Anime/Manga: What draws you to it?

[The Doctor]

What is it that draws you to anime? What do you like most about manga? What is it that energizes you about it? What is that one special thing that attracts you?

Me? Two big things: Story and Characters.
The storylines and characters involved in the story just draws me. And the animation style just really boosts it all. It tells the story in such a unique and incredible way.

Anime and manga also asks ALOT of questions, but sadly, most of the answers they come up with it aren't on par with the Bible. But I think of the possibilities of this medium if harnassed for Christ. Wow.

Ok, your turn.

[Debitt]

I'm a writer and an artist by heart, so definitely the characters, the art, and the storylines. And to be honest, I'm a sucker for a pretty boy.

[The Doctor]

heh.

Well, for girl anime fans, I'm sure your not the first one. What are you writing?

[ShiroiHikari]

I too love the stories and characters. I love it when I can really connect with a character.

the art styles are also very appealing(most of the time), and like Kokoro I'm a sucker for bishonen XD

[Kenshin17]

I love the art and original storylines. The stories are so much better then many movies. The movie industry seems to love remakes...yawn.

I am also a sucker for cute characters...but for me its the girls

[The Doctor]

Yeah. Remakes are what happends when businessmen run it all. Nothing wrong with business, since moviemaking is a business these days, but you have to balance the desire and effort to make money with the art of good storytelling. You have to know when to call it quits on a project, and start something new. (See Pixar). These guys have broken all the rules when it comes to being a success. Each movie they've made has broken records in moneymaking, and many find that it's because of their dedication to quality storytelling. Pixar's motto is: Story, story, story, story. (Odd thing for a CGI company).

That's what draws me to anime as well. Sure, you have your run of the mill anime, but there's a lot of quality written stuff there. Ahh. :-)

[bakura_fan]

uhh....I love how I can relate to characters....and storylines..and art...and....I will most likly watch an anime if it has a really cute silver or whtie haired bishie in it...*points to pics in sig* ^_^ heh-heh Ba~ku~ra....

[The Doctor]

Yeah.

I agree with that, I identify alot with Kenshin, and in some ways Vash.

[Esoteric]

I think the attraction is multidimesnional for me as for many people. I like the art style...strong angular lines and the detailed shading in anime compared to western cartoons.

However, my first attraction was to characters and story. The first anime I encountered was Gundam Wing. I had started watching cartoons one day because of comments made by a friend about the stupid villians in so many cartoon shows.
While I was started to chuckle when I saw these giant robots moving with impossible speed, I happened upon the episode where Trieze Kushrenada calmly rebukes his subordinant Lady Un, for attempting to destroy the Gundams at any cost, even nuclear war. And I said to myself, there'e an intelligent villian! The rest is history.

And yes, go Pixar! They understand that the story is more important than the medium. Disney lost that a long time ago in exchange for empty money making fads. I'd love to see them make a policitally incorrect comeback(lose the watered-down milk toast stories), but I don't think it'll happen.

[The Doctor]

Correct Esoteric.

With Michael Eisner still in charge, it is highly unlikely Disney Animation will recapture it's grand storymaking days. Have you seen the commercials for it's upcoming CGI movie "Chicken Little"? Ugh.

O.O I've already made 30 posts?! Is that some sort of record?

[Ichigo_89]

I think the attraction is multidimesnional for me as for many people. I like the art style...strong angular lines and the detailed shading in anime compared to western cartoons.

However, my first attraction was to characters and story. The first anime I encountered was Gundam Wing. I had started watching cartoons one day because of comments made by a friend about the stupid villians in so many cartoon shows.
While I was started to chuckle when I saw these giant robots moving with impossible speed, I happened upon the episode where Trieze Kushrenada calmly rebukes his subordinant Lady Un, for attempting to destroy the Gundams at any cost, even nuclear war. And I said to myself, there'e an intelligent villian! The rest is history.

And yes, go Pixar! They understand that the story is more important than the medium. Disney lost that a long time ago in exchange for empty money making fads. I'd love to see them make a policitally incorrect comeback(lose the watered-down milk toast stories), but I don't think it'll happen.

Anime rules! What attracts me to it, is well, just about everything. American toons are SO lacking in almost every aspect nowadays. There's soul to it. Anime has an amazing animation style, and they spend alot more on animation, so it's all good. The stories are almost always totally unique and interesting. The characters are amazing and in some, almost REAL! oh, and awesome soundtracks too! Anime goes much much deeper than other toons that are kiddy crap. Along with books, comics, & music, it's the best media there is.

I think the very last quality Disney movie was Mulan. Everything else after that has been crap. (not including Pixar if you actually include that)

[Kura Ookami]

The art style is what drew me in i think. Great stroyline and characters arent only found in anime. You can find both those in good movies too like lord of the rings. The thing that's unique about anime is quite simply the art.

Everyone is comparing anime to disney. Disney makes cartoons for kids and they're good for kids, just not good for other age groups. Anime is made for all age groups and for everyone. I believe that everyone can find an anime that is absolutely perfect for them no matter what they are looking for. Can't say that for disney.

