Forums → Popular Media → Anime Becoming Mainstream!?
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This was posted previously in the Tavern thread but I found this catagory more suitable. If you've stumbled apon the other one, please ignore it. I asked a mod to close it down.
If you don't like anime and you just came to complain, then leave this thread.
I'm going to be giving a small rant and disscussion about anime and it's popularity and I will be quite biased since I haven't done a lot of reaserch besides what I've been hearing/discussing with people I know.
Now lately, I've been hearing a lot of people at school, online and in public places talk about why they want anime to become mainstream. By mainstream, I mean that it becomes as popular as famous american TV shows like The Walking Dead. Now, let me talk about the chances of it actually happening here.
Now, the chances of anime realistically becoming mainstream is very unlikely. And I mean very unlikely. Why? Because of the one word that turns most people away; Cartoon.
Anime is basically a Japanese cartoon and whenever people think of the word cartoon it's either the childish ones that air on teletoon or the adult comedy ones like Family Guy. The ones that kids or teens watch and parents would facepalm at their kids because it's so imature. That's the one reason people would chose The Walking Dead over High School Of The Dead (Who am I kidding? The walking dead beats HOTD by a million). You can explain the distinct differences all you want. People can listen until you run out of air but it doesn't change their opinion because of it being a cartoon. But let me go on a long rant on how hard it is to be an animator compared to a regular live action TV show, actually.....nevermind.
The only anime that does somehow get onto TV are the english dubed ones like One Peice and Pokemon(or anythink 4kidz dubbed) that sometimes make anime more childish than it apears. Now I do admit, anime is quite childish and imature. Not in a way that only 8 year olds would watch it but there is always some overly exaggerated fighting skills, cliche endings, perverted echi scenes and plots that sometimes makes no sense towards the audience outside the little group of anime fans. They always appeal to teens but it's also something adults would facepalm over. Anime is something for all ages whether you are 6 years and love cute things or a hardcore shounen lover whose into Sword Art Online or Blue Exorcist(terrible example) there are also really good morals and sad scenes that make you cry more than when someone in american film dies(seriously). But it doesn't matter if the anime has a really deep meaning because all the weirdness in the anime is what make people overlook it and forget about it.
Now I know some really good animes like Attack On Titan that don't have a lot of weirdness and it delivers a really good hidden message but I'm talking about anime in general. To be honest, outside of the fandom eye there are pretty weird moments and characters. But there are really sweet and heartbreaking moments in anime that makes you sad, some golden moments that make you cheer on for you character. Yes those moments are what make anime the greates thing ever to an Otaku's eyes. Now lets think about what would happen if anime did become mainstream.
Let me just remind you that anime isn't NEVER going to become mainstream. The chances are just VERY unlikely
Even if anime isn't suited for everyone, being as part of that small group who appreciates it is great. I like being in that small group because it makes me feel unique compared to everyone else. It would be nice to wear a Madoka Magica T-shirt without having friends or collegues asking you what it is and having to explain everything about the anime. I also want to be able to talk to people about my favourite anime without people going "what?". In fact, with more people watching anime, producers could make sequels and more people would buy their merchandise and companies can make more money creating better animations. But lets think about what would happen if anime was mainstream. I mean, if it was as popular as most of the popular TV shows in america, then there will be those stupid people who make fun of a series or anime in general. There will also be haters and immature idiots who overlook anime because of how it's presented. There will also be more useless memes that just makes you feel ashamed like when Light Yagami from death note says "I'll take a potato chip.....AND EAT IT" in the english dubbed. Like I said before, it doesn't matter if an anime has a deep meaning or really dramatic scenes, they will find ways to bash at anime or make it sound less appealing.
However, even if the chances of say, Kuroko no Basuke or Durarara or an anime you haven't heard of yet making it into american TV is probably less than 20% right now, there are more and more people getting into anime. I'd explain how but that would take too long.
Now's a chance to discuss your opinions, what are your thoughts on anime becoming mainstream? Would you want it to become mainstream? Why and why not?
