Oakmi

Honestly I think its an industry image thing...I get the same reaction or the other famous one "You like cartoon bruh?". Sigh. Then I use a friendship breaking face punch to illustrate how anime shows are not cartoons.

Moribito is a good one with a strong female lead.

Just wanted to wish all my Otaku and Non-Otaku friends Here on AF a Happy Valentines Day! (Remember when you were in Elementary School and you got and gave those cheesy Valentine's, consider this my cheesy digital Valentine to you!) PS: It's a bit early but considering I mostly forget holiday's all the time, this one is right on schedule. Cheers! -Kuro

Personally I feel that anime has slightly degraded over the years, where many studios are opting for cheap thrills to sell titles versus meaningful storylines. They've seem to take a cookie cutter approach to production values using garbage source material which was clearly produced in order to boost sales. This results in quick profits but no long term viability and can actually cause some people to migrate away from anime thus reducing sales substantially. I'm not saying all studios are like this, nor are all titles relative junk, but the majority are. When one has to look at a hundred turds to find the gem, eventually they'll stop looking.

SHITE! I Tried but hey, I suck at math anyway.

Valkyrie Drive Sister New Devil Aki-Sora (Sex but no penetration shown in this title)

8/10 Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works

Exactly, I'm re-watching "Kamisama Dolls" and instead of progressing the story and answering some questions, we have episodes where the MC female is in compromising positions or state of clothing. For a short 12-ep run you would think that the authors time would be better spent on telling the story rather than inserting fanservice. I will say however that there is one episode that they go to the (All famous episode) beach, only to find that its been closed for a typhoon. So people expecting the bathing suits and such get greatly disappointed, which I construe as good comedic relief, unlike the "Always falling down Moe, or as you said, the famous nose bleed. And that brother/sister fetish that seems to be prevalent in some titles. For instance, "Kamisama Dolls" where not only do you have the "loli" trope but the "Brother Love" one as well. I don't mind it in some character designs as long as it's not over exaggerated such as breasts tend to be. Firstly, excessively large and weird shaped breasts are not sexy just bizzare, and second, its distracting when they keep moving long after the character stops. I also dislike it when the author assumes that its seinen just because they write some fanservice/nudity/sexuality into the script that doesn't have anything to do with the story.

This helps a lot, thanks for the link! There is quite a discrepancy when it comes to ratings in the U.S.; and I noticed that there is even a "Banned Content" or "RC" in your country. Interesting point I didn't know.

Right, dumbest anime ever and I too had it recommended to me by a friend. We are no longer friends. JK. If I read reviews I stay away from those that are at both ends of the spectrum. Their too damn biased. Irregulars manga is better though I haven't watched the anime, but it does explain in greater detail why his personality is the way it is. As for elfen lied, jesus come on with the nudity and the dark theme. Felt like slitting my wrists just watching it it was so damn depressing. For my least favorite anime, well crap I have a list but sitting in the number one position was "Queen's Blade." I mean really....

I'm that way as well, unless I specifically went into it wanting/expecting it. The trouble with it is that so many titles being released are pushing that envelope that it reduces the amount of decent non-ecchi titles out there to watch. And I do love to watch anime. I can overlook the minor incidents, but when it become problematic I just turn it off and mark it down as "Dropped". Which brings up a decent point as well, there are seemingly more women/girls watching anime than there has been in the past. I'm finding almost equal quantities now in the demographics. Yet they still insist on directing their fanservice towards men/boys. Think you can send me a outline of your rating systems there? That would be a boon to my research. I never thought that there would be a different rating system in place per region as well as it didn't really play into it at first, but now have adjusted my view on that.

I am currently watching "Gosick".

