Some consider a strength of anime to be the sheer variety in the topics that shows cover. From this summer 2009 season alone, we have anime featuring mahjong, baseball, vampires, witches, butlers, maids, newspaper delivery services, alchemy, and lesbians. Of course, that’s not to say live-action programming or non-Japanese cartoons have a limited range of content; there are shows about baseball, vampires, superheroes, cooking, doctors, and crime. From my own personal experience, I know that American shows can make things intense, whether it be a medical operation, a police chase, cheating housewives, a sponge frycook who lives under the sea, or high school drama. Who knew that a love triangle of Serena van der Woodsen, Dan Humphrey, and Rachel Carr would be so hot and exciting?
Going strictly with fictional entertainment, however, those American shows lack a little something, and that’s the ability to keep me interested in the setting or activity they centered on. Captain Planet never pulled me into environmentalism and didn’t create a strong desire to fight pollution. Law & Order doesn’t make me want to become a lawyer or go into the police force. House would never make me want to become a doctor. On the other hand, I want to try stargazing because of Sora no Manimani. I’ve had a short run with baking and cooking because of Yakitate! Japan and Ristorante Paradiso. Thanks to The Prince of Tennis, I continued playing tennis. Aria didn’t just bring me thoughts on happiness; it sparked within me an interest in Italy and Venice (a place I still hope to visit someday).
I can’t pinpoint what it is about anime that allows this, but all I can say is that this is one thing that keeps me watching anime. Every anime isn’t like this, but in addition to the entertainment and possible underlying analysis to take from the show, I can expect to learn more about topics such as microbes through Moyashimon or stars through Sora no Manimani and most importantly, curiosity to further pursue them. That’s something I never get from other types of visual fiction. “Real” American shows like Ace of Cakes can amaze me with the fancy desserts and mind-blowing designs, but the fictional shows seem to solely rely on and emphasize the comedy or drama rather than anything else.
Perhaps that’s the reason why live-action shows and non-Japanese cartoons lack this quality. Anime is as much about the subject activity as it is about the characters participating in it. Cars and racing are very much the focus of Initial D, but Vietnam and the movie-making process are not the main subjects of Tropic Thunder. Of course, I don’t mean this applies to all anime. There are character-driven shows like K-ON!, which doesn’t revolve the music or their band so much as their members, or non-hobby based shows like Cowboy Bebop or Evangelion in which it’s difficult to gain an interest out of (unless intergalactic bounty hunting or being emo are possible hobbies or activities). But I’ve yet to come across any form of American fiction that does what anime does.
Is this just a thing for me? I know this could easily apply to sports manga and anime such as The Princes of Tennis or Slam Dunk, but I’m curious as to whether or not others find this true. This sloppily written and poorly thought-out post was inspired by @cowboybibimbop’s tweet.
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Well it is true. Anime has sparked interests, or given more fruit for thought in certain interests that I already have, than any other form of visual entertainment. I mean, there are still Asian shows (movies and what-not) that do the same, but they never get to the level that anime has done.
It is part of the anime fascination I suppose, but since there are some Asian shows that have done it for me, I must say it is more of the culture (and why no American or Western shows have hit me as hard) than anything else, while anime also manages to express an uniqueness not found in other forms of visual entertainment.
I think the reason why anime is more engrossing like that may have something to do with the difference in the audience anime and American shows are catering to. American shows like the ones you mentioned are very large, big-budgeted entertainment shows that need to appeal to a wide cross-section of people to stay afloat and be viable for export to other parts of the world. But because of this, they need to cater to a lowest common denominator of their audience (though that sounds really bad, I don’t mean it in a bad way).
While this also occurs with anime, they can afford to be a little looser with the subject material they play with, meaning that they can delve into issues and interests that no American show ever could because it would alienate some of the audience.
Also, I guess when we watch anime, we are much more open-minded about events in a given show, because anime is mostly fictitious and escapist, and literally anything could happen. Suspension of disbelief is much easier when everything’s animated.
Ah, that’s a good point. I didn’t consider that anime serves as a form of escape and that we are more open-minded toward it because of its separation from reality.
You’re only going to be inspired by people doing something if it seems to make them happy, and anime has always been the televisual medium which is best at basing shows around happiness, rather than crisis and shock and despair. The only example which easily springs to my mind of a non-animated show inspiring people to do what happens in the show is The Good Life, and yes, this is notable for just how much fun it seems to be just to be Tom and Barbara. On the other hand, nobody’s going to want to run a hotel after seeing Fawlty Towers!
(Although if you’re just comparing it to American and Japanese live-action rather than live-action in general, I feel comfortable using “it’s just better” as an answer to everything. I don’t think either of those countries do any good live-action in noticeable quantities.)
I haven’t really watched anything outside of Japanese, Korean, and American live-action television and movies, which is the reason for my lack of mentioning any other cultures’ visual entertainment.
And nicely said, about being inspired if something seems to make characters happy. Non-action and non-drama shows typically lack the negative side of emotions (at least using them heavily), therefore have a greater chance of piquing the interest of its viewers.