39
votes
Accepted
Why isn't anime critically analyzed like other forms of literature or entertainment?
I think the simplest answer is that anime is just not that popular. Though immensely popular and gaining momentum, the anime community just isn't that widespread. If you look at it critically MOST of ...
- 9,398
26
votes
Why are most women in anime housewives instead of being independent?
Since the question has picked up steam, I am going to construct the answer by including both historical and modern viewpoint and then the depiction of women in anime and manga
Part I: Historical ...
- 3,063
23
votes
Why isn't anime critically analyzed like other forms of literature or entertainment?
There are critically analyzed works.
It is indeed a much newer and nicher area than traditional film, but there are communities around it. There is just much less of it (as @Arcane states) due to ...
- 34.4k
23
votes
Accepted
What, if anything, was the early 90s anime creativity crisis?
I don't know where you heard about a creativity crisis but in the early 90's there was indeed a huge crisis which weakened the anime industry for a few years, along with a lot of other industries: an ...
- 1,673
16
votes
Accepted
Why are most women in anime housewives instead of being independent?
TLDR: The premise of the question is only true for male-oriented works.
The main bulk of the question (the reason for women in anime being portrayed mainly as housewives) has been answered by Fumikage ...
- 631
13
votes
Why do many characters tend to have crazy hair colors and styles?
Question #1: Why do many characters tend to have crazy hair colors? What is the cultural origin of such a style?
The origin of this practice is the primarily black and white medium of manga.
Manga ...
- 10.9k
11
votes
Accepted
Why Is Britannia often depicted as an almighty power?
Based on your comments you seem to be drawing too much of a distinction between the words Britannia and Britain, as in fact both mean the same thing. Britannia is just the Latin (and ancient Greek) ...
- 1,674
11
votes
Why isn't anime critically analyzed like other forms of literature or entertainment?
Note: I can only speak from a Western perspective here. For all I know, anime is critically analysed in Japan.
The first thing worth considering as a reason for why anime doesn't seem to be ...
- 353
11
votes
Was this really the original American/English-language opening/intro to Sailor Moon? If so, why was it so heavily changed?
I'll preface this answer by admitting that I couldn't find any interviews in which DiC (the company responsible for the original English-language dub) explained why they changed the opening so much. I'...
- 2,646
9
votes
Why is there less action anime every season?
Looking at the MAL Lists for 2017 by their definition of action genre:
Winter
49 of 243 anime released were action genre (20.1%).
Spring was 43 of 237 (18.1%).
Summer was 37 of 249 (14.9%).
Fall ...
- 317
9
votes
Accepted
How could the pilots in mecha anime move their mechas fluently with just primitive controllers?
In-Universe Explanations
In the Gundam franchise, this is explained through the use of advanced computer systems that translate simple joystick motions into complex robotic motions. According to in-...
- 380
8
votes
Accepted
Are there any other Guinness world record holders?
No, One Piece is not the only record holder: as shown in this article, "Kochikame Earns Guinness World Record For Most Volumes Published For Single Manga Series" with 200 volumes.
- 2,425
8
votes
Why isn't anime critically analyzed like other forms of literature or entertainment?
Literature is that which is studied by teachers of literature (and by extension, their students). It may have a connection to quality of writing, but this is not guaranteed, nor that other writing of ...
- 181
8
votes
Accepted
How did "other world" or "isekai" stories gain so much popularity and where do they have their roots?
Isekai: The genre that took over modern anime is a video by Gigguk that, while amusing, also covers a lot of the actual history. Essentially, the idea of being pulled into another world is at least as ...
- 3,763
7
votes
Accepted
Fake anime or manga release as an April Fools Prank?
Yes. The examples I know of is from Type-Moon.
As we can see from the link, almost every year since 2005 Type-Moon has came out with an April Fool's Joke ranging from fake movies to games featuring ...
- 40.2k
6
votes
Why isn't anime critically analyzed like other forms of literature or entertainment?
Anime as a genre has few gems. For me it's hard to find a good anime by random. Yet, I don't think that's the main reason why it's underrated. The ones that are great, really shine bright and deserve ...
- 61
6
votes
What's with the "x" in "Hunter x Hunter" (and other anime/manga)?
A warning if you are planning to search on some of the titles listed below as some contain NSFW content.
To add to the previously accepted answer, while the × or ×'s in anime titles will usually not ...
- 8,971
6
votes
Whats the origin of Harem genre
The first anime or manga to have all the elements of the harem genre is Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki (OVA anime: 1992). It has multiple female characters pursuing the same male lead, a constant presence in ...
- 1,674
6
votes
Accepted
Why do characters repeatedly say other characters names?
While the Japanese language does have various words that are second person pronouns, the most natural way that doesn't have any hidden meaning behind it of referring to the other person is using their ...
- 216
6
votes
Why do female anime characters always run like this?
Looking at a WARNING! TvTropes WARNING! One thing is clear, this kind of running is an exageration. So you will not probably find examples in real world.
But what is it exageration of? That character ...
- 2,825
6
votes
What is the target demographic of cooking anime?
This depends on what you mean by "demographic". In general, the demographic is "anime watchers who like to cook or watch content related to cooking." There are dozens of YouTube ...
- 339
6
votes
Accepted
What is "Rasetsu"?
Rasetsu (羅刹) is the Japanese Buddhist term for Rākshasas.
From Wikipedia:
Rākshasas ... are a race of usually malevolent beings prominently featured in Hindu mythology. They reside on Earth but ...
- 176
5
votes
What's with the "x" in "Hunter x Hunter" (and other anime/manga)?
It could mean "Hunter of Hunter" as x, as a multiplication symbol is often replaced in equations with the word "of".
For example, "5 of 12" means 5 lots of 12, and 5 x 12. Thus, the x in Hunter x ...
- 784
5
votes
What is the anime that is set in the most distant future of today?
Looks like Legend of the Galactic Heroes is the Anime that is set in the most distant future (AD 3596). You can squeeze it in or append the list if you found any Anime that is set in the era between ...
5
votes
What exactly is "Sakuga" and how it pertains to the animation quality?
Sakuga is basically where animators go from using cheats like only animating the mouth or skipping frames to animating every frame with fluid movement.
Sakuga (作画) (lit., "drawing pictures")...
- 23.7k
5
votes
Rather then a company published manga, can a self-published manga become an adapted anime?
There are a few anime adaptations of doujins and Artist CGs, like Z-Ton's "A Beautiful Greed" and Maron Maron's "Yareruko! Densha Ecchi", both of these are NSFW. Also that short anime "Getsuyoubi no ...
- 2,001
5
votes
Accepted
Which was the first anime to feature a transformable robot?
As Makoto already mentions in the comments, depending on what you count as transformable the answers might differ a bit.
But with the current scope the first anime to feature transformable robots ...
- 22.2k
5
votes
Why can't anime studios create animes for foreigns audiences?
I'd say that it's not that they can't, but rather that there simply isn't much incentive for them to do so. It just doesn't make much business or financial sense to target a foreign audience, not when ...
- 2,018
5
votes
Accepted
What shows inspired Sword Art Online?
Which shows predate Sword Art Online that have the same basic plot? The most similar anime show I could ever find (protagonist trapped in MMORPG world) is .hack//Sign Protagonist wakes up with slight ...
- 8,971
5
votes
What's the first anime adapted from a galgame?
It depends on what is meant by galgame, but a web search suggests* Dragon Knight is one of the oldest. The game is released in 1989 and animated in 1991.
* a source, you may not be able to see it ...
- 3,383
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible