Most Anime Sucks

Some discover the truth early, in middle school perhaps, but we all learn it eventually. Most anime sucks. It's not like the Hollywood film industry, or the NBA, where most are bad but there is enough quality at the top to keep everyone happy. No, anime is a desert, a desolate tundra where there was once something great. Modern anime is the crumbling ruins of a once vast and influential empire. Modern anime is terrible.

Japanese anime can really catch you off guard when you're young. For most, watching anime for the first time is a dual experience. I remember seeing Dragonball Z as a kid and not only being blown away by the story, but also by this weird culture that I had never before been exposed to. Japan is cool, with unique customs and samurai swords, sushi and extreme respect for those who are even just a little older than you. We all fall for it, letting our tiny child brains mistake "new and interesting" for "well written art". The anime industry as a whole is just one giant shiny box with nothing of value inside.

There was a period however, when anime was worth paying attention to. You used to be able to turn on any number of cartoon channels and see Akira Toriyama at his prime, or stay up late and watch absolutely groundbreaking shows like Cowboy Bebop, or Ghost in the Shell. Anime has always been filled with enormous wastes of time, but there used to be just enough hidden gems to make it all worth it. I sadly don't believe that is the case anymore. Maybe I'm not as willing to sift through the shit to find them as I maybe was years ago, but I have been trying a little. I watched Black Cat, and Death Note, two of the most popular titles nowadays, and all I witnessed was high resolution cliches.

Japan's ego was obviously inflated when all of us American kids freaked out during the Pokemon era. Seeing their style of storytelling make so much money, I can understand why they stuck with it. But those Pokemaniacs are in their twenties now, and we are a little more deliberate with our choices. Japan is stuck in a way of thinking that will not allow their industry to grow with it's fans, and we are going elsewhere. Why are American cartoons enjoying higher ratings while the Japanese animation studios keep shutting down? Maybe it's the beautiful lack of face palms, nosebleeds, giant mallets and purple hair.