LOLI-POP
- Created By Wakusei Aoshi
Is Anime Getting More 'Kawaii'?
I'm having this argument with my brother right now and I'd like to hear your opinions (of the people who actually know stuff about anime, unlike my idiotic brother who only remembers his nostalgia).
His complaint is that there are more popular anime like K-On and Lucky Star dominating the industries. The 'cute girls doing nothing' as he says it themed shows. He goes on to say that the writing is deteriorating and they are frankly, not as good as they were back then.
My argument is that there is no difference. There has just been a change of style, a change of themes. Back then there were lots of more sci-fi anime (and my brother really likes the sci-fi genre) now there is a different kind of style of anime which is more relatable. More slice-of-life feeling anime.
I don't think that means the writing is now absolutely terrible because it's not as imaginative. There are some shows which are completely stupid now as there were some shows that were completed stupid then.
There was no steins;gate back then. There was no Tiger&Bunny back then. No Deadman Wonderland, no Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, etc. But there was Evangelion, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, etc. back then.
Actually, anime may have gotten more diverse now, if we'r talking about popularity. There's now a show about fishing, basketball, advertising, exorcists, time travel, school clubs, human character, retold samurai stories, soccer, and the list goes on. All in worlds that can be relatable, they're all in Japan.
Back then you had shows about aliens, bounty hunters in space, giant robots, more giant robots except with a psychological twist, more aliens and robots, magical girl aliens, mystical samurai, etc.. Not as diverse, but the majority of it takes place in another world or Japan and another world.
With themes like that there can easily be amazing anime coming out of them as there can be terrible anime.
I for one think anime like Strawberry Marshmallow, K-On, and other slice-of-life anime is really well written. Just like I think Seinfeld is really well written. Just because it's not about an alien from a completely different world and how it battles for it's kingdom and what-not, just because it doesn't have a bunch of action and magic or in-depth scientific references doesn't mean it's not written well.
I think because it doesn't has all of that, yet it's still cute and interesting, means it's pretty well written. I can't imagine how an anime only being about how some little girls spend their days throughout the season could be a good anime, but it's actually very good.
There is no such thing as getting worse, it's only change. Just like video games aren't getting worse, it's just that bad games are getting more popular.
I'm also tired of hearing about how animation and style is getting worse. How? Just because there aren't as many lines? It's a stylistic choice.
How come there are more 'kawaii' anime now?
There aren't. Just because there are cute-sy girls in there doesn't mean it's kawaii, and just because it's action-y and serious doesn't mean it's NOT kawaii.
There have been just as much 'kawaii' anime back there as there is now, it's just a style change.
Back then ('90's...because it's mainly the '90's kids complaining) kawaii:
Early 2000's kawaii:
Now Kawaii:
I could even make a huge comparison picture to prove my point further.
Now I'd like to hear your sides of this argument because I feel you guys can argue your point better than I can.
Baningu so BURAITO! O.O
*cough* Enrish, yess....*cough*
I've been talking about Japanese stuff with my family all day. My brother has been watching Gaki no Tsukai and my mom is telling me about Wabisabi...O.o;
I have to admit all day I've just been watching random Momusu videos or watching random NEWS videos...Mainly all day I've been watching Soukon (with NEWS):
And strangely it only had the only four members left...but this was back when Nishikido and Yamashita were still apart of the group...O.o; I just thought that was a weird coincidence...but I don't really mind 'cause these four are my favourites! :D
(I feel like I get lucky with these groups 'cause usually meh favourites don't leave! Unlike with Kra...WAI MAI! ;m;)
But that show is a very good show. It really makes me want to run or exercise 'cause it shows you that running is hard work and you can get better at it with practice. 'course they're all much better than I am, but Shigeaki Kato gives me confidence 'cause he also dislikes that kind of stuff, yet he tries hard at it.
I've also learned not judge a book by it's cover!
...On top of that I've also learned that telling people good advice like that isn't going to totally work, it's just easier to say...Like most of the advice I've gotten or that is very stereotypical like that I usually just pass off like 'Pssh, duh, why would I do that'...but then I realized I really do judge people! I'm not the only one who does it...
For a while I didn't like Shigeaki Kato, I thought he was rude and loud, but he's just loud, but he's still very funny. I think it's just the way he looked overall.
