Winter 2011 Anime “Least Original Ever” “Just Rehashes”
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Jan 10, 2011 18:59 JST
- Tags: Character Design, Comparison, Freezing, Infinite Stratos, Oppai, Otaku, Yumekui Merry
Anime fans are complaining that the latest season of anime comprises little more than a series of painfully derivative rehashes of overworked themes coupled with rigid adherence to genre templates.
The diagram below accuses Gosick, Infinite Stratos, Freezing and Merry of being rehashes based on three near identical elements – “a harsh heroine, lame protagonist, and a school setting”:
Other disgruntled anime fans complain that all anime of any quality now merely focus on the “three pillars” of anime – “battle, romance and school.”
Fans unkindly speculate that the popularity of these inescapable elements is based on “a need to compensate for miserable otaku childhoods.”
Add to this “moeblob,” “slice of life” and “incest” and a fairly complete picture of contemporary anime is arrived at (a few other equally staid tertiary genres, such as mahou shoujo, mecha and harem also continue to be regurgitated).
Whatever their exasperation at being endlessly presented with the same formulaic drivel season after season, unfortunately it seems few fans actually bother to buy anything original when it does get made, rather suggesting a significant portion of anime fans may merely be reluctant to admit their endless hunger for schoolgirl dating fantasies and imouto fetish material.
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Kumiko & Reina Cosplay Hardly Blows At All
Skimpy Elf Bikini Cosplay by Saku Supremely Sexy
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Delectable Dizzy Cosplay by Lechat
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Raunchy Reisen Inaba Cosplay by Tsuyato
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. -Ecclesiastes 1:9
Associating a deep religious metaphor to a seasonal creative business... brilliant.
“Originality is the one thing which unoriginal minds cannot feel the use of.” J.S.Mill
if that was really true we would still be using horses as transportation.
what makes you believe that people STILL don't use horses as transportation lol.
Wait what? Who said this, what anime fans? Where the hell is this exactly coming from?
2ch ? or somewhere in japan? or "anime fans" are actually a programmed opinion generator software that feed on your soul and demise?
if it wasn't for me being "a very fucking invader" gaijin there are a few ideas I have I would like to see made into
hentaianime.....*sigh*aw well~
Well I might be one of them, but I gotta say last season was sooo much better.
if you dont think it will be a promising season for you it is your pwoblem
fact is you will still watch more anime and even some of those you dont like that much
it is still not more than one ep per anime out and there are some anime that have yet to get there -.-
“a need to compensate for miserable otaku childhoods.”
Couldnt have said it better. The lame hero is always there so otakus could easily relate to them. They're pathetic. And you still ask why Ishihara hates them?
End of the Anime World
What do you mean, end of the anime world? this is just four shows. Anime's been staling for years now. There's fucking hundreds of titles that have been released over the past few years you wouldn't have heard of - they flew under everyone's radar, because they were stale.
People have been pointing out that 'three pillars of anime' crap for yonks.
Yes but, each year they aptly point it out, the truth brings it to a wider span of attention and zetsubou.
I had not thought about these pillars until reading of them now.
How long until anime loses its magic from our analyzing it like this?
2ch, you are brutal with my love. This is like reminding us that women have ovaries that produce prEGGnancy.
I have a feeling they don't know that there are over 20 shows every season.
I guess i was too busy ogling at the female characters to notice the similar theme and such.
All according to keikaku...
@notracist1
this sucks! where's my k-on!!! (k-on! s3)?
Sorry, not-racist(2) no K-ON! updates at the moment; though there's a K-ON! film in the works.
this sucks! where's my k-on!!! (k-on! s3)?
This is what I was really hoping for: originality. Future animes/mangas better show us something new.
