Category Archives: anime

Bad Writing vs Bad Translation

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The Eureka Seven manga was released by Bandai Entertainment alongside their anime release. For those of you who haven’t read the manga but have seen the anime, it’s a different take on things with I think less solid storytelling but still has its good points. However, the dialogue in the English language version was often very awkward-sounding. It didn’t sound like people actually talking. Lines which were supposed to be “cool” or “dramatic” ended up landing with wet thuds. I had read a bit of the manga in Japanese prior, but as I finished it up with the English release, the flow of language in it continued to bother me. I had to wonder then, was it the translation, or was the original writing simply that stilted and it was my lack of complete Japanese fluency that didn’t notice it originally?

Whenever I read a translated manga where the dialogue seems off or unusually poor, I have to wonder where the blame lies, seeing as how there are so many people and factors involved. You have the original writer, writing in their native language, coming from their own culture, and then you have the translator, adapting to their own native language, keeping their own culture and readership in mind for just how much they change or allow to remain “as is.”

Is it that the translation is bad? Or is it that the writing wasn’t so great in the first place? And if the writing is bad, do you massage it until it becomes fine and readable English prose? It sort of goes beyond the literal accuracy vs spiritual accuracy argument when you have to factor in a source which may not be regarded as the pinnacle of literary talent. And it’s something that without proper research can be difficult to detect, aside from a few obvious examples where you can just tell the translator was struggling with a very Japanese-sounding sentence. “The burning passionately me now challenges you to a duel!” That sort of thing.

And then you throw money into the mix.

Let’s say that you’re a translator (and who knows, maybe you are!), and you’re giving the script to some work with achingly bad dialogue, like say, Government Crime Investigation Agent Zaizen Jotaro, and as much as you think there are definitely better works out there, you’ve been handed this and your company’s supposed to make a profit off of it. Do you try your best to salvage the bad writing and make it presentable? Or do you show it for what it is? And if so, are you prepared for idiots like me to accuse you of doing a poor translation?

Pokemon Reflects the Changing Times

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The Pokemon anime is making the transition to digital broadcast in the coming months in Japan, and I think it more than anything else marks the beginning of the end for standard television.

The Pokemon anime is older than some of the kids who are fans of the show in the first place. It’s seen some of the most significant changes in animation and entertainment in our time. The anime started in 1998 with cel animation and a somewhat limited budget resulting in somewhat limited animation. As Pokemon reached international success, the show clearly improved, and by the time the 2000s rolled around it was starting to go into digital animation, eventually converting over completely. Along the way there’s been multiple movies done in both cel and digital, and now we have a new era upon us of widescreen, high-definition, digitally animated, digitally broadcasted Pokemon. And that’s not even talking about the basic changes in episode styles and themes that are the result of starting with a primarily Japanese audience and moving into an international one.

It’s amazing, isn’t it? Very few anime can say they’ve seen the world change around them as it has with Pokemon.

Idea: A Comprehensive Guide to Essential Episodes

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Mazinger Z. Galaxy Express 999. Ranma 1/2. Astro Boy. There are a lot of anime out there that are considered classics (and rightfully so), but the problem with getting into them is that they can be very, very long with anywhere from forty to two-hundred episodes and beyond. Because of this, trying to experience what made these shows great becomes a daunting task, especially when not all of them are “serial,” and instead have large chunks which are simply episodic and, while perhaps decent episodes, are not the ones that can really grab people by the heart and the lungs.

What I am proposing then is that a guide to these long shows be made, pointing out the episodes which are considered, while perhaps not “necessary” to the viewing experience, to be the apex of the show. That way, anybody who just wants to sample the show but in a meaningful way (not just watch the first episode or two and be done with it) can do so and fully understand the reasons that show is called a classic.

But I can’t do it alone.