- 18 Replies
i totally agree.anime is one of the most misunderstood and judged hobbies. people will immidiatly judge it simply because its not a real life (thats how its called? i mean not cartoon) movie.
anime isnt really a genre either. there are tons of types of anime for anyone: animes for children, drama, fighting, comedy and hey even porn. so i dont think there a person who really actually doesnt like animes.
over here its almost the same. the animes who were dubbed to hebrew are like pokemon, dragon ball z and one piece and because of that most people think that anime are just children fighting shows.
i have a friend who said she doesnt like anime but i knew her taste (its kind of like mine) so i made her watch fruits basket with me. after the 2nd episode we had a marathon evreytime we met until we finished it together.
i have another friend who says she doesnt like anime except princess monomoke. but she doesnt even realise that this movie isnt an exception and that are many animes like that.
im gonna add to that and say that video games suffer from the same thing. a random video game hater wont believe you that stories like final fantasy 10 exist.
people are simply too judgemental
i totally agree.anime is one of the most misunderstood and judged hobbies. people will immidiatly judge it simply because its not a real life (thats how its called? i mean not cartoon) movie.
People need to understand that anime adapts from manga or a light novel where the plot was already writen out maybe a year before the anime series aired. It's rarely ever a live action because people are basically animating really great drawings and it's hard to find real people that look like the ones from manga or novels. Plus, if anime were live action it would be.....weird.
anime isnt really a genre either. there are tons of types of anime for anyone: animes for children, drama, fighting, comedy and hey even porn. so i dont think there a person who really actually doesnt like animes
I know right!? There are people in my class that think anime is mostly echi (google it if you don't know the meaning). And if it's not echi then it has echi fanservice. For some anime it can be true but there are many catagories and series that fit the exeption.
i have another friend who says she doesnt like anime except princess monomoke. but she doesnt even realise that this movie isnt an exception and that are many animes like that.
Princess Mononoke is a really great movie! It was animated by the company called Studio Ghibli. The art is decent and the plot is AMAZING! If you want, you can introduce her to more movies by the same studio first such as
Spirited away
Howl's moving castle
Whisper of the heart
My neighbour Totoro
Theres a lot more but the ones I listed are really popular ones. I also know a lot more great anime movies that aren't produced by the same studio but they're just as AMAZING!
im gonna add to that and say that video games suffer from the same thing. a random video game hater wont believe you that stories like final fantasy 10 exist.
Has anyone played The Last Of Us yet? If you have a PS3 and you don't want to then you certainly deserve a slap in the face. The art is beautiful and the plot is just really sad. It starts to get a little cliche but the animations and detail put into the work definatly deserves some credit. It's not anime related yet just simply amazing!
I also play Kingdom Hearts. It's pretty cool and featured some Final Fantasy character cameos. I haven't played FF yet but it seem really intresting. The one reason I didn't bother was because theres about 13 games and I don't want to skip without knowing the plot and what happened.
Anime has been mainstream for a while now.
From what I've seen, the fad seems to actually be lessening.
Anime has been mainstream for a while now.
Agreed.
From what I've seen, the fad seems to actually be lessening.
Really? I've personally thought that the fad has been increasing. More people seem to be talking about it every day. I personally don't watch any type of Anime, but some of my friends think its the next best thing.
Anime has been mainstream for a while now.
Well sure anime is everywhere on the internet. I personally can't browse tumblr, facebook, deviantart or youtube without running into an anime reference here and there. But by mainstream, I mean like really common that it becomes as popular as the lates american TV shows. So far, most of the anime popularity-and we're not just talking common stuff like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh- have been found online. Sure some anime like Gurren Laggan get dubbed and put on channels like Adult Swim but it's still not common that if someone makes a reference in real life, people will go "Oh I've heard of that before! I love -Insert favourite character or scene here-" The common TV shows with real people are waaay more well known and for some reason, less judged.
From what I've seen, the fad seems to actually be lessening.
RWBY seems to indicate the opposite.
~~~Darth Caedus
RWBY seems to indicate the opposite.
