Anime erotic subculture goes mainstream

[Animeniax]

I think we've strayed from the author's central argument that "sexy" anime is now mainstream and acceptable and that more and more people are interested in it. As with any activity, if enough sickos participate, it somehow means it's socially acceptable, or should be. He's saying that lewd and sexually suggestive anime are ok to watch now without fear of being called a sexual deviant or pervert.

He's wrong of course, and trying to justify his own collection of hentai. He mentions how otaku prefer to idolize figurines with short skirts because they don't "talk back" like real women might. This article is pretty twisted.

[Buffalobiian]

I think we've strayed from the author's central argument that "sexy" anime is now mainstream and acceptable and that more and more people are interested in it. As with any activity, if enough sickos participate, it somehow means it's socially acceptable, or should be. He's saying that lewd and sexually suggestive anime are ok to watch now without fear of being called a sexual deviant or pervert.

Some friends asked me if I had any anime for them to watch for an hour's break. They wanted something easy to jump into, and in general, funny. I showed them Kamen no Maid Guy.

They asked me if it was porn.

[Death BOO Z]

Cowboy bebop, cowboy bebop, cowboy bebop...

when someone wants something to jump into anime with, you give him Cowboy bebop.
it was true five years ago, it was true two years ago, it's true now, and it'll be forever the only true choice.

seriously, you should know better.

if someone grabs a tit, then it's not appropriate. no one finds it funny.

in the same notice, who is all the 'fanservice' targeted at? I have yet to encounter an anime fan saying "this series is so awesome! there's hinted booby shots all around! there's this cute girl character, but she has huge breasts! and they hang around hot springs all day!".

do they really exist?

[The Heretic Azazel]

Am I the only one who thinks Cowboy Bebop is overrated? I could never get into it.

[Death BOO Z]

doesn't matter.
cowboy bebop is still the only "right" answer for a first serious anime.
after that: Trigun, Gits movie. princess mononoke, and then let loose of a newly created anime whore.

[XanBcoo]

Completely agree with DBZ that Cowboy Bebop is the best "Gateway anime" out there, for American viewers at least.

Then you've got any Ghibli movie, and possibly Ghost in the Shell. Anything other than that really hits a niche market that most American audiences can't get into unless they're into that sort of thing.

[Buffalobiian]

Cowboy bebop, cowboy bebop, cowboy bebop...

when someone wants something to jump into anime with, you give him Cowboy bebop.
it was true five years ago, it was true two years ago, it's true now, and it'll be forever the only true choice.

seriously, you should know better.

if someone grabs a tit, then it's not appropriate. no one finds it funny.

in the same notice, who is all the 'fanservice' targeted at? I have yet to encounter an anime fan saying "this series is so awesome! there's hinted booby shots all around! there's this cute girl character, but she has huge breasts! and they hang around hot springs all day!".

do they really exist?

I didn't have it on my flash drive. Other choices were Allison&Lillia and Tower of Druaga.

[Animeniax]

I never got into Cowboy Bebop either. I'd suggest Bleach as a good gateway anime, for males anyway, and only through the SS arc. Also, Akira and Ninja Scroll are good starters, and the Rurouni Kenshin movies, if not the series. For females, any of the Ghibli movies like Xan suggested.

[Board of Command]

Princess Mononoke was what got me into anime.

[Animeniax]

Subbed or dubbed version? Cause if it was the dubbed version, damn!

I think it was Gundam 0080 that got me into anime. Oh, new thread idea...

[Abdula]

in the same notice, who is all the 'fanservice' targeted at? I have yet to encounter an anime fan saying "this series is so awesome! there's hinted booby shots all around! there's this cute girl character, but she has huge breasts! and they hang around hot springs all day!".

do they really exist?

I would put Trigun ahead of Bebop because I could never get into that show. Anyway this is a question I really want answered, who is all the fanservice for?

[Board of Command]

Subbed or dubbed version? Cause if it was the dubbed version, damn!

I think it was Gundam 0080 that got me into anime. Oh, new thread idea...

I watched the dubbed version. It was actually decent.

In fact, I've never watched the subbed version. I have it archived in my CD binder but I never watched it.

[Animeniax]

I would put Trigun ahead of Bebop because I could never get into that show. Anyway this is a question I really want answered, who is all the fanservice for?

I imagine the original targeted audience of adolescent to young adult male Japanese fans find it hilarious and appealing.

Oh, to quote the Bare-naked Ladies, I used to watch Sailor Moon because they got the boom anime babes that make me think the wrong thing.

[Abdula]

Well I can't say that I know much about what they would or wouldn't like but that is the only rational explanation for all the fan service there is these days but even so. They have to be inundated with even more fan service that we ever see and at some point enough has to be enough.

[Animeniax]

Actually it sucks how much fan service is cut from American versions. Like in DBZ, all of the perverted Master Roshi material was cut out. I don't usually watch US versions of any anime, so I couldn't say how butchered other series might be.

[Abdula]

Those scenes didn't make one bit of difference as far as the story was concerned so I didn't miss them.

[Animeniax]

No, but it adds to the characters and gives them souls. DBZ was so often full of tension, you needed wacky moments to help calm everyone. I like to watch material as the creator originally intended, not as some censor wants to protect us children from. If that keeps it from becoming mainstream, I'm ok with that.

[Assertn]

Welp....this thread settles it.
Gotwoot is now officially an anime forum

[Abdula]

@ Ani: Okay I agree with you but if you hadn't seen the original versions of DBZ you would have never known anything was missing, and as long as it doesn't adversely affect the story it doesn't bother me much. Roshi's character was well established even with the censorship so it didn't affect the story much and DBZ was still full of wacky moments and really a little censorship is to be expected, although I think the entire censorship thing is one big joke but thats for another thread.

More often that not too much fanservice can easily ruin a series, that is one of the reasons I couldn't get into Elfen Lied.

[BurnHavoc]

If there are otaku in my area, then I'm not aware of them. From the way I see it, Australia's still part of the backward-American fandom. ie, otaku=college males.

Perhaps I just need to look a bit harder though. There's bound to be an anime convention somewhere that I've never heard of in my life.

(edit: wiki tells me there's one near my in September.....)

I know a few international students from Australia here who are otaku, one of them is on the executive for our uni's Anime/Geek Culture club (actually known as the Fantasy, Literature, Anime, Sci-Fi and Horror (FLASH) Club, of which I'm the president)

doesn't matter.
cowboy bebop is still the only "right" answer for a first serious anime.
after that: Trigun, Gits movie. princess mononoke, and then let loose of a newly created anime whore.

Actually thats pretty much the exact path I take people down to get them interested in Anime... and my aforementioned club is adopting that method this semester to get a few handfuls of new students into it.