When the main focus is to be absurdly long shows, no one person can watch everything to make sure that all bases are covered. I would need help. Possibly, I would have to get one or two people watching any given show and have them report back to me what they consider to be the “big” episodes, and then check it out myself to see just how good they are. Something like that.

Maybe this can apply to manga too.

I don’t have any episode lists to recommend at the moment, but I-

Wait, maybe I do.

LEGEND OF THE GALACTIC HEROES
RECOMMENDED EPISODES: 1-110

(Seriously, watch the entire show)

Saying Farewell to the 90s

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You may be looking at the title of this post, and figuring that I’m somehow a decade or so off. Perhaps you assume I’ve hit my head and am living a part of my youth vicariously once more. But no, what I’m referring to is the spiritual death of the 90s, particularly when it comes to nerdish entertainment.

You have the End of Geocities approaching.

Central Park Media, one of the most significant anime companies of the 90s, while already in its death throes for years now, is now truly finished, its properties scattered to the winds of which one is named ADV.

And now there is talk of 3DRealms, creators of the Duke Nukem series, shutting down with perennial vaporware Duke Nukem Forever potentially gone for good. In other words, forever. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Ha.

Oh, and this doesn’t really count but baggy pants have had a continuous decline for a while now too.

And yes, a lot of Central Park Media’s properties were from the 80s, and Duke Nukem is a throwback to the 80s too, but they’re also very much symbols of the 90s and a time when games and anime targeted a very different audience than it does today, when Final Fantasy VII was only just beginning to attract a large audience of girls to video games and by extension them Japanese cartoons.

Oh yeah, and Mortal Kombat’s kind of in trouble too what with Midway trying to sell the property.

And sure there are 90s properties still alive, like Street Fighter 2, but SF2 always felt more timeless to me, with its wacky stereotypes and solid gameplay and the fact that it says Zangief is from the USSR.

Wait a second-

Recent times and movies and remakes have shown this point to be much more of an 80s revival than anything else, so it’s possibly that 10 years from now we’ll be seeing the nostalgic return to the good ol’ 1990s when cartoons were good and video games knew how to be fun.*

*Like every other decade which features both

My Response to Tamagomago’s “Otaku Girl Moe”

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Yesterday I posted my translation of Japanese blogger Tamagomago‘s post about the moefication of the “Otaku Girl.” This is my own follow-up to it, and how I feel about the various themes and ideas put forth by Tamagomago.

While I think the threat of otaku confusing reality with fantasy is not that likely for the most part, I do see how “Otaku Girl Moe” is different from most other types of moe, with the possible exception of “Imouto Moe, ” though that mistake can be quickly dispeled by interacting with real little sisters. Otaku Girls actually exist in the real world and are in a sense closely related to Otaku Guys, so the line between fantasy and reality can blur quite a bit. It’s sort of like how most people probably wouldn’t realize that a model’s photo was airbrushed, or that the situations that occur in porn have very little chance of actually happening, but because we associate those things with “reality,” e.g. photos are realistic, we as people can be susceptible to their illusion.

Basically, while I don’t think there’s an immediate danger involving confusing the Otaku Girls in Anime with Otaku Girls in real life, there is a sort of precedent.

I of course also agree with the notion that as strong a character and as realistic as Ogiue is, she’s still just a character in a story. Though I can still hope…!

Another interesting point Tamagomago talks about is what I translated as the “exceedingly shaky” foundation upon which otaku build their preferences for women. I mentioned an earlier example of confusing fantasy with reality, but this one is particularly interesting as it’s almost an inverted example from the one above.

What we have is a situation where an otaku will take a realistic goal, i.e. finding a girl that can relate to them, and using their doubts and fears to transform it into an impossible dream. In other words, they’ve taken what is real and confused it for fantasy, something not talked about quite as often in these conversations about moe we have on this internet.

