Social The Social Thread 3.2.1

[SnakeFighter64]

Because it's the Japanese equivalent of western cartoons? That's like asking why are there soo many cartoons.

Yeah. That was a stupid thing to say.

Really thought it would be funny.

 

[Shroob]

Yeah. That was a stupid thing to say.

Really thought it would be funny.

The real answer though is that a lot of anime are meant specifically to sell a manga/light novel/video game.


While pretty much every anime falls into this category, there's a difference between like, One Piece with hundreds of episodes, or Konosuba that gets 2-3 seasons. One's an ongoing series that fully intends to follow the anime and tell the whole story(with filler), while the other's only meant to sell you on the product being shown so you go out and buy the book.

 

[Wario Bros.]

Nothing says college football like needing to sign up for a subscription service to watch your team's first game of the season.

 

[Knight Dude]

what do you think the western version of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom would be? Specifically the western equivalent to Tatsunoko.

It pretty much is Marvel, but with less property rights baggage. Mind you I'm saying less, not none at all. Which is what started the VS series with X-Men Children of the Atom anyways.

A strong majority of Tatsunoko properties are superhero or superhero adjacent characters. Casshern, Tekkaman, Ippatsuman, Yatterman 1 and 2 ect. The fact they also have "Man" at the ends of their name kind of plays into that naming style like Spider-Man, Sandman, Iron Man, Ice Man ect. ect. Also Jun the Swan, and those guys who's series has like five different names over the course of localizations. Speed Racer was left out of TvC, but I imagine him having super or two like Ghost Rider.

If you want to split hairs or be given a non-Marvel example, I guess you could say Image. Most of their series aren't as directly tied together outside of their cape stuff, and even that stuff is less joined at the hip like Marvel and DC. They also have some popular series that aren't superheroes like Saga and the Walking Dead. But you'd have Spawn characters, TWD characters, Youngblood, Invincible, Savage Dragon and a few more to pull from.

Hideaki Itsuno, known for Devil May Cry and Dragon's Dogma, is leaving Capcom

If I'm not mistaken, he was also the director of Rival Schools and Power Stone? Or was at the very least involved with those two series duologies. He was one of the major dudes from back in the day that was still there.

Man, I want a news update on Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution.

I want to replay Shantae 2-5 but I won't until I get my hands on this game.

Doesn't that have a cursed dealing with Limited Run Games? Seems like any physical release would be FOMO filled cause that's their whole deal and it sucks. Though digitally it should be fine.

 

[StormC]

Why are there so many anime?

The real answer though is that a lot of anime are meant specifically to sell a manga/light novel/video game.


While pretty much every anime falls into this category, there's a difference between like, One Piece with hundreds of episodes, or Konosuba that gets 2-3 seasons. One's an ongoing series that fully intends to follow the anime and tell the whole story(with filler), while the other's only meant to sell you on the product being shown so you go out and buy the book.

After World War 2 Japan pivoted towards technology being one of its primary exports, one of their biggest developments being semiconducters and computer chips years ahead of most of the world. Because of this, consumer electronics became a hugely popular phenomenon in Japan, including television. Anime became a relatively cheap way to fill up the airwaves and the country was already experiencing a huge boon in manga after the war (partially inspired by American comics that were popular brought over during the post war occupation). Adapting manga became one of the easiest ways to create anime due to the marketing tie-ins (publishers often would foot the bill on these adaptations to advertise the manga, as Shroob alluded to).

The bubble economy from the 80s led to another huge anime boon, particularly with the popularization of home media, creating the OVA phenomenon. While Japan's economy famously did shrink in the 90s, anime at that point was starting to become a global phenomenon, well before even Americans started watching it, so anime still enjoyed success as a globally exported product. Anime is also much cheaper to make than American cartoons (mostly because the labor is heavily underpaid and nowadays often outsourced) so a first world country like Japan is able to produce a lot of it. The Japan External Trade Organization estimates about 60% of the world's animation comes from Japan. A staggering statistic for a relatively small country.

