I Hate Anime so Much

[inpurpleshadows]

Anime is without a doubt one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world. Its mainstream success and worldwide popularity has made it a recognizable art form that everyone has seen or at least heard of. Seeing animation from a foreign country become extremely popular all around the world is something I find really cool as people get to experience art representing various cultures and gives them an opportunity to try something new. One of my best friends is even a fan of several anime. He loves it so much that he's even made a lot of sketches of characters from various anime and I'll admit, he's a heck of a lot more talented than I am at drawing. Despite my respect for the impact anime had on the entire world, I hate it with a burning passion. Almost every single time I've attempted to watch a well-liked anime, I always drop it few episodes in because I hate it so much. I've tried watching all the popular anime: My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, Re:Zero and Tokyo Ghoul. Let me tell you, I did not enjoy a single moment of any of these shows I listed. Some people might say "you're just looking in the wrong places". Well, the problem is that these shows come across various genres and demographics. I've tried shonen, I've tried seinen and I've even attempted isekai. However, I can't find any sense of satisfaction from watching anime from these genres.

Everything about the anime I've seen is just so... convoluted, boring, poorly-written and frustrating. My Hero Academia is one of the most generic superhero shows I've ever seen, yet it's praised for its "creativity" and "well-developed" characters. Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer are extremely underwhelming, despite both having an emphasis on heavy action. Re:Zero is so confusing that I can't see how anyone could understand it, maybe I just don't have a high enough IQ to appreciate its complexity. Then there's *shudder* Tokyo Ghoul which might just be the worst out of all the anime I've ever watched. If there's one term I can use to describe Tokyo Ghoul, it's torture porn. I'm not kidding. There isn't a single moment in that show where a character isn't suffering, crying or dying in one of the most horrific ways possible. The only redeeming qualities I can find in any of these shows are some gorgeous animation, stunning action scenes, surprisingly impressive voice acting (even from the dubs) and downright incredible opening and ending theme songs.

However, the worst part of anime is its obnoxious and toxic fanbase. Now, I don't want to group every anime fan into the same category as like I've stated before, one of my best friends loves anime and I have even met some online who are pretty cool people. Just because one likes anime, that doesn't automatically make them a terrible person with no taste. Being a fan of anything doesn't and shouldn't dictate one's identity or how others should treat them. Despite that, there's also been times where I've met some truly insufferable people from the anime community. I've encountered them in online games, forums and Youtube comment sections. Unfunny memes, needless arguments and lack of any thought in discussions are reasons for why I avoid some (not all) anime fans (especially those that have a PFP of a w*m*n ). There are also anime Youtubers I see on the home page who produce some of the most clickbait and reaction-driven videos on the platform, Hero Hei is one that immediately comes to mind. I don't mind anime existing, what I have a problem with is people treating it like the second coming of Jesus and attacking anyone who criticizes it. It's gotten so bad to the point where one of my roommates in a boarding school shamed me for not liking it. I hate anime, I hate it with a burning passion. I don't usually like to hate on things to an extreme degree, but here, I just can't take it anymore. I can't stand seeing it everywhere I go, I want to express how much I loathe it, but for a long time I couldn't because I don't want to upset those who genuinely enjoy it.

Unlike other so-called 'anime haters', I'm not here to put others down for enjoying the medium. I also don't dislike anime just for the sake of it, in fact, I want to like it and I have moderately enjoyed some parts of it. A few weeks ago, I started watching Death Note which is actually pretty damn great based from what I've seen so far. For one, it doesn't fall victim to common anime tropes, its characters are memorable and go through a lot development and the mystery was genuinely compelling. It's not perfect as some of the dialogue, especially monologues, are kinda pretentious, but that's the only major complaint I have with Death Note. There's also Akira, an anime film that is hands-down one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. A lot of my favorite media from the west also take inspiration from anime, so if the medium didn't exist, my favorite western shows probably wouldn't either. I know I've already gained at least a dozen enemies just by making this post, but I just had to vent about it.

[𝔸𝕣𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝟙]

Edit: joy- I just noticed this a necro. Sorry mate.

Let me let you in on a little secret that people seem to forget- anime is just like any other art form. Like you yourself said, it’s a medium. Subsequently, like most mediums, only a very small amount of it is actually to a high standard, while the rest of it is on scale from terrible to okay.

You sound like me, tbh. I do not enjoy most of the anime that exist, because I seek heartfelt/well-crafted stories. Shonen and harems are completely off the table. I detest the screaming power of friendship nonsense of the former and the “wish fulfillment” qualities of the latter as every cliche girl fights for the blandest man on earth. Just discarding those genres removes a massive supply of anime.

