The Guilty Pleasures Thread

[Johnny Boy]

Ok, you know something in popular culture, where you know a certain series is bad and sometimes outright horrible and yet somehow you get a kick out of it? This is the thread to explain those bad things that somehow manage to entertain you so much. Remember it has to be something from popular culture. In other words it has to be either something from Anime/Magna, Comics, Movies, Video Games, Music, or Television.

I'll start off with a couple of mines.

The Madagascar Series

This series often has a mixed to moderately negative reception from critics and movie goers alike. It's pretty much your standard Dreamworks flick. You've got your big name celebrity voice actors, pop culture references, the sometimes random inclusion of songs you hear on the radio, and of course they always try to be all modern and hip with their humor (and being a rather serious person their attempts to be funny often fail).

And yet for some reason this series has managed to strike a chord with me. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because I'm a big animal lover? Whatever the reason, the Madagascar franchise can be a bit lackluster at times but overall it still manages to entertain me whenever I watch any of it's installments. And in case you guys are wondering, yes, I am going to see Madagascar 3 when it comes out

[Solkia]

I loved Revenge of the Fallen.

Bite me.

[Agent York]

I get legitimate entertainment out of B-rated horror and comedy films, and on some occasions, I actually think they're very good, despite the fact I know in actuality they're not.

Oh, I know a recent game I've been playing that's been just this for me.

Edited May 27, 2012 by Agent York

[Chaos Warp]

I've got plenty. Bayformers, Star Wars prequels (IMO they are not the devil spawn that many people make them out to be), the Iorn man movie games, the list goes on.

[Stacy]

I loved Revenge of the Fallen.

Bite me.

Edited May 27, 2012 by BW199148

[Nix]

No matter how many boring puzzles, dull firefights, and annoying as hell bosses this game throws at you, there's one thing I like about it. It's different. This game doesn't really do anything exceptionally well, most of the time I'd say it does them poorly, but it's definitely different and has a lot of variety.

That, and Duke's really shitty one-liners practically force you to love the game.

[Soniman]

I like Dark of the Moon.

Eat me.

[Stacy]

No matter how many boring puzzles, dull firefights, and annoying as hell bosses this game throws at you, there's one thing I like about it. It's different. This game doesn't really do anything exceptionally well, most of the time I'd say it does them poorly, but it's definitely different and has a lot of variety.

That, and Duke's really shitty one-liners practically force you to love the game.

I like Duke Nukem Forever because it has an old school vibe I really like even if the underwater parts made one to jump off a skyscraper!

I enjoy Aqua (though not Babie Girl) and Effiel 65:

A song that name drops Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid and Tekken, FUCK I AM SOLD!

[SuperStingray]

Shadow the Hedgehog. Personally, I think people hate the idea of this game more than the game itself. That's understandable; it's like Poochie on steroids, with some of the worst writing I've ever seen in a video game, and THAT's saying something- but honestly, it doesn't feel any less competently constructed or well designed than SA2 in terms of gameplay, challenge and physics. The morality system is actually better than most games have these days in that you aren't really forced to take the completely good or completely evil path for the most ample rewards, and the weapons are diverse and some are pretty fun to use (particularly the egg vacuum). So yeah, I like Shadow the Hedgehog.

[Alice Twilight]

My little pony

Terrible fanbase, worst thing to happen to popular culture today and I despise every brony that lives, this makes me pretty sick.

But hey the show is alright, nothing special and I enjoy watching it now and again.

The animation is solid and the overall story telling is enjoyable for the most part.

Not the best show.

But I think most people mis-judge it because of the fanbase.

[Stacy]

Three Names: Stock, Atiken, Waterman!

Produced such hits as:

And hits like this:

Did you know? All their songs sound almost the same!

My little pony

Terrible fanbase, worst thing to happen to popular culture today and I despise every brony that lives, this makes me pretty sick.

But hey the show is alright, nothing special and I enjoy watching it now and again.

The animation is solid and the overall story telling is enjoyable for the most part.

Not the best show.

But I think most people mis-judge it because of the fanbase.

Yes and no.

It does attract some people that get so obsessed with it some go sexual with it, the Pony Thread simulator video is such an example!

You can have those type of people in any fanbase though, I mean why do people have bring sex into their favourite things?

Edited May 28, 2012 by BW199148

[SuperStingray]

You can have those type of people in any fanbase though, I mean why do people have bring sex into their favourite things?

'Cause sex is awesome.

[Mono]

I like System of a Down, and all my friends make fun of me because of that.

edit: I also like NOFX, which many "real punks" hate. They play awesome fast songs, and most of them are pretty funny.

