Little things that annoy the hell out of you

[Ed Oscuro]

That's nothing new; the "you can only have this on your computar for 24 hours then delete it!" psuedo-disclaimer for ROM downloads used to be very popular. About this particular case, you can probably credit/blame Wikipedia. That people are trying to claim fair use, even if incorrectly, is still an improvement over what we used to see.

About fair use cases, many people don't monetize their YouTube streams, so there's that. If we wanted to be strict about it, most places will let content owners have video game footage taken down, so be careful what you wish for

[Ji-L87]

When a seemingly simple, straightforward plot in a manga turn into this whole complex mess that just drags on and on, story and characters getting sidetracked, chapters worth of backstory gets thrown in and the ending is nowhere in sight.


I mean, that's how they make money. Doesn't mean I have to like it, however.

[Skykid]

When a seemingly simple, straightforward plot in a manga turn into this whole complex mess that just drags on and on, story and characters getting sidetracked, chapters worth of backstory gets thrown in and the ending is nowhere in sight.


I mean, that's how they make money. Doesn't mean I have to like it, however.

I tend to find that's just a Japanese thing, and extends to all their media from film to Metal Gear Solid. The exceptions are honestly the only stuff I consider worthwhile.

[Ed Oscuro]

I got a message on eBay that runs like this: "In order to motivate us to continue to provide great service, please leave us a feedback note" blah blah.

The first time I read this, I thought it was rather strange and dishonest (isn't the money motivating you)?
The second time it was rather frustrating.
Now I've gotten it again, and I am starting to wonder whether I should advise them to check their messages lest they "motivate" their buyers to leave squirrelly remarks in feedback in reaction to the harassment. Feedback is completely optional. It's also rather amusing how much trouble they've gone through to extract that feedback from me when they have thousands...well okay, under 400. Very strange.

These little cute black beetles - showing up on everything, marking their arrival with a little "splat" from falling, crawling on stuff. They are quite inoffensive except for that sometimes I look at something, and there's one crawling around. Earlier this evening I stepped on one, and after finger pad-lifting the crushed back section up and tossing that, I did the same for the head section - and one of the antennae started moving. Poor guy, I had to imagine a line bisecting my pectorals when I turned and saw myself in the mirror.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

People who don't play the objective in the Battlefield games. Ugh. I was trying to hold down three objectives by myself with a tank and I was the only one going after them. It's so annoying and stupid. I'll probably never play a Battlefield game again.

[Edmond Dantes]

When a seemingly simple, straightforward plot in a manga turn into this whole complex mess that just drags on and on, story and characters getting sidetracked, chapters worth of backstory gets thrown in and the ending is nowhere in sight.


I mean, that's how they make money. Doesn't mean I have to like it, however.

I tend to find that's just a Japanese thing,

Because, you know, Americans never do that.

Oh hai Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman, Green Lantern...

[Skykid]

Because, you know, Americans never do that.

Dragging things out? Of course.

Dragging things out in a nondescript, nonsensical fashion with no rhyme or reason, with no purpose or agenda, spending far too long on introspective emotional examination over things that don't exist before reaching a conclusion that's half-assed, half-baked and usually completely dumb?

Not so much.

[trap15]

Dragging things out in a nondescript, nonsensical fashion with no rhyme or reason, with no purpose or agenda, spending far too long on introspective emotional examination over things that don't exist before reaching a conclusion that's half-assed, half-baked and usually completely dumb?

Sounds like Rolling Thunder. An American movie.

[Edmond Dantes]

Because, you know, Americans never do that.

Dragging things out? Of course.

Dragging things out in a nondescript, nonsensical fashion with no rhyme or reason, with no purpose or agenda, spending far too long on introspective emotional examination over things that don't exist before reaching a conclusion that's half-assed, half-baked and usually completely dumb?

Not so much.

