| Why is it that anime appears to be the only visual medium that gives us real time narration and allows us to see inside a characters head? About 90% of the anime series I have watched included parts where the characters have said their thoughts aloud to the audience. I understand it is necessary in some shows, but it seems like a lot of series have just become lazy and are unable to develop both the characters and the story without an unrestricted narrative. A select few series and a fraction of anime movies appear to be the only exception to this, with the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, along with films like Sword of the Stranger. I am not knocking the fact that directors choose to do this in anime, I mean it works wonders in shows like Death Note and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but I do wish they would diversify a little and realise that there are other methods of storytelling. Live-action movies don't often allow us into the mind of a character, and if they do they usually do it through narration instead of a characters thoughts coming out as if they were speaking and I don't think American or European animations do it either. Avatar: The Last Airbender, which spanned 61 episodes, didn't once let us into the mind of a character (excluding dream sequences) and as a result it actually reached levels of complex storytelling a number of times, especially during the beach episode and really it is just a kids show. Do others feel the same way? Do you wish anime would make more of an effort in storytelling instead of giving us the ins and outs of every character? Do you wish this 'visual medium' would actually use the visuals to tell us a thing or two, or perhaps let the audience figure things out for themselves? Or am I on my own? |
ToukaOct 5, 2010 12:04 PM
| Go and watch White Album. It does show the character's thoughts, but it's pretty different from all other anime because: 1. It is not said out loud like you said, it's shown on the screen. 2. It only shows for the main character. 3. It only shows one short sentence at a time. Which means, it doesn't exactly show the details of what he's thinking, I feel it's more like it shows roughly what the character is feeling atm. 4. It doesn't occur very frequently. And as you said, this really made me enjoy White Album very much, since I don't know exactly what the characters are thinking. Even the shown thought sometimes left myself wondering what exactly did he meant? Probably one of the reason why I rated it so high despite being rated so low here in MAL. |
| Also done in theatre. And in books. And in manga. It's to give you insight on a character by other means that are not their actions. Also, this seems to be a rather typical device in series targeted to a younger audience, while it does not happen as much in josei/seinen genres. It's as such because it's easier to understand a character and plot when it's on a first person POV. |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
| You know, I was thinking about this just the other day myself. Have you watched Detective Conan? Not sure if he counts |
| Uh, this is done in novels and comics all the time. Like, constantly. And since when was Last Airbender an example of complex storytelling? o_O Anyways I think it's nice to know what the characters are thinking, and in some cases it's rather essential for the plot to work out effectively. |
| It's common in manga, and most anime are based off manga, so it'd only be natural to do so. |
RedSuisei said: Go and watch White Album. It does show the character's thoughts, but it's pretty different from all other anime because: 1. It is not said out loud like you said, it's shown on the screen. 2. It only shows for the main character. 3. It only shows one short sentence at a time. Which means, it doesn't exactly show the details of what he's thinking, I feel it's more like it shows roughly what the character is feeling atm. 4. It doesn't occur very frequently. And as you said, this really made me enjoy White Album very much, since I don't know exactly what the characters are thinking. Even the shown thought sometimes left myself wondering what exactly did he meant? Probably one of the reason why I rated it so high despite being rated so low here in MAL. Thanks for the recommendation. I loved Utawarerumono, which is another Leaf adaptation that doesn't include much in the way of characters' thoughts. Sounds like I'll enjoy White Album too. Cholisose said: Uh, this is done in novels and comics all the time. Like, constantly. And since when was Last Airbender an example of complex storytelling? o_O Anyways I think it's nice to know what the characters are thinking, and in some cases it's rather essential for the plot to work out effectively. I am not talking about novels and comics, I am talking about anime. Novels are read, they are not watched, (plus they are very descriptive by nature) so it makes sense for them to include the thoughts of characters, as actions and such can not be shown on screen. The same goes for comics as they're still very much something you read as opposed to something you watch, even though they do include images. Although there have been many comics that have not included character thoughts, so I don't know what you mean by constantly. This is completely off the point anyway... An example of complex storytelling in Avatar is when Zuko visits the house he and his family used to visit during the summer. There is no dialogue, just flashbacks and the characters actions that let you know what Zuko is thinking. Listen to the commentary on episode five of the third season. |
ToukaOct 4, 2010 11:57 AM
| It's the new hype, people just love reading the thoughts of their characters. There are many ways of telling what a character is thinking. It doesn't bother me much since I don't pay a lot of attention to it. It is being over-used though, with mind-fucking things it's all good to be hearing it, especially when it's only from one character's perspective. Aside from that, there are many moments in series where it's unecessarily used that it doesn't make much sense why the hell you read what they're thinking (I do notice those weird moments). I guess knowing when to do it or not, take some basic literature class and figure out in which ways a story can be told. Says enough, I guess. |
| It's cheaper to have the VAs state the characters' thoughts than animate detail in body language, or even flap the mouth open/closed. Live-action you actually have to go back and edit voice-overs in, so it's easier to just have people interacting. Books it doesn't make a difference, except that it's harder to portray a character through their words and actions than to remark on them omnisciently. Inner monologue can be good, especially when accompanied by creative visuals(more often we just get silly panning), but it's more interesting when you're allowed to interpret the characters by yourself. Aside from Ghibli, movies are less prone to this in general(better budget, probably, same reason Western animation doesn't). Junkers Come Here is the first to come to mind. |
| LoL didn't know what to expect when i read the title XD, was hoping for some crazy voodoo site. O well, your points are valid I guess. It works sometimes, but shouldn't be overdone. I can see your problem but I've never really cared to much as I generally watch less story driven anime. The idea of using a character to explain their thoughts is beneficial because It helps the audience understand his/her actions and possibly grow accepting of the character. But as you say, anime IS a visual medium, so If it blindly narrates everything its trying to get across then its not better than a book. |
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