Video Games and Anime. One and the same or worlds apart?
August 20th, 2007 by Shirukii
Video games and anime are two hobbies that have been central in my life, however, before Totali suggested I do a post comparing and linking the two, I had never given much thought to the parallels and differences between the two mediums. In this editorial I will briefly examine the histories of the two, compare and contrast their respective communities and examine how the mechanics of gaming can be likened to anime and anime blogging.
It’s time to reminisce
The growth of anime and video games, more so in Japan than internationally, has been largely simultaneous. Following a catastrophic crash in 1983, video games came roaring back with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985, marking a new era in video gaming. At the same time anime was going through a stage of evolution as well, with the emergence of Studio Ghibli and arguably their most influential film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 1984.
Both markets stagnated a bit through the late 80s and early 90s, each continuing to capitalize on former success, the video game industry seeing the birth of the SNES and the anime industry continuing to roll out decent titles like Grave of the Fireflies and Akira. But it was the mid 1990s that saw both industries taking their first steps to becoming what they are today. With the release of the Sony Playstation in 1994/1995 and the Nintendo 64 in 1996, video games were revolutionized with 3D graphics and a renewed appeal to the masses. Meanwhile, the controversial Neon Genesis Evangelion hit the airwaves, marking what many will call the revival of the anime industry.
To the present day, anime and video games have continued to adapt and change, whether for the better is a highly debatable point. The evolution of computing and the advent of console wars has produced mixed results, one one hand it has led to the spawning of some great titles like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye 007, MGS, etc. But on the other hand, the growth of technology has proliferated the trend of graphics over gameplay, take F.E.A.R. for example, which would have benefited from more diverse gameplay instead of dynamic shadows and particle physics, in my opinion.
Anime has shared a similar fate throughout its evolution as well. The days of epic series like Cowboy Bebop, NGE, GITS, etc are wearing thin, replaced by fanservice based anime like Green Green, Psychic Academy and Lucky Star pandering to moe obsessed otaku. Likewise, there is also degeneration of action oriented anime into what we now classify as generic shounen (ie. Bleach, Naruto and One Piece).
However, times change and the industries must adapt to survive. Opinions will diverge about whether the golden days of 8-bit gaming are better than the new aged emphasis on graphical prowess or the result of the ongoing old school vs new school anime debate but that only serves as evidence as to the continuing impact that both mediums have had throughout the ages.
A final point that is worth examining is the codependency of the two industries. While they remained largely independent during their respective booms and crashes, it’s naive to say think that they have no impact on each other. Through the 80s, anime seemed to have the upper hand, spurred by the popularity of series like Gundam and Doraemon, but the balance shifted in favor of video games during the 90s (Chrono Trigger anyone?).
In recent years the dynamic between the two industries has changed from indirect competition to mutually beneficial cooperation. With easily marketable franchises like Bleach and Naruto, video game crossovers of anime are becoming more and more common these days. While I can’t think of many anime based on video games (unless you count erogames), it’s evident that the mediums have begun to piggy back off each other, with the benefit of increased exposure on both sides.
/a/nime and manga vs /v/ideo games
Sage for Lucky Star
As the aniblogosphere makes evident, a large part of anime and video game culture is the communities where they are reviewed and discussed. Not knowing a whole lot about the video game community outside of actually playing games with others, I’ll focus on the sites that I do have a working knowledge on, 4chan, animesuki, and GameFAQs.
For those of you who don’t know already, 4chan is one of the shitholes of the internet, anonymous is an internet haet machine that is ruthless and unforgiving. That being said, it’s a great place to kill some time if you have a good sense of humor and aren’t easily offended. The video game board and the anime/manga board are the second and third largest boards, respectively, and its quite interesting to compare the two. In /a/, anime is trolled for the sake of being trolled and anonymous is tsundere for every series, even the ones he hasn’t watched. In /v/, video games are trolled for the sake of being trolled and anonymous is tsundere for every title, even the ones he hasn’t played. The two are so similar that you’d think they were the exact same set of people posting in each board, which has even been suggested on occasion, but the animosity between the them is surprising. However, I attribute the hostility between the two to the fact that everyone on 4chan hates everyone else for apparently no reason, and cross-board hate is one level of intensity over that.
A more appropriate, but equally futile, comparison can be made between animesuki and GameFAQs, arguably the largest English speaking forums that focus on discussing anime and video games. The level of intellectual discussion on each site is more or less even, but with both littered with prepubescent 13 year olds, that’s not saying much. The manner in which fanboys and trolls emerge for various series and game titles is similar as are the methods for dealing with them. But then again, can’t the same be said about any forum which gathers like minded individuals to discuss a certain niche topic? Whether it be a mecha vs harem argument on an anime forum, a Sony vs Nintendo argument on a video game forum, an Intel vs AMD argument on a hardware forum, and so on, the similarities between various communities coming together to discuss their passions is far too general to say that the relation between anime and video games is any more distinct than any other two communities on the internet.
And of course, there are the innumerable amount of blogs dedicated to the two mediums. In both anime blogging and video game blogging, the main things you’ll see are reviews which examine various aspects of the series in question such as plot, visuals, music, characters, replayability/rewatchability, etc. But again, the parallels you can draw from comparing the two can be forced fitted into comparing numerous other blogs.
Another point to consider is the criticisms directed at the two. Both video games and anime share a stigma that often labels its fans as lifeless nerds who sit in their mothers’ basements screaming “BOOM, HEADSHOT!” during a game of CS or clutching a SO RONERY dakimakura to sleep. But the same stigma applies to D&D nerds and hardcore computer enthusiasts.
Taking all this into consideration, I’ll say that even though the video games and anime communities share many similarities, they are far too general to establish a definite correlation that can’t be applied to the multitude of other communities out there.
Anime and gaming, a euphoric high?
Maplestory, the unholiest of all grinds.
And finally, the original request of this post, a comparison of how the actual mechanics of gaming relate to anime watching and blogging.
Drawing on personal experience for this one, I can say that although the connection isn’t obvious, it’s definitely there. Totali drew the comparison of being in a WoW clan to being part of the anime blogging community.
But before that, the comparison between watching anime and playing video games should be made. Being an avid gamer and a heavy anime watcher, I personally feel a large similarity in mindset during both activities. For me, what it boils down to is the feeling of euphoria, when I watch anime or play video games, the dominant sensation is one of separation from the troubles of the real world. Whether it be grinding on World of Warcraft or watching the latest episode of Gurren Lagann, I watch the time pass by without a care in the world. I’m not sure how many of you out there have degraded to the point where anime or video games have become a psychological addiction, but the feeling you get when watching Simon bust out a giga drill breaker and the one you get when you peg a terrorist in the head with a USP from halfway across the map can only be described as bliss and are remarkably similar at their core.
As for anime blogging and its relation to being part of a clan or guild, I’d think it depends largely on what type of person you are. Those who are greatly concerned with statistics and standing in the blogging community may find the connection easier to draw as compared to someone who writes without concerning themselves over such things. I’d classify myself in the latter group, while I do keep track of how the blog is doing, I don’t heed much attention to where I stand in terms of popularity relative to other bloggers. However, I am extremely competitive when it comes to things like scrims in CS or War of Emperium in RO, so I can understand the similarities that can be drawn between the two as blogger and player alike strive to be the best.
OBJECTION…?
There are definitely many things that video games and anime share in common when examining their histories, communities and the very act of playing/watching them. However, are they enough to distinguish the relationship over comparing, say, thermodynamics to 17th century philosophy? Personally, I’m on the fence, it’s apparent that there are a lot of things that tie to two together, but when you take them as wide generalizations, the argument falls apart. But regardless, whether separated at birth or completely independent entities, I continue to enjoy both as they provide a wonderful alternative to studying for midterms and finals ;_;
~ Shirukii ~
Side Note* Minor apology to Totali as his original request ended up being only a section of the resulting entry, but I found it impossible to put together a decent sized post on that last section alone =(
25 Responses to “Video Games and Anime. One and the same or worlds apart?”
Leave a Reply
Please use [spoiler] [/spoiler] tags for spoilers.
Loading ...
But the same stigma applies to D&D nerds and hardcore computer enthusiasts.
And virtually every piece of media religious/ethic fanatics can get their hands on: music, film, comics, …
the dominant sensation is one of separation from the troubles of the real world.
My thoughts exactly, Epicureanism is my way of life. ^^
As for the golden age of anime being over, I’d say you just have a much greater selection to choose from. Naturally there are plenty of series catering to more generic genres, mostly shounen at that, but with this abundance of new series, the odds of finding another brilliant series on par with NGE and Akira are up as well. Planetes, Welcome to the N.H.K., Serial Experiments Lain, Death Note, Monster, GITS are all excellent series in my opinion. It’s regrettable that the abundance of poor or overly commercial series (Naruto anyone?) is partly responsible for a negative view towards anime as a whole.
I just realised that some of the series I mentioned do go back quite a while, another advantage of the ‘anime boom’ is the right to be selective. =p
Woah, great post sempai. It ended up being a lot more informative than I imagined :D. I definitely see the parallels you pointed out in the fanbase and form of enjoyment. Another thing in common between the two: most of it comes from Japan ;P.
This really made my day after being exhausted from a LAN to having to pack up a bunch of stuff for Uni. Maybe I’ll write up a reply when I can stick some time in.
In my mind, I blame the American market for the negativity towards anime/gaming. It is all about the money and not nearly enough about what the product actually is. Although on the other hand, some anime/gamers are truly quite strange.
Almost everything mentioned above I have played, watched, convinced people to participate. I am actually in the interactive entertainment industry doing PR work. There is a great chance that any conducted demographics would say that 90%+ anime viewers play video games. It is the logical step one would say ;)
Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese art has greatly influenced the video games market. That said, I know some big publishers are making big bucks even with bargain bin anime related games which attracts investors and leads to even more crappy titles/sequels.
For me personally though, somewhere along the line its gotta end per title. I decided after Magic the Gathering Online, that for all future game titles, ill play until I feel like I dont want to fund that developer’s home loan anymore. There needs to be an end to games that never end. Whether it be two god items in RO, Tier 5 in WoW, or 17k virtual cards…(im glad my collection sold, otherwise I wouldve felt seriously stupid looking back on it now).
There is truly casual and then there is the rest. Im satisfied with my CS:S, Titan Quest and now Bioshock…stuff I can close after an hour and doesnt feel like a 2nd job.
Some anime these days seem to remind us of what we do on a daily basis so we we watch those series even more. Wasnt Granado Espada on Lucky Star? Dont remind me of Welcome to the N.H.K……~_~
I believe this image/throw pillow speaks volumes: http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8687/misakipillowur5.jpg
@ Shirukii:
“but the feeling you get when watching Simon bust out a giga drill breaker and the one you get when you peg a terrorist in the head with a USP from halfway across the map can only be described as bliss…….”
LOL that’s brilliant :)
Good post…..although two questions:
a) how on earth was/is NGE considered controversial???? I found it thought-provoking and enjoyed the fact that it delved deeply into questions of existentialism…did people have an adverse reaction to it in Japan or something?????
b) What’s GITS? I hear it mentioned all the time in anime discussion and I’m totally clueless :(
GITS = Ghost in the Shell
unless ive failed to see something else using those abbreviations :0
Ah thanks! I never watched the series….only the movie……which was really cool! Very Matrix-esque……
I think the Waslowski (sp?) Bros. even acknowledged GITS’s influence on the film in one interview back in ‘99 :)
A very nice, well researched and well thought out article. I think your point got a bit muddled toward the end of the article, but then, this is a difficult subject to try and tackle, so I don’t blame you.
I liked your comparison of anime bloggers to gaming clans. So now the question is - is your blog CEVO-P level, or just CAL-O? Or even worse…zombie mod clan??
(haven’t posted here in a while)
This is a really post Shiruki. I’ll have to read it more indepth later.
I think the Waslowski (sp?) Bros. even acknowledged GITS’s influence on the film in one interview back in ‘99 :)
Yeah, well it would be alittle hard to deny it… One look at the opening credits would be evidence enough.
This reminds me even more of how I need to finally start watching NGE…
And 0_o at that picture…
@ Vadigor: >> And virtually every piece of media religious/ethic fanatics can get their hands on: music, film, comics…
Quite true, another nail in the “this is too general to say anything definite” coffin.
As for the golden age of anime being over, what I think is meant by that is that no truly innovative series have come out recently. Sure Welcome to the NHK and Lain were decent anime, but not nearly as widely accepted as a defining series when compared to NGE. While there is much more in terms of choice with anime these days, anime that set themselves above the rest are becoming few and far between.
@ Totali: Glad you liked it =D I’d love to see a response post with your thoughts, it’s a really interesting to put the two side by side.
@ Servbot: That makes sense, why bother trying to make a truly quality product when you the resulting profit isn’t much greater than a third rate product. And so is the detriment of capitalism.
Never got into the whole MtG scene, though I was quite a hardcore CS player and am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Bioshock.
As for 90% anime watchers playing video games, that sounds about right. But it doesn’t seem to work the other way around =(
Misaki-chaaaan <3
@ Kanon_fan82: The CONGRATULATIONS ending was the iffy part of the whole series. While some fans accepted it and moved on, and maybe even liked it, a lot of NGE fans criticized Anno for doing a half-assed job with the ending (I mean, come on, crayon animation?). The outcry was so bad that he produced the End of Evangelion just to subdue them.
And yes, the Wachowski brothers admitted that the Matrix was heavily based off the first GITS movie.
@ 0rion: Haha, yea. The last portion of the article was the original request of the post. I tried my best to fit it in with the whole comparison of anime and video games, but with the former two sections being based on historical facts and the analysis of the respective communities, the last section seemed ended up a little out of place.
I would throw my blog under CAL-IM, the same tier I reached with my old CS clan.
@ Avisch: Quite a long read, I know, sorry about that, I got a little caught up in the writing. =P
The problem is that with so many animes going about, having an anime that truly stands out is something difficult to achive. For a truly high quality anime, a company needs to have a large budget, and the few companies who can do that are too lazy to think up of a fresh new storyline and just goes with whatever makes them the most money. The ones who truly have such storylines have sub-par animation quality or bad voice acting, so…well, you get the idea.
“The days of epic series like Cowboy Bebop, NGE, GITS, etc are wearing thin, replaced by fanservice based anime like Green Green, Psychic Academy and Lucky Star pandering to moe obsessed otaku”
You’ve forgotten shows like Death Note, Code Geass and Darker Than Black.
There were epic shows in the past certainly, but there was also disposable crap. It’s just that you’ve forgotten all the crap.
Another problem with comparing the number of good shows in the past is that you end up thinking about a larger span of time. You’ll think of 1990 to 1995 and remember 5 really epic shows. And think that’s a lot.
Then you’ll think of this year, and only be able to come up with one. So you’ll think that there are fewer, but that’s only because you’re thinking of a shorter time span.
@ Shirukii:
You and I have already had a discussion about NGE :)….the crayon animation (while cheesy) fit the mood of the scene…..the strong emotions and good story-telling were still there, so I didn’t mind it so much….
@ Starbo:
While Death Note was incredibly good, it took a decided turn for the worse after the “L” arc finished….the Mikami hax was too much for me to handle……
Agreed on Darker than Black though….that show is wicked awesome!
Well this has proven to be quite an interesting post to say the least…
As for the golden age of anime being over, what I think is meant by that is that no truly innovative series have come out recently. Sure Welcome to the NHK and Lain were decent anime, but not nearly as widely accepted as a defining series when compared to NGE. While there is much more in terms of choice with anime these days, anime that set themselves above the rest are becoming few and far between.
Although I am speaking from a far smaller experience in the whole ‘anime community’ (Actively Watching Since 2006 ^^), from what I’ve picked up I’d say that you’re looking at it the wrong way. NGE and Cowboy Bebop being widely accepted you say, do you mean with the current anime circles or with the community at that time? Anime a dozen years ago was far less out in the open and not nearly as commercial from what I can tell. Of course it’s not as widely accepted anymore, there are too many self-proclaimed anime fans who think of Naruto as the all-time pinnacle of the medium.
All those years ago, selling X videos of one series (I’m not listing any numbers here because I am terrible at guessing :D) made it a succes, while Naruto and Bleach sell in the XXX’s. So what if the anime connaisseurs recognize the potential behind Selain, NHK, Planetes etc, they can’t possibly compete with the mass-market.
Another point is that I seem to detect some light bias from your view: the ‘good old days of NGE’ where you first discovered anime and your fascination for it are probably hard to relive even with the amount of quality viewing material. ^^
So much for the seriousness, as for: Misaki-chaaaan
Interesting post you have there. I too am a anime addict and gamer but I wouldn’t call it a true addiction when I know I must stop to do more important things like studying for the next exam…college can be rough on that, I have 3 quizzes next week after just starting yesterday. Now that otaku have moved on to “moeish” anime, it seems like the past action animes are losing out, except for Claymore. It might just be because the current trend in anime is leaning towards moe to gather a more diverse crowd with something for all ages, if possible, rather than the past group of older teens to those in their 30’s to make a quick buck if they can. Although there is no doubt that golden anime has appeared through that “moe appeal” including Haruhi, Azumanga, and FLCL in my opinion.
If I were to have seen current shows like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann or even Lucky Star in the past, I would have wondered what absurdity all this was. I started out in anime because a friend told me if I were to watch any anime, I should probably watch Cowboy Bebop.
I was a pure gamer back then and was one of the believers that anime seemed a little too perverse and probably contained major cheese. However, after Cowboy Bebop and a few select series, I started enjoying the storylines. Eventually I got past the giant eyes, the giant robots, the unproportional bouncing breasts and became a fan. Fanservice has always been in past shows and nobody will question the value. Although that doesnt say I immediately adopt any shows that include the above because I am still fairly selective, but, I am enjoying titles that can hold their ground and hold my attention with a great story.
Gainax is huge in my mecha anime history. NGE, Gunbuster/Diebuster and now Gurren Lagann?! I also read something about Gurren Lagann being made into an online game? Oh, one of the reasons I started playing Ragnarok Online was because of the boss monster animations. I believe it was a great catch for Gravity to put several links to animated pictures of in-game characters/monsters/items because that certainly got the attention of most browsers.
Oh, Bioshock is spectacular but I dont want to hype it up more than the word spectacular so see for yourself if you can.
@Shirukii:
I’d have to say this a well thought out post. It clearly puts an interersting perspective on these two areas that as you say are similar in many aspects. Good Job, you deserve it. With that said, I have a few comments:
>>The evolution of computing and the advent of console wars has produced mixed results, one one hand it has led to the spawning of some great titles like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye 007, MGS, etc. But on the other hand, the growth of technology has proliferated the trend of graphics over gameplay, take F.E.A.R. for example, which would have benefited from more diverse gameplay instead of dynamic shadows and particle physics, in my opinion.>Not knowing a whole lot about the video game community outside of actually playing games with others, I’ll focus on the sites that I do have a working knowledge on, 4chan, animesuki, and GameFAQs.>It’s regrettable that the abundance of poor or overly commercial series (Naruto anyone?) is partly responsible for a negative view towards anime as a whole.
@ Alias: Exactly, with such a huge volume of anime it’s hard for one to stand far above the rest. The only series of late that I can think of that may have what it takes to do it is Gurren Lagann.
@ Strabo: Death Note, perhaps. Code Geass was mediocre in my opinion, it started out quite well, but began to drag on in various aspects, especially character development. Haven’t watched DtB yet =(
But I agree with your point on time frame. Looking back over 10 years makes it easy to pick out the truly great series, but looking over a short period of time makes it more difficult, especially since I watch A LOT more anime these days.
@ Kanon_fan82: Haha, I remember =p
@ Vadigor: There’s definitely some bias here, the days of NGE was when I first entered this wondrous and mysterious world. But hey, to be completely free from bias is nigh impossible these days.
@ AS: I can buckle down when I know I really need to, but anime/gaming always lingers in the back of my mind, even when I do, lol.
I agree that Azu and FLCL were truly great anime of the new era, but I wouldn’t really put Haruhi in with them. Haruhi had a massive bandwagon effect, and while it was a good anime, it is nowhere near as awesome as some people make it out to be. Then again, perhaps I’m just annoyed at how popular it became, I liked it before it was cool ;_;
@ Servbot: My introduction into the anime world was a little weird actually. My friend started up an ftp and threw a bunch of NGE episodes into it, which I grabbed and from there it was like OSHI- GIGANTIC ROBOTS THIS IS AWESOME. Then, very typical of me, I started researching anime and delved further and further into it.
Gainax does mecha exceptionally well, yes. And gravity lured me into RO, a grip which took the better part of 4 years to break away from ;_;
I’m really looking forward to Bioshock, I played the demo a little while ago and liked what I saw.
@ dak22: Thanks!
But uh…did your comments get eaten? All I see is direct quotes from the post or other comments o.O
The Comment Monster is at large it seems… (happened to mine as well >
And well this is just annoying…..
Where did my post go?
Maybe mentioning the Comment Mon>
Nah, just kidding there, but I’m too tired to bother reorganising my thoughts into another post… I’ll try again tomorrow >
It’s the use of angle brackets. Any time you use the less than sign, it is taken as the html code for beginning an html tag and cuts off your post at that point.
Yeah, I noticed it after the third post, but I thought making a fourth just for pointing that out was a bit redundant >Going even further off-topic here, I was pretty shocked to see the final scene from episode one with the encounter with the EVA. I just thought about that scene a few days ago (specifally about the real-life possibilities of filling a cockpit with breathable liquids)
It feels like I’m forgetting quite a few remarks I made, or tried to make… (>_ I mean ;_; ) but I’ll stop here before I start typing complete gibberish. ^^
mmm i know that the anime for gungrave and devil may cry were both adapted from video games. The people who adapted Gungrave actually actually did a really good job giving it a pretty good back story and decent character development.
Yes, well Pokemon was based off a video game and we all know how that turned out…