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runebandit89

Crusader
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Everything posted by runebandit89

  1. Okay, 1) Story Line: Do you remember Batman: The animated series. The episode titled "heart of ice" won an emmy for story line. How about Gargoyles, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Spiderman (From the 90's), X-Men (from the 90's), Justice League, Batman Beyond, The New Adventures of Johnny Quest. These are Western Animated shows, they had very good story lines. 2) Character Design: Same list i gave on point one. They have very good character designs. 3) Background music: The background music from Batman:The Animated series was phenominal, from Shirley Walker, one of the composers responsible from Tim Burton's Batman. The background music from gargoyles was also awesome. The Animaniacs also have good background music, zany orchestral music to match the zany attitude of the show, very lively.
  2. Not all american animation are for fast laughs or satire (not that there's anything wrong with those). The reason that these shows are still on air is because this is what's popular with the demographic, it's what makes money. Anime (shown in Japan) is catered to a specific demographic that will get the animation studios the maximum amount of money. The demands of demographics (both japan and america) changes overtime. If you pay attention to the anime available, the kinds of stories and the quality has changed drastically. There used to be a lot of anime with really good story lines, character development, etc. Now, that's becoming exceedingly rare. Same thing with American animation. There are few shows. Out of ten shows that are like chowder, spongebob, or family guy, there will be one or two really good animated shows like Batman: The animated series of Justice League (those shows are kid friendly but are actually done so that both the kids and their parents can enjoy the show. The kids will see it as an action cartoon show, the adults will see it as their beloved comic characters brought to life). I really don't favor one over the other. Also, in terms of actual animation, Japanese animation does cut a lot of corners. Yes, the drawings are really detailed, the story are usually really good, the characters are relatable. But in technical terms with regards to animation, they do tend to cut a lot of corners. Yes, american animation does cut corners too, but it is a little less evident than anime. And to be fair, there are some anime that have better animation quality than some american animated shows. For example, look at Batman: The animated series vs Ranma 1/2 or Yuyu hakusho. Both are from around the same time period. If you look closely, the animation in Batman is a bit more fluid (higher frame rates), the mouth movements actually match the sound of the voices, not just flapping up and down like in anime. I do like Ranma 1/2 and Yuyu Hakusho, but Batman: The animated series was damn good, the story lines were solid, it dealt with some pretty dark subject matters, it even won an emmy or something. really? which American anime have you seen? Which ones are you referring to in your statement? Because, i can easily say Japanese anime is boring and nothing spectacular. But that's not true, because some have good storylines and are spectacular (e.g. Last Exile, Cowboy Bebop). Some are boring and have nothing spectacular about it (e.g. Infinite Stratos, Love Hina, Fruits Basket, Naruto during and after the stupid fillers, bleach after the rescue rukia arc, Yugioh!). Please prove to me that American anime is boring and not spectacular, if that is what you really believe. Don't just say things and not back it up.
  3. I do agree that people should open their minds. People should give both Japanese cartoons and American cartoons a chance instead of picking one or the other. what gets me a bit irritated is that most anime fans (most, not all) tend to quickly dismiss american cartoons as "inferior" then cite examples like family or spongebob but conveniently not mention the better ones that America has to offer. I mean, isn't is a bit unfair to compare the best that Japan has to offer against the mediocre or the not so good that America or Canada has released in the medium of animation? Also, a small trivia for fans of both anime and cartoons. Do you guys remember Batman the Animated Series by Bruce Timm? Now, the script, storyboards, voice acting, music were all done by the Warner brothers and the team assembled by Bruce Timm. They then contracted an animation studio in Japan (the one who would later be responsible for Big O) to do the animation. Warner Brothers gave the animation studio technical requirements for what the product should be when it's finished. If you or anyone have watched that show, that Japanese company pulled it off, they animated a show with such fluidity, movement, and technically sound animation. And the storylines used are really good too (as i recall, the epised "Heart of Ice" won an Emmy or something for best story or something). Now, here's the point, a Japanese animation company can animate without cutting too much corners or cut corners in such a way that it's not that evident (ie, Batman: The Animated series). But when they did Big O, you can see the corner cutting is a bit more evident. I mean, what happened? Why did they suddenly decide to use a lower frame rate, or not animate the mouth movements to match the sounds being spoken? Why the sudden increase in still frames? They did a fine job animating Batman, but when they did their own stuff, they decided to not do what they already did? Don't get me wrong, i love Big O. its up there in my top 20 anime list.
  4. Last movie i watched and finished was Master and Commander of the far side of the ocean.... I'm still midway in watching Kingdom of Heaven
  5. That's it? Avatar is the only good American animation that comes to mind? How about Batman: The Animated Series. Justice league. Spiderman (From the 90's) X-Men (again, from the 90's) batman beyond, gargoyles, Young Justice, He-Man (The newest one from 2000 something), Men In Black: The Animated Series, Godzilla: The Animated Series, TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghost Busters, Extreme Ghost Busters?
