Why cartoons/anime over real people?

[Gaidax]

It has limitless opportunities to create stuff that is nigh impossible to replicate with actual movie/series, especially in the given timeframe.

Too bad most of them waste all that potential on shoddy school crap and fanservice.

[YUPPIE]

For me it is emotions. You get more feels from cartoons/anime than watching real people. Of course, it depends on the story as well, but a sad anime is more feels than a sad real show.

Isn't that anti-social disorder?

[Queen of Hamsters]

I also quite enjoyed Paranoia Agent and Parasyte, found them in my watchlist.

[CrawlFromThePit]

I can't tell if the point is "so parents can enjoy cartoons with their children and have something special in common" or "so grown adults can look like nightmare fuel dressed as kid's characters" both are technically valid.

Having something shared to talk about with my dad as far as MLP:FIM has been swell. Somehow I made him a bigger nerd than I am over it. I feel like a lot of the animation renaissance as of late has been them realizing that appealing to both generations means twice the fans and all the more influence over those sweet, sweet parent's wallets. :P I only ever bought one toy, my dad owns over 20.

My point was that some things in cartoons have a visual that simply cannot be replicated correctly in real life, just like how trying to make something photorealistic in drawing is impossible for an animated production. The visual aspect (presentation) of any entertainment product is extremely important and the OP's dismissal of that fact is a problem in itself. That's like saying "why motorcycle over car and don't talk to me about the fact that it's on 2 wheels instead of 4".

[Pakheth]

I would also like to point out that I love both movies and animation but that each has it's pros and cons. Though lately I have grown more fond of animation due to the things you can do in the medium that is hard to do in real life even with a shit ton of CG. Might also not look as good or as fantastical.
I have also grown fond of the range of emotion animation can show that most actors would never be able to portray which is also why a lot of adaptions from animation to live action fails in my book as emotion is very often lost in the process(just look at the new Lion King, completely lifeless). And as someone who has problems with reading intention in people unless their emotions are clear you can probably imagine why I prefer the exaggerated emotions of animation over real life movies. For example I love the insane smirks Light shows off in Death Note when he knows he has done something clever. You could find someone who could do this as an actor, but most likely you won't.

Animation allows you to play with light and shadows, color and perspectives that would be very hard to perform in real life. However, that doesn't mean it's impossible in live action movies, just that is sadly a lot less common. It is also considered a lot more artistic and a lot could be done with just some creative angles.
Great examples includes: Sin City, Tron: Legacy, V for Vendetta, 300, which also happens to be some of my favorite movies, 3 of them also happens to be adaptions from comics.

[jackofwind]

Oh look, it's another Tsugunai anime thread where they pretend "super honestly guys, for real, never watch it ever, I promise."



Does this clip still trigger you? Maybe you want to make another bait thread for it, it's been a while.

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Idk if this is a trolling attemp but Im going to assume its not.

It's a Tsugunai anime thread - it's just another of their thousand bottom-tier bait threads.

Flaming isn't allowed. Infracted.

[anon5123]

I mean like thematically meaningful and believable adult's story.

Uh...yes. Hundreds, if not thousands of animated productions are "mature" in this way you describe.

[Rozz]

is there such a thing as a genuinely mature cartoon though? By genuine I don't mean obscenities and gross out violence just to push up the age rating. I mean like thematically meaningful and believable adult's story.

That's a bit subjective, as even Breaking Bad can be criticized for having elements for the sake of being gritty. But that's the genre it's in.

Violet Evergarden is a very beautiful anime and it's a romance/war-time story. It has nothing to hike it's rating, but it's more mature than something you'd see on Family Guy or My Hero Academia. You can also watch some anime movies, such as Wolf Children, Akira, Perfect Blue, and In This Corner of the World. All have mature themes or plots that are clearly aimed towards a mature/older audience.

In This Corner of the World is actually one of my favorite anime movies as of late.

Princess Kaguya is also another good example.

[Zenfoldor]

They don't. There are plenty of extremely well regarded animated films. There is, however, no lack of short sighted and biased individuals who might say that though.

This. /10char

[eschatological]

I have honestly never seen an animation convey the emotion a human being can. I don't understand people who suggest animation can be more emotive or display the range of real, human actors.

Animation exists in the same space CGI does, imo: to exaggerate and embellish plot/action in ways that real people couldn't hope to achieve themselves. It is an extension of the visual arts, but I don't know that I've ever seen "the best animation" outdo "the best acting," at least on the emotional/character side of things.

And I don't take seriously the people who think drawn characters can match the expressiveness of real (good) actors. At best they can match the dialogue of one - but never the expression.

[Rozz]

I have honestly never seen an animation convey the emotion a human being can. I don't understand people who suggest animation can be more emotive or display the range of real, human actors.

Animation exists in the same space CGI does, imo: to exaggerate and embellish plot/action in ways that real people couldn't hope to achieve themselves. It is an extension of the visual arts, but I don't know that I've ever seen "the best animation" outdo "the best acting," at least on the emotional/character side of things.

And I don't take seriously the people who think drawn characters can match the expressiveness of real (good) actors. At best they can match the dialogue of one - but never the expression.

I'm surprised by this.