Of course, the part that generated the most conversation was where Tamagomago said that the act of calling someone moe is “violent” because it strips them of their individuality. Perhaps it was my translation not being completely clear, but the point that Tamagomago was trying to get across was that real people are not anime characters. It’s kind of an obvious thing to say, but within the context of moe you’re using a term associated with fiction and fictional characters and attaching it to real human beings with real depth and personalities. Let’s forget the word moe for a second, and instead imagine that I was talking about one of my female friends and I said, “Her character development is excellent!” It’s still a compliment, but it’s kind of bizarre to use that kind of language with an actual girl.

One more note, I don’t really think calling girls fujoshi is that bad, especially as it’s taken on this specific meaning of “yaoi fangirl.” Words in languages are malleable things as much as some would like to disgree, and the word “otaku” is a perfect example of this as its negative properties have fluctuated over the years. It’s like, I know that the word decimate originally meant “reduce by 10%.” Do I care? Not at all.

So in conclusion, I can’t wait for Hirano Kouta to knock down Tamagomago’s door for daring to say that there’s no such thing as Otaku Guy Moe.

It’s Okay to Propagate the Idea that “Otaku Girls” are Moe, But…: The Aggression and Difficulty Inherent in Moe

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Translator’s Introduction: This is a translation of a post by Tamagomago aka Makaroni-san for his blog, Tamagomagogohan. It’s a post talking about his feelings in regards to the moe-fication of female otaku by their male counterparts. Because it’s written in a somewhat casual style, I’ve altered the language in small parts to be a little less stiff. The paragraph formatting is different from the original, as I’ve tried to make it more friendly for English readers. Also, Tamagomago has a tendency to put key phrases into quotes, a property I’ve kept, though admittedly something gets lost in the translation.

There’s also the occasional meme or internet humor used by Tamagomago, and whenever that happens I’ve tried to find an English equivalent. Translation notes are at the bottom of this post.

In any case, please enjoy Tamagomago’s essay.

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It’s Okay to Propagate the Idea that “Otaku Girls” are Moe, But…: The Aggression and Difficulty Inherent in Moe

I previously participated in the magazine Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyuu 3 (The Study of Modern Visual Culture Volume 3) with an interesting project titled “This is the Kind of Otaku Girlfriend I Want!”

Let me introduce it briefly.

In short, it’s a feature which in order to promote the concept of “Otaku Girl Moe” says things like, “Girls who are otaku are cute, aren’t they?” For instance, something like this.


“A girlfriend who will make a manga out of my embarrassing fantasies.”

…Does not exist! That’s what I think, but I’ve got to admit that when a situation like that is turned into a drawing, the result is dangerously cute. While there are a variety of complications inherent, there is definitely a strong emotion involved when a guy thinks, “Wow, she’s willing to go this far just for me?!”

But there’s no such thing. At all.


A girlfriend delivering a fervent speech about Sega.

Now this is possible. In fact, I’d like to have conversations this nice.
This is what I would call a good girlfriend. There’s no such thing as a bad person who likes Sega.

These sorts of anything-goes fantasies are the kinds of feelings I’m utilizing when drawing the “Portrait of an Otaku Girlfriend.” It’s not an artistic design, but rather one completely steeped in the kind of subculture that surrounds Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyuu, and I do feel it’s the right decision to make.

I consider it to be the right decision because its topic is difficult to really take “seriously” as it were. It would probably receive snickering comments along the lines of, “Whoa, I get it! It’s definitely a fantasy… but that’s okay, isn’t it?” That sort of thing.

That said, in truth I do like the “Otaku Girl” character.

I’m an otaku myself, and so I have no trouble speaking about this stuff, but that’s not what’s most important here. Instead, having someone who’s capable of completely immersing themselves in something, that is the real appeal of Otaku Girl characters.

Lucky Star‘s Konata, Kagami, and Hiyori. Doroko (Thundering High)’s Rin and Chouko. Rakkyou no Kawa (Shallot’s Skin)‘s Maki, Tsukiko, and Ms. Shiogama. Every character in Comic Party. And others still.

