I hate new anime

[The Shade]

You can have absolutely fluid CG animation with plenty of inbetween frames, yet completely missing all these vital details. It happens a lot. Also, oftentimes you'll have CG animation that looks clumsy, as if the CG characters or robots were puppets on strings, the motion never looking quite right.

You can get around this, but it often takes as many animators as it would to do it in 2D, and since most people seem to use CG as a cost cutting tool, they're not willing to do that when most people will happily ignore the flaws and allow themselves to be wowed by the CG itself.

328632[/snapback]

The problem mostly with CG today is that it's too fluid

especially if you compare it to it's background (Mac Zero)

it simply doesn't blend in

in a 100% CG animation (FF Spirits Within, Reboot -come to mind) it's not an issue

but looking at mixed celshaded/CG images it's just horrible

329520[/snapback]

Ah, but most CG you see is really designed to be noticeable. The creators want you to know that you are looking at CG. CG is "hip" with today's "fans", and the more CG you can show, the better.

A few months ago, I had gotten really tired of the whole CG thing, and wanted to watch an anime movie with no CG at all. This lead me to watch Patlabor the Movie 1. A simple police story with animation designed to serve the story.

Edited September 18, 2005 by The Shade

[Kin]

I truly think that anime made with only computers should be categorized as "animated movie" rather than "anime".

Oke, some computereffects are cool but compared to old method it lacks feeling and is way too smooth compared with the motion frames used for characters. That always shocked me.

Edited September 19, 2005 by Kin

[danth]

I was looking through the manga at Borders today and I noticed some trends.

* New manga lacks the detail in the panels' backgrounds. It's usually all white, sometimes black, or sometimes a weird effect (like speed-lines or a grey smear). Older manga had richly drawn backgrounds with beautiful detail.

* New manga has very little depth and balance of black and white. It's usually all thin black lines with no grey, or if there is grey, it's very light grey. There's no richness. Older manga has a lot of dark black shadows, and many different shades of grey.

* Overall the aesthetic appeal of the linework has degrated, in my opinion, but it's not as bad as it is in anime.

Another thing, I just realized why anime now sucks: all of the talented people went into video games.

[ComicKaze]

My problem is the modern art style is so washed out, guzzy, and bland pastel looking because the animation cels are nolonger genuine photographic cels which are hand-painted, rather they farm it all out to CG artists in Korea who just color everything inside the computer and it comes out bland and lacking any sort of sharpness or character in the animation.

You nolonger have the amazing detail and actual pen strokes and texture in the ink lines, you nolonger have hand-painted backgrounds, you nolonger have hand-painted reflections and shadows and shading, etc. You nolonger have the vibrant and vivid super-saturation of colors in the old style of animation. Everything is so digital these days.

Basically it's like comparing Return of the Jedi effects with Revenge of the Sith Effects. The latter is so contrived, fake, and just fuzzy and bland in it's CG totality that it's boring as hell. The same thing happened to anime after the mid-late 90s.

The same thing happened in Manga, artists just take the lazy way out and use a computer to paint fill a gradient onto the backgrounds of manga cells. There is too much digital in everything and while that can be done good, it instead seems to lower the quality overall because people will invariably use it to take shortcuts and save money instead.

Edited September 19, 2005 by ComicKaze

[yellowlightman]

Another thing, I just realized why anime now sucks: all of the talented people went into video games.

329611[/snapback]

That's partially it. A lot of it has to do with the fact that the animation industry faced some hard times in the late 90's and a lot of this computer-aided animation came from the necessity to bring down production costs.

Not to mention, anime and manga aren't the easiest ways to make a buck. Masamune Shirow's manga production has dropped off considerably once he realized he could make just as much doing illustration and video game work.

[yellowlightman]

My problem is the modern art style is so washed out, guzzy, and bland pastel looking because the animation cels are nolonger genuine photographic cels which are hand-painted, rather they farm it all out to CG artists in Korea who just color everything inside the computer and it comes out bland and lacking any sort of sharpness or character in the animation.

329622[/snapback]

Hiring overseas production companies to do animation work for Japanese companies is nothing new and has been a regular occurance since LONG before computers became an issue. Animefriend, anyone?

[armentage]

I'd heard the same thing about Video Games.... that sometime in the mid-90s, the money previously spent on Anime memorobilia by fans was being redirected towards video games and the associated toys/books/fan-crap. Talent goes where the money is....