Edited May 27, 2012 by Mono

[SonicHOG]

This topic is perfect for me, because my main interest is probably one of the most bashed in entertainment history:

It's not much of a shock, as I've mentioned it in topics before, but my favorite character of all time is Barney The Dinosaur. Poetics aside, I'm sure many of you are wondering why I like a character that A. I'm much too old for and B. one that most would like to assasinate for being simple (intentionally).

Having been born in 1992, Barney was all the rage at the time, thanks to Barney & Friends on PBS (For those of you born WAY after the early 1990's: think a 90's Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus. That's how popular Barney was at the time (and also how much adults dispised him)). Basically, you could find the lovable t-rex everywhere: from books, music, and videos to plush toys, toothbrushes and underwear. Hell, Barney even had a game on the Sega Genesis.

A year later, in 1993, I became interested through early episode of the Barney & Friends TV series. Barney himself stuck to me through out my childhood and is pretty much like an old friend at this point. Why I still watch a series for young children is not because I'm severely delayed or anything (I'm more mature than a number of my peers ironically, despite watching Barney & Friends), but rather as comfort.

It certainly didn't help that once I got into elementary school, people were singing about Barney's demise to his (in)famous "I Love You" ending song, sometimes aimed directly at me, being the lone Barney fan at age 7/8 (thankfully, those people were in the minority. Most people I've met accepted me for who I was). In later years, I kept my interest secretive (save for my huge collection of memorabillia with Barney's smiling mug) except to friends I trust. I've since opened up a bit more, especially now that most people don't give a shit. It certainly helps that I'm not alone in my interest in the magenta purple fleece-covered tyrannosaurus rex, as I've found a good number of internet users who also are fans of the show.

In addition, as his original fans have grown up, Barney has been given a bit more of a positive view thanks to those same fans (some who show the TV show to their kids). While the franchise gets a ton of flack for its simplicity, it's that same simplicity that helped Barney win the hearts of youngsters for nearly 25 years. I hope that he does for 25 more, to be honest.

(Sorry that I've written so much. To be fair though, if I didn't limit myself, I could write a whole novel. XD)

Edited May 27, 2012 by SonHOG

[Dr. Mechano]

Super Mario Bros.: The Movie is one of my favorite bad films of all time. I'm not going to try to defend this movie; It's a poorly-written cash-in with barely any resemblance to the games, but it was so fun to watch. It's the epitome of "so bad it's good."

Same goes for the cartoons: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World were absolutely terrible, but I loved 'em. On the Sonic front, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog also qualifies (Can't stand SatAM or Underground though).

My favorite bad video game cartoon, though, is Donkey Kong Country. It had dreadfully bad CGI (models would accidentally go through each other with alarming regularity), cheesy songs, and a plot that had nothing to do with the games on which it was based. And I loved every minute of it.

I also enjoy heavily censored English dubs of anime (Dic, 4Kids, etc.), just because of the bad acting and clumsy editing. People rant and rave about them being bastardizations of the originals (Which they are, make no mistake), but I just can't help but laugh every time.

[...]

I play Sonic '06 sometimes when I can't think of anything else to do. :v

[Yoko/葉子]

People hate the anime (even the manga creators) of Tsubasa, I HATE THE MANGA!

Directly from my site without edits to work better here:

The concept of alternate realities was by all means fascinating, and the (indirect) characters from Cardcaptor Sakura and Magic Knight Rayearth were a pleasant surprise, but eventually, it mocked my memories of some of these characters. The first half of the manga was a little darker than Rayearth or CCS were in regards to violence, but didn't seem brutal, so I'm not surprised that NHK had a toned down broadcast in the anime. NHK broadcasted CCS back in 1998 until 2000 and still have family-friendly anime, so the tone down was not a surprise, besides this being on NHK with Syaoran and Sakura would have attracted CCS fans from five years earlier. The anime had a slow pace, but it was that same slowed pace that made it magical, by adding precious memories of Sakura not seen in the manga. The Chaos Arc may have spun from the manga, but it added new ideas that were considered "bad" by CLAMP. CLAMP was in my opinion, closed-minded about this, they cancelled the anime for being too different. Personally, I don't mind open endings, as it PROMOTES imagination.