I've also noticed something from a conversation I've been having with my friend lately. She used to LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE (how many times am I going to say 'love'!?) our Spanish teacher and she wanted to be a Spanish teacher. Now she hates her and doesn't want to be a Spanish teacher anymore. Why? Because she says that her Spanish teacher's kindness and friendliness was all fake.
I find that very hard to believe. I know it sounds exciting, but I really don't believe people think that much about trying to deceive other people. Nobody is a perfect villain and antagonizing people doesn't make you safer, it just makes you paranoid.
What happened was that my friend everyday after school would talk to her before she went home, and she would text her everyday, too. With the new principal I think he told the teacher that that wasn't appropriate (which it kinda isn't) so she told her they couldn't do that anymore. My friend was very upset about this and began to distrust her and tried to come up with a deeper meaning for this. Then she was friends with her on facebook and the teacher blocked her for a day and my friend freaked out and didn't understand why so she asked her other friends about it and they didn't know why and she now hates our Spanish teacher.
To her it's that our Spanish teacher was lying to her the entire time trying to look cool and gain popularity. Why? That's not really a good enough motive.
I think it's more that my teacher realized that she was at fault and, sorry to my friend, but she's a bit talkative...and kinda clingy and aggressive, but she means right, so she had to do these kinds of things to try not be so at fault. My teacher isn't a scheming kind of person.
I noticed that when I talking her one of the teachers I hate was with her and I was asking my Spanish teacher about what we could do for Anime Club (because she was the sponsor) and later that day she 100% agreed with me, but now that this annoying teacher was with her she had to disagree with me because the other teacher disagreed with me.
It's not really that she's a bad person or a liar, it's more that she's trying to be on everyone's side and be the nicest person. That's impossible without hurting some people, but I do respect her for trying. And she is a very nice person.
And that's my story about why people shouldn't judge others based on small actions.
I also realized that this person I hated, I don't think I was justified in hating him. I had been friends with him for a while because he was in the same club as I was and he seemed nice enough. Last year he and a bunch of other kids sat behind me and we constantly laughing at me and I didn't know why until he end of the period and I would always feel something in my hood. They would make fun of me throughout the period and every day I would come home crying.
I thought that was mean and bullying...but thinking in their situation, they were bored, they just wanted to prank somebody, and apparently people love my reactions to things so I was an easy victim.
One day we had an academic team competition and I asked him to tell his friends to stop doing that, but I don't think he took me seriously. Then the next day was a school day and they did it again and I came to my brother crying because they put items they stole from the science lab in there (first of all, I thought I'd get in trouble for having them, second I thought they might be dirty because I didn't really know where they got them from) and the other teachers found out. I told the guy to leave me alone and he kept telling me he didn't do anything. Our teacher said she'd move us so I wouldn't be near them anymore, but she said she had been wanting a new seating arrangement anyways.
The next day when we were given our new seating arrangement he told the other kids that it was because of me and they were all mad at me and kept sarcastically thanking me.
Now to me, and it might to you, that sounds pretty low. But I've thought about the circumstances and considering the kind of guy he is. They were probably just innocent pranks during the boring day, I wasn't think only one who had be constantly pranked, and most of the kids who did that were loud people like Shigeaki Kato. They aren't really mean they're just a bit impulsive and silly.
My other reasoning is a bit out there so I won't say it. But I think it wasn't supposed to be bullying, I'm just very sensitive.
So I forgive him and the rest of them...even though they probably don't even know I'm mad at them...XD
Well, that was a lot of story telling. Sorry for that...;m; Just go read Aesop's Fables (I guess?)
In conclusion...
Nope, I haven't worked on any manga. I've just been very lazy. The last two DA requests have two people in them so they're gonna take me longer and I want them to look good....>3>
Yepppppp....
...
I forgot what I was talking about...'orz
Here's some lovely music for reading~!
This entire post I forgot to explain the purpose of the title! The light in my room died (it need to be changed for so long, I could never see anything) so my dad put in a new light and IT'S SOOOO SUPAH BRIGHT IN HERE! O.O Okay, that's it.
(Why do I talk/ramble so much?)
ADIOS~! :D
Pooohhhh....I want to watch some anime...;m;
But my brother is watching loads of it and so it's cutting my download speed...;m;
But I finally got my brother to watch Steins;Gate...or am getting him. He says he'll watch it when it finishes watching The Big O. He was very reluctant because he hated Chaos;Head. I also didn't like that one, but Steins;Gate just seems so completely different from that you can't even compare (although you probably can).