 

[Knight Dude]

Since MMPR is the only part of the series they seem to care about putting out in America, I feel like if they Re-Boot it again, they should've made Jason and Tommy(or their equivalents) blood brothers. Cause the **** they pulled in Zyuranger with Geki and Burai was pretty raw actually.

 

[TheMightyP]

Ngl I do feel some fatigue with studios making western properties into anime, primarily the ones that add nothing new to the table besides anime artstyle.

Or maybe the Rick and Morty anime alone just bothers me that much. Now that feels like a ploy for Redditors that clap for Gulp ****to

 

[Knight Dude]

Ngl I do feel some fatigue with studios making western properties into anime, primarily the ones that add nothing new to the table besides anime artstyle.

Or maybe the Rick and Morty anime alone just bothers me that much. Now that feels like a ploy for Redditors that clap for Gulp ****to

Batman Ninja was aight. Blade's anime was kind of cool. Suicide Squad I couldn't care less about and Rick and Morty feels like something to actively piss ****** off cause they could've done ATHF or a third season of Black Dynamite.

A real Spider-Man anime that has vibes from the Sentai Series or the 90's shows or Spectacular could work. Teen Titans was practically one, and X-Men had anime intros in Japan's dub, so they're halfway there.

Anime Ben 10 might go stupid, I dunno. Samurai Jack could, though the OG series is such a clear mix of eastern and western animation influences with live action films and Frank Miller comics it's hard to say if leaning in any of these directions would make it feel off.

 

[TheMightyP]

Batman Ninja was aight. Blade's anime was kind of cool. Suicide Squad I couldn't care less about and Rick and Morty feels like something to actively piss ****** off cause they could've done ATHF or a third season of Black Dynamite.

A real Spider-Man anime that has vibes from the Sentai Series or the 90's shows or Spectacular could work. Teen Titans was practically one, and X-Men had anime intros in Japan's dub, so they're halfway there.

Anime Ben 10 might go stupid, I dunno. Samurai Jack could, though the OG series is such a clear mix of eastern and western animation influences with live action films and Frank Miller comics it's hard to say if leaning in any of these directions would make it feel off.

Samurai Jack would be perfect but tbh there is zero reason to do so, unless they wanna change the ending so Ashi lives like the game did.

 

[Wario Bros.]

Doesn't that have a cursed dealing with Limited Run Games? Seems like any physical release would be FOMO filled cause that's their whole deal and it sucks. Though digitally it should be fine.

Yeah, LRG does that for their physical stuff (I managed to order one) but the game is also getting a digital release (WayForward instead will be handling that version)

 

[Knight Dude]

Samurai Jack would be perfect but tbh there is zero reason to do so, unless they wanna change the ending so Ashi lives like the game did.

Genndy mentioned the game's ending is canon, so Jack just need to do a 100% to save his girlfriend.

Ideally, ANY new SJ stuff would probably anthologies between the OG show and the final season. I think the show gave Jack a good enough send-off that you don't need to do alternate endings like that. But anthologies was pretty much what the show was built off of originally. I get not everyone liked the last season, but after watching the whole show again, pretty much every episode is at least good.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

I feel pretty good right now. Got off work, went to get mountain dew and cool ranch doritos. I came across a homeless guy with his dog. As a dog lover, I couldn't walk away and knew he had to be clearly be a good person. So I gave him $50 that way he can get his dog some dog food even if its a small bag.

Talking to him I can tell he was a good person as he notably said he doesn't want to give his dog away if worst were to come. Praying and wishing them the best of luck in getting a place.

 

[Wario Bros.]

Well, my mom thinks that being 34 years old is not too old to ask for a Christmas list.

I guess one thing I'll do is cancel my preorder for the Marvel vs Capcom collection and let her get it for me.

 

[StormC]

Ngl I do feel some fatigue with studios making western properties into anime, primarily the ones that add nothing new to the table besides anime artstyle.

