Category Archives: anime

Fair Post, Fair Deal

Posted on by

Today, an idea came to me.

I would release a series of woodblock prints to the public. People would be able to purchase these woodblock, which would be comprised of fantastic images of various beasts and mythological creatures. Then, collectors would be able to take these prints and combine them into thick, accordion-like booklets and compete against other collectors. The rules of competition would be sophisticated, deep, and complex but simple enough that anybody could begin playing.

And this game would be called…

U-Ki-Yoh!

The Active Pursuit of Anime and the Effects Thereof

Posted on by

Anime fans in the west have had a long history of actively seeking out their anime. Be it trading tapes, taking time out of your day specifically to go to anime clubs, figuring out the arcane secrets required to get shows off of irc, learning how to use bittorrent, or even searching on Youtube, there has always been the push to find more anime. There is a sort of mental devotion, however small, to finding new shows or finding more of a particular show, and I believe that just as much as it is a reflection of the hardcore fan’s mindset, it can also influence that mindset as well. It is both cause and effect.

When one downloads or otherwise looks for episodes of Pretty Cure, there’s some sort of labor involved, and from that labor it makes sense to want sufficient value in return, to (misappropriately) use some of Karl Marx’s terminology.  Thus, when that episode of Pretty Cure has no progress, when it feels like the last episode, disappointment occurs. Then you might think, “This show isn’t worth my time.” And it might not be. However, keep in mind that most anime in Japan is shown on TV, and the TV acts as a passive medium for most mainstream shows. Anime like Pretty Cure air on weekend mornings, so there’s no need for staying up late or setting a VCR or Tivo. It, like so many other shows, becomes simply a part of a weekly routine, something that can be enjoyed in addition to other activities by the viewer, such as eating breakfast.

It becomes a custom, like saying hi to your neighbor every morning (feel free to substitute neighbor with anyone else). Anyone who woke up for Saturday Morning Cartoons is probably familiar with this feeling. Sure, there are shows you like more than others, or would have to sacrifice one for the other if they aired at the same time on different channels, but the familiarity makes it less of a new shirt and more of a warm blanket.

Having started to watch Eureka Seven in Japan, I originally thought it was going to be a warm blanket, that Eureka Seven would be mostly episodic and carried on the characters’ strong personalities and their interactions. When I noticed those interactions causing permanent changes in those characters, I became more involved, and before long it started to become an active pursuit, where I would purposely go to sleep early on Saturdays to catch Eureka Seven early Sunday morning. I think this gradual shift from blanket to shirt is part of what made me so fond of the show.

I think some of the success (or lack thereof) of anime aired on TV in the US has very much to do with being situated in a way that makes them accessible to passive viewers. Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing aired at convenient, after-school time slots. Cowboy Bebop was on around midnight, when it’s late but not too late. Gundam SEED was saddled by a poor time slot that got progressively worse. Adult Swim seems to be pushing Code Geass off a cliff with a 5am time slot, and I think they are well aware of the active/passive fandom dichotomy that occurs. I mean, you could say that viewers should just set their vcr’s to record, but then that involves labor, and the viewer then pretty much has to be a fan.

And while it’s great to be an anime fan, not everyone who is a potential viewer or a potential fan starts off this way.

Passers By

Posted on by

Ogiue the Moldbreaker

Posted on by

My fondness for Daidouji Tomoyo predates my obsession with Ogiue by a number of years. At one point, pre-Ogiue, I was talking with someone online, who mentioned that in his opinion Hotaru from Sailor Moon is a “better” Tomoyo. I held nothing against him despite his being completely wrong, but remembering this brief conversation got me to thinking about how many characters I would call variations of Ogiue’s character-type. Ogi-esque, if you will. After much deliberation, it dawned on me that no such other characters exist. Other fujoshi characters bear little resemblance to Ogiue, and are typically much more cheerful. It’s easy to call Ogiue a tsundere, but her tsundere is like nothing else. It’s not even a stronger type of tsundere, like with Kugimiya characters, but it’s a unique flavor full of body and depth that leaves you satisfied.

I think it has to do with Ogiue being a very balanced, well-rounded character. She has this mix of passion and repression that comes out in everything she does. Her simple one-word responses speak volumes as to the kind of person she actually is, particularly because throughout the story she tries her best to hide her true self. And certainly there are characters who often don’t say what they actually think or feel, but this attribute occurs much more frequently on far more aggressive characters.

Or maybe I’m just incredibly biased. Which I am. But I’m still right.

