How many blog posts or videos on youtube of the topic “Has Anime Lost It’s Spark or dying” have you seen? I’ve read and watched a whole bunch, wanting to know people’s different opinions.
Most recently the idea of finally coming to write this post was sparked from a Podcast OtakuATeam. Answering the question from a fan listening to each of the hosts opinions somehow made me think about what I thought on the whole matter.
The majority of what I’ve read and watched on this topic most people thought anime is not the same as it used to be, it’s dying, all for the money. Be nice if people would have abbreviated a bit more on those sorts of remarks “not same as it use to be” in particular.
My honest feelings on this topic are I agree with others on anime is not the same as it use to be because like anything else, will be forever changing. 1996 classic piece The Vision Of Escaflowne still to this day has a strong standing, for being a more than meets the eye series. For handling intertwining themes romance, war and individual characters dealings. It’s series like this that make people think now, nothing could live up to the early days of anime for it’s originality and complex plots. My thought on the remark “living up to the early days” makes me think about when I first fell in love with Escaflowne, I didn’t think I’d find something that exciting again until I watched Gundam Seed Destiny. My Gundam mad phase began and re lit an old fire in me of seeing if their were more exciting Mecha shows like Gundam Seed Destiny out there.
Now remembering I was young at that age, newly into anime and you always think you’ll never find anything better, nothing could live up to this. But it is not always the case of the more anime you watch, the more you see of this every changing industry.
The biggest spark of this topic coming to light seems seasonal anime there are 30 + shows coming out all at once. It has made people think some shows by studios are being pumped out for the sake of money, for example among this target opinion from the Fall 2016 season Keijo. A sports anime all about pushing your opponent out of the circle only using your butt, ha just by the sounds of the plot it’s easy to understand of being shoved in the category of “For the sake of money”. My whole take on this is think about back in 2005 how many seasonal anime’s would you end up getting, not more than 30. I think it’s great of how from then till now the amount of shows being produced per season, but I understand why it might worry people that it might feel like no pride was taken into shows like Keijo being created.
I don’t know what goes inside the heads of these creators or animators but we wouldn’t be getting 30 + shows per season if it weren’t for them. The craving fans have for something, new, original in anime is greater than ever and the need to comfort this is clear to be seen with every passing season of anime.
A dear favorite seasonal anime for me this year has been Amanchu, a show that opened my eyes more to the slice of life genre. Years ago I was never a fan of this genre, nothing seemed to peak my interest until this serenity series came by. It is show’s like Amanchu that should make you think of what might come along in the future, my hope for the anime future is feeling brighter than ever in honesty.
I have never once thought the anime industry would die out, disappear forever. If anything from the early 2000’s it has just involved in ways I never thought it would. The access of simulcast being able to watch shows aired in japan right after, classics like The Vision Of Escaflowne getting a new dub and re – release. The only possible way I could see this industry dying out is if every fan in the world stopped buying, watching or liking anime, which is 100% unlikely. Every morning I look through my twitter and there is either a anime or manga adaptation being announced, that’s happening more frequently these days then say a few years ago.
I can’t blame anyone for worrying over anime being pumped like a conveyor belt, as I mentioned earlier fans want the satisfaction of a good story when it comes to anime. One of Otaku A Team hosts mentioned nearly every idea for a anime has been done out there but for a wish of mine I want to see an anime about gymnastics, noone has done that. For example one idea that seems too reoccurring is harems nearly there is one every seasonal season, coming with the typical cliches, that can be tiresome. Though I like harems and I don’t care how repetitive it can get, I know all the cliches boy protagonist surrounded by girls out of his league attracted to him. I feel a bit weird that it doesn’t bother me but that genre I like to watch for a laugh and always have from any harem show I have watched.
Mentioned before about a new adaption is announced nearly every day comes from light novels or a manga, this is one reason why people worry it’s all about the money.I believe the possibilities for creating new anime content is endless, at the end of the day for me I love this medium so much. As long as for me a show can entertain me and I enjoy it, that’s what I mainly care about but at the same time, supporting this industry is important to me as well. Anime is more in the spotlight now than ever, so many new people are getting into this exciting medium and you have to believe it will grow from there.
No matter what we will get the good and bad anime nothing’s perfect in this world. Anime to me has always been something magical, a realm I can escape too and will only continue to excite me. So if you have been thinking up until this point anime might die one day, erase those from your mind….now!! It will only die if we don’t support it in any small way we can. Far as I can see now anime is in it’s golden prime right now. It’s an endless treasure hunt anime of discovery and anticipation for shows you’ve never watched yet and new ones to come.
