The Mumbling Kitsune: Growing Out of Anime

Losing interest? No way....we just need good storytelling along with the animi. Maruto started off strong but is leveling off with stupid storylines. New Robotech SC movie is a good restart, just need a bit more story there centered on Earth.

I think for sure I've lost some interest in anime over the years. I used to rush home to catch DBZ and whatever else was on toonami back in the day. Now I have a hard time getting into new series unless the feel really fresh or interesting. Death Note for instance. I used to get excited for saturday nights during the first year BLEACH was on, now i just watch it for habit and hoping for something interesting (can't seem to get into this bount storyline). I hated Blood+ by the end of its run, Code Geass is ok, but if it wasn't on after bleach i wouldn't seek it out, that seems to be a running theme for me. unless it feels fresh, I just am not that into it. Not to say there isn't some great stuff out there that I haven't sampled yet, but i sure haven't found much in the last few years to warrant the effort. so much of it just seems derivitive.

I don't think "losing interest" is a big problem. It's when the anime industry doesn't grow up along with you. It appears that someone over in the industry had forgotten that there are people past their 30s still love (and would buy) anime if it's much more mature and less childish.

I heard about "seinin." (What about "seijou?") "The 'Black Lagoon' anime was for the 'salarymen' who wanted some form of escape from their gloomy environment," last I heard. But I find it hard to respect "seinin" since it's basically the same-old "physical violence / slapstick comedy," "hatred-for-average-guys" shounen; only with allowed nudity and sex jokes.

And you have those "summer movies" (like "The Dark Knight") which breaks every and all conventional wisdom, gets an audience between "ages of 8 and 80," and makes more money than the anime industry will ever see outside of Bandai Namco. When was the last time you heard about an anime title breaking such barriers? Without causing an argument over what's "anime" and "cartoon?"

I'm still a firm believer of "voting with my wallet." The changing economy can do wonderful things: get people to stop driving gas-guzzling vehicles, get them to buy fuel-efficient cars and ride busses, rent out apartments instead of buying homes. It can even force the anime industry out of its rut and its comfy box as well.

Maybe it's not so much growing up, but just needing something different. I'm just now getting into Anime and I see no problem with it being an age issue, so maybe it's just an "everything becomes mundane after a while" issue.

You're definitely right on about the price; Netflix is probably the gateway for most adult newcomers like myself. Plus, I would guess that part of the problem is the childish appearance of some anime... the bright colors, the big eyes... Beauty may not be skin deep, but in this A.D.D. world, adults don't want to watch a series for kids ... at least, from their perspective. About the only related products from Japan that are remotely successful beyond the anime-faithful are by Hayao Miyazaki, which benefit from being short and fairly well-praised by critics.

It's funny that Gimpy mentioned Bleach... I'm about half way through the current discs, bouncing between that and the first season of Twin Peaks.

I find the idea that animation is something specific that one "grows out of" somewhat insulting. I can't help but wonder why animation is still considered a less legitimate medium than any given live action genre. Why should a love of anime take a second to a love of horror/sci-fi, sports, music, model making, or any other general interest one can pick up in youth that can spill into adulthood. What makes the others so much more acceptable?

I blame the Hannah Barbera baby boomer generation, with their post war low production values, and absolute drivel for saturday morning plot driven recycled escapades. While I obviously wasn't there, wartime era animation seemed quite acceptable enough, with its higher than today production standards, and while almost always comedy based, still more adult oriented inuendo & content, seemed to be quite easily acceptable for all ages. But spilling into the 60's/70's with the turn & burn recycled background/music/character/plot of Hannah Barbera's hayday seems to be what gave all animation the stigma it carries in the U.S. today. No offense to those that do, but even as a long time anime fan, I'd be hard pressed to take an adult seriously who swears by a Schooby Doo or Smurf DVD colletion.

I also blame the flipside of that situation, people like Ralph Bakshi who's idea of adult oriented animation was super low brow T&A fests that featured far more rotoscoping than any true animaton. You put those two stereotypes together, and you get the idea of what the general populace pegs anyone who says they're an "animation" fan into. And not to get into the whole sub/dub debate, even dub fans would find it hard pressed to defend the fact that 90%+ of all TV dubs wind up being even lower quality than stock american cartoon voice work, leaving it even harder to convince an already jaded populace of anime's quality, when Reba West comes warbbling at them.

Of course there will always be a portion of any fanbase that grows out of/moves onward from whatever it is they were a fan of. But to single out anime fans as an inevitable market for that is overly pessimistic. That seems more of someones attempt to make it "ok" to themselves to move on, then an inevidable outcome of adulthood. But hell, I'm in my early 30's, consider myself a well rounded individual, and still persue anime as my main hobby. If anything, its being a video game fan that I've found it harder to remain a part of, but that in itself is due to the lack of time in the day between work, home, and my near daily anime fix.