What is your idea of the "perfect anime"?

[HyperCyber]

Everyone who's been on t3h interwabz knows the standard reply for the question:

What did you think of this anime?

Is

It sucked because of .... (insert random ramble, objective or otherwise).


It seems that everyone single anime has some fault into it, whether if its plot development, horrid characters or simply low quality of production. It's easy to criticize about something, but can you name something that will help improving it? While we know that nothing can be perfect, what is your idea of a perfect anime in all aspects?

Keep in mind this is not a "what's your favorite anime" thread.

 

[Cutiebunny]

I look for three key factors -

1) Character development - Does your story feature realistic, believable characters or unique personalities or cookie-cutter type characters that have already been used and reused hundreds of times?

2) Storyline - I don't care if it's a story about mechas or girls saving the world, but it needs to have a thick plot. I enjoy animes that have several plots overlapping(previous relationships, history, different points of view) the most.

3) Animation - High quality artwork is probably the number one seller for me, especially if cels are around. If the artwork looks like something that a kindergartener could create, I won't watch it regardless of how good the plot is. I enjoy high quality, polished images. This makes for an enjoyable viewing experience.

 

[Special K]

1. Loli
2. Moe~
3. Panty shots

 

[Rave]

This kinda sounds like one of those "Johnny" threads.

Well lets see...

1.) Animation. What I would like to see is very smooth fluid animation all round the show. I don't like always seeing the characters mouth move only all the time.

2.) Storyline. Needs to be very compelling and needs to draw you in.

3.) Character development. This is something I like seeing in alot of series I watch.

4.) Uniqueness. Though this is hard to explain, but I like seeing something that was well thought out, and is unique in many areas such as art, story, etc.

 

[HK]

Keep in mind this is not a "what's your favorite anime" thread.

Awww...

Tho', related to that, I'd say that Texhnolyze with more exposition on Kano and the Class (or rather more than just some one-liners and visual and thematic implications and goddamn you Konaka for making it so ****in' intricate). Or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time with more reasoning behind Makoto's deus ex machina at the end. Or...

Well, you get the idea. Even if they're masterpieces, one can always find some faults or shortcomings in their anime.

Actually, not quite true. I'm struggling to find something "wrong" with Haibane Renmei, but coming up empty...

Pale Cocoon would technically be the closest definition to a "perfect" anime. I mean, of course there will be/are complaints about it; too short, be it because it isn't some obnoxious never-ending shounen anime or that it's only 23 minutes in length. But ultimately I can't find any fault in story, direction, score, art, and animation. It is really completely unlike anything else in anime, and is a general rarity even in fiction altogether. The characters are easily defined and explored for the 23 minutes given and you can't label them as "stereotypes," either.

I'll get back to ya on the "perfect anime" definition later.

3) Animation - High quality artwork is probably the number one seller for me, especially if cels are around.

Uh, isn't this a problem since cells are no longer used?

Edit: I will say that I'm sick and tired of seeing "plot" being a perquisite for a story to be good. Frankly titles that get bogged down in their plot and/or spell everything out for you leave little re-watch value.

I care about a good story. I couldn't care less about a "good plot."

 

[HyperCyber]

1. Loli
2. Moe~
3. Panty shots

Obvious troll is obvious.

This kinda sounds like one of those "Johnny" threads.

You get a "no" for using his name in mah thread.

 

[Special K]

Obvious troll is obvious.

Why is that? Because I like something that you don't?

 

[Rave]

Looks like I spotted some weeaboos fighting each other.

 

[That Scary Clefairy]

What's my perfect anime?

The ones where all the fangirls, Weeboos, yaoi fans, and other retarded fans kill themselves by overstuffing themselves with disgusting muck and died from obesity.

 

[Rave]

What's my perfect anime?

The ones where all the fangirls, Weeboos, and other retarded fans kill themselves by overstuffing themselves with disgusting muck and died from obesity.

Oh oh oh, I love those ones too!

 

[Special K]

Looks like I spotted some weeaboos fighting each other.

Does anyone even know what weeaboo means anymore? I mean, if it wasn't for the fact that it never meant anything in the first place, I'd say that it's gone the way of 'emo' as a thing that morons have overused to the point of verbal extinction.

 

[That Scary Clefairy]

Does anyone even know what weeaboo means anymore? I mean, if it wasn't for the fact that it never meant anything in the first place, I'd say that it's gone the way of 'emo' as a thing that morons have overused to the point of verbal extinction.

Is "Wapanese" better for you?

 

[Special K]

Is "Wapanese" better for you?

I prefer Japanophile.

 

[Rave]

Does anyone even know what weeaboo means anymore?

Which one, the paddle or the crazed japanese fanatic meaning?

I mean, if it wasn't for the fact that it never meant anything in the first place, I'd say that it's gone the way of 'emo' as a thing that morons have overused to the point of verbal extinction.

Over time, it will still retain its meaning.

 

[Special K]

Which one, the paddle or the crazed japanese fanatic meaning?

Both, I guess. In the sense of how it is currently used and what it meant, or did not mean, in the first place.