This was info from some Japanese anime/manga industry magazine a friend of mine was reading at the time. It certainly sounds like a reasonable idea...

[Kin]

I agree too about the shades... too simple and the lifeless white grayish color makes the whole thing look like gothic.

[Radd]

Oh, another excellent new title worth checking out.

Well, not really a new title, but a remake of a very old title.

Tetsujin 28 Gou is reportedly a much more faithful adaptation of the Tetsujin 28 manga than has ever been attempted before. The first episode is absolutely wonderful. Geneon should be releasing it to DVD around November I believe.

[Radd]

Scratch that, Volume 1 releases on the 27th of this month!

[Fort Max]

Oh, another excellent new title worth checking out.

Well, not really a new title, but a remake of a very old title.

Tetsujin 28 Gou is reportedly a much more faithful adaptation of the Tetsujin 28 manga than has ever been attempted before. The first episode is absolutely wonderful. Geneon should be releasing it to DVD around November I believe.

329727[/snapback]

Yes, I wants to see that pronto.

[danth]

I just figured out a good way to express myself on this subject without using the word "sucks": Modern anime does not satisfy my needs as a Japanese Animation fan.

Also, I've discovered that I can't trust anybody's taste. I hate most anime that people recommend to me.

[Radd]

Also, I've discovered that I can't trust anybody's taste. I hate most anime that people recommend to me.

329840[/snapback]

The trick is to meet people that share similar tastes as your own. If you like many of the same shows, chances are something they reccomend will be right up your alley.

When making a general plea for suggestions, well then you need to share some of your favourite shows, and explain why you like them, if anyone is to provide you with similar titles.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I just figured out a good way to express myself on this subject without using the word "sucks": Modern anime does not satisfy my needs as a Japanese Animation fan.

Also, I've discovered that I can't trust anybody's taste. I hate most anime that people recommend to me.

329840[/snapback]

Sounds like you just need to do what I did: just get out of anime.

Don't like what you see? Quit watching. There are tons of other things out there to explore that are not anime related that you might like more. Reading through this thread again I'm picking up a distict vibe that you think anime in general owes it to you to be good, it does not. It can suck just like anything else.

Time to find a new hobby... then after a long while come back to anime. You appreciate things more and in different ways when you leave them for a while and come back.

[Noyhauser]

Woah, I've been away for a month and this thread pops up.

I personally believe that Anime has truly become stagnant in the past decade. And its not just me. Probably the most creative anime genius, Hayao Miyazaki claimed that he feels that he is pouring pure water into the cesspool that is the modern Japanese animation. I for one agree with him completely, as do many of my friends. A very good friend of mine is a manga artist, and he completely refuses to watch anime.

Most of it is formulaic repeats of the golden age stuff. I've generally quit watching new anime, because I can see all the same plots as I did before, just dressed up with new circumstances and minor plot variations. Its really quite boring. Clear examples of this are Rah Xephon, and Gundam seed/wing/ect. I prefer to watch older stuff (then again, I didn't think Neon Genesis Evangeleon as being very good either). Thats how I came into Legend of Galactic Heroes which I now consider the greatest anime of all time. I've recently started watching Future Boy Conan. There is so much still out there from the 1980s, which I believe to be qualtiative superior to the 1995~2005 timeframe. I just don't see anything even resembling the quality of story or direction like that today.

I agree there were some terrible anime done during the 80s and 90s, but at least they were daring, and spoke to intelligent issues. There were qualitatively more of them then they are now. I'm not going to look back and see Yukikaze and say that this was a classic, because I'm definately not saying it now.

I think Manga on the other hand is on a golden age. Inventive storylines, and what I consider a very good fusion of hand drawing and computer animation that doesn't compromise the art form. The use of Computer animation to create character shapes for the artist, and coloring as well. I think that it provides an excellent template for how computers should be applied to anime, not the gharish nightmare we see today.

[azrael]

Sounds like you just need to do what I did: just get out of anime.

Don't like what you see? Quit watching. There are tons of other things out there to explore that are not anime related that you might like more. Reading through this thread again I'm picking up a distict vibe that you think anime in general owes it to you to be good, it does not. It can suck just like anything else.

Time to find a new hobby... then after a long while come back to anime. You appreciate things more and in different ways when you leave them for a while and come back.

