Pretty much every show from the US worth watching ends up in Japanese.
*edit* And pretty much every show ends up online.

Last edited by Crispy (2012 December 01, 4:17 am)

Javizy wrote:

ホンマでっか!?TV is one I like, and ネブ＆イモトの世界番付 can be good too.

They don't seem to be on d-addicts. What's your media source?

Well,

@thurd, your post really caught my attention about what was my idea about Japan. When I started learning Japanese I was enchanted by anime and was watching all tons of stuff. Nowadays I really don't find anything in particular in anime that really draws my attention. I started learning Japanese because of Japanese Buddhism actually and had never really delved into Japanese pop-culture. Surely Japanese people seem to live life in extremes.

They were so many answers to my original post that I am overwhelmed . Right now I'm going through a bit of Japanese language learning crisis. I feel that if the Japanese life-style doesn’t appeal to me why do I bother learning Japanese in the first place? But to be honest I love the language, the history and the spiritual life in Japan. So, the conflict in me maybe is between traditional vs. modern life. Then again you cannot learn anything about a country before you stay for a while there and interact with its people...

Last edited by nihon_lover (2012 December 01, 6:05 am)

shinsen wrote:

Javizy wrote:

ホンマでっか!?TV is one I like, and ネブ＆イモトの世界番付 can be good too.

They don't seem to be on d-addicts. What's your media source?

Youku and Tudou. If you like 世界番付 you'll probably like its clone 世界のみんなに聞いてみた

nihon_lover wrote:

When I started learning Japanese I was enchanted by anime and was watching all tons of stuff. Nowadays I really don't find anything in particular in anime that really draws my attention. I started learning Japanese because of Japanese Buddhism actually and had never really delved into Japanese pop-culture. Surely Japanese people seem to live life in extremes.

My experience was similar, I started Japanese to be able to play Final Fantasy games in all their glory and with no delays, but before I even got serious about it Square sunk the series into oblivion. But either way this got me hooked and before I knew I discovered other aspects of Japan that I liked, not only in various form of media but also their perspective on socio-economic problems, religion, work etc.
If Buddhism is your thing maybe try to explore that area more, traditional Japan is still there and I'm sure you'll find lots of interesting topics that could maintain your interest (I play Go for example).

nihon_lover wrote:

They were so many answers to my original post that I am overwhelmed . Right now I'm going through a bit of Japanese language learning crisis. I feel that if the Japanese life-style doesn’t appeal to me why do I bother learning Japanese in the first place? But to be honest I love the language, the history and the spiritual life in Japan. So, the conflict in me maybe is between traditional vs. modern life. Then again you cannot learn anything about a country before you stay for a while there and interact with its people...

If you can afford it I greatly recommend it, one of the best things in Japan is how they take traditional and modern and make it work.

howtwosavealif3 wrote:

Definitely don't go by ratings in Japan or popularity in a forum to decide if the drama is worth watching till the end. If your instincts are telling you that it's shit then go onto another drama that might be potentially good

This is very true, you are the best judge so go with your instincts first. If I find something that could be interesting on paper (synopsis etc.) I download 1st episode and check it out.
Some time ago I downloaded 3 shows with certain expectations about them (ordered):
1. Mirai Nikki
2. Lucky Seven
3. Poison
and after watching their pilots I got:
1. Lucky Seven
2. Poison

Lucky Seven had a really impressive pilot (2nd episode wasn't as good but still decent) with interesting plot and good action scenes, Poison got me intrigued (got some Liar Game vibe but w/o super cute protagonist) and Mirai Nikki was disappointing in almost every aspect and most difficult language wise from those three (I don't know why, maybe I watch too much crime dramas) so I dropped it.

Last edited by thurd (2012 December 01, 8:12 am)

Now that you've mentioned poor acting, it's weird that it didn't really bother me, maybe because I think of most TV media as total crap and so didn't have good expectations?

Another notorious quality about Japanese drama is leaving you hanging at the end, very unsatisfying endings they make D:<
For example:
Summer Snow
Liar Game
Densha Otoko
My Boss, My hero.

Out of the Dorama and movies I've watched, I consider My Boss, My hero and Edison no Haha to be the worthiest, even though the main character's acting in these two was way too amateurish, but the stories and characters development were good!

Do you guys recommend "One Liter of Tears"?

Last edited by undead_saif (2012 December 01, 9:51 am)

Question a): some of you mentioned that my nick name didn't quite much, so to say, the way I see Japan (by judging my post). So, do you feel that someone who loves Japan has to love everything about this country? I love my country, but I don't like everyhting that is happening here...

Question b): how many of you started watching j-dramas as a means to learn Japanese? Were you satisfied from the result...?

thnx in advance...

howtwosavealif3 wrote:

Basically I noticed anime turned to shit so I was looking up people's thoughts and explanation for this phenomena and I found some interesting stuff.

It has hardly "turned to shit". There was just as much poor, cookie-cutter, cliched, fan-service based, low-brow アニメ in the earlier years as there is today, the only different is that production values have increased and a paradigm shift has made モエ and ロリ-esque sub-genres more appealing to the increasing large "Western" market.

On a volume-for-volume basis, there is probably no significant difference between the "great" shows of current and those five, ten, fifteen, twenty year ago. A lot of the criticism is based on the fact that what people liked is no longer being produced and instead what a different generation like is being produced.  You're really missing out a handful of great アニメ, if you enjoy アニメ, by simply stating that it's "turned to shit".

Afterall, shows such as 「ようこそにＮＨＫ」とか「魔法少女まどか☆マギカ」とか「日常」とか「みなみけ」とか「宇宙兄弟」 are recent.

