What is the appeal of these Japanese cartoons?

[Proud Proletarian]

I mean no offense, but I just don't get it.

I like Sci-Fi, westerns, action shows (like CSI), and paranormal stuff (like UFO hunters), but what is the attraction for adults to these animated Japanese shows?

When I was a kid I liked the Transformers, Thundercats, HeMan, GI Joe, the Looney Toons, and that sort of thing, but I grew out of it.

I ask this question because it seems like everywhere I go online people rave about this stuff and I'm considering giving it a try, but I'm not sure where to begin.

[Kodai Okuda]

Oh dear...

Uh...first of all fans of anime don't like it called "Japanese Cartoons."
It's like calling "chopper" a "motorcycle" it's not cool.

To answer your question PP, I think the appeal of Japanese anime is it's mature story telling style, it's artwork, and the themes of many of the shows.
To put it bluntly, they're not over the top dramas, nor are they boring.
Anime is a balance of many genres mixed into what usually turns out to be a very compelling storyline put forward via state-of-the-art animation.

If you want a decent series to start off with, then I must suggest watching Space Battleship Yamato, the original Gundam, or the original Macross FIRST!
Don't jump into say Code Geass or Ghost in the Shell, or Cowboy Bebop or you might not be able to appreciate the older series due to the lower quality of animation.
The anime from the 1970s and 1980s were not made using computers like the late 80s up to now are.
Thus, the old pre-computer enhanced shows were all hand-painted, and that is what made them so incredible.

Hope this advice helps.

[LadyWarrior]

Blasphemy!!
I hope you realize you have commited the cardinal sin...ANIME IS NOT CARTOONS!!!

Some of the shows have very adult and/or classical themes, like honor, revenge, sacrifice, etc.
A lot of anime has characters with a "take care of yourself, no whining" attitude, which I love.
And a lot of the time, they are just plain funny and entertaining.
If you like computers/technology and such, I would recommend Ghost in the Shell. Full Metal Alchemist is pretty sweet too.
I would stay away from Bleach at first, just because it is so damn long.

Anyway, hope this was helpful.

[Proud Proletarian]

It is, thank you.
I've heard good thinks about Ghost in The Shell.
I'll see what I can find for free online.
I hear that Hulu has got some decent anime over there.

[Prime Administrator]

I mean no offense, but I just don't get it.

I like Sci-Fi, westerns, action shows (like CSI), and paranormal stuff (like UFO hunters), but what is the attraction for adults to these animated Japanese shows?

When I was a kid I liked the Transformers, Thundercats, HeMan, GI Joe, the Looney Toons, and that sort of thing, but I grew out of it.

I ask this question because it seems like everywhere I go online people rave about this stuff and I'm considering giving it a try, but I'm not sure where to begin.

An unbeliever!
KILL THE HERETIC!

Seriously though, anime isn't for everyone.
Artists, writers, and musicians seem to be the ones that enjoy it the most: excluding the perverts who like to fap off to spankimay (Hentai, Lolicon, Yuri, Yaoi).
I'm not a serious anime fan by any measure, but I do enjoy the Science Fiction worlds of Japanese animation. The freedom anime gives to the stories is what attracts me.
Before the days of CG (which is animation in its own right) live action movies were hard pressed to show epic spacebattles or vast armies of battlerobots engaging in classic SF warfare.
Look at Star Wars.
There was no conceivable way the first three parts of the story (ep 1, 2, 3) could have been made due to the sheer number of extras, models, and hand-painted special effects, that would have been required to produce those three parts of the story.
However, Space Battleship Yamato, Macross, and Gundam all had situations that were as large (or in the case of Macross) larger climatic battles.
There's no way that the Zentraedi assault on Earth could have been done via live-action in 1980 the same way it was done in anime.
Same goes for Gundam or SBY.
Hell, SBY only just came out as a live action movie.

The second SBY live action film looks better than the first.

[MK_Ultra]

I mean no offense, but I just don't get it.

I like Sci-Fi, westerns, action shows (like CSI), and paranormal stuff (like UFO hunters), but what is the attraction for adults to these animated Japanese shows?

When I was a kid I liked the Transformers, Thundercats, HeMan, GI Joe, the Looney Toons, and that sort of thing, but I grew out of it.

I ask this question because it seems like everywhere I go online people rave about this stuff and I'm considering giving it a try, but I'm not sure where to begin.

Maybe we're just not as trendy as these kids are. :D

I used to watch some of those shows too (Transformers, GI Joe, HeMan, Flash Gordon).
Never seen any of this Japanese stuff until now.
Some of doesn't look half bad.

I'll have to give a few of them a try.