I hope all enjoyed hearing my thoughts on anime loosing it’s spark. Please comment below your thoughts on this topic
Do you think the industry is loosing it’s momentum? Is being entertained all you care about?
I’ll see you all in the next post !!
LitaKino
litakinoanimecorner.wordpress.com 
I keep wondering why people think more anime coming out is a problem. Maybe some of the shows are a little rehashed or not great but at least there is variety and options for people and for every show that you don’t click with there’s something else to go watch. Thanks for sharing this.
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I don’t know why people think it’s a worries we are getting more series, I don’t believe the quality of the series is decreasing all the time though. Having a lot of variety to choose from is a good thing though I agree XD Thanks for sharing your opinion XD
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ppl can be so dramatic…
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Yes certainly can lol
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I honestly just care about being entertained. I do believe in supporting them and though it’s hard to come up with new complex plot ideas, it doesn’t mean the quality is decreasing. I’m worried about the quantity because they’re putting out so much I’m worried some would be ‘rushed’.
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Your the same as me then wanting to be entertained 🙂 I don’t believe the quality is decreasing and the quantity like I mentioned is a worry for others. Thanks for sharing your opinion XD
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I do think there’s a few reasons which may influence people’s perceptions of anime ‘dying’. Firstly, there’s the fact that we tend to only remember older things which are good and stand the test of time. There’s plenty of stuff which was totally indifferent which came out in the past and no-one talks about it any more.
I think also there’s the novelty factor. The first anime which I can remember getting into was Bleach, and my feelings at the time were ‘wow, I’ve never seen anything like it, this is totally amazing’. Even in comparison to other mainstream shounen stuff, and even bearing in mind that I started watching when the show was part way through the Soul Society Arc (and didn’t keep watching for very long after that wrapped up), Bleach is pretty run of the mill. It was only unique and interesting in comparison to the Western shows which I’d seen prior to that. Anime of the same genre tend to follow the same genre conventions, just like any other sort of show. You won’t have that same feeling of novelty and uniqueness each time you watch a series.
I find that there’s a few shows coming out each season which grab my interest, and there’s also so much older stuff which I haven’t seen yet, so I can’t see anime dying. Realistically, I think that most of us can only watch a few currently airing shows at a time, so I don’t think that it matters that not everything coming out each season is to someone’s interest or a ‘masterpiece’. If for some reason everything was totally brilliant, when would we find time to watch it all?
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quite a reply haha I’ve not a long one like that in a long time. time to watch every anime ? can never see that happening oh my god lol agreed that people can only watch a few seasonal shows as there are older series to watch also. I know how it feels to want to watch new stuff and older shows my attention is always torn. I agree with one major thing also you mentioned that experiencing the same novelty feeling of watching a series say for example a harem, we all know the cliches of that as I mentioned in the post.
Thankyou for sharing your opinion XD
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Sorry, I’m perhaps a little wordy. I actually think this gives me a bit of an idea for a possible blog post regarding the feeling of novelty when watching anime.
I guess that there are people who are really into the harem genre (I am not one of them. I’ll accept it as a sub-genre if the rest of the story is good, but after my experiences with trying Love Hina I can never see myself watching another primarily harem show), like I consistently love slice-of-life shows despite them being really samey. There’s a fine line between something which is appealing as it executes the expectations of the genre well, and something which feels generic and uninspired.
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Awww I was not expecting this Thankyou XD
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PlainPasta already mentioned the point that I was going to make. People tend to remember standout classics and get a false sense of the quality of older series.
Neon Genesis Evangelion came out in Fall 1995. How many other series from that season are so critically acclaimed? Not Bakuretsu Hunters or El Hazard, surely. Escaflowne was Spring of the next year. Did any of you watch After War Gundam X? Fast forward 2 years to when Cowboy Bebop and Trigun stunned viewers. What can you honestly say about the quality of very popular series from that season like Cardcaptor Sakura or Yu-Gi-Oh?
My point is, it’s always been the case that there are only 1-2 amazing shows from any given season. Recent seasons have had Mob Psycho 100, Re:Zero, ERASED, and One Punch Man. Can you really say anime quality is declining with a list like that? I’ve only listed very popular series here, but these and other contemporaries are all subject to taste. They are not considered “classics” yet because they’re still new but I won’t be surprised if I see these series being acclaimed many years from now.
Older fans get nostalgic about the first series that really amazed them. I believe that’s the driving force behind the opinion that anime is declining. Just because we’re getting more these days doesn’t mean we don’t get good, and even great, shows at a similar frequency.
