I'm trying to understand Anime.

[Mihalik]

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.)

[Landale]

I think the key thing you're missing here is that you're lumping it all into one category. The ones you mention liking are targeted toward a different demographic than the ones you say you're not getting.

[Deleted]

Some people like those clichés and that type of humour.

[stumpy]

So... stop watching shows targeted at kids in the 10-14 demographic?

[Deleted]

Those action packed amines are not for everyone. Maybe you are more of the sensitive type, and would therefore appriciated "Clannad" more.

[alexday14]

Realistically, you probably have no real qualms with anime. You just know that the WoW fanbase has a strong correlation with the western Anime fanbase, and want to open a giant can of shitstorm.

I don't consider myself a fan of anime, but I have watched a few series that I enjoyed. But mainly for the storyline and plot that came with it; the fact that it's drawn in a paticular style isn't exactly a factor to me.

[Deleted]

For a start stop watching childrens shows, those shows you mentioned are aimed at kids in their early teens.

[ddsad2212]

Honestly the ones you mentioned are fairly bad as far as animes go. Well not bad , but by no means the best. Naruto has a massive fan base, as well as DBZ but I am fairly sure no one would consider them to be the greatest anime has to offer. Honestly there is nothing to understand about them, they are just not the best anime has to offer, while some of the others you mentioned are. I would suggest watching anime that would be considered better such as FMA, Code Geass or if you want something with less action in it like Steins Gate;. These are all considered to be among the best anime like DBZ and naruto, while popular really aren't by most fans of anime.

Also a quick thing to note, if you liked Hellsing, try out Hellsing ultimate brilliant anime

[Deleted]

It is because of the ones you are watching.
Try Full metal alchimist, rurouni kenshin, Lupin III

[Tsuna]

Wait, from what I just read you clearly understand anime enough to know why SOME people like the series you listed and why you don't. Should I even bother trying to engage in civil debate or are you trying to start a flamewar over anime popularity?

[Deleted]

You speak of heresy you heathen.


JK, i guess some people dont like dragonball awesomeness

[Applenazi]

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.

This sentence is too poorly written for me to understand with confidence, but it sounds like you are saying you enjoyed these titles? If so, that seems to nullify quite a bit of your overall post about not understanding the attraction to this form of media.

Please explain to me why do you like things like Naruto, Gundam or Dragon Ball Z.

Then you go on to ask why others enjoy these titles; so just to clarify, is the purpose of this post to ask why people enjoy specific titles that you yourself do not?

[Surfd]

I tried to watch all the mainstream popular stuff like ........

I think I found your problem. Try checking out some of the lesser known shows, instead of immediately jumping on the "sucked up for saturday morning cartoons" stuff.

The vast majority of shows you listed at the beginning there all follow the same formula because that is the nature of the show. Pretty much ALL magical girl shows follow the same formula. Same with all of the long running shows in the DBZ style.

It is the outliers that are usually the best. I see you mentioned you liked a lot of the older classics, like Vampir Hunter D, Ghost in the Shell, and Bebop. I would reccomend checking out Trigun, Outlaw star and the like.

Your best bet might be to stay away from anything that runs to more then 24-28 episodes, as pretty much all of them fall into the DBZ trap of "half the episode is the Villian and the Protagonist shouting powerup phrazes and grunting" thing.

That being said, out of all the DBZ / Naruto / Bleach style shows that i have watched, I still think One Piece takes them all out behind the shed and beats them bloody. Just stay far FAR away from the English Dub.

[Zalamander]

If you dislike the cliche stuff of ordinary battle anime I rekomend you Ixion Saga that makes fun and parody of all thoes main stream anime stuff

For instance, bad guy boss standa rambling about his super attack he's gonna kill the hero with and start charging it up, as the hero(?) just run in and kick him between the legs and steal his sword.

[Struffi]

Try Full metal alchimist

Yeah you should really try this one, im watching it now and im in love with it

[Tsuna]

Just stay far FAR away from the English Dub.

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...

[Marmot]

Take into account that Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z is nearly 30 years old - Manga started in 1984, ended 1995, Anime started 1986, ended 1996. You can sort of see why it's kinda clichéd and lame compared to modern anime, because it was pretty much one of the first of it's kind. It's the length of time it's been around and nostalgia that cause it to be so popular. I respect it for paving the way for some of the better anime.

[Skorpionss]

I dunno? Different strokes for different folks?

I personally view DBZ as my favourite, probably because nostalgia... Even though I've seen much better ones such as Full Metal Alchemist, Hellsing, Gantz, Berserk... and many many more... to me shounen(aimed at teens) is very enjoyable especially the long series(DBZ, naruto, one piece, bleach, fairy tail, yu yu hakusho)... and yeah it's cliche as fuck... but why does cliche even exist if not bcoz it's liked by the masses?

I personally think that those types of anime aren't your cup of tea so maybe stop piling all anime into 1 category... it's a genre as diverse as the movie genres... maybe even more diverse... so I dunno how to make u understand why WE like it... all u can do is reflect on why u Don't like it and just ignore the others and their tastes?

[nouseforamonkey]

The major problem you're having is that you're trying to treat "anime" as a genre.

It's not a genre, it's a medium.

There are a ridiculously large variety of styles and story types represented by the blanket term "anime". It's not exactly uncommon to enjoy one type of show and dislike another.

The first batch of shows you listed mostly fall under the shonen genre, which literally means "young person". They're action stories marketed for kids 10 and up generally.

The second batch falls under the heading of seinen, which is marketed towards young men generally 18-30.

So depending on your age and entertainment preferences, it's not surprising you enjoy the one and not the other.

[Unionoob]

Honestly the ones you mentioned are fairly bad as far as animes go. Well not bad , but by no means the best. Naruto has a massive fan base, as well as DBZ but I am fairly sure no one would consider them to be the greatest anime has to offer. Honestly there is nothing to understand about them, they are just not the best anime has to offer, while some of the others you mentioned are. I would suggest watching anime that would be considered better such as FMA, Code Geass or if you want something with less action in it like Steins Gate;. These are all considered to be among the best anime like DBZ and naruto, while popular really aren't by most fans of anime.

Also a quick thing to note, if you liked Hellsing, try out Hellsing ultimate brilliant anime

Indeed, I am one of Naruto fans but that anime is just so so compered to others I have watched, as best I still think is Ergo Proxy, Hellsing and X are the best ones.