A Couple of Mathematical Formulae.
March 16th 2007 -
Okay, today I’m going to teach everyone how to find the indefinite integral…
No. Not really.
Today’s “scathing rant” topic: the decline of the Anime industry. Because, if you haven’t noticed, Anime’s been getting progressively worse as the years go on. But in recent years, there’s been a sharp, sharp decline in the quality of anime.
And why is this?
Well, if you think about it, I believe that at this point, anime serves one extremely simple purpose: to make money and entertain. The “entertain” part isn’t hard; this is the Japanese we’re talking about. There’s something for anyone over there; and that isn’t a problem. Therefore, the only real problem is making money.
And really, the public hates innovation. As much as people praise and extol the praises of Naruto and One Piece (see weaboo post below), it’s evident that the majority of the public loves the same tried-and-true formula over and over. This is why animes such as Naruto and One Piece, which don’t stand as pieces of art, flourish more than the more obscure yet more artistic animes.
Now, is this a real problem? No, not really. I believe people, instead of complaining and whining about what crap they have, should just enjoy what they have. Which is why I have an analytical attitude towards this problem; I don’t bitch and moan about how crappy One Piece is. It could be much worse.
The fact of the matter is: No one really CARES about artistic quality or how well written a story is. It doesn’t really matter how “good” an anime is; all that really matters is the ratings and how much merchandise money they can make.
This links back to my other point: People need to stop spouting philosophical bullshit about anime. It’s simply not true. They’re made to make money, not to entertain your subconscious.
And you know? At this point, all an anime needs is a good, good formula. That’s all it needs for success. Therefore, using the Hegel dialectic, I’ll derive the formula for the most popular animes today. With this, you could even make your own “award-winning”, multi-billion dollar franchise!
THE AVERAGE SHOUNEN ANIME
Protagonist with weird ability/really fucked-up backstory. (ie: Luffy’s arms, Naruto’s past, Hikaru’s Go board.)
-ADD-
MENTOR FIGURE (Shanks, Kakashi, Sai.)
-ADD-
POTENTIAL LOVE INTEREST THAT PROTAGONIST NEVER COURTS (Nami, Sakura, Akari)
EQUALS
Sound story for the first 20 episodes.
Huh. So you see the basic premise. It seems everything, from Naruto to Yakitate!! Japan, follows this formula. Then comes the hard part. What do you do after the first 20 episodes? Easy.
Bad Guy + Protagonist => BATTLE!
Protagonist wins.
Protagonist grows.
Protagonist goes on to fight more battles in the same way. Except in slow motion, which takes anywhere from two to six weeks.
Okay. There you have it! It’s just simple as that.
I’m not implying people are stupid. I’m sure anyone who’s watched any shounen has realized this far before I have. It’s just that it draws the masses like shit draws flies.
It seems Shoujo anime have their own formula.
Cute protagonist we all love (Tohru, Haruhi (Ouran), Mitsuki.) with a weird quirk. (lives in a tent, is actually a woman, has throat cancer.)
-PLUS-
Lifelong dream. (optional, but creates sympathy)
-PLUS-
Hot guys. (The Sohma house, Ouran High School Host Club, Wakaouji and Takuto.)
-PLUS-
OMFG PLOT TWIST WHAT THE FUCK
EQUALS
Frustrated fanboys.
Tried and true, I tell you. It always works.
So here’s the major question. When will the anime industry be on a rebound?
That’s an easy question to answer. Since Shounen Jump is THE trendsetter in the anime world, once most of these long-running shounens finish their run, the anime industry will advance inevitably. It happened last time long-running shounens ended. (Remember Pokemon? Remember DBZ?) The industry surged, anime quality went up. It happens all the time. It’s gonna happen again. The big two are One Piece and Naruto. And Bleach, perhaps. Once those three end (which I predict will happen around the same time), the industry will be on a huge rebound.
But as of now, we’re stuck with the same crap. But that’s fine with me, you could be watching Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora. >_>;
And then finally, there’s the ghost that’ll never leave. I think it’s pure brilliance that this series continued for so long; I commend it. It brings balance to the equation. Other series come and go. This one stays, like a well-weathered rock after facing numerous storms and gales. What is it, you ask?
