How come critics love japanese animation so much?

C

c.g._eads

Veteran
And really, how come critics like animation so much more than other films in general? If you look at animated movies, they comparitively get much better reviews. I bring this up in light of Paprika (I admit, I'm not sure if this is Japanese) getting amazing reviews upon its release.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paprika/

I'd be interested, but I've been burned too many times by movies like "Spirited Away" and "Akira" and "Princess Mononoke". All these movies, according to critics, were the best movies ever. Yet I couldn't have been more bored. What exactly was so great about these movies? Ultimately, my question is, why do critics seem to fall in love with these movies more than the average movie goer? Is there something about them that critics can relate to?
 
c.g._eads said:
And really, how come critics like animation so much more than other films in general? If you look at animated movies, they comparitively get much better reviews. I bring this up in light of Paprika (I admit, I'm not sure if this is Japanese) getting amazing reviews upon its release.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paprika/

I'd be interested, but I've been burned too many times by movies like "Spirited Away" and "Akira" and "Princess Mononoke". All these movies, according to critics, were the best movies ever. Yet I couldn't have been more bored. What exactly was so great about these movies? Ultimately, my question is, why do critics seem to fall in love with these movies more than the average movie goer? Is there something about them that critics can relate to?
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I'm with you C.G. I actually bought SPIRITED because it had such phenomenal reviews and word-of-mouth marketing....something I rarely do.

I was so angry after watching this that I was convinced I would never be a filmmaker if this is what Hollywood wanted. I actually fell into a two-week long downward spiral of depression and heavy drinking over this one.

SPIRITED was nothing more than a one-person-specific acid trip with no visual continuity.

I can only assume two things after watching this film as well as trying to get through other Japanimation. First, I have no skill as a storyteller or secondly the whole thing was lost in translation.

Jason
 
I don't know about the critics, but I'm personally drawn to animation for some reason. Stop motion is my favorite kind though. The best I've ever seen is the work of Jan Svankmajer. I don't mean to go too off topic, though I do think it's related. I can't explain the draw of animation. I guess it's just so visually brilliant and different than live action, and you can see things that can't be done in live action. At least not done well. I also love Richark Linklater's rotoscoped films "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly". None of what I'm talking about has anything to do with japanese animation, but I'm just ponderng the draw of animation. I like the way most japanese animation looks though. I don't watch anime shows, but some of the few films I've seen, it's visually intriguing. And very stylized. I think that's what draws most critics.
 
I love akira. It was the first anime I watched when I was a kid in the early 90s. The Sci-Fi channel used to play a new anime film every week at 10:00am on Saturday morning. Akira was the first they showed and I was blown away.

I can't say the same about other films as most are just repetitive concepts with discontinues stories but Akira still does it for me.
 
insanityfw said:
I was so angry after watching this that I was convinced I would never be a filmmaker if this is what Hollywood wanted.
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I go through this nearly everytime I watch something that the critics love.
 
DVX-Ben said:
Please, someone explain Akira to me. I don't get it.
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Akira the film is a boiled down version of the 2000 page manga. It deals with some of the same themes but some of the story arc is removed which makes the movie harder to understand.

The primary themes are disenfranchised youth culture, corrupt government, not learning from past mistakes, isolation, and individuality. Akira was a special child that had great psychokinetic abilities. He was a test subject of the government but due to his overall strength which he could not control it lead to World War III. What you see in the film is a society after that war and how the government has not learned from it mistakes.

Wikipedia has a great write up on the film and the manga.
 
Cause Paprika is going to own.

Of course, critics ALSO are going to tell you that you just can't comprehend the depth of mature Anime, especially that which hails from .JP. So many American writers and directors rip off anime it's ridiculous. And, I guess copying is the greatest form of flattery.

Take, for instance, the final shot in the newest Fantastic 4 trailer: Silversurfer makes a mad dash through the sky, dodging missiles. Uhm, that EXACT same shot was in Eureka 7, a very recent anime from popular Animation Team BONES (Cowboy Bebop).

