I know I'm getting old, and I try to be self-conscious about how that might color my world view, but what is it with all these new cartoons that seem so weirdly... like... soft?
I don't just mean in terms of art style. There just this general sorta... emotional... squishy... thing... going on. I've seen people use the term "comfy."
I'm not saying everything needs to be Shadow the Edgehog levels of harsh colors loud music and constant explosions, blood, and gunfire, but jeez. Is it just the absence of primarily action cartoons giving me this feeling? Are people getting all of their intensity and action adventure from movies and video games now instead? Have American studios just decided to give up on even trying to beat Japan when it comes to action? Are kids who grow up watching this stuff going to be a bunch of wimpy over-emotional human algae?
All of this comfy is making me uncomfortable
>>77396072
This current generation is made up by hipsters and generally dumb people who want simple things with simple fun and simple everything. They know the current society is crumbling down slowly, so they prefer locking themselves up in their room and watch comfy cartoons while being comfy.
>>77396119
Lolwat
>>77396072
>wimpy over emotional human algae?
It's already happened. But AT and SU aren't causing it, they're a byproduct.
>>77396119
kek, this
>>77396072
BItch, have you watched Adventure Time?
That is a post-apoc saga dealing with the psychological repercussions of immortality, the relative value of human life, abandonment and abusive relationships.
Also it has a castle full of insane monsters eating each other, a millennial bio-engineer god-queen, a universe-eating undead monster, and don't get me started on when they deal with n-dimensional beings that are not even abstract concepts...
That shit is hardcore.
Compared to that, Steven Universe is about the last survivors of a rebel army surviving a century-long war for the fate of earth. And it deals with questions of relationship dynamics, family composition and the nature of life as they raise their cute little human-mineral hybrid into a proper warlord while enlisting child-soldiers. Relatively light stuff.
>>77396140
There are still lots of completely normal kids, it's just that those are the ones who don't spend all their time on the internet, so we never see them.
>>77396119
How is society any more crumbly now than it ever has been?
People have been saying that shit since the first day of civilization and it only ever turns out to be true about 30% of the time
>>77396072
The word you're looking for is "twee", OP. Like "tweed", but without the D. And it's not due to a lack of action cartoons - the shows on now are just kinda sappy.
>>77396072
It's a result of cartoons trying to appeal to older audiences. The art style and action is cartoony and appeals to younger viewers, while the themes and subtext appeals to the older ones. I don't see any problems with it, nowadays we have so many different forms of entertainment and the weird sort of blends that do more than just pure action or pure comedy are doing a good job of making cartoons stand out and have a unique voice.
>>77396072
I was young in the 80's. The style to which I was accustom, changed long ago. You kids don't know how good you have it.
>>77396072
Perhaps it hasn't occured to you that cartoons are made by *people who went to art school*
>>77396251
They just never realize how much of a bunch of hacks their parents were as a generation.
19th century bureaucracy was notoriously incapable of performing even standard procedures right due to the rampant nepotism and need to give noble offspring some kind of function.
>>77396072
>. Is it just the absence of primarily action cartoons giving me this feeling?
Yes
>>77396298
You mean because 80s animation sucked balls and their writing is insulting to the human mind?
>>77396240
That's true, but regardless neither is a true action cartoon. More importance is given to inter-character relations and emotions. When the shows actually do action, nowhere near as much effort is put into it like action in older shows. It's not a move from mindless action, because action in popular shows like Samurai Jack and Teen Titans was used to reinforce the characters development and the plot. SU and AT are different in that conversation between characters does this instead, and what action there is, is usually mindless.
>>77396240
You can show the most terrifying thing in the world to someone, but if do it in a casual, laidback fashion, the impact will not be felt
The only thing on Adventure Time that was treated with an appropriate amount of "Oh, shit!" is the Lich, and he's like in .5% of the show
>>77396072
The term you're looking for is 'feminine', and it's just a style that's coming into fashion in the US, hardly new.
>>77396072
>Are people getting all of their intensity and action adventure from movies and video games now instead?
Well yeah.
Hell sometimes kids don't even play the games, they just watch a youtube LP of someone playing the game.
Besides physical action is so shallow. A good action scene is fun to watch, like a roller coaster, but it won't stick with you the same way an emotionally intense scene would.
>>77396511
Emotional action is better though
It's like having an emotionally intense scene ON a roller coaster
>>77396511
This. Action is viewed as a distraction now.
A diversion when you had a lot of heavy topics resolved and things are alright again.