Over time, it will still retain its meaning.

It's meaning of absolutely nothing at all.

 

[Cipher]

One that bears almost none of the traits commonly associated with anime.

 

[Rave]

Well.. after doing some more thinking... I wouldn't say that there is such thing as a "perfect series." But one thing that does help make a series better, if there wasn't so many anime cliches and all that stuff.

 

[Surreal]

This kinda sounds like one of those "Johnny" threads.

Well lets see...

1.) Animation. What I would like to see is very smooth fluid animation all round the show. I don't like always seeing the characters mouth move only all the time.

2.) Storyline. Needs to be very compelling and needs to draw you in.

3.) Character development. This is something I like seeing in alot of series I watch.

4.) Uniqueness. Though this is hard to explain, but I like seeing something that was well thought out, and is unique in many areas such as art, story, etc.

Pretty much everything you said. But I would also want each Character to have their own special personality.

 

[Cutiebunny]

Uh, isn't this a problem since cells are no longer used?

I was referring to older animes(those made prior to 2000/2001 as that seems to be the cut-off date for cel production). There are some pretty crummy animes that do use cels, though..just as there are crummy animes that use CG. Artwork is a big part of what draws me to show - most of the older animes I've watched due to other members collecting the artwork and displaying them.

Edit: I will say that I'm sick and tired of seeing "plot" being a perquisite for a story to be good. Frankly titles that get bogged down in their plot and/or spell everything out for you leave little re-watch value.

I care about a good story. I couldn't care less about a "good plot."

Let's not get too wrapped up in the word 'plot' vs. 'story', Hellkorn. Although I'm sure you can pull the Webster definition, for the most part, these terms are treated as being interchangeable.

I think that its the characters that make the greatest part of the story rather than the story itself. You can write an epic, but if the characters aren't well suited or developed during the course of that story, then the story is a total flop. It's unbelieveable, not memorable and likely not something you're going to watch again.

The only exception to this is, perhaps, a story that consistently borrows on the same characters...such as anything under the Tenchi Muyo franchise. TM's characters have been developed since 1995, and although most of the storyline operates under the "alternate universe" premisis(ie. Sasami can be an alien in "Tenchi Universe" and a magical girl in "Pretty Samy"), the personalites have not changed and, at this point, the creators can focus more on the plot and less on character development.

 

[HK]

Aside from Cipher and Cutiebunny's posts, this thread has gone the way of the retards.

Let's not get too wrapped up in the word 'plot' vs. 'story', Hellkorn. Although I'm sure you can pull the Webster definition, for the most part, these terms are treated as being interchangeable.

Don't tell me that you're one of those "language apologists" who wants, say, "nite" or "ain't"& to become a standard.

Read jfrog's old post on why plot is so ridiculously overrated.

I'm not really an action guy, so I don't have to deal with much in the way of senseless fighting. And plot is not the same as story, if that makes any sense (prolly not).

I find that plot is really obnoxious because anything strongly plot-driven is almost impossible to watch a second time through. And it's really an easy way out, anyone can come up with one. *I* can come up with a plot. What takes real talent is to make art out of the mundane - if you have any doubts about this, watch 'The Brown Bunny.' Vincent Gallo couldn't pull it off, and it ended up as one of the greatest cinematic trainwrecks I've ever seen.

If you want some good movies that have no plot, watch Chungking Express or Breathless (since Only Yesterday and My Neighbors the Yamadas aren't available in America yet). Not much in the way of traditional plot elements, besides people falling in love, but they were so well acted and directed that I was literally jumping off my couch with excitement when I was watching them. Hell, I'd even go so far as to say that watching Breathless is like sex, but without any of the waking-up-the-next-day-and-hating-yourself. But I'm getting waaaaaaaay off topic now. But yeah. Real substance in art comes out of depictions of real life.

People don't praise Cowboy Bebop because it has some complex, interwoven plot: it's because it presents a fun, engrossing story.

I've already seen Paprika twice and can't wait to see it again when it comes out on DVD. It doesn't have much in the way of plot, but the story is so straightforward and enjoyable that I consider it excellent.

People who think "emphasis on plot = good" are crazy. It's practically same as the moronic notion that stories primarily aimed at children are somehow "bad," or that violence, sex, and drugs somehow make a story "mature."

I think that its the characters that make the greatest part of the story rather than the story itself. You can write an epic, but if the characters aren't well suited or developed during the course of that story, then the story is a total flop. It's unbelieveable, not memorable and likely not something you're going to watch again.

Uh, not true.

Angel's Egg is for all intents and purposes devoid of "characterization" and it's seen by those that appreciate it as a thoughtful art film that lures in the audience with its amazing cinematography, score, art, ideas, and symbolism.

To sum up the concept of a "perfect anime": there can be no absolute standard criteria to judge whether an anime is perfect. The story must be looked and judged accordingly to what it is trying to accomplish and even what type of story it is. Hayao Miyazaki is great not for his plot. Mamoru Oshii is great not (necessarily) for his characters.