... Yeeeaaaahhh, I gotta say I see that just as much, if not more often, in sci-fi and fantasy novels, superhero comics (minus the "reaching a conclusion" part since they usually don't end) and cartoons.

Then again, it may be that I tend to avoid anime or manga that run for absurd lengths. 52 episodes or 16 manga volumes is what I consider reasonable.

[Skykid]

You guys clearly aren't getting it.

Go watch some more live action Japanese movies. You'll never do drugs again.

[Edmond Dantes]

You guys clearly aren't getting it.

Go watch some more live action Japanese movies. You'll never do drugs again.

... I can't promise that, in my case

I'm just sayin', dude, it bothers me a little when people say Japanese comics and anime are bad about X, but then X is something that is just as common in American media, and in fact is comparatively rarer in Japanese works.

[Skykid]

You guys clearly aren't getting it.

Go watch some more live action Japanese movies. You'll never do drugs again.

... I can't promise that, in my case

I'm just sayin', dude, it bothers me a little when people say Japanese comics and anime are bad about X, but then X is something that is just as common in American media, and in fact is comparatively rarer in Japanese works.

No it's not.

My point either has either been made poorly or you folks are incapable of getting it because you don't actually notice when Japanese narrative (use word loosely) goes off the deep end. There's a gulf of difference between American filler and inane plot devices that amble on for the sake of turning a few more bucks, compared to when Japan goes guns-blazing into existentialism, self-loathing, and other philosophical/psychological tangents that they're simply not qualified to digest and regurgitate in a fashion that makes any kind of sense or logic to the average entertainee.

They have nonsense down to a fine art.

[blackoak]

I agree, there's a special kind of byzantine narrative fluff in bad japanese manga/anime that has no proportional American corollary afaik. I found it especially frustrating in OVAs, which admittedly might have been better developed in their longer manga counterparts. Maybe it was a fad--I'm not really sure what its like now--but back then I lost count of how many things were capped with a ponderous, navel-gazing "watashi wa... dare?"

[Rob]

I tend to find that's just a Japanese thing, and extends to all their media

I know you guys like to hate j-dramas without watching them, but the majority of shows run about 10 episodes.

[Ed Oscuro]

My point either has either been made poorly or you folks are incapable of getting it because you don't actually notice when Japanese narrative (use word loosely) goes off the deep end. There's a gulf of difference between American filler and inane plot devices that amble on for the sake of turning a few more bucks, compared to when Japan goes guns-blazing into existentialism, self-loathing, and other philosophical/psychological tangents that they're simply not qualified to digest and regurgitate in a fashion that makes any kind of sense or logic to the average entertainee.

They have nonsense down to a fine art.

This in a nutshell. There's been various names for this topical umbrella over the years - ero-guro-nansensu and a lot of the tounge-in-cheek works of Takashi Murakami do this pretty well, but even Murakami gets into the sophistry. I don't know what the difference is between Japan consumers and Americans, but if I had to guess, I think Americans don't put up with bullshit, but on the other hand we're probably collectively not as interested (and possibly not as informed) about some of the wack philosophies out there, not that it's any great loss. Lots of Americans have batshit notions about things, of course, but we generally don't pay attention to our poets either (and when we do, we tend to ignore the stuff that doesn't suit our temperaments; so although Robert Frost is quite usually a very dark poet, he's remembered for his poems which discuss broadly acceptable philosophical ideas that happily also speak to many people - for example, the famous "road not taken" poem is much more famous than his darker works).

It's been my experience that even the "must-see" or "must-read" anime/comics (Akira, Pluto the manga form, as well as the originals I've looked at from Tezuka, like the quite insane MW - damn dog!) tend to focus on a concept of tragedy - maybe from duty or some other source - and quite honestly a lot of the pretext for the compulsion towards tragedy seems less than realistic.

The best of the stuff I've seen or read is challenging, smart, and entertaining, but so draining that I've only tackled them at a rate of one every other year, it seems. I had a short period when I read through a good deal of Gantz, when it was still being released, but it was very draining also.