I wanna play meh DS, too...but it's dead...
I should be finishing my requests or working on manga, but I seem to be having a bad manga drawing day...or just have no inspiration today...'cause NO ANIMOO...;m;
And Boys Over Flowers is seriously killing me. I'm tired of all this drama! I even had a nightmare last night over it...I don't remember what happened, I just remember waking up and thinking 'LE GASP! A BOYS OVER FLOWER NIGHTMARE!'...O.o;
I played some Hikaru Genji...but I got bored. I mean, it's very beautiful...I think it's just that I can read the text very well because my screen is so small and where my TV is located is not in a very practical space...the place where none of my furniture fits...so I have to sit far away from it and I can't read the subtitles.
This isn't Chinese or Spanish either, I can't half way make out what they're saying...
Which is a shame...>3> I wish I could with Japanese, but I can't. I keep getting Chinese mixed up with Japanese. Like I'll see a kanji character and read it in Chinese and then completely forget the pronunciation in Japanese...;m;
Hold on...let me get a reasonable time killing thing to talk about rather than just ranting.
Let's talk about my favourite anime! :D Since I'm in such an anime mood~! Some of this might be obvious, though. Let's saayyy top 5 favourite anime (some of these I haven't finished...I would but...again, download speed is incredibly slow).
I actually haven't watched that much anime...Eheh...XD I need to watch more anime...but they take too long...;m; I wish they'd just come on my TV...>3>
5: Steins;Gate
Genre: Science fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Agh, now I want to watch this again...XD But I won't 'cause I have too many other anime that I want to watch.
When I first heard of this anime I was just looking around at concept art designs and I loved every one of the designs for this one so I waited until it was up on the internet and watched every episode as it came out (because it was that good). When I watched the first episode I was completely confused and had no clue what was going on until the end of the episode where it all came together and everything made sense.
That sort of how the flow of the anime is. It's very subtle and thought provoking. The music is pretty good, too. It's based off of a visual novel so the story itself has to be very interesting and well written, and it is. It's also pretty new so animation is pretty good.
4: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Mecha, Apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, Drama, Psychological horror
(Sorry, couldn't find a good trailer of the original series...O.o;)
At one time I had seen every episode. The only thing I haven't seen is Death and Rebirth only because my brother told me it was a waste of time...O.o; Unfortunately I can't remember anything about it (just like with DBZ)...I only remember End of Evangelion, and what I have from the one manga volume I have and the DVD I have. This is why it's not higher on this list.
But I still can't help but be obsessed with this show. I really need to rewatch it. Since I bought the DVD, manga, and several of the OSTs, it's probably an amazing anime. And I'm sure most people on here know about it. To those of you who haven't seen it. DO NOT EVEN HESITATE! JUST WATCH IT!
3: Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Genre: Drama
(Sorry it's not in English)
Basically it's just a drama about a little girl and her brother trying to get home after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hits Tokyo. The saddest part is that an earthquake of a greater magnitude hit Japan recently...TT^TT
This anime made me cry for months! It's that good! It won the Excellence Prize in the Animation category at Japan's Media Arts Festival in 2009. It's truly excellent. Everything about it is great...though the music is a bit forgetful.
I think this is the anime I've recommended to people the most...XD
2: Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural
(Couldn't find a good video that gave this justice so watch the ending)
I think most people probably know how obsessed with this anime I am. I LOVE IT TO DEATH (no pun intended...though if the pun was intended I would've said 'to hell' but I didn't). I do not know why I love this anime so much.
Each episode tells it's own story of hatred. Each episode also tells on how the straw dolls can be used and explains many aspects of the story being told. The story itself is very subtly hidden (except in Mitsuganae...it just jumps out at you).
Although I love this series I have to pick the second season to be my favourite. It's the first season I saw and it was the deepest. Each episode of this season made me cry and the ending was the best of all of them (Mitsuganae just didn't make sense...really, don't watch Mitsuganae).
The first season was more scary and the second season was more touching. So if you want to be scared watch the first season, if you want to watch something touching then watch the second.
This is also an OVA, but it's older so the animation is pretty okay. Not really something worth mentioning for, though.
The music (which I've been listening to this entire post) is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! Mitsuganae actually has the best music, but they have beautiful music. It's creepy, sad, and beautiful. Wonderful.