Now that this article mentions it, I'm beginning to doubt that Oniichan no Koto is gonna overthrow Ore no Imouto.
seriouskly everyone is overreacting. as if three similar elements that almost every anime ahd for years- i eman, come on, everybody says "tthe golden age of anime" and talks about NGE. NGE had a school setting too. it was hardly ever there, but it was there. as well a sdraonball Z, in the end. i dont think if soem part of the naime plays in school or if the characters are emant to go to school , you can really tell it a "school setting" and "all the same". the only anime of those mentioned that really seems to have an important role to the "school" part yet is IS. and anyway, we cant really judge stuff like merry aftre just one episode without knowing whats it gonna be. of the first epidose, less than a minute of it was in school.
Yeah they need to lighten up... lately it seems like they're been WAY too picky with their reviews. I mean hell, there isn't gonna be a Code Geass every damn season for god sakes. Your practically guaran-damn-teed a show from a "trinity" every season and in this case, its three or more shows it seems.
Yeah their reviews are a dime a dozen and when you watch a lot of anime over the years your not gonna be razzle-dazzled by anything that even remotely resembles something from the past.
I personally enjoyed Yumekui, Freezing, Oniichan, and most definitely the new Magical girl show Madoka. Shows like Gosick, Infinite Stratos, Starry Sky, Cardfight and Mitsudomoe S2, need a bit more polish for my tastes for me to stick with them. From what I heard Gosick gets better but the first episode was pretty lame, but I'm willing to give it more time to win me over.
Best new episode(s) (this season) that hasn't dissapointed me since the first episode would have to be the mini episodes of Bungaku Shoujou Memorie. If you havn't seen those then they're worth a go whether or not you've read the manga, truly great stuff.
Anon 21:31, are you sure you didn't watch the Beelzebub OVA? The first episode of the TV series was actually pretty good.
@Josh go read ANN's winter 2011 preview.. thats who's doing all the trash talking.
Maybe there are over 20 but the ones I expected the most from (like Beelzebub - shit in comparison to the manga) disappointed me to the point I gave up on this season. At least until it finishes and there will be some reviews available.
I wonder where all of this stuff came from and who made that diagram.
Now that this article mentions it, I'm beginning to doubt that Oniichan no Koto is gonna overthrow Ore no Imouto.
"Battle, romance and school setting"
I fail to see the fail in this....
And we're missing the "Gosick" tag.
I never get tired of people saying anime is dying. With such a self-fulfilling prophecy in mind, no wonder they never even bother to try the many good shows in every season.
2010 had:
- Kuragehime
- Black Lagoon 3
- The Tatami Galaxy
- Shiki
- Arakawa Under the Bridge 1 & 2
- Disappearence of Haruhi Suzumiya
- Durarara!!
- FMA: Brotherhood
- Katanagatari
- Nodame Cantabile: Finale
- Rainbow
- Trigun: Badlands Rumble
- ...etc.
With all these great new entries and old veterans, anime isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's just as good a medium as it always has been; the gems will always be there, you just gotta ignore the surrounding trash.
That's not something that will get through to someone who is resolved to hating whatever you're defending.
Never mind that there's more great stuff than any normal person can reasonably watch in the time they have. Let's all focus on the bad stuff we won't be watching and make a fuss over it!
It's completely fucking retarded but hey, these people are completely fucking retarded.
I wonder who the retards are. Those who have noticed that 4 "quality" shows this SEASON are all based on the same overdone template, or those who fail to realize the difference between "year" and "season", and use static (other than generic and subjective) data to argue a tendency and call everyone else a retard.
@ilikepandas i can proudly say that i watched everyone of those except for nodame cantaible. :finale. and i just cant do more than absoltely agree with you.
I don't understand why people complain about this. All of those (not sure about Merry) anime are based off their respective manga/light novel. Is there a need to complain that so many manga released X year are based on the same settings?
Everything is based on the same concept of WHO, WHERE (subsequently WHEN) & WHAT. No matter how similar they may be, the single perception of HOW makes the whole difference.
Give the same ingrediants to two different chef and the cake they make will be different. Who cares if they're all of the same settings. As long the entire character cast (incl. sub characters) are not all exact replica of each other, its not going to be the same.
