Monthly Archives: August 2016

Minus World: Kimi xxxru Koto Nakare, Chapter 5

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It’s the aftermath of a love scandal in Kimi Nakare Chapter 5. How will Hayato and the rest of his band mates deal with it?

Summary

Jirou, one of Hayato’s fellow members in the idol group WARP, was discovered with a girl. In this chapter, we learn that it isn’t just any girl, but the love of Jirou’s life. Resolving to choose love over his career, Jirou decides to quit WARP and marry his longtime girlfriend.

Hayato in the meantime finds that his school has now become a target for paparazzi, specifically so that they can catch him in the act. Ironically, Nobuko’s “ugly but passionate admirer” gimmick works out in their favor, as she’s able to chase off a gossip mongerer.

However, despite Hayato’s protests and even his own threat of quitting the band to chase love himself, it turns out not to be necessary. WARP is disbanding.

Young vs. Old Idols

The topic that I found most fascinating in this chapter is the distinction between younger and older idols. At one point, Hayato points out that there are idols that have gotten married without any backlash, and their manager responds that only established idols can do that. As a group, you have to reach a point where you basically become a fan’s first love, so even as those fans grow and perhaps get married themselves, the idol will always have a special place in a woman’s heart (and the woman in the idol’s). In other words, a relatively new group like WARP hasn’t built up the cache.

Most of the time, the thought over idols is that love is forbidden because they must forever be locked away as long as they indeed hold the status of “idol.” However, this implies that idols are a kind of evolving phenomenon that can choose to either stay as they are or grow with their audience. At the same time, the path to the “married idol” is fraught with danger, and appears to be only the domain of the true veteran.

It’s still kind of weird that Japan’s most famous idol manager ended up marrying one of his idols, but I digress. I’m also perhaps being unfair; if Celine Dion could find happiness with her manager, why not?

Not Enough Hayato and Nobuko?

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While I previously mentioned being curious over the side characters, and Hayato’s scene with Nobuko protecting him from a prying photographer is rather charming, I do feel like I didn’t get enough of the two of them this chapter. I think that speaks a lot to how appealing they are as main characters, but perhaps I’m not giving the rest of the cast a fair shake. Jirou being a sweet guy is a welcome surprise, as is his decision to choose his girlfriend over his job. Not to say that it would be the right decision in every case, but I was convinced that it was what he personally should have done.

It also made me aware that there are two different love conundrums at work in this series: the career-based one, and the psychological one. Even this brief interaction lets the two sides play out beautifully.

Last Thoughts

I wonder if the loss of WARP might spur Hayato to begin a full-fledged career as a comedian, so that he can stand by Nobuko’s side. Wouldn’t that be nice?

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[Apartment 507] Japanese Manga App Review: Shonen Jump +

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I wrote a review of another Japanese manga app! See if it’s up your alley.

Ogiue Maniax at Otakon 2016, August 12-14

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It’s time for another year at the east coast’s largest anime convention! It’ll be Otakon’s final year in Baltimore for the foreseeable future, so I’m hoping to make it a memorable one.

I’ve also got a couple of panels this year, and I hope that you can attend.

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Saturday, August 11, 8:15 – 9:15pm

Panel Room 5

“Such Dog. Much Anime. Wow.”

It’s a panel celebrating dogs in anime! See your favorites, and some you’ve probably never even heard of! My co-presenter on this panel will be Kate from the Reverse Thieves.

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Saturday, August 11, 11:45pm – 12:45pm

Panel Room 1

“Greater Uglier Manga.” [18+]

The sequel to last year’s “Great Ugly Manga” panel. Once again, my co-presenter and I will be showing manga that’s great not in spite of how ugly they are, but because of how ugly they are. As a warning, this year’s iteration is 18+, but keep in mind that this is not just some pornography/hentai panel. Most of the content will still be all-ages.

See you there!

Love Live! Sunshine!! and the School Idol Median

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What does it mean to create a follow-up act to a multimedia franchise as successful as Love Live!? That’s the challenge facing  Love Live! Sunshine!! To fans, each of the original girls is something special, something unique, and renewing that fervor can be like catching lightning in a bottle. Of course, a franchise like Love Live! is designed to do just that, across different characters and different iterations of the concept, but it’s still not necessarily an easy task. Though I might be jumping the gun with what I’m about to say, I think the people in charge of Love Live! might now have a much clearer idea of what is most effective, and this potentially manifests in the physical appearances of the characters themselves.
I decided recently to see how the physical characteristics of the μ’s girls stack up to those of Love Live Sunshine!!‘s Aqours. Thanks to Reddit, I found a convenient chart comparing all of their heights and bust sizes. What’s noticeable is that the Aqours members are all closer to each other physically. Toujou Nozomi and Yazawa Nico are at the extremes in terms of bust size (to no one’s surprise), but a character like Hanayo who is above average compared to the rest of μ’s is decidedly normal in the world of Love Live! Sunshine!! Similarly, while half-Italian American Ohara Mari is the tallest, the other girls are also relatively close to her. Keep in mind that the disparity is not especially large, especially when it comes to height. The difference between “tiny” Kunikida Hanamaru and “towering” Mari is a mere 4 inches (or 10 centimeters). Already, there’s a certain narrow range median that reminds me of something anime voice actress Nonaka Ai once mentioned when I interviewed her: she wanted to be an actress but was considered too tall. Similarly, Hanayo’s voice actress Kubo Yurika is the tallest of the μ’s cast. Like Mari, she is 5’4″ or 163 cm.

