# Why do so many people dislike Japanese Animation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728 "2013-03-12T17:12:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/61 "2013-03-13T18:06:40Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Really? Someone says they want to know some good animes the start with and \*this \*is how you respond? > > > [@TBG](#): > > > > but a lot of western anime fans (aka weeaboos) are insufferable weirdos. > > Apparently so. Snark or not, I didn’t explicitly insult him. And I did answer one of his (very easily researchable) requests for info. Bebop and Ghost are animes he had mentioned being interested in and wanting to know what the “first episodes” were. Duh! How hard was that to find out? > [@Airk](#): > > **Eyebrows of Doom** is right; The IMDB and Amazon links were a terrible freaking cop out. It’s a “cop out” to send someone some links where they could do some basic research on the very topic _they_ mentioned being interested in??? I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I’m interested in something, I tend to do a little basic google-fu on my own to acquaint myself with the subject before asking someone else to do my research for me. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/62 "2013-03-13T18:06:54Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > This! This drives me crazy for some reason. > > There are some great movies out there, but the gasps just grate on me. I will third the gasping. I have met several Japanese people and I don’t recollect them talking like that. What is it with that, anyway? It seems pretty pervasive. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/63 "2013-03-13T18:22:16Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > It’s a “cop out” to send someone some links where they could do some basic research on the very topic _they_ mentioned being interested in??? > > I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I’m interested in something, I tend to do a little basic google-fu on my own to acquaint myself with the subject before asking someone else to do my research for me. Possibly. But anime is such a gigantic field that, as other people and yourself have said, it’s like saying “Recommend me some movies!” I’d want to know what genre he loves and hates…but I can still start with some that have some mass appeal. Yes, you did that, but your comments about what a link was were pretty obnoxious. That being said neither your response or the comment about “Deal with it” really encourages prospective fans. As **Maggie the Ocelot** says: “The main thing that annoys me about anime is people who are into anime.” True 'dat. I’ve never seen a particular genre that attracts such cranky fans, really. I ask about entertainment all the time on the boards. It’s a better and more fun and interactive way to find out about what you might like than just reading descriptions of it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/64 "2013-03-13T18:28:48Z")
> [@Mavis\_Topholese](#): > > One could easily spend an afternoon watching “Goldie Gold And Action Jack”, “Rocket Robin Hood”, and “Super President”, and conclude that American cartoons were the worst sludge ever inflicted on human eyeballs. What the fuck is THIS fucking bullshit?! _Rocket Robin Hood_ was Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/65 "2013-03-13T19:26:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > “The main thing that annoys me about anime is people who are into anime.” > > True 'dat. I’ve never seen a particular genre that attracts such cranky fans, really. I ask about entertainment all the time on the boards. It’s a better and more fun and interactive way to find out about what you might like than just reading descriptions of it. It’s a hobby that seems, for no particular reason, to also attract more than it’s fare share of derision - if you’re an avid mountain biker, you don’t have to put up with so many people asking why you enjoy your hobby. So perhaps it’s fair that people end up being a little defensive when they keep having to deal with what seem like willfully ignorant statements like “It all looks like pokemon” or bafflingly irrational complaints like “I can’t stand the gasping” (In all seriousness, I’m not even sure what these people are talking about.). That said, yes, I’m not particularly proud of the associates I inherit as a result of being a fan of being an anime fan. On the other hand, I’m not really proud of the associates I get from a lot of my hobbies. On the third hand, I actually have a hard time thinking of non-outdoors activities that would get me associates that I would be proud to associate with, so no serious losses there after all. 😛 As you can tell, however, we’re not all jerks. Some of us have in fact volunteered a game attempt at some general recommendations, since that’s what was asked for. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/66 "2013-03-13T19:35:14Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > It’s a hobby that seems, for no particular reason, to also attract more than it’s fare share of derision - if you’re an avid mountain biker, you don’t have to put up with so many people asking why you enjoy your hobby. But this thread was the opposite, people asking those of us who don’t like it to explain. If you don’t like people talking about what they don’t like about Japanese animation, why in the world would you open this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/67 "2013-03-13T19:43:59Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > As you can tell, however, we’re not all jerks. Some of us have in fact volunteered a game attempt at some general recommendations, since that’s what was asked for. Yes, you have, and no, you are not all jerks. We, I guess, since I am somewhat of a fan, too, but I wouldn’t list it amongst my chief interests (years go by sometimes between watchings). There will always be irrational complaints and dislikes to anything. I could name any event, any hobby, and a section of people will have completely irrational dislikes to it. Why engage them? They’re not interested, so there’s the door (politely). This thread was made to ask why they didn’t like it. But some people can be gently corrected if what they are saying is totally wrong. > [@](#): > > On the other hand, I’m not really proud of the associates I get from a lot of my hobbies Truer words were never said! Every hobby I have has weirdos inherent in it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/68 "2013-03-13T19:51:39Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Snark