Anime's Downhill slope

[Neko]

I use to be an all out otaku. Every new anime would be a brand new adventure for me. Still remember when PLANETES would inspire me so much about life, people, and dreams. Still remember the time when the flowing animations has meaning and carries a message. Still remembers back when Naruto was a ninja-in-training who fights along side his ninja buddies with NINJA SKILLS and not dragonball exploding moves. When did it happen? When did Anime lost it's way?

The first example I can think of was DBZ. Dragonball, back when it talked about Goku being this kid with a tail the grandson of Gohan, it was such a cute fun and actionful anime/manga. Every character was vivid and every villain creative. The moment he "grew up", the anime just dragged ooon and ooon where the fighting was the main catch point of the franchise as oppose to characters and story. And when it reached Dragonball Z (especially fighting against Zero), the fighting dragged on for a ridiculous amount of time with the same set of frames looped over a hundred times apiece. With the "episode recap" spanning 30mins of each 1-hour episode, people decided to watch it biweekly because they basically shows the entire "previous episode" anyways.

When did anime lose its way? Are there even any animes worthwhile out there thats about message and meaning and is not just copying themes from other animes? I've watched hundreds of series spanning from all genres of anime and the only ones i can come up with are OAVs created by big names such as Makoto Shinkai　新海誠。

[Krow]

Are there even any animes worthwhile out there thats about message and meaning and is not just copying themes from other animes? I've watched hundreds of series spanning from all genres of anime and the only ones i can come up with are OAVs created by big names such as Makoto Shinkai　新海誠

Sure there's good anime out there. How can forget about Hayao Miyazaki's work? I'm assuming that you meant anime in general and not just series. Miyazaki's movies usually retains an overall theme as well, like Laputa = war leads to ruin, Nausicaa = environmental themes, etc.

[Neko]

yep, but anime as in the franchises, i would categorize "movies" as "animated films" and not anime. Animes are franchises. Seriously, as an anime lover, its quite disappointing.

[Endless]

I totally agree, anime in general is going downhill. I rather read manga than spending 20 minutes watch anime...

[Neko]

sad to see that animes are only 20mins now... since hentai is 25 xD