Storytelling: What does it bring to anime?

[Lego]

I decided to pop in Vol. 1 of "Cowboy Bebop: Remix". While enjoying one of my favorite shows, I decided to mess around with the audio tracks. I ended up finding a commentary track with Wendee Lee and someone else during Episode 5(my favorite). Anywho, it was interesting to listen to Wendee and the other person(was a guy, didn't catch his name), talk about the show and what happened. Like how they had to send VHS tapes to their translator who was in Vietnam at the time, things like that.

But a comment of hers got me thinking. She mentioned, about anime in general, that the story telling is interesting(I don't remember the exact phrase she used). She also mentioned something along the lines of "We always don't get the happy endings that we expect". I do agree with her, and it sparks a interesting discussion.

Through the posts about why you're a anime fan?, what attracted you to anime?, what series do you like?, what are you going to watch?, and all of these questions, one theme is constant. That theme is usually the story. A show can have amazing visuals, a great cast of characters, but if the story falls flat, most likely the show will. I find myself going to Bebop as an example. Certain episodes stringed you along, and you became interested in Spike's past and the Bebop crew.

The same can be said for other shows where by using great storytelling, it brings you into the show. As Mrs(s?). Lee mentioned, we always don't get the happy endings that we are used to(from things like fairy tales, Disney movies, and so on). I can think of a slew of anime titles off the top of my head that have "sad or depressing" endings. But most of the time these feel fulfilling because of the story thus far. After viewing some shows, you almost feel like you've went through the ordeals/journey/trials that the characters have due to how the storytelling worked out.

As I mentioned earlier, that is one of the reasons why I find myself engrossed in anime. It's a level of story telling that hasn't been matched(at least in my view) by a lot of mainstream entertainment. While I'll admit that some shows don't really excel in the "storytelling" area, you have shows like Rahexphon, GITS SAC, Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Planetes, and even GTO that do.

So at the end of this long post, there are two questions. What do you think "anime's brand of storytelling" brings to the table, and what shows/creators do you feel best serve as a example?

[something]

I don't know that anime has a brand of storytelling really. I also don't know that Bebop is a good example of a well done story, but that's just me =P Great show, but I didn't watch it because it had a great central plot or anything.

Anyway, there's nothing consistent across many series in how anime tells a story that I can pin down as keeping me hooked. Really, what got me interested might just be that it tells a story at all. Most of what I was into before really didn't.

And as you said, a lot of anime doesn't tell a story, but still manages to be great. Azumanga is pretty much the epitome of this, in my eyes. So, I guess in the end I don't have an answer for you, aside from saying that I don't know that there is an answer.

[Captain Impulse]

What first drew me to anime in the first place was the fact that the endings were so unpredictable. Coming from an entirely different cultural source than our own, where things don't have to be sugar-coated for the young 'uns, almost any genre of anime can appeal to an adult American audience. Contrary to most American animation (particularly these days) and even most Hollywood films of late, there are vast numbers of anime series that tackle issues that would never be touched by an American writer/director...that is, until anime makes it trendy.

Anime's influence has been felt in Hollywood quite a bit in recent years. From "The Matrix" to "Kill Bill" (and a few other movies I can't remember), Hollywood has started to imitate (but rarely equal) the level of storytelling that some anime series possess. And again, there are certain cultural taboos that have yet to be breached as well. For example, consider a series like "Koi Kaze". I highly doubt that such a forbidden subject would be tackled by any mainstream format over here.

Another draw to anime is that it is the only animated format in which mature issues are tackled. I'm not just talking about animation for "mature audiences" (that's been around for a while)...and no, I don't consider shows like "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" to be for "mature" audiences...there's nothing mature about it (not saying that's a bad thing). Shows like Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, and Planetes show that at least in Japan, there is a market for animation with mature (and obscure) subject matter. I mean, seriously...who in America would have thought a show about space "janitors" would be a good idea...much less anything BUT a comedy (we're rather narrow-minded when it comes to the uses of animation).

One of the first anime I even saw was "Record of Lodoss War". The initial draw was that it was based on Dungeons & Dragons, which I've been into for years. But probably the most intriguing thing about it was that they didn't dance around death, blood or violence; it was a form of animation I'd never seen. Compared to the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon on American TV (which was alright in it's own way, I guess...), Record of Lodoss War crushed it in terms of raw storytelling power and emotion. I'd never even heard of "Japanimation" before (pardon the antiquated term, but it WAS the early 90's)...and look what it did to me. 10+ years later, my anime DVD collection is near 2,000 (I might be over it now, actually).

Although my horizons have expanded to encompass almost every genre of anime, from seinen to shoujo to moe and many more, the shows that really draw me in with their complex storylines and characters are the ones that top my favorites list. You can only watch so many harem anime before you've seen it all (well...Girls Bravo kinda re-invents that genre, but I digress), but there will never be enough Ghost in the Shells, Twelve Kingdoms or Crest/Banner of the Stars. And as much as it sometimes sucks to see it happen to a favorite, sometimes the main characters need to die, and thank God anime doesn't sugar-coat that.

The true heart of anime is that it's completely foreign, unpredictable (although it becomes more predictable the more shows you watch) and complex. There isn't a media format like it anywhere else in the world; and no, Disney doesn't compare...at least until they realize that there us more to animation than a "G" rating.