Why, Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikoen-Mae Hashutsujo (こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所）, otherwise known as “Kochikame”, of course! It’s been running for 30 years straight, with more than 150 volumes published. The art has changed seldom from chapter 1, and there’s no reoccurring plot. I’ll explore the wonders of this series in a later post, but I believe its role is crucial. Its enduring popularity proves one fact: The Japanese love nostalgia. And in the end, it wins out to anything new anyone can put out.
So why don’t we go for the nostalgia factor? It’s clearly a bad move. Why? While it is published in the infamous Jump, Kochikame is definitely not a series for kids. Not that it has sex or violence, it’s just a series that adults would enjoy more. It’s more deep, the humor more complex and there’s artifacts from the 70s. Kids wouldn’t understand.
And that’s what it takes for the anime industry to improve. That is, to stop aiming anime at kids. The sooner they realize that adults are the true market, the more money they’ll make. They’ll abandon the formula for the artistic and creative genius that defines the better series in the anime world. This way, they’ll make money and produce high quality. Once this wave of shounen is over, there will be a new hunger for new ideas, new series. And that’s when this will happen.
And if it doesn’t? Then I guess we’re in for another plunge.
~Akira
March 16th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I’m glad to see another rant from you, as your rants are usually your best writing, IMO.
I curious to see how Shipuuden fits into the whole Shounen equation. It is basically a restart of Naruto, so will this extend our torture?
I completely agree with you, anime is made for entertainment. I learned from you a long time ago that Anno was just pulling my leg whenever I saw something in Evangelion that was deep. I don’t fault people for watching something and enjoying it because they personally can pull something deeper out of it, or related their knowledge to it. However, I’ve grown to dislike people arguing about as pure fact. It isn’t. So few things in anime are meant to be amazingly deep, that it really bugs me when anime fans take EVERYTHING as being amazingly deep.
I’ll keep watching my Studio 4C shorts until this fad passes.
Peace, Land and Bread
Kurier
March 16th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Protip: Don’t watch shounen anime.
There’s nothing wrong with the state of anime at the moment, and the last two years have brought us gems like Gankutsuou, Mushishi, Suzumiya Haruhi, Honey & Clover, Bokura ga Ita and tonnes more. Shounen anime has been recycling the same formulae for over two decades… but it has very little impact on the quality end of anime’s spectrum. Brilliant titles are still being made. You just have to keep your eyes open for them.
And Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora isn’t that bad. On what I’ve seen of it so far, I’d probably give it a “6″. It’s throwaway entertainment, little more… but it is entertaining.
March 17th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
[…] Over last week, two of my fellow bloggers have made two great posts (actually, three, but I will save the third for sometime down the road). Akira and Kuma struck a nerve when they discussed the state of anime. Akira’s post focused on the current generation of Shounen and Shoujo shows while Kuma’s was directed towards anime fans arguing anime as an art form. […]
March 18th, 2007 at 2:15 am
Naruto, Bleach, One piece, fans of these shows will always be the main target of most of anime industry, simply because they make up the biggest percentage of anime-viewing community. I think you’re way too optimistic if you think that the makers of anime will abandon the easy formulae for success, majority of anime population digs these stuff and they’ll always be open for more and more of shounen goodness. Lot of animes will always be aiming at kids, it probably won’t change.
There still are good animes being made like S-kun said. Mushishi, Gankutsuou, Kemonozume, etc. True, there aren’t a lot of them, but lot of us don’t have the time to follow lot of currently airing animes, and if there are one or two great animes to catch upto at any given time (which happens to be the case for lot of times), then I have no complaint.
It’s like you said,
“I believe people, instead of complaining and whining about what crap they have, should just enjoy what they have. ”
Most likely, there are animes out there for anyone’s taste, even if there’s only a few at any given time. Enjoy them.
March 21st, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I enjoyed your Hegel Dialectic about Shounen and Shoujo anime
I seriously doubt those formulas are going away any time soon, but one can hope. Some might argue that formulas are the inevitable end of any form of media; after all there was a time when everything was new for each form of media. It’s the same in TV. Ask any network director what the most important factor is in keeping a show on the air, and he’ll tell you it’s the profitability.
Thankfully, more serious artistic anime have their niche so there will always be new creative anime for us to watch.
Yeah, when people insist all anime is amazingly deep, it pisses me off. However, I do think there are more anime with themes beneath the surface than most people think there are. Evangelion does have themes beyond a simple mecha story. The problem with Eva is that everyone reads into it a million things that aren’t there.