1 reply omitted in this preview.

• #4

  >>3
  I feel the same. It's the only medium I actually bother watching. So ironically, as a result I have many negative things to say.

• #17

  Well, the industry has developed in a certain direction over the past decades and many things have changed; we have many more titles each and every season now, even though most of what airs is complete garbage, whereas previously there would be only a handful of shows each season, those would, for the most part, be of very high quality. But back then the anime studios had a lot more money to spent, things were less restrictive, and people would buy OVAs on video cassettes and such. Nowadays the medium has grown to be extremely shallow, in part due to the fact that it now needs to cater to a much wider (including Western) audience. But the good thing is that there are a lot a older shows that I still haven't watched or do not mind re-watching, so that's fine by me. But yeah, anime is dying, or so it seems to me.

• #18

  >>>3
  This might be an obvious/condescending thing to say, but just ignore things you don't like. Sure it's annoying but its good anime has the freedom to do stuff like this.
  I also imagine media as expensive as animation definitely needs to be pandering to the lowest common denominator for a studio to make the profit.

• #16

  n th

• #10

  I used to have a guy. He was the best.

• #14

  My quick guide to forwarders/proxy services:

  - Tenso is reliable, but a bit expensive for forwarding. For some retailers you may experience phone number or address blacklisting. Buyee (affiliated with Tenso) is great for auction sites, e.g. Yahoo Auctions, Mercari.
  - BigInJapan is dirt cheap and offers barebones forwarding, but if anything goes wrong you will not be able to reach someone for support. To my recollection it's also forced EMS, which is a problem right now. Avoid for proxy service.
  - Goody-Japan is my longtime go-to for proxy service. They aren't the cheapest, probably something of a middle ground, but they are quick on support and are willing to keep packages in their warehouse for longer so you can consolidate on international shipping. They've also added pretty good auction site support.

2 replies omitted in this preview.

• #7

  >>6
  An aspect of Japan that I think makes it hard for their culture to be ruined is their xenophobia and close-knit culture. Anyone who goes to Japan and does not try to assimilate will not be very welcomed into society, but in Europe, many do not bother to assimilate, or even learn about the culture, and just bring their culture with them completely ignoring the country they are going to. Also, many of the people going to Japan are going their because they want to and already have an interest in the culture there, meaning most of the immigrants to Japan will likely be well-versed and actually give a shit about the culture. As far as I know, many of the immigrants to Europe are either refugees, or are going there for better opportunities. These two groups of people will care a lot less about the country they are going to and more about their own survival, while the type of immigrants that come to Japan largely care about experiencing Japanese culture. Simply immigrating to place does not infect it with foreign culture, and the very fact that so many immigrants to Japan view it as a "foreign paradise" is one of the things that keeps its culture from being ruined.

• #8

  >>6
  I don't think Japan-obsessed creeps will stay that way if they manage to get permanent residency. It took 7 years for this guy. Probably the foreign paradise wonder would wear off by then.

• #11

  >>6
  There's no need to concern troll. If the Japanese are overly permissive and can't get their shit together, then they deserve it but I doubt it.