A Source Not Worth Citing

Posted on by

According to MSNBC’s recent article on anime and otaku culture, not only is anime NOT KIDS’ STUFF, but apparently lolicon is short for “lolita + comics.” Oh, and Gurren-Lagann and Urotsukidoji can be mentioned in the same breath with ease.

The writer makes some valid points, such as the division between 2d and 3d among a portion of the otaky population, but It does no one any favors when a mainstream news service such as MSNBC posts an article full of logical leaps so astounding they’d have taken the gold at Beijing. Students of all ages eager to write their school essays on anime, or even relatively inexperienced academics trying to examine fandom from a broader scale might actually take this article seriously. And if anime-related academia on any scale is ever going to improve, we need to not have yet another “BAM! POW! COMICS AREN’T JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE”-type article, no matter how dressed up it is with hipper, modern references like Gurren-Lagann or Akihabara.

また馬から落ちてしまった: Continuing Adventures in JLPT2 (Non-)Studying

Posted on by

I’ve registered for the JLPT2, which happens December 7th, 2008. As a reminder, registration ends around September 20th, so get a move on it if you plan on seeing just how much Japanese you know while under the pressure of a test environment with a test purposely designed to fool you.

After Otakon, my studying had dropped significantly, and I found myself forgetting kanji i thought I knew. Alarmed, I became determined to study more with the help of a friend. I answered some sample questions from the JLPT2 and got most of them right. However, being correct doesn’t matter if you don’t actually answer all of the questions, and this is where I learned the harsh reality of the JLPT2: It is a LOT of questions in very little time. One section wants you to answer 100 questions in 40 minutes, leaving you actually less than 30 seconds per question. Granted, you only need to get 60% of the test correct in order to pass, but the pressure of that time limit is so harsh it’ll cause me to lose 2 PP every time I attack.

I also have been trying to improve my listening comprehension, and decided to be all hardcore about it and listen to the Nikkei News Podcast. What I learned is that I can understand Japanese commercials (or rather the between-news-segments promos) a hell of a lot better than I can understand news about business and economics. Maybe if I listen to it 10 more times I could actually understand 50% of it.

it’s only a few months away so I need to buck up and study more. You may or may not see a decrease in post that are actually about anime.

Love the Robot: Dreaming of Great Mecha Anime

Posted on by

In a dream a few nights ago, I found myself sitting in a restaurant tasked with making a list of attributes necessary for a great giant robot anime. I didn’t get very far in the list, being able to only list one tenet of a great mecha anime, but it sat very prominently in my mind, even making it past my dream memory into reality, something that sadly does not happen to most of my dreams.

Rule #1 of great giant robot anime: Giant Robots have to be important.

It wasn’t those exact words, but the whole point of this first rule is that you cannot call something a good giant robot anime if the viewer believes that the show would be better without giant robots. This is not to say that any show is made better with giant robots (Kannazuki no Miko is proof of that), or that a show without giant robots is somehow worse. Nor is it to say that giant robots have to be prominently displayed in the anime.

What there cannot be is disdain towards the giant robot from the creators and viewers. The giant robot cannot be pushed to the ignored or regarded as some kind of detriment to the show itself.

This came to me in a dream, but I realize that I believe strongly in it. As for rules 2 through 10 and beyond, well who knows. Rule #1 might be all that’s truly needed.

Beyond the T-Shirt: Otaku Apparel, or Lack Thereof

Posted on by

The stereotypical image of an otaku is an overweight or underweight person wearing a t-shirt sporting an anime character on the front and possibly the back. Pants-wise, he’s wearing some kind of jeans or shorts or something. Maybe this is draped in a beat up black trenchcoat in an attempt to look cool. Otaku tend not to be known as very fashionable people unless they’re in the midde of cosplay. One look at anime-themed clothing however, and you begin to realize that it’s pretty much all t-shirts. I think the problem lies not with the otaku’s lack of fashion sense, but simply the fact that there is not enough variety in clothing for otaku to proudly display their fandom.

Uniqlo, with its Shounen Sunday 50th Anniversary, and the recent Pokemon 151, have both been attempts to push this kind of geek apparel into higher fashion, but in the end they’re still t-shirts. You also have the clothes which only vaguely hint at their relationship to anime, and those are fine for what they are, be they from Hot Topic or a super nice Eureka Seven t-shirt (seriously I love those). What I want to see though is clothing that clearly shows its anime roots that can be worn for different sorts of occasions and for different effects.

