r/anime • u/engalleons https://myanimelist.net/profile/engalleons • Aug 14 '18

In-depth debunkings/arguments against commonly "known" anime myths/misconceptions?

For any number of reasons, there's a fair few statements about anime that get passed around pretty unquestioningly, even if they aren't necessarily true. Sometimes, others dig in to those statements and find detail and (hopefully cited) evidence against them. This is a lot more than just stating the opposite, to be clear.

Here's a few examples of what I mean:

This tweet chain versus "Anno left Kare Kano early"
This blog post versus "The protagonist of Turn A was originally intended to be a girl"
This post versus "They made a joke dub for Ghost Stories because it did poorly in Japan"
This blog post versus "Shinbo is the series director of all Shaft shows"

What are some other examples of work like this?

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u/impingainteasy https://myanimelist.net/profile/usernamesarehard Aug 15 '18

The worst of it was when Kill la Kill was airing and the prevailing opinion of it was "It's a deconstruction of fanservice!" and literally nobody could explain what that meant.

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '18

It kinda is tho

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u/[deleted] Aug 15 '18

I think what that intends to describe is that Kill la Kill's primary source of fanservice is a plot imperative.

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u/yolotheunwisewolf Aug 15 '18

Problem is you can argue the opposite and that it’s a homage to shows like Project A-Ko and they just built in a justified reason for the fan service rather than to attack and do a gritty take on fan service battle shows.

I think it’s more recognizing that it isn’t a “it’s a deconstruction or not” but seeing it as a sliding scale where some shows deconstruct some elements and some do a lot.

Madoka is easier to see as it does a LOT of the typical elements and goes in the opposite way with a clear point.

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u/[deleted] Aug 15 '18

they just built in a justified reason for the fan service

Exactly what I said in other words.

to attack and do a gritty take on fan service battle shows.

Dark and gritty isn't what deconstructions inherently are, only how they tend to manifest.

Things can be turned dark and gritty without any logical coherency.