The Anime Conundrum (Superflat)

If you're over 30 you definitely have a different idea of what constitutes 'anime' than someone under 25. You might even still call it 'Japanimation'. But what makes a drawing, or any other artwork 'anime' if it doesn't directly reference something from Japanese entertainment art? There was a hybrid style lead mostly by Joe Madureira, and then an influx of everything in between.

So what you may perceive to be categorized as anime may not be by others. What I want to talk about is the traditional style of a pointed nose denoted by one or two lines, large eyes with a large glint of light, pointed hair and somewhat smaller body in relation to the head. Murakami bases his works on it - the Super Flat. Yeah, that anime.

Is that anime even relevant anymore?

Recently I read that in Japan the amount of anime television shows has decreased by a staggering amount, ever since the boom it had from a surge in popularity from the Western Hemisphere about 6 years ago. Even the Japanese seem to be weary of generic anime. Where's the substance?

I've grown just as tired as the Japanese with cartoons that have x amount of filler, rely on weak, recycled story arcs and toss in twists just for the sake of it because they always want to live up to Evangelion. As a story telling medium, I have little use for the 30(22) minute format, where it relies on a certain amount of filler and reused animation. I feel cheated that I have to sit through 25 minutes of an awful main course just to get to eat a tiny dessert for 5 minutes. The Watchmen reinvigorated my love for comics and sequential art, as did manga like One Piece and Naruto.

The power of manga like Tezuka's, with its simple, yet powerful designs can tell you a story better than any over the top anime in my book. You can read at your leisure(although any good comic dictates the pace). It's anime stripped bare, and it cannot be topped.

That said, in terms of using anime drawings as either a storytelling medium or illustration...I ask again - and remember, I'm strictly talking about the most generic of styles, I don't consider Naruto for example to be generic - is it relevant? What do these forms suggest? Do they speak to you, as people(if they're supposed to be people)?

I can't see them as humans, or representing humans. Humanoids, maybe. To suggest that the person making the half-smile with the squinty eyes and open hand gesture...is a real person, emoting something genuine...that just does nothing for me. It's no different than asking me to believe the latest pop starlet is genuinely 'feeling' the song someone else wrote for her.

Now again, there are several incredibly talented manga artists that wouldn't fall into the generic, or Super Flat category, if you will. Those that do, the work they make, can it be relevant? I think so, provided that the setting isn't supposed to be the earth as we know it. If one were to ham up the kitsch and revel in the banality of the world these characters would take place in, sure.

As it is, though? No thanks. Let's get away from the cookie-cutter stuff, please.