[IlexBlue]

(Original post by LionKingLover94)
Fair enough, fair enough... I apologise. I still dont like anime itself though

Have you given Ghibli a try?
My 30 year old, borderline xenophobic, everything-must-be-in-English-or-it's-crap, "hard man" older brother who loves splatters fell in love with Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service - he's watched SA like 30 times.

[confuzzled92]

Mirrai Nikki - Silly secondary/minor characters, a plot that was pretty OTT, unnecessary fanservice and humor, and some of the character designs (like that orphanage woman) were just . Would have been so good if the cast of characters were mature teens.


Higurashi no naku no koro ni - pretty bad character designs for an anime of that time, annoying voices, just repeated cycles of killing + the lamest last episode I have ever seen in an anime.

(Original post by LionKingLover94)
The main reason I hate anime is because half the people I know turned into exactly this. "OMG, NARUTO IS SO KAWAII-DESU, I WANT TO MARRY HIM!!!111!!!!1!1!!"

Exactly what does the behavior of a minority of anime fans have to do with the anime series/movies themselves?

[eugenius 8]

Eiken

boobs larger than life

[Aiko]

(Original post by Tabris)
I'll admit that I am being a bit harsh in saying that they're terrible as it isn't impossible to find some form of enjoyment out of those shows and to find something genuinely terrible, I'd have to hate every aspect of it. Lumping them under one banner was down to laziness, in part due to it being 1am and wanting to get to sleep through a fun little bout of food poisoning and just not wanting to go into depth about each, but:

Fair enough. I think I'm not alone in saying that One Piece is considerably better than Bleach.

The One Piece manga is probably the most interesting of the three, since some of the characters and world are actually quite different and quirky. The concept and setting is somewhat different. I read it up to the Alabasta arc and then stopped, though I do check the odd chapter or so here and there as a type of guilty pleasure. Honestly, I'd probably care about One Piece if it was cut down by a significant amount. Things like the time-skip were a Godsend, because it was going nowhere. Unfortunately, this isn't about the manga, it's about the anime, which I think didn't capture the same feeling as the manga and I only watched about 20 episodes or so before getting bored.

You see, I would never consider watching or reading One Piece a "guilty pleasure" and I'm not sure why you would. I think the series is unique in that it's been able to maintain its momentum where many other long-running shounen series have not.

Naruto tries too hard at times to be dark and and angsty, in part due to tacking on 'depressing' backgrounds onto the characters which gets a bit tired after a while. Filler after filler in the anime, Sasuke arc after Sasuke arc in the manga and so on. It's filled with inconsistency, retcons and asspulls, such as killing people off in the village and then throwing out resurrection magic out of nowhere. Both the manga and anime are massively overrated.

I agree, aside from the world setting, Naruto certainly has its pitfalls, and the filler in the latter half of the first anime adaptation effectively ruined it. Nonetheless, I still find the anime enjoyable each week (no longer keeping up with the manga).

Bleach from what I'd read and seen, was purely power levels and is probably the closest to Dragon Ball in terms of progression. It didn't really have anything more to it and if I want something with power levels, it's nice to have a decent level of world building around it, like with the nasuverse.

Dragon Ball didn't really focus explicitly on 'power levels' until later in the manga (the second anime adaptation of Z covered this), but yes, Bleach definitely drew direct inspiration from this. I do enjoy this 'battle' formula myself, however shallow it's perceived to be.

It doesn't help that the fanbases see them as infallible and any criticism is seen as some kind of personal slight. Like I said, the elements that make up each series are not bad, but the packages they come in and they way they are executed, just don't work for me.

But an opinion is an opinion after all. Nothing more. There are plenty of things that I like that I'm more than sure others do not.

Besides all of that that, I get enough of my never-ending stories out of Berserk and Gantz.

Indeed, different strokes for different folks. On my part, I'm receptive to everything, more or less.

[Tabris]

(Original post by Aiko)
You see, I would never consider watching or reading One Piece a "guilty pleasure" and I'm not sure why you would. I think the series is unique in that it's been able to maintain its momentum where many other long-running shounen series have not.

It's definitely something One Piece deserves credit for, being a consistent top seller is no small feat.

I agree, aside from the world setting, Naruto certainly has its pitfalls, and the filler in the latter half of the first anime adaptation effectively ruined it. Nonetheless, I still find the anime enjoyable each week (no longer keeping up with the manga).

Dragon Ball didn't really focus explicitly on 'power levels' until later in the manga (the second anime adaptation of Z covered this), but yes, Bleach definitely drew direct inspiration from this. I do enjoy this 'battle' formula myself, however shallow it's perceived to be.