Seeing that Otaku Girl characters do actually exist, it then might be possible to have Otaku Girl characters that are “moe,” and can thus be looked upon with adoration. But with this “Otaku Girl Moe” concept you have a mountain of problems piled high up, acting as an obstacle. The “Otaku Girl Moe” genre is one where you just can’t quite get a proper foothold.

The reason is that there’s actually a kind of violent aspect connected with moe.

Hold on, I’m about to do some serious thinking.

From the Very Beginning, Some Went Down the Wrong Path

How female otaku became a topic of conversation is itself a conversation from long ago with no clear origin. However, one particularly important point at which the discourse changed was with the arrival of Genshiken.

With the introduction of Ohno and Ogiue, the topic of conversation became “Girls Who Like ‘BL.'”


The blunt and honest Ogiue is very cute.

The reason why we have someone like Ogiue, who has such a disagreeable and problematic personality, is of course to create in the story a character with whom the reader can easily relate and empathize. The core of Ogiue is that she’s a girl who with honesty and seriousness approaches life with everything she has.

Then there’s Ohno, who claims, “There’s no such thing as a girl who hates homos!”

Oh, of course it’s useless to actually accept them as real. THAT’S THE JOKE.

In one sense, I feel that the idea that “Female otaku go through life giving all they’ve got despite their suffering” has really picked up, and it’s something that’s being drawn quite often now as a result. Genshiken is a splendid work. But we must never forget that, in the end, we’re talking about “manga” here.

No matter how realistic it gets, it’s still a fantasy.

I don’t really think there’s many people who will tell me, “Hey that goes without saying,” but I want to point out that it does not, in fact. As proof, three years ago there was a misunderstanding by the media, and from then onwards a strange and unusual searchlight was placed on the “fujoshi.”

A character who really likes BL is fine when that character is in a 4-panel gag strip. However, when that becomes a sought-after quality in real life, well there’s a big problem. To start with, when actual girls are called fujoshi, I believe they are being done quite a disservice. When you get down to it, doesn’t it sound like a masochistic joke? Even if there were people who called themselves “disgusting otaku,” to be called a disgusting otaku by people I don’t know would elicit the same negative reaction from me.

Certainly, within the context of a manga, Girl Otaku are lovely. But to have written articles for the purpose of riding this wave, with statements such as “Right now, fujoshi are in!” and “How to get fujoshi to fall for you!” and then to have those statements be given in all seriousness, to actually see these things written for people, why it made me dizzy.

C’mon now, it’s just their hobby, you know? Just treat it as a hobby, and then leave it alone.

And then there’s the problem where female otaku in general are now being bunched in with those whom we would call “fujoshi,” and men’s magazines are marginalizing female otaku as a whole. That’s the worst part of it to me.

Then again, men’s magazines already give tips on how to hit on women. Considering the condescending nature of these magazines towards women, you really can’t expect much else.

For the sake of completely removing themselves from the path of sensibility, some have come to accept a great and terrible and very 2D idea: “Otaku girls sure are cute!” Well that’s obvious. But when it comes to actual girls, those same guys will just be all, “Hey, leave me alone, okay?”

It is never a good idea to confuse the two-dimensional world with reality. Ever.

If this strange fad had never caught on, if these guys and girls could simply realize the charm of being people who live for their hobbies and interests and then use it to attract others, that would have been just fine. However, it seems we’ve gone and removed ourselves from that path.

The Foundation of “Moe” is Violent

To see someone actually say, “This is so moe,” and actually mean it is quite mystifying. That’s because declaring something to be “moe” is an extremely violent act in the first place.

In cases where someone is moe for a two-dimensional tsundere character, it’s really just a matter of holding a commanding view of the character, or, perhaps, it’s a matter of cherry-picking what’s convenient. There are no alternatives. If that girl character suddenly strays from the supposedly correct path and gets closer to another guy, it’s often the case that some people will just abandon her. It’s not impossible at all. Because when it comes to “moe,” all you’re looking at is just one aspect of a girl. It’s not impossible, that is, because it isn’t “love.”