  6. Really, American animation has stagnated? Look at He-man from back then and the He-man that recently was. Look at Beauty and the beast and the "Frog Princess." Look at the early superfriends and now "Young Justice." Look at Batman: The Animated Series, then The Batman. Remember the X-Men from the 90's? now look at marvel animations studios' animated features, like Wolverine vs Hulk, or Avengers. Remember Wolverine and the X-Men ( i was kinda sad that it was cancelled because they couldn't find funding). American animation continue to evolve and get better. They even incorporate some things they like from animation styles all over the world. Yes, the Japanese animation are very detailed and intricately drawn. However, in terms of actual animation, though it may look like a pretty picture, they do cut corners and when you spot them, it's kinda annoying and ruins the experience of watching it. For example, in Anime when the characters speak, their mouths just flaps up and down and don't really make shapes to match the sounds coming out of their mouths. Now the reason they do this is because they animate first then record voices later so it's cheaper to dub voices in Japanese and later, english. American animation first get the voices recorded and then they animate to the recorded dubs. This way, the way the mouths are animated are a little more realistic or better animated rather than just flapping up and down. Don't get me wrong, western animation also cut corners, but it's easier to spot them in the generic fare anime (there are exceptions, like the Studio Ghibli ones) Better stories? Character development? mature? really? Are you saying there are no western animation that does this too? Remember Batman: The animated series? It was the first animated series to show violence and death on the screen and it was not censored. It was really dark, and had really awesome character development, stories and it was pertty mature. How about Reboot? Or X-Men? Or Spiderman: The animated series from the 90's? How about Justice League? Each one of these has very good stories, character development, mature themes, and really good animation. it's better than Infinite Stratos, or Naruto as it is now( i enjoyed Naruto up until the fillers killed it, now i just lost interest in it). As for raising up children and so on, what does that have to do with animation at all? i mean, if a child grows up in a screwed up way, it's not animation's fault, it's the parents' fault. It's their job to teach the child what's what. Desensitizing people to something is not really a good idea either.
  7. I would have to go with American animation. Don't get me wrong, I love anime, in fact, I enjoy good anime ( like Cowboy Bebop, or Ergo Proxy or even the really awesome (if you understand the parodies and the subtle humor in it) Excel Saga). However, how can most of you dismiss american animation so easily? There are alot of good American animated films/series out there that is easily missed by everyone. I mean, Don Bluth's movies like Titan A.E., Anastasia, All dogs go to heaven, An American Tail. Then you have Disney who had Beauty and the Beast (the first ever animated film to use 3D animation in it, remember the ballroom dancing scene between Belle and the Beast?) There's the new "Frog Princess" movie, and "Tangled". There's all the Pixar stuff, and the Dreamworks animations (though they, in my opinion, rely too much on pop culture for their humor). There's also the Iron Giant. Superb script, voice acting and very good animation. As for TV series, there was Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, X-Men (the one from the 90s), Wolverine and the X-Men, Justice League, Avatar the Last Airbender (though this one is hugely influenced by Japanese style animation). And dont' forget The Adventures of Johnny Quest (which was really good story wise and clever in their use of 3d animation and 2d animation before such a thing became really popular) and Disney's own Gargoyles. American Animations do have good scripts, good story, drama, romance, character development, moral complexities, character depth, detail. And technically, American animation is better than japanese animation in some aspects (and vice versa). As for those who dismiss Family Guy, South Park, Spongebob Squarepants, and Simpsons as stupid cartoons which require no intelligence, these actually require intelligence to understand the humor behind the obvious jokes that they give. I mean, they are parodies and satires of things that go on in American Society. So, not all American animation are bad, and not all have a targeted demographic of 2-13 year old children. Besides, you can't really compare Japanese Animation with American Animation. Both have different culture bases, fan bases, techniques, appeals, etc. It's like comparing watermelons with Avocados. They are both really good, but they are really different. How can you say that America does not care about animation? Please back up your statements when you make them. If America does not care about animations, then how do you explain shows like the new Young Justice, or Justice League. How about Disney. It is clearly an American company. Their animation department is going back to basics good animation and this is evident in the feature film The Princess and the Frog. The fact is that they do care, well, the big animation studios care alot lot more. And you can't use shows like Chowder, or Spongebob and say "wow, the animations sucks" because it doesn't. The art style is not up to par with anime and it isn't detailed. But in a purely technical viewpoint, they are soundly animated. These type of shows don't have the same visual "bling" like anime because they are intended by the director, the producers, and the Studio execs to look like that to appeal to a certain kind of fanbase, or should we say, demographic, even though it can still be enjoyed by everyone. It is quite clear that American animation studios do care about animations or else, they wouldn't have bothered at all. And please don't say these shows are just for kids. They are not, they are kid friendly, or done with kids in mind but they can be enjoyed by everyone (in fact, about 80% of the jokes in Spongebob can only be understood by adults since it is satire and parody)
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