Your point is..? Ya saying you're not one of teh retardes? Good for you, I guess.
No,it is the beginning of the end.
(maybe not,maybe just some dirty trick that those studios do just to fill timeslot like the one in ore no imoto)
This may not be the best season ever, but “a harsh heroine, lame protagonist, and a school setting” and “battle, romance and school" have been anime staples for years, this is hardly the first time they've been rehashed.
Things have been going in this direction for years. Highschool of the dead livened things up for me a bit though. I don't often see zombie anime.
So what? I see ecchi. I see nekkid hot chicks and cute lolis. The rest (shitty plot) doesn't matter. If these "fans" are complaining, why dont they go and write a manga and make an anime themselves.
It's a shame as "anime fans" they fail to realize this is the current trend of anime, where a load of gals surrounding a noob and innocent guy in a mix of harem & comedy ecchi. Nowadays anime focus on fan service and low budget (less episodes), then earn money from figures and merchandise made out of the anime characters after they sell the copyright to figure companies.
If they cant adapt to changing trends in anime, they dont deserve the title "fans".
Anime to me was a valid storytelling medium
it just appears to be becoming less about substance and more about shoving as many "cute" girls into each frame at once
I thought Love Hina was funny back in the day
because i thought it was the only one of its kind
how wrong i was
People that believe in "trends" in anime are the reason why anime is getting rehashed and regurgitated nowadays. Its basically studios trying to jump on the bandwagon trying to make a quick buck. You cannot treat the art of storytelling just like any other business where you just follow market trends and just punch in numbers to find what the next hit product is. Despite what you think, anime producers know that fans DO like originiality. Its just that originality is not predictable and can either go boom or bust..
Loli >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Women
....so don't take away the school settings pls.
- Love, Concerned Lolicon.
On the plus side you wont be contributing to humanities gene pool
school life genre to me is like rice or potatoes, seen all the time, but never getting sick of it
I'm the other way around.
Once I've seen the SAME basic plot, I can't stand watching it again. I get bothered by how similar it is.
This is a totally useless post. No sources, and examples of only the first episode from each series, etc.
Also, older anime fans may have seen all this stuff before, but there are also newer fans. I'm sure anime fans transitioning from the 80s to the 90s also experienced an "overload."
An anime's genre is defined even before said anime airs. The post just reports an ongoing critique of anime rehashing the same old genres and, even more notably, the same "features", like a harsh female and apparently useless male (who will probably kick ass in an anticlimactic manner later on in the show).
These are all facts, antithetic to what is most desirable in any work of art: originality, personality, depth.
Yep, how many mecha animes were there about a group of kids riding robots to combat aliens back in the 70-90's? Hard to count. The only difference are back then people just watched and enjoyed almost every shows as usual.... plus there were no internet and that much stuff where people think they can roleplay as Nostalgia Critic, Ramsey or Cowell.
“a need to compensate for miserable otaku childhoods.”
Oh C'mon you fans, I had a cool and nice childood, yet, I like to watch animes with those elements.
Anyways, the same kind of shounen animes always have something in common.
Don't brag some of us (points to self) had miserable otaku childhoods. Growing up was hell and damaged me for life.
Cuz featuring about aging heroines, balding protagonists in a working reality is much better what we have now......pffff
...and this is why I don't watch newer anime.
making something better or more realistic than repetitive, boring reality doesn't mean creating something different that repeats itself into infinity.
I do have to admit, it gets very repetitive & they don't really try hard enough to make anything all that original imo...
I do not however agree with that disgraceful statement about why that may be however...miserable otaku childhood, fucking idiots...
Darkrockslizer, if it was realistic, it would be boring as hell.
Better--- as in a more varied mixture of the basic elements, would be welcome.
If moeblobs, harems, and incest animes sell, then what's a commercial company going to do? Make more of what sells. Until anime fans start making mega-successes out of the "non-mainstream" "cookie cutter" animes, the market isn't going to change.