But I digress. It's silly to argue over opinions: you have yours and I have mine.

uisukii wrote:

howtwosavealif3 wrote:

Basically I noticed anime turned to shit so I was looking up people's thoughts and explanation for this phenomena and I found some interesting stuff.

It has hardly "turned to shit". There was just as much poor, cookie-cutter, cliched, fan-service based, low-brow アニメ in the earlier years as there is today, the only different is that production values have increased and a paradigm shift has made モエ and ロリ-esque sub-genres more appealing to the increasing large "Western" market.

On a volume-for-volume basis, there is probably no significant difference between the "great" shows of current and those five, ten, fifteen, twenty year ago. A lot of the criticism is based on the fact that what people liked is no longer being produced and instead what a different generation like is being produced.  You're really missing out a handful of great アニメ, if you enjoy アニメ, by simply stating that it's "turned to shit".

Afterall, shows such as 「ようこそにＮＨＫ」とか「魔法少女まどか☆マギカ」とか「日常」とか「みなみけ」とか「宇宙兄弟」 are recent.

But I digress. It's silly to argue over opinions: you have yours and I have mine.

Well then let me like what I like and you like what you like. You're contradicting yourself by saying we all have different tastes and thattheres no point arguing abt it and then saying I'm  missing out so much as if I'm being super close-minded .  Im not missing out. im saying i know its shit and thats why im not making myself continue watching crap. If you're curious as to why I think that then you can read the stuff I linked... and i really thought nichijou is shit. Madoka is one of the few I have expectations of being acually entertaining but I haven't see it yet. just watch whatever u want but do not say you're missing out so much bc we don't like the same shit show for show. And like I said read up a lot up on people's insights and analysis as to why anime nowadays sucks so muchand I posted my collection of the text. I really seriously think there are some really awful trends nowadays after reading all that. And of course I agree there were a lot of shitty anime in other decades. What I'm saying is that  the stuff I read mentions issues that exist today in the anime industry and how that contributes to the crappy low quality. I just have this opinion and after I read all that i gained more understanidng as to exactly why or possible reasons. I found it to be a fascinating read. I don't want to do the cliche old anime vs new anime argument. That been done a billion times on any anime forum

I have no problem if you like what you like but don't make it sound like I'm missing out just bc I dont like the same shows as you. Your argument is very tip of the iceberg and I understand its one forum post and its not a thread Abt anime... Hence if you're curious as to why I feel that way then read the stuff I linked. And if you'd like to spend your time doing something else besides reading that... That's fine then Leave the whole issue alone

Last edited by howtwosavealif3 (2012 December 01, 1:51 pm)

nihon_lover wrote:

I started learning Japanese because of Japanese Buddhism

This is kind of what I had in mind when you said that Japan/the Japanese weren't conforming to your idea of Japan/the Japanese.

The VAST majority of Japanese are Buddhist by title only and know nothing about Buddhism except that you go to temple (but really a Shinto shrine will do just as well) on New Years and when you die you will have a Buddhist funeral service. Most Japanese are completely apathetic toward anything religious/philosophical (since many believe Buddhism is not a religion but a philosophy).

You want to 'celebrate' Christmas by putting up a fake tree and ordering kFC? That's cool.

You want to have a fake 'Christian' wedding with a fake 'priest' (who's really just an eikaiwa teacher doing this on the side) because 'western' weddings are so much cooler than Japanese style weddings? That's cool, too.

You want to call a Shinto priest to 'bless' a piece of land you are planning on building on? Sure, why not?

This is probably 99% of Japanese people's mentality toward religion.

howtwosavealif3 wrote:

What I'm saying is that  the stuff I read mentions issues that exist today in the anime industry and how that contributes to the crappy low quality. I just have this opinion and after I read all that i gained more understanidng as to exactly why or possible reasons. I found it to be a fascinating read. I don't want to do the cliche old anime vs new anime argument. That been done a billion times on any anime forum

Read manga then, they have tons of more variety and none of the "issues" or whatever that stuff is you're talking about.

nihon_lover wrote:

how many of you started watching j-dramas as a means to learn Japanese? Were you satisfied from the result...?

thnx in advance...

J-dramas are currently my primary source for learning Japanese. I watch them with Japanese subtitles and look up every new word. I have a pretty elaborate system for this, so when I encounter a word I don't know I can see how many times I've actually come across it before, when and where (including extra context with text from other doramas).

I feel that this method is better than basic "immersion" (listening without effort). Sure, it takes longer to see an episode but I believe slowing down and paying attention is helping me learn better.

uisukii wrote:

howtwosavealif3 wrote:

Basically I noticed anime turned to shit so I was looking up people's thoughts and explanation for this phenomena and I found some interesting stuff.

It has hardly "turned to shit". There was just as much poor, cookie-cutter, cliched, fan-service based, low-brow アニメ in the earlier years as there is today, the only different is that production values have increased and a paradigm shift has made モエ and ロリ-esque sub-genres more appealing to the increasing large "Western" market.

On a volume-for-volume basis, there is probably no significant difference between the "great" shows of current and those five, ten, fifteen, twenty year ago.

Actually the total amount of shows being produced took a nose dive around the time of the (2007-2008) financial crash (and the proportion of 13 episode runs compared to 26 episode runs increased), so I think that had an effect. There just isn't as much money in the industry anymore so there is not much room for experimental high budget shows (well this is the only explanation I can think of).

I watched a comedy the other day and it sucked!!!

My reaction to every sitcom ever.

Last edited by dizmox (2012 December 05, 6:45 pm)