The anime was dead by the time of the manga's second half, the tone went from a neutral standpoint to a doom and gloom blood fest. Sakura and Syaoran's personalities and lives were now TOO different from their CCS equivalents, this mentally damaged real people who grew up with their former selves, I have met a few. This may incorporate the "same soul, different person" philosophy, but the soul bit seemed paradoxical since as soon as that second half occurred, they had too little in common with their CCS selves for me to buy the idea. There were similarities, but not enough. This also happened to some of the other characters that were from CLAMP work earlier. My philosophical views didn't make sense of it.

Eventually both Sakura and Syaoran were revealed to be clones and are eventually killed, thus the beginning manga volume was deliberately lying about who the story was about and killed memories of joy, then we learn the whole story is an interdimensional time loop and the ORIGINALS got the ending. Makes even less sense when original Sakura was nowhere to be found except for maybe 3 books out of 28, the clones are brought back, only to be absorbed into their counterparts AND copy Syaoran is the father of his original, these make no sense, besides, "the past and future are distorted, only the present makes sense," CLAMP doesn't make sense! I try to be open-minded to alternate views, but if they were acknowledging philosophies that are known, it was poorly, pitifully worded. The ending may have made a poetic naming of the originals, both being Tsubasa (wings, thus a "pair" of wings), but it still lied about who the story was about.

Abrupt changes in tone messed up the fandom in Transformers in the 80s with the movie, that is exactly what happened here. The way I see it, if you are going to change your story's tone, do it SLOWLY and if you recycle your own characters, don't give them a 180, you will scare some fans away, you will gain some, but you look like the bully if you change things too much. We don't want Sesame Street episodes talking about the Holocaust, or prejudice or 9/11 do we? So the anime knew what it was doing in my eyes.

I know E-rated video games that handled this kind of thing better than this.

Even with CLAMP's Gate Seven being historical in nature, I WON'T BUY IT! I have not fully adapted to their change in story style, besides I find the concepts for their manga often good, but in Rayearth 2, Angelic Layer and this atrocity, honestly, they made pitiful excuses for endings in AL for the main character's mother's reason to never be there for her during kindergarden through seventh grade, and MKR's second half was unrealistically positive, besides, my sources tell me and I have confirmed that X/1999 was practically ATTACKING it's readers with it's story, thus it's still on hiatus. Have CLAMP honestly never heard of, "too soon?" AL and MKR had more realistic, but not necessarily vicious edits in their anime adaptations. The only times CLAMP's versions of these stories had an advantage to me were Chobits' ending and the end of Cardcaptor Sakura's manga, otherwise they were still loveable. So, as much as I hate CLAMP, they have some positives once in a while.

Before you say, "originals better always!" You didn't even read the previous paragraph, I agree with Nobuhiro Watsuki's views on the Rurouni Kenshin OVA ruining his meaningful ending since Kenshin's tone was consistent, yet the OVA cancelled out his peaceful intention for an ending. Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon didn't work very clearly when adapted, so as I said, sometimes the original is better, sometimes your story is flawed and the adaptation fixes your mistakes.

For a time, I felt the same betrayal from CLAMP that I felt when I abandoned Christianity at the age of 11, but like that, I now have mixed as opposed to polarized feelings towards their work.

This will be all for now.

Manga 1.5 /10 Anime 8.3/10

[-blank-]

Springboarding from what Egghead said, I too like anime dubs. Mostly because I like to be able to understand what they are saying. Even if they're from freaking 4Kids I'll enjoy to an extent. In fact, let me tell you a little secret. The Japanese version of the Yu-G-Oh: Duel Monsters? The original series with Yugi and friends that fans love almost purely for nostalgia value? I. HATE the voice acting. I hate it so much it's not even funny. And I actually like the English dub, even though the cast is certainly not the best at portraying emotions at times and a lot of the cuts and edits were utterly unnecessary. But at least I can listen to the characters without getting a headache.

There are other problems I have as well, but the voice acting is my biggest issue.

Don't take this as a sign that I hate subs in general - most other original, Japanese versions of anime I've readily enjoyed.

Oh, and my favorite music genre is country.

Yeah, I had to get that last one in.

[PaddyFancy]

Guilty pleasures eh?

Sonic Heroes for a while used to be a guilty pleasure, but playing it recently I don't enjoy it anywhere near I used to. I may say the same thing about DRIV3R. I loved it inspite of some of the frustating missions, in particular frustrating because of the toughest lampposts in the world, in Miami, Nice and Instabul respectively. I played the fuck out of it because I didn't have a working Playstation 2 so I can play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that was out at the same time. Just at an Xbox and had to wait till the following year. Is DRIV3R still a guilty pleasure? Dunno because nostalgia may lie to me again like Sonic Heroes did.

