Category Archives: anime

Brave Proles and Brave Pols

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PS: The Perfect Codec Pack for This Show

The Fujoshi Files 21: Agemaki Wako

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Name: Agemaki, Wako (アゲマキワコ)
Alias: Minami no Miko　(皆水の巫女)
Relationship Status: Betrothed
Origin: Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto

Information:
Agemaki Wako is a resident of Southern Cross Island, a landmass of many secrets, most notable of which is the fact that it houses mysterious mammoth weapons called Cybodies, robots which are so powerful that they have been sealed in the island, trapped in a distorted pocket of space-time. This “Zero Time” is maintained by the presence of four shrine maidens, of which Wako is one. Wako is the last maiden whose seal must be broken in order to free the Cybodies, and the only one whose identity is known to everyone on the island. Unfortunately for her, this makes her a target of the Kiraboshi Juujidan, an organization set on removing the Cybodies from Zero Time, but two of her best friends, Shindou Sugata and Tsunashi Takuto, also happen to have the power to stop them.

Wako is a high school student and member of Yakan Hikou, the school drama club , though the “drama” is more evident in her relationship with Sugata and Takuto, both fellow club members. Wako is betrothed to Sugata, but also feels a strong attraction to Takuto. And yet despite the love triangle and various other trials, their friendship remains strong. As long as Wako has her maiden’s seal, she is unable to leave the island.

Fujoshi Level:
While Wako feels torn between her feelings for Sugata and Takuto, that doesn’t stop her from imagining the two of them together. When given the opportunity, her imagination will drift towards conjuring up steamy scenarios for her two attractive male friends, and though she might deny it, everyone around her knows what she’s thinking.

Why Itou Kaiji is Awesome

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What I’m about to write is pretty obvious to anyone who has seen the life-or-death gambling manga and anime Kaiji by Fukumoto Nobuyuki. That said, I still want to write about what I think makes its titular hero such a fascinating character. Maybe those who haven’t been exposed to Kaiji yet might find a reason to start.

Itou Kaiji can’t hold a job. He’s lazy and greedy and prefers to lash out at the world instead of doing anything to improve himself. He can be a nice guy, but it often comes back to bite him in the ass, making him extremely bitter. Kaiji is, in a word, flawed. But when push comes to shove, and shove comes to deadly knife fight, Kaiji begins to show his full potential. In a desperate situation, Kaiji is brilliant. His mind is sharp and focused, his ability to read others is top-notch, and his desire to survive exceeds all others around him. Amazingly however, this survival instinct does not take away his human compassion, and he is often seen helping the lost and downtrodden. Deep down (and I mean deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down) Itou Kaiji is a good man.

That’s fairly impressive, but I realize it doesn’t sound particularly special compared to any other similar character. What makes Kaiji special though is that not only is he at his very best in a life-or-death situation, but that he is only ever any good at all when his life is in peril. Most other characters like Kaiji will live a sad life, then fall into danger, and then come out of it stronger than before, now fully aware of their potential as a human being. Kaiji, however, shines brightly when backed into a corner, but as soon as he takes a few steps towards the exit, his star diminishes into near-absolute darkness. It’s somewhat of a classic trope to have someone who is only comfortable in a certain situation, the soldier who excels at war but is at a loss in peacetime, the wrestler who captures a devil shark but has to let it go because he has no other purpose in life but to pursue it. Kaiji is like this, but his “ideal” situation is when his life completely and unequivocally sucks ass. Put back into a comfortable position, Kaiji immediately starts wasting his life again.

