I think the art is usually great, incredible, even, but the stories often seem extremely melodramatic, often along the same themes, and while tons of people love that, it’s not my cup of tea.

There are a few I’ve liked because the story appealed to me and, yes, I do like a melodramatic, highly thematic, genre story if all the elements are in a good balance, but not all the time, and with the intensity that often accompanies manga and anime. For me, my main objective when engaging with fiction nowadays is to relax, not to seriously engage as much as I used to unless it’s a piece or topic of particular interest— and, for me, manga/anime and my “particular interests” intersect less and less often.

But this is MY opinion. Objectively speaking, anime and manga are exquisite art forms that, as a designer and artist myself, I highly respect and support. They tell rich and engaging stories with compelling plots and characters. I consider them both as valid an art form and media as any other and they both have as unique a cultural signature for Japan and other Asian countries as does and mainstream media format of “The West”, while maintaining that cultural identity even while the art/media form becomes globalized. Which is an impressive feat that speaks to the - again (I hate repeating myself) - unique nature of the form, both as graphic art and as a medium for animation and storytelling.

There’s just really nothing quite like it.