Why Americans Can’t Make Anime (Or Can They?)

This rant contains spoilers! This rant may cause cancer in rats as known by the State of California.

Now, before anyone asks, I’m not talking about: “Blah blah freaking blah, Americans can’t make anime because they’re not Japanese!” Nope, I’m talking about the fact everything we’re obsessed with is not the focus of anime. For example:

  • Friendly robotic sidekicks (such as the Tachikoma from GITS)
  • Artifical Intelligence that can both sing and pilot experimental aircraft (such as Sharon from Macross Plus)
  • Breasts (such as… well, almost any anime out there)
  • Unrealistically large weapons that can destroy the planet (Gundam 0083, Eureka Seven, SDF Macross, etc)
  • Messed up concepts from religion taken out of context (Evangelion, and to a lesser degree Eureka Seven)
  • ‘Real’ giant robots (Gundam, Macross, Evangelion, Eureka Seven)
  • Urban combat (Gundam, Macross, Evangelion, Eureka Seven)
  • Shit blowing up (again, almost any anime out there)

Almost every single one of those example animes listed next to each obsessed over thing, each one of them have yet another concept that runs along side that, that Americans totally miss out on:

  • The Tachikoma are weapons of war, and they kill people
  • Sharon fell in love with the main character of Macross Plus and tried to kill everyone over it
  • Breasts are also useful for flotation devices in emergencies!
  • Almost everyone dies because of their use
  • The religion in Evangelion was there to hide the physiological babble behind
  • Those ‘real’ giant robots are also weapons of war, and kill people
  • During urban combat, innocent people die
  • More often than not, someone has died during shit blowing up

There are few cartoons (since we Americans can’t call ours anime) that actually touch on these subjects. The ones that do are quickly shut away as some ‘evil, Satan worshiping creation to corrupt children’, and get a big fat TV-MA or Rated R sticker stuck on it.

I mean, some people say America is desensitized to violence; no, I think America is too afraid to face it and to deal with it. What would happen if we showed children that their favorite cartoon character died painfully because of war or some other battle? They’d never happily march off to war. They’d never pick up a gun and shoot someone over a trivial matter. They’d think twice before ending someone’s life.

In essence, America can’t make anime not because we’re not Japanese, but because we refuse to tell good stories. The one thing missing from most Amercian cartoons is plot and character development; they miss out the most important part of writing a story: you cannot keep your characters safe, bad things always have to happen to them.

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Transmissions from the Little Blue Marble

Published January 19th, 2007

Comments

62 Responses

Even though the Japs are kind of taking over Anime I think that one day someone is going to emerge and America is going to the best again…..

No, its because us Japs have so much
more talent and makes stuff so much better. Alot of Americans want to learn Jap because we have the stuff. Games, Anime, Technology. Alot of Americans even want to be Jap. and the fact that Americans aren’t even asian. You guys just wanna be like us.

drowning-in-society

my god i wish that america would broadcast MORE anime!
i luv it but theres many people out there that read the books & think “wow,i could never be able to show that to my children”
puh-lease! anime is an art that can show much more resemblence towards society. it can show the things really going on in the world instead of cartoons like spongebob or tom&jerry.
honestly kids here in america get addicted to anime alot and they don’t even know it.(ex:pokimon,yugio)
people though have seen the results,pleasure,but are afraid if there’s going to be more anime,there’s going to be to many kids living in a fantasy world.which they already are,but their parents think that american style cartoons are safer for their childs mind.
america must wake up and smell the coffee,people are going to probably demand maore anime.(i pray)

americans and canadians can make anime!!!!! thats discrimination thinking we are alll the same and also rascist! Thanks for breaking my dream buddy. Yur a real jerk.

I soooooooo disagree.

1. My friends said my manga is good.
I mostly talk about how fighting should stop in my manga. In chapter 17 of Recco the true story Recco vows never to harm someone in anger or rage.

2. Not all americans focus on killing
in anime I personally think good anime and manga is about adventure and hardship.

Finaly 3. Yes some americans love blood and gore but that means their anime and manga will be for older people.

so if your like me you plan to move to Japan and make anime.

Hi there! Nice blog posting about Ad Terras Per Aspera. I would have to agree with you on this one. I am going to look more into adult anime. This Friday I have time.

