Really, what is there to say when you open up a niche thread like this? So, here it is. I understand there used to be one of these threads three years ago but I’ve always been told grave-digging and thread necromancy is for the most part, bad etiquette. But as one of my most favorite media-forms ever (and I’m way too impatient for Silver to do this thread as you can plainly see) I think I should open with a bit of my personal history with the art-form. So bring on the survey.
Feel free to explain yourself differently, the survey is just sort of a helpful guide that made me run through this at 7am much easier...
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What was your first anime?
Most people in my friends group would say Pokemon, Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, or Sailor Moon but my actual first anime was either Speed Racer or the sort of amalgamation-thing called Voltron. I’m not even sure where I caught my first glimpses, but as a kid my older brother was a pretty big comic book and trading card game sort of guy and I’d accompany him to these nerd outlets that played anime in the background—though I think I first caught Speed Racer on television.
When did it first resonate with you?
The first Toonami “power hour” that featured Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (known as Ronin Warriors in the states) and Dragon Ball Z. Over time this whole sort of anime boom got me fascinated with this highly stylized sort of imported media and my dad actually bought me boxsets of Ronin Warriors and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
What have you recently finished?
Oda Nobuna no Yabou (2012)
It’s a sort of “Strategy games nerd gets lost in time to Sengoku period. Oh yeah, Oda Nobunaga and a bunch of other important people happen to be teenaged girls by some weird continuity error.” – what surprises me the most about this anime is that I don’t feel that it’s horrible which was a big shocker; it has a formula I thought I’d hate, but my love for time travel for cutesy romance anime as of late perhaps has steered me in this direction. Now, by no means is it a masterpiece and it’s very short (twelve episodes) but the writing team really try to get the right amount of pacing and character development done without making it seem contrived which is quite difficult for its concept and duration.
Subtitles, Dubs, or Both?
Definitely both. This is because I really like to see a well done english voiceover and I think we have succeeded more often than we have failed. I prefer my native tongue but I'm not so self-obsessed to acknowledge that sometimes it's just better as it was. But sometimes stuff just doesn't get translated and I have to deal with that of which I'm completely fine with.
Favorite Voice Actors?
Steven Blum and Wendee Lee are pretty much the staples of good voiceover work and I really appreciate both of them for that; I also fancy Brina Palencia, Derek Stephen Prince, Michelle Ruff, Hilary Haag, and Shelley Calene-Black.
Well for one it's one of the worst dubbing in the history of anime, oh and the story/pacing/narrative is horrid in all shapes and forms.
Biggest surprising enjoyment?
K-ON!, as it was described as a "generic, cliche, slice-of-life with a music club that goes nowhere" to me. I found the high energy lightheartedness to resonate with me for some reason and much like dance music it instills a sort of bubblegum candy feeling in me that makes me realize I'm not taking myself completely serious all the time.
What do you currently look for in anime?
Honestly, I think I’m all over the place – but if there’s one thing I can say firmly is I think there’s no shonen that can appeal to me anymore. Shingeki no Kyojin resonated poorly with me and that was probably one of the darkest and most well-crafted anime of the genre of shonen anime. This is weird to me because I still hold the martial arts variant of shonen very close to me, but perhaps its nostalgia or something else that makes me not toss those aside. That said I feel I’ve been more critical of childhood favorites in this media then in any other. But to answer this a little better: I’ve been into slice-of-life comedies (K-ON!), romantic dramas (Nana), thriller (Monster), horror (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai), adventure (Nadia), space opera (Galactic Heroes), slice-of-life drama (Beck), and so forth.
If you could list your favorites, what would they be?
Cowboy Bebop, Beck, Samurai Champloo, Serial Experiments Lain, Allison to Lillia, Last Exile, Ghost in the Shell, Black Lagoon, Baccano!, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Azumanga Daioh, Madlax, Fushigi no Umi no Nadia. – I could probably go on but those are what are exactly coming to mind right now.
Yes! Gowi, I love you for making this happen! I actually think the survey idea you did is pretty interesting, so I'm going to attempt it too.
