Which anime were generally well-received and popular or relatively so when released, but in recent years the default position has shifted to derision?
| Obviously it could be applied to anime in any decade; even from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, etc., but it seems to me since the internet and home PC ownership and usage didn't become widely popularized until the mid to late 90s, that the fan discussion around particular anime series in Western countries and internationally in general didn't really start to blossom until at least this time and through the early to mid 2000s when MAL was founded. Now a lot of 90s anime and 90s culture in general in film, music, pop culture, etc. tastes is more widely mocked or criticized today as society and the current generation becomes more removed from it with time, but I notice some 90s titles still have that premium now "retro" tag applied and are considered classic and cool because of it. Yet a lot of stuff which came out in, say, the mid-2000s, is now just seen as "too old", "outdated", "cheesy", "edgy", etc. by many of the youngest anime fans. In some cases, series that were popular titles then are not condemned by the youngest anime viewers who may not have even heard of them, watched them, or have any desire to watch them, but those who were in their childhood and teen years then and liked or identified with the anime because it seemed daring and trend-setting or hip, but now are retroactively embarrassed about it and their former selves' tastes and outlook. Like it's a sign of maturity or rite of passage to disown what's rightly or wrongly perceived as the childish or unsavory aspects of their past selves and the role art played in that is huge. I notice a lot of this sentiment vocalized behind the criticism of different anime shows from the early and mid 2000s from people in their late teens and 20s. So this is very interesting to me, because it seems like certain shows get bandwagon pumped up, often based on riding popular sentiment and rather uncritically, but now it seems it's commonplace for shows to be bandwagon bashed and denigrated, often equally uncritically because it's in vogue. |
WatchTillTandavaJun 27, 2020 7:32 PM
| The one I thought of is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I wasn’t an anime fan back in 2007 or whenever it aired but I’ve been told it was kind of the beginning of the whole school anime fad thus making high-school dramas the “cool” genre (kind of how isekai’s are the big genre nowadays). Yet, after I watched it, I was quite surprised it was so popular back in the day. While the cast was really good (minus Haruhi, she is so freaking annoying) and it did have some great episodes (the one with the concert - epic scene!), overall I found it to be kind of weird. Honestly, the whole idea seemed way too out there to be taken seriously. Oddly enough, while it may have been popular (especially the dance during the end credits), it seems people realized it’s outlandishness and, besides Haruhi and Yuki still being popular characters, it’s taken a backseat to many of the more “normal” school dramas and isn’t discussed with the same fervor it once was. Personally, I think school series should be realistic; over-the-too is okay but still believable. Take Lucky Star for example: it’s a silly show and has some similarities to Haruhi, but I found it to be a better, more enjoyable, and, yes, more grounded high-school series because, while it wasn’t totally realistic all the time, it was way more relatable and relaxing than Haruhi. Imo, Lucky Star was one of the first great slice-of-life series’ - watching four high-school talk about their daily lives is way more fun than trying to stop a goddess from altering the very reality of the universe right?! |
RedVelvet930 said: The one I thought of is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I wasn’t an anime fan back in 2007 or whenever it aired but I’ve been told it was kind of the beginning of the whole school anime fad thus making high-school dramas the “cool” genre (kind of how isekai’s are the big genre nowadays). Yet, after I watched it, I was quite surprised it was so popular back in the day. While the cast was really good (minus Haruhi, she is so freaking annoying) and it did have some great episodes (the one with the concert - epic scene!), overall I found it to be kind of weird. Honestly, the whole idea seemed way too out there to be taken seriously. Oddly enough, while it may have been popular (especially the dance during the end credits), it seems people realized it’s outlandishness and, besides Haruhi and Yuki still being popular characters, it’s taken a backseat to many of the more “normal” school dramas and isn’t discussed with the same fervor it once was. Personally, I think school series should be realistic; over-the-too is okay but still believable. Take Lucky Star for example: it’s a silly show and has some similarities to Haruhi, but I found it to be a better, more enjoyable, and, yes, more grounded high-school series because, while it wasn’t totally realistic all the time, it was way more relatable and relaxing than Haruhi. Imo, Lucky Star was one of the first great slice-of-life series’ - watching four high-school talk about their daily lives is way more fun than trying to stop a goddess from altering the very reality of the universe right?! Well, thanks for commenting and contributing your thoughts about the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya series, but I must say that we probably have diametrically opposing tastes and preferences on this and related matters since, while acknowledging I'm likely in the minority given the amount of negative feedback the Haruhi character has received in years since, I quite love the Haruhi character. I love the writing and dialogue given to her, the persona Aya Hirano embodies as her seiyuu in full, her antics, and daring outlook on the world to scour for the outrageous and bizarre things and not just be content with the mundane or mediocrity. I find that part of her really quite beautiful, refreshing, and unique in a character. And that she has her own version of morality and what's important that she decides for herself. She prioritizes things in life based on conclusions she's arrived at internally after letting her mind stray off in unexpected directions or questioning the things taken for granted as unchangeable facts by other characters who represent the more typical stand-ins or serve as cyphers for the average audience member (like Kyon). I really find this extremely relatable and inspirational, but again, I recognize that my appreciation or enjoyment of that aspect of it, at least nowadays, is certainly not in line with the norm. I never found Haruhi annoying. And as a male myself and not someone who is usually on the hunt in particular for strong female characters as it's a topic I'm rather neutral on (a strong or a traditionally viewed as "weak" female character can both serve different purposes and be amazing for different reasons) and don't subscribe to analyzing media from a feminist stance or anything like that, the fact that she is as in, just happens to be, a female character who is so dynamic I also find really interesting and compelling. Since so many of the female characters fall into even more easily recognizable archetypes than males in my opinion and Haruhi breaks the mold a bit. Consequently, I believe that is what also rubs a lot of folks the wrong way. And there is beauty and power in the routine and mundane, beauty in simplicity. As well, Slice of Life is one of my favorite genres and many of those are absent any supernatural or "weird" phenomena, so I don't wish to criticize any series without it on such a basis as they can be powerful in a different way, but I don't understand why weird is to be considered a negative thing? I hear people use this criticism of shows, characters, art style, etc. a lot. Pointing out that something is weird. Weird in essence just means different. Surely it doesn't hurt to have shows which stray closer to the more ordinary and relatable to the average person, but having 100% of content in the anime market dominated by solely the more straight-laced, grounded, or realistic would just be extremely limiting and stifling after a while, and breed more and more repetition until stagnation and paralysis. They need weird ideas and weird shows and personalities, because otherwise I feel there would be no difference large enough between shows after a while to even justify producing and watching them from the standpoint of the value of art. |
WatchTillTandavaJun 27, 2020 10:40 PM
| I would mention Elfen Lied and Excel Saga. |
 |
| I feel that the best recent example of this is My Hero Academia. In the span of a couple of years, it seems that most people have gone from praising it for doing the shounen formula right to bashing it for being "generic and overrated". I mean, sure it has its flaws, but i don't see why it deserves so much hate. Granted, i haven't watched that many long-running battle shounen, so i don't have a strong comparison point to begin with. |
Eggyy said: I would mention Elfen Lied and Excel Saga. Elfen Lied was definitely one of the top series I had in reserve in the back of my mind when making this thread topic. |
| You can't talk about akira anymore without some guy telling you how much it sucks |
| MEA·MENTVLA·INGENS·EST |
| i see that people don't like the style of code geas and many people can't find their way into JoJo |
 Maybe watching, maybe reading, probably living |
Stygian_Prisoner said: I feel that the best recent example of this is My Hero Academia. In the span of a couple of years, it seems that most people have gone from praising it for doing the shounen formula right to bashing it for being "generic and overrated". Honestly. In these kind of threads, it's futile to talk abt the newer and ongoing anime. It's just another case of bandwagon hate from the shounenfags. Especially those from the West (as of what I've seen) For example:- - Demon Slayer was praised to be a great anime by them. Manga outsold One Piece and 'went downhill' and suddenly the anime became shit. - Asta got an asspull power up and beat a big boss. Best 'new gen' anime MC. Black Clover is suddenly God-tier. - Mha had a comparatively slow and average season. Deku and mha is suddenly shitt. - Same thing happened to Aot when S2 came out and wasn't as fast paced as S1. What I'm trying to say is these guys just formulate their opinions on a series based on what's trending rn and don't have their "own views" and "taste". |
MistaAshJun 28, 2020 11:05 AM
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