What’s good and bad about “deep anime?”

DISCUSSION – When I mean “deep anime”, I am referring to anime series that tend to use wordy, complex and metaphorical dialogue and processes that might seem to be a headache for a casual viewers to understand.

After watching the first episode of the anime series, SAGRADA RESET, I was left thinking to myself – “what makes a complex anime series great or bad?”

I want to put the Monogatari series as an example for this article. The charm of this anime series is not mainly because of the fighting, the softcore ecchi but the witty, and intelligent remarks the characters give whilst they communicate.

Over the course of time, people have always said that it takes away some sort of realism when a male high school student converse as if he was writing an essay about social norms but that’s just it – this is what makes the anime great. Coupled with great humor, some ecchi, and seriousness, the Monogatari series shaped up to be one of the most head-turning anime series every time they release a new season for it.

The good thing about anime series that tend to go in-depth is that we learn more and more about the world they are in and we can further understand the events unfolding around them.

But an anime series with characters that talk seriously and in-depth doesn’t work if they don’t include one important aspect – how do viewers relate to these characters?
Sagrada Reset lacked in character depth to be able to appeal to the majority of its viewers for its first episode. The dialogue was interesting and deep coupled with the great usage of metaphors and short moral stories but in the end, it was for naught as these characters were not, in any way, relatable to anyone at all.

It felt like someone wrote an essay about astrophysics and it was read aloud by a toddler. It doesn’t feel, in any way, somewhat real in order for the viewers to relate with these characters. But then again, anime is a story-form based on mostly fiction so it’s not really expected to be real. However, we should at least be able to relate with these characters but the anime series fails to do this in its first episode.

So what’s the bottom-line here?

An anime series can have deep, complex, wordy, and interesting dialogues and characters but in order for it to sell to most people, it should be at least relatable.

Series that pull this off are the Monogatari series, Hyouka, Oregairu and many more.

These anime series pride themselves in having witty and wordy dialogue, intricate scenarios and premises whilst maintain entertainment by keeping their characters in check.

However in the end, it all comes down to what a person is interested in. Is he/she a casual viewer? Or does he/she long for more deeper and intricate story lines in order to pique his/her interest?

I, for one, am the latter.

I love stories that go deeper and explore ideas that I’ve never thought of before. It makes me think and ponder about how things are possible or not.

What about you? Do you love stories that are more deep and intricate? Or do you prefer stories that cut to the chase with all the actions and the like?

Leave your opinion in the comments below!

Mass Effect turns to Andromeda

FIRST LOOK – A surge of Mass Effect: Andromeda videos have been uploaded to Youtube, as of late, by various channels. Since I am unable to purchase a copy of this game, I will basing my thoughts from the various videos I have viewed in entirety on the first two missions of the game.

I would like to point out that I have never seen nor played the Mass Effect trilogy and thus I have no prior knowledge of the game’s universe. The basis for this article is only the events that happened during the first few missions of the Mass Effect: Andromeda game and nothing else.

The game begins in the Milky Way galaxy in the 22nd century, where humanity endeavors to colonize the far-distant planets of the Andromeda Galaxy. The player assumes the role of either Scott or Sara Ryder who joins the expedition and wakes up in Andromeda after a six-hundred year cryo-sleep.

Personally, a setting where humans are about to colonize far-distant worlds in space and you, as the player, are one of the key figures in making that a possibility, is something I adore a lot.

In this game, you play the role of Pathfinder in either Scott or Sara Ryder. As Pathfinder, you are to scout out new worlds where colonists can be safe to set up outposts and start colonizing. It is also set in a time where humans have contact with other alien species and have started cooperating with them. According to the backstory presented in the game, there seems to be a technological breakthrough after humans went to Mars and discovered alien technology.

In terms of story line, Mass Effect: Andromeda does a great job of getting you into the role where you explore the entire galaxy in search of worlds fit for human colonization. The game allows you to choose your dialogue creating different scenarios throughout your gaming experience. It also gives you a sense of urgency as resources are running short for the expedition therefore forcing you to quickly scout out one world after the next. Though, it does not affect the gameplay too much sadly.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is a open-world game where you can select any world you want to go through your ship, the Tempest. The player is free to complete the main objectives, side missions, and other odd jobs that are scattered all throughout the Andromeda galaxy.

In a part of the mission, the character you play as will somehow be incorporated to an artificial intelligence therefore boosting your abilities in different ways which affects combat and storyline. Honestly, this is a bit of a dark spot for me as there is no clear information from the two missions how such a thing is possible.

After looking at the first missions, Mass Effect: Andromeda shows a lot of promise and gives you the feel of space colonization. Fight off hostile aliens, a little bit of politics, and survival – it is one interesting and entertaining game to play.

I do hope to own a copy someday and experience it to the fullest but I can only look through other people’s experiences for the moment.

 

An interest in anime

PERSONAL ENTRY – When I was five years old, I had an uncle who was obsessed with the Naruto anime series. Every time my mother left me in his care, we’d spend most of the idle time watching a few episodes of it. I remember him talking excitedly about everything that was happening in an episode, whether it was a fight, a conversation or something that caught his attention.