My advice: Don’t give up on the medium- be more selective. I want quality work that either emotionally touches me or enables me to experience beauty. Here are some recommendations that I would give a shot if you haven’t already. All are more or less fan service free and possess good qualities to me:

*Ghibli films
(Any will do. They are slow beautiful films that I think you appreciate more as you get older.)
*Violet Evergarden
(This is the pinnacle of the medium imo. Bit slow to start with a small amount of cliche, but it captures the human spirit well and most are brought to tears by episode 10- even my parent who don’t watch anime. Watch order is 1-4, ova, 5-13.)
*A Place Further than the Universe
(Join a few girls as they head to Antartica and discover themselves, and perhaps realize you yourself crave adventure.)
*Yuru Camp
(Learn about camping with a slice of comedy. Might just inspire you to seek the outdoors and take up hiking like me).
*Maquia: When the Promise Flower Blooms
(A film. Not perfect but I find it emotionally gripping.)
*Your Name
(Also a film. Great story and beautiful to look at.)
*Little Witch Academia
(This one doesn’t even feel like an anime. It feels like a Sunday morning cartoon.)

These are merely what appeals to me, but perhaps they might work for you as well.

[Tonepoet]

I dunno. Rereading this topic it's your right to have whatever preferences you want but that actually doesn't look like a particularly wide spread sample of genres, and they all come from the same mid-2010s time period too.

This topic kind of strikes me as saying you hate video games because you only ever tried Playstation 1 games like Tomb Raider, Metal Gear and Resident Evil, then claiming you've tried an action platformer, a stealth game and a survival horror to exemplify the diversity of game genres you played, when there are 1980s arcade games like Pacman, Galega, Frogger, Centipede, and J.R.P.Gs., Turn Based Strategy, Real Time Strategy, side scrolling platformers a plenty and so-on.

But again, my opinion is unsolicited and I don't know what kind of shows you personally like otherwise, so I can't begin to conceive of what you might like in anime.

[Xero_Daxter]

I got one thing to say to OP.

womp womp

[Reddari]

I have watched anime since the 90s and none of the series OP lists don't even make it to my top 10 most liked.

[Good Night Owl]

Anime is tough to love l, but if you find a real good one, you love it a lot

[猫 • König der Piraten]

I like anime that much that I'm going to kill OP.

[talemore]

It all depend what you want out of it.

Serial experiment Lain is about transexuals. ( leftist propaganda )

Pokemon is about communism - (Nurse joy has the same faces)

One peice is about capitalism - ( For a pocket of gold you want to be my friend)

Claymore is about Orwellian dictatorship

Last exile is about monarchy

Some classics:
Patema Inverted ( liberalism)
Howl's moving Castle ( racism)


All anime is propaganda.

[Xero_Daxter]

Początkowo opublikowane przez König der Piraten:

I like anime that much that I'm going to kill OP. :GoatRage:

Oh snap!!!!

[Auckes]

Anime is good. It is mostly free of woke garbage, it doesn't push agenda and the artists behind its creation, do not answer to "guidelines" or political correct bull.

Sometimes, it can include things that make wokes happy but on the long run, it is anything but an ideological monopoly platform, whose sole reason for existence is pandering at them. Of course, the most radical ones of the bunch, do struggle to make anime go the disney route, but their efforts already are and are so going to remain, completely fruitless.

Japanese don't mess with their entertainment forms. Only their "overseas releases" are sometimes Ret @rd friendly and there are workarounds mostly, at that.

[Isaac]

Death Note, SAO's season 1, and Black Clover are good.

[Isaac]

Początkowo opublikowane przez talemore:

Pokemon is about communism - (Nurse joy has the same faces)

Whut?

[talemore]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Auckes:

Anime is good. It is mostly free of woke garbage, it doesn't push agenda and the artists behind its creation, do not answer to "guidelines" or political correct bull.

Sometimes, it can include things that make wokes happy but on the long run, it is anything but an ideological monopoly platform, whose sole reason for existence is pandering at them. Of course, the most radical ones of the bunch, do struggle to make anime go the disney route, but their efforts already are and are so going to remain, completely fruitless.

Japanese don't mess with their entertainment forms.

Oh right. As long there is an enemy to defeat you are happy.

But why do they want you to defeat enemies.
Every golden age has been after a dark age.

Every time you destroy the world someone has to repair it and you going to pay for it.

[Auckes]

Początkowo opublikowane przez talemore:

Oh right. As long there is an enemy to defeat you are happy.

But why do they want you to defeat enemies.
Every golden age has been after a dark age.

Every time you destroy the world someone has to repair it and you going to pay for it.

There are endless possibilities and you describe plus focus, on but one. There is slice of life, comedy and various other themes to be found; not only battles and world destructions/restorations, or enemies to be defeated etc.

[talemore]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Auckes:

Początkowo opublikowane przez talemore:

Oh right. As long there is an enemy to defeat you are happy.

But why do they want you to defeat enemies.
Every golden age has been after a dark age.

Every time you destroy the world someone has to repair it and you going to pay for it.

There are endless possibilities and you describe plus focus, on but one. There is slice of life, comedy and various other themes to be found; not only battles and world destructions/restorations, or enemies to be defeated etc.

Anime is the source behind world population growth. They want you to be horny

[Xero_Daxter]

Początkowo opublikowane przez talemore:

Początkowo opublikowane przez Auckes:

There are endless possibilities and you describe plus focus, on but one. There is slice of life, comedy and various other themes to be found; not only battles and world destructions/restorations, or enemies to be defeated etc.

Anime is the source behind world population growth. They want you to be horny

So people are getting "action"? Well dang!! Sign me up.