I think it’s worth entertaining the thought that the success of Love Live! School Idol Project, which grew gradually from a modest success to a cultural phenomenon, has informed the current version in terms of what is the best median to take, at least in terms of physical traits. Moreover, given the seaside venue of Love Live! Sunshine!!, I believe that there is a greater push for sex appeal, though I’m sure they’re aware that keeping the fanservice from going too overboard is important for maintaining Love Live!‘s large female fanbase.

That being said, while they’re more similar in size, I’m not sure the same applies to the characters’ personalities. In many ways, they feel more extreme and more adhered to certain archetypes, such as Yohane’s chuunibyou identity, Kurosawa Dia’s “Kanzuki Karin” levels of haughtiness, or her sister Ruby’s ultra moe shyness. The closest we have to Ruby in in the original was Hanayo, and at this point we’re aware that Hanayo is kind of a maniac. That doesn’t mean the Aqours characters are bad, however. In a way, perhaps it helps to distinguish them further from each other.

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Quotable: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for August 2016

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August is full of fun and surprises. For one thing, I have two panels at Otakon 2016: “Greater Uglier Manga” and “Such Dog, Much Anime, Wow.” The schedule isn’t available yet, but when it is I’ll be making a post.

Another bit of news is that Ogiue Maniax has, for the first time ever, been quoted on the back of a manga! The title in question is Sweetness & Lightning:

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I consider this quite the milestone, and I’d like to thank my readers, but especially my Patreon sponsors in particular for supporting me:

General:

Johnny Trovato

Ko Ransom

Alex

Diogo Prado

Sasahara Keiko fans:

Kristopher Hostead

Yoshitake Rika fans:

Elliot Page

Hato Kenjirou fans:

Elizabeth

Yajima Mirei fans:

Machi-Kurada

I’d also like to congratulate Johnny for winning my Love Live! contest.

Perhaps the biggest news of all for the blog is that Genshiken is ending! I’ve written my review for the penultimate chapter, and I already have emotions welling up inside of me in anticipation for the final conclusion. You’ll be certain that I’ll have a lot to say at the end.

If nothing crazy happens (like a third Genshiken being announced soon after), I’m considering doing a series of nine posts to review the original series volume by volume. What do you think?

Other notable posts this month include my Patreon-sponsored article on Purity in Anime, my reviews of the Kyoto subway tourism light novel, Kyo Girls Days, and Girls und Panzer der Film, as well as a report on my visit to the university on which Genshiken is based.

It’s kind of a hectic month looking ahead, so I haven’t had time to think of any new projects for the blog. For now, I’m still watching and reading through quite a back catalog, with the intention of clearing up some time to finally review Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross for Gattai Girls. Luckily, it’s now on Amazon, free for Prime users and 99 cents per episode for non-Primes. So, I have no excuses left!

Once again, I’ll be at Otakon, so if anyone wants to come up and say hi at a panel, feel free to do so! I’m actually a tad shy in real life, and it can come across as surliness, but don’t let that scare you.

[Apartment 507] Why Are There so Many Redhead Fantasy Anime Heroines?

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I’ve been thinking for a long while about the ubiquity red hair as a feature of prominent female characters in fantasy anime. That’s what prompted this article. It’s a bit sparse in terms of exploring the concept further, but I think it provides a nice basis for future posts (which will most likely be on Ogiue Maniax).

Trinity Tempo: The Idol Franchise Where Money Literally Equals Success

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tritem_index_3Anime-style idols (and of course idols in general) have been of the most enduring trends in current Japanese pop culture. Between franchises like The iDOLM@STER, Love Live!, Ensemble Stars, and King of Prism by Rhythm, more and more pop up seemingly every week. Trinity Tempo is one such franchise, but what makes it unique is the degree to which it takes the AKB48 “vote with your money” concept to the next level. That’s because Trinity Tempo exists almost purely in terms of merchandise, with nothing else to anchor it.

Ever since AKB48 and their annual elections, the idea of idols competing against each other with fan support has been prominent within that world. Fans vote by getting CDs because one purchase equals one ballot, and the idea is that the more you love your favorite idol the more you will buy buy buy. Currently a little over a year old, Trinity Tempo‘s premise is that different schools compete against each other in idol competitions, and you get to determine who wins by buying merchandise for your favorite team. You literally get to influence how the overall story progresses by spending cash on character-specific goods, with certain items giving you more “votes” than others.

“Where does Trinity Tempo come from?” you might be asking. The iDOLM@STER began as a game with visual novel elements. Love Live! got its start as a series of songs. All of these properties aim for the media mix, with anime and manga adaptations, coverage in magazines, and more, but they tend to have at least one or two initial starting points. After all, how would you know who your favorite characters or what your favorite songs are?

The answer is… there is nothing. No CDs. No anime or manga or games. Trinity Tempo exists almost purely in “merch space,” where potential fans are supposed to be drawn into it based primarily on their attraction to the concept and the characters themselves. Since release there has been at least one Drama CD, but that’s about it.

I think this speaks to the idea presented by Azuma Hiroki that fans take bits and pieces of characters, worlds, and stories and merge them together in what are known as “database narratives.” I’m oversimplifying the idea, but I think it can be argued that Trinity Tempo aims to commercialize the otaku desire to gather these fragments together on a level even beyond something like Kantai Collection. Whether or not they’ll succeed in the end remains to be seen.

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