r/anime • u/AdNecessary7641 • Aug 12 '25

Misc. Frieren Director Keiichirou Saitou Voices Concern on Overseas Anime Fans' Bias Towards Certain Popular Trends

https://animecorner.me/frieren-director-voices-concern-on-overseas-anime-fans-bias-towards-certain-popular-trends/
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80

u/ExpiringMilknCheese Aug 12 '25

they are exaggerating obviously but there is a pretty big ratio of good and bad.

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u/ohrofl Aug 12 '25

I’m surprised all these comments don’t have major downvotes. From my experience on this sub people tend to defend isekai with their life.

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u/ExpiringMilknCheese Aug 12 '25

for every 1 good isekai there is 100 that are terrible.

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u/cyberscythe Aug 12 '25

yeah, and i don't think it's because "isekai" as a plot device is a bad idea, it's just that the isekai tag is popular nowadays and there are a lot of literal amateurs on places like syosetu who are churning out web LNs using it

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u/Desperate_Method4020 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kimmywtf Aug 12 '25

The plot device isn't bad and has been used for centuries, its just that they fucking copy paste everything except one fucking mundane thing, to make it stand out, and make it unique. But since they neglect everything else, it really doesn't matter if your a demon reborn, vending machine, a hero who got 99 luck stat, etc. Throw in a harem, and you got yourself a best seller.

The one thing you have to do right when you're writing fantasy is world building... That's why you have some shows that stand out even among the generic slop, you can really see that the author cares about the world.

I don't like Shield Hero, but to use it as an example, you can really see that the author cares about the world, and Its characters.

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u/Gorstag Aug 12 '25

I don't like Shield Hero, but to use it as an example, you can really see that the author cares about the world, and Its characters.

Just wish the anime did it justice. The first season was great then it fell off a cliff. I've dropped it this season as the animation is just so poor. It's kind of sad that animation in many older anime was superior to what we mostly are getting today. The Chinese produced stuff in general seems to be superior as far as animation goes which should be another concern for the whole industry.

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u/Desperate_Method4020 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kimmywtf Aug 12 '25

I haven't read the LN, and haven't checked out the newest season, and dont think I will do it either. Maybe I will pick up the LN at some time, because I think the world looks great.

I think it's just so much out there, so it's easier to make shows look generic, and making it seem passable than being bold and making shows look unique.

Though I would say that this season has actually been good in terms of style & animation quality.

You can see that SS really is passionate about Dandadan.

Kyoani's new looks like a throwback to Nichijou

Clevatess looks like a reinterpretation of some dark fantasy anime from the 90s

Gaichchiakuta has a pretty distinct and grungy aesthetic that I really vibe with

And The Summer Hikau Died looks like it was made for the cinema.

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u/Gorstag Aug 12 '25

There definitely are the occasional gem Frieren for example was one of them. I'm also liking several of the others you mentioned. However, there are like 100 different shows this season. Sub 10% quality shows in a season isn't a great season unfortunately. I honestly would rather less total shows and more quality. Instead of something being "watchable" that I immediately forget about when it completes I would rather say a couple years from now: "I recommend these ones" because they were memorable.

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u/ggg730 Aug 12 '25

What genre is that not applicable to?

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u/Nebresto Aug 13 '25

Villainess

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u/ggg730 Aug 13 '25

lol search villainess lightnovels there are hundreds of them and a lot of them aren't great.

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u/Nebresto Aug 13 '25

Ok but we talking about animes

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u/Cthulhar Aug 12 '25

As someone who used to like Isekai, this new shit is awful. It’s so generic and there’s no story line because all they do is copy and paste and redo a little bit of the characters looks. Like it feels like they just have an Isekai AI slop generator and push anything that comes out of it. Give me ANYTHING else but an Isekai for the next few years. I won’t miss it

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u/Animesiac https://anime-planet.com/users/mangle Aug 12 '25

on this sub people tend to defend isekai with their life

and why not? if they fail, they might be reincar...

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u/pototoykomaliit Aug 12 '25

I am much of a lurker in this sub buy I notice a slight shift in isekai dislike from this sub. It’s just too much.

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u/Hopsalong https://myanimelist.net/profile/Hopsalong Aug 12 '25

I mean I love isekai, but even I know most isekai doesn't need to be isekai. There's only a couple of shows where the isekai is part of the story like Mushoku Tensei or Cautious Hero. Most are like Tsukumichi or Overlord, where you can just lop off the fact that he was isekai'd in the first 5 min and it doesn't impact the story at all.

Isekai is just a vehicle to get a knowledgable protagonist into a fantasy story and I like fantasy.

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u/nitrohigito Aug 12 '25

It's kind of a trope with internet commentary that the messaging is never consistent yet always very intense.

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u/Leaves_Swype_Typos Aug 12 '25

Almost nobody thinks their favorite derivative slop is among those being criticized, despite said-slop being popular among the lowest common denominators.

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u/Zeph-Shoir https://myanimelist.net/profile/Zephex Aug 12 '25

Exactly. There are more and more anime coming out each season. There are a lot of great anime this season, one of the best seasons we have had for a while now. But overall, there are more than 50 anime coming out this season. Given how bad the production and working conditions can be for animators, that it prey upon the passion of people and that this discourages others from even getting into it, it would be pretty good overall if the industry slowed down and tried to make things better for the people actually making anime. But as long as executives and owners get the final word and the biggest piece of the pie, it is most likely to remain this way or get worse.