Inevitably, Kaiji draws some comparison to the other great Fukumoto hero, Akagi Shigeru, who is in many ways his opposite. Whereas Kaiji is a perennial loser, Akagi is an unparalleled genius who is not only smarter than those around him, but can see deep into their psyches and pick them apart psychologically. Both often find themselves in seedy underworld settings, but Akagi almost never makes mistakes, while Kaiji is almost nothing but them. In this respect, they’re about as far apart as you can get, but one similarity is that they are both at their best when their lives are on the line and they risk dying meaninglessly. As Narutaki from the Reverse Thieves pointed out to me though, while Kaiji inevitably ends up in those scenarios, Akagi has to actively pursue them, because he is too intelligent and talented otherwise to fall into them. Kaiji will lose all of his money instantly and rack up a huge debt on top of that. Akagi will strike it rich and then purposely give away all of his money so that he can never rest on his laurels. In a way, I think if Akagi ever knew Kaiji, he would actually be kind of jealous, because Kaiji’s life naturally puts him at the gates of hell, while Akagi has to always find it.

Kaiji is awesome because of how he is capable of representing humanity at its best, but most of the time is an example of humanity at not its absolute worst, but not something you’d present as an exemplar of mankind. There is a flickering spark of inner strength and greatness in him, but it’s his sad fate that it is only truly visible when all other light has been snuffed out.

Now I Know What It Feels Like to Be Cardcaptor Sakura

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Cardcaptor Sakura is by far one of my favorite anime, and I am quite fond all of its characters, which includes its main heroine, Kinomoto Sakura. Back when I first watched the series though, one thing about her struck me as rather odd. In an early episode, Sakura decides to treat herself with some money she’s saved up. You begin to think, is she going to get a doll, or maybe some kind of dessert or candy? How about a nice dress? But no, Sakura’s gets pancakes. And not even pancakes at a restaurant or something, but pancake mix, and she actually gives away some of her pancakes.

I remember thinking, wow, Sakura, you sure have no idea what it means to indulge yourself.

But recently, I’ve been feeling a bit pressured by impending deadlines, and as I struggle a bit to get my work done, I sometimes think of treating myself. Do I go to a restaurant, maybe get a nice bowl of noodles? Or maybe take a trip out to another city, perhaps even another country? No, instead I say to myself, “I’m going to buy some ground beef!” which as you know is like pancake mix, only made of cows. Sometimes it’s chicken breast.

So there I am, thinking that a delightful reward for myself is food which takes time to prepare and even more time to cook, though thankfully I don’t have an older brother’s friend whom I have a crush on who’d be getting like half of my cheeseburgers.

Sorry, Sakura. I understand you a little better now.

Whatchu Talkin’ ‘Bout

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past year, it’s that people can enjoy their entertainment for very different reasons, sometimes to the point that they might get offended if you call it “entertainment.” People have differing values outside of the media they consume, and even those who might view anime or manga for similar reasons can have incompatible preferences in the actual titles they prefer. Conversely, people can enjoy the same things for different reasons.

It sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Obvious, even. But the scope makes it difficult to wrap my head around entirely. The card makers over at Wizards of the Coast created basic personality profiles for people who play Magic: The Gathering (Timmy who plays for the experience, Johnny who plays to express himself, and Spike who plays to prove himself), but that doesn’t account for all of the people out there who don’t enjoy Magic: The Gathering for whatever reason. There’s differing perceptions of what it means for something to be “realistic,” and then disagreements as to whether or not realism is a good thing. Whenever someone says, “Stop being so critical and just enjoy what you’re watching,” there’s an implicit value judgment even when it’s meant to avoid such things; in this case, the value is about not having to sour a fun experience.

So basically, it’s pretty complicated and I could give endless examples of diametrically opposed ways of viewing art and entertainment if I wanted to.

Knowing this, I then ask myself, what should I do about it? Is there anything to do? I can’t say I have any right answers, but I’d like to talk about my current feelings on this matter.

I think that there is no one “correct” way to enjoy media. The person who loves world-building is as valid an audience member as the person who loves mechanical detail, as is the person who values character development, the person who wants to see in his media a desire to improve society or even the person who loves seeing hot girls. However, that doesn’t mean that one should not judge the media they consume or avoid looking at things critically, as the last thing I want is for people to feel it unnecessary to express their own values. I think everyone (including myself) should just keep in mind that because people watch anime, read books, play video games, etc. for what can be very different reasons, and so when people discuss these matters, they bring a lot of assumptions and preconceived notions with them. This can be all right, but without proper clarity it ends up being extremely difficult to talk with someone who has very different values in regards to entertainment, as if you had two people stranded on separate islands trying to communicate by shouting (and also the water is shark-infested so don’t even try swimming).