or not, I didn’t explicitly insult him. And I did answer one of his (very easily researchable) requests for info. Bebop and Ghost are animes he had mentioned being interested in and wanting to know what the “first episodes” were. Duh! How hard was that to find out? > > It’s a “cop out” to send someone some links where they could do some basic research on the very topic _they_ mentioned being interested in??? > > I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I’m interested in something, I tend to do a little basic google-fu on my own to acquaint myself with the subject before asking someone else to do my research for me. With all due respect, my post did list a some anime I had seen in the past. I find that in terms of IMDB, with the anime shows I have seen, it is painfully lacking, if it even had any entries for them at all. [This is the IMDB entry for one of the shows that I listed as watching](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294220/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) Do note that it says season 1 1980, lists 1 season, but in the title of the page the date listed is 1977. Further, when I looked in the past it gave the US dates instead of the original Japanese dates, so if something was shown out of order here, how would you know. Additionally someone with just passing knowledge of Star Blazers wouldn’t necessarily know that the Japanese version is Space Battleship Yamato. I gave the example of Star Blazers as why it would be confusing to find the first episode as it isn’t listed as Season 1, Season 2 just Star Blazers Quest For Iscandar, Star Blazers Comet Empire, Star Blazers Bolar Wars. Another show I watched growing up was [Grandizer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185070/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) This entry has a bit more information, but still very lacking, gives three different names for the show and mentions that only 27 episodes out of 74 were translated for the US. I know at least one of the shows that ran in Force Five is not in IMDB at all. So, in terms of anime, I have found in the past that IMDB is a poor place to look. The same issue would be for amazon…they don’t give release date of the move or show itself…they give the release date of the DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/69 "2013-03-13T20:17:00Z")
IMDB is not really strong on anime, especially anime TV series. Wikipedia covers them much better. [Anime News Network](http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/) is another reasonably good source of information, but the one that I go to to find out what anime are really about is [TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/70 "2013-03-13T20:19:38Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > No, I’m sorry. They absolutely do not. How many pictures do we need provide? I swear this gets done in almost every anime thread we have, and people like you skip those posts. > > This is about as absurd as saying that all Western Animation looks like The Simpsons. > > That’s okay, I find your reasons for being annoyed to be completely irrational, so I feel like I’m the logical, intellectual one here. 😉 Every single one I have seen rely heavily on the same style. They have more in common with Voltron than Fantasia. I have not seen one that I mistaked for anything other than anime. Of course there is some Western animation which tries to emulate the style such as Avatar. For a kids show Avatar was OK but the animation style did annoy me. Goofy reaction shots right out of Speed Racer etc. Show me something that does not use the same cliches and style as all the others and maybe I’ll like it. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/71 "2013-03-13T20:36:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Every single one I have seen rely heavily on the same style. They have more in common with Voltron than Fantasia. I have not seen one that I mistaked for anything other than anime. Of course there is some Western animation which tries to emulate the style such as Avatar. For a kids show Avatar was OK but the animation style did annoy me. Goofy reaction shots right out of Speed Racer etc. Show me something that does not use the same cliches and style as all the others and maybe I’ll like it. OK, here are a few anime that don’t have that anime style: [Arrietty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrietty) [Cowboy Bebop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop) [Genshiken](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genshiken) [Mushishi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi) [Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayonara,_Zetsubou-Sensei) [Thermae Romae](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermae_Romae) [The Twelve Kingdoms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Kingdoms) [Zipang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipang_%28anime%29) You may not like any of these (though I like all of them, even though they are in widely different genres), but they aren’t typical anime. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/72 "2013-03-13T20:40:34Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > OK, here are a few anime that don’t have that anime style: > [Arrietty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrietty) > [Cowboy Bebop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop) > [Genshiken](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genshiken) > [Mushishi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi) > [Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayonara,_Zetsubou-Sensei) > [Thermae Romae](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermae_Romae) > [The Twelve Kingdoms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Kingdoms) > [Zipang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipang_%28anime%29) > > You may not like any of these (though I like all of them, even though they are in widely different genres), but they aren’t typical anime. Arriety really? Half a second of the trailer I saw in the theater I thought “Disney is doing anime?” You might or might not like it but it looked and felt like typical anime. I’ll check out the rest, I don’t reconize the names of most of them. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/73 "2013-03-13T20:43:22Z")