What was your first anime?
Yeah, I'm one of those generic people who says that Pokemon, Digimon and Yugioh was one of their firsts. But, I also watched a lot of Beyblade and Sonic X (but honestly, I wouldn't consider it anime anymore). I remember I had some VHS copies of the first few episodes of Series 1, those were some rad days.
When did it first resonate with you?
When I first watched anime, it was around the time of 2003/2004 I think and after that phase I forgot, for a while, that anime even existed. That was until 2009 that I rediscovered Beyblade after all these years. That was the time when I found out that it was anime all this time. I was interested to see what else was out there and in 2010 I believe I sat down and watched Full Metal Alchemist, let's say I was hooked from there on.
What have you recently finished?
Danganronpa - The Animation (2013)
Technically the last anime I watched was Bakemonogatari but I haven't finished it yet (don't get made Silver 🙁 ). Anyway, honestly it was kinda disappointing. I've heard a lot about it on tumblr and my friend is a big fan of it, but honestly it gave me a headache. The story was all over the place, there was so little character development that you could care less about their fate and it was told in such a squandered and awkward way that I couldn't really enjoy it. I even hate the music, and that's really bad.
Subtitles, Dubs, or Both?
Honestly, I go with both. I used to be a dub fanatic and I would watch anime only when they had a dub. How perceptions change. But, I'm pretty open minded when it comes to anime, so there's no sort of baggage with me.
Favorite Voice Actors?
I definitely love the work done by Vic Mignogna, Crispin Freeman, Todd Haberkorn, J. Michael Tatum, Monica Rial, Luci Christian, Brittney Karbowski and there are probably others out there but these were just off the top of my head.
Biggest disappointment?
Code Geass, honestly. Most of my reasoning is towards my hatred for Lelouch. But the story, the characters and the overall feel of it was pretentious as all fuck. Also so repetitive with how R2 began. Made me drop it. Though, I am planning to re-watch it, to see if my opinions change over time.
Biggest surprising enjoyment?
Kanon 2006. Kind of ironic seeing how after I watched Code Geass, I went on to watching Kanon. Someone placed it on their top 10 favourite animes list and I was like "okay this looks pretty, why not give it a shock?", but it was more than that, it was beautiful.
What do you currently look for in anime?
Like I said with the sub or dub question I'm pretty open to try and watch anything. Though, Slice-Of-Life of anything has been a big factor for me I wouldn't mind if I was watching something out of my comfort zone. I would go out of my way and watch yaoi or yuri if I wanted to...Okay I'm a hypocrite, hentai wouldn't be my scene at all.
If you could list your favorites, what would they be?
I'll admit I haven't completed too many series (30 animes in total) but if I have to list my favourites right now, they'd be Fullmetal Alchemist, Kanon 2006, Ouran Highschool Host Club, Baccano, Angel Beats, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, probably Clannad and there's probably more anime I haven't completed yet and they would be on my favourites eventually. Also, you can probably tell that I should stop watching so much KyoAni.
MAL?
Lots of questions asked here. The first anime I've ever watched was Zatch Bell back when Toonami was still around. I liked it a lot back then, but I didn't have much of an affinity for anime; I didn't know much about it as I was not only a fairly young kid, but I also had no access to the internet nor much knowledge of it unfortunately. The first time I decided I loved anime was with some show on Toonami called Bobobobobobobo (something like that) and I still watch some scenes and have a good laugh at it, but I don't consider it my favorite anymore (when I was younger I did). I loved it because I considered it possibly the funniest thing I had seen up to that point.
I think anime is a stupid thing to be into (GET AT ME), but me and the animation style have some history, yeah.
What was your first anime?
I had no idea what anime was until YTV ran an Inuyasha marathon on New Year's Eve, 2003. I was pretty hooked on it for a while - I found it to be wickedly bizarre as I hadn't been exposed to any of these Japanese tropes or concepts before.
When did it first resonate with you?
See: above.
What have you recently finished?
Rewatched Cowboy Bebop last summer.
