So as I've mentioned before I'm working my way out of normie status with Anime and I was curious about something. With Western entertainment I generally don't watch anything made after 2014 without someone I trust (friend/this group/youtuber) recommending it. Is modern day Anime good to watch or has the woke virus attacked it? I remember hearing something about translators having issues.
Also, when it comes to Manga, what do they do differently compared to modern day comic books? In my local comic book store, the back issue section gets the most business to the point where sometimes they put a time limit on people shopping in that section. As expected the new comics don't get as much attention but the Mangas do. Also I notice a good split of men and women. Does Manga understand that certain types of stories appeal to men/women differently and plays to that, or is there just generally a lot of crossover with Manga?
Lastly, until I pay off my remaining debts I won't get anymore streaming services. Are there any free anime streaming services like tubi or crackle? I know a lot of older anime used to be on youtube but I don't see it as much.
Thank you for your time.
Anime and manga specifically target certain audiences with stories. Shounen - young men, seinen - older men, shojo - young women, josei - older women, etc. That's not to say there's not overlap in interest or consumer base but there are usually tropes to each that tend to be geared towards the audience.
I think Crunchyroll still offers some anime free w/ads.
To add a bit to this with the target audiences: Just because it's a shounen doesn't make it shallow, this isn't the US where cartoons are either targeted at kids and thus dumbed down(excluding a couple shows like A:TLA which wasn't dumbed down) or raunchy shit with satanic dogs and the likes. There's tons of manga/anime in the genre of shounen that are amazing in terms of writing, characters, story. I still think anyone owes it to themselves to watch Hunter x Hunter, the 1999 version is simply amazing(excluding the Greed Island arc OVAs).
Same goes for stories targeting women. A friend of mine used to say josei are all good, no one watches them. And in some regards he's right at least for the ones I've seen like for example Nodame Cantabile or My senpai is annoying.
I would second this in response. Just try things if they look interesting! I don't watch and read quite as much as I did earlier this year, but I have found things I liked in places I wouldn't have expected.
Not much of an anime fan, lately, but some of my favourites were completely mundane or weird subjects made really fucking interesting like Yakitate Japan (bread baking), Moyashimon (agriculture- I hear Silver Spoon is good, too), literally any sport (Eyeshield21, One Outs, Yowamushi pedal, Hinomaru Sumo, Air Gear, Initial D), gambling (Akagi, Kaiji, One Outs).
Definitely 2nd Nodame Cantabile, Honey and Clover is in the same vein of Slice of Life/Comedy. I also really liked Ouran Highschool Host Club and a bunch of other stuff like that.
Some killer recommendations in here. Loved Kaiji and Yakitate Japan.
If you liked Kaiji, Akagi is pretty much the same thing done by the same guy/studio, but better in my opinion. Yakitate Japan is severely underrated, but more people would probably know something like Shokugeki no Souma.
Thanks! That seems to be the smart way to go. So much western entertainment now seems to try to appeal to every possible demographic at the same time
It depends. Most are free w/ads. But newer anime and a lot of the dubs are locked behind the paywall.
Crunchyroll requires a subscription. At least for some of its content.
I've noticed that happening for more recent shows.
That means that ad blockers are working.
Good.
I believe this has been the main reason why anime has been resistant to wokeness. By understanding their audience first, there is less ambiguity for what belongs in a show.
For example, gay plots/characters belong in josei. Attempts to shoehorn it into shounen/seinen as anything other than minor comic relief will obviously be wrong to everyone who's honest. This frustrates leftists who want to preach to audiences that are traditionally unreceptive to their garbage messaging.