Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore

hahaha my thoughts exactly

 

Ok, so there seems to be a bit of disagreement here. But based on the responses (taking into account adamYUKI's comment) there appears to be a noticeable correlation between how long people have lived in Japan and how much they agree with this article. Has anyone here lived in Japan more than two years that has major disagreements with what this guy has to say?

Another thing I'd like to interject, is that I found his comments about the decline of the anime industry lately to be dead on. Between the shameless moe-blobs and the borderline porn that is getting aired in Japan lately, it's pretty hard to defend what the industry has become. I mean, I like anime more than almost any other form of entertainment, and I even I can't stand this crap.

 

For the record, I've been to Japan and the only thing I like about it are old samurai movies and video games.

 

Nah nothing manly about needless formalities and the salaryman life. Allow that.

 

I am still kinda curious on why you would take such an intense interest in the accuracy of the article. At the end it's his personal rambling. I doubt he is trying to change the Japanese culture or trying to convince anyone of anything. There are some serious critics of Japanese culture out there who actually has poignant things to say and wishes the Japanese culture to change for better, but he is not one of them.

Given such, Japanese Anime is dying, or at least declining. There is no question about that. You know one of the main culprits? You are staring him right in the face: VIDEO GAMES. Talents and money are moving away from anime and into video games. (Maybe not to Sega and VF, though)

I know there are some American anime nerds who dream of joining the Japanese anime industry. But they will be all shocked if they find out how incredibly small money the Japanese animators make on average in return for murderous working hours. Some people tried to argue the superiority of Miyazaki over Disney by how Princess Mononoke costed less than $20 million while Disney features cost well over 100. Well guess what, they can make anime cheaper because unlike the American feature animations they don't freaking pay their animators! Princess Mononoke could easily have cost triple if they actually paid the animators the way Disney did.

More young kids play videos games than anime. Anime studios have even less money. So the art talents in Japan move onto video game industry where they at least get paid a living wage. The quality of anime goes down the crapper. And goes the cycle.

 

I read most of it, and it was interesting.

I wish there was an article like that for New Zealand, cause I've always wanted to live there for a few years. And maybe I will at some point.

 

http://kotaku.com/5485535/but-do-i-hate-japan

Followup by Bashcraft.

 

Both posts unentertaining useless tripe.

 

Living in Tokyo and complaining about price, and the stupidity of a salaryman's life is... um, dumb?

Kinda why I have no desire of going there outside of a short visit (ueno doobutsuen), and why I signed up to go to Oita.

Also: anime has always sucked for the most part, just like all movies, games, and any kind of media. It takes a lot of time and digging to find something worthwhile.

 

I have been to Japan twice and I cannot wait to go back.
if I could I would live there.

The culture and the respect is what I like. You really don't notice it until you come back to America. I really stand out when I go, but I never feel once that I am being looked at in a negative way.

Cannot wait to go back.

 

I agree completely, Haas! My friends and colleagues who've been here for a long time - though they agree with many of the points in the article, they obviously like living here. As do I.

This article could have been written in the same tone about U.S. or any other country. Nonetheless, the points he brings up are fascinating to me, and while true for the most part, they personally don't hinder the relatively positive experience that i'm having here.

Good idea! Paging Dave Heston (a.k.a Mukatsuku Shun / Sekaijin)...He should be posting his thoughts shortly. Dave has been here for quite some time, and his views on Japan are always insightful and funny.

Also, GREAT points Hyun.

 

Japanese girls are not cute anymore!!!

 

Fulan, I understand, but here in Cardiff I would avoid going to a generic supermarket and instead choose an organic shop. If anything else fails, one can always bake his own bread!

BTW I survived 6 months in Japan eating rice & furikake.