Indeed, different strokes for different folks. On my part, I'm receptive to everything, more or less.

Yeah, ignore the lack of distinction between the original, Z or GT. I assume that most people here will have only seen/read Z or GT, and not the original, so just saying that naturally rolls off the tongue.

The thing is, that I have no problems with formulaic, rinse and repeat shows. I don't keep up with it, but I can sit down and watch something like the Pokémon anime quite happily and I enjoy each annual Precure series. Like I said, I could watch a porno for the plot and quality acting; and again, while the elements that compose the series aren't negatives, there's just something about Bleach and Naruto as complete packages that just doesn't do it for me, at all.

If I could remember, I could probably list every series I've intentionally dropped on less than two hands and like you, I know, anime has been quite a big part of my life in terms of entertainment throughout my life, so it's not that I'm unreceptive either.

[LionKingLover94]

(Original post by IlexBlue)
Have you given Ghibli a try?
My 30 year old, borderline xenophobic, everything-must-be-in-English-or-it's-crap, "hard man" older brother who loves splatters fell in love with Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service - he's watched SA like 30 times.

I would, but I can't even pronounce it.

[Bionic]

Bleach and I did give it a fair go by watching 60 episodes up to the soul society arc. I just found the mythology dull and its story repetitive.

[Aiko]

(Original post by Tabris)
The thing is, that I have no problems with formulaic, rinse and repeat shows. I don't keep up with it, but I can sit down and watch something like the Pokémon anime quite happily and I enjoy each annual Precure series. Like I said, I could watch a porno for the plot and quality acting; and again, while the elements that compose the series aren't negatives, there's just something about Bleach and Naruto as complete packages that just doesn't do it for me, at all.

This is where One Piece distinguishes itself. Unlike the majority of long running shounen anime/manga that certainly possess this formulaic "rinse and repeat" structure you speak of, One Piece has enough variety to keep everything interesting and fresh. With each arc, we have a new world to explore that we didn't know of previously, with an equally new set of characters and their circumstances that our main group have to deal with. While there is obviously similarity in terms of how things are played out (bad guy needs to be beaten by our heroes), generally there is enough variance to counteract this, while ensuring that each event is interlinked to an overarching world setting.

I suppose, what has made One Piece, and to a lesser extent other long running shounen anime/manga like Naruto, so popular is not so much its engaging narrative (after all, anything of this length will succumb to repetitiveness), it's the connection the viewers have built up with the characters themselves over a prolonged period that is simply incomparable to anything else. This is why it's so critical to have likeable characters that you can relate with, and One Piece has definitely achieved this (hence its overwhelming popularity and success). The viewer has effectively joined them on their journey and has built up an almost emotional attachment. Anyway, I'm digressing, so I'll stop here. I could go on forever about this.

If I could remember, I could probably list every series I've intentionally dropped on less than two hands and like you, I know, anime has been quite a big part of my life in terms of entertainment throughout my life, so it's not that I'm unreceptive either.

Yes, definitely. As I've been watching anime and reading manga from an early age (I can't actually remember much prior), subsequent exposure has probably led to tolerance and acceptance that I wouldn't have otherwise. I guess, aside from this, I like the stylisation of anime, not only the aesthetic but also the voice acting, that is generally consistent across the medium, regardless of genre. Obviously said stylisation has changed over the years, but fundamentally it's remained the same. Lastly, anime has served, along with j-dramas, as a way to keep connected with my native country when I'm not there. But yes, anything I have dropped is more to do with the lack of time than the inability to watch it.

[Facticity]

(Original post by Ewan)
Neon Genesis Evangelion... Overrated, probably the worst anime I've ever seen. I struggled through this from start to finish because of the ridiculous amount of hype surrounding it. Really really big waste of time, don't understand why there is so much hype, I really don't.

I guess this is quite controversial though. Elfen Lied is similar in that a lot of people hate it, while others including myself love it.

Its obviously because you didn't get it. Evangelion is a work of art, I think Plato could have stood to learn a few truths from Shinji - I mean that postmodern existential jibber jabber at the end, is a magnum opus in itself.

[ЯOЯЯIM]

Gosick and various other attempts to do murder mystery. The writers just don't seem to understand the difference between a twist and an ass-pull.

[harufi]

Elfen Lied. Most people seem to rave about it, but seems pretty terrible to me.
Watched it when I was about 12 with my friend, and our reaction was "Wow, gore! Naked people!"...we only really liked it because it was different from what we's already seen, and our parents wouldntve approved.
Rewatched it a couple of years ago and realised how awful it was. Once you get past the first episode, you realize you've seen it all. Characters are boring, sci-fi elements just look silly and the plot was -well, messy at best. English dub made me want to punch Nyuu/Lucy in the face.
Only thing good about it in my opinon is the opening track Lilium.