I'm not sure that this really stands in the face of the American franchises mentioned (the Dark Knight series is a good one; it does lay things on thick at times but it is dense enough that it's watchable) and probably our locally-baked stuff has just as little range. Lots of focus, as always, on "naturalism" in TV, like the police shows. They get meaner than Dragnet, but even in the radio days there was a lot of emphasis on naturalism. The other angle that tended to get covered a lot was the sort of chatty program you see in sitcoms. I don't know enough about the range of Japanese media to really speak competently on the relative merits or demerits of either, but perhaps it is reasonable to think that they have some areas of overlap but then approaches are also often different. Just look at our reality shows - that game show somebody linked here a year or so ago was hilarious and actually had a gently intellectual component to it, as well as some trappings of vaudeville humor. Nobody would ever mistake it for being realistic - compare that with the deeply manipulative "Mystery Diners" on Food Network. Wait, aren't there laws against the gonzo game show stunts on Japanese TV..?

[Rob]

I think Americans don't put up with bullshit,

What in the world.

An obvious thing about literature, though. Only the "classics", out there material and stuff from a few (very few) other pop authors get translated. There's plenty of love for relatively normal, really boring short stories that aren't anything like reading through the end of Xenogears.

[Ed Oscuro]

I mean in terms of the really extreme emotional swing stuff. I don't know, maybe I don't watch enough TV. I know some television shows try to build up characters so you care when they get torn down later. Probably the weakest part of my little argument for sure.

[Lord Satori]

When Bleach tosses in random, retard, nothing to do with anything episodes in the middle of a serious story-arc. Save it until current story arc ends you fucking idiots! Thats one of the only things (aside from their thing with huge tits) that I don't like about Bleach.


People that think remakes/sequels/whatever-that-isn't-the-original is just a money grabbing piece of shit, no matter how good it ends up being.

[trap15]

Thats one of the only things (aside from their thing with huge tits) that I don't like[...]

Are you actually a man or what

[Skykid]

I mean in terms of the really extreme emotional swing stuff.

A lot of it really comes down to this. Is it so unsurprising that an emotionally confused race with suicidal tendencies are entertained by madness, comically over-emotional outpourings of rage, anguish and self-loathing? If you're naturally introverted, these super extremes are going to be highly entertaining soul-food, which is why they like to crop up and unnecessarily ruin a perfectly good work of fiction that was walking fine on its own two legs.

Seriously, faux profundity and pointless, ambling melodrama interjected in media that simply has no need for it is something the Japanese own. The authors who manage to get their work out without stumbling into such common tropes usually have the best on offer, like Hiroaki Samura for example.

It's definitely a cultural thing, but unfortunately that doesn't make it any less tiresome.

[Ed Oscuro]

Don't forget Murakami's "superflat" idea, which is basically "the US came over here and was the daddy to us, so we're still emotionally infants." Pretty close to what he's actually stated, no joke. SO DEEP

[Rob]

Is it so unsurprising that an emotionally confused race with suicidal tendencies are entertained by madness, comically over-emotional outpourings of rage, anguish and self-loathing?

Consume a bunch of stuff created by manchildren for teenagers and naturally.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

People who eat their unpaid for food in the supermarket (typically the queue) and then go an pay for the empty wrapper. It's usually the smug 'because I can' demeanor that goes with it that grates on me.

But it's pathetic that it annoys me so!

I don't get this at all... getting angry about people eating shit with the firm intention of paying and right before paying for it? Huh?

[Edmond Dantes]

My point either has either been made poorly or you folks are incapable of getting it because you don't actually notice when Japanese narrative (use word loosely) goes off the deep end.

Or some of us have seen Japanese narratives that don't turn into Neon Genesis Evangelion, which is apparently all that you've been exposed to.