Marionette, you idiot!!!!

Marionette, you idiot!!!! there are hundreds of anime that dont have robots in them at all. Dumbass!

I know I’m a super latecomer on this but I happened across this post and had to reply!!

While I agree with the opinion stated by this rant I can’t agree with the information used to back it up.

Except for the stories taken directly from Japanese legend/mythology/history most anime is heavily influenced by American themes.

Robots and technology: It was the AT-ATs and AT-STs of Star Wars that made giant walker military robot/mechs popular. Most of the Macross vehicle designs are based off of American military vehicles.

Explosions and mass death and destruction through bizzarre situations: have you watched Die Hard, Rambo, Arnold movies, Alien, Predator, etc.? The US knows how to blow shit up.

Boobs: mmmm.

Twisted religion: Have you ever talked to anyone from Hollywood or with the Hollywood mindset?

I think what makes anime impossible to make in the US is the following…

Society: It’s no secret that a lot of Japanese think of Americans as lazy and bad workers (I am currently writing this instead of working) and most Americans think of warriors and intensity when they think of the Japanese.

If you look at Japanese history you will see what most Americans would call fanaticism. Intense devotion and concentration on beliefs and ideals with an eagerness for sacrifice to the point of their own death. Since war is no longer the focus of the country Japan has turned to entertainment and capitalism as it’s ideal. Tokyo is insane and can cause epileptic fits to the un-initiated! This all shines through anime with the bizarre and extreme nature of most of the stories out there.

The other item is cynicism. American entertainment is filled with a cynicism that isn’t readily apparent in most anime. A lot of anime is goofy or has goofy elements simply for the sake of being goofy and having fun. Most American entertainment involves someone being cooler than everyone else and goofiness either serves the purpose of making the subject seem cool or hip or making someone else seem better because you’re too goofy.

There hasn’t been any successful, original American anime-esque attempts because these characteristics are lacking in general American society.

All those animes that were cited… they fail. Miserably (Maybe not Eva). Eureka Seven and GITS: SAC, especially. Sadly, a lot of newer animes aren’t turning out so great, and what’s worse: Noone knows any better to know what’s of good quality.

“2. Japanese anime is far better than American cartoons. They are superior. In every way. Period. In America kids settle for less because there is no alternative. If all tv shows and networks settle at the same level of mediocrity, kids will watch anything, therefore it is profitable and less of a cost.” When I saw this, I lolllled. Oh, man! If you had to sort through the /thousands/ of cartoons Japan has made throughout its history, and handpicked actual good ones, you would be /very/ disappointed. Sure they make a lot of ‘better’ cartoons (depends on your tastes, its subjective, fools), but the ratio of good to bad cartoons isn’t any better. In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is worse than America! 😀

WAIT!
DON’T
STOP
READING
IT GETS BETTER I SWEAR! =O

Sure, minor details like that can turn make or break a so-so anime, but more than often, there’s a lot of other factors that draw the audience. These are: Voice acting (especially english dubs), the writing itself, character design, non-cliche plots, unique art styles, and all those other details you can’t quite put your finger on. Dialogue has to be one of the main things that turn me off the most. Noone can do it right. One character says something, and the other character replies instantaneously, sounding almost exactly like the character before it. It’s unnatural dialogue, not that it has to be that way all the time. That and all the unnecessary filler and dumb, esoteric jokes. If we want good scripts, we’re going to have to veer from taking after hollywood.

Plots! Just because you have one, doesn’t mean everyone else will like it as much as you. Not to mention all the inconsistencies and false leads. What do I mean by false leads? The first few episodes of an anime that suggests it’s going to go somewhere, possibly deep. Example? Bleach. What a bomb that was. I don’t know why, but the first few eps peaked my interest, then when I saw it for the DBZ/Naruto that it was, *delete*. A lot of people like me want something else to their anime besides cookie-cutter drawing styles and long, drawn-out plots with too much filler. That’s totally unforgivable. Even silly, non-anime, american cartoons in the past have gained much-earned respectability because it was so darned entertaining. They weren’t even obsessed about sticking to a strict plot. I’m starting to ramble so here’s the summary:

More violence and gore: Awesome.
Problem? Constantly overturning new crowd of newcomers (no offense, ya just don’t know any better ;D)
Problem? Focusing on an anime being ‘cool’. Too many flourishes, long battle speeches, and ‘hawt feminine anime bois’. Maybe the tweeny girls like that, but I don’t.
Problem? Lack of friggin’ imagination. It doesn’t have to be a traditional story, guys… just keep it entertaining! Floooow~~
Problem? Misleading plots promising long dark journeys into the soul and transcendental metaphysics or existentialism.
Problem? Realism. We need less of it. STAT! I’m serious. It’s like the ‘Uncanny Valley’ all up in there. Realism is good, but as a seasoning, not a main course.
Solution? Ya got me, I just watch the stuff.

