On Liking Crappy Anime
I’m one of those weirdos who makes a conscious break between what I like and what I recognize as quality.
Take, for example, Linebarrels of Iron. This particular show looks and feels like an average giant robot show, and for the most part it fits that genre stereotype to a tee. It’s full of play–fanservice for the genre fans, if you will–on the common genre concepts. Death flags; “people die when they are killed”; brofists of all kinds; giant robots; giant robots of all sizes; giant robots that goes into space; compromising situation involving locker rooms, baths, beaches, rooms with beds in it; a primary school and primary school students; beamspam; guns; robot on robot action; robot on man action; man on robot action; tentacles (naturally); over 9000; bros of all kinds; betrayals; reunions; remembering from the past; slowly-revealing conspiracies; smart computers; spaceship headquarters; the word “justice”; bad jokes; screaming attacks; limited-time attacks; attacks that are tied to the pilot’s health; family members on opposite sides; different mecha upgrades; just as keikaku; bridge bunnies; winners and losers; “I want moar powah”; tsundere; oblivious male protagonist; taking one for the team; … I can go on for a while longer.
But like most modern otaku-targeting anime, what makes a show tick, in my mind, is how these common tropes are executed and arranged.
Sadly, when we go into this framework, automatically we’re talking about a show that panders and targets the otaku segment. People looking for the next epic thing should flag up and buzz off. However it’s also important to recognize this is the intent, from a fundamental perspective, of the show. I don’t expect Xam’d-level quality from Linebarrels, obviously, it’s unreasonable.
Nonetheless, Linebarrels offers something new and unique and it’d be a sin to not recognize or talk about them if you work within its framework. For one, it evokes the Japanese game show trope in the context of the undead. And it doesn’t involve zombies (although it does involve nudity). It’s also full of unexpected (in a tongue-in-cheek way) reversals that are just credible enough that you can buy into its ultimate cheeseball, captain-planet-esqe finale. While these are not new in the genre alone, their uses definitely were. It’s like a fake train wreck.
It’s like the Code Geass formula but done with integrity and none of the seriousness it takes with itself. Not that it’s a bad thing; those things worked with Geass, and I don’t think they would with Linebarrels.
And in a way this is the problem Omisyth detailed in a comment in an earlier post. If I looked deep enough I can find something worthwhile in a lot of mediocre fare out there. Silver linings, right? It’s just a question of the mode or modes of consumption I take on when I watch something. It’s no longer about standards–there’s no reason to talk about standards in this kind of context; keep it personal. For example, if your teacher refuses to grade your paper because it’s below his standard for enjoyable paper-grading and he only grades papers that deserve A+’s, how would you feel? How is it educational or productive? It’s not pro, bro.
Of course, we are not teachers of commercial animation and these anime are not submitted like coursework, but why are we grading them? I suppose it’s fun, but it isn’t without consequences. We can talk about the shows that didn’t make it from our personalized context, but what makes those discussions interesting is the clashing of our personalized contexts with a familiar thing your readers know because they’ve watched the same show you have, even when they may or may not know your tastes in anime.
So when it comes to the people who slam Linebarrels, it’s good to see it happen when they talk about it from an internal perspective. Because it’s a silly lol-Gonzo anime, there is little risk of retribution from others when you do slam it, and people slam it freely.
Only if this is the case for every show out there.
As for me, I thought Linebarrels was fun when it lasted. Like a grain of wheat, it will shed its excesses and die in the sea of past memories. What remains are the seeds of its unique and memorable elements, soon to spurs forth fruits of fandom and strange memes and more jokes about nudity, 4chan, and the otaku fandom dialog.
I didn’t even list most of the things I liked about the show. It’s that STRONG.
I don’t think it’s “weird”, but the ability to make the distinction does seem rare. Just because I like something doesn’t mean I think it’s “good” per se (and vice versa). Being entertained and appreciating “quality” are two separate things, though often intertwined.
Alex D.: Indeed, and equating (like = good) causes plenty of misunderstandings and unnecessary conflict when blindly done. But we already know that. :P
I AM SEIGI! I AM JUSTICE!
Actually, I think most people, save the most entrenched, stubborn few, will assent to the notion that liking does not equal good. However, if you were to pose the opposite notion to those same people, that disliking does not equal bad, I believe you will have a much more difficult time convincing them of the statement’s validity. Just try to think of something you hated, but argue it’s good. C’mon, try it.
Now I need to think, because I just couldn’t keep watching Linebarrels after about episode 5 or so, yet at the same time I freaking love say, Nanoha A’s and I could take like 90% of the things you listed and say that those were why I liked that show.
The divide among Macross fans about Macross 7 would benefit somehow I think from the thoughts and attitude written here.
However, it would require those who love Macross 7 (like myself) to admit that it’s mediocre (I don’t admit it, often it’s worse than mediocre), and those who hate it to have the patience to stick it out for 47 or so episodes to get why it’s so special despite the awfulness.
For a show with Hisashi Hirai designs with Goro Taniguchi involvement, the opening didn’t change nearly as much as it should have.
>> kadian1364
See my last blog post :)
But very good point.
>> JP
I don’t know, I mean I think you would be able to appreciate it, but it’s a precarious trade off that I don’t know if it’ll be worth your while. And it’s not likely something your waifu will force you to watch (despite the plethora of heterosexual shipping possibilities).
>> wah
I agree, but it’s Gonzo, $, etc.
ALSO ナイスな展開じゃないか。
I was honestly bored (plus somewhat annoyed) by the first few episodes of Linebarrels and didn’t see anything particularly enjoyable or worth watching for. Maybe that was too hasty and I could have grown to like something else later on, but that’s what it was.
wah: Just for the record and motivated by some kind of inertia…Taniguchi’s prone to using evolving credits in those shows he directs, but in this one he has the nebulous title of “Creative Producer” instead of Director.
Apparently this meant, in a previous case where the same position was involved, that he worked on the manga adaptation of My-Hime (which seems to be pretty bad, I hear), but I have no clue what the hell that means for Linebarrels of Iron. I guess that means you do something, of course, but what?
Camario: good info. I think if the first few episodes of Linebarrels were designed to solicit negative attention. But boredom is probably not what they were going for. You probably made the right decision.
Taking your teacher analogy in another way:
For teachers there’s always a prerequisite for being able to mark an essay highly. Certain conditions always need to be met, different subjects and points mentioned if the essay is to even have a chance at an A. But that doesn’t mean that the teacher wouldn’t enjoy reading an entertaining essay, even if it didn’t hit all those points. Such is the way we are as anime watchers/bloggers.
I think that makes sense. Either way, if I get that gut feeling that I like something, I’ll watch no matter what others say about it and defend it to the point where it becomes mildly inconvenient.
We like our Apple Jacks.
The nature of anime is generalized in a negative way in terms of cheap animation, commercialized platform to sell toys, novels, manga and video games. It is not glorified or set apart like art from porn, it’s commodity. Even if there are those exceptions.
I think in order to appreciate the perspective of fans, we have to take an approach that is humble enough to embrace that part about anime.