I would imagine that those very exaggerations are what people are referring to by an elevated range. Humans can never express the absurd range of emotion you can give to a drawing, but whether you can relate to it or not is different for each person.

[Powerogue]

Well for the most basic and novice example: Breaking Bad is an adult's story.

And what defines it being an "adult's story" in your opinion? Swearing? Violence? Drugs? Deep and complex storytelling? There's a lot of potential factors, and narrowing them down would answer your question.

[apustus]

is there such a thing as a genuinely mature cartoon though? By genuine I don't mean obscenities and gross out violence just to push up the age rating. I mean like thematically meaningful and believable adult's story.

Is there such a thing as a genuinely mature live-action TV show?
Also; Legend of The Galactic Heroes. 100 episodes of space politics.

[rayden54]

so why does Hollywood and social media deem it all kids shit then?

Because they're idiots and unfortunately they've created a self-perpetuating cycle. They make animated stuff for kids so people think animated stuff is for kids and so they make animated stuff for kids and so on. The only real exception is the branch of animation where "not for kids" is it's biggest marketing angle (ie South Park) which doesn't help much.

The shitty part is that there's so many stories (especially in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres) that would be so much easier to tell in animation than in life-action but unless something changes they're not likely to be made at all. They're simply too effects heavy to be made on a budget and too niche for anyone to spend that kind of money on them.

[jackofwind]

And what defines it being an "adult's story" in your opinion? Swearing? Violence? Drugs? Deep and complex storytelling? There's a lot of potential factors, and narrowing them down would answer your question.

He'll tell you that Akira is a kids story because it's animated and then turn around and tell you that Breaking Bad is an adult story because it involves drugs and violence.

There's no real point in trying to clarify anything, it's not a thread that's intended to motivate intelligent discussion.

[eschatological]

I'm surprised by this.

I would imagine that those very exaggerations are what people are referring to by an elevated range. Humans can never express the absurd range of emotion you can give to a drawing, but whether you can relate to it or not is different for each person.

I don't mean "emotional exaggeration" when referring to what animation can do well. I'm talking about action/plot exaggeration.

When you try and do emotional exaggeration in animation, you get characters which are literally "cartoonish." Hell, that's how that connotation of "cartoonish" came to exist - from silly exaggerations/attempts at otherwise human emotion. I can't speak to animation specifically, but I have the same problem in JRPGs, CF Sephiroth, who I thought was buffoonish even when FFVII came out, or Tidus's laugh. Occasionally you get super powerful vocal performances, but, imo, they're always dampened by animation, which, no matter how uncanny valley it is, takes away from the power and resonance of a scene.

[Rozz]

I don't mean "emotional exaggeration" when referring to what animation can do well. I'm talking about action/plot exaggeration.

When you try and do emotional exaggeration in animation, you get characters which are literally "cartoonish." Hell, that's how that connotation of "cartoonish" came to exist - from silly exaggerations/attempts at otherwise human emotion. I can't speak to animation specifically, but I have the same problem in JRPGs, CF Sephiroth, who I thought was buffoonish even when FFVII came out, or Tidus's laugh. Occasionally you get super powerful vocal performances, but, imo, they're always dampened by animation, which, no matter how uncanny valley it is, takes away from the power and resonance of a scene.

Well that could be a genre and media issue in itself. At that point it's just preference and I respect yours. I actively avoid JRPGs bc I find them cringey for similar reasons, among others.

[Muajin76]

Like I know it's a niche already, but from someone who's skeptical, what do things like cartoons (of all kinds) have that would make people think "I want to watch this over cinema? Like a unique appeal or trait that can't be replicated by actors or humans in general. And no I don't think just the fact it's drawn counts, it has to really be something unique to itself.

Japan has a gaming event. *or had..not sure if it still goes on* where guys go to this hotel and show off their virtual female girlfriends *usually on nds or mobile i assume* i'm pretty sure many chose the same girl *would that make her a slut?* haha
It adds to the whole *vegetable men* syndrome in Japan too.

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Not to mention the guy that recently "married" Hatsune Miku in Japan. He had an actual priest attend..they had a ceremony/guests/dinner.

Also that guy in Korea that married an anime character body pillow.

[apustus]

I don't mean "emotional exaggeration" when referring to what animation can do well. I'm talking about action/plot exaggeration.

When you try and do emotional exaggeration in animation, you get characters which are literally "cartoonish." Hell, that's how that connotation of "cartoonish" came to exist - from silly exaggerations/attempts at otherwise human emotion. I can't speak to animation specifically, but I have the same problem in JRPGs, CF Sephiroth, who I thought was buffoonish even when FFVII came out, or Tidus's laugh. Occasionally you get super powerful vocal performances, but, imo, they're always dampened by animation, which, no matter how uncanny valley it is, takes away from the power and resonance of a scene.

Cartoon characters are supposed to look cartoonish though. If you try to mimic on real actors what you can do on an animated one, you get cartoonish real people and that's wrong.

[Miyagie]

is there such a thing as a genuinely mature cartoon though? By genuine I don't mean obscenities and gross out violence just to push up the age rating. I mean like thematically meaningful and believable adult's story.

Perfect Blue, Monster, Ghost in the Shell or Paprika are outstanding movies/tv shows.
Very well written and made and for me on the same level as the big cinema classics.