Subtitles, Dubs, or Both?
I like both; depends on the quality of the voiceover. Miyazaki movies, for example, I only watch in the English dub because they're excellent.
The worst dub I ever saw was the one on Black Lagoon, mostly because on the actual show the Japanese voice actors spend a lot of time speaking in English already and end up giving a far better performance than the straight-up English dub.
Favorite Voice Actors?
Fuck if I know their names.
Biggest disappointment?
I had an old flame turn me on to Vampire Knight in high school. I watched it anticipating a fast-paced, action-oriented anime, but instead got a shojo Twilight meets Degrassi mash up but watched on anyway because the characters actions are retaaaaarded.
Biggest surprising enjoyment?
I saw some K-On! once upon a time and liked it. Didn't get too into it, but I now understand that K-On! fans are basically the bronies of the anime world.
What do you currently look for in anime?
Nothing as I don't really watch it.
If you could list your favorites, what would they be?
Ergo Proxy, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Ghost in the Shell, Trigun, Black Lagoon, Elfen Lied, Afro Samurai, and some others that are presently slipping my mind.
MAL?
I don't know what that means. _________________ A dick that's bigger than the sun.
What was your first anime? Yu-Gi-Oh! was the first anime that I watched on a consistent basis in its dubbed incarnation. I also watched about as much Pokemon or DBZ as a nerdy little white kid in elementary and middle school does. The first anime I sat down to watch end-to-end when I was interested in getting into the genre was Hyouka based on its short length and on a random recommendation from a 4chan thread about the PlayStation Vita (which sort of dates how long I've actually been into anime, which is not long). If you count Avatar: The Last Airbender (I see it more as influenced by anime than formally a part of the genre), it was also among my first when I was younger and revisiting it has confirmed its quality in my eyes.
When did it first resonate with you? Like I said above, Avatar: The Last Airbender was the first tangentially-related show to anime that I fell in love with and it probably remains my favorite animated series ever. As far as anime anime, Hyouka actually was difficult to get through (there are, in retrospect, only two arcs' worth of high high quality content) and during breaks from it, I would watch Daily Lives of High School Boys, which, while not possessing much poignancy, smote me with its gentle, naive humor and good animation as well as just its overwhelming weirdness at points. So, I would say that, though the best was yet to come, but I think that's another part of the survey, so I'll stay mum for now. 😁
What have you recently finished? Unfortunately, somewhat on a whim, I stopped watching anime after getting really into it first semester in exchange for more focus on music, film, and my then-girlfriend. The last thing I finished completely was I think FLCL. I really enjoyed it for its animation (duh) and thought that the presentation of the themes, even if it was ham-fisted at times, was really unique. It's a complete package that never really tore my heart out or anything.
Subtitles, Dubs, or Both? I tend to watch subs because the few dubs I've heard of shonens have been of low quality or made series laughable when it wasn't the original intention. I'll probably branch out to more dubs selectively as I research new series to watch if there's a particularly good reaction to the dub, but subs also have the benefit of demanding my attention a little bit better, which is good for someone like me who is currently watching anime on a laptop in a room with a big window that always has a view of a temperate day or a cute girl or something.
Biggest disappointment? Why? Pokemon: The Origin. Though it was clearly a bit of a marketing gimmick and was too short to really capture much of the games, which I should have been honest with myself about going in, I was nevertheless at least expecting fun vignettes that captured some spirit in between the games and the anime, but it just felt like a really rushed hack-job.
Biggest surprising enjoyment? Maybe it's dumb to choose it since it has a good amount of praise (nostalgic or otherwise) in the anime community, so I shouldn't have been THAT surprised, but after getting my feet wet with more varied styles of anime outside of shonens, I decided I would periodically return and binge an arc at a time of Dragon Ball, and though I never followed up to watch post-Pilaf (a trespass I am correcting soon) it was much better than I anticipated it would seem in comparison to more widely critically acclaimed anime.
