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gsilver
Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Posts: 618
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Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2024 11:55 pm
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Right now, I'm watching Summertime Rendering with a group of people. We're in the final arc, where things have completely gone without the rails, and the events are basically a mad fever dream. While one could kinda-sorta piece together a metaphorical meaning for the happenings, the moment-to-moment actions are *deeply* in what is commonly referred to as "Anime bull____".
We've seen it many, many times before, especially in endings. What I'm wondering is, why? Why is it so common for anime/manga to be so deeply committed to making little to no logical sense?
//Not saying that STR is anywhere close to the most egregious in this regard, but it's certainly part of a trend.
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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
Subscriber
Exempt from Grammar Rules
Joined: 14 Jan 2011
Posts: 613
Location: inland US west, pretty rural
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 3:42 am
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/* shrug */ Starting out with a really interesting premise is a bit hard, but keeping it both interesting and consistent and creating an even more interesting ending, maybe even an amazing ending, is really hard? So in an art, which is also part of a mass produced entertainment business, maybe it is just a sad fact of life.
I think I know what you mean, or I hope I'm close. I have seen it happen so many times, sometimes, when I'm half-way through a show that seems really good, I'll stop watching until the end of the season so I can find out if it "sticks the landing", or if it crashes and burns, because its just too painful to watch another one of these fail.
Part of what I think is true about anime versus other entertainment, and admire about it, is there is a bit more willingness to try for the really big one. For all the cookie-cutter, made-by-a-checklist stuff, maybe one show in - I don't know, pulling this out of thin air here - 10(?), takes some risks. And maybe even then, only one of those in 10 comes out at least good. So, out of 100 some shows that try, we get ten(?) ok ones, and maybe one Frieren. But we pay for that with lots of not so good forgettables, and a Darling in the Franxx, or a Science Fell in Love, or two or three or whatever. I do believe there will be more bombs than successes. I don't know, I hate to think about those.
Anyway, just my two bits.
PS I liked pretty much all of Science Fell in Love, until that last ep. So maybe it is not a good example. If I ever go completely digital with my collection, that one epps just not going to be in it.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23812
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 8:31 am
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I understand where the OP is coming from. There are two things that I think help contribute to this perception of not making sense if you happen to be (like me) a Westerner who doesn't speak or read Japanese. People like us are at the mercy of translators. We have to hope their subtitles are doing the Japanese justice. Then there our blindspots with respect to cultural norms and references. If you haven't lived in Japan and aren't intimately familiar with customs, beliefs, behaviours, etc, something that doesn't make sense to you might make perfect sense to a Japanese viewer.
I'm not saying these two factors are in play for every wtf moment you experience as an anime viewer, I just hypothesize they may be relevant in some cases.
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Piglet the Grate
Joined: 25 May 2021
Posts: 569
Location: North America
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 6:37 pm
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gsilver wrote: | We've seen it many, many times before, especially in endings. What I'm wondering is, why? Why is it so common for anime/manga to be so deeply committed to making little to no logical sense? |
Maybe they are hoping lightning will strike twice and what they create will be discussed nearly 3 decades later (e.g., NGE Episodes 25 and 26)?
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Alan45
Village Elder
Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9853
Location: Virginia
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 8:02 am
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Most anime these days is based on existing source material. The more popular the source material the more likely that it will extend well beyond what can be handled in a standard single cour show. This creates a certain amount of tension. On one hand they need to provide a satisfactory ending for the anime only watchers and on the other they don't want to stray too far from the source material and cut off the possibility of an additional season of anime. Trying to achieve two goals at the same time may cause some of the weirdness you are talking about.
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Top Gun
Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4585
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2024 11:08 pm
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It's funny, some friends and I watched Summertime Rendering together in the past year or two, and I wouldn't lump it into this category myself. Sure, things got pretty crazy before the end, but for my money it stuck the landing. The last few scenes in particular were absolutely note-perfect. I guess mileage may vary though.
That aside, I know how you feel. I like to call this a series going "full anime," when you sit there scratching your head over what the hell is going on. I've always chalked at least some of it to cultural differences, in that English-speaking audiences traditionally tend to like events being wrapped up in a neat bow, whereas that may not be the case with Japanese audiences. Even so, some series with completely WTF endings wind up being among my all-time favorites. Big O immediately comes to mind: I love it dearly, but I could write entire essays about what the hell I think is going on in its finale.
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