Even my mother and I had some times when she’d pull out her collection of Voltron episodes. It was a fun time seeing these different robots fighting other robots – the action, the lights, the clashes. They were all something new for me.

I could say that my love for anime is sort of hereditary because of my uncle and my mother who both loved anime during their childhood and teenage years.

The first series that I’ve followed, each episode, was the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It was a time where science fiction piqued my interest. The thought of futuristic technology and concepts were so exciting to me. Every episode I’d wonder about the reasons for each scene in an episode. Pretty deep thinking for a seven year old.

The concept where your classmate was, in fact, god and you had to keep her entertained and if not, she’ll destroy the world? That sold me right in.

Another favorite anime series of mine would be Shakugan no Shana. It awakened my love for fantasy and adventure as Shana would go on to be an achieve Flame Haze – one that would make a difference for her world. How one human can be play a great role in a conflict between greater opposing forces than himself.

I was fascinated by the terms: the Reiji Maigo, the magic used, the different weapons – it filled me with awe and enjoyment.

Fast forward to recent years, I have somewhat limited my viewing of certain anime series. Instead of viewing it for the sheer thrill and excitement, I now delve even deeper. Character developments, story developments and twists, complex concepts and settings – I guess this is what happens when you learn more as you grow.

Nowadays, anime series have been more prevalent on re-occurring themes. Most spend less time on depth and are to shallow for me to enjoy. Instead of the usual twenty-five or more episodes in a season, we’ve now gone to common twelve-episode cour.

A lot of things have changed in the anime industry and people as a whole to have caused these things. It’s stretched itself to even foreign audiences other than Japan.

It’s a sense of happiness yet there’s a feeling of uncertainty – how anime has become bigger than people have expected.

Despite the new tropes and ideas, I still do hope we get to see more Haruhi’s, more Shakugan no Shana’s, more Naruto’s, more Voltron’s – where the entertainment value matters on the audience’s relation to the anime series rather than flashy CGI and the sorts.

Miandro

Why anime doesn’t work in live-action film adaptations

DISCUSSION – As of late, various anime series have gotten really popular to the point that they have been adapted into many media forms. While this is certainly a sign that anime has gone global and is being adored by an even diverse, bigger audience, there are some problems.

Why do we love an anime series? One of the main reasons why is the storyline. When things get adapted into a new media form, there are some changes needed to be done to make the story “work” in the media form it is being adapted into.

For example, let’s say we have a successful visual novel like Clannad. In a visual novel, the reader gets to choose what path the main character takes thus changing the events, relationships, and the like in a story.

What if during your walk-through of the Clannad visual novel, you chose to end up with Ryou – one of the main heroines of the game. Sure, we could have that in the anime adaptation but what about the rest of the gals? How would the story pan out? Would it be appealing to you, the viewer?

Before the anime adaptation is set into motion, things have to be changed in regards to the story and character development since we can’t have every single route of a visual novel adapted into anime – otherwise, it would’ve been a harem.

Same goes with a live-action film adaptation, it needs to work with the media form and its intended audience.

In the Hollywood film, Edge of Tomorrow, where Tom Cruise played as the main character, the director based the film on the 2004 light novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

In this film, the planet Earth is under invasion by alien species called Mimics. However, these alien species and their appearances are very different from the manga and light novel adaptations of All You Need Is Kill.

In the manga adaptation, the mimics appeared as some sort of spherical floating creatures resembling that of bacteria. However, in the Hollywood film, they have changed their appearances to some sort of cunning wolves of metal and electricity. Instead of floating, they are fast objects that would kill you in a heartbeat before you will even notice.

It is these minor changes that make an adaptation sell. The audience in the West would not have been entertained by floating balls in the sky as the film’s main villains. To make it sell, they needed to give a feeling of thrill and action that would be familiar to a western audience.

The reason why live-action film adaptations of anime fail to live up to expectations is because they are too reliant on the original source. Directors need to understand the source material of the anime they are adapting then change some minor details so that it would actually work in a film media platform.

Let’s take Death Note, for example. Seriously do we actually need to fit every detail of a character’s description from the anime series? I mean, it doesn’t make sense when it becomes a live-action film adaptation. It does not give appeal and it is just downright cringe or hilarious watching this.

And we’ve got a CGI-Shinigami in the live-action film… Seriously, it is just too cringe and hilarious that probably most viewers wouldn’t even take this film seriously.

We could’ve gotten a human who could fill Ryuk’s role, yeah? Hell, we could have Tom Hiddleston play as Ryuk or whatever name change we could do to fit a more global audience.

The bottom-line here is that most live-action film adaptations of anime and manga stick too much to the original work without consideration if the actual film will come out good or not. There are some anime and manga that won’t work if you adapt it as it is. That’s why we call it an “adaptation” – to adapt something from its original media form in order to appeal more audiences.

What about you? Do you think all live-action film adaptations of anime and manga need to follow the original work? Or do you think people working on the film need to understand their based storyline more clearly?