Does the disconnect that comes from anime being an idealized representation of the real world make it impossible to achieve the tension needed to achieve a terrifying atmosphere?
Or has the medium just not explored the genre enough to pin down what translates horror well?
>>138608772
That combined with differences in culture pretty nearly explains why anime horror usually falls flat.
>>138608956
Some of the scariest shit has come from Japan, though?
A lot of their horror movies and games are considered classics in the west. I wouldn't think culture difference would be a reason.
>>138608956
... pardon my idiocy.
>Or has the medium just not explored the genre enough to pin down what translates horror well?
That's what I meant to reinforce. Anime is still too small a market to support a wide range of artistry in the medium. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty that can be considered art, but those shows usually suffer from low sales. Given the relatively smaller market, less studios will be willing to take that risk when safer, easier to write, design, and animate genres are popular enough to pump out and guarantee at least enough return on investment to keep the studio afloat.
As sad as it will be for the medium when it comes to keeping in touch with its roots, Netflix's increasing investment will eventually mean that more good anime in different genres will come out.
It'll be accompanied by a wave of shit, but we're already used to that.
Higurashi constructed a perfect atmosphere of paranoia through music and sound effects I had hours of character interaction before anything really happened. It's not something that could be replicated in anime where the horror hit on episode two.
Higurashi is not a good example of horror. Only 1 of the chapters was actual horror. The rest was character drama, psychological thriller and mystery.
I feel like there will never be a "scary" anime because, well, it's just anime. You aren't as connected to it as much as a real scary movie because it's just animated. The furthest it's gotten is creepy.
Higurashi has a great unsettling and creepy atmosphere to it, but never reaches the point where it actually scares you. Another had a good atmosphere too for a while, but the deaths removed whatever horror they were trying to go for as the series turned into a campy Final Destination clone.
Lain had that atmosphere of unease that culminated into horror in that ep about her glitching sister. Haunting stuff.
Only whole work of anime devoted to horror that I've seen is Boogiepop Phantom and I loved it.
The costume is stupid though.
>>138609602
I wouldn't think it would be that hard to get past that disconnection. This, to me, is scary and it's animated.
https://youtu.be/w1j0KEsF6JU
Horror works in animation, but it's always going to seem deliberate and false to some degree, the same way it does in film
The other factor being that animators don't really want to do it. The people who worked on ME!ME!ME! didn't like it at all, imagine how the average animator feels about doing actual horror
The funny thing is I've watched countless Japanese horror, horror anime and even some Junji Ito manga but the only time I ever felt scared was when I was stoned and watched Dark Water. So I've come to the conclusion that horror is only scary when you're stoned.
>>138608772
the anime industry lives on otakus buying merchandise related to the show, which requires a wide range of different female characters (the tomboy the loli the ojou and so on)
a horror show is unlikely to succeed as a horror while also catering to the ''qute anime gurl must buy'' and ''waifu'' culture they have going on in japan, and here on /a/
as long as the most discussed subject of every anime is ''who is best girl'' its probably not realistic to believe someone would invest in it.
long story short, anime isn't able to stand on its own merit 90% of the time.
and cash must flow.
>>138611977
We really need to fix that.
Games have already reached the pinnacle of horror. It's a rather pointless endeavor, really. The hypothetical scariest anime will never be as scary as the scariest video game/interactive movie.
At least action, romance, and drama has viewing pleasure. Horror isn't satisfiable with just viewing, anymore.
>>138614985
Video games aren't the place to go if you're looking for a cinematic horror experience. There's far too much filler you have to work around to get to the parts that actually matter.
>>138615026
>There's far too much filler
That's why games like PT are so terrifying. I don't think I've gone through such a butthole-clenching experience with any other game in recent memory.
>>138615026
>parts that actually matter.
I don't get it. What actually matters in horror? The horror? Well, then even movies have "filler" because nothing can be constantly horrifying. A person's psyche becomes numb if exposed to the same thing constantly.
>>138615121
The story is arguably the most important part of horror. After that comes the sound, visuals and presentation. Video games are paced so a 2 hour story takes 10 hours to finish. It ruins the suspense and pace with that kind of pace.
I thought the anime "Another" was going to finally be that anime that does horror right and as petty as it sounds it didn't go the way I expected and I thought it just worse after each episode.
My expectations aren't even high.
>>138610430
Weird, Junji Ito's work is the only time I've had a piece of written media scare me and give me a sense of unease.
>>138615070
PT isn't even available anymore.
No, anime is a fine medium, it's just that islandgooks can't write good stories.
Or rather, they can, it's just they're stuck adapting VNs and LNs
>>138615225
I think some of the silent hill games, or as the other dude said PT capture horror for me better than 99% of anything else.
For some reason knowing I'm in control makes everything more horrifying. I'm not just watching two teens die horribly, I have to watch a character I've become attached to die horrible due to my own fuckup.
The tension that comes from some of the quiet time in a silent hill game, while your brain is trying to figure out the puzzles and piece together the story is just on a whole other level from most films or anime I've experienced.
>>138609206
>A lot of their horror movies
The horror from them I really like was Noroi the curse and the grudge even then the American version of the latter was better. I find that the Japanese are really at their best with voice acting in anime in live action movies they're acting isn't stella and they sound like they should be in a cartoon.
>>138615284
Junji Ito's work is comical. I get what he's trying to do, he's trying to be weird. But that's not scary. Seeing little kid's surfing tornados and dudes transforming into snails is comical.
>>138615574
Uzumaki's very hit and miss, a good majority of the chapters are fantastic though, imo.
>>138608772
I feel like it would be too much of a risk to make a straight horror anime. Anime visual style makes it hard to establish a truly horrific experience so as a result producers would have to take some drastic changes.
Anime has certainly made me feel tense though. Perfect Blue and Lain are good examples. Other than that, the only time I ever jumped watching an anime was when Chihiro falls down the stairs in Spirited Away.
>>138608772
Does the disconnect that comes from cinema being an idealized representation of the real world make it impossible to achieve the tension needed to achieve a terrifying atmosphere?
Or has the medium just not explored the genre enough to pin down what translates horror well?
>>138615574
I think he would benefit a lot from collaborating. His ideas are horrifying as are his drawings, he just needs someone to direct that energy a bit I think.
>>138615809
Not sure what you're implying here, I mean it read kind of like the opening to a rushed essay but I understand what he was saying.
>>138615809
>being a stylized representation
>>138616651
That's just even stupider, a stylized representation has even less barriers to being horrific than an idealized one.