What do you currently look for in anime? I am still really new to anime, so I am looking for anime with a wide enough legacy that I can feel informed when talking to people who know a thing or two about the medium as well as new styles. When I get back into it (hopefully soon) I'll be returning to Gurren Lagann about halfway through and probably continue doing arcs of Dragon Ball every so often, but after that, you can check my MAL below to see what I'm most excited about getting around to.
If you could list your favorites, what would they be? Being pretty new to anime, the only thing I'll consider a favorite is an anime that completely changed everything for me. It made anime more than just a diversionary pastime but something I knew I had to explore more and somewhat obsessively. It is an anime with heart and humor that has made me yell in joy, sob, laugh, and clap like an idiot alone in my dorm in the wee hours of a weeknight morning. It is an anime that made me feel emotionally drained after completing it. It is the one, the only, Hajime No Ippo.
I'm not going to lie, I don't watch anime because I associate it with neckbeards.
I've seen all of Miyazaki's films and delved into a few others like The Girl That Lept Through Time and Paprika, but other than that I can't say I know much.
For a person that's willing to give it a chance, what series would you recommend? I'll maybe watch a couple episodes and see what it's all about.
For a person that's willing to give it a chance, what series would you recommend? I'll maybe watch a couple episodes and see what it's all about.
Probably Baccano. Its setting of 1930s America and it's approach to said date and time may appeal to you more and it would be more comfortable than anything having Japanese high school girls do nothing but eat cake and drink tea for the span of 13 episodes. _________________
It think I was 8 or 9. I don't know, my younger self had a bit of an obsession with chanbara (or really anything that had to do with Ninjas or Samurai, though strangely I've never liked Naruto). But I still like Kenshin. Unlike a lot of similar shows there was some actual story/substance/whatever behind all the swordplay eye-candy
What have you recently finished?
Angel Beats!. Friend forced me into watching it. Went in with low expectations and was actually pleasantly surprised for the most part
Subtitles, Dubs, or Both?
Subs. I have seen very few American dubs that weren't outright embarrassing
Favorite Voice Actors?
Megumi Hayashibara, Vic Mignogna, Jun Fukuyama... that's all I can think of off the top of my head
Biggest disappointment?
Season 2 of Darker than Black. Season 1 was actually pretty great honestly wtf happened
Actually no, Deathnote. I fucking loved the manga, so I thought I'd watch the anime and the whole time I'm just like "what is this shit?"
Biggest surprising enjoyment?
Hetalia. At first the concept and humor seemed kind of cheesy and the five minute episodes made it feel more like a youtube series, but it really grows on you
What do you currently look for in anime?
I have no idea how to answer that. I don't have this shit down to a science
If you could list your favorites, what would they be?
Shows: Mushishi (I love Walrus' avatar), Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Darker than Black (season 1), Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Rurouni Kenshin, Fullmetal Alchemist, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Psycho-Pass, Hetalia: Axis Powers, Sankarea, Lupin III, Welcome to the NHK (which I still need to finish...), Bakemonogatari (which I really need to finish before Walrus kills me), Code Geass (nostalgia...)
Movies: Ghost in the Shell, Grave of the Fireflies, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Akira, Spirited Away, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Galaxy Express 999, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro, Dead Leaves
MAL?
don't have one
Last edited by undefined on 03/25/2014 05:23; edited 1 time in total
I'm not going to lie, I don't watch anime because I associate it with neckbeards.
I've seen all of Miyazaki's films and delved into a few others like The Girl That Lept Through Time and Paprika, but other than that I can't say I know much.
For a person that's willing to give it a chance, what series would you recommend? I'll maybe watch a couple episodes and see what it's all about.
I do not even know how to react to that first sentence.
As for medium reccomendations for people looking for something with a little more depth:
Monster, Serial Experiments Lain, Nana, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai all in their own fields have something to the table. There are plenty I can go into (Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a revered 100+ episodic space opera that focuses on military depth, strategic commentary and much more; but it's a long anime.)
There's a lot to account for with variable taste in anime, and I guarantee there's something for everyone. If you like "normal" television and cinema there is an anime out there for you.
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