Agreed... I had one hell of a childhood cuz I liked anime back when America was still looking at anime and going "WTF is this shit?"
If you have enough nerve to self-commiserate in a public comment and enough money to actually afford an otaku childhood, you're just a spoiled brat. (and he wasn't bragging)
I think you're the only one who imagines that otaku childhood means anime and gunpla, that's relatively rich nerd childhood. I and probably others understand otaku childhood as series of events that turn one into a shutin, something that I've just recently started to get over thanks to my love for cars and actually driving one which forces me to interact with people on the road, in gas stations, various stores and so on. I have even befriended two of my neighbors. And despite all that I have started watching and liking even more anime than before (I only discovered the fun in Initial D and Wangan Midnight around the time I started learning to drive) and my fear and distrust for people I don't know has decreased only a little and probably thanks to the fact that I'm now a bit more self confident and armed with pepper spray (more effective deterrents are illegal here).
Dang, wanted to refute you but ended up talking about myself, anyhow, otaku childhood is nothing nice and I still haven't fully gotten over it, and probably even if i ever do I'll keep on watching anime.
Once an otaku, always one.
Are you talking otaku as in Japanese usage or otaku in "Western" usage--- as that means "nerd (anime)" outsside Japan. Nerd upbringing can be good or miserable, just like anything else. But I don't see how a CHILD in Japan can really be an ANIME OTAKU. Unless their parents support them doing it, they aren't going to have any money to be a true otaku (collecting all the extras, going to see the voice talent and the creation talents, etc). So I would think anime otaku doesn't start until one is working to have the money to then start collecting all the otaku aimed stuff.
Doesn't mean they can't wish they could, but if you don't have the money, I just don't see how you could live the associated lifestyle. It isn't like being a train otaku, where you just need a camera and a train pass to go spotting.
Don't drag down that fictional male protag in GOTHIC (aint writing that lame ARSE "correct" title) as I like to point out that he climbed up something like 20 TWENTY 20 floors almost on a daily routine!
_
When I was younger I visited a Lighthouse and climbed to the top. I had to stop halfway, because -most likely(I delude myself)- I've been walking for hours before I got there. That was at best 6 stories! And I only did it ONCE
_
The only lame asses here are all the 2ch otakus who's only exercise is Right arm jerking, and finger smashings on keyboards to get their fictional dream girl of questionable age to "climax"~
good point. none of the heroes in these stories are really lame, well I haven't seen freezing yet. Infinite stratos is more like a copy of that tenchi muyo oda about his little brother. It's more closely related to original harem comedy not the types made from "this loser is you" heroes. They where originally about a hero who happens to be one of the worlds greatest warriors and often happen to be a prince or from some special lineage. Originally, harem comedy was about a hero with status and skill, the kinda person who would have women swarming after them in real life, who happens to want a normal life. This is what it is.
Side note: chances are if you think something is original it is just unfamiliar to you. original things can suck to so just make it interesting even if it's familiar.
Actually, some of the far more interesting series are just rehashes of a story format. Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach all have elements of DragonBall Z, (the fight-happy protagonist, anyone), but its what they do DIFFERENTLY that makes them stand out. It's not that the Winter 2011 anime season is the "least original", it just has a lightly lower range in quality of animes from the prior seasons. Honestly, I'd expect this with all the crap that's happened with the anti-otaku bill, because companies are trying to make the "safest profit" rather than going out of their way to spend mass amounts of money when a dry spell of spending could be immanent, and, if you look at the gaming industry, a "safe profit" is a product that has the biggest market, even at the cost of originality.
Same here Kyon. I don't pity these slovenly, pathetic Otaku though. It's their own fault they are penniless virgin wretches with no life.
They just need to snap the **** out of it and realize everyone has hard times, not just them.
That being said, the new episode cracked me up. Gachi pink is a tubby one, ain't she?