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DTG on 25 May 2008
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Profcrab said:
DTG said:
It's not just anime and video games, it's hollywood as well. Video games and anime still have superior storylines compared to the crap hollywood is churning out.

Anime is millions of miles behind Hollywood. I like anime and most of the storylines are laughable. Some make for great entertainment, but the "point" of the stories are generally lost in the sea of fan service and characters that are very far from real. Video game story lines can be great in their support of making the game an overall great experience, but many of games that try to push their story have the same problem that anime has that their characters are completely ridiculous and the story often does not fit the gameplay. Some like the stories but serious stories can be sabotaged by gameplay elements that are comedic and out of place for the story. Great video game storylines are hard to find but generally they are not found with the complicated games. Keeping with the KISS principle is usually key.

But, while we're talking, I'll take a bagel with that coffee. You don't mind warming that up for me also, right?



I disagree.  I fail to see how having ridiculous or far from real characters translates into having a worse storyline. They are simply different styles of storytelling in a different context. Do you believe American heroes like Superman and Spiderman are very realistic? No. The reason why anime is superior to Holywood storylines is because unlike Holywood movies which typically focus on fast paced action sequences anime's tend to focus on exposition and thematic exploration. 

There are of course a huge number of exceptions in both cases. However as a rule Hollywood movies are entertainment focused only. There's a very few US movies that try to go beyond that and raise different social, political and philosophical issues or have an underlying theme and meaning. Good anime focuses on exposition and dialogue and generally addresses certain themes and raises quite a few philosophical questions during their runtime designed to mentally stimulate the viewer.

 There I think there's a great deal of disparity between the two mediums in terms of substance. Hollywood movies focus on action and emotion while Japanese animes focus on inellect and I consider the later far more important.

 Also, the story doesn't have to fit the gameplay. The gameplay can be quirky and humerous but I consider that separate from what goes on in the storyline or as serving a type of comedic contrast.