329991[/snapback]

Bingo. Find a new hobby. Find something else to do. You don't have to live-breathe-eat anime 24/7 from now till who knows when. Find another hobby. Beyond anime, I build models, I play BF2, CS:Source, I read, etc. I've even been offered the chance to go fishing.

Really, at this point, I think he needs to find a new hobby.

I personally believe that Anime has truly become stagnant in the past decade. And its not just me. Probably the most creative anime genius, Hayao Miyazaki claimed that he feels that he is pouring pure water into the cesspool that is the modern Japanese animation. I for one agree with him completely, as do many of my friends. A very good friend of mine is a manga artist, and he completely refuses to watch anime.

It has. Just like Hollywood. I've seen more remakes now than I did back in 1995-2000. Noboru Ishiguro was complaining about this since the 90's. Something needs to breathe life into the entertainment industry.

[Akilae]

Some recent anime I've found enjoyable (here enjoyable being defined as something I'll watch a second time within half a year after I buy it, or something I actively promote to friends):

-Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place (one of the few animes other than Miyazaki that my non-anime friends actually like).

-Hajime no Ippo (the manga is ass old though...)

-Monster

-GiTS (the TV, not the two movies...)

-GaoGaiGar Final (the TV series was fine, but the "monster of the week" stuff doesn't do too well for repeated viewings. The OVA on the other hand... ).

Other new stuff I haven't been able to watch a second time... Naruto and Bleach I follow as a "soap opera" type of thing to see what's happening this week.

In terms of older anime... Tekkaman Blade is actually pretty awesome if you FF through the first half and start right about where D-Boy regains his memory and starts killing off his own family... then actually loses his memory again towards the end of the anime. But an anime for guys really.

DLDS is good for something broader and grander... for those who want something else by Yoshiki Tanaka (DLDS was originally a series of novels), try "Story of the Seven Cities" (no US domestic release AFAIK), set on a more WWII-esque Earth. Those who can read Japanese really should try to track down all his novels, they're very well written. Soryuden is also quite a treat, and has been produced in manga and anime form by CLAMP.

Speaking of CLAMP, Tokyo Babylon and X are good if you can understand the story and stomach the pacing.

[Father Jack]

One title I enjoyed recently was Gankutsou. It is a very interesting sci-fi take on Alexandre Dumas's novel The Count of Monte Cristo. I found it very interesting, and the animation style is interesting to say the least.

[danth]

I appreciate the advice and comments.

Just so you know, besides checking this forum, anime isn't a big part of my life. I watch my Tenchi and Robotech DVDs sometimes and that's about it. But, since I was once heavily into japanese animation, I still feel the urge to watch a good anime now and again. Whenever I do, I'm disappointed.

You know, I hear a lot of good stuff about Legends of Galactic Heroes from people who also hate new anime...

[Akilae]

I appreciate the advice and comments.

Just so you know, besides checking this forum, anime isn't a big part of my life. I watch my Tenchi and Robotech DVDs sometimes and that's about it. But, since I was once heavily into japanese animation, I still feel the urge to watch a good anime now and again. Whenever I do, I'm disappointed.

You know, I hear a lot of good stuff about Legends of Galactic Heroes from people who also hate new anime...

330133[/snapback]

LOGH (DLDS is also used in some circles) is... grand, very grand, and with a healthy dose of military strategy and tactics it only gets better. Some of the battles I find a bit two-dimensional, but the sheer beauty of the setup and execution outweights any of that. The story is also about very real people. Personally I identified more with Reinhard and his character development more than Yang's.

The author, Yoshiki Tanaka has done his share of research of military history, and written volumes of fictional novels in the same area. "Tale of the Seven Cities" is another story by him (MUCH shorter, 2 eps vs. 110 for DLDS) that I'd suggest tracking down. I believe it's only available via... unofficial HK imports discountanimedvd.com carries both.

[chrono]

Alot of the problem is that style has over taken substance.

A great example is Masamune Shirows works todate. Appleseed started out pretty well, but by the end of the 4th book nearly every shot was of Nut in some quasi-sexual pose. After that his works went to poo becoming little more then cover girl art(not a bad thing ).

Frankly I think that this has ALWAYS been a problem in animation world-wide. Disney's animation really is a fine example of art lost.

Also another problem that has crept up is the trend of "re-imagining" manga for anime.