1: Otogizoushi
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
(Again, no video did it justice)
Surprisingly I put this as my number one because after each episode I wanted to draw something, or write something. It inspired the crap outta me (strange sentence).
The story is similar to Mulan, that a girl dresses as a man and fights in battles. But it's much more than that and much more realistic than most anime I've watched. It took on completely different topics than the other historical fantasy samurai anime that I've seen. So much so that it made me want to study more on asian cultures.
The animation and style is like on other. It is an older anime, but it hasn't aged a day. Every episode is almost like a movie in quality (though, yeah, as the series goes the animation deteriorates a tad, but that's goes for every anime, they gotta make the deadlines).
Another surprise! I haven't actually finished this anime. But it's so good I put it as number one!
Why haven't I finished it? Because it has become the type of thing like Fire Emblem and Sailor Moon where I have to suppress my obsessions or else all I will eat, breathe, think of is this anime. I need to finish it...but...again, for reasons above....'orz
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That's the end of my list~! Adios~! X3
SHAZAAMMALLAMA~! :D
I just finished 4 pages of meh manga in just 2 hours~! :D
Now...with that speed think about how many pages I can do in a day...O.O...Or a week (totalleh not gonna work all day on meh manga unless I'm being paid).
And it was so fun~! Surprisingly my favourite part is inking. I guess 'cause it makes me feel like I'm done and finished and everything. Then toning is just boring 'cause first off, I have to keep changing programs from SAI or Photoshop Elements to Photoshop 7.0...why switch so so many different programs? Each program has something that I need to use, but can't in one program so I have to use that...>3> Or I'm too lazy to figure out Elements so I use everything else...XD But I still have to use Elements to get tones...;m; I dunno why, but I can't load the patterns in Photoshop 7.0...O.o;
The writing in the first few pages isn't very good, though, 'cause I had to make it up on the spot...these were the pages that I needed to put in. It needed a better introduction...>3>
But I enjoy doing the backgrounds, too, 'cause I can imagine the rooms they're in and where everything is.
If I do about 4-5 pages a day...I think I'll be finished in about a week or so...O.o; Yeah, the chapters will be pretty short...I'm gonna make them longer, but for now I'm keeping the first chapter short because I already have it written out.
I'm also debating on using my next chapter, though it is written out, it seems kinda random...I need to add a bunch of stuff to it.
This is good. This is good. I guess I've made up those lost days? Maybe?
Omigosh! It's only 10:19 PM...*3* Think of all the possibilities! Maybe it took me less than 2 hours...
I dunno what to do before sleeping though...and my stomach hurts...so there's no way I'm going to sleep 'cause that'd just be painful...but I dunno what to do with meh time...
I did a lot of stuff today~! Cooking, studying, drawing pages for manga. I accomplished stuff today! >:D
I want to learn dances...but I'm afraid of my family seeing me dance. I mean, they know I like to dance...but...ugh...so shy...;m; I don't like seeing their reactions....
I guess dramas? Ugh....but they're kinda getting on my nerves...That Boys Over Flowers...it's getting on my nerves. It's just like dramatic stuff happens, they almost confess their love for eachother, but they're both too stubborn and they don't smile at eachother, and then another dramatic thing happens and they share some sort of heart to heart and then the episode ends and the cycle starts all over again! ;m;
I actually prefer Meteor Garden maybe just 'cause it has Jerry Yan, but the Shancai (the JanDi, Makino) of that one I like better because she's stubborn, but reasonably stubborn. Her acting isn't as good as Boys Over Flowers's JanDi, but I like that Shancai shows weakness that isn't just physical...O.o; I don't like these girls that are 100% tough except physically...so they're all bark and no bite, but they won't stop barking! ;m; Shut up already JanDi! ;m;
And Makino is pretteh good. I like the Japanese Hana Yori Dango drama the most just because....I can't deal with these long drawn out dramas! JUST GET TO THE POINT! It just...well, all around better. (But it doesn't have a Lee Min Ho or Jerry Yan...;m; BUT ARASHI!). Dooooodddd I looove that opening song, too:
But I just like Arashi! XD But whenever I hear Planetarium by Ai Otsuka I get tons of nostalgia and forget about what's going on and then getting confused...'cause Hana Yori Dango is not at all what I think of when I hear that song! XD
I also really like the theme song for Meteor Garden:
The vocals are lovely~! X3
On the other side, I don't really like Boys Over Flowers' music...despite loving SS501, SHINee, and other groups that contributed...Maybe it's that they don't have an opening exactly so their songs I do not have a nice memory of. They also seemed out of place sometimes...