I guess what I’m hoping for is the acknowledgement that people can enjoy what they watch for their own reasons, but to prevent that from just meaning that any and all discussions regarding artistic worth (or whatever) just go out the window, and I think the key to this is being able to express why you like the things that you like.

Kaiji Season 2 Truly is MAX

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You Tell Them, Announcer!

And Then He Bunker Rushed Shabranigdo

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(Don’t worry, this is from last season so it isn’t a spoiler.)

Anime 2011: Armored Hotel Almelo

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This past Saturday I found myself on the train heading towards the eastern part of the Netherlands, stopping just a few miles away from the German border. It was my actually my first time that far out east, but I wasn’t there to sight-see, I was there to attend an anime con. And not just any anime con, but Anime!

Living in a new and unfamiliar country, I had decided months ago that I would use my current situation as an opportunity to get an idea of anime fandom outside of the United States and Japan. I had previously attended Tsunacon, a relatively small one-day event held in Sliedrecht (but moving to Rotterdam starting next year), but Anime 2011 was my first time at a full-out 3-day Dutch anime convention. Though I was only able to attend Saturday, I still felt a strong sense of love for anime, manga, and video games.

Arriving in Almelo after a nearly three-hour trip, it was a short and pleasant walk through an open-air market to Theaterhotel Almelo, called so because it actually features a theater room capable of seating hundreds, something which makes Theaterhotel Almelo a good fit for an anime convention. Benefitting tremendously from gorgeous, 80-degree weather (that’s about 27 degrees Celsius), the spacious front area of the hotel acted as a nice spot for attendees to relax, pose for photos, and take a smoke break.

At three stories tall, and a restricted maximum attendance of 2500, Anime 2011 at Theaterhotel Almelo was not quite as large as the American conventions I’m used to, with Otakon boasting over 30,000 attendees last year, the fact that it was held in a hotel made it comfortably familiar to me, as it reminded me of my early convention experiences. Though, the fact that Anime con is actually only one of three anime conventions total in the Netherlands, and considered large for a Dutch con, should give readers an of the sheer difference in scale. In fact, in the Dealers’ Room, I had struck up a brief conversation with a Dutch attendee about precisely this topic. In a way, it made Otakon and Anime Expo sound downright legendary.

Speaking of the Dealer’s Room, I heard a familiar sound there, that of the loud exclamation of “Yaoi” and how it is probably fresh and hot and available here. Was that something which this con shared with the American ones? Was it actually universal?

Not quite, it was actually doujinshi seller Hendane’s Netherlands debut. He had heard about Anime 2011 from his time in a Dealer’s Room in Denmark. Asking him what sold well here, he said it’s pretty much the same everywhere, though what varies is the amount of disposable income that the young fans have. In Denmark, they’re apparently loaded. In the Netherlands, that is significantly less the case. The guy was doing his best to push Touhou, though I get the feeling that it hasn’t quite made its mark on the fandom here, even if I did photograph a Cirno cosplayer at Tsunacon.

Going around the rest of the dealer’s room, I also asked a few of the vendor what sold best for them. The most consistent answer was Lucky Star, which I find interesting for a number of reasons, most of them having to do with the age of that show. While certainly not old, in terms of anime fan memory it’s quite a few years in, and to see it maintain some kind of longevity was a pleasant surprise. One vendor also said that One Piece sold very well for them, which was also somewhat unexpected. Was there something about Oda’s title that gave it relatively more otaku clout here than in the US?

Just like Tsunacon, the Artist’s Alley and Dealer’s Room were one and the same, and so before I left I decided to pick up a fan-made magazine. And as I said last time, the artists at the con seem to showcase their output primarily in comics form, as opposed to individual illustrations (though those were still available). In a way, it reminded me of Japanese doujin events, and it’s actually something I kind of prefer over the US Artist’s Alleys.

