View Single Post
  #54  
Old Jul 17, 2013, 12:14 PM
leatherhead333's Avatar
leatherhead333 leatherhead333 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: In the middle of Narina
Posts: 235
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by LiquidAcid View Post
You're confusing "open mind" with uncritically.


I strongly disagree. You could say the same thing about literature and movies. And still good books and film are coming out every year.

No, the problem is that once something becomes mainstream enough, creaters/publishers/etc. want to play it safe. And that means catering to the largest audience possible. And we all know what happens if you try to please everybody. Things start to loose their "edge". The product might not be exactly bad, but it doesn't stand out either. And here lies the problem. To make something that stands out, you have to sacrifice compatibility with the masses.

And this trends gets worse and worse, mainly because productions get bigger and bigger and therefore also more expensive. And nobody wants to invest huge amounts of money into something, where there is no clear guarantee that it will also generate at least the same amount of revenue.


Again, disagreed. For me a concept for a story has to be credible. That's not to be confused with realistic. I think people often mix these two up. You can have an unrealistic story e.g. set in a magical world, etc., but it still being credible. For this development has to be consisted. Actions got to have a reason, even if they're explained much later in the story. You have to understand what characters do, even if they're doing the wrong thing. Also applies to the antagonist.

You make things too silly, you instantly lose all credibility. Some people might enjoy this, but not me. The only things that are worse that this, are probably these american sitcoms with laugh track to indicate where people are supposed to find something funny.


And I'll keep watching because there are some gems from time to time. And I think it's worth to salvage them from the large amount of junk.
I'm entirely aware that most companies can't afford to take chances on stuff that isn't guaranteed to make a profit or at least break even. No one likes to lose money. The anime business can't be as creative as it used to be. The majority of anime these days don't even make a profit until about after a year if they are lucky. There aren't very many run away hits that sell crazy good like Attack on Titan or SAO these days.

Now do i agree with them always taking the safe route? No. But in all honesty can you blame them? Let me ask you this. Let's say company makes a show that is a cut from all the rest (in other words not the same stuff we've been seeing for years). However this show ends up being a big flop because it isolates most of their fanbase. They end up blowing thousands of dollars for no reason. Sure they appeased fans of the manga or people who wanted something different but in the end what does that do for them? It doesn't get them their money back. It ends up just being a completely raw deal for them. If you want a recent example just look at free! I predict the anime won't sell well at all because they pretty much completely gave the middle finger to all the otakus of the world and are trying to appeal more to women with it's pure manservice. Basically they are taking a shot in the dark and it's likely to bite them in the butt. Perhaps this is an experimental thing but i don't see it working out well.

That's how you end up going bankrupt and losing investors in future projects.
These people KNOW what people will buy or what is currently the trend (there was a trend not to long ago where shows that had a OP main character would sell extremely well and there were about 3 shows that ended up having that in one season).

I hate to say it but that's business for you. It's not possible to appease everyone so you must go with pleasing the people that will get you the most cash.

@ 3rd point

That's not really my point. By concept i mean the over all layout of how the series plays out. For example shows that good vs evil, human corruption considering matters of politics or ethics, engineering technology to make super humans, revolutions against oppression etc. It's honestly not hard to see how a show will play out these days. It's mostly all pretty predictable. Which is why i like shows that leave a bit to the imagination and have a bit of mystery. Why? Because it lets fans speculate and converse about different topics and try to predict what will happen to which characters and why. That's part of the reason why i like Attack on Titan. The Titans have a lot of mystery surrounding their very existence and actions which i find very interesting.

In my opinion what makes a story truly unique is HOW the story unfolds not the overall result. And as you said it helps if the reason a character does something or an event happens is reasonable or interesting. A show that has the characters stay the same throughout the series is almost never good imo. If a character makes reasonable changes through the development of the plot that makes them a crap ton more realistic/relate-able.

Though of course most shows play the same anime tropes over and over again for the sake of playing it safe. A cruel world isn't it?

Last edited by leatherhead333; Jul 17, 2013 at 12:19 PM.
Reply With Quote