Many times you’ll see people, including myself, pointing out that in order to properly judge a work, be it anime, manga, or something totally unrelated to that world, you should also understand the context in which it was made. This could be a historical context, like knowing how Evangelion changed anime. It could be a situational context, such as being aware of the limitations in animation in the 60s and 70s and understanding the realities of low budgets that resulted in the limited animation style used in anime today. And though we talk about it more frequently in regards to the past, who’s to say we can’t apply it to current anime as well?
Due to a number of problems in both the global and Japanese economy, there is not as much money and talent in anime as there used to be. In many instances, studios have to either fall back on something reliable that they know will sell well, or their ambition has to come at a literal price, with production values perhaps not being up to the level of the shows around them. If we understand this reality, why can’t we apply the same awareness of context that we do to older works? We know that not everything can be an artistic, creative, or technical masterpiece (and rarely is that the case in the first place), but we should be able to appreciate what anime continues to do with the resources they have. Yes, it might be disappointing that there are aspects of anime we will likely not see again in the near future as a result of all this, but that’s the case with anime over the years budget or no.
Now I’m not saying that all shows should be absolved of responsibility, and that quality itself should be a non-factor. This is not an excuse for anime to be terrible because we should be that forgiving of their situation. I think there is definitely a line to be crossed and to be toed, and that we should look at each anime we come across in context to understand whether or not a show is bad because of mistakes or because of unfortunate circumstances beyond their control. However, if we can at least try to understand, then I think it will broaden our views as anime fans who can see beyond accepting only the “best.”
OGIUE MANIAX 
VERY nice point here, one of the biggest thing that bothers me is people saying stuff like ‘all the anime is shit these days’ without considering why the quality might go down, or in cases of a lot of the same coming out, that it may be popular.
Early this year, manly shows were in. Masao Maruyama even said at otakon that this is why they were making Souten Kouro. We also had Shin Mazinger and Sengoku Basara.
Now lesbianism is in, which I’ve been waiting for forever. In the summer season almost RVERY SINGLE SHOW had lesbians in it, and the trend is still around right now.
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Funny you mention the lesbian thing. I was considering writing a post about how many shows recently have had LESBIAN lesbians (as opposed to ambiguous “yuri” lesbians).
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I’ve been meaning to make that (celebratory) post as well!
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Which is a great thing, and I hope that you and digitalboy bust out the post celebrating that soon. \o
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We can only hope this means we get an Octave anime some day soon!
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I really want to find a resource that details budgets and allocations.
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Lesbianism aside, I think a large part of the issue with ‘acceptance’ given the circumstance (perhaps a lowering of standards), is time. Single-season series have the advantage, because there is overall less investment for the viewer, but given a 50-60% (of 100) approval series that lasts a year… the time expelled doesn’t seem worth it. That’s just one issue in general. I do think taking the larger picture into consideration is essential for enjoyment and producing a well-rounded viewer.
Let’s relate this to food. Someone raised on only the finest ‘Whole Foods’ might be really picky/stingy towards fast-food and even regular supermarket produce. They ‘rate’ their food and want only the best. Given the circumstance where this person had to experience other food, say because of being in another locale where food was scare or the quality was very poor, what would they do?
If they don’t change their standards, they might very well starve. The same goes for entertainment media, imo. It’s not necessarily a matter of being open, but obtaining a level of standards as a function of ‘context’ and having the experience or decision-skills to generate a fitting scale. The issue is, the food-brat might starve, but they wouldn’t get sick. In some situations, not every item is safe for consumption.
Experience and judgment should be adaptable. ^^ I fully agree.
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Yes, yes, yes.
One problem is lack of general knowledge about that context. There are tons of American otaku who simply don’t know how the industry works. They wonder why the Japanese haven’t made half a dozen sequels to Cowboy Bebop yet. They’ll pay for an account on 1000AnimeStreams.com and not even *think* that it may be pirated.
This might be a good topic for a set of blog posts, detailing the various major studios, TV channels, distribution methods, etc. What Is The Anime Industry Today?
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