.hack//Sign was dull. Visually very impressive, lovely designs, decent dub and characters...but the plot went nowhere. Apparently it feeds you red-herrings and false information throughout the series and there are twists and turns, but when I watched it, all I thought was "But we already know this. Stop saying the same thing over and over." Also, Lady Subaru for Most Annoying/Useless Character Of All Time.

[waterlilyy]

From what I've watched I have to say the film 5 Centimetres Per Second. It's very pretty and nice to look at as the GIFs that people had made was what made me want to watch it in the first place but that's where it ends for me.
I'm always positive when it comes to watching new things and if I don't like it I don't tend to admit it and I'll just stick it out until the end but this film I just had to turn off halfway through. It was really boring and I had no idea what was going on. I can't even remember much about it except that there were trains involved and a lot of nice scenery.

[Arran44]

Here are some anime series that I thought, are terrible:
Naruto- (It goes under the dragon-ball syndrome, as it drags it's story line out too much).
One Piece- (Meh, not my type of series)
Bleach- (Despite being a fan of samurai films, I could not get into this, it didn't click with me).
D. Gray Man- (No, just no).
Fairy Tail- (Liked at the start, but then it drags on. The series also made me realize, that I hate anime cliches, that involve characters saying an action before they actually do the action).
Hellsing (Bleh).
Soul Eater (Manga is actually superior, the series was fine till the halfway point and then they messed up the story line. The ending also annoyed me too).

[wallywest]

Negima! - not only is it not a faithful adaptation of the manga, anybody who read manga will find themselves hating it.

[phoenixmiko]

Chobits - the anime was nicely animated but the story was very dull and did not follow manga, which is much better.

One Piece - I tried to get into this series but found I could not. It did not grip me at all. The story was lacklustre and the art style grotesque. The same goes for the manga. It being very popular does not mean everyone will like it.

Higurashi no Naku no Koro Ni - the plot was tragic and filled to the brim with gore and killing. The horror element was equally disturbing. Too dark and depressing, not to mention disgusting.

Kai Doh Maru - it was animated well but it was too graphic (especially the action scenes) and the plot was confusing, uninspiring and tedious and the conclusion unfulfilling. It was most definitely a case of style over substance.

[_donnie_darko_]

(Original post by Arran44)
Here are some anime series that I thought, are terrible:
Naruto- (It goes under the dragon-ball syndrome, as it drags it's story line out too much).
One Piece- (Meh, not my type of series)
Bleach- (Despite being a fan of samurai films, I could not get into this, it didn't click with me).
D. Gray Man- (No, just no).
Fairy Tail- (Liked at the start, but then it drags on. The series also made me realize, that I hate anime cliches, that involve characters saying an action before they actually do the action).
Hellsing (Bleh).
Soul Eater (Manga is actually superior, the series was fine till the halfway point and then they messed up the story line. The ending also annoyed me too).

I agree with you for the most part but hellsing, whatt?

[403 Forbidden]

Vampire Knight and it's sequel - reason: almost every character and the severe lack of a reasonable plot. But Zero, mostly.

[R4INBOW]

Can't stand harems or in some cases reverse harems, ugh there was this one anime called neo angelique that I couldn't stand. Seriously, you defeat villains with the power of prayer and love Give me a kick ass female lead any day.
The ending to ichigo 100:



This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Rookai]

Deathnote. If you've not seen it, don't read the button because I reveal some of the plot.

Spoiler:

Show

But hear me out! I've been watching the english dubbed version (I usually watch english sub but this was the only kind I had so don't shoot me with the hate gun just yet) but I feel like when L died the series went downhill. I feel that they've killed the main antagonist of the show and replaced them with N and mello which, in my opinion, are not as good to watch. I loved the series up until that and if it had ended there I would have been happy.

Naruto. The recipe for Naruto is:
1. Chase Sasuke
2. Have flashback
3. Rinse and repeat.

I felt the other characters were neglected slightly because of this. Although the storyline behind each character is brilliant I'd have preferred if the series had started earlier in their lives and we watched them grow up. Rather than the characters being introduced through childhood flashbacks.

Other than that the fights are awesome and the bond between Rock Lee and Gai Sensei is absolutely brilliant.

[Arran44]

(Original post by _donnie_darko_)
I agree with you for the most part but hellsing, whatt?

Yeah I found, that series was trying to do cover too much story, in so little time. By then end of it, I felt unfulfilled. I also thought the characters were quite bland and were not explored enough. I even thought the conflicts, that happened within the story, could have been resolved within a few seconds, let alone a few episodes.