However, when it comes to two-dimensional characters, I think this is fine. Those who are capable of loving a character to the very end are wonderful and all, but there are those characters who can only be loved so much. That too is nature’s providence.

They are containers to hold and store the desires of aggressive humans.

But what happens when you take that idea and apply it to reality?

“This person is different from what I expected!”

“This person’s changed compared to what I thought they were!”

The only outcome then, is denial of the other.

These are individuals we’re dealing with here. You’re free to say, “I fell for you,” or, “I love you,” but don’t ever say to someone, “I’m moe for you.” It’s a violent act in which you try to deny them their individuality.*¹

The reason tsundere and maids have been so successful is that they are two-dimensional characters clearly separate from the real world. And sure, there are actually things like tsundere cafes based on these memes, but no one in reality would actually want or desire a tsundere. Even if you unexpectedly fall in love with someone who gives off a tsundere vibe, given enough time that fictional character-type image you created of her will go away.

But of course “female otaku” are not uncommon. Nevertheless, unlike “Shrine Maiden Moe,” “Nurse Moe,” and other similar types of moe, female otaku are to some degree in possession of a “guilty conscience,” a conscience which causes these girls to exclaim, “Leave us alone!” Particularly, those who like BL live their lives burdened with hardships, as they’re confronted with tons of people saying either, “Moe!” or “Give me a break!” in response to them.

“Female Otaku Moe” is a Fantasy

Based on what I’ve read and considered, the true identities of these two-dimensional “Otaku Girls who get the guys feeling moe,” so to speak, are “girls who act like guys.” Of course, I think the easiest example to understand is Lucky Star’s Konata. While she has some feminine qualities, her nature and her desire to collect are extremely similar to that of male otaku.

She immerses herself in her hobbies, and while she’s a little rough around the edges she gives it her all. Occasionally her eccentricities show. Rather, she doesn’t really bother to try and be more “feminine.”


Even if this girl was a boy, she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

‘s why she’s cute.

If we were to turn this around, it’s like otaku are saying, “A girl whose tastes are like mine, a girl who I can speak to honestly without pretense, isn’t that just a dream?” and so the manner in which they’ve developed their taste in girls is exceedingly, and I mean EXCEEDINGLY shaky.

If I were to rephrase the above paragraph, I would say that I think of it as a matter of wanting someone who understands you and enjoys being with you.

Whenever someone says, “Girl otaku characters are cute,” I want you to understand that by no means are they saying that they harbor an excessive amount of sexual desire for real actual female otaku, or that they want to sleep with those female otaku.

For the guys, this is considered “fantasy” and is viewed as a line that will not be crossed. Thought of in that manner, girls then are just a source for “memes.”

If that’s the case, this seems like a good time to talk just a little more about the moe that I myself haven’t been able to exclaim, the “Girls who are otaku are cute!” moe.

It would be strange of me to say, “Don’t moe them!” so I think it would be nice if we could find some kind of balance or harmony.

On one final note, people who with all earnestness engage in otaku activities are in a sense guys and girls filled with enthusiasm, which gives them a certain charm, no doubt. …Right?

———————————————————–

Addendum.

There have been a lot of otaku marriages recently. How nice…

But these aren’t people saying, “I married someone because they’re an otaku,” so much as, “I married an otaku I fell in love with,” and nothing beyond that. These are normal marriages, no more and no less.

Hmm. In comparing “Female Otaku Moe” to other types of moe, there’s too great a sense of reality with the former, and because of that it’s also become a rather harsh subject to approach. Nevertheless, if we accept the logic that “a girl who’s engrossed in something is cute,” it’s inevitable then that we would see girls who are “into” the “otaku culture” so close to us as being cute, and that the level of demand stemming from this preference would rise greatly. However, there’s pretty much no such thing as “Otaku Boy Moe.” At all.


Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyuukai 3 (Sansai Mook Vol. 3)
(The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture 3)
Sansai Books


Rakkyou no Kawa—Moero! Morinomiya Koukou Manga Kenkyuubu (6) (Gum Comics)
(Shallot’s Skin!—Get Moe! Morinomiya High School Manga Club Volume 6)
By Abekawa Kineko
Wani Books


Kyoumeiseyo! Shiritsu Todoroki Koukou Toshoiinkai 3 (ID Comics and Zero-Sum Comics)
(Resound! The Thundering Private High School’s Book Committee! Volume 3)
By D. Kissan
Ichijinsha


Mousou Shoujo Otakukei (5) (Action Comics)
(Fujoshi Rumi Volume 5)
By Konjou Natsumi
Futabasha

If there’s any title that has a relative balance of the realistic and the cute, it would be Mousou Shoujo Otakukei. It doesn’t bother to hide its sharp edge and instead thrusts at you using bitter words like “disgusting.” It’s not just a series which remains closed to outsiders while shouting, “LONG LIVE OTAKU!” But as we all know, lively girls are adorable.

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*¹ Idols, maid cafe maids, and others involved in constructed roleplays excepted.

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Translator’s Notes:

Moe: This is a very difficult word to translate, not because the word can have multiple meanings but because the meaning can change drastically depending on who you’re talking to. It means something along the lines of “passion” or “infatuation,” particularly for fictional characters, and often for characters who are somehow weak or deeply flawed.

Otaku Girl, Girl Otaku, Female Otaku, etc.: Tamagomago uses a variety of phrases to say the same basic concept of an otaku who is a girl, and so I’ve tried to vary it accordingly, but it’s still not 1:1 because I didn’t want to use crazy phrases like “Otaku Lass.”

BL: Stands for Boys’ Love, refers to the genre of guy-on-guy action targeted primarily at female readers. I know most of you know this, but I’m being safe.

Fujoshi: A slang phrase used to refer to girls who are obsessed with Boys’ Love. A pun on the Japanese word for a lady, the kanji used with this Fujoshi (腐女子) literally means “rotten girl.” A frequent topic on this blog.

Disgusting Otaku: In Japanese, “キモオタ” and pronounced kimo ota, an abbreviation of kimoi otaku.

THAT’S THE JOKE: The actual phrase used here in the Japanese is “ネタをネタだと（略” which is an incomplete way of referring to someone who doesn’t realize a joke is a joke or that a meme is a meme. I used the popular quote from Simpsons character Rainier Wolfcastle’s movie, McBain: Let’s Get Silly.

Genshiken: A manga by Kio Shimoku about the lives of otaku in college. Published by Kodansha in Japan and Del Rey in the US and made into an anime by Palm Studio and Studio ARMS. If you aren’t familiar with Genshiken, I suggest you read it, seeing as this entire blog is devoted to one of its characters.

Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyuu: Despite being similar to what “Genshiken” stands for, this is not the above-mentioned manga but rather an otaku-oriented magazine, or more specifically, a mook.

Mook: Magazine + Book. Used to refer to publications which focus on a single topic, thick but bound together like a magazine. The Gundam series tends to get a lot of mooks.

Lucky Star: A 4-panel manga by Yoshimizu Kagami about an unabashed otaku named Konata and her three friends in high school. Published by Kadokawa Shoten, it was turned into a very popular anime by Kyoto Animation.

Doroko: Short for Kyoumeiseyo! Shiritsu Todoroki Koukou Tosho Iinkai, a 4-koma high school comedy which occasionally switches to a more normal panel format, kind of like Azumanga Daioh.

Rakkyou no Kawa: Short for Rakkyou no Kawa-Moero! Morinomiya Koukou Manga Kenkyuubu. A manga about a “former” otaku in high school.