We’re also afraid to write stories involving dead kittens and trashbags full of diarrhea, but maybe that’s a good thing. also, kappa mikey is damn shit.

Oh boy. you just called Teen Titans anime, which in no way, no matter how hard they emulate the ‘typical’ (read as: the most annoying style they could find) of anime (including some washed up JPop singers I’ve never heard of, who also got a short lived series on Cartoon Network), Teen Titans is not and never will be anime.

The reason people bitch about TT not being adult enough is its nothing like the comic. Compare the Justice League series, the old Batman: The Animated Series from the early 90s, or the Superman series that they had a few years back, or Batman Beyond to Teen Titans… see the difference?

JL/JLU, B:TAS, and the rest have a certain level of adult (but not overly adult) maturity to them. Obviously, they’re still comics, and there is no extreme adult sex/violence/language, but Teen Titans is a joke compared to these.

This is why I, and everyone hates Teen Titans. Well, that, and the “LOL I’M ANIME! KAWAIIIIII!” issue I mentioned above.

Erm, what about all the animes that don’t involve giant robots, urban combat, etc? There are plenty of light “relationship” animes, comedies, etc. ‘Teen Titans’ caught a lot of flak for not being adult enough, but ‘The Slayers’ was just about as childish.

I do not think it is so much an issue that Americans cannot make anime.
It is, however, a good commentary on what most Americans miss out on, which is why Anime is still thought of as “just Japanese cartoons” and the like.

Nathan is right to a certain degree. But that’s only because those are the types of anime that are imported to America, and marketed here. Testosterone, Soap Operas, and stuff for stoners.

However, if you take the time to explore some of the less-known (in America anyway) anime series, you find that the vast majority of it is really compelling.

You’re right, we can’t make “Anime” here because we’re a “lowest common denominator” society. Unless more than 50% of the target market will watch it, it isn’t worth producing. So maybe we should stop trying, accept that we suck at it, and move on.

From my experience there are three types of anime:

1- My power is bigger than your power anime. In this sort of anime instead of developing, characters get more power, and then argue about who got more power. Its like watching somebody play world of warcraft.

2- Anime that takes itself too seriously. This kind of anime tries to make a really profound statement about something through a story, but it always ends up with two people talking seriously while staring at the floor, and most of the time I stopped caring.

3- Anime that does not make any sense, like FLCL, or whatever its called. These can be fun to watch, but a waste of time if you are sober.

😛 I must say, Americans made Kappa Mikey, and that’s a pretty good anime. Mostly good for laughs, though, with few tender moments. Sorta like Japanese kiddy animes, like Pita Ten, only even less so.

I’m not an American and I like anime. My thoughts on the matter is simply this: Most anime are based on some legend or myth from Japanese culture that most people in the Western world simply will not get unless we go looking for it.

Take Naruto for instance: the Kyuubi no Kitsune and Shukaku are creatures from Japanese mythology. Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru are figures from Japanese legend. The anime One-Piece is also based off a legend, all you have to do is look for the info.

In my opinion, Americans exploit common legends – werewolves, vampires, the Bogeyman etc. in movies.

Japan makes anime because it sells in Japan. America makes movies because they sell in America.

I also think that the reason that anime does not do as well in America as it does in Japan is that the English voice overs SUCK and as always something is lost in the translation. There aren’t that many good voice actors in America because it’s not considered acting and I doubt it pays well at all compared to their Japanese conterparts. So I guess it all comes down to what’s sells where.

