I apologize in advance to my future self (or others) if I offend.
I will try my best to present an unbiased opinion without offending those who do enjoy watching shows of this nature.
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The subjective problems that I will mention do not particularly have an order as to which is the biggest number one problem or what is the least of my concerns. No, in this (possible) rant, I will discuss them in no particular order and that which I see as an issue. Being an anime watcher, one will eventually run into similar situations and/or gags in anime - eventually. At first, depending on how your first several anime were, you won't give the slightest care in the world because what you are watching is completely new. It is completely refreshing. It's something that you've never seen before because it is foreign and unfamiliar to you. This is always a good thing if you liked your first anime that is and if you loved it enough, you might just ask yourself. "wow, this was really good, where can I find more of this?" and this will in turn, lead you to some other similar anime. That's not a bad thing, no. Let's say your first anime was Highschool Of The Dead. That might perhaps lead you to other anime that has a school and ecchi setting. It might even become your favorite genre down the road for all we know. The problem here is going to be that eventually, you'll find it to be repetitive or perhaps even boring. This may not exactly be true for some people. I suppose it would depend on how tolerant you are or how easily pleased you are. It really depends on the person. Now the point I'm trying to make isn't that it's bad to like ecchi, no. What I'm saying in this context is that many people dislike cliche and I'm no exception, however, I can't exactly call others out on liking them because every medium out there will have tropes. It will have cliche. It isn't just going to be anime because that certainly isn't the case.
What's the problem with cliches?
Well it's like I mentioned. It doesn't necessarily have to mean that it's an issue because not every one person is going to like the same thing and others may be more tolerant to one specific trope (or all) than the next person. Personally, cliches tend to make the anime predictable and having foreseeable endings are not exactly what I like to call a great conclusion. Allow me to give one example.
- Girl A likes Boy A.
- Girl B also likes Boy A.
- Girl C also likes Boy A.
- Boy A has done nothing and shows little to no qualities to offer.
It's just that I personally would prefer something more out of the box.
Something that makes me go "wow, I didn't see that coming" or pretty much something that is out of the ordinary, you know?
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While harems may have this formulaic process, it is by no means the only genre that is guilty of falling into the well known anime tropes that exist in the medium. One could say that harems and ecchi come hand in hand. While ecchi anime do not necessarily have to be in harems, it is most prevalent in said genre. The reason being for my dislike of the ecchi genre is a simple and straightforward one. I'm not one who watches anime for fanservice. Now the question as to why ecchi is extremely popular is also a very straightforward one. It's a no brainer. It's because anime caters to the fandom.
Whoa, wait a minute, are you implying that because ecchi anime caters to the fandom that said genre is a tasteless genre/theme to watch, Sirani?
Of course not. All I'm saying here is that because it caters to the fandom that ecchi will always be prevalent in the anime industry. Those who enjoy it, good for you. Those who do not - well, we will still await for the spiritual successor of Serial Experiments Lain known as Despera. A bit off topic, but the hype for it so unreal that I will cry tears of joy the day I first watch it... or if I had a copy of the full written material that would be more than enough to suffice my undying love for it. Anyways, I would like to state that the term, otaku, is used in a negative connotation in Japan where it classifies a number of fans who obsess over something. That something need not be specifically regarded as anime - though it typically is. This is where my thoughts lie. Ecchi anime are generally compared to anime of other genres. Those other genres may contain an actual story and setting. According to this speculation, ecchi anime would generally fall short in the quality section. Unsurprisingly, this probably leads people to turn the other way.
This isn't to say that all ecchi do not have a story, but that's usually not the point of why you're watching ecchi in the first place, now is it?
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My cynicism is showing, but I'm very certain ecchi hentai to be more specific anime are the easiest to make a quick buck out of because mangakas know that the male audience would be more than likely to buy merchandise from their favorite ecchi shows instead of their female counterpart. This is why anime is said to cater to the otaku. Going along with the aforementioned formulaic open ended shows in harems as to why they do that: they do that because what's better than one successful cour? A second cour that panders to the intended audience. Cliches are natural however. All art forms are susceptible to them and there really is no way to get around these. In the case of anime you'll see these constantly. Take tsunderes for example. The term became popular in the early 2000's thanks to the visual novel Kimi ga Nozomu Eien also known as Rumbling Hearts. The very first anime that had one was Urusei Yatsura; however, it never became a popular trend until Shana from Shakugan no Shana kick started it. That was when the trend really began and that is the reason why the studio pidgeonholed Rei Kugimiya so as to voice other sets of characters that fall within the same set of traits - physique, personality, etc. (i.e Toradora, Zero no Tsukaima)
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It is because of this and its fans that cause anime to be viewed in such an offensive way. "Isn't that just porn?" Well, no. It's no wonder a lot of westerners are inclined to believe that anime is for "weirdos" or that it's just "cartoon porn." I'll quote a famed director and animator known throughout the industry.
Hiyao Miyazaki
"Anime suffers because the industry is full of otaku."
And you know what, to an extent, I agree with the guy, although that may seem nihilistic to quite a few people, but that's not the point I'm trying to make here. The point made is that someone well known in the anime industry has spoken up about it and that alone makes it noteworthy. There is even a troll quote of Hayao saying that anime was a mistake.
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- Anime is dying.
- or
- Anime is evolving.
Who knows, maybe it's people like you or I that are killing anime.
Or perhaps we're the ones who are evolving it?
Off topic, and I know that I said I'd try to be unbiased without offending those who do love the aforementioned genres, but reading back, it sure doesn't look like a did a great job of doing that. Ah well, it's with good intention anyways.
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You know, I see a lot of hate thrown around simply because there are anime that are tagged as ecchi. Why is it that if you mention ecchi and harem to certain people that their immediate reaction is a sigh? There are hundreds of people that feel this way and it's not exactly mind blowing as to why this is. Love 'em. Hate 'em. Sure, maybe it isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that I despise it or that it's worthless. Even some of the most influential works of all time in anime have some fanservice (i.e Neon Genesis Evangelion). This isn't to bash Neon Genesis Evangelion for its fanservice. To be frank, Hideaki was smart enough to not have the fanservice as a focal point of the show. It's there to attract viewers, yes, but it isn't a main trait for any of the characters. Well, they all were interesting with their own personality. Tropes, cliches, whatever. They're there.
It's not facile to come by an anime that is completely refreshing such as this masterpiece known as Serial Experiments Lain.
Obligatory Lain picture
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It's not a bad thing if they do contain less than preferable eye-rolling scenes. It's just that some people, such as myself, are real fussy with what they watch and that has its subjectively good and bad points. Some people like to discuss it without having the senseless tirades and just talk about the topic at hand. Other times, people criticize ecchi (or any other topic) without actually specifying as to what their reasoning is. I see it all too often where someone brings up the topic in the forums, be it Hummingbird, Anime-Planet, or Myanimelist, and there is always someone who usually ends up ruining what could have been a good discussion. It's actually kind of hilarious when it gets to that point but anyways - is it even worth arguing over? People are not so easily swayed or convinced to believe otherwise and by no means am I trying to convince anyone other than my future self should I happen to still be around to read my own blogs.
So Internet Wired, I've prattled in a quite disorganized manner once again but that's okay. It's not that important enough to debate as all this is all just another peek into my mind. So to summarize this, enjoy what you love to watch - cliches and such are bound to be present in any case. Who knows? The chance that I will grow to like this genre in the future is very slim - but the possibility still exists. So tell me, future self, have your ideas changed? ^^