A couple of examples is: Love Hina, GUNNM(battle angel), and Hellsing.

Love Hina manga had a everything needed for a solid anime. Action, plot, and T&A. But someone was able to convince the people involved that it's better changed then directly transfered over from it's source. GUNNM nearly suffered the same fate, but the key difference was that the artist held control over the lisence and wanted it copyed from the manga. Hellsing suffered from something else entirely different. It went to anime FAR too soon and suffers from lack of usable story depth, dozens of manga-anime suffer from this exact problem.

The CGI trend.

The current trend of CGI diffenatly has it's roots in the "style or substance" problem, but I firmly believe that it's more or a production level environment problem then a lack of skill or patience. We've seen what skilled japanese/korean artists can do, but frankly those have times that span years and not a few weeks or are singular projects done for movies by 4-5 people.

And last but not very least by far is the Information Age over exposure.

People are now, or can be, exposed to hundreds or thousands of anime & manga titles! So overloading on any genre is an incredibly easy thing to due. But it's the same with every subject out there!! So moderation is the key.

Personally I pick and choose what I watch and only buy/rent what I want. Just 'cause I like complex storylines doesn't mean that I'll go out and buy Gilgamesh, Elfen Lied, or any of th dozens of others that are from that genre.

...

..

.

... still don't know if I'm gonna like the 'new' Hellsing or not though. It's abit 'flash cartoony' for me.

[Noyhauser]

I appreciate the advice and comments.

Just so you know, besides checking this forum, anime isn't a big part of my life. I watch my Tenchi and Robotech DVDs sometimes and that's about it. But, since I was once heavily into japanese animation, I still feel the urge to watch a good anime now and again. Whenever I do, I'm disappointed.

You know, I hear a lot of good stuff about Legends of Galactic Heroes from people who also hate new anime...

330133[/snapback]

LOGH (DLDS is also used in some circles) is... grand, very grand, and with a healthy dose of military strategy and tactics it only gets better. Some of the battles I find a bit two-dimensional, but the sheer beauty of the setup and execution outweights any of that. The story is also about very real people. Personally I identified more with Reinhard and his character development more than Yang's.

330163[/snapback]

DLDS? I've never heard that... Ginga eiyû densetsu, Helgensagen vom Kosmenief, but not DLDS.

First off, I completely disagree about your point abouit "two dimentional battles." Compared to ANY movie or television, Anime, or even live action, LOGH had the most clear depiction of battles ever screened. Real strategy taken straight from theories of warfare were employed, which accurately depicted the transition of strategic thought between Clauswitzian notions of battles (battles of attrition and annihilation as practiced by the old leaders) vs Sun Tzuian notions of movement, deception, and knowledge (as practiced by Reinhart and Yang Wenli). Most other sci fi shows think that the depiction of the epitherma of war, such as things blowing up, guns blazing people dying, suffices. LOGH goes so much deeper than that, depicting whole fleets operating according to their training and strategy engaged in combat.

Whats even more scary is that this accomplishment would make it an excellent show, but it has so much more to offer. LOGH displays the interface between the political and strategic levels of government, better than any other show I've ever seen. What leaders regard as strategic objectives are then transfered to strategies and outcomes. Thousands of actors play and form events. Whole political ideologies are questioned. The much heralded Babylon 5's plot looks like it was written on a diner's napkin when compared to LOGH. The only book that has any basis of comparison is Tolstoy's War and Peace. Not many animes can boast that.

On a completely subjective level, I thought Reinhart was a spolied brat, and really was nothing more than a power hungry dictator that would have become a tyrant like Rudolph Von Goldenbalm in the end. Yang was far more intelligent, insightful, and loyal to a fault. He was also a great humanitarian; he questioned what was good for all, not just good for himself. Reinhard had no real answer to this except "I deserve power."

[Black Valkyrie]

From Guntoa :

Coming next: The Wings of Rean

The upcoming issue of Gundam Ace is reporting that "The Wings of Rean" will be Tomino's next animation series. The anime will start in December with the manga version appearing in the December issue of Gundam Ace. No mention of which network will carry the series at the moment. The Bandai Visual and Bandai Channel credits may indicate an OVA or PPV format, something indicated last month by Pam's Homepage.

"The Wings Of Rean" is an Aura Battler Dunbine prequel novel by Tomino, which was serialized in "Yasei Jidai" beginning at the same time Dunbine was finishing up its run on TV. The story of the novel version revolves around WWII pilot Shinjiro Sakomizu, who is summoned into Byston Well through the Aura Road when he is shot down. There, he hears of the legend of the hero who will appear in troubled times and, possessing the Wings Of Rean (winged boots), will bring about peace. The novels do not feature Aura Battlers. The plot does have similarities to "Garzey's Wing", another Byston Well-based Tomino novel which was turned into a brief OVA series a decade ago.

[Akilae]

DLDS? I've never heard that... Ginga eiyû densetsu, Helgensagen vom Kosmenief, but not DLDS.

On a completely subjective level, I thought Reinhart was a spolied brat, and really was nothing more than a power hungry dictator that would have become a tyrant like Rudolph Von Goldenbalm in the end. Yang was far more intelligent, insightful, and loyal to a fault. He was also a great humanitarian; he questioned what was good for all, not just good for himself. Reinhard had no real answer to this except "I deserve power."

330300[/snapback]

I entirely agree that the battles depicted in DLDS are the most vivid and well thought out in almost all of anime. What I meant by two-dimensional battles is that the battles fought out existed on one physical plane, akin to contemporary naval battles. Of course I'm basing all of this off the books, so the anime might have depicted the visual aspects differently.

"Die Legende Der Sternhelden", the original title printed on the novels.

I think Reinhart actually started out just fine at the beginning of the show. It was only after a few significant events that he began to unravel (event not named to keep from spoiling any potential viewers, hehe...). That and being surrounded by power hungry commanders and an equally power hungry sister did not help

[Graham]

  That and being surrounded by power hungry commanders and an equally power hungry sister did not help 

330427[/snapback]

Never really thought of Reinhart's sister as power hungry. Seemed to me like she just wanted to be left alone for most of the series.

Graham

[Graham]

I don't judge anime on whether it's new or old. There's both good & bad old anime, just as there is good & bad new anime.

As long as an anime is of a genre I'm interested in, has decent animation, a well written story, good action scenes, nice mecha designs and well developed characters, some T&A and no whiny angst-ridden teenage boys in it , then I'll give it a chance.

Graham

[Ishimaru]

Isn't the reason why we hate new anime is because we like old anime?

[danth]

I don't judge anime on whether it's new or old. There's both good & bad old anime, just as there is good & bad new anime.

As long as an anime is of a genre I'm interested in, has decent animation, a well written story, good action scenes, nice mecha designs and well developed characters, some T&A    and no whiny angst-ridden teenage boys in it    , then I'll give it a chance.

Graham

330488[/snapback]

You're prerequisites disqualify 99% of new anime, you know. That's the whole thing I'm getting at here. (And no, 99% of old anime did not suck too. Maybe 50%.)

Anyway, I've been on the search for new anime that I might like. So far, I've found 2 that might be good. Princess Ai looks good solely on the character design of the main character. She looks friggin' hot, and looks like an adult. Plus, she's reminscent of the older style of anime. The other one that looks interesting is Burst Angel. The chicks look pretty hot (though their faces are plain), and theres decent robots. I watched one episode of it from a promotional DVD, and it seemed okay. I don't know anything about these two animes other than what I just mentioned, so if you have any opinions, let me know.

My hatred of old anime has been pretty cool though, because I realized that I should blow my money on old stuff instead, and this has resulted in much happiness. I bought the old Artmic Design works book, and the stuff in that book blows me away. I definitely need to check out all of the Gall Force shows, as well as Megazone. Beautiful characters, beautiful Mecha. And then I'm gonna watch BGC again.

I also bought the Mospeada and Southern Cross DVD sets. I was watching Mospeada today and hoo-boy is it good! Way better than the Robotech version, and simply, a masterpiece. The characters were loveable, and I was sucked into the story immediately.

Looking at my Artmic Book and watching Mospeada, I've come to realize that I'm right. New anime is garbage. Not because it's new...because it sucks. I don't know why -- maybe it's marketed only to young kids now, maybe all the talent moved to the video game industry, or maybe there's something in the water making us more stupid.

People like me are accused of being under the influence of nostalgia. That's right: I definitely wish to return to the time that anime didn't suck. That doesn't mean that I'm biased. You know what really makes people biased? Novelty. New anime is given way to much credit...because it's new. But it still sucks.