Comic Party: Originally an erotic game by Leaf/Aqua Plus about doujinshi artists, it has been converted into a variety of media.

Mousou Shoujo Otakukei: Released in America as Fujoshi Rumi. The manga is about a high school girl who loves BL and yaoi. Published by Futabasha in Japan and by Media Blasters in the US.

Lady Boobsalot and the Gluteus Gladius

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With American comics and animation you’ve got Vampirella, Lady Death, Heavy Metal, and Witchblade.

With Japanese manga and anime you’ve got Ikkitousen, Queen’s Blade, Grenadier, …and Witchblade.

All of these titles and more center around buxom ladies kicking ass and taking names but always being just on the other side of emasculating so that we as guys can picture them in our fantasies, if that’s the sort of thing we’re into.

I can throw around all sorts of descriptive terms, like fanservice, cheesecake, girls in metal bikinis, girl power, but is there a specific name for this genre?

If not, I propose a few.

“Swordcake”

“Tit Fighter”

“Action Cleavage Boobs Fest”

Or perhaps, as one friend suggested, “Softcore.”

Deceptive Marketing and Copywriting

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“In the future, boys will be boys and girls will be robots!”

“A story of love, dreams, and perseverance.”

“Slowly, Satou comes out of his reclusive shell, and his hilarious journey begins, filled with mistaken identity, Lolita complexes—and an ultimate quest to create the greatest hentai game ever!”

The above quotes are taken from an ad for Chobits, an ad for The Story of Saiunkoku, and the official synopsis of Welcome to the NHK, respectively. And while they’ve all got a certain catchiness or punch to them, anyone who’s seen these shows will tell you that, while the words in each are on some level true, they don’t really convey the complete appeal or feel of their stories.

I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this, other than the general sense that companies advertise their own anime and manga poorly, but maybe that’s merely by my own standards. I do fear that there is always a very real chance that because of the misleading advertising that it might lead some people to miss a show they might otherwise watch, or might lead to misunderstandings when a show doesn’t do well. To use a non-anime example, Avatar: The Last Airbender was marketed as if it were for young kids, but the story was sophisticated enough that it would at the very least be more suitable for young adult viewers. And, surprise, that’s where a lot of its hardcore fanbase is. First Gundam also had a similar problem where its initial run in Japan was not successful but when it caught the attention of older (as in older than 10) viewers, it picked up steam.

Is it all right to, in some sense, trick people into reading your book or watching your show? Is it simply a case that if you told most people that Saiunkoku was like, political shoujo, that it would turn most people away? Is this why Honey and Clover appears in Shoujo Beat when it’s targeted towards older female readers?

In that respect, does this sort of thing actually work? Is it actually pulling in new people who would be turned away from these works normally? Or is it perhaps turning people away who would otherwise be interested in reading the somewhat depressing story of a drug-abusing shut-in who feels his life is all but worthless?


Wait, you can impersonate anime staff now?

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Anime News Network has reported that a man who was pretending to be animator Honda Takeshi and teaching at colleges in Japan has been discovered and forced to resign.

The first thing I have to say is…what kind of balls does a guy have to pull off a stunt like that?!

I mean, yeah, people probably don’t know Honda Takeshi’s face all that well, and this guy created some story about pen names and aliases and such, but to appropriate someone else’s life and celebrity and use it to your own ends, it sounds like an American going to Japan and claiming he’s a famous football superstar in order to get the ladies. How do you live your life knowing it’s currently built on a lie (insert American financial market joke here)?

Really though, we can joke all we want about this guy’s 8-year-long Las Vegas act, but there’s one major problem, and that’s the effect it has on the students. What about all those students who attended his classes and were able to proudly declar that they were being taught by the Honda Takeshi? What about the students who sought after his advice, or the students who were given bad advice stemming from the fact that the guy in actuality had no real credentials or significant experience? How the hell do you so intentionally damage people’s educations?