Having missed out on the AMV competition last time, I made an effort to go check it out here, though by the time I got to the aforementioned large theater where it was being held, it was already full and I could not stay long. The AMV competition was sponsored by Archonia, the largest distributor of anime goods in Europe, which makes them a very familiar name to those living in Europe but probably unknown outside of it. They were actually in the Dealer’s Room. Before I left, I got a glimpse of an AMV featuring Naga the White Serpent from Slayers to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Makes sense to me.

Around this time, I was feeling the need to take a break, and noticed that Anime 2011 had its very own maid cafe. Normally, I’m not big on maid cafes, but I saw one thing and I had to go: the maids were actually taking orders or serving food. Now that might not sound like a big deal, but let’s put it into perspective a little. New York Anime Festival has touted their own “maid cafe” for a few years now, except that the Jacob Javits Center in which the NYAF takes place has its own unique rules, namely that non-union workers cannot handle food. In other words, the only thing the “maids” are good for at NYAF is posing for photos, which is not to detract from their efforts in entertaining con-goers, but it’s just not quite the same. Seeing that these girls at Anime 2011 had no odd rules to deal with, and also seeing that their menu consisted of a combination of Japanese snacks and Dutch treats, I decided to sit down to some waffle and bitter lemon soft drink. As I looked around, I noticed that the customers were pretty even in terms of gender diversity.

Given the size limitations of the hotel, the convention could not have very many panels and workshops, though there were still a decent number. Of the activities at Anime 2011 though, only one of them resembled the kind of fan panel you would typically see at an American convention. Titled simply “Your Anime Sucks,” it was a guy at the front of the room doing his best to lightheartedly rag on any title you gave him. To keep it easy on everyone, primarily mainstream titles were preferred (and silly me, I thought Akagi was a mainstream title. Whoops!). Interestingly, the guy made an explicit point of using English instead of Dutch, because of the fact that he found Dutch as a language ill-equipped for the task at hand, whether it meant a lack of sufficient wordplay or just not enough derogatory phrases in the language. The guy put in a good effort, and if I had any suggestion to make to him, it is that he doesn’t dive deeply enough into the fabric of the shows to tear them apart. That, and his criticism of the Fate/Stay Night anime didn’t involve mentioning the CG dragon inside Saber’s vagina at all.

Possibly the most impressive part of this convention was its Game Room. Filled with Japanese-style sit-down arcade machines, obscure items like Evangelion pachinko and a Vectrex, all of the newest titles and consoles, and of course Dance Dance Revolution, Anime 2011’s Game Room was good enough for a con ten times its size. Wandering around, I heard an oddly familiar song, which turned out to be the Futari wa Precure opening coming out of a Taiko no Tatsujin game, and it took me back to when I was in Japan, playing that very same song on a machine in Akihabara. It made me reflect a little on how lucky I’ve been to live in so many different places in the world.

Another good feature of this game room was the fact that it was right next to the outdoors, which meant that fresh air was coming into it the whole time. If there is a cure for Game Room funk at conventions, it is actual air circulation.

I tried my hand at a little Super Smash Bros. Brawl where I was clearly rusty, moving on to an unusual Sega wrestling game, and then a couple of fighting games, where I got frustrated by the fact that I was unable to defeat the CPU Sol Badguy in Guilty Gear X. It also reminded me that I simply never got used to arcade sticks.

The last event of the evening was the concert with the convention’s guests of honor, the electronic band Aural Vampire. Sadly, I had a train to catch so I couldn’t stay for the whole concert but I actually enjoyed their music more than I thought I would. Comprised of gothic vocalist Exo-Chika and masked DJ Raveman (who I hear from good sources plays the blazin’ beat), their performance was fun and engaging, and I’d like to see them again, either here in the Netherlands or perhaps even in the United States. Photography was not allowed though, so you’ll have to settle for this picture of Clara the cow, one of two convention mascots. Its owner, not pictured here (but pictured on the official site), is a magical farm-girl named Marieke.

