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Enter Despair

I'm here to kick ass and maintain a list of the anime series I've watched... and I'm all out of ass.

I like my anime to be convincing and interesting the whole way through. I've seen a lot of stuff; some ideas got old and boring to me since they are pretty overused.

Here is a list of things I believe to be cancerous (and, unfortunately, quite common) to anime/manga:

• Chibi or cardboard cutout scenes with extremely blatant "humour".
  
• Silly music that plays while characters are saying or doing something intended to be funny. Give us a little credit, we can tell when something's meant to be funny without some music to emphasize "That's the joke, now laugh!".
  
• Fan service (boob physics, scantily clad females vs. fully clothed males, provocative poses/mannerisms, ecchi, moe, harems). This adds nothing to the story or overall work and just cheapens it.
  
• Rape or other violation. It is not interesting nor entertaining. It is just porn, which might as well be viewed separately from anime.
  
• "Symbolic" stuff that has been recycled hundreds of times over, such as thunderstorms when a character dies or a flickering flame on a candle that blows out.
  
• When characters have the exact same conversation/smalltalk I've already heard dozens of times in other anime.
  
• Storylines so weak they barely exist or seem like they were just made up on the spot by an idiot.
  
• Otherwise brilliant/serious anime plagued by the above points, which is very sad.
  

I'm in despair! This world where anime/manga is an ocean of piss has left me in despair!



Tragic Backstory

When I was around age 6-10, I watched Dragon Ball/DBZ, Ranma, Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon, and Cardcaptors. I found the shows to be entertaining and started learning to draw anime style characters. In my teen years, the internet developed to the point that anime became more accessible. I think Love Hina was the first thing I came across online when anime was still scarce - I enjoyed it at the time, not knowing any better. InuYasha, FullMetal Alchemist, and Naruto made their way to Canadian TV networks, which was kind of a big deal. Friends recommended some other anime to me, including Chobits, Azumanga Daioh, and Hellsing. Subtitled anime became more widespread online, and all of it seemed so fresh and interesting; I wanted to watch it all.

Perhaps I watched anime addictively for around 5 years. Somewhere along the line, I encountered some series that were really low grade. Having been spoonfed quality entertainment previously, I just assumed all anime would be good to watch. It took a little time for it to settle in that I'd been watching things that were mediocre; I became a little more picky about what I'd watch. Still, I'd get deja vu as I'd power through various series. The characters would say the same lines, have the same conversations, have the same character archetypes. The hot spring episodes, the beach episodes, the school festivals, the pointless tournaments. Why was I watching these same ideas over and over?

It made me rethink what I thought qualified as "good". Was Chobits good? Was Hellsing good? I liked them at the time, perhaps when I fit the intended demographic a little better. As I added more anime to my list, I saw the ideas and execution weren't quite as impressive as I once thought. As I grew up, I started to realize how anime failed us. The biggest culprit is fan service, which puts a lot of anime in "this is embarrassing, I can't recommend this to anyone" territory. Is it too much to ask for a series that I can proudly recommend to anyone? To be able to easily say "Not all anime is perverted and tropey, here are 20 examples!"?

I'm not an edgy teen seeing anime for the first time anymore. I want interesting stories with quality writing.


Over the years, I kept re-evaluating my anime list, dropping scores left and right. It's been so long since I've seen the things on my list. I'm sure the stuff I once considered 7/10 or 8/10 probably isn't even that good from an objective point of view. How good could it be if it didn't leave a lasting impression? That said, I've set forgettable stuff to a maximum 5/10 score. I don't want people to think I really liked something if I probably don't hold that opinion now!