h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When you say these things are profound, is there a common theme or underlying message running through them?

No comment on the profundity, but I think the author should have mentioned that 50% of all anime films are set in a technologically advanced post-apocalyptic world and the other 50% take place in a magical middle-ages Japanese wonderland. With giant rock beasts that rape women.

Yes, well, that goes without saying. It's a sad, sad state the world
is in when giant rock beasts can't keep it in their pants. And don't
pretend you don't know the truth about Ryo-ohki ... that randy little
cabbit.

We must note that the %50 figures that are bandied about are talking about anime that has been filtered by the American public...

They usually start out as %30 fantasy, %30 Scifi and %30 current...

It should be noted that the sci-fi equivelent of perverted rock beast are metal beasts that enjoy wandering around breaking very expensive looking junk and end up getting blown up by a well developed thirteen year old with a big gun.

I'm hungry.

Ah, yes, ~The Ninja Scroll~. I've seen that a couple of times. Annoyed me no end (especially the gratuitous chivalry bits).

I'm surprised no-one's yet commented on the mouths of these characters - rarely do they seem to look or behave like a real mouth. They look more like those wireframe screensavers that make interesting shapes while one is attempting to persuade the Café Bar to make proper tea...

And another thing - these Manga characters (and I'm going to stick my neck out and loosely include ~Kimba the White Lion~ in the category, because the style is the same, even if the content is not strictly so) all seem to have unnaturally large heads. That, coupled with the large eyes, makes them look rather like the "greys", the aliens that we are supposedly being experimented on by.

Lastly, why is it that they so often have names improbable enough to rival those of the characters of American daytime soaps? I don't know if ~Teknoman~ qualifies as Manga (I suspect it doesn't) but I remember seeing that about a year ago, and remember it mostly only because of the character name "Blade". Blade, Ridge, Brook, Savannah... ugh. Though at least the Manga (and its close cousins in animation) varieties are entertaining.

Some Anime and Manga can be sick, but not all of it. In Japan audults also read Manga, just as kids do.
I personally think the drawings on certain ones are really great. Such as Sailor Moon, which is more serious,and older then the Japanese Animation, or the American version.

A large amount of Anime seems to revolve around school kids which I find difficultly classifying as either Fantasy or Science Fiction. And there are the quality epics such as Laputa which can be classed as fantasy but don't involve any demons or raping as far as I can tell. Another case of americans getting their facts wrong I believe (chinese embassy? What chinese embassy?)

You guys keep refering to horny rock beasts and stuff of that nature. That's HENTAI anime, which means (more or less) perverted. Not all anime is hentai, necessarily, it's just that a lot of the hentai stuff is translated or brought over from Japan. On another note, a lot of anime contains little bits of risque stuff, like skimpy little outfits or nude scenes...but that doesn't necessarily make it hentai.

A note on japanese animation: Japan, and almost all of the East, has an interdepentent culture, as opposed to the Western independent culture. This contributes the lack of significant difference between animation styles (the stereotypical "big eyes, small mouth"). The Japanese tendency to do everything the same, as a community or nation, which provides great unity, and strength in certain areas because of that unity, also serves to decrease variation. We can see the sharp contrast between this portion of the industry and the Western portion. Looking at American cartoons, one can see the influence of an independent culture on each cartoon's individuality.

I'm not making a value judgement; just an observation. I'd much rather watch Evangalion that G.I. Joe.

Also notable from an industry standpoint, it is interesting that Anime television series are usually presented in a definate 26 episodes. American shows generally start with a pilot, followed by an introductory 13 episode season, then more episodes per each season for as long as the show is profitable, and as long as the show acts as a merchandising vehicle. Way off topic, it reminds me of Mexican soap operas, and how they actually end, as opposed to American soap operas.

I have to agree. In my opinion, anime is almost always superior to American animation. If you don't believe me, check out the garbage that cartoon network puts on late night (way late) on Fridays (what where those people thinking?). Now don't get me wrong, there are American cartoons that I do enjoy, but I prefer anime.

Also, most anime series are long running stories, where most American cartoons are static single episodes that could be run in any order. Robotech, Starblazers, Pokemon all have a plot that goes from show to show, telling a much bigger story that is complete when the series finally ends.

The Japanese use the same drawing techniques for manga as well, and manga is far superior to most American drawn comic books. I mean, how many American comic books could be drawn in their normal style, but only be allowed to use black, white, and shades of gray (i.e. no color). Almost all manga titles are printed in black and white, and they look so much better than any American comic books (all of which use color).

I am glad that Dark Horse brings so many good manga titles over from Japan, and that Antarctic Press is bringing us good home grown manga (and anime in the near future).

Note on Anime,
An interesting thing that I have seen from many of the posts here is that almost everyone has opinions or viewpoints based around anime which has been commercially released in English. You must remember that you are only seeing a small pinhole into the world of anime (although anime is becoming more mainstream). Those anime that do get here have been "pablumized" for the american public in many cases, not in others. Pokemon is actually released bilingually in Japan (plus there is a little English lesson at the end of the show to teach them a phrase). We can expect Pokemon to be largely unaltered, much good it will do us Certain shows such as robotech have been 'altered'. Robotech was actually 3 totally unrelated shows, the first of which being Macross, which some people should be able to recognize. Starblazers (Uchuusenkan Yamato) I thankfully have not seen more than half an episode in English. Those who own subtitled tapes of Dragonball Z / Tenchi muyou might want to compare them with the episodes that Cartoon Network show. I'm quite sure that the characters do not think deeply to themselves nearly as much. Anyways, in regards to anime, join an anime club somewhere so you can subtitled and fan-subs, so the content will be as little changed / limited as possible. Or do what I did, learn Japanese and go to Japan, then you can just watch them on TV.
In regards to manga. Dark Horse is doing a pretty good job, and so has Antarctic press. I personally would steer clear of certain VIZ products, but that is just a matter of taste