Thread: Why do you prefer Anime to real movies?

Well, for me I like the details in the Anime the depth of characters and the plot, all of that make the anime more profound than the real movies and series, also the genre "slice of life" can't be replaced by any Comedy/Drama show for me I mean even the slice-of-life anime stories are just simpler and I can relate more to it than the real shows.
anyway, let me know your opinion.

I don't :V

I feel like this post is targeted at me since I'm the forum's resident movie-hater punching bag. I don't care about real humans faking drama, I can never forget that I'm watching people behind a camera pretending to do things. Also, I find most movies to be really repetitive because they often end the same way and push the same morals over and over. It all feels very Hollywood and sterile to me.

I like anime more because in the context of each show the events occurring are real to those characters. When a character dies then they're gone forever in most cases, I won't see them again next Summer in a different film. That's not to say that there aren't any actors I like or that it 100% ruins it for me to see the same actor again later down the line, but it definitely lowers the stakes.

The last point I can't really defend: I just think movies are boring as hell. I don't even consider them as a form of entertainment for myself 90% of the time. When I have some free time, I almost never even consider watching a movie. Occasionally I will with guys from this forum or when my sister visits because we don't have anything else in common these days. I suppose I do find a few horror films entertaining the first time through, but their novelty has greatly dulled over time because I don't really find them scary anymore. I watched the original Ju-On movies with my sister a month ago (the V Cinema ones & the two 3-minute short films) and that was good but I wouldn't do it again.



You may be surprised at the response this thread gets. Despite this being an anime forum, I think most of the active posters here aren't real fans and prefer live-action movies to anime.

Originally Posted by Zemekis

I find most movies to be really repetitive because they often end the same way and push the same morals over and over.

Anime's cool and all, but isn't so much of it more of the same? In that regard, I don't think it's a great deal different to Hollywood or TV show production. Think about it or just use TV Tropes. So much anime shares the same tropes and nearly the same endings. It's the TV shows, films and anime that stand out from the rest that matter.

Originally Posted by Zemekis

I like anime more because in the context of each show the events occurring are real to those characters. When a character dies then they're gone forever in most cases, I won't see them again next Summer in a different film. That's not to say that there aren't any actors I like or that it 100% ruins it for me to see the same actor again later down the line, but it definitely lowers the stakes.

I know this is just a part of you, but I don't fully understand how this works. That's because essentially the same is true of a lot of animation. Unless you have bad hearing or memory, it's not too difficult to identify voice actors in different anime. It doesn't break the immersion for me, but I guess in your case the issue is visual. I dunno if it's something you'd change if you could, or a preference. I talked about people in my life who wouldn't watch anime, but once I watched one with them I changed their view because if the anime in question was a live action TV show it would work just fine. (As you may remember, I'm referring to Monster here.) So in that case it's purely an opinion; thinking cartoons (trigger me timbers) should be dismissed without trying.

Originally Posted by Zemekis

You may be surprised at the response this thread gets. Despite this being an anime forum, I think most of the active posters here aren't real fans and prefer live-action movies to anime.

Remember that this was never a generalised anime forum in the first place. I tried to make discussion swing more towards anime in general when seeing it's more popular than some other topics, but the vast majority of members are Outlaw Star fans. Many of them have either moved on from their anime interest or they only watch anime occasionally. The latter would be me.

In this discussion, I would say that I'm sort of the middle ground between Mantis and Zem. I love anime but I also love movies. I mean hell, without my love for movies I probably wouldn't have gotten into anime (Hell (Again), the reason I got into anime like Outlaw Star and Gunsmith Cats is because it had elements from movies that I loved. Even a lot of anime takes influence from film. Without movies like Blade Runner and Streets of Fire, we'd probably would never have gotten anime like Akira, Bubblegum Crisis and Megazone 23). This is going to sound schmaltzy but I find a group of people getting together to make a piece of fiction that wows and enchants an audience to be absolutely magical. I have a passion for escapist entertainment and I try to find it all around may it be in film or anime.

With that said, most of the stuff I watch these days is anime and I don't watch many modern movies. The reason for this is because anime has something that modern movies don't have and that's sincerity. It's seems that the trend with movies over the past 10 years or so seems to be to drench their movies with nihilistic, post-modernist snark. They seem to be made by people who feel embarrassed to be making what they make so they drown it with constant winks and nudges to show that the movie they've made is stupid and that they are so smarter than the material. Now, I think self-awareness can be beneficial but when you drench a piece of work with nothing but irony then you ultimately don't get invested with the story. Anime at least, even when it's just slice of life fluff, approaches it's subject with sincerity so that way you don't get taken out of the show and you can suspend your disbelief and roll with it. Not to mention anime goes for something a lot more broad with it's performances and style. In western movies, if you watch a lot of making of documentaries, you'll always hear about how they want to ground the movie in reality and make it as realistic as possible. Now, this can work rather splendidly for many movies but I've always felt that there is this mindset that this is the only correct way to approach story telling and limits you on where you can take a movie stylistically and aesthetically. Animation is an inherently stylized form of filmmaking so you can see stuff that you would never see in live action and is a great way for the artists to flex their muscles creatively.

Now does that mean that anime doesn't has it fair share of problems or that every show is a wonderful experience? Fuck no. Anime has it's fair share of overplayed tropes (If I see a tsundure chick being needlessly aggressive to the main lead one more time...) or shows that are utterly bland and boring. I guess the point that I'm trying to make is each medium has it's strengths and weakness, low points and high points.