Why not some polo anime shirts? Why not pull the anime logos and character away from the shirt and towards the pants and skirts and dresses? Then, change up the types of pants. Why not have pair of capris pants with Kenshin on the side or something, for you Hitokiri Battousai fans? Rather than having a Lucky Star t-shirt with a school swimsuit on it, why not have a vest which when buttoned up resembles that swimsuit? You have the Hello Kitty business suit, but why not the Golgo 13 business suit, made to look just like Mr. Togo’s?

I have no intention to hate on the anime t-shirt. I simply lament the sad and lonely state of its existence. If only some kind-hearted designer would take its proverbial rib and create for it an Anime-Clothing Eve, all would be well.

And no, the shoulder bag is not Anime-Clothing Eve.

A Guide to the Characters of Xam’d: Lost Memories

Posted on by

Takehara Akiyuki

Nishimura Haru

Nakiami

Teraoka Furuichi

Nazuna

Kakisu Toujirou

Benikawa Ishuu

Dissidia: Final Fantasy has an AMAZING voice cast

Posted on by

I’m not the biggest Final Fantasy fan, but watching the new trailer for the upcoming PSP crossover Final Fantasy fighting game, Dissidia, I came out completely blown away by the voice cast. It is one of the best voice casts you will EVER see in a video game, take my word for it.

I couldn’t find a single guide, so for my convenience and yours, here’s a list of all voices revealed so far. As more voices and characters are announced, I’ll continue to update this list.

By the way, the names are spelled as they are on the official site, so don’t complain that Kefka is Cefca, I’m just going by what’s there.

Last Updated 10/16/2008.

Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy): Seki Toshihiko (Legato Bluesummers, Trigun)

Frioniel (Final Fantasy II): Midorikawa Hikaru (Zelgadis, Slayers)

Onion Knight (Final Fantasy III): Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch Lamperouge, Code Geass)

Cecil Harvey (Final Fantasy IV): Hodoshima Shizuma (Jonouchi Hisashi, Boogiepop Phantom)

Butz Klauser (Final Fantasy V): Hoshi Souichirou (Kira Yamato, Gundam SEED)

Tina Branford (Final Fantasy VI): Fukui Yukari (Nia Teppelin, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann)

Cloud (Final Fantasy VII): Sakurai Takahiro (Kururugi Suzaku, Code Geass)

Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII): Ishikawa Hideo (Uchiha Itachi, Naruto)

Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX): Paku Romi (Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist)

Tidus (Final Fantasy X): Morita Masakazu (Rail Tracer, Baccano!)

Shantotto (Final Fantasy XI): Hayashibara Megumi (Ayanami Rei, Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Cosmos (Dissidia Final Fantasy): Shimamoto Sumi (Nausicaä, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)

Garland (Final Fantasy): Utsumi Kenji (Raoh, Hokuto no Ken)

Emperor of Palamecia (Final Fantasy II): Horiuchi Kenyuu (Jamil Neate, Gundam X)

Cloud of Darkness (Final Fantasy III): Ikeda Masako (Maetel, Galaxy Express 999)

Golbeza (Final Fantasy IV): Kaga Takeshi (Chairman Kaga, Iron Chef)

Exdeath (Final Fantasy V): Ishida Tarou (Count Cagliostro, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro)

Cefca Palazzo (Final Fantasy VI): Chiba Shigeru (Narrator, Hokuto no Ken)

Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII): Morikawa Toshiyuki (Hayami Masumi, Glass Mask 2005)

Ultimecia (Final Fantasy VIII): Tanaka Atsuko (Kusanagi Motoko, Ghost in the Shell)

Kuja (Final Fantasy IX): Ishida Akira (Xelloss, Slayers)

Jecht (Final Fantasy X): Amada Masuo (Manev the Gale, Trigun)

Gabranth (Final Fantasy X): Ohtsuka Akio (Batou, Ghost in the Shell)

Chaos (Final Fantasy): Wakamoto Norio (Cell, Dragon Ball Z)

Narrator (Dissidia Final Fantasy): Sugawara Bunta (Kamaji, Spirited Away)

Updated for Dissidia Duodecim:

Kain Highwind (Final Fantasy IV): Yamadera Kouchi (Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop)

Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy V): Nakai Kazuya (Mugen, Samurai Champloo)

Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII): Itou Ayumi (Tifa Lockhart, Final Fantasy: Advent Children)

Laguna Loire (Final Fantasy VIII): Hirata Hiroaki (Sanji, One Piece)

Prishe (Final Fantasy XI): Hirano Aya (Suzumiya Haruhi, Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)

Lightning (Final Fantasy XII): Sakamoto Maaya (Kanzaki Hitomi, Vision of Escaflowne)