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Excellent post, Lita! Well done! Indeed, there’s this idea that the Golden Age of anime is over and that it will never be the same again. I agree that it’s never going to be the same again because change is inevitable. What I see at this moment is progression to the new generation. Of course, I’m not going to fault the truth that there are a lot of shallow anime being pumped by the industry just for the money, but it’s completely irresponsible to say that all latest anime are inferior to the older, classic ones. This is an insult to modern animators and the amazing talent of manga creators whose manga are adapted into anime. I think that compared to before, there’s more sifting to do for us anime fans because of the clog—there’s just a LOT of anime titles being pumped constantly. However, like you I disagee that anime lost its spark. If it has, I wouldn’t be an aniblogger right now and I would run out of things to say. Anyway, great post as always, Lita. Keep it up. This has been a very enjoyable read. Thanks for writing it and sharing it with us. Cheers!
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I agree with you about all these anime’s being pumped out it is an insult to the creators for the sake of keeping fans happy. I’d rather they put all their 100% effort into making one good show XD I wouldn’t be doing this kind of blogging if I thought like you the industry had lost it’s spark. Glad you enjoyed my post Arria XD
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You’re very welcome. I enjoy reading your posts. You’ve written about some really good topics recently, I noticed. I think you’re in some kind of a blogging roll lately. Keep it up, my friend. Cheers!
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I’m on a blogging roll Haha thanks and all the notifications I got were from you haha 😂
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Ehehehe. Awww. You’re making me shy. You’re very welcome. I just get into this mood where I feel like stalking…er, I mean visiting and reading my friends’ blog posts. Anyway, I always enjoy your posts so keep them up. Take care, Lita!
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Yes you are a stalker Arria muuahhh !!
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Personally I never got the whole “is anime dying” or “lost its spark” spiel. Yeah, there has been numerous times where I said that an anime sucks or an season was not as promising as the other one but I never fully thought that anime as a whole lost its spark.
I think it’s varying. One day you feel like you’re watching something and feel like “why the hell am I watching this?” and the other, you’re watching something that makes you feel like “WOW!! This is why I got into anime.” It’s 50/50 depending on what type of anime you get into.
Anyway, as usual, you made a good post, Lita. 🙂
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The only connection I can make is that anime is in no better ship than all forms of media these days–as people use up ideas, it becomes harder to pull a unique spin on them. Some turn out great, like Madoka Magica or Sound! Euphonium, but then there are others that do, as you say, feel like rehashes, such as In Search of the Lost Future and Absolute Duo. As to the more anime=less quality argument, I disagree. More anime just means more chances to try to make us fans fall in love with new shows, right? Take those ocean beauties like A Lull in the Sea and Amanchu for insance! Both aired in busy seasons and embody the same aura, but both are equally standout and brilliant in their own light.
I was overjoyed when FUNi announced The Vision of Escaflowne re-dub project. Even if they could’ve gone without the whole fundraiser bit, it was the idea of modern fans getting a second chance at being involved with classics hands on that simply captured my heart. And so I donated. And now I have my copy. And now it’s over. Same goes for Sailor Moon. In my opinion, a new dub or rerelease can never shatter my love for what I may be used to. Both dubs for Sailor Moon have their pros, as well both their own cons.
It’s an interesting debate, Lita, but if you take one word of advice from me, it’s that you do need to watch Hyouka sometime, huehuehue. Great write-up!
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I feel like people are doomsayers about every industry, remember the meltdown from cassette to CD to mp3? Or when ebooks got introduced?
I do feel like animators might be getting stretched thin with their deadlines and so much work, but stories and characters are developed in the preproduction, so it doesn’t matter when it’s airing, it matters when it’s being produced smh
I like that this means we get shows like Yuri on Ice, because the current market has space for original anime and adaptations, because if it was less you know they’d only go for series they’re certain makes bank!
I also find people over grossly like calling things golden era, like I love Escaflowne, but let’s be honest, there isn’t many 90’s shows that actually stand the gets of time. For every Escaflowne there’s 1000 shows we don’t know about because they just aren’t good. And that’s as much then as it is now /shrugs
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I think a big part of this idea is rooted in how anime as an exported media has grown. As you say, there weren’t as many anime being exported, and that functioned as a filter, along with the word of mouth focus that fansubbing created.
I think industry and tastes change, but there are still good anime out there, it just may be harder to find them now that people have such a wide variety to choose from. Some anime are meant to be these beautiful complex works of art, and others are just low budget light hearted fun, just like any art form.
My preference is for the really solid small anime, the series that’s made to be a 6, 13, or 26 episode run, and then it’s complete. Like FLCL, a short series that packed the same quality and effort as a full 26 episode season.
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Thanks for your comment adam !! I agree some works are meant to look pretty, where others are taken much more seriously. I like the short spans of 12 to 26 episodes myself XD depends on what the series is about ^^
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