RWBY's okay but the voice acting is TERRIBLE. No offense to all those who love it. I only watch RWBY because of the fight scenes but that's pretty much it. The plot also sucks.
I dont want anime to become main stream if it dose producers will put less effort and i like the feeling that there is only a small group of people it makes you feel uniqe and its kindve like a family sence if you find someone on the street with a fullmetal alchemist t shirt your automaticly there friend (or atleast try to be) and its kindve like a bond between all anime fans but then again this is coming from a 13yr old so use ur best judgement on that
Any ways i can already tell its getting alot more popular like today i met a girl who saw me drawing a storyboard for a practice manga and she offered to help me on my manga and know were dating all because of manga i will always be a true fan no matter how manny weird perversed HOTD come out
By the way check out gigguk he made a video about this and i think forneverworld (on youtube)
Anime becoming as mainstream as American TV shows? That would be great, and it's something that I've been rooting for ever since I became a semi-Otaku.
People should learn what anime really is about. I think it's because most Americans that don't watch or read anime and manga believe that any animated TV show can't have heartwarming and deep stories due to the past cartoonist's own fault. We believe that true emotions can only be felt if we watch a live actor doing it, but I think that we should value more about the story. Sure, animation and live acting both have their ups and downs, but they're not genres nor are they confined by demographics.
Both can be for adults, both can be for teens, both can be for children. They're just stylistic ways of presenting a story.
By the way check out gigguk he made a video about this and i think forneverworld (on youtube)
Yeah, I saw that video which inspired me to make this thread.
Anime becoming as mainstream as American TV shows? That would be great, and it's something that I've been rooting for ever since I became a semi-Otaku.
Though it's true, more views mean more populatiry which leads to better stuff. But think about what happened to Naruto and Bleach. They both started out very strong but the plot gets boring and more predictable as the story progresses. Also, due to the mangaka usually not being able to catch up with the animation, they create more fillers and useless arcs. And did you not see what happened to the cringe-worthy incident of Kpop when Gangnam Style became viral!?!? Not to mention more annoying people who don't have a clue about anime and make memes, judge anime without even watching/understanding the actual plot, also known as tards!
Anime has been mainstream for a while now.
Those typical-style Japanese cartoons were popular on Venezuelan TV in the mid-70's.
Go figure. As the good man said, it's like déjà -vu all over again
Actually, anime isn't mainstream, Yes some are but not anime as a whole. Compare the amount of views Death Note has with some popular TV show with real people.
It's mainstream, at least from where I come from. You can find at least one person who watches anime in a group of say half a dozen; they're not a rare species.
And it's all very relative; if you're in Japan, it definitely is without a doubt really likely (Quadruple positive!) going to be part of their mainstream culture, whereas if you consider the States for example, it most probably isn't.
(google it if you don't know the meaning).
oh i do lol.
Princess Mononoke is a really great movie! It was animated by the company called Studio Ghibli. The art is decent and the plot is AMAZING! If you want, you can introduce her to more movies by the same studio first such as
Spirited away
Howl's moving castle
Whisper of the heart
My neighbour Totoro
tried to no avail. she is very difficult and will immidiatly look down upon any movie i will recommend her (even though she is the one usually taking me to awful movies). she just KNOWS that princess mononoke is the only anime of its type and that every other anime is completely different.
btw. watched 3 out of those and own the 4th but havnt watched.
I dont want anime to become main stream if it dose producers will put less effort and i like the feeling that there is only a small group of people it makes you feel uniqe and its kindve like a family sence if you find someone on the street with a fullmetal alchemist t shirt your automaticly there friend (or atleast try to be) and its kindve like a bond between all anime fans but then again this is coming from a 13yr old so use ur best judgement on that
i have to agree. many things became much worse because they got too popular. i hope that doesnt happen to anime but i doubt it since again... anime isnt a genre. if it DOES become mainstream people will finally get it and then the more popular genres will become mainstream while the other rare gems will probably stay the same.
oh wow yeah you just reminded me. over here in israel there was a time when anime was really really mainstream for us children yet nobody even knew they were animes lol.
alfred j qwack
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