Thanks for all your great insight and answers. I personally can't stand it, but can overlook it if it's not blatant or overly sexualizing characters. Titles like "Prison School", "Queens Blade" are nothing more than deliberate sexual pandering. Stories like those hold no value other than to objectify women, especially the latter. As for the "Titty Grab" (Thanks Beocat) shouldn't be in any title unless the scene is portraying rape or sexual assault because that's what it is. A good example, "Seven Deadly Sins" where he gropes a unconciouss female lying on a bed. Kneads her breast like he's making bread. In no way is any "Titty Grab" funny or comedy, and should never be placed in that context. Sadly however it is by some. Anyway, surprisingly most people I've surveyed or spoke to don't like fanservice, some tolerate it but very few will actually go out of their way to watch it. Yet the North American Territory gets deluged with titles that feature ecchi fanservice or blatant nudity more so than titles that don't. So the question is "Why are titles like that fast tracked to release in the states?" Is there a actual market for it or is there a false perception about Americans that say we're oversexualized nudity addicts who can think between the sheets or when we have a handful of breasts? Fanservice is also very one sided for the most part. I cannot understand why we see a lot more nude females than males (Thanks again Beocat for the observation). Oh and another of my pet peeves (Ahem "Sacred Blacksmith) is metal armor that breaks with a sword swing just so the breast can be shown. Really? Are we all that childish and stupid. I can suspend my disbelief for a bit, but that is asking way too much and is mostly irritating, not funny. @efaardvark, I sincerely believe that writers insert nudity, sex or fanservice into their story because they lack faith in their story. They know that sex sells and by inserting it absurdly into a good story is dumb. I really wish that writers wouldn't sell themselves short like that. Can't count the times I've watched a good story and then BAM, fanservice, nudity or sex just stuck in there at the most stupidest time. @ssjup81, I agree that it should be a target demographic, and really should only be in titles rated "R" and above. But sadly I have seen titles rated "PG-13" with a lot of fanservice, nudity and sexual situations that really should be inappropriate for the demographic they are intended for. So with that I guess that for the most part I dislike fanservice in any anime title, unless it actually adds context to the story. Unfortunately most of it doesn't. But there is one thing that pissed my off so much that I almost dropped it, "SAO: Ordinal Scale" when they deliberately pandered to the drooling masses by putting Asuna in the tub and giving them a titty/ass shot. It added NOTHING to the story, and was only there for the fapping masses (Forgive me if I offend but I am still mad about this). I digress, thank you for reading my rant and rave, and keep the viewpoints coming. I'll be doing a show on this and want to get as much feedback and input as possible.

Agreed.

Let's talk about a hot button topic those in my circles have been discussing as of recently. Fanservice. That's right I want to know what your thoughts on it are. From just a little ecchi to outright softcore/hardcore what is your take on it and why. Do you feel that it adds entertainment value? Does it detract from the overall enjoyment? I have my ideas on it but am reserving voicing them for now. Cheers!

Nah I just ignore them anyway.

I don't know about not being bad, I have a lot of friends that may just disagree with you on that.

Just like American Animation, Japanese Anime can be broken down into categories for both, with even some titles targeting even older adults. It really cannot be classified as either or in any situation, and depends upon what genre you would choose to watch. For example, a older teenager or adult wouldn't be inclined (unless they cut their teeth on it) to watch Pokemon but would opt instead for titles like "Devil is a Partimer", "Fate/Stay" or "Gurren Lagann" where an older adult would be watching titles along the lines of "Speedgrapher", "Wolf's Rain" or "Monster" (Just because I got done reading a thread that had those tiles (Less first)). The only thing that makes Anime so enduring is the fact that it covers a wide spectrum of age ranges and tastes. Therefore it can logically be concluded that it is for both children and adults. The idea behind Anime was to move beyond what was considered traditional animation and create a new art style using cinematography and a wider range of themes and concepts. There is truly more to Japanese Anime than just the entertainment value as well, but I digress and won't breech that topic here. However I am one of those who watch it for more than just that entertainment value.

What can I say, I'm a literal kind of person. Anyway, glad to have you on the forums.

Hai Back....

Has to be "Death Note". Mostly because of the deep seated neurosis found in Light who displays it with the belief that he is the judge, jury and executioner. I think this is actually quite a common theme that can be found rooted in actual society. That and Ryuuk who is playing the long game with Light.

Honestly I hope that it holds more anime releases in the future, but currently am sitting on the fence especially with their "Death Note" LAF debacle. Sigh...

Welcome to the forum and your in good company here. I'm new as well but am lucky to find a great forum with a good layout and plenty of interactivity. I personally enjoy watching anime as well as reading L/N and manga. Seems like most of my free time is consumed with it, guess you could say it's my passion.

I sincerely wish that more Japanese studios would aspire to be like them and produce quality over quantity. I don't think that there's a title I don't enjoy of theirs.

Honestly, just as stoked myself.