Seriously, dude, I know what trend you're talking about, but its nowhere near as omnipresent as you're making it appear. Where the hell is all the philosophical shit in, for example, Bio-Booster Armor Guyver? or Dragon Ball Z? Or Devil May Cry? Or Devil Hunter Yohko? Or Unico and the Island of Magic? Or Sailor Moon? or or or or... It's just something that was popular for a time and got deluged, just like how in the 1980s practically every anime had to have giant robots shoehorned into it, and in the 1990s a lot of things were about dudes with chi powers. Phases come and go.

On the same note, El Oscuro was trying to say Japan is uniquely obsessed with tragedy. All you have to do to show that this is by no means unique to Japan is to walk to the classic literature isle of any bookstore--most of it is a tragedy of some sort, and even when its not (like, for example, The Three Musketeers) there's some literary scholar who writes a forward or afterward that tries to highlight the tragic elements. I hate to use TV Tropes as an example, but they have an entire article pointing out that books and films that get awards tend to have tragic elements. Artists (or at least, art critics) the world over tend to be obsessed with tragedy.

What was William Shakespeare's most famous play, again? Was it the one where two kids having an affair decide to commit suicide together or was it the one where an entire royal family dies?

When Bleach tosses in random, retard, nothing to do with anything episodes in the middle of a serious story-arc. Save it until current story arc ends you fucking idiots! Thats one of the only things (aside from their thing with huge tits) that I don't like about Bleach.

Unfortunately there's no way to avoid that--filler episodes happen because the story arc actually isn't finished in the source manga, and they have to delay somehow (they don't have a concept of "seasons" in Japan, despite what american box sets tell you--rather, they keep producing new episodes, aired on a once-a-week basis, until the show ends or gets cancelled).

I'd think a better idea would be for the show to just have its own story, and a few anime actually do that, but it tends to cause people to whine that it butchered a great story.

[Rob]

(they don't have a concept of "seasons" in Japan, despite what american box sets tell you--

[Ed Oscuro]

On the same note, El Oscuro was trying to say Japan is uniquely obsessed with tragedy.

nope

All you have to do to find out what I meant is just look over my post again. Easier than going to the bookstore, even!

Consume a bunch of stuff created by manchildren for teenagers and naturally.

This, so much. We definitely have our own manchildes over here making stuff, too.

Speaking of which, I read the first three issues of Gotham Central - the supposedly most amazing comic of the last 20 years. So far we've had a boring plot held together with lots of really generic HBO original series-style cop talk and soap opera. With italics.

Everything is better when you italicize the comic books way. I bet I need some bold in there, too.

[BPzeBanshee]

Abusing cultural tolerance by speaking another language in a place where English is obviously the dominant and preferred language (and I could've sworn used to be in the Forum Rules). Case in point: JAPJAC.

[Ed Oscuro]

Let's get DLC/upgrades for a game I don't care about, PGR4!

Plug in console -> big fucking update, dash looks pretty much exactly as before, maybe a new tab -> forced security code rigamarole -> we already have that email, give us some other email or a number -> fuck you microsoft (waiting for phone call) -> blah blah -> hey, here's some shit we don't expect you to know, and if you need it later don't blame us -> bloop! (done)

Hilarious, I know I wouldn't get this shit going into a Hotmail account, into which more important things might be tied. Creepy and offputting. I don't have anything against it in theory but the implementation is so clunky on a console. Also, if somebody just has your email when they start this, they're home free - they can use "proofs" on any email or phone service they choose. Yay security!

[Lord Satori]

Abusing cultural tolerance by speaking another language in a place where English is obviously the dominant and preferred language (and I could've sworn used to be in the Forum Rules). Case in point: JAPJAC.

This.

When I was a kid, I was chased out of a park by this crazy mom who kept yelling at me in spanish or something. To this day I have no idea what I did to set her off. (and I'm pretty sure I heard her speaking to someone else in perfect english)

[Randorama]

Monolingual bogans, lack of eugenics.