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New Anime Block Starts Tonight Cartoon Network
Silverhammer writes "Just a reminder that the new five-hour Saturday night Toonami block starts
tonight on Cartoon Network. It includes the american premieres of three of Bandai's new (or at least newly dubbed) anime series: Yu Yu Hakusho (11pm EDT), Pilot Candidate (12pm), and Gundam 0083 (12:30pm)." Also in the list is
old favs Tenchi, Bebop, and Outlaw Star as well
as the non-anime but still cool Justice League, which
I've been enjoying, but is it just me, or are there
only like 4 episodes that they just keep looping? I'll be Tivo'ing each
of the new shows for a few weeks in hopes that they
are good.
I'm still first in line to vote for a Toonami channel.
It's because of the many genres that you find all the time in anime but very VERY rarely in American cartoons. Sword-and-sorcery fantasies, superhero adventures, supernatural ghost stories, mecha space operas, cyberpunk thrillers, high school kung-fu comedies...
And then there's all the "mundane" comedies and dramas that just seem so sweet and moving when done as anime but are obsurdly overwrought when done in Hollywood.
Mind you, there's nothing wrong with Futurama or the Family Guy, but you're comparing apples and oranges. It's all a matter of style...
While I'm glad that some good anime (case in point Cowboy Bebop) is getting some 'mainstream' play, there's a dark side to CN's airing of the shows:
1) The dubbing of most anime is crud. For shows like CB, you get a great feel for the characters when you can hear the original voice acting, since much more thought goes into voice acting selection for the original as opposed to the dub.
2) Again, using CB as an example: The editing. If you're gonna put a show in 'Adult Swim', then let it stay true to it's original release form. Bebop's had an entire episode yanked (for quite a silly reason) and a numbre of scenes cut. Granted, I don't want Cartoon Network to become a hentai crap-flood, but if you make the decision to put a show on, put the damn thing on as it was meant to be seen.
I bring up these points since often times it's quite easy to dismiss some really quality anime when you dont have the complete experience.
-------- The thought plickens....
Stuff that... (yawn)
Donate background CPU time to fight cancer.
American's are extremely narrow minded when it comes to producing animated series. Until relatively recently if it was animated it was for pre-teen kids. The Simpsons changed that to a degree; Now if it's animated it's either for pre-teens or it fits in The Simpsons slot.
The Japanese attitude appears to be "Is it possible to do this story live-action? No? Make it anime then."
Most american cartoons on saturday morning seem to be cookie-cutter rip-offs of the same crap thats been on the air for 20 years. Mostly good-guys with no flaws looking beautiful fighting ugly badguys that are robots or aliens so there's no problem with "destroying them". I guess this goes back at target audience and censorship.
You know, I don't think you can blame all of this on censorship or audience targetting. Even with the young audience and network restrictions on content, they have plenty of room to maneuver, creatively speaking. Blame the writers and producers, who follow the same tired cliches over and over and over again; the hokey moral issues, the predictable villainous plots, the 2-dimensional stock characters.
Anime feels more Artistic (just an opinion, its probably commercialized to death over in japan) than the american stuff, it almost seem to enjoy creating the images they produce. I just don't get that feeling when watching any current cartoons or even tv shows.
Well, I think what Japanese animation has that American animation lacks is range. There's plenty of commercialized, cookie-cutter anime made in Japan--but there's also enough truly creative stuff to balance it out. In America you only get the cookie-cutter stuff.
It's funny/sad but there are 20 year old kids--men actually--in the Marines, overseas, with gun in hand, doing the tough business of protecting this country.
You've never actually met a real Marine, have you? Or anyone in the Armed Services, for that matter. I should introduce you to some of my friends, such as Andrew the Everquest nut who is now in Army Intelligence serving as a Korean translator, or Tia the goth raver who is now a medtech at Travis AFB, or James the Champions GM who was a mechanized infantry seargent in the Gulf War...
While I think Futurama and The Simpsons are great for a laugh there is deffinetly a real dearth of serious animation in the US. I think that's the real reason Japanese animation is so popular. Most of the american stuff is comical in nature or geared towards kids.
Japanese animation on the other hand covers EVERYTHING. There is little in Japan that you can't find an animated series about. So with all this anime they're filling a real hole of genre's.
There are a couple of other reasons to though honestly. I think one of the first and foremost is that they translate these shows over and all the sudden you can watch a new episode 5 days a week. For anyone who's fed up with having to wait a whole..long..week.. to watch a rerun thats a godsend. It's like reading a book you can't put down. In an almost shameful sense it's the same reason soap opera's are popular.
The other reasons are needing adult cartoons blah blah etc. etc. Mostly there are a lot of adults out there that just don't jive with what the mommies out there will allow to be put on prime time tv. I've watched Futurama and I think it's great crack em up stuff but I can't get into it. It dosn't jive with my taste of how animation should look and it's a story made to make people laugh instead of a story with parts that make you laugh. Different strokes for different folks as always.
Jartan
My father was a swabbie, and so was one of my older brothers. Neither of them watch cartoons, and neither play with legos, but neither appreciates Pablo Picasso, heavy metal music, an elegant proof, or great literature (my dad reads a good book he enjoys from time to time, but he hasn't really delved in to the classics yet). I appreciate all of those, and I enjoy legos, anime, and watching the standing waves under my faucet if I turn the water down and hold my hand close to it. Am I better than them for this? No. Are my tastes more sophisticated? Possibly, but I just prefer the term different. The false associate with "animation" = "for kids" is just like saying "Renaissance" = "art" or "really skinny" = "beautiful".
:P.
I wouldn't be bragging about being associated with unsophisticated people like that
"If I were as dumb as you, I could be a jarhead too!" --the navy brat's credo
BlackGriffen
Sorry. I have seen the error of my ways, and I will now only comform to the crowd.
Asshole.
You're the asshole. The guy asks a legitmate question and because you don't understand him you call him an asshole. Classy.
He didn't insult you. He didn't tell you were wrong. He simply asked what it is about anime that intrigues so many people.
I've always had the same question. Of course, I've never actually asked because I know some defensive dickwad like you would bite my head off.
Grow up, jackass.