involving demons or some weirdass non-western sh*t with swords and guns. But its absolutely unbearable!!!

I don't know, does no one else see this? Granted the animation is different, but its the same damn thing over and over AND OVER AGAIN!!! I can't imagine even porn movies being this repetitive.

 

Not really. I know it can seem that way, (and in the case of some genres, it is sorta true), but that's really only something that a non-anime fan believes to be true, in my experience. I used to think the same thing, until I really got into it. Yeah, sure, there is a lot of "look at this 'unfortunate' guy in high school dealing with his 'unwanted' harem of girls!" or your more typical shounen action series where a hotheaded male protagonist raises his power level more and more every episode. I'm not denying that.

 

But then there's also stuff like Durarara, which is one of the more unique shows I've ever watched. Pretty much every character out of the 10+ cast gets at least one episode to themselves, and it just tells a bunch of interconnecting stories involving an extremely colorful cast including a Dullahan who's lost her head, the mad scientist who's in love with her, the Japanese Hulk, a few schoolkids going about their daily lives, and a gang of four misfits who just move around the city doing odd jobs and hanging out with each other, among several others. 

 

There's also stuff like Spice and Wolf. It's basically Medieval Economics 101, and instead of relying on a bunch of action, bad sexism and boob humor, its entire selling point is the interaction between two characters - a merchant and a wolf-god in human form - as they travel and sell shit. Almost all of the conflict boils down to economic troubles, and the characters have to use their heads to find a way out. 

 

Also, there's one we were just talking about, Madoka Magica. It takes the magical girl formula - probably one of the reasons for your "it's all the same" argument, since magical girl animes all do tend to follow the same basic plot structures - and turns it completely on its head. It is the anti-Sailor Moon. 

 

I know that's just three examples, but there's plenty more if you look for them. If you've got any more specific beefs, I might be able to get more specific myself. But yeah, don't just knock an entire artistic medium just because all the super-popular shit is the same, or what have you. I've been there, and I totally regret taking so long to change my opinion XD

[Battlechili]

Well, in light of recent events....

 

@Snes1993: Well.....I suppose if you want something, really, really different you could watch maybe...Serial Experiments Lain......Doubt you'd like it though.....Its....different.....

[Snys93]

Well, in light of recent events....

 

@Snes1993: Well.....I suppose if you want something, really, really different you could watch maybe...Serial Experiments Lain......Doubt you'd like it though.....Its....different.....

 

I'll look into it.

[WOLFjr]

I have one if only one beef with anime.

Caution! Enter at own risk!

~YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED~

ITS ALL THE SAME F*CKING THING!!!

I know that seems wrong, but damn! So far all the anime I've seen is exactly the same as the last one I've seen. Sure, they can be funny, violent, with endless crude boob humor and constant unfunny sexism, plots involving demons or some weirdass non-western sh*t with swords and guns. But its absolutely unbearable!!!

I don't know, does no one else see this? Granted the animation is different, but its the same damn thing over and over AND OVER AGAIN!!! I can't imagine even porn movies being this repetitive.

I have to respectfully disagree. The world of anime is just as diverse as the rest of media.

Besides, anime is a far better alternative than half the crappy reality shows we get on tv today.

[StarFoxfan-FUR_ever]

You mean anime is much better and much more inspiring than ANY reality show we get on TV today. Try getting through even one episode of that retarded Wife Swap show. I swear, I must have facepalmed at least 100 times from one episode at its worst.

 

The only issue with anime is that the characters from different shows seem to have nearly the same personalities sometimes. However, I can overlook that as i would much prefer to deal with multiple mary-sues in a single anime than a bunch of goofs drinking on TV and calling it entertainment....and getting paid to act like that

[Snys93]

I have to respectfully disagree. The world of anime is just as diverse as the rest of media.

Besides, anime is a far better alternative than half the crappy reality shows we get on tv today.

 

I don't know, My Strange Addiction has me captivated. 

