Anime sucking lately

Originally Posted by black100

Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann

Seriously. This is the best anime that Gainax has ever done. And I'm not even a Gainax fan but you basically need to have seen this show to talk about anime at all. It's that awesome.

Aside from that, I've actually started getting back into anime recently cause there are more shows that appeal to me. There's the new Genshiken season, there's Clannad and pretty much anything that KyoAni does (with some of the best quality animation I've ever seen, and really good choices in voice acting and pacing/writing). Lovely Complex was one of the most enjoyable love comedies I've ever seen, and that's a genre that anime usually doesn't handle very well, but this one really pulled it off gloriously.

As far as more serious shows go, Death Note just finished which is one of the best "serious" anime I've seen. Darker than Black recently finished, and although I haven't seen it, it's supposed to be really good as well. I haven't even mentioned School Days either.

It's definitely up to personal taste--I understand that Lucky Star and Kanon 2006 really aren't for everybody. But for me, anime is actually going through a revival after being really shitty in the late 90s/early 2000s with shows with poor art and grainy/muted colouring, series that go on for too long and have no pacing, and a lack of funny shows that are really funny.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Yeah true, no matter how bad it gets there's always something to watch. I was just thinking after I posted that Azumanga Daioh was 2002, and that's probably my all time favourite anime ever.

Fruits Basket would be one of those shows that I couldn't get into due to pacing and art though. It does have its moments (and beautiful OP/ED songs), but I can't say I'd recommend it to anybody.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Take whatever the Gainax lads say with a grain of salt. I am no fan.

To me, Evangelion is for a large part responsible for the decline in anime in the 90s, since it's such a terrible show in every possible way, as is everything they made after it (don't get me started on Mahoromatic and FLCL). Gurren Lagann is the first show they made that's worth watching since, like, Blazing Transfer Student.

And we were relatively starved for anime in the 90s in the sense that only the best of the best got subbed (there are actually some super good shows that never got subbed at all, or not until way later--have you SEEN Blazing Transfer Student? ).

I also don't agree that better technology = better art. During the 80s and early 90s, the artwork and animation was (IMHO, of course) super beautiful, and vastly superior to late 90s/early 2000s, where it seemed they were just scrounging on the animation and it all looked really cheap and photoshoppy for lack of a better word.

However, nowadays it's way better I think. There are definitely still shows that use the cheapest possible studio in the world (One Piece comes to mind), but there are studios nowadays that put pride into their work, and the difference is palpable. I don't like Kenshin, so I don't think our tastes are really compatible, but I agree that a certain amount of heart needs to be put into any production. And recently, I think KyoAni has put more love into their productions than I've ever seen in any show. It's really amazing, and it's why I'm such a big fan of them.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Gechmir

Eva is pretty much the epitome of everything I hate in an anime, really

Seconded! In fact I totally agree with everything you said in that post!

I have to say though that it seems (to me) that the high tide for that type of shows is passing.

How ya doing, buddy?