Why Anime is Better Than Cartoons

Every time I say the same shit on ANN, Keonyn threatens to ban me, so it’s nice that I’m not the only one who feels that way. [Ironically, ANN also uploaded an interview with Tomino where he was bad-mouthing our entertainment, too.] I’m still hoping that new Heavy Metal will finally shift the paradigm in favor of Western animation, but yeah, I’m getting tired of this shitty mix of talking animals, Grimm adaptations, and Hot Topic-oriented cartoons. I’d like cartoons I can enjoy, too. Seriously, when live-action Hollywood movies start copying scenes from anime[*cough* Arrow thing in 300 from VHD: Bloodust and forest god thing in Hellboy 2 from Princess Mononoke *cough*], you know how far ahead of the curve the latter productions are, compared to our animation. [In fact, people are already comparing Nolan’s Inception to Paprika, though I thought he was an anime fan when he borrowed the rail scene from the Bebop movie and the car high-way chase scene from the Utena movie for Batman Begins.]

And the success of The Boondocks, The Simpsons, South Park, and Beavis and Butthead, not to mention Ralph Bakshi, have proven that you can target older audiences and be profitable. Hell, the stuff which is aimed at kids ends up costing so much to produce that it doesn’t always break even, anyway. And it’s sad that the it’s considered revolutionary for the female lead in an American cartoon to be black, when Japan already did black characters with Afro Samurai and Tokyo Tribes a few years ago. [Not to mention supporting characters for at least a decade.] Of course, Japan’s slowly killing its medium with its over-reliance on emo teen characters and little girls playing dress-up, too, so…