...I don't care about real humans faking drama, I can never forget that I'm watching people behind a camera pretending to do things. Also, I find most movies to be really repetitive because they often end the same way and push the same morals over and over. It all feels very Hollywood and sterile to me.

That's every piece of fiction though. All stories are, to some extent, derivative. There's only so many variations on a story you can do. Just look at Joseph Campbell's "Hero of a Thousand Faces" which goes over how classical stories and myths use different variations of the same formula throughout many different cultures. Not to mention the reason why a lot of movies bring up the same morals is because...well, people like them. These themes get used again and again because it captures the imagination and either inspires or fascinates people so naturally, you're gonna have stories that return to those same themes again and again. That's true with movies, anime, books or whatever. You're always going to have repetition when it comes to storytelling.

As for the humans faking drama thing, the exact same thing can be said of anime. It's written by a guy that hands it over to a bunch of overworked animators, voiced by the big voice actors of the day who fake their emotions for the sole purpose of manipulating you into thinking that they are a particular character. At the end of the day, it's all phony, fabricated bullshit no matter if it's animated or shot in front of a camera live. We all know in the back of our minds that what we're watching isn't real. It's just a matter of executing the material so well that you suspend disbelief and go along for the ride.

I think it's a visual thing like Mantis said.

Originally Posted by Starwind55

We all know in the back of our minds that what we're watching isn't real. It's just a matter of executing the material so well that you suspend disbelief and go along for the ride.

Movies never make me suspend my disbelief, but anime does.

I dunno if it's something you'd change if you could, or a preference. I talked about people in my life who wouldn't watch anime, but once I watched one with them I changed their view because if the anime in question was a live action TV show it would work just fine. (As you may remember, I'm referring to Monster here.) So in that case it's purely an opinion; thinking cartoons (trigger me timbers) should be dismissed without trying.

It's just a really strong preference that isn't going to change. I get the logic behind the next part but because I don't like live action, when I consider an anime or manga as live action it doesn't work for me at all.

I appreciate the thought out responses and I get it that you guys really like movies and want me to enjoy them as well/defend your interest. I've still never said that I think movies are bad, I've been very careful to always say that the lack of enjoyment is on me. When I feel that someone doesn't enjoy or get Majora's Mask I tend to do the same thing but I really don't need help or anything. I don't know if either of you enjoy playing sports, but imagine you have no interest in tennis and this tennis fan keeps trying to explain to you how great it feels to play tennis. You (probably) don't hate tennis, but you find it impossible to be anything but neutral on it.

In the end, I was just trying to reply to the forum newcomer because of all possible topics they chose this one and my response is practically a copypasta at this point. I massively appreciate the effort by you two to bring me into your hobby for well over a year now but I fear it's had the opposite effect by making me hyper-aware of the reasons I dislike live action since I've had to verbalize them several times recently. I'm very happy that you guys enjoy films and TV so much! But that will never be me

There isn't any kind of conspiracy here. Real talk though: live action porn or hentai?

Real real talk: You don't have to enjoy live action. It's just something we watch sometimes. Same with playing games. We will try to accommodate for you whenever you're available for the get-togethers. Anime is usually a good thing. (If it's good anime.) Plus, we still haven't finished our Outlaw Star run.

I find the tennis analogy a bit odd but I do get the general idea. Sports and video entertainment are different animals. Plus, when you're watching films, TV or anime you don't get this stupid shit:

Originally Posted by Mantis

this stupid shit:

Ahh man I really used to like GradeA and Leafy back in the Fall of 2016 when I got my first apartment! I remember listening to him as I was unpacking and moving in!
Too bad he turned into a huge hypocrite and backed down off YouTube, his takes on things were really funny. He does a good job when there's nobody responding to his arguments but when he got a little push back he fell apart

I prefer animation because there is no boundaries. Even the sky is not the limit. There are worlds, creatures, powers, stories that live action films could never match up to no matter how much they try. Hence every attempt at making a live action equivalent of an animation.

I often hear the "limitless" argument. Obviously, animation being that is true, but I don't feel that live action is limited to any large extent. If the CGI is done right (which it usually is in high-budget films and TV) live action can take a viewer to otherworldly locations that feel more lifelike, which in turn can add to the immersion.

I think both forms of storytelling have their strengths here. Traditional animation (in my opinion what I felt had the most character) is never coming back, but live action is becoming more immersive by the year.

Originally Posted by Zemekis

Ahh man I really used to like GradeA and Leafy back in the Fall of 2016 when I got my first apartment! I remember listening to him as I was unpacking and moving in!
Too bad he turned into a huge hypocrite and backed down off YouTube, his takes on things were really funny. He does a good job when there's nobody responding to his arguments but when he got a little push back he fell apart

If Grade never approached politics and YouTube drama I think he'd still be a successful YouTuber. I'd say you're mostly right there. He often came across to me as someone who put up a brave front but in reality really took criticism to heart. Putting himself in the middle of these topics was his undoing because he was inevitably going to face harsh criticism.

As for Leafy... if he was best friends with Grade, if Grade was quitting YouTube for good, why didn't he just sell Leafy his chin? That's win-win. Now they're both gone, but I never liked Leafy much. A few good videos but otherwise just the same old shit.