i got into watching anime on Hulu when US sitcoms seemed kind of stale. Some anime have weird stories. Being animated, they can also touch on certain themes in a different way than traditional TV shows can. However, there is still a bit of a culture gap between US/European viewer and the target market in Japan. The naming can get confusing - as the US versions sometimes alternate the order (US version first name then surname vs Japanese version. ie John Smith vs Smith John).
- Anime are used to prop up sales of books (light novels, manga) in Japan. As a result, many animes remain in an unfinished state (story stops cold, does not complete). Viewing this from a US perspective, i would be looking for completed light novels/mangas before i started a show. Not using continuing series.
i hate reading. It is not comfortable or fun. Sustained silent reading forced on me in high school caused me to resent reading. An hour or so a day of reading books i didn't want to. That is why i took more literature classes than most. Another reason to hate reading is how pretentious most of the "modern classics" are.
Gareth from the show non-anime show Galavant said it best: "reading is for morons who don't understand pictures".
- If i watch an anime, i shouldn't have to read the original source material to understand what is going on. In other words, i shouldn't have to do homework to watch a TV show. Ideally, i shouldn't have to read the source material to see how a series concludes either. Most of written work is somewhat a waste of space. Descriptions of scenes, unnecessary inner monologues, etc. There are also storylines that go nowhere. So, some of the stuff the readers view as important will be left out of the anime (most of it is more tangential than important).
i watched Farming Life in Another World on Hulu. It seemed almost wholesome, until the vampire girl got pregnant. This seemed to come out of nowhere: there were no sex scenes in the show (especially aligning with a pregnancy). Then i realized the first time they met, they might have had relations (thought he was just a bit handsy). The elves who wanted to repopulate their species put a lock on the outside of a door of a sex room in his house - so they wanted him. But i didn't see that he was having sex with most of the women in town (though maybe it was just a few at the time the anime took place). Apparently, the vampire girl was recruiting women to satiate him because he had too much virility for just one woman (or maybe just 10 women).
- Apparently many anime fans are sadists who like to see masochistic characters tortured. They like "romance plots" with hard hearted shrews instead of the sweet almost sure thing. There are some show out there that are brutal. They want characters to die or suffer. Admittedly, i like more lighthearted shows (comedies and action/adventure with some comedy elements).
- Romances - yes, many stories have forced romances, they are supposed to be people/demi-humans after all. Most romances are written with little depth. Most that take a while to bake are highly toxic.
Thier choices rarely represent the choices i'd make in the similar circumstances (i like shy, sweet, sure things). A rare one that "got it right" was Hinata from Naruto. i like characters like Asia (from High School DxD), Haruhime (from Is It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girl in a Dungeon), and Itsuwa (from A Certain Magical Index). i think they are called "dandere". The more energetic "deredere" might be interesting too - never a tsundere.
- The Harem: this has been getting a lot of blowback for the last few years. Here is why harems make sense in many series... A harem exists as a power fantasy (it would be nice to have multiple women actively want you). The females are not victims in this scenario, they get something out of it - it could be status/money, love, children, etc. In a medieval setting, you'd think harem would be more common among the elite (which good adventurers tend to be). Few "high quality" men compared to the amount of women available.
Heck, i could see harems being useful in the real world (as it is almost impossible to find a modern woman capable of providing everything a man would want). You have one "modern woman" who is loved but wants a career. One or two additional women to do childcare, housework/cooking, etc (at least one of these being a full time domestic). Of course, the man would have offspring with all women.
- Online, the LN people have an elitist view over the lowly peasant anime watchers.
- i like Certain Magical Index better than Scientific Railgun. In general, i don't like female protagonists. Having one in middle school is worse (at least co-eds can be hot/sexy). Kamijou is a more interesting character than Misaka (the seemingly powerless vs the powerful). Magical Index is pretty dense on their religious mythology though. Magical Index did struggle a little with spin-offitis. Some plot was sacrificed for spinoffs - especially season 3 with their ITEM/Group storyline (which went on far too long). There were a few Accelerator episodes in Season 2 also.
Magic vs science - wonder why they framed this as religions controlling magic vs esper abilities essentially being magic.
In Railgun, Misaka and Saten are the only potentially worthwhile characters. Misaka has room for growth both physically and emotionally. Misaka's roommate is creepy and constantly trying to engage in lesbian activity with her.
Part of me eventually wants to see Misaka with Kamijou. At the end of season 3, she seems to have a crush on him. i kind of wish Misaka 10032 could join Kamijou's group. For a long time, i liked the clone better than the original - still do a little. If they could age the clone to be 18+, better. Although for a Kamijou relationship, i still like Itsuwa or katana girl (Kanzaki Kaori).
- Other strange takes: there was nothing wrong with Sword Oratoria (Is it Wrong... side story) and there should have been more seasons.
- Digital seasons purchased at places like Amazon Prime, Apple, Google, etc should have one listing - no multiple listings for dubs. So, if an English dub exists all digital versions should include that as well as the original Japanese audio.
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