Why Action cartoons don't do so well?

AmazementComics 2020-06-11 21:04:08 UTC #1

Just as the title implies, why do most modern action cartoons fail? They used to be everywhere back in the 1990's and early 2000's. Now it seems like there's more of a push for comedy or fantasy series that lack a coherent story. It also kind of reminds me that even here on Tapas, the Action section doesn't get as mush traction as the BL/GL, comedy, or fantasy section. Any thoughts on why this could be the case?

darkone4587 2020-06-11 21:38:32 UTC #2

Action cartoons failed mainly due to them being difficult to produce and having large budgets compared to their comedy focused contemporaries. While also giving less returns, even less if those shows were also story focused making it harder for newer fans to catch on.
Back in the 1990's and 2000's era they were more prevalent, mainly because they were only competing with each other but with Anime becoming more popular and getting easier access. A lot of companies decided it would just be easier to license action anime and air them instead of producing their own shows.
Also the push towards live action didn't help matters either.

indagold 2020-06-12 01:53:25 UTC #3

I'm confused what you're talking about, most modern cartoons are now action/story driven. Everyone is trying to push out a fantastical beat 'em story driven cartoon nowadays to the point every studio is competing with each other to produce one.

DokiDokiTsuna 2020-06-12 02:19:50 UTC #4

I see what you mean, but I think there's a difference between adventure stories that occasionally have "OH NO A MONSTER" action/chase scenes, and true action series with regular fights.

The new wave of lore/story-driven YA cartoons like Star vs. and Gravity Falls are mostly the former, tbh. I think the most action-heavy was actually Steven Universe, and even it had such a large volume of chill slice-of-life episodes that most people would not call it an "action cartoon".

I think the only modern cartoon I know of that fits the bill fairly well is Legend of Korra, and unfortunately it's still mostly alone. =[

AmazementComics 2020-06-12 02:53:03 UTC #5

No they're not. Not as much as they used to way back when. It's just like what DokiDokiTsuna said:

It's still mostly alone because there is only so much budget these shows can last for before they're cancelled. They get cancelled A LOT, and it's infuriating because they're so good as shows and comics.

rajillustration 2020-06-12 03:39:56 UTC #6

I mean that's most action cartoons. Dragon Ball had a ton of slice of life, even Castlevania took like 2 episodes to just have people chat with eachother. A cartoon that's action start to finish doesn't...really exist outside of a movie, you gotta have those bottle episodes to balance out the budget.

rajillustration 2020-06-12 03:51:32 UTC #7

My opinion is that they do really well, honestly. It's just that they don't look the same as the ones from the 00's when I was a kid. In the 00's we were super into BMX sports and the Matrix was still on everyone's minds, and so we were into like...more grungy action stuff with Batman and the like. Nowadays kids shows have calmed down because kids just like different stuff. They're into gentle rainbow colored things now. They still got action in it, it's just not quite as high risk as when I was a kid and there were like 2 different animated batman shows you could choose from.

Cavechan 2020-06-12 03:54:39 UTC #8

It might partially be because the target audience for Tapas/WT is probably more female-leaning and generally we prefer romance over action. Perhaps the majority of male readers looking for action still prefer to head over to WSJ and the like.

I wouldn't be surprised if we do eventually see an uprise in action webcomics to get more of the audience for them, but WSJ has been such a stronghold for so many years that it's difficult. Maybe we'll even see more from them sometime. I don't think it would be unwise for them to try anyway.

rajillustration 2020-06-12 03:56:17 UTC #9

forgive me for being niave but what is WSJ? I keep seeing Wall Street Journal.

Cavechan 2020-06-12 03:57:03 UTC #10

Weekly Shounen Jump

rajillustration 2020-06-12 03:57:24 UTC #11

OH OK, yeah, I know those guys. I just didn't know the slang.

IdiotWithPencil 2020-06-12 03:58:46 UTC #12

Easy action is HARD!!!
here's a test Try drawing an action scene like from a manga or comic, then draw a romantic scene from any random comic, 9/10 the action scene will take you longer and be more difficult, since its has perspective, speed, movement and all those things comic artist say uuuuuuuuugh when thinking about, while in contrast romantic scenes are basically stills of two people together made even easier if it's a close up of the faces or in silhouette.

