Miyazaki: The Problem With The Anime Industry Is It's Full of Otaku

[GameWinner]

Read this earlier today and thought it was pretty interesting. So I thought I'd share it here.

Acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki let audiences know how he really feels about the anime industry in a recent television interview. According to the recent retiree, anime suffers because industry staff is made up of otaku who "don't spend time watching real people" and are "humans who can't stand looking at other humans."

Miyazaki explained that animating people can only be done by those who spend time observing others, something he feels the industry lacks because it's "full of otaku."

Miyazaki is not known for biting his tongue. Other things Miyazaki doesn't like include:

The Abe Administration, the Iraq War, and the iPad, for which he compared the gestures to masturbation.

(I agree with him by the way)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/int...m-with-the-anime-industry-is-it-full-of-otaku

 

[TheJeweler]

I read this the other day, I agree as well. I found his Ipad comment pretty funny too

 

[FAST6191]

This is why you do not let the inmates run the asylum, it is not the first field (US style comics, politics, science , a lot of films....) this has happened to.

Indeed it seems to have happened in his former company as well, that or nepotism is a sub class of the problem above.

 

[Black-Ice]

There's a problem with the anime industry?

 

[TheJeweler]

There's a problem with the anime industry?

Sometimes I ask myself, "Is this Anime? or is it soft-core porn?"

 

[the_randomizer]

Sometimes I ask myself, "Is this Anime? or is it soft-core porn?"

Those two aren't mutually exclusive

 

[FAST6191]

There's a problem with the anime industry?

Some might argue there has not really been anything great in some time; ignoring things that are OAV or continuations of other things then Death Note was at best very divisive (it started out as basically an endless anime a la Naruto or Bleach or One Piece and then got very silly indeed, though to its credit it kind of had to go there from what I have read) which then sends you back to what Gurren Lagann in 2007 (not one of the all time greats as far as I am concerned, I can see why people like it) or Afro Samurai in the same year (which was based on a far older manga). There have been several shows recently that are prepped to "save" anime as well (going by various things this might be Kill la Kill, Space Dandy and Attack on Titan).

Personally I gave up on anime years ago (though I have yet to check out those three shows I mentioned at the end there), I read the seasonal lists for new shows whenever they come out (or at least I try to) but so very little beyond that. I know I am not alone in this either.

Of course I could be wrong and it is no coincidence the shows I mentioned up above came out when I did (about the time I stopped), I doubt it but it is a possibility.

 

[Foxi4]

I see that someone yelled "Wea-BOOOOO! " - good for you Miyazaki. On one hand, you're right - you can't treat a genre generated almost exclusively by horny pre-pubescent (or worse - post-pubecent but somehow "still not") boys as a serious form of artistic expression, on the other, the market generates the demand. In a lot of ways, a big portion of manga and anime are made "By Otaku for Otaku" and seeing that the term is no longer derrogatry, it's an acceptable order of things. The industry needs to balance out the soft-core content and normal content though, sure.

 

[GameWinner]

There's a problem with the anime industry?

My Little Black-Ice Can't Be This Naive.

 

[Hells Malice]

Definitely agree. So many shitty animes need to be sifted through to find the gems.

 

[Gahars]

H-he's just being tsundere, that's all.

 

[The Catboy]

Honestly looking at some anime (One Piece) it makes you wonder if they've ever actually seen another person before.

 

[Foxi4]

Honestly looking at some anime (One Piece) it makes you wonder if they've ever actually seen another person before.

Even worse, this anime is actually popular.

That being said, there's a whole lot of Manga and Anime sub-styles that have very little to do with actual human anatomy, see Chibi or the easily-recognizable "Toriyama forehead" from Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest.

 

[Ryukouki]

But I like my anime where the boobs are bigger than the head.

I wish anime moved more away from "plot" and focused more on the plot.

 

[Pedeadstrian]

But I like my anime where the boobs are bigger than the head.

I wish anime moved more away from "plot" and focused more on the plot.

A little fanservice now and then is fine, but yeah, the stories (or lack thereof) are usually what I dislike the most about anime. I don't need to see super long mech fights, or super long love stories. Balance story, fights (if relevant), drama, and comedy, and I'm happy.

In the end, though, all I really want is for them TO FREAKING DUB MORE SHINCHAN ALREADY.

 

[TheLostSabre]

I wholeheartedly concur with Miyazaki's statement; animes of now and nearly half a decade back are filled to the brim with fetish-laden crap. Why Japan encourage anime companies this practice is beyond me.

 

[Foxi4]

I wholeheartedly concur with Miyazaki's statement; animes of now and nearly half a decade back are filled to the brim with fetish-laden crap. Why Japan encourage anime companies this practice is beyond me.

Japan is one hell of a drug...

On a serious note though, it's mere culture shock. Many people will disagree with this statement, but I personally think that... this is just how Japanese people are - odd to us due to vast cultural differences. Don't worry though - to them we're likely equally bizzare or at the very least horribly boring - we don't even have tentacle ra--... y'know what, scratch that, nevermind.

 

[Ryukouki]

Japan is one hell of a drug...

On a serious note though, it's mere culture shock. Many people will disagree with this statement, but I personally think that... this is just how Japanese people are - odd to us due to vast cultural differences. Don't worry though - to them we're likely equally bizzare or at the very least horribly boring - we don't even have tentacle ra--... y'know what, scratch that, nevermind.

It definitely is culture shock. My dad goes to Japan on occasion for business and he is always saying that the Japanese think we're mad boring and just plain funky. :/ And noooo.... why would you give people ideas?!

 

[Pedeadstrian]

Japan is one hell of a drug...

On a serious note though, it's mere culture shock. Many people will disagree with this statement, but I personally think that... this is just how Japanese people are - odd to us due to vast cultural differences. Don't worry though - to them we're likely equally bizzare or at the very least horribly boring - we don't even have tentacle ra--... y'know what, scratch that, nevermind.

That's not true. I've got a video I can share with you if interested...

But in all seriousness, you're right. I bet if someone in Japan were to see cartoons about kids with super powers that turn them into football (American) players with pro football (American) players playing themselves, they'd be rather dumbfounded. It's an entirely idiotic idea to some people, but not so much to others.

 

[TheLostSabre]

I know there's the culture to consider but seriously, is it too much to ask to have something more down-to-earth than having a whole crowd of high-content fetishism as far as the eye can see? There's got to be some kind of balance that can be achieved...