I suppose I've really started growing out of anime. Just to give you an idea, I was one of those nerdy kids who wanted to freaking BE an anime character. I'd read or watch anything if it was anime, didn't care what it was or how good. Something about the usual themes and styles was just awesome to me no matter what the context.

I think the reason anime suddenly became such a craze in America is because it was really fresh at the time. We didn't have a lot of cartoons with that semi-realistic art, the deeper stories, the continuity, the adult themes, and even the character tropes were new to us back then. I'm aware there WERE western shows here and there, and I also know the origin of a lot of these things isn't exactly Japanese, but don't argue semantics with me here, you get what I mean.

At this point in my life I feel I've exhausted the wonder for anime. I no longer like the art, I find the facial proportions downright ugly for most of the 'traditional' styles, I find the actual animation to be cheap and static, and I find most of the character designs to be superfluously whimsical and generally pretty stupid. I no longer find the stories compelling, and now see the cliches and the hamfisted messages and the forced edginess. I no longer find the character tropes to be unique, with most female characters either being too shrill and cute, or too sexualized. Male characters are either bland, or flamboyant in a way that is just annoying rather than endearing. Manga is the same way--minus the poor animation budget.

I didn't ever think that would happen to me, but I suppose as your quality standards get higher in life you enjoy less and less. There are still some anime I love and will always love, but it's become a fairly short list. I feel that there's so much intellectual property in Japan and yet no one really tries to make their work stand out, and if they do, they do it the wrong way with ideas that are only original because they're ridiculous and convoluted.

The world is funny, I guess.

In case you haven't realized it... I watched Toonami last night, and I was a bit disappointed overall.

Anyway, back to my comic, which is probably not any better than all the stuff I just ranted about, but oh well. >>