Or maybe the Rick and Morty anime alone just bothers me that much. Now that feels like a ploy for Redditors that clap for Gulp ****to

The distinction is a bit silly anyway as for much of the 80s and early 90s American cartoons were animated in Japan until Korea became a more viable (read: cheaper) alternative for labor. American and Japanese animation have a long history of overlap and influence; the recent shift to calling American productions “anime” is mostly marketing because Americans think of anime as “mature” animation even though most anime in Japan is for children and family audiences.

 

[TheCJBrine]

Today is Hatsune Miku’s birthday! Happy birthday to Miku! :D

I started drawing something yesterday for her birthday, but it’s not going to be done today. I’ll share it whenever I finish it. I’m going for a lineless style, and maybe I got a bit too ambitious xD but I think it looks good so far.

In other news, Project Voltage is going to continue with even more songs, illustrations and videos as part of “Project Voltage High”. The gift of PokéMiku keeps giving:

Serebii Update: Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku: Project Voltage has revealed "Project Voltage High" which will include new songs, illsutrations and videos

Details @ https://t.co/NWlAdn57aQ pic.twitter.com/Dmlr6jljle

— Serebii.net (@SerebiiNet) August 31, 2024

also I saw this funny video where Miku meets TF2’s Soldier and I wanted to share it:

pic.twitter.com/UrfvpNtkuY

— P•h•a•n• (@PhanthakanXD) August 31, 2024

also also there’s this cute, new Miku song by TAK called “mochimochi”. It’s very good + there’s a short part with a funny instrument, but I don’t want to spoil it:
link to song video

Finally…idk what else to say, I just really adore Miku

 

[cashregister9]

Rewatched Thor Ragnarok

One of my favorites, It's funny and action packed with a great cast. Making The Immigrant Song Thor's theme was a great choice and in general I like a lot of the decisions they made with the story here.

 

[Knight Dude]

The distinction is a bit silly anyway as for much of the 80s and early 90s American cartoons were animated in Japan until Korea became a more viable (read: cheaper) alternative for labor. American and Japanese animation have a long history of overlap and influence; the recent shift to calling American productions “anime” is mostly marketing because Americans think of anime as “mature” animation even though most anime in Japan is for children and family audiences.

Yeah, if the Strike in the Animation industry wasn't mainly focused on dealing with Gen AI BS, we'd also try to get at least a few companies to rely less on foreign studio outsourcing. Not that the Japanese and namely Korean ones aren't good. Just that we should allow more US animators more positions avaiable, AND it'll give more people more experience.

 

[Noipoi]

Day 41: Skrelp

It's like a greasy Horsea

 

[TMNTSSB4]

Same Shadow

 

[StormC]

Yeah, if the Strike in the Animation industry wasn't mainly focused on dealing with Gen AI BS, we'd also try to get at least a few companies to rely less on foreign studio outsourcing. Not that the Japanese and namely Korean ones aren't good. Just that we should allow more US animators more positions avaiable, AND it'll give more people more experience.

The shift to CG animation in the 21st century was also to undercut the unions. Traditional animators had a union, CG animators didn't and it was easier to outsource labor that way. This is in my opinion why Japan still struggles to move to CG; it's still not significantly cheaper because animators in Japan already get paid starvation wages as is. I think a lot of people don't realize that anime has historically been kept going by animators who are worked inhuman hours for low pay. Generally speaking these animators are diehard otaku who love the medium so much they will kill themselves to work in it.

In comparison, the amount of money it would cost to keep US animation going by paying American animators livable (for the US wages) would be astronomical. It's always important to keep in mind products under capitalism leverage a lot of expenses to other regions because otherwise the labor costs would keep it from having market value. The cat is out of the bag there, in my opinion. American politicians love to get on stage and talk about bringing manufacturing jobs home, but the reality is companies aren't willing to pay livable wages for it so they'd rather just outsource it. America has seen a significant shift from being a manufacturing economy to a service economy and it is unlikely that will change without massive, fundamental shifts in American politics. When bribery is legalized as lobbying, it seems difficult to envision that happening.

Anyone remotely interested in animation should watch this video - it's long and the title/thumbnail is a bit clickbaity, but it's a super in depth dive into the animation industry in both America and Japan, their unique strengths and weaknesses.