Overall, Anime 2011 was a different experience from both Tsunacon and the American conventions I’m used to, but still familiar enough that I could really feel that anime con atmosphere. If I have any regrets from the convention, they have to do with some necessary concessions on my part. As mentioned in the beginning, it’s a hotel con but I could only stay for one day, and I know from experience that having a convention involve commuting gives it a different impression. In that sense, I probably did not experience the true Anime 2011, especially because I could not be around for one of their signature events, the “Ecchimated Music Video” competition, i.e. an 18+ AMVs contest, which is something totally non-existent in the US as far as I know. I also could not convince anyone I knew to go to the convention with me, so it ended up being a solitary affair. Again, while still fun, conventions are made better by friends. Maybe next time I’ll go, I’ll be able to trick someone into attending as well.

Hanasaku Iroha and Its “Conflict of Interest”

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Hanasaku Iroha, one of the new shows of the current season, is unusually divisive in an equally unusual way. Whereas most shows will divide people according to whether they love or hate it as a whole, Hanasaku Iroha has its fans disagreeing as to which specific episodes are the good ones and which are the wastes of time. I think the reason that this is happening is not just because different fans have different tastes and preferences, but because Hanasaku Iroha is a generically (as in genre) transitional show with a contradictory feel to its purpose and the purpose given to it by fans.

The basic premise of the show is that a teenage girl, Ohana, has to move in with her grandmother, who runs an inn. Ohana, leaving behind a boy and the rest of her old hometown, has to adjust to working at the inn and figuring out how to get along with all the personalities at the inn. It’s a big change in her life, but she enjoys it day by day. In other words, Hanasaku Iroha has both elements of a coming-of-age story and slice of life, and this is where the conflict lies, as the two are mutually incompatible in certain ways (though I think they can work well together, and Hanasaku Iroha is one such example).

Coming-of-age stories are primarily about the transition from childhood to adulthood. They are about growth. Gurren-Lagann is absolutely full of this. Slice of life stories on the other hand are about the every-day. Even if time moves forwards, the characters do not have to. The girls of Hidamari Sketch don’t ever have to change. Those are very different values, and Hanasaku Iroha has some of both, so I think it’s easy to see why someone can look at episode 1, which has a good deal of the coming-of-age element, and find it to be one of the weaker episodes of the series, and then look at episode 3, which was more every-day hijinks, and regard that as one of the better. On the flip side, it’s just as easy to see why someone would argue the opposite, and say that episode 1 is particularly strong. Overall, it results in a very character-based show where the story moves ahead primarily through subdued character development, and it is something that might not be terribly apparent because of how Hanasaku Iroha sits at the cross-section of two disparate genres.

I believe Hanasaku Iroha to be part of a larger transitional trend in anime, even if other shows aren’t quite doing the same thing as Hanasaku Iroha. Many anime since, let’s say, Evangelion for a convenient starting point, have been about expressing a certain sense of melancholic loneliness which manifests itself into several forms, from oft-mentioned topics such as hikikomori, to simply depression. If not, they have been about soothing those feelings, being a remedy for unease and internal strife, and I think the interaction between these two routes can even roughly approximate the development of moe over the past decade and a half. Both have been very good for anime and its viewers I think, but now we’re starting to see shows not just address those negative feelings but try to encourage people to find solutions for them, or at least try to show people moving forward and growing. Ano Hana, which is also running this season, shows a group of kids trying to mend their friendship and personal problems after drifting apart. Madoka Magica, for all of its gloom, leaves hope on the table. Fractale takes a look at a society of isolation. Even K-On!, which follows the “time passing with no real change” formula almost to a tee has the younger character Azusa feeling the impact of the four main girls upon her life, particularly their corrupting (but unconsciously welcome) influence upon her work ethic.

For Hanasaku Iroha, the divisiveness that springs forth from the contradiction between coming-of-age and slice-of-life is how this period of change manifests itself.

Gurren-Lagann 5th Opening

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LAZENGANN, OVERLORD!!!