[Xidphel]

And now for something completely different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8us5z3R9_Dw

[Xortberg]

So I just watched the first three episodes of Attack on Titan to finally get an idea as to what all the hype's about. Now granted, I've learned that it's not always wise to judge an anime by the first few episodes (thank you, Madoka), but I'm... not too impressed. I'll spoiler my thoughts to avoid... spoilers.

 

The first two episodes tried and, in my opinion only barely succeeded in, setting an extremely bleak, hopeless tone. They established well enough that you don't wanna fuck with the titans, but since there was barely any time in episode 1 before shit started getting depressing we have no context to hold the bad things up against. Using the Madoka example from above, that story takes place in an easy, almost immediately identifiable and relatable setting (daily school life with your friends), so all of the bad shit that starts happening is made to seem that much worse in comparison. Even if it wasn't such an easily relatable setting, it spends a whole quarter of the anime establishing an overall positive mood. The Witch labyrinths were a little creepy, and Mami was quick to remind the girls that making their contracts was a really important decision, but it was still overall peaceful until Mami lost her head.

 

AoT, though, shows us the kids yelling at some guards (Eren has a serious fucking temper on him), then the Recon team or whatever breaks down in melodrama in the middle of the streets, and then the titans attack and eat Eren's mom. Then in episode 2, people keep dying and nothing's able to stop the titans and lots more bad shit happens. The setting is somewhat identifiable as a typical fantasy world, but there's enough different about it with the enormous, titan-dwarfing walls and their weird Spiderman gear and such that we never got a chance to establish and relate to the peace that was shattered by the giant titan.

 

Then comes episode three. After two episodes dedicated to bitter hopelessness, suddenly they're trying to add comedy with the Potato Girl and Eren's comical failure, and the asshole guy losing his faith in humanity, but none of it quite fits. There's a right way and a wrong way to work with mood whiplash, and though I can't specify what AoT does wrong compared to what Madoka did right, I seriously feel that AoT is doing it all wrong here.

 

Then we've got the characters. Eren is some sort of deconstruction of the typical anime Determinator, trying to accomplish what he should by all rights be unable to through sheer force of will, but since his only motivation is hatred towards something he doesn't understand he comes across more as a psychopathic murderer. That could end up being quite intentional, so I'm not discounting it just yet, but as it is right now I just feel they're trying and failing to use a common anime trope to define their character. Maybe it would be more apparent if Eren had done anything other than react to his situation. Choosing to join the military was proactive, but even that was just spurred on by his (justified) knee-jerk hatred of the titans. He has almost no personality right now. He was a kinda bratty kid who regularly assaulted adults who shared opinions he didn't agree with, he saw his mom get eaten, and now he wants to commit genocide. He's... not very likable, IMO.

 

Then there's the little blonde shit whose name I can't remember because he's completely pointless so far. It was something starting with an 'A'. We barely even know who he is. He's some dude Eren and Mikasa (who we also don't know shit about yet) know, and he joined the army because they did and because some nice old guy gave him a hat and then died. He hasn't done a goddamn thing yet, and I also just have this irrational dislike for him so I won't judge him too harshly. I doubt I could fairly assess his character even if I did think he has one.

 

Mikasa is the only character I really like (aside from Potato Girl, but she just doesn't even feel like she belongs in this universe), and I barely even like her. Why? Because we barely know shit about her. She knew Eren somehow, is implied to be some sort of a sisterly figure to him, and is determined to keep him safe. Or maybe she actually is his sister, but they never explicitly said that, and she said that he should "tell his dad" that he was crying which implies that he's not her dad, and she doesn't really look like one of the family members. So I'm gonna assume that she's just close to them. The only reasons I really like her is because she actually seems like she has some depth. Eren is a murderous hate machine and Blondie is a piece of cardboard, but Mikasa is shown to care for Eren and respect his opinions so much that she cuts her hair at a moment's notice because he says it's too long, and tells him that even though she's obviously a natural fit for combat, she'll leave to go to the landfills with him without hesitation if he fails. It seems fairly obvious it's going to develop into a romantic interest of some sort, yes, but at least it's a hint at some room to develop at all. Why is she so dedicated to him? Does she have some reason? Did he do something way back when to help her? Show her some act of compassion, which will fester in her mind as she watches him commit a hateful genocide until she reminds him that even if he's doing the right thing he's becoming a monster in the process, leading to some possible character development not only for herself, but for the main character who I kinda dislike so far? She's nothing overly special, but she actually has some sort of potential beyond just going out and killing titans and shit like Eren is showing so far.

