I'm trying to understand Anime.

[Gothicshark]

Anime and Manga have been rising in popularity for years. But I never managed to get it.

I tried to watch all the mainstream popular stuff like Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, Naruto, Inuyasha, Naruto, and recently I seen a reference to Attack on Titan and checked that out too.

But I just don't get it. Very often they are based on solid story backdrops, but Jesus the exposition is horrendous. Full of clitches, unamusing humor etc.

Then you have all the contemplation, the blablabla. Most of the time its bloody horrible. The action sequences are terrible. The characters are all half twits. It's like the Comic book cliche of the villain going on 4 hour explanations on how they will cut the hero in two using a complicated, prototype laser, while he is tied to a table, instead of just freaking shooting him in face. Anime feels the same but the protagonists do the same.

How is it enjoyable? They are terrible.

I don't say I never seen Anime that I would have liked. There are things like Vampire Hunter D, Hellsing, Blue Gender (this suffered from all the above, but the backdrop was too good) Ghost in a Shell, Jin-Roh, or the brilliant Cowboy Bepop.

These also use a lot of character exposition but they make sense and don't interupt the flow of the action. Plus they try to stay away from stupid cliches.

Now I might be missing something here.

**EDIT**

I'll reformulate the question, as I have put it badly before.

Why is there such a strong following of the "Kiddie" category Anime? Many of my friends ages 25+ (some in their mid and late 30's) spend hours upon hours watching and rewatching DBZ or Gundam or stuff like that, and debating it, in debth.

(Yeah I work and hang out in a somewhat geeky enviroment.)

First off Not everyone on Earth is a Geek, and only a small portion of Geeks like Anime. So what you are saying is you are not an Otaku and you don't get it.

Well Frankly I don't get watching 8 millionaires running back and forth with a ball. But some people love basketball. We all have different tastes, and if you dislike something you dislike it. I can't tell you how to like something, I can only tell you whats good. As far as the listed animes you dislike, Most of those are only good in the Japanese, since the American translations are god awful, also DBZ is over rated hype from 20 years ago.

Dragon Ball Z - Only DBZ fans like it, you had to watch it when it was new to get it.
Gundam - Depends on which series most are good if you like long Drama focused Mecha Anime.
Naruto - Only good in the Japanese, and only the Primary Story Arcs, the fillers are bad, unbelievably bad.
Inuyasha - I am a fan of the authors older series Ranma, I find that ~200 Episodes over 20 years was a bit much.


Other shows worth watching only in Japanese.

Bleach, One Piece - both are really enjoyable minus any filler.


But your list of Animes you enjoyed...

Vampire Hunter D
Blue Gender
Ghost in a Shell
Jin-Roh
Cowboy Bepop

These are all very story driven Stories which are not based on the Super Hero tropes of the other Anmies you listed.

Think of the action genre of animes in the same way we watch X-Men, Spiderman and Batman, might help you see them for what they are. Since ou like the Story non-heroe Animes, I would recommend Outlaw Star, Bodacious Space Pirates, and similar Animes.

[Digglett]

I've seen a good number of animes/read a good amount of manga and while I kind of enjoyed them I was never super into them, so I can see where people who can't understand their popularity are coming from. But then I read/watched JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and my eyes were opened.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is seriously some of the most fun I've ever had watching anime.

[Deleted]

I stopped trying to watch, enjoy, or even make sense of anime after I saw my first tentacle scene in a movie a friend lent to me.

[Gothicshark]

Aww, but 4kids did such a great job.

...

Ahh shit I have to go to the hospital I seem to have popped some blood vessels...

Yes because editing out damage, swords, and Tobacco is a good thing.

[Boogieknight]

Watch a couple of OVAs like Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Paprika, Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leaped Through Time or some non-mainstream anime like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. There are some very popular anime that I cannot for the life of me figure out why anyone likes unless they have obsessions with mechs, giant swords, huge boobs, or creative use of tentacled organisms.

[Digglett]

non-mainstream anime like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Haruhi is so far from being non-mainstream.

[Ms Andry]

non-mainstream anime like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. .

please, don't joke like this, people might think you're serious

[Deleted]

FMA is shounen.

What is shounen?

[gunner_recall]

Anime is a god-awful attempt by the Japanese to create cartoons starring high school girls who look and sound like their either 7 or 32 and have magical powers and shoot rainbows out their assholes and pull bastard swords 5 times as large as they are out of nowhere.

[Deleted]

Anime is a god-awful attempt by the Japanese to create cartoons starring high school girls who look and sound like their either 7 or 32 and have magical powers and shoot rainbows out their assholes and pull bastard swords 5 times as large as they are out of nowhere.

Is that a bad thing?

[gunner_recall]

Is that a bad thing?

Yes .

[Zatheyll]

Is that a bad thing?

Obviously.

None of them are ever naked when they should be.

[Digglett]

Anime is a god-awful attempt by the Japanese to create cartoons starring high school girls who look and sound like their either 7 or 32 and have magical powers and shoot rainbows out their assholes and pull bastard swords 5 times as large as they are out of nowhere.

What's wrong, is it too deep for you?

[gunner_recall]

What's wrong, is it too deep for you?

Wow. Ok, kiddo.

[Boogieknight]

please, don't joke like this, people might think you're serious

Even I gotta entertain myself somehow.

[N-7]

What is shounen?

Anime that targets young-male demographics (10+) and is usually action/comedy based most (but not all) are long-ass (150+ episodes and some can span up to 600 if not more). Some examples would be DBZ, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach etc...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dnen_manga

I personally only follow one of them and that is because I grew up watching it.

[xylophone]

Haruhi is so far from being non-mainstream.

I think he meant non mainstream for non anime watchers. If that makes sense.

---------- Post added 2013-05-08 at 06:51 PM ----------

What is shounen?

Manga/anime have names for their targeted age demographics. Shounen being for males from 10-~17 seinen being targeted towards males 18-30. There's a bunch more for everything from young girls to old men, but I don't remember the names for them.

[Snakez]

Many of my friends ages 25+ (some in their mid and late 30's) spend hours upon hours watching and rewatching DBZ or Gundam or stuff like that, and debating it, in debth.

Just so you can participate in the conversations.

[Digglett]

Wow. Ok, kiddo.

I bet you don't even know what deep is.

[Nadev]

I think these are the ones people say give anime a bad name. Try ones that are less than 50 episodes that aren't Death Note.

Why's that? Taste is subjective.

Yes because editing out damage, swords, and Tobacco is a good thing.

Going to guess he was being sarcastic. You're already a pariah among the weaboos for admitting you watch dubbed anime. But watching an awful quality dub (like 4kids OP) is social suicide.