Starker on 2/4/2017 at 06:37
Quote Posted by Renzatic
I'd say the Japanese have a somewhat similar problem. They don't necessarily run a single show into the ground, but they'll make 5 dozen other shows almost like it, mirroring similar themes with only slightly different characters.
I'm pretty sure 70% of all anime are shows about magical highschool girls with access to giant robots.
Sure, lot of anime is derivative crap and a lot of it is based on popular manga and light novels that themselves tend to take a bit of a copy and paste approach to plots and characters, but there are plenty of cloned TV shows in the US as well. Just think about CSI, NCIS, Law and Order and all that stuff. Not to mention that screenwriting itself tends to be quite formulaic, producer-centric and advertiser-oriented in the US.
Of course, short seasons are not necessarily inherently better than long ones. You can't really do proper character development or have really complex plots in (
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwelveEpisodeAnime) 12 half hour episodes. Nevertheless, there's less risk of filler material or the show getting canceled or jumping the shark or dragging on until it peters out.
Also, I think there are a lot of upsides having a small creative team instead of tons of writers. I think it helps produce more focused and better planned out series. Or at least I prefer the Babylon 5 approach of long arcs to the more episodic formula of Star Trek.
Renzatic on 2/4/2017 at 07:36
This is true. Though with anime, it seems to go a bit above and beyond, where it's not just general themes, but very specific things that are reused over and over and over again.
That's not to say that all anime is bad. There are a couple that I really, really liked. Like Last Exile. That's a show I'd happily sing the praises of til the end of time.
Starker on 2/4/2017 at 07:49
Certainly the "90% of everything is crap" adage does apply to anime. I used to avoid most of anime outside Ghibli movies precisely because so much of it is cliched or simply out of my interest range, but I started to watch it for language practice and there's some pretty good stuff if you're willing to dig a little. My all time favourite is probably (
https://myanimelist.net/anime/19/Monster) Monster, but there's plenty of original stuff out there like Mushishi and Paranoia Agent.
Sulphur on 2/4/2017 at 08:02
Yeah, Mushishi is definitely one of the best meditations on family I've seen, anime or otherwise, in the 2010's (Season 2 was released in 2014). Natsume Yuujinchou (Natsume's Book of Friends) is of a similar stripe: it's pretty high-stakes thematically (orphaned kid dealing with literal and figurative demons on a daily basis) but manages to do it with a light touch and a human warmth that's unlikely to be found in a lot of middling anime.
faetal on 2/4/2017 at 12:55
Unmissable
Game of Thrones
Deadwood
30 Rock
Breaking Bad
True Detective (series 1 only, didn't watch S2)
Great
Westworld
Louie
The Walking Dead
Black Mirror
Mad Men
Sons of Anarchy
Boardwalk Empire
House of Cards
American Dad
Archer
The IT Crowd
Bojack Horseman
Good
Family Guy
Can take or leave
Homeland
Mr. Robot
Person of Interest
Hannibal
Stranger Things
Sherlock
Didn't make it past one episode and made me want to damage things
How I Met Your Mother
Big Bang Theory
Fafhrd on 2/4/2017 at 18:02
Quote Posted by demagogue
Speaking of which after a while I realized Black Sails is turning into a pirate version of Deadwood, with the same basic premise (civilization coming to the lawless wilds) and a lot of the same character types.
"Deadwood, but with pirates" was actually the elevator pitch for it. (
http://nerdist.com/the-writers-panel-241-black-sails/) The Nerdist Writer's Podcast episode with the show runners is a good listen about the creation and evolution of the show.
Kolya on 3/4/2017 at 22:09
Black Sails was nice but it turned out to be too much talking and not enough boarding and pillaging. The few ships they had were badly animated and that just doesn't work in favour of a pirates show.
Also a cute blonde chick as a major player among pirates may be easy on the eye and politically correct but ultimately it's ridiculous.
Fafhrd on 4/4/2017 at 04:38
Quote Posted by Kolya
Black Sails was nice but it turned out to be too much talking and not enough boarding and pillaging.
You understand that that's the point, right? That contrary to the popular conception of 18th Century pirates, they
weren't 24/7 boarding and pillaging rape machines, but men and women with their own codes of conduct and economy?
Kolya on 4/4/2017 at 06:20
Oh yeah, it's just my personal preference, that I would have liked to see more swashbuckling adventure and less scheming and intriguing.