It's EXACTLY the same shot as the ones in the intro of Eureka 7, minus the [better] mechs.

Matrix? Ripped Ghost in the Shell hard enough that I felt it. DEATHNOTE is now being forged into a live action american movie.

Not only that, the only American "cartoons" that hold any merit are comedies. Family Guy, Futurama, The Simpsons; there's not a single intellectual animated show on television that ISN'T anime. And even the people who attempt, and fail (The Last Airbender, I'm talkin' about you) at imitating are reaping the benefits of semi-intellectual animation.

Hate it or love it, Anime is having a very HEAVY impact on American Society and filmmaking, almost as large as Video Games. You can dislike it, but, those who choose to delve into it and learn about what the foreign writers and content creators are trying to say about human life and their own culture will benefit GREATLY in the near future.
 
Actually, while I think Akira is one of the best films (not just anime), most other anime just falls flat. Many copy the same concepts or derivative of it and so I never really got into them. The only recent anime that I actually find myself enjoying is Naruto (not the dubbed American version).

As for American cartoons, their have been quite a few good ones. The Batman animated series in the early 90s was the best. Add to that Gargoyles, Cadillac and Dinosaurs, and Pirates of Dark Water and you have some great series there.
 
Sorry, Jason, I was speaking about primeTime accessible. You're right, Batman was decent. The difference, still, in that would be how Anime shows are one LONG story instead of disjointed episodes.

In Batman, we saw Batman fighting Joker one episode, then it was Sandman. Only every so often did you get a "to be continued" and that was the treat. ONE day time cartoon that I remembered being on-par with anime was MIGHTY MAX and I STILL love that show to today. It was mature, spooky, adventurous, and it had an on-going story that nearly streamed to each episode.

IN nearly every anime, it's always just a piece of a massive and engrossing puzzle. That's the draw of anime, I feel.

With movies such as any of Miyazaki's films (Spirited Away, etc, etc) he's always brushing on moralities and virtues. Every one of his films, I think/feel, have always been about upholding virtues that make you an outstanding human being. It's just layered with the fantastic elements such as little sheets of paper cut-outs chasing girls, or dragons.

I think critics love Anime not only because of the great animation (I sure as hell hope I can pull off such beautiful shots, then again they're hand-drawn so...) but the content presented.

Paprika already presents itself as a story of inner struggle with oneself. The main character, the female, is going back and forth between waking life and her dream being as a detective.

In her waking life, she's boring, droll, unhappy etc and her dream-being is happy, adventurous... everything she wans to be. Now, it's not that there aren't PLENTY of movies like this. It's just the animated American movies (CG or line-art) are still playing at cute furry animals and fart jokes.

I'm not sure if you can pool Linklater's slew of vector animated films into this same category, and if you choose to then he's about the only one I can think of doing such a thing.
 
Billy Pilgrim said:
"A Scanner Darkly".
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Sorry to go off topic but GOD did I hate this movie. I couldn't even finish it. It was sooo boring. And, whats worse, is WHY? WHY the cartoon look? Its like those insurance commercials. They just look rediculous like some kid in an editing room discovered some cool looking cartoon effect. But it doesnt help sell the commercials at all. There is no point to it.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Thankxs. Have a nice day.
 
It depends on the style of animation- to me anyways. Some of the goofier styles like Pokemon, Princess Mononoke, don't do much for me. But then you have stuff like Titan A.E. which is actually a very cinematic beauty with nicely done animation. Along those lines is Vampire Hunter D and Galaxy Express 999. Good stories are the key though.
 
Kholi said:
Sorry, Jason, I was speaking about primeTime accessible. You're right, Batman was decent. The difference, still, in that would be how Anime shows are one LONG story instead of disjointed episodes.

In Batman, we saw Batman fighting Joker one episode, then it was Sandman. Only every so often did you get a "to be continued" and that was the treat. ONE day time cartoon that I remembered being on-par with anime was MIGHTY MAX and I STILL love that show to today. It was mature, spooky, adventurous, and it had an on-going story that nearly streamed to each episode.
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I really liked the '90s X-men cartoons because of the ongoing story arc.

