I don’t care what happens along the way - there’s just one thing that I really want to see out of this date. No matter how much he bumbles it, I want to see Stark say or do something romantic enough to make Fern blush.

What’s the R35 then though?

That’s undoubtedly true.

But by the same measure, there’s also actually more great anime being put out now that there was in the past - again, just measured by sheer volume rather than percentage.

And while I wouldn’t disagree with that, it goes even further contrary to the rose-tinted view of the past, and thus even further from my point.

I didn’t mean to say or imply anything specific about the standards of one or another era of anime. My only point is that people need to be aware of the fact that they can’t make summary judgments regarding relative quality by pointing to all of the recognized great anime of the past, because that’s necessarily what’s remembered. The basis for any such judgment is necessarily skewed by the fact that over time, the great ones are remembered and the awful ones are forgotten.

That’s all.

Just to note…

There was just as much garbage anime in any given year in the past as there is now - it’s just that current garbage anime is current and past garbage anime has been long since forgotten.

Ditto manga, music, movies books, television, whatever. The past generally looks better because it’s only the best of it that’s remembered.

Frieren’s an odd thing.

I had put it off for a while, and finally watched it all the way through about 7 or 8 months ago. And while it’s not my favorite anime (I don’t think it’s even in my top 5), I’d say it’s definitely the best anime I’ve ever seen.

Others generally stand out, if they do, for some specific things — great characters or a great story or great art or whatever. Frieren isn’t like that though. The characters and the story are notably good, but they don’t really stand out that much in and of themselves, like they might in orher animes, because the real strength of Frieren is that every single aspect of it is top quality. There’s nothing you have to overlook - nothing that’s only so-so but that’s okay because something else makes up for it. Whether you’re talking about the plot or the pacing or the characters or the drama or the humor or the art or the music or the voice acting or… anything really, it’s all excellent. And that’s pretty damned impressive.

SAO was excellent here and there (Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, The Black Swordsman, Mother’s Rosario) and was at least decent all the way through.

It was just one of those series that became so commonly loved by normies that advertising one’s hatred of it became an easy way to gain instant edgelord cred.