An explanation
I guess I never really thought to explain this before. With my posting of so many video clips from various Japanese shows though, I thought an explanation was in order. So here it goes.
There's a definite reason why I like a lot of Japanese shows/series, why I'm typically more excited about them than about their counterparts on American television. I'm not like a lot of these nerds addicted to anime who are just like "oh, big robot!" or "oh, nice special effects!" or whatever. Most of the reason I like these series so much is because these series typically nail characterization on the head a lot better than their American counterparts. Take for example the current iteration of Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Kabuto. Every character who is fighting in that show has a deep, personal reason why they are fighting. There is a reason for why they go through the things that they do. It's sort of like the whole thing about why Spider-Man is so great. It's because he gets put through so much, but you can understand how and why he reacts the way he does. Spider-Man has very good characterization. Many American shows lack this sort of stuff though. There's a lot of falling back on typical used stereotypes. I won't argue that some of the Japanese shows also rely on stereotypes, but they are mostly Japanese stereotypes (so to some extent they are still new and entertaining to me).
The other thing is I have a heavy interest in the Japanese culture. This interest (combined with my interest in Japanese history and my interest in Japanese video games and such) is what spurred me to go on my trip to Japan. I think it's partially because I feel detached from American society and culture. My mindset isn't in tune with the typical American one. I could list numerous examples of this, but that would make this post entirely too long (and it would be a whole separate tangent). Needless to say though, I don't connect well with the culture that is typically praised and supported by most American shows. While I don't totally connect with Japanese culture either, there are a few things that I latch onto and that I get. This gets fairly complicated quickly, so I think I'll just leave it at that.
Other than these things (which are the main ones) is just the fact that this is new stuff that I don't have tons of exposure to (I have more than most Americans, and maybe even more than many nerds, but I still don't have tons compared to my exposure to American stuff). With American television and movies, it's all the same stuff reiterated and reformatted. Sitcoms are particularly bad, because most times it's the same joke repackaged over and over again. Dramas aren't much better. It's only been in the last few years (with shows like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and most recently Heroes) that we've started to get into some somewhat new ground with television. Most American television though I find dull and repetitive. It's the reason that my TV stays off about 95% of the time. Not only do I not connect with the stuff, I'm bored with it by the time it even starts.
I hope this short post has given some insight into why I watch as much Japanese television as I do. Maybe it hasn't and it's just a bunch of disjointed ramblings. If that's the case, oh well.
There's a definite reason why I like a lot of Japanese shows/series, why I'm typically more excited about them than about their counterparts on American television. I'm not like a lot of these nerds addicted to anime who are just like "oh, big robot!" or "oh, nice special effects!" or whatever. Most of the reason I like these series so much is because these series typically nail characterization on the head a lot better than their American counterparts. Take for example the current iteration of Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Kabuto. Every character who is fighting in that show has a deep, personal reason why they are fighting. There is a reason for why they go through the things that they do. It's sort of like the whole thing about why Spider-Man is so great. It's because he gets put through so much, but you can understand how and why he reacts the way he does. Spider-Man has very good characterization. Many American shows lack this sort of stuff though. There's a lot of falling back on typical used stereotypes. I won't argue that some of the Japanese shows also rely on stereotypes, but they are mostly Japanese stereotypes (so to some extent they are still new and entertaining to me).
The other thing is I have a heavy interest in the Japanese culture. This interest (combined with my interest in Japanese history and my interest in Japanese video games and such) is what spurred me to go on my trip to Japan. I think it's partially because I feel detached from American society and culture. My mindset isn't in tune with the typical American one. I could list numerous examples of this, but that would make this post entirely too long (and it would be a whole separate tangent). Needless to say though, I don't connect well with the culture that is typically praised and supported by most American shows. While I don't totally connect with Japanese culture either, there are a few things that I latch onto and that I get. This gets fairly complicated quickly, so I think I'll just leave it at that.
Other than these things (which are the main ones) is just the fact that this is new stuff that I don't have tons of exposure to (I have more than most Americans, and maybe even more than many nerds, but I still don't have tons compared to my exposure to American stuff). With American television and movies, it's all the same stuff reiterated and reformatted. Sitcoms are particularly bad, because most times it's the same joke repackaged over and over again. Dramas aren't much better. It's only been in the last few years (with shows like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and most recently Heroes) that we've started to get into some somewhat new ground with television. Most American television though I find dull and repetitive. It's the reason that my TV stays off about 95% of the time. Not only do I not connect with the stuff, I'm bored with it by the time it even starts.
I hope this short post has given some insight into why I watch as much Japanese television as I do. Maybe it hasn't and it's just a bunch of disjointed ramblings. If that's the case, oh well.
posted by pfresh85 at 6:48 PM
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