#99 A Geek Thing: Anime, Live Action and my random thoughts

One more post and I will have reached a hundred in the Carving series, which for me is quite something.  Anyway this is just a series of randomly assembled thoughts.  Not quite as coherent as I would prefer but still, something to talk about.

Since I first started on Amazon, I've received a lot of negative comments (not directed at you Randy) about Eiko being an anime screenplay.  The first of which was posted by a director who stated that no one was looking for anime based scripts.  Time progressed and Eiko made it to the semi-finals.  However the Auditorz gave Eiko barely a pass, with the comment that nobody would touch it with a ten-foot clown pole.  I laughed them off, and continue on...

Not touching yer screenplay...

Then as I received more reviews, I noticed that a lot of people have had negative comments in regards to Eiko being anime based or anime related.  So I have started to wonder why.

What has anime done that has caused the ire in so many people?  Did anime rape your dog, and slaughter your family?  C'mon tell me.  I'd really like to know.

The Auditorz compared The Last Airbender film in their argument.  They stated that it's failure would essentially spell doom for any screenplay that would have similar elements.  Then it came to me.  Avatar: The Last Airbender is not Anime.  It is a cartoon made in America, by Americans, dsiplayed primarily in the American market on an American station.  While it has Asian elements, it is not an "Anime".

An Anime is defined in Wikipedia as Animation from Japan (アニメ).  If you expand on that Anime is an art form of animation based on and originating from Japan.  While the styles may vary, Anime has always come from Japan.  Now Anime style is a different story, and a lot of things from modern cartoons have adapted an Anime style, but that doesn't make them Anime.

Different styles of Anime

Again I am curious.  Why does everyone hate Anime so much?  Strangely enough the people who hate Anime often like other animated works like Disney or CGI like Pixar.  Or they like Sci-Fi or Fantasy Fiction, or they like Super Heroes.

Anime hasn't really done anything to deserve the level of hatred that it has received.  Now I for one love all the things mentioned above.  I love Disney (especially since I have three daughters)  and I love Wall*E, Cars and Toy Story from Pixar.  I am a big Star Trek fan and I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons for years.  I am also a comic book fan, though I don't fit the image of one, being six feet tall and appearing somewhat militant in my profile picture :).

Sorry I am a bit over the place.  Back to Anime.   So people are hating on Anime, and not for any real logical reason.  I am a bit of an old school geek.

Not that kind and not that old school

...and I remember that back in the day, when you professed a love for anything outside of popular culture that made you a social outcast.  I was like the Revenge Of The Nerds.  I liked the things that they liked.  So when I wanted to see TMNT, Batman and similar films before they were culturally acceptable, I was treated like I had some sort of strange disease.

Now look at it.  Star Wars, Batman, Spider-Man are culturally accepted world wide. You can be the cool kid and go see Star Wars or Batman and not be criticized.  The world has changed and what was geekdom back then is now perfectly acceptable and profitable tomorrow.  The Matrix is another fine example.  The Matrix is not a kung-fu movie, though people often characterize it as so.  While the W-brothers/sister are fans of the genre and have made it known, their work is not considered in the same class as a kung fu movie.  The Matrix is categorized as science fiction-action film, and that is what it is.  People also forget about Ninja Assassin, which also is not an Anime based film, but an American Martial Arts film. While it has Anime elements, it too is not an Anime live action film.  James McTeigue even cites Ninja Scroll and Samurai Champloo as influences.  Tell him no one is interested in Anime.

People often want to jump on Anime citing a few past examples of anime as a failure, such as Speed Racer or Dragon Ball Evolution, but they like most republicans only show one side of the story.  They often forget that a failure in the domestic market does not write a film off as a failure everywhere else.  Anime still has a massive fan base, and a fan base can in some cases equal money.

I guess I'm going to end this by asking the question, because my scatter brained nature is taking this all over the place.  In short.

What exactly is your issue with Anime?

Related Post
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Assassin