 

Another thing I dislike is how much it seems to be hammering in the "our little tiny group of main characters have to take on the entire world!" sort of conflict. Half the people who are assholes to them come across as just being dicks for the sake of being dicks and giving Eren more fuel for his righteous fucking fury. A soldier in the inner wall complains, loudly and in hearing distance for our main characters, that the titans should have eaten more people to help the food shortage. Half of the kids in the training camp turn into utter, unhelpful assholes when Eren asks for help even though he was being pretty amiable and friendly with them, giving him more motivation to prove them all wrong and go commit a hatred-fueled genocide against an entire race of creatures. I really just can't let that whole genocide thing through. Genocide is usually a bad thing.

 

That said, it isn't all that bad, and for all of my wall of text ranting about it (which was much longer than I intended it to be, by the way) I did enjoy myself enough to want to keep watching. The world itself is interesting enough, and I look forward to hopefully learning more about the titans themselves. I wanna know where they came from, why they're here, whether they're actually as mindless as the look or not. I wanna know what the deal is with the giant muscle-and-bone titan, and the armored one that facefucked the big gate. I'm also curious to see just what Eren's dad's involvement is in all this, since it's been heavily hinted that he's a very important character who knows a lot about what's going on.

 

The art is memorable, even if the bug-eyed look they get when they're feeling intense emotions really bugs me. The titans' weirdly wide smiles do a good job of just making them seem familiar in form, but repulsive, and the super-titans' appearances are distinct enough to set them out from the other titans without losing the key features that make them seem titan, like the giant one's smile that goes pretty much all the way across his face.

 

The weird Spiderman gear and the uniforms the soldiers wear are nice to look at, and I'm glad they're actually sort of teaching us about them and how they work as our characters get trained in their use. The Spiderman shit is the sort of thing you don't often see in combat-centered anime like this, and it's a clever way for humans who haven't progressed as technologically as us and who have no fighter jets to actually fight on the scale of the titans.

 

The soundtrack is pretty nice too, with the opening theme of course being the standout. I've yet to hear anything truly ear-catching yet aside from that, but I've yet to have any sort of big problem with the music.

 

So yeah. It took 1/4 of Madoka's runtime to even show us the real ending credits theme, so I know just how easily an anime can make a complete turnaround and go from adequate to amazing, so I know better than to judge a ~25 episode show by the first three, but I really hope it picks up in the later episodes and the characters actually start to be... you know. Characters. And that we don't get disappointed and never learn much about the titans. As everything is right now, I'm just not seeing what all the hype is about.

[Sarita]

I don't know, My Strange Addiction has me captivated. 

 

Would you say you're...

 

addicted?

[Deploy]

I haven't watched a ton yet, but I have enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and Soul Eater.

 

My current favorite is the masterpiece that is Attack on Titan.

[Robert Monroe]

I'm sorry, but Attack on Titan is no masterpiece.

And, oddly enough, I think this for reasons different than Xort does.

 

The premise is cool enough, but it all feels really forced. Somehow we can't kill these giant monster men for... reasons. Reasons that warrant the use of these strange... spiderman things that are probably more advanced than I dunno... guns. Or cars. I'm sorry, but they're really goddamn stupid. Originality does not forgive this.

 

Anyway, the titan guys are basically unkillable anyway, and I just never really liked that in fiction. Overpowered monster dick waving is all it is, it makes the danger and drama unrelatable in a way, really. It kills the hope spot that the heroes might have a chance against these badguys, and just makes everything feel hopeless, but that's just me really.