I disagree with your article. It’s true: Americans can’t make anime because they don’t want to. Anime has a bad reputation. Americans don’t make anime because they don’t want to. Any American cartoon you have seen is the opposite of anime. There are two reasons.
1. Japanese anime series often have only 12 episodes. Series that have 50 episodes or more are less common. In America it is more profitable to mass produce (often stupid) cartoons. The average American series has a life span of 4 or 5 years.Even after that reruns live on forever.
2. Japanese anime is far better than American cartoons. They are superior. In every way. Period. In America kids settle for less because there is no alternative. If all tv shows and networks settle at the same level of mediocrity, kids will watch anything, therefore it is profitable and less of a cost.

Actually, it’s economics. American TV and theater is still highly profitable, so the studios don’t want to take risks. Cartoons in America have always been young kids, and no one with the multi-millions needed to make animation is going to risk bucking that trend, because it’s worked so far. You want to do something more adult, you take it to another medium. It’s only because TV and movies in Japan are so often losing or break-even propositions that the producers there are willing to take risks.

American comics have been in the same state of near-bankruptcy for nearly a decade, and experienced a creative renaissance equal to that of Manga/Anime as a result. It’s counterintuitive, but the good times encourage bland vanilla art, while it’s during the bad times when money is tight that the true geniuses can shine.

And, of course, it also doesn’t help that Walt Disney, the closest thing America had to Tezuka, was a Marketer and a profit whore who always took the safe and well-trod road, where Tezuka was an actually creative individual who moved on from Astro Boy to create works like Pheonix and Buddha while Disney never moved on from Mickey Mouse and his ilk.

ANIME faces the consequences of violence? How often do any of those anime megastars that run around with a sword or a gun or whatever for 30 minutes (Naruto, Luffy, Ichigo, etc etc) actually kill someone instead of healing their sadness and inspiring them to try hard at school and follow their dreams?

The reason that America does not make much anime is that America doesn’t WATCH as much anime. When is the last time a broadcast network aired anime during prime time the way they do in Japan?

If Americans are passionate enough about the art form and are true to their own sensibilities, there is nothing to stop them from creating something that can stand equally alongside or surpass the Japanese greats. Take the British Invasion and Spaghetti Westerns as examples of what is possible for outsiders to accomplish.

i think i started that rumor about the no robots and nobody dies anime after watching a few seasons of case closed.

the reason americans dont make anime is because the people who have enough money to finance a cartoon dont think that anime will sell as well as a story about four cgi girls who are in a band and go to high school. americans know that in the u.s. the lowest form of life is the most common, so if you try to appeal to that group you’ll make the most money.

there is also the fact that no american would ever ever ever make a cartoon where one of the characters got frustrated, and then their face totally distorted and they got drawn with that huge plus sign on their forehead. and i’m pretty sure that’s part of the definition of anime, so it is true that technically americans cant make anime even if they did get the budget to make a show with huge robots and tons of collateral damage.

wow it was just shit luck i even read, this, seeing that i have in the last year and so started hating anime. (not counting a few good ones, just the ones every one obsessed themselves with)

To the point, I do see some violence in American cartoons, but it wont be very long before that comes to an end. I mean have you even heard the new way to tell the three little pigs story? In the end the invite the damn wolf in and have cake with him. We need to get ride of the FCC and that that. Because, as far as i care, the FCC walks around acting like they are all that shit, telling people what they can watch and what not.

I disagree on many points.

It’s only American television that you really see the need to protect characters from death, because American television producers don’t like getting rid of characters which may be important to have later. We see more deaths of admirable characters in animated movies.

I’m more into comics than I am cartoons (it’s not that I don’t have anything against cartoons, I just don’t have access to any television services, which makes it difficult,) but I’d say there’s more to anime than death and violence. Nobody dies in Totoro, nobody dies in Kiki’s Delivery Service, nobody dies in Welcome to the N.H.K., and although it’s a manga, I’ll still say nobody dies in Yotsuba&! These series (particularly Yotsuba&!) are pretty free of any form of dramatics, and yet it’s difficult to imagine Americans coming up with these things. There’s something else to be found.

I believe the North American comic scene has been influenced by manga in a deeper, more important way than our cartoons have. In today’s comics we see the development of a more sophisticated story telling, not just a lift of style or even narrative structure, but a more basic respect of subtleties one can only find by knowing what their own individual story needs.

I’m sure I heard a rumour somewhere that there are anime that don’t have giant robots in them and nobody even gets killed.

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