“There’s never been a more exciting time to be an anime fan, and we are strategically feeding a pipeline of anime content and experiences that fuels that fandom, deepens the love of anime, and exposes more audiences to the medium,” the company said. “The Crunchyroll business is outperforming our financial expectations, and the company is well positioned to continue to grow alongside the rising global demand for anime.”
We live in interesting times. ~20 years ago I would have never imagined such a statement.
Generally, people credit Akira with bringing anime into the American mainstream, which would have been 1988, but by 1997, Princess Mononoke had a national release in theaters in the U.S., with Billy Bob Thornton doing a voice a year after Slingblade, i.e. when he was one of the biggest celebrity actors in the U.S. (Almost the whole cast was famous, which was really unusual at the time for animation.)
I was 20 when that came out and I don’t remember a lot of people saying that they wouldn’t go see that silly kid’s cartoon because it was very clear by then that anime wasn’t just for kids.
I’m going to sound like an old ass, hating, “In my day things were better” gruff but anime before it got popular was better. I feel it’s gotten a lot more corporate. Themes in anime have gotten so safe and Shonen has completely taken over all other catogories. I feel you don’t get the popularity of anime like cowboy bebop, Ghost in the Shell, or EVA today because there’s no marketable character mascots or easily digestible story telling. It reminds me of music in the 90s. LeSs experimentation and creativity and more “WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO SELL MERCHANDISE!”
That being said I acknowledge how much merchandise EVA sold so it’s not completely black and white
Stories are trope filled and unoriginal most of the time (there’s a few that seem like they try). The art is lazy. There used to be complex mature themes and now there’s like 5 madlibs used to pump out generic crap. I feel like the last one I saw that felt like classic anime was Knights of Sidonia
You know, what you’re describing is probably why I mostly stopped watching anime. I was very into '80s and '90s anime, and some of the early 2000s as well. But somehow it all gradually seemed to become more generic or repetitive as it became more popular. Stories used to be weirder. Which… Okay, modern anime is very weird. But it’s sort of predictably weird. Silly weird. That sort of thing. Anyway, it’s definitely changed a lot and I feel that, despite the increase in content and content availability, the variety of stories has decreased.
You put it better, but I actually was watching some anime today and so felt the need to chime in.
We live in interesting times. ~20 years ago I would have never imagined such a statement.
20+ years ago I was hiding my love for anime because back then watching “cartoons” would get you mocked, bullied and possibly ass kicked.
I’m glad things have changed for the better.
You still get people who think anime is “cartoons”, but they tend to be older.
I feel like around ~20 years ago is when anime started entering the mainstream.
Generally, people credit Akira with bringing anime into the American mainstream, which would have been 1988, but by 1997, Princess Mononoke had a national release in theaters in the U.S., with Billy Bob Thornton doing a voice a year after Slingblade, i.e. when he was one of the biggest celebrity actors in the U.S. (Almost the whole cast was famous, which was really unusual at the time for animation.)
I was 20 when that came out and I don’t remember a lot of people saying that they wouldn’t go see that silly kid’s cartoon because it was very clear by then that anime wasn’t just for kids.
So I would say closer to 30 years.
I’m going to sound like an old ass, hating, “In my day things were better” gruff but anime before it got popular was better. I feel it’s gotten a lot more corporate. Themes in anime have gotten so safe and Shonen has completely taken over all other catogories. I feel you don’t get the popularity of anime like cowboy bebop, Ghost in the Shell, or EVA today because there’s no marketable character mascots or easily digestible story telling. It reminds me of music in the 90s. LeSs experimentation and creativity and more “WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO SELL MERCHANDISE!”
That being said I acknowledge how much merchandise EVA sold so it’s not completely black and white
I generally prefer 80s/90s anime, but there is some really good stuff from the 2000s as well (haven’t really watched anything from last 10 years).
Michiko to Hatchin (2008) Ergo Proxy (2006) Texhnolyze (2003) Kaiba (2008) The Sky Crawlers (2008) Ghost in the Shell: Innocence (2004) Blame! (2003) Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) Paranoia Agent (2004) Planetes (2004) Samurai Champloo (2004)
Not saying you have to like all of them (these are my favourites after all), but there is good stuff from the 2000s.
Agreed.
Stories are trope filled and unoriginal most of the time (there’s a few that seem like they try). The art is lazy. There used to be complex mature themes and now there’s like 5 madlibs used to pump out generic crap. I feel like the last one I saw that felt like classic anime was Knights of Sidonia
Better music too…
You know, what you’re describing is probably why I mostly stopped watching anime. I was very into '80s and '90s anime, and some of the early 2000s as well. But somehow it all gradually seemed to become more generic or repetitive as it became more popular. Stories used to be weirder. Which… Okay, modern anime is very weird. But it’s sort of predictably weird. Silly weird. That sort of thing. Anyway, it’s definitely changed a lot and I feel that, despite the increase in content and content availability, the variety of stories has decreased.
You put it better, but I actually was watching some anime today and so felt the need to chime in.
20 years ago I would have said “what’s that, an egg roll or something?”
Not my experience. I would have expected it 20 years ago. 30 years ago, not so much.