Action is one of the hardest drawings to get right, and in animation this is 10 fold, since you don't only have to draw them in one perspective but usually multiple and transitioning it, hell just check any random shounen and the action pieces is usually where they have the most fluid animation == Most budget.

so basically MONEY, TIME & SKILL are why action cartoons aren't being made.

also big shocker, animation cost too much money to make and it's basically sustained by merch and well the recent action cartoons didn't make that much merch money <-< so studios are really stingy right now, not to mention warner and disney the two biggest animation companies are in such debt and financial problems that one has to wonder how they are still alive XD

IdiotWithPencil 2020-06-12 04:11:07 UTC #13

yep :o though I think it's more the style of romance that tapas tend to have then just guys preferring action over romance, hell even the biggest dickflic have a romantic subplot (though a small one) and some romances have great action scenes like the princess bride.

also, women might prefer action more than you think, if this statistic is to be believed

that and that they have quality over quantity, I mean most are generic in the formula but the execution is always interesting and different in some way, plus let's be frank webtoons is a juggernaut also with two titans of action comics right now, the times are a-changing.

DeleteThisAccountFag 2020-06-12 04:33:23 UTC #14

I'm confused about this topic. Is OP talking about in general action anything or just here on Tapas.

Well, for my opinion about Tapas,I figured that Tapas doesn't get much traction for action comics is because the main demographic are for those who want BL/GL comics, which is why it's predominately featured in the front page. Don't think this was intentional but I guess the BL/GL fans won as the main demographic.

Though I don't explore much these days outside of Tapas as I really love the community here, so my opinion may not be valid. What I know is this: the comics I do want to read are more easily found here on the forums than the recommendations (I really wish I can turn off recommendations/trending, it doesn't help at all to find what I like), so I guess it's more about searching yourself rather than depending on the gatekeepers.

AmazementComics 2020-06-12 04:37:21 UTC #15

You just answered the question by stating your opinion XD.

DeleteThisAccountFag 2020-06-12 04:38:25 UTC #16

Oh... well, I'm sorry. Would you like me to delete my comment then if you did not found it helpful?

AmazementComics 2020-06-12 04:39:13 UTC #17

What? No, I'm just trying to get multiple perspectives on the matter.

DeleteThisAccountFag 2020-06-12 04:40:29 UTC #18

Well, I assumed my answer was not sufficient or perhaps even unwanted in some capacity when you responded. I just wanted to contribute to the topic because I thought it was an interesting query.

DokiDokiTsuna 2020-06-12 05:40:15 UTC #19

I don't mean to be combative, but I just finished watching an 26-episode action anime where there was a gunfight in almost every episode (I'm pretty sure it was all of them, but I could be wrong).

Most of the action anime I watch are like that. There's occasional downtime, but you always have this sense of looking forward to the next conflict, because that's the tone of the show.

If anything, I would argue that long-form shonen anime are a different category of "action" entirely: having a serious battle in nearly every episode of a 100+ ep series (that's actually supposed to be story-driven) would be both a strain on budget and logic; it just can't work the same way. Longer stories need longer spaces between high-energy moments.

Anyway, to actually answer the topical question, since I forgot to do that before...I think @darkone4587 summed it up pretty well. That and probably a bit of good old-fashioned fear of change.

After all, the energetic-slice-of-life formula works so well: it's simple to write, and you can drag it out for years if it does well, unlike a serious series that will probably demand an ending at some point. So why make waves; why take a chance? Why greenlight the next Avatar TLA when you can get Teen Titans Go 2.0 for half the price per season? Even if it bombs, at least you didn't make a big investment. =/

I think that's the reason indie media evolves so much faster than traditional media: the latter is hampered by people who just want to make money, and are thus reluctant to try new things. So once they find something that works, they stick to it, everyone copies them, and for a couple years basically nothing else gets made.

HGohwell 2020-06-12 06:57:24 UTC #20

I think part of the difference between now and then at least cartoons go is that back in the 1990s and early 2000s a lot of cartoons, especially the heavy action ones, weren't western cartoons they were anime. In anime, action packed shows are are common as muck, still. Monster of the week is a still a very popular format and so much of shounen is just escalating battles. These days, when I flick through the kids chanels with siblings, I see far less dubbed anime, in fact the most common place to find action anime on TV these days over here is VICE and its on at midnight because they finally figured out just because it's animated doesn't mean it's for kids.

Also, I've noticed a lot of western cartoons trying to be "better" than that now. As if they're above just a fun action romp like anime. As if you can't do both. There's also a move from episodic, which lends itself to monster of the week type action, to serial storytelling, which requires more breaks in rising action not to be overwhelming.