[Solkia]

I like anime dubs if they're done well. Tenchi Muyo and Sailor Moon are exceptions because they're awesomely bad.

[PeanutButterDimond]

Well, I enjoy the old Care Bears film. It's bad but entertaining to watch every once in a while. Same for Batman and Robin. I also think The last Airbender is no where near as bad as people claim. Does it have problems? Yes. Lots. Some meh effects, oversimplified dialogue and some bad acting. But is it a disgrace to the show? No. It respects it pretty well. it's not Dragon ball Evolution which spat on the Dragon ball.

I also like TOM 4. not as much as the others, but I think he gets way too much hate. And yeah, I love anime dubs as well. Even when they're cheesy, it's charming.

My little pony

Terrible fanbase, worst thing to happen to popular culture today and I despise every brony that lives, this makes me pretty sick.

But hey the show is alright, nothing special and I enjoy watching it now and again.

The animation is solid and the overall story telling is enjoyable for the most part.

Not the best show.

But I think most people mis-judge it because of the fanbase.

Um... wow. I'm sorry that my being apart of a group of people who genuinely like the same show as me is enough to make you despise me but I sincerely think you need to widen your eyes a bit. Sure the fanbase has some really odd and not very likeable people in it but so does every fanbase. If you're going to generalize everyone in a fandom and despise them because of said generalization whether or not it's actually true, the you might as well hate anyone who likes anything. There are Sonic fans who are pretty bad(Purists, flamers, etc.), same for Legend of Zelda fans, Metroid fans, Naruto fans, Calvin and Hobbes fans, Toonami fans and so on. Does that automatically mean that everyone single person in those fanbases are like that? Hell no. You don't see me saying how much I despise every Sonic fan because there are some bad apples in the fanbase.

Personally, I may be biased but I don't think the brony fanbase is bad at all. I don't think any fanbase is actually bad. Every fanbase has good apples and bad apples. And that's all I will say on the matter because this is completely off topic.

Edited May 28, 2012 by PeanutButterDimond

[Chibi]

One of my guilty pleasures is a little show called Come Dine With Me.

Basically, a bunch of British strangers host their perfect dinner party for each other, score each other in secret, and the winner gets £1000. It sounds simple, but more often than not everything goes hilariously wrong. The menus are questionable, strong personalities clash, people make fools of themselves and everyone drinks slightly too much wine. The best thing is the guy who narrates it - he's always making little jokes and quips about the contestants and just brings the show to another level. I usually hate reality TV, but this is right up my alley. There is an Australian version, but it's not as good as the British original in my opinion.

Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about:

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[Ferno]

4kids' One Piece rap.

Cheesy as heck, but it's sort of "so-bad-it's good" in a way, and if you take the rap parts out, it's not that bad (edited by me):

Could've made some decent fight bgm, seeing as 4kids likes to use their own music so much.

[Nepenthe]

I think the worst movie I own that I like to watch from time to time is Good Boy, that bullshit film about dogs from space no one remembers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV8HXIUWRBc

It's pretty cliche' and terrible: Lonely boy who's picked on, lonely boy meets dog and becomes awesome, terrible dog jokes, toilet humor, unrealistic acting, unexplored family issues, terrible CGI; it runs the whole gamut. Yet I just love this cast of dogs; I could watch them all day. They're breeds not commonly chosen, and their personalities are cute. Also, I don't remember a lot of terrible puns that a film like this should've been ripe with. Dog humor, of course, but it's lovable dog humor. Also, this is actually the closest I'll get to a film based on the proper sequel novel to 101 Dalmatians. Yes, there are alien dogs from Sirius in that book deciding on domestic dogs' fate on Earth.... I'm not kidding.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Nepenthe

[Old dead account]

I get a slight kick out of playing Silver's 06 levels. I'm so sorry. Despite the terrible design, they just entertain me becausse I like the idea of psychic powers.

My little pony

Terrible fanbase, worst thing to happen to popular culture today and I despise every brony that lives, this makes me pretty sick

Despite that video also making me sick to my stomach, you're overexagerating don't you think? I can think of so many other much worse things in pop culture these days such as obsession with swag or that YOLO shit. I also, think the Sonic fanbase is much worse than any other fanbase yet I'm friends with many people in it, especially on here showing that even it is not that bad, there are plenty of possitives to the sonic fanbase as well like its massive fangame community and of course the wonderful SSMB. It's unfair to judge everyone in a fanbase based on just its negatives, bronies have a lot more possitives than negatives I'd say, go ahead and call me biased on both accounts I don't care, I'm a despicable scumbag anyways.