Why Action cartoons don't do so well?

[rajillustration]

even it had such a large volume of chill slice-of-life episodes that most people would not call it an "action cartoon".

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]

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]

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]

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

[Cavechan]

Weekly Shounen Jump

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[rajillustration]

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

[IdiotWithPencil]

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]

It might partially be because the target audience for Tapas/WT is probably more female-leaning and generally we prefer romance over action.

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

Preferred TV show genres in the U.S. by gender 2018 | Statista

but WSJ has been such a stronghold for so many years that it's difficult.

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]

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]

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.

You just answered the question by stating your opinion XD.

[DeleteThisAccountFag]

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

[AmazementComics]

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

[DeleteThisAccountFag]

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]

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.

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]

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.

[rajillustration]

yeah I think you and I have a different definition of what an "action" cartoon is.

[darthmongoose]

I remember when I was very little, in the 80s, action was pretty dominant in cartoons, there was stuff like Jason and the Wheeled Warriors, Thunder Cats, He-Man, you know, toy-selling vehicles, but we also had a lot of toy-selling cartoons for girls like Care Bears or My Little Pony. In the 90s, as a tomboy I was big into Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (in the UK, they were hero turtles, not ninja turtles because people thought "ninja" sounded too violent), but I still remember that the biggest cartoons during that decade were things like Rugrats (Rugrats was HUGE), Hey Arnold!, Recess etc.

So... speaking as somebody who has always loved action stuff and who draws a comic in the action genre... are you sure there's really less these days, or is it the case that when you look back on the past, you only remember the shows you liked, and due to the truncated effect of looking back, you're comparing a whole decade-worth of cartoons with the last few years?
Because when I think of action/superhero/adventure type shows for kids in recent years, I'm thinking: Legend of Korra, She-Ra, Marvel Rising, Voltron, Adventure Time, Carmen Sandiego, Steven Universe, The Dragon Prince, Miraculous Ladybug, Spider-man etc. I don't really feel like there's a lower percentage of kids stuff, and in fact while doing market research at my day job I saw statistics suggesting that "adventure" is currently the second biggest genre category for kids entertainment, beaten out only by "comedy."
Also like.... the most popular movies for like the last 10 years have been dominated by action superheroes. Action seems pretty popular to me, honestly, people are complaining about how ubiquitous these superhero movies are.

It's true that on Tapas, action is a less popular genre than romance/BL, and yeah, that means my comic has grown slower than if maybe I'd done something in those genres, but I'm really not struggling that badly. There are a surprising number of Tapas Premium comics that have Action as their main or a secondary genre (for example, The Witch's Throne, obviously, but comics with a lot of action not in that genre include Magical Boy and The Beginning After the End). Action shows and comics now are a lot more nuanced than when I was a kid. Like they tend to have more complex characters and plot, and might have episodes with little-to-no action that explore why the characters fight. That's great for me because it's not only the kind of content I like to consume, but the kind I want to make.

[R.n.P]

I dont think action comics are doing poorly in general, just on the online platforms, I think its just that the online comic making industry is over saturated with ecchi stuff whether it be GL/BL, romance n what not which is mainly due to it being an online platform, a lot of people can draw more freely about stuff like that without feeling embarrassed about it and also the consumers won't be embarrassed to buy it online since its not public, so it naturally brings out more of the hidden fantasies people have.
And on the other hand more serious stuff like action comics will be more popular out in the open and even then since its still a cartoon and there's still sort of stigma around it there wont be much of a chance for the more ecchi cartoons to be popular in printed form since you actually have to go buy it XD, imagine the looks you'll get in a store.
As per comedy and fantasy i dont think they're as popular as the ecchi stuff online and i dont have much of a theory on why they work, unless they also have ecchi stuff in them lol

[mrtoontastic]

Why does the truth hurt?

[Darth_Biomech]

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".

Well there's new She-Ra. Main characters are locked in a literal war so there's much action.