About the only good thing that could come out of that is that this would make for a wicked anime or manga plot.

Kick, Attack, Contemplate Your Existence: Casshern SINS

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Casshern SINS is the story of an amnesiac robot named Casshern who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where even robots, once known for their ability to live forever, are now faced with the spectre of death as their bodies rot away due to a “disease” known as the Ruin. The only immortal left is Casshern himself, whose desire for pacifism runs contrary to his incredible, at times uncontrollable abilities as a literal killing machine. When Casshern discovers that he is somehow responsible for the Ruin, he sets off to find the truth, his journey taking him around the wasted planet, seeing for himself how others cope with life and death.

Casshern SINS is a remake and re-envisioning of Neo-Human Casshern, a 1970s anime about a man who is permanently transformed into a robot to fight a robot rebellion led by the evil Braiking Boss. As you might have noticed from the basic plot summary above, the two series are nothing alike, and the 1990s remake and 2000s live-action movie do not fare any better. There are very few shows, especially popular ones, that are comparable to Casshern SINS, and it leaves an important question that I’m going to try to answer: How should one approach Casshern SINS?

Casshern SINS is an intellectual anime. That is not to say that the anime requires a high level of intelligence to watch or that it’s somehow better than anime that aren’t intellectual, but the storytelling in Casshern SINS is highly unusual. Unlike most other anime, it is less about telling the emotional stories and more about conveying metaphors and allegories.

Characters in Casshern SINS are not fleshed out individuals with wide ranges of emotions who are made to feel in some sense “realistic.” Instead, the characters act as set-pieces in a greater story, like pieces of a puzzle, like the characters in a biblical parable or an old fable. While the two are nothing alike, Casshern SINS and its approach to characters is similar to that of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei in the way it boils down characters to their basic essence and then moves them forward to see where they will go. Casshern is a conflicted berserker. Ringo is an innocent young girl. Braiking Boss is an Ex-King Former Boss. Friender is a ferocious canine companion, albeit a robotic one. They do not go much beyond their basic identities in order to tell their versions of the Prodigal Son or the Tortoise and the Hare. Characters highlighted in each episode also follow a similar pattern. You have the parable of the Singer, the parable of the Painter, the parable of the Sentry. And of course, there’s a lesson included in each one, a lesson which Casshern takes to heart, similar to Tetsurou in Galaxy Express 999 or Kino in Kino’s Journey.

And also similar to 999 or Kino, Casshern SINS slowly constructs a world of its own in which to tell its stories. There’s no clear indication that the planet is even Earth, and so all you can do is follow Casshern himself along and learn about the world in which the story takes place at the same pace he does.

The visual style of Casshern SINS lends itself tremendously to the way the story is constructed, or perhaps I should say that the story and visuals go hand in hand. The artwork and character designs are very expressive and wild, but somehow it all comes together in a very subdued manner, even when Casshern is chopping some poor robot’s head clean off. In terms of animation, the show basically has two modes: talking heads and beautifully animated and choreographed fight scenes, and while it’s clear that monetary limitations necessitated this format, the animators and directors did a very good job working with it. For this reason, backgrounds and general scene design in Casshern SINS are incredible, to say the least. Almost every background can be taken by itself as a work of art, often abstract, often expressionistic, but always lending a unique flavor to the world it is meant to portray. If the characters are going to stand still and ask each other questions, they’re going to do so with plenty of visual information to go around.

Casshern SINS is clearly an ambitious work, and in being so ambitious it also may have some trouble finding its target audience. It barely resembles its source material, and while it can be very abstract it is not entirely so, which may leave those who would prefer it to be even more ambitious and daring disappointed, while those who do not take well to its fine-art approach may also reject it. Still, I feel that the way in which Casshern SINS tries to incorporate so many aspects of art and storytelling is also what makes it stand out from much of the crowd.