Sato's biggest claim was that the Japanese have lost the appreciation for unique strorytelling, although he also mentioning the exploiting of Asian outsourced labor by not teaching non-Japanese sub-contractors the skills necessary to manufacture a good product. Another claim was that the Japanese have grown to prefer cute, superficial stories in place of those that deal with reality and real problems. And while some of Sato's comments may seem extreme, if you look around you at the popularity of slice of life anime, I wonder if he doesn't have a point.
From the point I started to watch anime, in the mid-nineties, the landscape seemed much darker than it is today. Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Devilman and Vampire Hunter D were some of my firsts and set the tone for what I considered anime to be -- dark storytelling. There's nothing wrong with pink haired girls and moe, but I admit I do miss feeling as if anime was more engaging. The only two shows I've loved in the last few seasons have touched on those same tones -- Eden of the East and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0.
What do you think of Dai Sato's rant? Relevant, or not so much?
Have to agree with the assessment. In recent years, a greater number of anime titles have catered more to the otaku fanbase (ecchi, moe, romantic comedies, dating sim/ video game spinoffs). It's not that I hate them per say. But they are being oversaturated and it's killing off diversity in appealing to wider tastes for anime fans.
Agreed...where are more dark, twisted shows like Elfen Lied or Monster?
Moe is the sniper killing the anime industry.
An interesting story doesn't necessarily need to be dark or edgy to be unique, what it needs to do is to not include elements into the plot just because of it being the new craze. The problem is that in this day and age going along with the generic fads such as moe tends to go well marketing wise (from what I've heard).
To sum it up, if you guys want this "moe flood" that is the bane of some of your existences to stop and start seeing more originality instead, try conveying the message to the animation companies that their business model is outdated as hell and IDIOTIC; Because until they understand this, the majority of those dollar/yen votes are going to keep coming from pandering moe obsessed otaku who are the only people on this planet crazy enough to pay Japanese CD/DVD/BR prices on a regular basis.
@zaldar:
Yeah, because moe and dark can never get along at all *cough* Bakemonogatari *cough*It may not have been SUPER dark, but it showed you can still have very dark elements without taking the whole show in that direction. Not to mention the dialogue writing for that show was absolute gold.
I read that a writer is not supposed to worry about what others think. They just need to write it how they want it to be written.
By the way I new here and this is my first post.. so hey everyone.
@zaldar: Heh, the sniper... AWO?
On one hand, I have to agree with Satodue to the fact that most anime I have seen that is new within the past...say three years or so does not feel unique or new to be honest. I blame the fact that most fans of anime here in the United States are more on the ball for Shonen Anime such as Naruto and Bleach, which to me seem to be parallel to Dragon Ball Z and Inuyasha respectively.
On the other hand, I take issue with his comment about anime not being about "reality and real problems" as he calls it only because he is one to talk about said subject if he dealt with writing series about bounty hunters in space, a future wasteland with sentient robots and demonic overlords, the personification of wolves in a city, and the story of an average boy meeting an alien girl and piloting robots to save Earth. None of those are really reality, but at the same time, Bebop, Ergo Proxy, Wolf's Rain, and Eureka Seven were unique titles in and of itself.
Personally, I'm looking at the huge amount of seinen light novel adaptations that have come in the last few years (I'm looking at you, Suzumiya Haruhi).
I miss the days of good storytelling, of captivating plotlines, awe-enducing twists, complex and deep characters. I miss the days where I gave a shit about anime, really gave a shit--you know? I am tired of having nothing but cutesy stories about love in high school or worse, a thriller with nothing but gore and tit and pantsu shots. It seems like nothing but filler, really. Like, where is the good stuff? The stuff I can really sink my teeth into, have meaningful discussions about and care enough to actually want to sit down and watch.
It's not like that anymore. Now-a-days, I'm lucky if there is one anime I can say I'm excited for. Spring season offered that to me with House of Five Leaves. Unfortunately, that anime is over and the other one, FMA: Brotherhood, has since ended as well.
I am both fearful and disappointed in the decline of quality material being released today.
As much as I hate media and material that insults the viewer's intelligence, I have to say something. I'm tired of the argument that says something is only good if it is dark and realistic. It also especially pisses me off that alot of the people who believe constantly try to defend anything crappy by basically shutting off their brains.
The anime that I currently watch are over 150 episodes in length. And the other anime I watch seem like derivatives of those anime.
With the exception of Occult Academy, everything feels the same, but more or less I still enjoy it.
Plus, I've seen too many good anime in recent times to really buy the idea that it's all crap. I can usually find about 2 or 3 standout new shows each season, which is on par or higher than what I usually get from a new series that debuts in a season here in the US.
He obviously doesn't read Naruto... NARUTO'S BEEN RED HOT LATELY :D