Above all for me it was the eyes of the characters that drew me in. For some reason i like big eyes. I'm sure that although nobody has mentioned the big eyes in anime that that is one of the reasons everyone likes anime.

[youngWilliam]

I came to it for the art style, the music, the storylines, the romance, the comedy, and the fact that I can relate to some of the characters

[Esoteric]

Everyone is comparing anime to disney. Disney makes cartoons for kids and they're good for kids, just not good for other age groups. Anime is made for all age groups and for everyone. I believe that everyone can find an anime that is absolutely perfect for them no matter what they are looking for. Can't say that for disney.

That's true to a degree. It's tough to compare anime to anything american because here cartoons fit mainly into two catagories: for kids, or for adults late night adult stuff e.i. South Park, Family Guy, Venture Brothers... which are for adults because they mostly rely on coarse adult gags.

A better comparision would be Disney/Studio Ghibli. But Ghibli's stories are still better for the same reasons... good plot, good characters, and realisitc situations that aren't toned down too much, even though their for kid's too. Sure you don't want to give kids nightmares, but you shouldn't rob them of solid stories about good and evil. ( I have a favorite CS Lewis quote about that topic).

It's not well known but many of these old fairy tales that used to be commonly excepted children's tales are quite gruesome. The original Disney took a lot of these old tales, and updated them, toning them down a little, but not so much to lose the gravity of the stories. Nowadays Disney has simply stopped trying. They don't want to offend or frighten. They want to please everyone and they please no one.

With Michael Eisner still in charge, it is highly unlikely Disney Animation will recapture it's grand storymaking days. Have you seen the commercials for it's upcoming CGI movie "Chicken Little"? Ugh.

What? You're kidding! Didn't they learn anything from Home on the Range???

[The Doctor]

Michael Eisner learns nothing. Unfortunately, his paranoia and micro-management is blocking his talen from truly shining. He was a great creative executive at one point, but now his brainpower is clouded by his pride. Now Disney is nothing more than a shell of it's former self, which is supposedly why Roy Disney is fighting tooth and nail to get Eisner out. Disney animation has gone downhill ever since Jeffrey Katzenberg left. And Eisner still refuses to admit he was so wrong in letting him go and pushing him out.

[sunet]

i like it 'cause of storyline, art, characters & music. ^_^

[Sonicbomb77]

i got attached at first from the art style [eh digimon was out about the time i noticed...yeah that was a bit late] then after looking through anime and manga i got more attached [I am now a super addict]. I guess i like mainly the art and story of most anime [alot of times the characters make meh even more addicted ] NOTE:sonicbomb77 is a sucker for cute anime girls [hey might as well join the club ^_^]

[Kura Ookami]

I agree with Esoteric. Nothing is toned down and you can see that and of course that is what makes anime so good. It seems like disney is just making cartoons for the money rather than for anything else. There's no single huge anime company that can even come close to the size of disney and that i think is a good thing. Competition is always a good thing. Disney has nobody in America that even makes cartoons to compete against. Anime companies all have competition. There are several anime companies i can think of. GONZO, CLAMP and GAINAX come to mind imediately. Competition ensures that the quality of what the companies make is always high.

The major difference between anime companies and disney is their motivations for making cartoons. Okay money is always a motivation, but i think anime companies make anime because they want to create a good story and they enjoy doing that. Why else would a single guy make Voices of A Distant Star? Voices of A Distant Star was mostly made by one person because he loved anime. When you pour your heart into something it really shows. That is why anime is better than disney.

[Raiden no Kishi]

I like anime for many reasons:

- It's Japanese
- It has better story than anything animated in the States.
-The art styles are SO. COOL! Even the old stuff like Cyborg 009 is cool.
-They're so inventive. You look at the work of people like Nightow (Trigun, Gungrave), and go, "Wow. How do they come UP with this?"
-I, despite being a straight male, like bishies. Not like you girls do, I see them as a cool character style.
- I discovered a passion for art through anime. (Of course, I can't draw, but someday that might change...)

Rai

[Cedahlia]

I can't watch/read anime/manga without there being nice animation. O.o It's weird. The reason that I first started watching anime was because of the animation. But, just like the rest, it's the brilliant story lines and characters that aren't perfect and are human just like the rest of us that draws me to it.

[Jhack82]

Before i found out about anime(introduced by DBZ then saw the beauty of gundam wing) i read a LOT. i like books more than movies ot Tv because the sory and chgaracters are much more developed. i really like overarching storylines and anime has so much more of that. i am sure we have all heard the "japanese soap operas" line. but i really enjoy the pure depth of story and character. that is my main motivation. Alas, what can i say, i love martail arts and giant robots as well

jordan

[Muopii]

As everybody else has already mentioned, I love a good story and characters. Diologue, too, is a big thing for me.
I'm also a sucker for bishoujo.

[youngWilliam]

I came to it for the art style, the music, the storylines, the romance, the comedy, and the fact that I can relate to some of the characters

I forgot to mention that I like the fights too:sweat: