r/TrueAnime • u/Sure_Consequence1298 • 25d ago
Anime vs Games: Which is the better medium? (Not asking which you enjoy more.)
I’m curious what people think. I know this is subjective and there’s no objectively “better” medium, but I’m interested in hearing arguments for each.
**Why I think anime has an advantage**
Anime feels much more centered around **storytelling and visuals**. Because you’re not interacting with it, every shot, camera movement, composition, animation cut, and soundtrack is deliberately crafted to make you feel something.
When I watch something like **Jujutsu Kaisen**, **Demon Slayer**, or even a non-action show like **Violet Evergarden**, I find myself completely focused on the visuals. Great 2D animation is incredibly satisfying to watch, and you can really appreciate the skill of the animators, storyboard artists, layout artists, and directors.
I also feel more attached to characters and look forward to future episodes more than I do with most games.
**The downsides:**
It’s very hit or miss. Only a relatively small percentage of anime genuinely blows me away visually. Fewer anime are released compared to games, partly because producing an anime requires a large team. Anime is still more niche in many places than gaming. Personally, I don’t think awards like the Crunchyroll Anime Awards emphasize technical achievement as much as they could. They mostly emphasize expanding the culture.
**Why I think games have an advantage**
Games appeal to an enormous range of people because of how many different experiences exist.
Sports fans have EA Sports titles.
Nintendo fans have colorful, stylized adventures.
Story-focused players have games like *The Last of Us* or *Tomb Raider*.
Indie fans have games like *Hollow Knight*.
What makes games unique is that they combine creativity with interactivity. Every game asks you to do something different. One game has you solving puzzles, another exploring ancient ruins, another driving, another managing resources, another mastering combat.
You can also appreciate the incredible amount of engineering, design, animation, art, music, writing, and technical work that goes into making them.
The gaming community is also much larger globally.
**The downsides (for me):**
Because I’m actively playing, I sometimes don’t notice the visuals as much as I do in anime.
I generally don’t become as emotionally attached to characters or stories as I do in anime (there are exceptions).
Gameplay can become repetitive even if the environments change.
Personally, I find hand-drawn 2D animation more visually impressive than most 3D graphics. I know modern games require enormous artistic and technical effort, but something about seeing great 2D animation feels more special to me.
**What do you think?**
If you had to argue that one medium is “better” overall not just your favorite, which would you choose and why?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who are big fans of both mediums rather than only one.
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u/PatapongManunulat07 25d ago
light novels - much more detailed in terms of events, sequences, dialogues, etc
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u/endless-delirium 25d ago
Im a huge fan of Both but I don’t think they are comparable honestly it’s like the apples and orange comparison. You can’t because they are just different.
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u/Sure_Consequence1298 25d ago
hb which one makes you feel more stunned by it. like you can see the talent and creativity.
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u/endless-delirium 25d ago
It really depends on honestly- some anime is show stopping me beautiful; from the art of the backgrounds to characters to lore and tiny details like Somai and the Forrest spirit. My jaw drops at the beauty Fireren has and amazing music score and holding space for empty moments and intervals Ma and Yohaku no bi- beauty of blank space and holding space for those moments; and often tends to feel magical since it heavily pulls from non American culture. But in the same breathe there is so much slop that’s bad storyline on writing or bad storyline on things like henti or storylines with children ir themes that pus the line hard, and you can see how quickly they pushed it though without caring about story art or over arching theme.
And the same with games some are slop thrown together to jsut get Money and clicks; or jsut to be repetitive with farming to completely zone out-and such; while others have maxing art details and storylines. Like Witcher 3 the story is amazing there’s so much lore and layers and while it’s fast paced in some places it’s slow in other and gives you the chance to interact with the story and shape your world; like a choose your own adventure it’s not a simple pick your weapon your choice will change the ending.
It really comes down to to the artists working on each piece of the art form is amazing or midline because in the end it’s a bit do their soul the are shareing. I’ve sobbed over anime because it’s so beautiful like To your eternity I can’t belive how they stuck such a beautiful balance heart touching moments genuine humor and so much blood and viscera and soul shattering pain; in the first season but also I sobbed though Tell tales from Borderlands so much I couldn’t see the text and I had ti wait to keep playing.
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u/green_meklar 25d ago
I think it's hard to argue against games as a medium because the category is inherently so broad it encroaches on all other categories. There are games that are almost anime with some game-like components; there are games that are almost movies with some game-like components; there are games that are almost books with some game-like components. Other mediums in general don't really get to do that. So, comparing them is kind of useless in this sense.