 

As for the characters, Xort is right in that the main protagonist is an unlikeable little shit. He's a shit even before the city gets bumfucked in the first episode, ranting and raving about HURR WE HIDE BEHIND THE WALLS LIKE COWARDS from the UNKILLABLE GIANT MONSTERS. It is one thing to be hotblooded and proactive, but this guy is so far detatched from reality its just annoying. And then of course his stupidass self is vilified when el super titan blows up the wall, which is also annoying.

 

Artwise, Attack on Titan is a mixed bag. Some of it is really good, some of it is.... not. There's a lot of obvious shortcuts taken in the action scenes and the bulgyeyed close ups Xort mentions are just uncanny. I do like the fucking creepy designs of the titans themselves, though, and the overall quality is really good, but the cheap action effects just bug me.

 

Overall, Attack on Titan is... okish. Unique as hell concept, so-so execution, with annoying unlikeable main characters and a setting that really strains my suspension of disbelief.

 

If you like it, that's cool, but it is nowhere near a masterpiece in my opinion :V

[Xortberg]

Get over here so I can suck your dick, Robert.

[Deploy]

Eren is an unlikable little shit? I respect your opinion, Robert, but he's (through the series thus far) my all time favorite character in general. I admire his passionate spirit and do like his overall personality.

Also the Titans are clearly not unkillable, just very difficult to kill. They had to invent SOMETHING to reach their weak spots.

Nethertheless, that's just my opinion and stuff. :)

[WOLFjr]

Eren is an unlikable little shit? I respect your opinion, Robert, but he's (through the series thus far) my all time favorite character in general. I admire his passionate spirit and do like his overall personality.

Also the Titans are clearly not unkillable, just very difficult to kill. They had to invent SOMETHING to reach their weak spots.

Nethertheless, that's just my opinion and stuff.

True on the fact they are difficult to kill, but they could use less complicated and life-threatening devices to do it. Isn't it possible to hit the titans' weak spots with something like, oh I don't know, a bow and arrow?

 

Robert also has a point in that most of the titans are really stupid, like zombie stupid. They hunt on instinct, and don't do anything like try to dodge attacks. It should be easy to just lure them into traps using these obvious problems of theirs and just lay waste to them with long distance weapons.

[Deploy]

True on the fact they are difficult to kill, but they could use less complicated and life-threatening devices to do it. Isn't it possible to hit the titans' weak spots with something like, oh I don't know, a bow and arrow?

No. The show makes it clear that hitting the weak spot works ONLY if you dig very deep into the back of the neck. And two swords are used to easily slice out the skin and shit. In fact, a character hits the spot, but not deep enough. The titan heals up and the character is nearly killed.

 

Basically, long distance weapons are proved useless.

[Xortberg]

No. The show makes it clear that hitting the weak spot works ONLY if you dig very deep into the back of the neck. And two swords are used to easily slice out the skin and shit. In fact, a character hits the spot, but not deep enough. The titan heals up and the character is nearly killed.

 

Basically, long distance weapons are proved useless.

 

I'm pretty sure a cannon to the back of the neck would do more damage than human arms swinging a couple of swords. Sure, they're probably difficult to aim, but it's gotta be safer than sending dual-wielding Spiderman out to engage the enormous murderbeasts in close combat. Plus, I doubt it takes 3 years of intense training to learn how to fire a cannon like it does for the Spiderman gear.

[Deploy]

They actually used cannons in the series. 

 

It didn't go well. Cannons are much too inaccurate. 

[Xortberg]

They were firing the cannons at the titans' faces. Not the backs of their necks. Set a trap for the titans, aim a volley of cannons at the backs of their necks, fire away. You'll get one of them.

 

And again, cannons are probably cheaper and easier to maintain, don't take three years of training, and don't put people within melee combat range of the 50 foot tall murderbeasts.

[Deploy]

They were firing the cannons at the titans' faces. Not the backs of their necks. Set a trap for the titans, aim a volley of cannons at the backs of their necks, fire away. You'll get one of them.

