Category Archives: art

Genshiken Second Season Episode 3, Hato Kenjirou, and Naruto’s Haruno Sakura

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Once again this is a review that isn’t. Relevant manga discussions are Chapter 59 and Chapter 61.

Before I get into it though, I want to point out an interesting comment I got recently on my previous episode “review” in response to the cut alcohol scenes. Natsuno, a Japanese person, replied that Japanese TV does in fact regulate depictions of alcohol consumption. Interesting thing to find out, I think.

In Episode 3 we’re introduced to the “other” Hato, the imaginary female version of Hato who makes fangirl comments in his head. No matter what you call it, a Stand, an 801-chan (not used in the anime though), or whatever, it’s meant to be an example of how Hato is able to have a distanced fujoshi view while still maintaining his own thoughts.

The anime’s portrayal of the other Hato came across to me as a bit different from the manga version, despite the scenes being pretty much the same. What I realized afterwards was that this has a lot to do with medium, that conversion from paper to television, and the different conceptions of time that come with it.

In the early chapters of Naruto, one of the gimmicks of the character Haruno Sakura is that she often has thoughts she isn’t willing to express openly, and this usually takes the form of an “Inner Sakura,” a more comically angry-looking version of her silently shouting her true feelings. In the manga, I thought this gag was pretty funny, but in the anime it didn’t work for me at all. This is because in the manga the presence of Inner Sakura appears to take place at the same time as the regular Sakura, a simultaneous existence, whereas to emphasize it for the anime they had to first show Sakura talking, and then Inner Sakura’s response, one and then the other. Although to a lesser extent, I find this to be pretty much the difference between the Nidaime manga and anime.

I think what it comes down to is that when you have that inner and outer self interaction as with Sakura or Hato and you depict it on the page, you can concentrate on one piece at a time while still seeing that they’re on the same page, or more specifically in the same panel. That one panel becomes a cohesive piece of information which can be approached and broken down, and doesn’t need to rely on the linear time of an animated sequence, nor the loss of attention that would occur if the anime did actually play both scenes simultaneously.

Proof-of-Concept Singapore Mahjong Manga

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Note: the page is is read left to right.

Further reading:

For my thoughts (and a summary) of Singapore-style mahjong, go here, as well as here.

The American-style mahjong conceptual narration and comic page (the two are somewhat unrelated).

My initial idea of having manga about all styles of mahjong.

Energy Girl

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Random Doodles

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Tamako Market is Kyoto Animation’s Next Step

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In one of my earliest posts I ever wrote for Ogiue Maniax, I talked about my desire for Kyoto Animation to go beyond its own limits, to go from just adapting work to making their own original material. Though my opinion of Kyoto Animation isn’t quite as rosy as it was back in 2007, with their new original anime Tamako Market I actually feel like they’ve finally fulfilled those expectations to a fair degree.

Kyoani is known primarily for two things: really solid animation and cute girls. Together, the resulting product is a soft, delicate quality that is unmistakably Kyoto Animation (and which shows like Kokoro Connect and Sora no Woto have tried to mimic), and it affects different adaptations in different ways. For Haruhi and their Key game adaptations it lent weight and significance to characters’ movements, while in K-On! and Nichijou, two manga with sharp and abrupt humor, it caused the anime versions to slow down in terms of comic timing. In the end, it seems to all come down to the cute girls.

Tamako Market is the first Kyoto Animation show I’ve seen to really let the animators spread their wings. Tamako Market has allowed Kyoani to show personality through movement in a greater variety of character types of all shapes and sizes, from small children to geriatrics, to even a person of ambiguous gender and a silly talking bird. The show then places them in a deliberately slow-paced setting in the form of a small-town shopping area, which makes that Kyoani “slice of life” style feel appropriate. What’s more, even though there are indeed still cute girls in Tamako Market, all of the other characters are portrayed differently from them, giving the viewer not only Kyoani’s bread-and-butter but also something even more substantial.

Given the sheer amount of character variety in Tamako Market, I have to now wonder if it wasn’t just that their old shows didn’t allow them to “push their envelope,” but that having to adapt works limited them due to the contact of the original sources. Most of what Kyoto Animation has adapted has come from dating sims, light novels, which often times are all about cute girls, or manga which center around cute girls. While I think Kyoani isn’t ideal for making certain types of works, it’s clear to me from Tamako Market that their strengths, namely their ability to have characters move with almost a sense of tangible liveliness, go beyond what’s expected of them.

American Mahjong Manga

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As a follow-up of sorts to my previous post about American Mahjong, I drew this (read left to right):

First Drawing of Sagimori Arata

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Sketch in Celebration of the New Genshiken Anime + More

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The Current Genshiken Club Members

The Hokuto Brothers (I think Toki turned out the best)

Yoshimori and Tokine from Kekkaishi

Nonowa etc.

Delicious Rate 300%

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Why Nyaruko’s Design Stands Out

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I’m not much of a fan of Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, the moe-fied Cthulhu mythos-themed comedy anime, but I find that the main character Nyaruko has a really appealing character design. While she doesn’t look that different from other cute anime girls, Nyaruko draws the eye and leaves a memorable impression to the extent that it makes me want to maybe, just maybe, give her show a second chance. In looking at her more closely, the element that visually differentiates her from other similar character designs, the lynchpin which transformers her into something more distinct and complete, is her checker-patterned dress.

My reasoning has relatively little to do with personal preference (at least as far as I can tell about myself), but is based on the amount of contrast that the checkered pattern provides on Nyaruko’s overall design. Nyaruko does wear other outfits in her series, namely her school uniform, and if you compare the two outfits the checkered dress simply stands out more. There’s the inherent contrast of dark and light that a checkered pattern already has, but there’s also the fact that the pattern stands out against the broad swathes of flat color that make up Nyaruko’s hair, skin, and the rest of her clothing.

You could get a similar effect with stripes, but a checker pattern is like a stripe pattern taken to the next level, and I think that the way the checker pattern is only a small part of her dress instead of the dominant pattern as you might imagine a striped dress to be keeps it from overpowering the rest of Nyaruko’s design. It’s also somewhat of an uncommon clothing pattern among anime characters, which makes it easier to associate the checker pattern with her character before others. What you’re left with then is a visual design which not only pops out but causes others (including other characters in Nyaruko-san) to recede.