What Makes a Good Anime?

[Origami]

OK, I have gotten into heated (but friendly) discussions about this. It seems to me that there are three main aspects of an Anime that makes it good:

- The artwork ( the animation itself)
- The story
- The music

I am of the 'story' camp. The visual aspects of an Anime are great, but if there is no 'story' to back it up it becomes boring (there are many examples of this). I would argue that a good story can stand on it's own and is not as heavily dependent on the the artwork. The opposite is not true. As for the music, I believe it is closely related to the story. The music is crucial in order to set the mood that makes a good story. So, in order of importance, I would rate it as follows:

1. Story
2. Music
3. Art work

Again, this is purely my opinion.

Any thoughts?

[Orion1]

You forgot a crucial aspect of Anime, that is the voice acting. As in any movie if the acting is bad, generally the movie or the t.v. show is also lame. There are acceptations, Star Wars is a great example. Sometimes other aspects like Story, Visuals, and Music can overcome bad acting. I'd say that this is also true in Anime.

The story is always a key element in any form of entertainment. If that isn't interesting then it just becomes are or music so you have no argument here. But when it comes to Anime I'd say that art work can trump music sometimes, like in the case of Shinkai's "5 centimeters per second" I didn't particulary think that the music was that great, but the digital artwork was so breath taking and the story so overwhelming that the musical factor just kept it from being a masterpiece. Satoshi Kon's "Millennium Actress" on the other hand did an amazing job on all four categories mentioned and is definitely proof that all these elements put together correctly can create art on a different level.

So story definitely comes first, but music and art can trump each other, and voice acting, subs and dubs all play crucial roles in making sure the story comes across correctly and easily. Everything has got to flow and without all of these elements working together, you just get moving pictures, which in theory could be entertaining if these pictures where telling a story. LoL

[Origami]

Hmmm... point well taken. I totally forgot about the voice acting. Most of the time I watch the dubbed version. I do notice that the same voices reoccur in different Anime's. It did not bother me at first, but hearing the same voices over and over again in different Anime's is sometimes distracting especially when they play different character types (dramatic vs. comedic). The subbed version does sometimes blend better, but then again trying to read the text on the screen and then the emotions on the character's faces does get challenging (espcially when the dialog gets rapid). Oh, well, I guess I better take up speed reading (or learn Japanese) ;)

OK, so, in order of importance I'd have to rank the elements as follows:

1. Story
2. Music
3. Voice Acting
4. Animation (picture)

With 2 & 3 being almost equal!

Great insight Orion1!

[Slappy]

Hmmmm.

Well if I had to list how I look for them in importance I would say for me

1. Story
2(3). Artwork
3(2). Music
4. Voice Acting

Artwork and music can be almost interchangable to me although it is rare that I would bump a rating up or down for music I have for really great/terrible artwork though.

[mariadmpc]

In addition to a good story, great music, good voice-acting, and clean animation, an anime needs to have good character design. I can tolerate almost anything - cheap animation, squeeky voices, predictable plot - if the characters are well-thought.

[Orion1]

I agree that an interesting character design is very important. Especially in Anime, considering how many characters seem to be recycled if you will. So when new and interesting characters emerge, like Haruhi Suzuimyia, then the the rest of the Anime does become much more interesting. However you got to admit that character design falls under art and story.

[Nik28]

Story
Voice Acting
Art Work
music

[Bitmap]

I would have to rank it as:

Story
Art Work
Voice Acting
Music

And i think the editing is very important as well, how the scenes are cut and go together are a major part of the visual story telling.

[Orion1]

Effective editing can definitely make a production much more interesting. In live action movies editing is crucial, in Anime I'd argue that it is important, but since stories are pretty much being created and edited at the same time, the process is a little different. You have artists, animators and CGI experts often all in the same room working together along with the director. And of course if you pay attention to Anime director's backgrounds, you will notice that they all have either some animation, manga creation, art direction, story boarding..... Basically what I'm saying is that the director and the animators work very closely together to create an Anime. Often the director will even work in various parts of the operation. Meaning that they are proficient in all aspects of creating anime. And yes it is up to the director to edit the final product and delivery it to the production team for the final approval.

[BuBBa]

Artwork
Story/Music tie
Voice

[Rand alThor]

Greetings.

My name is Rand alThor, and I just joined your awesome group!

Might I add another important aspect to the list: Character Development. Boring animes can often result from static characters that show no growth or change; positive or negative. The best animes have characters that evolve and grow as the series progresses. In shonen, characters gain new and more powerful attacks. In shojo relationships evolve. Characters fall deeper in love or out of love. The worst anime are ones where nothing happens (comedies are granted an exception). In shonen, these episodes are referred to as "filler". The anime studio, "Gonzo", often seems to have a problem with filler. A lot of their series start out strong and finish strong, but seem to go nowhere for a huge middle portion of the series(I'm looking at you, "Speed Grapher"!). So, here's my list:

1. Story
2. Character Development
3. Voice Acting
4. Animation/artwork
5. Music

[Orion1]

Isn't character development an aspect of every story involving characters? But still I see your point character development for the story aspect is very important, like character design for the art aspect.

And I'm also a hater of "Filler". Do shows really need to be 26 episodes vs. 22 episodes. Did they really need those few episodes in between that were really dead to the plot. Recap episodes are obviously the most annoying episodes every created. Unless the filler is offering some interesting character development, it is basically annoying. "Filler" episodes are not exclusive to "Gonzo" or "Shoujo", unfortunately they can be found in many other categories and studio's. I haven't paid attention to if Gonzo is particularly bad in this aspect, but I'll take your word for it.

[LaDell]

Personally, I'd say the characters are the key. Story is also important, but if you connect with the characters, then you'll watch... even if it's not a deep story. The art style would be number three, then the music. Just my 2 cents.