I just like instrumentals, truthfully...>3> I don't want to hear somebody singing while I'm watching a drama...O.o; It's awkward.
Hrmm...I'm done ranting now. Ran out of things to talk about.
Adios~!
So's not going so well...
Ehehehe...
I feel I should just tell you guys I haven't worked on my manga at all...and I kinda have to restart...
Right now I'm just being lazy. After some thinking I actually like it even more ('cause I finally figured out the personality for one of the main boys...~! X3 Too cute...sorry...he's just too cute...;w; ).
After watching lots of dramas...and reading lots of shoujos (more like staring holes in them...*cough*) I've realized my problem with my manga.
So I have to re-do parts of it...possibly. Unless I can fit stuff in. It shouldn't even be a big problem, but I'm being very lazy.
I kept feeling like there was something missing in my shoujo...and now I've realized there's a LOT missing, so it seems very dull. I think it's good that I've figured that out or else you'd get a very very disappointing shoujo manga.
It also makes it easier on me that I've figured out what I needed to figure out. Now I know how to make a proper summary and use all the ideas I wanted to in this. It's kinda like an epiphany...XD
Considering I haven't done anything, though, I feel very bad. I mean all I've done is really just draw pics for people on DA and watch dramas. That's it. It seems like a complete waste of time.
But I want to hurry with my requests (which shouldn't be a problem since I only have 4 more to go, and 1 just needs to be coloured/inked and I'm not spending so much time fixing them this time...XD) so I can start doing commissions. Hopefully my mom can help me with all the financial stuff (like...explaining it to me...I know nothing about money) since she's just started her new business (congratulations Mommy~! X3)
And I've also been lazy about studying all the things I've been wanting to study (my entire life...pooh...>3>). I think that's just because I keep getting disappointed by these language programs...either they cost way too much, or I'm ahead in that language, or it doesn't offer things like boarding and are too far away, and all sorts of things.
I don't have anything to do this summer. Ugh...I hate it...hate it so much. This is a time where people are busy doing things, going on trips, going to summer camps. What am I doing? Nothing. I don't really want to go on a trip anywhere (because I hate every state around me except for maybe a few of the states above the one I live in) unless it's to another country (which isn't going to happen). I'm not the type of person to go outside...and...
I don't know how many times I have to say it. I really truly hate where I live with the greatest amount of passion. Though it is rude for me to say it to the people who live, and are proud to live where I do, I can't stop these feelings. Huh!
Gotta get that out there. I also feel bad for saying it, because my mom wanted to live here, and she likes the country, and I know she feels that she's done me wrong. She hasn't there are many opportunities here...but...nothing will make me love this state.
I'm not saying the state 'cause it's embarrassing...and yeah, I hate it so much, I hate saying it's name. It's bade to hate things, but I do. I do hate it so much.
Okay...now I'm crying. See that passion (erhm, read that passion). Okay I'm gonna black it out now.
I black out rants (if you haven't noticed)! XD
I watched some video of Kamenashi Kazuya from KAT-TUN on some TV show (not exactly sure of the name since I can't find any information about it). I have to say, he reminds me of my dad! XD It's so weird to make that connection, but he does! XD Sorry, really random comment...XD
Oh! Another weird personal-ish connection I made with somebody. This one made me cry when I read it(well, I guess I really do cry at everything...XD) Utada Hikaru said that her childhood dream was a mangaka or a scientist in a lab coat. Why did that make me cry? That is EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY what I wanted to be when I was little. In fact, there are drawings I made from class of what I wanted to be, and it was a scientist in a white lab coat, and on the days where you would dress up as your dream career character I would always dress up as a scientist in a white lab coat.
But I was confused. I actually wanted to be a mangaka, but I didn't know how to explain that because at the time I didn't really...well, when you're little it's hard to explain things very well.
Anybody else had the same childhood dreams?
I just find that so strange. Maybe hers wasn't the same as mine...but it still shocked me.
Sorry for the long post! ;m;
Here's an awesome song for you guys~!:
Oh! And I've found some amazing DA artists recently. (Well, some of them are artists I've been following on pixiv for a while and suddenly found out they had DA accounts, too):
Okay~! Bye-bye~! Sorry for such a long post! ;orz
