Arguing anime

Someone who commented on my video asked if I draw anime. I said I don't like generic anime. Then we personal messaged eachother.

At 6/27/08 9:05 PM, ravemastaj wrote:
: There's a generic anime style? That's a new one! I could name 5 different animes (including flash submitions) with different anime styles easily.
:
: 1. Dendyn Dynasties
: 2. There she is!
: 3. Chobits
: 4. FLCL (aka Fooly Cooly, aka Furi Kuri)
: 5. Anything Chibi (not an anime, although that would be a cool name...)
:
: Just look any of the last 3 up in google. Generic anime my foot! That review comment made my day! :)
: Thx for caring about your fans, and I hope you learn some new styles and get some more ideas.

I replied:
I'm glad to see someone legitimately backing up their opinion. But I stand by what I said.
First off, I want to address Chobits. Chobits is as generic an anime as any. Unless you are highly trained in watching anime, all (please don't make a big deal if like 1 or 2 characters don't fit into this) of the characters look like girls. With an astounding lack of fat, muscle and masculinity, everyone is about equally feminine. Additionally, Chobits has this extraordinarily standard anime hair (set into ridiculous styles and covered in an absurd amount of sheen), these huge, massive, take-up-half-the-face glimmering eyes that, while a very good idea in my opinion, are overused beyond belief, and lastly these tiny sideways spikes for noses that I have really grown to hate.
I googled Dendyn Dynasties and it seems to share many of the generic things about Chobits (eyes and hair shape, mostly). It does look sort of different from most anime, but it still gives a person like me that bland, uncreative, 'already made up by someone else' feel. Any child can come up with the idea of taking a human body, then giving it fur, an animal face, and a tail.
I don't have any problem with There She Is. While the style is simple enough, it's a well done cartoon that separates itself from most other cartoons (anime included) and elevates itself well above almost all movies on newgrounds. Also, There She Is is korean (does anime have to be japanese?), and I really don't think I'd call it anime, but I've never looked the word up and can't say for certain.
I'm tired of 'anything chibi.' Chibis are standard. Chibis are uncreative. I rarely (but not never) see chibis used in an effective or expressive way. Also, I think all chibis look alike. Not identical, but alike.
FLCL does use many of these 'normal anime things,' but it does it very well. VERY WELL. I love FLCL, as I love most really well done cartoons. I'd even go so far as to say FLCL is a masterpiece– it's FAR better than the vast majority of shows (not just animations), to say the least.

Please don't take this stuff I'm saying offensively. You seem like a perfectly reasonable person, and I LOVE to argue. Especially about stuff I feel like I know about, like animation.

I think this does a half-decent job of summing up my feelings on anime.