Can someone explain anime to me?

Yes I can, it’s an animated (mostly Japanese) cartoon.

I’m not sure what you want us to explain?

It comes from Japan, it’s not necessarily geared towards children. It spans many genres…

If you want to “try out” some anime, I highly recommend “Cowboy Bebop” ... it appeals to people very new to the genre.

Anime generally appeals to the same audiences as mangas(japanes graphic novels/comics) as most animes start off as a manga. Much like here in america where comics will be made into cartoons.
Generally anime is japanese but that doesnt mean america doesnt try their hand at it.(usually failing miserably) There is probably an anime out there for everyone (beings you like cartoons that is)
Some anime as great, some is horrible. Personally i hate when anime gets dubbed, id rather just watch the japanese version with english subs because the voice actors are usually god awful. For instance Bleach and Death Note. Both great animes but when Adult Swim got their hands on them they completely murdered them with the voice acting. Thats not to say all english dubs are bad though. Hellsing, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and FLCL all have good voice actors.

Anime also tends to show over exaggerate facial expressions alot.

Batman Gotham Knight which just came out and bridges batman begins and the dark knight was broken up into six stories and directed by six different acclaimed anime artists. I highly recommend watching this, its awesome.

Dirty/weird/awkward kids take a liking to it for some reason or another. Not trying to be rude or anything but it’s just something I’ve noticed.. lots of weird kids like anime and wear cat ears and walk around looking like furries and stuff.
They’re like demented cartoons for lonely teenagers who don’t like to face reality I guess.

Hurray for stereotypes. – _ – Just like all people who smoke weed are dirty smelly unintelligent stoners….. clearly not the case. Try keeping that in mind next time before you go throwing around stereotypes.

I’m just sayin. there is some super creepy anime out there.

So that gives you no right to say that everyone who watchs it has some sort of problem. There are some creepy movies out there as well, but you know all movies are horrible too than<rolls eyes>

Please know what your talking about next time before you go preaching.

I agree with generalspecific. And you guys need to back off of her. You asked a question, you get answers. Everyone has their own opinion, and they’re entitled to it. Go ahead and disagree, no biggie. Just save the drama, you’ll save yourself a lot of life. Even if the kids don’t “look” dirty, they’re obviously not “clean” if they’re watching anime. 90% of anime IS hentai. They may not “look” dirty. Man, I smell highschool drama.

@bugmenot wowwwwwwww you really have no clue wtf your talking about. 90% of anime is hentai lol thats laughable at best. Your right everyone has their own opinion and you know what im going to flex that right, right about now. Your a moron.

“You’re”

Guess who doesnt care that he put the wrong your and still thinks you’re a moron
<——————- This guy

bugmenot – High school drama?? I’m sorry I thought it was called debate. Get used to it. Debate is different from “Omg Sally Billy cheated on your with Mary!!! You should so not go out with him anymore!!” And all that crap. Fluther is a place for debate stop whinnying.

I somehow see a resemblance between high school drama, and knitpicking. Odd.

Says the person who corrected a small grammatical error.

where do you see nitpicking in anything i said above?

lol btw its nitpicking (that was just too ironic to leave alone)

syz sorry for thread jacking.

hey bugmenot did you know you just keep carrying on…? Thats drama.

Ok I’m done moving on. ^_^

> So that gives you no right to say that everyone who watchs it has some sort of problem.

golly, putting words in my mouth and everything. I said dirty kids tend to take a liking to it. I didn’t say “Every kid who watches anime is dirty.”
in conclusion, please know what you’re talking about.

So, back to the topic. Anime is just style of animation (hence the name) that was created in Japan. I used to think it was weird, until I lived in Japan. I gained a whole new respect for it. And true, a lot of Japanese animation has sexual themes in them, but not all. Anime is just a style.

Yeh, as Wine said it’s just a style of animation (mainly from Japan). It’s only as dirty as the stuff you look at hah. Seriously, porn photos are dirty but family photos aren’t, same medium, different context. It entirely depends on what you have seen and how you want to see it. The content of anything entirely depends on what the person creating it is like, so anime/manga created/drawn by someone with a slightly murky mind maybe dirtier then someone with a cleaner mind, same with anything, some people can find sexual inuendo in anything, others not so.

For info on anime see:

Google Definitions
Wikipedia article

I think anime is great. (never watched the sexual stuff, never will) but there’s been some classic action anime’s that have come out of japan which really give you an appreciation for the art. As to what @generalspecific said I’m not attacking you, I just find your sterotype offensive. @syz you should watch ‘ghost in the shell’ very very good

@syz please ignore the judgments passed on those who supposedly watch anime and these numbers pulled out of thin air regarding the pornographic nature of anime.

Wow. I had no idea that this question was going to be a contentious one. Thank to you those that took the time to write thoughtful answers.

Anime is great, it’s hand drawn, but the artist is assisted by a computer program to get what he wants from it, anime series like ranma 1/2, technoman, dragon ball, cowboy beebop, full metal alchemist, sailor moon, evangelion & saint seiya (aka knights of the zodiac) are great examples of anime, I guess something that can be easier to get is the Animatrix. Many of this series originated out of Manga (the japanesse version of a comic book), it’s aimed to mature audiences as most of these stories include strong plot lines. Also, the terror plots are very popular… but anime series like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are very interesting. I’m sure you’ll be able to find some episodes in the web.

@generalspecific “They’re like demented cartoons for lonely teenagers who don’t like to face reality.”

hmmm yup certainly im putting words in your mouth, because clearly you never said anything about people who watch it having problems <rolls eyes>

I love ‘Gunslinger Girl’.

Haha. Uberbatman, “tr’übl-MÁyke’r”

I used to hate anime… But then I decided to try new things. FLCL is deff. worth checking out, even if you don’t like anime, it’s still a crazy-ass, random, action-packed, awesome, 6 episode long anime.
also death note is another great anime (so long as it’s not on Cartoon Network – as uberbatman mentioned) and you don’t have to be an avid anime fan to appreciate the odd characters and intriguing plot.

also there are maaaannnnyyyy different kinds of anime, and most people have different preferences. It can range from being plotless action packed filler episodes to thought invoking masterpieces truly worthy of some cool made up prize or medal or something… So if you plan on not ruining anime forever for you. Don’t start out with anything thats dubbed. take the time and do some research, ask around and you’ll be surprised at how many unsuspecting people you may know, watch anime. :]

Oh yeah, also when I was younger and didnt like anime, I liked marvel comics alot. Once I moved on from those other graphic novels interested me (like sandman), and eventually moved on to anime.

Children! Stop fighting over your cartoons or Aunie Scamp will have to give you a spanking!!

ha ha! sorry, but I just had to throw that in.