Me, I always like to trot out [Fist of the North Star](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fist_of_the_north_star) and [Berserk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_%28manga%29) when people start talking like “It all looks the same.” There are probably others, but honestly, there’s no convincing people who don’t want to be convinced. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/74 "2013-03-13T20:50:06Z")
I think [Monster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_%28manga%29) could be added to this list. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/75 "2013-03-13T20:58:09Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > r bafflingly irrational complaints like “I can’t stand the gasping” (In all seriousness, I’m not even sure what these people are talking about.). [Cowboy Bebop 37:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OMsVYEpmQk) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/76 "2013-03-13T20:58:09Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Me, I always like to trot out [Fist of the North Star](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fist_of_the_north_star) and [Berserk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_%28manga%29) when people start talking like “It all looks the same.” > > There are probably others, but honestly, there’s no convincing people who don’t want to be convinced. Are you going to claim that there aren’t cliches, styles, themes than run through many if not most of anime? The gasping, stupid over-reaction shots, infantalized characters (even the ones supposed to be adults). Many have been listed here there is no need for me to state them all again. Are you saying that isn’t prevelant? I know they are not all the same but most share enough of the same style to make me dislike them. I looked up some criticism of anime and one quote from another board summed it up pretty well. _To someone already invested in anime, the stylistic differences are more pronounced. To someone on the outside (such as OP and myself) the general lack of clear distinction between anime art styles can be off-putting and make it harder to get into. The fact that you can look at and anime and instantly know it’s an anime is indicative of this. It uses a specific set of motifs and styles, and rarely alters them in a clearly distinctive way._ You like the motifs and styles. I don’t. I don’t see that changing. I can certainly see the diffences between different examples of anime. But they all retain a certain style that is anime. It is that quality that makes them instantly recognizable as anime. It is that style I don’t like. And I have tried to watch. I don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/77 "2013-03-13T21:20:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Are you going to claim that there aren’t cliches, styles, themes than run through many if not most of anime? The gasping, stupid over-reaction shots, infantalized characters (even the ones supposed to be adults). Many have been listed here there is no need for me to state them all again. Are you saying that isn’t prevelant? I know they are not all the same but most share enough of the same style to make me dislike them. Are you saying that there aren’t cliches, styles, and themes that run through ANY media? It doesn’t mean it’s all “the same” or even that it LOOKS the same. Do all Hollywood movies “look the same” to you? To be quite truthful, I’m unprepared to “deny” the “gasping, stupid, over reaction shots.” because I literally CANNOT remember such a thing in any decent anime that I have seen. Maybe I just don’t notice them because frankly, they don’t seem like a big deal unless you decide they’re a big deal. And I can say with a great degree of firmness that no, they don’t all have “infantalized”[sic] characters. Are they “prevalent”? Certainly, in some subsections of the medium. In much the same way that, say, American action movies have many “prevalent” characteristics. It does not, however, mean that it applies globally by any stretch of the imagination. > [@](#): > > I looked up some criticism of anime and one quote from another board summed it up pretty well. _To someone already invested in anime, the stylistic differences are more pronounced. To someone on the outside (such as OP and myself) the general lack of clear distinction between anime art styles can be off-putting and make it harder to get into. The fact that you can look at and anime and instantly know it’s an anime is indicative of this. It uses a specific set of motifs and styles, and rarely alters them in a clearly distinctive way._ Can you look at an American comic and immediately tell it’s a comic book? Is this offputting? Does it all look the same? I don’t even have any interest in the medium and I can tell you immediately that the answer is no, even though a lot of it features certain stylistic choices. I feel the same way about Japanese animation. What if you took the “description” above and dropped in ANY creative medium? > [@](#): > > You like the motifs and styles. I don’t. I don’t see that changing. I can certainly see the diffences between different examples of anime. But they all retain a certain style that is anime. It is that quality that makes them instantly recognizable as anime. It is that style I don’t like. And I have tried to watch. I don’t like it. I’m not criticizing your taste, I’m criticizing your criticism. I really don’t care what you like or don’t like, but it aggravates me to see something varied and diverse dismissed as “oh, it’s all the same”. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/78 "2013-03-13T21:22:33Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > [Cowboy Bebop 37:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OMsVYEpmQk) So…a character saying “huh”? is a stupid gasping reaction shot? Or am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/79 "2013-03-13T21:24:34Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > So…a character saying “huh”? is a stupid gasping reaction shot? Or am I missing something? I went to the link and watched and listened for a minute or so and there’s a ton of gaspy/grunty breathing. You don’t hear that? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728/80 "2013-03-13T21:25:24Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Are you saying that there aren’t cliches, styles, and themes that run through ANY media? It doesn’t mean it’s all “the same” or even that it LOOKS the same. Do all Hollywood movies “look the same” to you? If its a genre in which the cliches, styles and themes actively annoy me I do not watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-dislike-japanese-animation/652728.md?page=5)