"You'll get one of them."

 

Hmmm... shoot TONS of cannons and pray one hits one very accurately or train soldiers with the sword and gear that makes them fast enough to kill multiple in a row.

 

I'd personally pick the later.

[Xortberg]

"You'll get one of them."

 

That was me being silly. Please don't take silliness seriously. You aim a volley of cannonballs at the backs of a group of ENORMOUS NECKS, you're hitting at least one. Possibly more. And you're doing it safely, from range, where the titans can't reach you.

 

 

Hmmm... shoot TONS of cannons and pray one hits one very accurately or train soldiers with the sword and gear that makes them fast enough to kill multiple in a row.

 

I'd personally pick the later.

 

 

Once again, the gear that takes three years of intense training, and is really only usable by those who have an innate talent for using it in the first place, that puts the soldiers within grabbing, smashing, and eating range of creatures a million times bigger than them. Relying purely on those guys to take them down and only using your cannons to fire ineffectually at the titans' already shown to be invincible faces is stupid.

 

Or have you forgotten that in Eren's first mission with his crew,

Eren got eaten and everyone else but Blondie died.

Those three years of intensive training in the use of extremely delicate, difficult to use equipment sure did pay off, didn't they?

 

I was originally of the mindset that I'd give the Spiderman gear a pass just because I thought it was cool, but as I argue I'm realizing that it is pretty goddamn stupid.

[Vy'drach]

Wouldn't even need to be a cannon. I don't know what time period that is taking place in, or the equivalent of it, but any rifle caliber worthy of being fired down a rifled barrel should have more penetration than a sword, unless the titans are made out of kevlar, glass, or ceramic or such.

 

Late 1800 rifle designs should do fine, which are the same designs that saw use well into WWII, so a Mauser (and with that the Springfield since Springfield stole the Mauser design), Mosin-Nagant, Lee rifle (Either an Enfield or a Metford), Arisaka, Steyr Mannlicher, whatever rifle, provided it fires a decent round. Could even kick it even more old school and utilize a Sharps Buffalo Rifle, which was a high caliber and highly accurate (for the time).

[Deploy]

Eh, I'm done arguing the logic of an anime.

 

I can see where you guys are coming from, but I do disagree. I think the show makes a good enough case for what must be done to kill the titans. Even if the logic doesn't make sense, it would barely, if at all, affect my opinion of the series.

[Vy'drach]

That's fine, but just keep in mind that it is like humanoid robots, the only reason it's done is to just make it cooler, haha.

[Robert Monroe]

Eren is an unlikable little shit? I respect your opinion, Robert, but he's (through the series thus far) my all time favorite character in general. I admire his passionate spirit and do like his overall personality.

Also the Titans are clearly not unkillable, just very difficult to kill. They had to invent SOMETHING to reach their weak spots.

Nethertheless, that's just my opinion and stuff.

His passionate spirit is belied by being an unsufferable twatcake, but eh.

 

 

No. The show makes it clear that hitting the weak spot works ONLY if you dig very deep into the back of the neck. And two swords are used to easily slice out the skin and shit. In fact, a character hits the spot, but not deep enough. The titan heals up and the character is nearly killed.

 

Basically, long distance weapons are proved useless.

A good bow and arrow or gun could dig into the back of the neck very well. But, this is an anime, and most people don't seem to realize that guns are basically LONG RANGE STABBING WEAPONS.

 

 

"You'll get one of them."

 

Hmmm... shoot TONS of cannons and pray one hits one very accurately or train soldiers with the sword and gear that makes them fast enough to kill multiple in a row.

 

I'd personally pick the later.

>Dig hole

>aim cannons

>enjoy the meatpaste

 

 

Honestly, my problem with the spiderman thingies isn't even how stupidly complex and low-paying they are, its how they somehow have the technology for these GAS PROPELLED BUNGEE BELTS but they can't build a smoothbore rifle or something.

 

And again, there are other ways to climb atop a giant ass monsterman and make paste out of his neck. Either way, it just makes me facepalm when watching.