It's all good though. I bought 4 first-print No Need for Tenchi graphic novels off eBay for $5, as well as all 8 Outlanders volumes for $10. All in wonderful condition. So, liking the old stuff has its perks.

[chrono]

That old Tenchi series is great blending well with and without the series and they smartly ended it before it went all Dragon Ball.

[Graham]

Just curious, based on date of release, how do most people define old and new anime?

Obviously anime from the 70s and 80s can be considered old, where as anime from the year 2000 to present could be called new.

But where does that leave the 90s?

Just where do you draw the line between calling an anime old or new?

For myself, I consider any anime from the last 10 years (1995 to 2005) new.

Graham

[Radd]

You're prerequisites disqualify 99% of new anime, you know. That's the whole thing I'm getting at here. (And no, 99% of old anime did not suck too. Maybe 50%.)

334073[/snapback]

I still think you have an unrealistic view of old anime. There was a lot of crap.

  Just curious, based on date of release, how do most people define old and new anime?

That's a very important point. I lump most mid to late 90's anime in with the "new", because relatively speaking...it is.

If you limit your view of 'new' anime to the past even 5 years, and try to compare that title for title against the best of the 70's, 80's, and 90's of course the past is going to look all bright and shiney and full of timeless classics, while the past few years are lacking in that unfair comparison.

However, I do agree with you that new anime is more often than not given too much credit. Usually when I'm debating old versus new anime, I'm trying to convince some guy that only got into anime with Evangelion, Gundam Wing, or more recently with Naruto or Bleach, to give older anime a shot, because there's so much of it, it has many more great titles simply by virtue of quantity.

Maybe you ought to list more titles that you're into? You've mentioned MOSPEADA, and brought up Tenchi a few times. People have already shot back with Macross Zero and the third Tenchi OAV (wich I believe is not the 'Here Comes the Bride' DVD you mentioned, does that start with a space battle against a guy who's not Tenchi, but who can generate the Light Hawk Wings?). Heck, Macross Plus is still fairly recent, wasn't that 96-97?

I can name a dozen great titles, many of wich have already been suggested, but if they're not a genre you appreciate well of course you're not going to like them.

[bandit29]

Just curious, based on date of release, how do most people define old and new anime?

For me, old anime is 70-80's & early 90's. But mid-late 90's anime is getting there though. Macross Plus & 7 came out in 1994-95. Escaflowne was from 1996? Berserk 1997-98?

I know I'll feel old when Last Exile, Samurai Champloo or Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex are considered old or classic anime lol

danth

I also bought the Mospeada and Southern Cross DVD sets. I was watching Mospeada today and hoo-boy is it good! Way better than the Robotech version, and simply, a masterpiece. The characters were loveable, and I was sucked into the story immediately.

Those 2 shows are good examples of mediocre forgettable 80's anime. But you should check out Armored Trooper VOTOMS. That seems to be something you'd like. Old school mech anime from 1983. CPM should re-releasing it the near future.

[Mr March]

Just curious, based on date of release, how do most people define old and new anime?

Obviously anime from the 70s and 80s can be considered old, where as anime from the year 2000 to present could be called new.

But where does that leave the 90s?

Just where do you draw the line between calling an anime old or new?

For myself, I consider any anime from the last 10 years (1995 to 2005) new.

Graham

334094[/snapback]

Depends on the person. However, I think most of us - especially us fans who have been part of these conversations before - understand that those fans yearning for good old anime they love generally refer to the 1980's era.

But I digress, a solid definition for what constitutes "old anime" is very hard to achieve. Even in film, it often takes several decades after a movement in artform has passed before you start categorizing and understanding. Then you get into all kinds of annoying, obscure definitions like modernism, post-modernism, digression, eclecticism, blah, blah, blah.

Personally, I've always enjoyed the decade rule as well. Even the last ten years encompasses an art movements, it's still new to me if it was made in the past decade.

Edited October 5, 2005 by Mr March

[danth]

For myself, I consider any anime from the last 10 years (1995 to 2005) new.

Graham

334094[/snapback]

Me too. It's really hard for me to like anything after 1995, and I don't know why. I actually determined the cut-off point based on what I like and don't like, and not the ten-year rule.

[Phil]

I'll admit to being old & jaded as well...and I prefer many of the old classics to the crap being produced now. However, I'm really enjoying the current releases of Planetes and Area 88.