What they really do is explore concepts of female characters, ask questions about the status quo and try to avoid the simplistic logic of 80s and 90s cartoons.
They would not have included shit like the Ice King being really just lonely, insane and pathetic, especially with Marceline's connection to him.
Not to mention the complex relationships of the SU characters.
And all of that depends on a commitment to continuity and an ongoing plot as opposed to a permanent status quo that does not allow for any real change.
>>77396713
I think you meant physical. I just want an action show again.
>>77396776
>What they really do is explore concepts of female characters, ask questions about the status quo and try to avoid the simplistic logic of 80s and 90s cartoons.
>They would not have included shit like the Ice King being really just lonely, insane and pathetic, especially with Marceline's connection to him.
>Not to mention the complex relationships of the SU characters.
So why can't you have all of that AND explosions and swordfights and shit?
Didn't Buffy become a big social phenomenon by having all kids of weird emotional stuff and thinly veiled social issues layered on top of killing the hell out of a bunch of supernatural bogeymen?
>>77396787
action for action's sake is nice, but is like a technical exercise.
but an expertly crafted action scene serving as the crescendo for the emotional arc of a story is like getting a handjob from a 4th dimensional being
>>77396072
The creators are all a bunch of soft babbies.
>>77396072
Aren't all those shows created by people who were exposed to the old action stuff?
>>77397064
I blame "slice of life" anime/comics, which seems to a be a big influence for some recent Cartoon Network shows.
>>77396713
The combination is nice but in action shows that combination only happens in big moments or season finales, just like- say- Steven Universe. All the other action scenes are just dumb filler, like how half the episodes in Star Wars Rebels is them effortlessly dodging forty stormtroopers because they're not allowed to be able to hit a giant purple monster five feet away from them.
That's the problem with "action shows". As opposed to the shows described in OP which aren't "action shows" but keeps the action in key moments that correspond to emotional scenes.
>>77397240
It's really not
>>77397347
>anime slow down
I prefer them to gay anime action shit to be honest, family.
But yes some of them could definitely be more confrontational and provoke more.
>>77397510
Literally what's the problem.
>>77396397
That being the dominant style, to the point that most animated shows feel "soft" (i.e. what this thread is actually about), is relatively new though.
>>77396072
Networks that still use cable as their main vehicle will push out stuff that appeals to the widest audiences. Networks, like adult swim, or web-only stuff that cater to niche audiences will have harder stuff, including action and gore.
My opinion on why cartoons are getting comfy, a lot of people in a wide age range will watch it. if you want gore and action watch Suprjail
Pretty sure it's because female creators + chibi anime
>>77396976
Yes and no. In a 15min slot, you cannot divide evenly if you ever want to say something.
And action requires setup to be meaningful. So any action scene will take over your whole episode.
Also fights with no purpose or repetitive reason are mindless and ultimately boring.
They are great to fill time because they are formulaic in a way and can take as long as you want. But if time is what you feel you don't have, you go for dialogue, plot advancement and interpersonal development.
Make Galactica 23minutes an episode and you will see how the Cylons disappear from it.
Also, I think we are seeing cartoons made by people who watched too many 80s shows back when.
People who don't want more hero beats up villain, so now we get heroes making a moral argument or villains recognizing their stuff as pointless and making amends. It's no longer about drawing a line in the sand but about solving the problem. It's not about recognizing why crime is bad anymore but about understanding where it comes from and making it stop. SU especially has with Peridot's beginning redemption shown how hard it is to overcome intolerance and how difficult learning can be.
So fighting is in this concept understood as ultima ratio, not a first response.
>>77396072
I feel like you can say the same thing about cartoons in the 90's in the 80's they were trying to shove toy down our thoughts and in the 2000's they were responding to Bush angst. I feel like this is just the natural state of modern cartoons
>>77397547
with SU,everything
>>77398630
Nicely memed, friend.
>>77396072
hardness is a ton of risk for very little chance of success. action figures don't sell, plushes do
Action animation is expensive and difficult. America simply cannot do it, period. They faked it a bit using very stripped-down designs for a little while in the late 90s and 2000s, but when push comes to shove americans can't draw robots or powered armor or fun stuff like that. They just draw a human with lines on him and call it a robot.. or make a misshapen blob with a few random scales and call it a kaiju.
Don't get me wrong, within these limitations, some GREAT things have been made. Generator Rex is a prime example. But when you get right down to it, you can even use quality Japanese or near-Japanese art like Thundercats or Avatar and that's not going to help you because you aren't allowed a drop of blood. Impact flashes get boring, fast.
