[tokyodude]

Is that any different than the 10 of the last 15 marvel movies basically being basically exactly the same?

Heck let's take western indie games where a large percentage of all indie games are yet another smash brothers clone or a metroidvania clone. There's probably at most 3 more genres that make up the majority of titles

In other words that there is tons of derivative stuff is not even remotely unique to Japan.

There's tons of anime that doesn't make it out of Japan (or used to be) as well of tons of manga that's seriously creative. Walk through a Village Vanguard store for example.

[krapp]

No need to be defensive. There's a ton of interesting and creative anime that does make it out of Japan as well[0], but as with any mainstream media, the anime industry is optimized for commerce and not art, so Sturgeon's Law tends to apply. Anyone with a Crunchyroll account, for instance, notices pretty quickly how much breadth and how little depth there is to anime.

[0]recommended: Stein's Gate, Psycho Pass, FLCL, Serial Experiments Lain, Tatami Galaxy, Pop Team Epic, Cowboy Bebop, Akame Ga Kill, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

[tokyodude]

I don't see it as defensive. I see it rather as "other bashing". Claiming Japanese anime has this quality of much of it being clones of other stuff can only be interpreted 2 ways

1. This quality is unique or more common in Japanese anime

2. This is a feature of all media of which Japanese anime is one

If the answer is #2 then there was no reason to say it. It would be like saying "water is wet in Japan". Of course water is wet everywhere so no point in even bringing it up.

If it's #1 then we need proof that Japanese anime has more clones than other media from other countries. I think that proof will be hard to find. Crunchyroll is not Japan.

[wavefunction]

My point was not that various anime is ripping off plots or themes from other bodies of art outside of anime and is thus derivative, but rather that a fair amount of anime is ripping off its themes from the superior examples of the genre.

There is a lot of anime I would rate much higher than pretty much any other narratives presented in other media formats including my native Hollywood.