I think one reason you may hear so much praise from US critics for anime is because typically only the top shelf stuff gets released theatrically in the US. I'm not a huge anime fan, but I've picked up my fair share of duds from Netflix or Blockbuster.


-Andrew
 
That's a truth. And, not only theatrically, but televised. The shows that you see on Adult.Swim are actually some of the best.

When I watched Eureka 7's second episode I KNEW that Adult.Swim would port it over; it was just that good.

So, sure, that's also another possible factor on why American Critics hail Anime (Shows and movies) as great.
 
Yeah, many American cartoons shy away from tackling adult themes and are geared towards teens and kids. Even Batman and others like it were geared towards teens.

Sadly I don't think this will ever change in the US. The best big screen US cartoon is Lion King. That had some adult themes, at least more so than most US cartoons, and many people loved it. But I is difficult to see that happening again. Especially with the rise of the 1 everyday computer generated animated films we have know.
 
Ugh. Don't get me wrong, there are some nifty computer generated films out that are geared toward the PG crowd. I got to see the RATATOUILLE nine minute deal on Quicktime and it was cool. Girlfriend wants to see it, I don't have a problem with checking it out. Monster House was fun... I'm gonna watch it again this weekend because it "feels" nice.

But, the BESTS went out with Finding Nemo IMO. Toy Story started it, for me, it ended with Finding Nemo.

Our youth can pretty much handle it now, which is why NARUTO and other Animes have garnered SO much attention on television. Naruto is like the current line between mature and childish, and it plays on that very well.

I guess I could just be a fan, but I think embracing the anime culture would greatly benefit any young or aspiring filmmaker.
 
c.g._eads said:
And really, how come critics like animation so much more than other films in general? If you look at animated movies, they comparitively get much better reviews. I bring this up in light of Paprika (I admit, I'm not sure if this is Japanese) getting amazing reviews upon its release.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paprika/

I'd be interested, but I've been burned too many times by movies like "Spirited Away" and "Akira" and "Princess Mononoke". All these movies, according to critics, were the best movies ever. Yet I couldn't have been more bored. What exactly was so great about these movies? Ultimately, my question is, why do critics seem to fall in love with these movies more than the average movie goer? Is there something about them that critics can relate to?
Click to expand...

My 2 and 4 year olds love Spirited Away. The first time I saw it I was like.. okay that was trippy and kinda cool. Two years later I put it in for the second time and I found I really enjoyed it. After having seen it a bazillion times now thanks to my kids I can honestly say there's a lot to appreciate. It holds up very well which can't be said for a lot of [the other actual "kids movies" they watch.]

Japanese story telling is different than Western. They don't follow what we consider "the rules" or color in what we consider "the lines." Japanese plots don't just twist. They twist, fold, twist again, flip over to the beginning, and then step 4 degress to the right. I'm not saying they're superior or making a judgement, but rather more of an observation.

This makes watching them a very different process. Sometimes its nice to step away from the more linear plotlines and get lost in what seems like nonsensical chaos. Spirited for example is ( as was mentioned) a trip. Yes exactly. And sometimes it's good to clean out the old pipes.
 
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I've studied japanese animation from 1994 to present day, collecting hundred of vhs, and dvds, books. Japanese animation is very complex art, it takes years to understand japanese society from a sub-culture perspective so it's more hard understand recent works such "Paprika" of Satoshi Kon without knowing the different "schools" of animation inside Japan.
I suggest to see "Perfect Blue" of Satoshi Kon, because "Paprika" it's connected to psychoanalysis, a sort of leitmotiv in modern japanese animation begun with "Shin Seiki Evangelion"...
 
Satoshi Kon is hot all day. Perfect Blue was such a mind-screw. I can't wait to see Paprika June 1st.

By the way, the Soundtrack is hot. Susumu is a gift to my ears.
 
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